Chinese Online Class - A selfless act from pair who have nothing

Opinion / Liu Shinan

A selfless act from pair who have nothing

By Liu Shinan (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-06-27 07:24

Five days after the June 15 bridge collapse that led to four vehicles
falling into a river causing at least five deaths and leaving two men
missing in Foshan, Guangdong Province, a story of selfless heroism
emerged.

Wang Wentian and Xie Fengyun, farmers-turned migrant workers from Henan
Province, happened to be passing the Jiujiang Bridge across the Xijiang
River when a barge laden with sand ran into one of the bridge's piers
causing the bridge to collapse right in the middle.

Instead of escaping to safety, the two Henan folks in their fifties
remained on the bridge to warn unsuspecting drivers, and prevent the fast
approaching vehicles from plunging into the river.

They did not tell their heroic deeds to anybody else until a local
journalist accidentally heard about their actions from Wang's daughter
four days later. When the local government awarded them 10,000 yuan
($1,316) each, they at first declined the offer, then donated the money
to primary schools in their home towns.

"We cannot take the money. It was a normal act to save those in danger.
Anybody would do the same thing," Xie said.

They are right. Many people would act the same way when faced with the
prospect of seeing another person in danger. This value of life is
intrinsic in human nature.

However, sadly not everyone would risk their own lives like Wang and Xie,
who stood on the bridge teetering on the verge of another possible
collapse.

What is more commendable is their refusal of the cash award and later
their donation of the money to support education.

Considering these are two poor men who could legitimately use the money,
this is a startling and refreshing insight into what people, at their
core, can be really like.

The two were scrap collectors. Every day, they got up at 4 am and went
home well after 10 in the evening. They were typical examples of those
struggling for a meager livelihood at the bottom of the socioeconomic
ladder.

Their behavior dwarfs anyone who sits behind the wheel of a BMW or Lexus
who abuses and bullies country folks in their way, as is often seen in
urban streets. There have been hundreds of media reports of such
outrages, most serious of which was the humiliation and affliction of a
sanitation worker by a luxury sedan driver, a private entrepreneur,
reported in this column on February 14.

In today's society, kind-heartedness and sympathy for the miserable are
still the dominant values in human relations. But there are indeed some
phenomena contradictory to these good traditions. For instance, there
have been reports of passers-by looking on apathetically while street
thugs stabbed someone to death or serious injury; and that hundreds of
villagers engaged in mass looting of unattended public or private
properties (as in a case in Nanjing reported the day before yesterday).

China is undergoing tremendous social change. New thought, attitudes and
trends are influencing everyone on all levels of the social strata.

Wang and Xie's good deed without expecting anything in return has set a
brilliant example for others.

While admiring them, we should continue to tell their story to others
across the country.

Some Netizens have even suggested erecting sculptures of the two farmers
at the Jiujiang Bridge. But others think that's going too far. I don't
think it's excessive at all. The significance of the two old folks' deeds
in safeguarding our nation's traditional ethics is no less valuable than
what past war heroes did in defending our nation's territory.

Email: liushinan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 06/27/2007 page10)

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