A woman wearing mask looks up into the hazy sky in Beijing on Wednesday. Beijing issued a smog alert on Wednesday, days after the conclusion of the APEC summit. The hazy smog is expected to disperse tomorrow. [Photo/IC]

A photograph of two elderly street cleaners holding a heart-shaped card with a message that appeals to young people to set off fewer firecrackers so that they could return home earlier to celebrate the Spring Festival has gone viral on Chinese social media. Like some other online hot topics, the cleaner-couple's plea has drawn netizens into a debate on social issues.

The street cleaners' plea has a simple meaning: Fewer firecrackers mean less cleaning to do and thus earlier return home for the Spring Festival. It's understandable that, as an elderly couple, they cherish the chance of spending some time with their children, grandchildren and other relatives. No wonder, the couple's appeal has moved a lot of netizens, with many urging people to sympathize with street cleaners and cut back on the use of firecrackers.

Not surprisingly, "firecrackers" have drawn the attention of environmental activists, who have joined the plea for setting off fewer firecrackers to also minimize air pollution. With air pollution worsening in many regions of China, the appeal has elicited many people's support.

And as expected, public discussion on the issue has again extended to the traditional once-a-year debate on the very need to set off firecrackers. The battle lines, to use a cliché, are drawn on firecrackers, with defenders of traditional culture against any restrictions. Some have even criticized the appeal as "moral blackmail" on the pretext of helping elderly laborers. Others say that adhering to the elderly couple's plea would be unfair on other laborers who have to work during the Spring Festival despite being equally desperate to return home for family reunions.

The street cleaners' photograph is indeed touching and firecrackers are indeed detrimental to the environment, but it is still difficult to take sides in the debate because it is a mesh of different issues. Even people who are in the same camp have different reasons and motivations for taking their stand. And it's highly possible that they don't even know what they are really arguing about.