Strongest voices of 2009 reveal people's priorities

• Source: Global Times
• [03:53 January 05 2010]
• Comments

By Wu Meng

On Saturday, results of the survey "the strongest voices of 2009" was declared.

Over 20 million voted for CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee Secretary Bo Xilai, who, during the crackdown on gangs that triggered shock waves, remarked, "Law enforcement officials should be able to control themselves, scare the gangsters and help the people."

A close second is Zhao Huiling, chief of State Council Office for Rectifying, who made the point that if small things don't get sorted out properly for ordinary people, they won't be able to enjoy their life.

A glance at the Top 10 in the list clearly shows that what the public desire, respect and look forward to most are the "little things" of daily life.

A clear and effective two-way interaction system, wherein government responds promptly to people's urgent needs and wishes, is of utmost importance. Surprisingly, the number of new skyscrapers, or last year's GDP growth rate, which the government seems to put most emphasis on, is not of much consequence to the general public.

In the past year, interaction between the government and the people played an important role in taking society forward.

In a survey conducted by the Ministry of Health, in 2009, people are most satisfied with the government's reaction, policies and measures related to fighting A (H1N1) flu.

The timely preventive measures, high transparency in publicizing the figures and a decisive emergency plan were credible and earned trust. More than just one case shows that ordinary people's awareness of judging the government's performance has been getting stronger over the last decade. There were expressions of satisfaction, dissatisfaction, and expectations of a better future.

Providing people with effective channels to express opinions is an opportunity for the authorities to enable fair judgment of their performance.

We hope that more voices against corruption and for improvement of livelihood will gain in strength and become an unwritten rule of self-discipline for more officials.

We hope that the problems and loopholes in housing, education, healthcare and public security systems will be addressed and remedied.

We hope that officials at all levels will provide more strong voices and fewer shocking comments for the people to review at the end of the next few years.

Looking back at the strongest voices of 2009 not only clarifies the premises essential for future social progress, but reveals people's expectations. Only by publicizing the strongest voices do strongest actions become a possibility.