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Chinanimation: Paging Ms Clueless
Source:Global Times Published: 2013-5-10 21:43:01
Illustration: Peter C. Espina/GT
On a Hong Kong Airlines flight from Guiyang, Guizhou Province, to Hong Kong, a female police officer requested that the aircraft wait while she bought some duty-free cigarettes for her boss who was also traveling on the flight. Her request was flatly rejected by an airline staff, but that didn't stop an online debate from raging on the topic. Some netizens from the Chinese mainland took the opportunity to indulge in a bit of sarcasm, with comments like, "Officials are working hard every day for the country. What's wrong with them asking all the other passengers to wait? They could even ask the airline to go out for the cigarettes!" Some Hongkongers even expressed their admiration: "It is so cool to be an official on the Chinese mainland." In all seriousness, officials are certainly important figures since they are tasked with maintaining the operations of the country. However, this doesn't mean that they can make unreasonable demands while ignoring the interests of ordinary people. The police officer's request for the aircraft to wait is undoubtedly rooted in the outdated idea of "officials first." She must have forgotten to ask another vessel to wait for her long ago, because she certainly missed the boat on that societal shift.
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