Heroes worshipped Villains vilified

Hero of the week

Atikem Ruzi, frustrated traveller

Atikem Ruzi, a 21-year-old sophomore who ignored suggestions from her teachers to keep quiet about the Beijing Exit-Entry Administration Department's refusal to give her a passport, and stood up for her legal rights.

Ruzi took to Weibo and then spoke to a reporter to defend her right to travel overseas, noting that she had broken no laws and been convicted of no crime.

Her class monitor told her to go to meet with her teachers, who spent 45 minutes talking to her about her problem, and advised her to use Weibo less often. She bravely spoke to a reporter, and ended up with her story in a national newspaper. In doing so, she drew attention to the different hoops for getting a passport that people who grew up in different areas must jump through.

Her story sparked a national conversation on whether the passport procedure is fair for all Chinese citizens. Ruzi's insistence on using the law as her reference point and not being bullied by low-level authorities should be an example for all of us.

Villain of the week

Bijie local government

Here is the level of insensitivity local authorities have shown: a month after five boys died in a dumpster in Bijie, Guizhou Province, a warning was spray-painted on 12 dumpsters: "People and livestock are forbidden from entering; enter at your own risk."

On November 16, five boys were found dead in a dumpster. Later investigations concluded that the boys died of carbon monoxide poisoning after they made a fire inside to keep themselves warm.

You would think that the deaths of five boys in such a way would prompt authorities to reflect on caring for those children whose parents have left to work far away and left them to be cared for by their grandparents.

But apparently, in order to prevent such tragedies from happening again, some officials believed the best way is to warn children and animals(!) to stay away from dumpsters was to issue a disclaimer.

After the warning caused anger online, high officials promptly issued an apology filled with bureaucratic clichés and hollow big words, and criticized those below them for the offensive message.