A man was reportedly beaten up by urban management officers (chengguan) recently for selling lamps in the streets of Beijing to help his 9-year-old daughter with her school project and acquire a better understanding of society. No matter what the result of the investigation ordered into the incident by Beijing authorities is, the incident has stained the image of the capital city for not being able to support a man helping his daughter get good education and a better understanding of life, says an article in Beijing News. Excerpts:

Urban management or law enforcement officers (or chengguan) are supposed to maintain order in a city and help it keep clean. So their only job is to ensure that vendors do not obstruct the flow of traffic, disturb pedestrians or litter the streets, not to beat up people selling goods in the streets.

Law enforcement officers should adopt a flexible attitude toward people who they think are violating civic rules. For example, chengguan could have persuaded the man and his daughter, who was with him when the incident happened, to move to a "proper" place to sell their lamps, instead of beating him up.

The girl had put a note explaining it was her summer holiday social project in front of the lamps they had spread out for sale, which showed that she wanted people and chengguan alike to understand why they were vending goods in the streets. But by acting unnecessarily tough with them, chengguan reflected the brutal side of their character and hurt the feelings of a tender heart.

Generally speaking, Chinese children's social attributes and survival capacity have dropped to very low levels today. They spend endless hours either buried in textbooks or shuttling between tuitions or special classes. Therefore, what the 9-year-old girl's father was doing should have been encouraged and supported by all.

Every city has to be kept clean and in order. But more importantly, cities need a free environment for children to develop their faculties and understanding of society. And chengguan should help people to provide urban children the chance to do so.