Don't Squander College Skills

According to the 2009 Blue Book of China's Economy, which was issued by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, 6.11 million college graduates need jobs this year. But the actual employment rate in 2008 was below 70 percent.

FLYING DRAGON: Dragon dance is an age-old festival celebration throughout China during the Latern Festival (ZHAO ZHONGZHI)

In this context, Wen Yang, a member of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the local advisory body, suggests college students change their concept of employment and start up their own businesses as street vendors instead of looking only for white-collar jobs. There is no shame in college students temporarily doing simple low-paid work, but it seems there is much loss of face at even suggesting this choice.

Vendors can also become successful business people. However, universities are a place to equip students with skills and knowledge, not a factory to produce street vendors. For someone who has spent 16 years on education, doing vendor's jobs that require little knowledge is a waste of money and time.

College is not only a place for education, but also a place of opportunity and hope. For those who come from disadvantaged backgrounds, maybe this is the only route to a better life. So it's cruel and tragic for a student to work as a vendor after so many years of hard work.

Yangzi Evening News

Selfish Use of Patriotism

In order to stimulate house buying, the head of the Hefei City Planning Bureau, east China's Anhui Province, recently said on a local TV talk show that buying a home at a time of economic slowdown was an act of patriotism. He is not the first person to link home buying to being patriotic. Zhao Xiao, a famous economist, has also made similar comments publicly.

Given the current economic crisis, there are good reasons for officials and some scholars to worry about the housing market. However, a survey launched by Web portal sina.com shows that 96.5 percent of respondents oppose linking home buying with patriotism. Today, most consumers have clear ideas and will not blindly do whatever scholars and officials tell them to do. This independent thought no doubt makes some of these officials anxious.

In the final analysis, to encourage people to buy houses in the name of patriotism is an immoral action. When people's living conditions are affected by the economic crisis, why should they risk their hard-earned money on expensive houses? At a time when there is freedom of choice, it's ridiculous to use patriotism as a camouflage to boost home sales. It is a move clearly aimed at benefiting property developers more than ordinary people.

Chongqing Morning Post

Banning Solves Nothing

Allegedly for the sake of safety, Dejiang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, banned dragon dance, a traditional way to celebrate the Lantern Festival on February 9, in downtown areas of the county seat this year. Many dragon dancers rejected the ban and called on people to protest. During the ensuing conflict between protestors and police officers and government workers, eight people were injured.

Dragon dance has been handed down for generations as part of Chinese tradition. Why should it banned this year? The public finds it hard to understand. Meanwhile, the county government believes that guaranteeing the safety of local people is more important than anything else. But is the ban the only way to maintain public order and ensure safety? Why couldn't the authorities deploy more security personnel to maintain public order and traffic flow? However, the county government does not think in this way.

To show more respect for tradition and people's desires and to serve rather than dictate to people will help prevent conflicts between the government and the public. It's a lesson we need to remember for the future.

Changjiang Times

Untrained Migrants Burden Economy

After the Spring Festival, migrant workers rushed to southern coastal cities for work, but in Guangdong Province, about 20 percent of these workers cannot find anything to do.

Despite a large number of workers remaining unemployed, there is a shortage of workers in some industries. Take Guangzhou, south China's economic powerhouse, as an example. The city still needs 300,000 senior welders, locksmiths and senior mechanicians.

This gap between labor supply and demand is shocking. The point is, no matter how many jobs there are, unskilled workers face difficulties in finding work.

Some migrant workers engage in simple manual labor year after year, without achieving any technical expertise. As a result, they cannot contribute when the country's economy falters. The lack of vocational training for migrant workers should be blamed on the gap between worker supply and demand in many regions.

Both enterprises and the government should pay more attention to vocational training for migrant workers, so that the problem of structural unemployment can be fundamentally resolved.

Guangzhou Daily