School sets a bad example

The authorities of a high school at Qingtian county in Lishui city of Zhejiang province have persuaded a student to quit school or be admitted to another institution because they think he looks "ugly" and scares other students. This is shocking and the school's action shows it lacks basic ethics and disrespects human dignity, says an article in Beijing Times. Excerpts:

The student's face was disfigured in a fire. In fact, he narrowly escaped death. But instead of empathizing with the student, surnamed Gao, and helping him with his studies, the school has turned his life into a nightmare.

The school authorities used the parents of other students - claiming that many parents fear Gao would scare their children - to drive the boy out of school. But the school should realize that it cannot deny a student the right to education and humiliate him for his looks.

The school is trying to please other students and their parents in order to earn maximum profit and, in the process, trampling one of the fundamental rights of Gao. Even if some students and parents are worried that Gao's presence is unwelcome, the school should have educated them about human dignity and the importance of the right to education.

Man exploits motherly love

A woman in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, was aggrieved after coming to know that her son was having problems finding a parking space near his office and was thus getting delayed for work almost everyday. So she decided to ride with him to work and, after he got out of the car, finding space to park. Parents should care for their children, but what the man's mother is doing is ridiculous, says an article in People's Daily. Excerpts:

It's natural for parents to love their children, but they should also inculcate in them a sense of social responsibility. Blind parental indulgence could spoil a child and make him/her a threat for society.

A grown-up son should feel ashamed to let his mother drive him to office and then take pains to park his car. Why can't a man take care of his personal and official affairs without the help of his parents?

About 7 million students graduated from colleges this year, but only about 30 percent of graduates from some universities are likely to find suitable jobs. Surprisingly, while it is difficult for graduates from eastern China to find a job, the western part of the country is badly in need of talents.

The lack of talents in the west is one of the most important reasons why the gap between eastern and western China is widening. Perhaps graduates from eastern China should start seeking employment in the western part of the country. But for that, they have to be self-sufficient, unlike the man in Hangzhou.

Something stinks in fruit juice

A recent investigative report says several well-known fruit processing companies have been buying and using partly rotten fruits, which is both shocking and saddening, says an article on gmw.cn. Excerpts:

The report says several trucks full of partly rotten fruits were carried into the factories and probably used to make juice, and local residents in knowledge of such practice have long since stopped eating processed fruits or drinking packaged fruit juice made by the tainted companies. The report also says strict security systems protect the factories against investigative reporters.

The security staff know that reporters could expose the truth and, therefore, they try their level best not to allow reporters to enter factories. Many food processing companies organize "open days", allowing consumers and the media to take a tour of their factories in order to convince them of their clean operations. But for a long time many have doubted that in many cases such open days are an attempt to cover up their dirty deeds. And now they may prove right.

No law or regulation forbids food companies from buying partly rotten fruits. And even though they do so, it does not necessarily mean they use the rotten parts to process juice. Consumers have no way of knowing whether or not the juice they buy was made from rotten fruits. So they have to depend on supervision department to ensure that companies do not use rotten fruits to process juice and that they make their findings public.

Fruits are perfectly safe to eat after the rotten parts are removed. But only proper supervision can ensure that companies do remove the rotten parts before processing them into juice to reassure consumers that they are buying safe products.

(China Daily 09/30/2013 page9)