TOMBS DOOMED: A number of hero parks around the country are being neglected and abused. The picture shows two ladies sit on a hero's tomb peddling goods

Shopping Madness

On March 22, when a company in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality offered medical items at discounted prices, people were so keen to get bargains that a stampede broke out, leaving two dead and 11 injured. A similar tragic incident took place November 2007 in Chongqing that left three dead and 31 injured.

In both incidents, shoppers and victims were mainly middle-aged or senior citizens, hoping to buy relatively cheap products during the promotion. Perhaps the tragedies are the result of the public's lack of discipline, but should that be punished by loss of life?

In order to survive the economic crisis, retailers certainly want to attract as many consumers as possible while trying to save money wherever they can on promotions. Meanwhile, the decline in people's income is forcing them to shop in big numbers where bargains are being offered. As a result, the public's safety becomes a problem. In these circumstances, relevant departments, such as the industrial and commercial bureau and the police must work out rules to ensure public safety and also ensure the strict implementation of these rules. It's unacceptable that supervision becomes slack just because the government wants to see retailers make more sales during this crisis time.

Beijing News

From Hero to Zero

Chatters on the Internet say that the hero's park in Biyang County of Henan Province is being transformed into a complex of villas for local officials. Although the local disciplinary inspection bureau later claimed that the villas were to be openly sold and were not the sole preserve of local officials, the fact that this hero's park has been developed is true.

Hero's park is a sacred place for people to pay respect to those who lost their lives in the struggle for a better future for our nation. Its importance is irreplaceable, historically and educationally. Its value should not to be measured with money.

From the business perspective, the park covers a large area, charges no entrance fees and costs a great deal in maintenance, making it an unprofitable business! In the course of business development, even houses that have only stood for several years are often pulled down so the land can be redeveloped, let alone a park occupying such valuable land in the city. If it is used for business purpose, how much revenue will it bring the government?

When a society only cares about business profits it can easily abandon moral issues, but isn't this shortsighted? When moral codes are trampled, won't this impact negatively on the nation's sustainable development and its future?

Workers' Daily

Only Rich on Paper

The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics recently said that the average monthly wage for the city's employees in 2008 reached 3,726 yuan ($549), up by 12 percent compared with the previous year. Shanghai's statistics show that the city's average monthly wage for 2008 stands at 3,292 yuan ($484), up by 13.8 percent.

The announcement triggered massive doubts. According to an online survey, 74.2 percent of the interviewees said their incomes were below the local average.

Despite the many explanations for the seemingly "fake high salary" levels, which also covers things like bonuses and overtime pay, no one can deny that it is a small fraction of high-income earners that push the average income level up.

In many companies, senior managers who were paid 50,000 yuan ($7,353) a year five years ago, while ordinary workers earned 10,000 yuan, now earn an annual salary of 300,000 yuan, much higher than ordinary workers, whose pay has not advanced that much over the years. This is the fundamental reason for the rising average income level. But in this situation, does the average income level make any sense?

As a result, ordinary people only enjoy "a rich life" in terms of statistics, and instead of reflecting the real income situation, the "average income level" actually exposes serious payment inequalities and static wages of ordinary workers. So, as this method is obviously unreasonable and fraudulent, why do we continue to publish the statistics year after year?

Guangzhou Daily

Cheating Selling

As the government's policies fail to boost the real estate market, some property developers, not content to accept the slump in the property market and still intent on raking in huge profits, are using every trick in the book to sell houses.

It was recently revealed by People's Daily newspaper that in Beijing, a real estate company pays local residents to act as potential house buyers at house sales centers, creating a false image of a booming market to lure genuine prospective buyers.

Consumers who are savvy to these tricks are less trusting of these businessmen who are widely known as lacking in credibility.

Due to the exorbitantly high house prices, effective demand for houses is much lower than supply, resulting in a total of 10.44 million square meters of spare houses in Beijing. According to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, neither China's current economic situation, nor residents' income support high house prices. This means current house prices can be reduced by 40 to 50 percent and in two years' time, they will bottom out.

In the market economy, the practice of cheating consumers into buying houses is shameful. While criticizing property developers for doing so, relevant departments must punish the developers who cheat potential buyers and insist they rescue the real estate market by offering reasonable prices.

Qilu Evening News