Shameful discrimination

Comment on "School tries to get rid of overweight student" (China Daily, Feb 17)

This is ridiculous of the school to discriminate against overweight students.

It's the responsibility of the school to educate kids academically, morally and physically. The school needs to help the girl instead of discriminating against her, or else the school is too irresponsible.

Thinker

on China Daily website

Taking DVD piracy seriously

One day I went to a post office to mail two DVDs of the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, and I was asked for the DVD's receipt. I had the cash slip, but it was not enough.

If this measure aims to prevent pirated disks being sent out of the country, it's a good point and it proves that the Chinese government takes its commitment to fighting piracy seriously.

However, the authorities still need to take more measures to stop proliferation inside the borders.

Lisa Carducci in Beijing

via e-mail

Peddling no job for college graduates

Millions of would-be graduates are feeling the job market chill as firms shed their workforce and scrap recruitment plans amid a harsh economic winter.

Against this backdrop, an official in Guangdong province advised college students to become street hawkers to ease the strain on employment, citing business tycoons like Michael Dell and Li Ka-shing as role models who started their career peddling.

I know it is not uncommon for overseas students to be peddlers to make pocket money, but in China street vendors are always in a vulnerable position, persecuted by some local authorities.

No educated university student will dare to be mobile hawkers at the risk of all their goods being confiscated by law-enforcement staff and incurring a huge fine. Therefore I cannot help but doubt this official's concern for grassroots woes.

Ever since people have had to pay for higher education in China, college tuition has grown exponentially.

Xinhuanet says a four-year tuition equals 4.2-year net income of an urban family and 13.6 years of a rural family.

But still parents manage to scramble together enough money to support their kids. What happens if their child becomes a street hawker who can only just make ends meet? It would be a huge waste of hard-earned money.

The authorities are indeed trying their best to help students find jobs.

Wang Ting in Shanghai

via e-mail

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(China Daily 02/19/2009 page9)