The relevant department in Guangdong province has drafted regulations that require the owners of lost property or cash to pay finders 10 percent of its value if they hand it in to police or relevant authorities. This has sparked debate over whether it is part of a moral decline. However, the 10 percent reward is not bad as it may encourage more people to return the property they find, says an article in People's Daily. Excerpts:

As it is stipulated in the Real Rights Law, Article 112: "The right's holder of the object, when regaining a lost-and-found object, shall pay the person who finds the object or the related department such necessary expenses as the cost of safekeeping the object." The Guangdong proposal has only specified a 10 percent reward as "necessary expenses" in accordance with the spirit of the law.

In fact, we need to understand that there are differences between the public construction of morals and the moral cultivation of individuals. It is praiseworthy that those finders of lost property with a high moral standard spend so much time seeking the rightful owner of the property and return it without expecting any reward. But we cannot expect everyone to show such virtue.

For public morals, there should be a bottom line that no one can breach, as well as a standard to be aspired to. But it will be a moral leap that violates objective reality if the public standard is set too high. The reward, which is only one-tenth of the full value, although less pure, is more applicable to ordinary people.

Only if the good Samaritans are encouraged both mentally and materially can our society get closer to the vision of honesty.