Comrades, learn from expat "Lei Feng"

• Source: Global Times
• [02:03 November 13 2009]
• Comments

By Wu Huaiting

Sunday evening, an old man had a heart attack and fell to the ground in downtown Guangzhou, Guangdong Province. The scene attracted a crowd for more than half an hour, but no one offered help until a foreigner saw the situation and gave some emergency treatment. It was already too late and the elderly person passed away, ZJTV reported Monday.

In a country where the spirit of Lei Feng, China's selfless hero and role model, has been promoted for decades, we are ashamed of the indifference among the Chinese onlookers.

Some may argue that the lack of action from the Chinese onlookers is understandable: The numerous stories of people getting extorted for their good deeds have taught the Chinese public to be cautious about helping others. A one-time kind-hearted move of getting the old guy up from the floor might get you into endless troubles, including bullying and financial loss.

To some extent, the immoral capitalization on people's kindness has destroyed the legacy of Lei Feng. The trust between people has become so low that even the police in Wuhan, Central China's biggest city, had to warn residents not to answer any questions when approached by strangers to avoid fraud.

The Peng Yu case in Nanjing in 2006, in which Peng helped an injured old woman to the hospital and was later ruled by the local court as being partially liable for her injury, was particularly shocking to the nation and destroyed many people's faith in offering help to strangers. If even a country's legal system goes against doing good deeds, why should we be bothered?