The most dramatic picture I have seen in recent days is not the TV hostess in bridal brocade giving a live broadcast about the earthquake that struck Ya'an, Sichuan Privince, on Saturday morning, but an official in Taizhou, Jiangsu Province, kneeling down on a dinner table, begging for forgiveness from angry residents.
There was a theatrical element about the TV hostess, for she could have easily slipped into a less catching dress in two minutes.
But in the picture showing a distraught official kowtowing to an angry crowd, I could see his desperation was genuine. Zhang Aihua, the official, was Party secretary of the administrative committee of Binjiang Industrial Zone.
"I am wrong tonight, and I beg your pardon. You can call me anything, a son, or grandson, but let me go," Zhang reportedly said.
About 1,000 residents turned up to vent their anger after some entered the banquet room and were shocked by what they saw ("Lavish banquet busted by indignant residents," April 22, Shanghai Daily). In line with cyber age crisis management tactics, the Party secretary was cashiered on April 22 ("Official fired over lavish feast," April 23, Shanghai Daily).
I do not know if the residents were satisfied with the result, but I am not satisfied as the full story has yet to come to light. To be honest, I don't see what strong motivation could make 1,000 residents show up at an exclusive restaurant at such short notice.
Expensive feasts have been part and parcel of officialdom in many regions for decades, and to my knowledge, some officials regard this more as a bane than boon, or a sacrifice, as an inordinately number of business or political deals cannot but be concluded over a well-covered table.
As far as I know, it was the first time a scene was made over a good dinner thrown at taxpayers' money. So what's the motivation?
Two theories were that either the Party secretary is the victim of infighting, or the masses tried to make a scene because they want other grievances addressed.
According to a report from 21st Century Business Tribune (April 24), the residents were dissatisfied about compensation over land expropriated for the Binjiang Industrial Zone. A petrochemical plant was being built near a residential area nearby, and according to regulations, all residents within 700 meters of such a plant should be relocated.
In a circular published on April 19, the zone's management team set out details regarding compensation. Finding the compensation too low, some residents tore up the circulars and decided to take their complaints to officials, whom they found at the feast.
Capable official'
Ironically Zhang was reportedly a capable official. During his time as the zone's Party secretary, output had soared from 40 million yuan (6.47 million) to the current 2 billion yuan. By standard assessments of officials, these glowing growth numbers are good enough to count Zhang among the capable officials. Just think how many family dinners he had to go without to achieve this stunning growth.
I guess the moral of this story will be lost if people make too much of this expensive dinner, while pretending not to see the essence of how certain officials and business leaders work today.
During a recent forum, Wang Shi, a real estate tycoon, preached about the ethics of making money. "Business people, in addition to making money, must have faith. It is terrible if GDP figures or money-making become your sole faith, to the exclusion of everything else," Wang reportedly said.
He went on to say that in doing business with the government, if he sticks to the ethical bottom line, he can do well with a 100 million yuan deal. If he crosses the bottom line, he can aspire to a 1 billion or 2 billion yuan business. He must make a choice.
Wang later said the relationship between government and business should be gentlemanly.
A Confucian observation states that "the friendship between gentlemen appears indifferent but is pure like water, while that between vulgar persons is thick as wine."
The true irony is that it sometimes takes a real estate tycoon to moralize about the correct relationship between government and business.
Latest development of H7N9 in China[Special]
Giant pandas safe in quake-hit zone
Feedback
RSS
