patients needed medical care too. If she stayed in the hospital, Lou could have also contributed to disaster relief work. As one of the doctors demanded by the hospital to take care of patients from the quake zone, it's Lou's obligation to stay and look after the injured.

Lou's strong sense of responsibility in a time of crisis is valuable, but it's unreasonable to disregard labor disciplines in the quest to help others. Actually, many volunteers properly solve the conflict between job and disaster relief. Some ask for leave from their companies, some go to the quake zone on weekends and return to work on Monday.

If everyone left his or her job and went to the quake zone as volunteers, the rest of the country would also become "disaster-hit" area. That's why many enthusiastic volunteers were persuaded to go back. Loyalty to one's job is not against the responsibilities of a citizen.

Li Wenlong (www.cqnews.net): From the perspective of morality, we should sympathize with Lou; but as far as laws and regulations are concerned, it's understandable that she was fired because of her absence without leave. In Lou's case, maybe the point is whether morality overweighs the rule of law or vice-versa.

The Chinese generally have a weak legal sense. When there is a conflict between laws and morality, people tend to favor the latter.

What exactly shall we do when there is a conflict between morality and the rule of law? China is trying to build a society based on the rule of law, so it's important to make rule of law the basis of our moral standards. The legal system is the basic system for social stability and only when the whole society acts under the legal framework can we expect people to deal with conflicts in accordance with the same rules. This is also the precondition for people to undertake philanthropic deeds.

Cao Lin (Shanghai Morning Post): Many people sympathize with Lou, believing that to go to the front to save the injured in the quake zone is the best reflection of a doctor's professional ethics. Even if she breaches the hospital's regulations and disciplines, they argue the doctor should be forgiven and the hospital's punishment is unfair to such a kindhearted person.

That may be true, but we should also respect the hospital's rules and Lou should accept the punishment and take full responsibility for the consequences of her actions.

Lou chose to help victims in the quake zone rather than in Chongqing. In no way can one refuse to take responsibility of violating regulations just because what he or she did is a good deed. The sense of responsibility is the core of social values. Freedom must be restricted by responsibility to some extent. Otherwise society will slip into chaos.

Almost every medical worker wants to help those injured in the quake, but to stay in your post is basic professional ethics. Moreover, Lou's hospital also received patients from the quake zone. Even if there were no special patients, doctors should also prepare to take good care of ordinary patients, with the same passion they treat the special patients. Maybe Lou believed that people in the quake zone needed her more than the hospital's patients and that her value as a doctor could be better reflected if she went to the quake zone. But the moment she made the choice, she should have considered the consequences of her actions. She should not expect others to all accept her choice.

Respect the good Samaritans

Yan Nong (The Beijing News): If her actions were not connected with labor disciplines, Lou would be one of the respected volunteers who served in the quake zone. But her violation of the hospital's disciplines threw her into the category of sinners.

In treating hospital patients and injured quake victims, doctors should show equal care. However, in urban hospitals, when there is a shortage of medical workers in one hospital, it's possible to get staff from other hospitals. In the quake zone, however, this was totally impossible. Lou finally decided to go to the quake zone after her request to go was refused by the hospital again and again. As a doctor, she did not abandon the humanitarian responsibility to heal the wounded and rescue the dying. If she is said to have breached any rules, it is only the hospital's disciplines, but not the professional ethics for all medical workers, whose responsibility is to save human life.

Like laws, hospital rules and disciplines should also take into consideration morality and common sense in social life. After the massive earthquake hit Wenchuan, tens of thousands of volunteers rushed to the affected area, and their behavior shows a sense of responsibility, humanitarianism and love.