(LI SHIGONG)

Recently, the local government of Yibin, Sichuan Province, sent 70 street sweepers to Singapore to learn from the country's experience in keeping the city cleaner and more beautiful. This is the second time that the government of Yibin sponsored street sweepers for an overseas study tour after tours to Hong Kong and Macao last year.

This news aroused public attention immediately. Supporters think it showed respect and care for street sweepers and that the practice should be encouraged. On the other hand, opponents think it is a kind of publicity and a waste of public resources. Besides, instead of sending them on a foreign study tour, the local government should put more emphasis into increasing their salaries since most street sweepers are poorly-paid people living at the bottom of society.

Helpful for work

Yu Wenjun (www.qianlong.com): In some people's minds, overseas study tours are only a privilege for government officials or researchers, while street sweepers have nothing to do with it. The practice of the government of Yibin shows respect to ordinary workers. This demeanor shows that the social divisions of labor don't mean that any career is inferior to another. As long as people can make real contributions to society, they should get the reward they deserve. It's a positive signal for building a harmonious society.

Sending street sweepers for overseas study tours is not letting them travel at public expense. Street sweepers are important decorators of the city and the guards of the image of a city. Like anyone else, they also need some opportunities to broaden their horizons, such as studying abroad. Sending them for study tours is a change of concept. It's narrow-minded to regard this only as a travel tour at public expense.

In order to make it more effective, those street sweepers must be carefully selected. Besides, after the tour, the local government should make sure all the knowledge they have learned must be fully digested and put into good use.

Study tours at public expense aren't all corruption. If they are helpful for work, we should encourage them. We shouldn't abandon them once and for all just because there may be corruption in such tours.

Wang Guorong (Qianjiang Evening News): "We didn't dare to imagine that we street sweepers could have a chance to take part in a study tour," said Li Xiaohong, who attended the study tour in Hong Kong and Macao last year. Li's remark shows ordinary workers' happiness for getting an opportunity to study abroad.

It's progress for the local government to think of street sweepers, who are often ignored by most of the people. Besides showing more care to them, this gesture shows that different professions are just a division of social labor. Street sweepers and migrant workers are as important to society as big bosses and government officials. The government should enhance the social status of those who are often ignored. Sending them for overseas study tours is one of the ways to do so. It's an honor for them and we should keep doing it all the time. And I am sure that street sweepers are bound to benefit a lot from this tour.