SCALPERS HEADS ON THE BLOCK
In China the only way to see a medical specialist is to queue up to buy a ticket. But the scarcity of
specialists in top hospitals is taken advantage of by scalpers.
Scalpers flock to every top hospital in the big cities and sell patients appointments at extortionate prices. Patients line up
in crowded registration halls for 24 hours, sometimes more than 36 hours to get an appointment.
Many patients have learned a bitter lesson about scalpers; farmer Yang Li from Jiangxi Province
is just one of them. Rather than wait in line, he has bought appointments from scalpers on four occasions.
On his first two visits he was duped. "They sold me a ticket for 300 Yuan
(US$36.90) but it was originally only 14 Yuan (US$1.70)." he said. "Now I know better and manage to be first in the queue, and you have to first as the specialist only sees eight patients a
day."
Police will help order in hospitals. In those where scalpers are most active, a police officer will be required to be present.
Source: China Daily.
US$11 BILLION SPENT, LOST BY CORRUPT, INEPT OFFICIALS
More than US$4 billion has been illegally spent by
government officials in South China's Guangdong Province while another US$7 billion has been lost because of poor management.
More than 400 officials were involved in one way or
another in the scam. "The illegal behaviour included embezzling public money, lavish dinners, gifts and shifting public funds to private accounts", Zeng
Shouxi, of the Guangdong Provincial Government Audit Department, said in a report released last Saturday.
The report also showed that 747 government officers
were promoted. Zeng said these were officials who reported on corrupt officials and worked with investigators.
The investigation took five years to complete.
Source- China Daily
LESBIANS, GAYS GAINING ACCEPTANCE ON MAINLAND
Official statistics suggest there are approximately 30 million homosexuals on the mainland, but few are willing to acknowledge their sexuality.
On the mainland, 80-90 per cent of homosexuals are prepared to marry or have married the opposite sex. In Western nations, the proportion is only 10 per cent.
According to Professor Gao Yanning, of Fudan's Institute of Public Health which started a course in September entitled "Homosexual Research" there are
misunderstandings about homosexuality in China which previously believed same-sex relationships to be unethical or the symptom of a mental disorder.
He also said that many Chinese associate gay people with HIV/AIDS patients.
"In comparison with their predecessors, who often felt guilt, the current generation of homosexual people in
China is more eager for freedom and happiness," Gao said.
In 2001, China published a third version of its classification and diagnosis of metal disorders, excluding homosexuality from the list.
Source - China Daily BACK TO HEADLINE NEWS China Newsclippings is updated
every week
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BANG BANG, A NAME BUT NOT SHAME
Courtesy - Huang He, China Daily
Bang bang, which literally means "stick", is the nickname used for the farmers turned porters in
Chongqing, Southwest China's largest city.
They do the hardest, most tiring, dirtiest and most dangerous jobs in the city yet receive the lowest wages,
Mayor Wang Hongju said, when suggesting a more amiable and apt name for the porters last month.
Nobody knows exactly how many bang bang live in
the city, which has a population of 30 million. But they seem to be everywhere and help make life convenient for many local people.
But does the word Bang bang smack of prejudice
against the workers? The debate has been going on since the mayor made his comment. Locals call all migrant rural workers in the city bang bang, and the
name has stuck with those who do the most grueling jobs, but are often cheated.
Many residents ask the bang bang to do chores but then do not pay what they promised. The porters get
angry, but there is nothing they can do.
Source – China Daily
NATIONAL DAY VACATION - 2005
Official statistics show more than 38,300,000 passengers caught the train while at least 326,000,000 million trips were made by road during the holiday period of October 1 to 7, 2005.
According to the Ministry of Commerce, the retail volume of consumer goods reached 270 billion yuan (US$33.3 billion) during the holiday, up 14.2 per cent on last year.
According to the Ministry of Tourism, tourism revenue amounted to 46.3 billion Yuan (US$ 5.7 billion) up 7.5 per cent on last year.
GIRL BANNED FROM SCHOOL FOR PLAYING WITH BOYS A second grade girl has been banned from class by
Beijing junior middle school for moving too closely with the boys.
Xiao Yang has not gone to school for a month now and has been asked to move to another school.
Teachers said the girl always played with the boys and behaved casually in class.
The local education authorities have said they will investigate the case and help the girl go back to school
as soon as possible. Source - Beijing first.net.
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