China promotes late altruism icon to bring hope(2)

NEVER OUT-OF-DATE CAMPAIGN

Altruism, which was characteristic of Lei's short life, has offered ordinary Chinese a continuous and great spiritual stimulus at that time when the 1949-founded new China was striving to cope with natural disasters-generated famine and external pressure from foreign nations.

However, Lei Feng's spirit will never become out-of-date in China, according to analysts.

"The Lei Feng spirit was and is of great significance to the nation and the society," the People's Daily article said, citing President Hu Jintao.

Each time when people were saddened by undesirable social phenomena they would say "There was no Lei Feng anymore." In many people's eyes, Lei Feng has become an alternative word to a person with warm hearts.

China now is in a period of social transition with moral conditions among people differed sharply. While some people volunteer to teach in remote villages, some take pleasure in pursuing and flaunting wealth. While some broke their arms to catch a falling kid, some did nothing but watch a baby was killed alive under vehicle wheels.

That means "learning from Lei Feng" is increasingly important for modern China in terms of cultivating lofty morals among the people.

The Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee held a press conference Monday calling for starting a national campaign of "learning from Lei Feng" in a regular manner.

The campaign will help to stimulate public enthusiasm for improving own moral levels, encourage people to promote traditional morals and socialist ethics, Luo said, addressing the press conference.

Luo added that the move will also help direct Party members to cultivate their Party spirit and thus keep vanguard character and purity of the CPC, according to Luo.