Serve the officials, what about the people?
- Source: Global Times
- [03:35 January 21 2010]
- Comments
By Wu Meng
Located in a peaceful wetland park of Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, a luxurious all-in-one "Countryside Club House" has, of late, been attracting a lot of customers. Although it has been open only for two months now, its earnings are astonishing.
The restaurant made at least 1.8 million yuan ($142,090) within two months from the authorities of Huishan development zone in the city.
When netizens raised questions about this huge spending by the authorities, Wang Zhiying, chief of the Party and Administration Office of the Huishan development zone government, responded, "There is nothing to be questioned. The reason for the Communist Party opening a restaurant is to serve the high officials. The higher the standard of the service, the better it is."
This is not surprising news. Neither the beautiful scenery nor the restaurant standard is new to most readers. The only thing that does surprise, probably, is the official's response, which reveals the luxurious lifestyle of high government officials.
When various media outlets reported the news, a lot of them chose "Serve the officials" as the heading for the item. The incident and the official's reaction to questions raised by it exposed the attitude and mindset of those in government jobs, and how much they take things for granted.
After hearing the news, out of curiosity, some people went to the club in an attempt to experience the high standard of service at the place. To their great surprise, the waiter outside told them bluntly that it is a special club open only to officials and their guests; and, that ordinary people do not have the right to be served in the restaurant.
Judging by the 1.8 million yuan earned in two months, the yearly spending in this club along by the local officials would be more than 10 million yuan ($1.46 million). But, where does the money come from? Is it from the taxpayers? In that case, taxpayers – who essentially paid for the extravagant dinners – have the right to know and to experience the service supported by their money.
This case of outrageous spending of public funds is not an isolated one. It is reported that since 2004, governments at all levels spend over 70 billion yuan ($10.25 billion) of public funds on cars, travel and banquets every year. The figure touched 90 billion yuan ($13.17 billion) in 2008. Although pressure from the public and the central government can restrain such excesses, it is impossible to stop it altogether.
The reason is that many officials still believe that what they want is most important. But what of their vow – made when joining the Party – to serve the people?
"I know that the annual income of 60 percent of the people is below the figure published. The average amount is increased by the income of the privileged elites."
