Building Trust

Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, recently decided to auction its 1.2-billion-yuan ($160 million) worth new government office buildings and use the recovered money to help with reconstruction efforts in areas severely hit by a devastating earthquake in May. All the government departments in the new buildings have been ordered to move back to their previous offices. At a time that many local governments are rushing to build posh office buildings, this is encouraging news.

Three days after the earthquake, the Chengdu Municipal Government moved into its new office buildings, something that triggered widespread criticism at the time. But it's also true that decision-makers responded positively to the public's complaints and took swift correction measures.

It's embarrassing to find that against the background of upscale government buildings are dilapidated residential houses, school buildings and lack of basic living needs for local residents. In this case, even if the construction of these buildings is legal, the public still has the right to question the timing of the move.

It's hoped that Chengdu's auction of government office buildings was initiated not only because of the earthquake disaster relief needs but a long-term governance philosophy that puts people first. If it were the case, the auction would become a landmark event.

The Beijing News

Mayor Dives in

On July 19, Mayor Zhang Guangning, along 3,000 residents in south China's Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, swam across the Pearl River, to prove that the river's water quality was much improved from the same time last year.

Though Zhang has taken part in the annual swimming event for three consecutive years since 2006, his appearance remained a media focus this year. Actually, this is a reflection of people's anticipation of an improved environment. They hope to see clean water and breathe fresher air. Local residents have high expectations on the government's solution of environmental problems and hope for the establishment of a regular system for this purpose.

China's huge economic growth is sometimes achieved at a disproportionably high environmental price. Statistics show that of China's seven major rivers, at least half are severely polluted. The polluted Pearl River is a good example of these statistics. Thanks partially to Guangzhou mayor's annual swimming program, the Pearl River's water quality is improving. But what about other places and other polluted rivers?

It's hoped that other cities can also follow Guangzhou's example to give residents a sense of governments' commitment and indicate that they are taking the problems seriously.

Guangzhou Daily

Boring Conferences

A local official in Nanchong City, Sichuan Province, has been suspended from his post for three months after he was caught sleeping during a government meeting.

Participants dozing off during meetings is quite commonplace nowadays. This official was just unlucky enough to be photographed by an observant journalist.

Some conferences are unavoidable, but nowadays we do have too many meetings where speakers read prepared boring speeches that make their audience sleepy. These meetings always cost a lot of money, time and energy, but produce no tangible results. So there has long been opposition to meetings for the sake of meetings, but the situation remains unchanged.

It seems that organizers never consider if it's necessary or not before they prepare for conferences, especially in government departments. There are many ways to find solutions to problems, so why not choose more economical methods?

Ultimately, the conference room should never become a venue for people to catch up on their sleep.

Beijing Evening News

Vocational Skills Misunderstood

In late June, a student labor skills competition in north China's Tianjin attracted thousands of companies looking for outstanding workers. Among the eager headhunters were 20 of the world top 500 giants.

Vocational education began to boom in China in 2005. However, this sector is faced with a variety of difficulties, such as a shrinking student base, insufficient financial inputs, exodus of teachers and, sometimes, social prejudice.

As for the difficulty facing vocational education, some blame it on the centuries-old belief that "he who excels in study can follow an official career." Parents all hope that their children will continue high school and college studies and then become a white collar worker or join a government department.

This traditional way of thinking is, however, not the whole reason. Today, many people believe that vocational schools only produce skilled laborers but never talented elites. As a result, although the employment rate for vocational students is above 90 percent, they are always lowly paid in their first job and companies tend to employ them for a short period only.

Thus, vocational education seems to be geared toward children from impoverished families or those with poor academic performance.

As a very important part of the entire education system, vocational schools must be developed into something that can offer students space for further development. If not, they are unlikely to get rid of their current difficult situation.

Workers' Daily