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, GAY 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 Warts 'n All
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BANG BANG, A NAME BUT NOT SHAME
Courtesy - Huang He, China Daily
Bangbang, 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
bangbang 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 Bangbang
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 bangbang
, and the name has stuck with those who do the most grueling jobs, but are often cheated.
Many residents ask the bangbang 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 passangers 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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