Contaminated Milk Resold in China
Most thought when the dairy products company Sanlu bankrupted and the chief culprits was sentenced to death in the wake of the 2008 melamine scandals, it was safe to trust the domestic dairy producers and that melamine would be no more.
Indeed, despite the initial fears and boycotts that almost ruined dairies, consumers have returned and the dairies industry has reported a "better-than-expected" recovery according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
But that was prior to the re-emergence of melamine-contaminated dairy products on store shelves. Five companies were found to have used melamine-tainted materials that should have been destroyed in 2008.
As a result, the Chinese government has launched a 10-day market wide probe to thoroughly investigate and destroy tainted milk powders produced in 2008.
However, it's doubtful that this 10-day purge will be effective given that the authorities were ineffective when they had more than a year to investigate and destroy.
For example, the Shanghai-based Panda Dairy Co Ltd had been on the official blacklist of melamine users in the 2008 scandals. The fact that it has survived and even committed new offenses is a serious and loud alarm. And for melamine to be redistributed into the marketplace is embarrassing proof that our food safety monitoring system is not working.
10-day crackdown is for show, we need a real long-term solution to hold all offenders, not just those adding melamine to our daily milk, accountable at all times.
China to Scan Text Messages for “Unhealthy” Contents
China Mobile customers in Shanghai and Beijing will have their texting service blocked after sending obscene messages according to China Daily.
China Mobile, one of the nation’s largest cellular providers, reported that text messages would automatically be scanned for “key words” provided by the police. Messages will be deemed “unhealthy” if they violate undisclosed criteria established by the central government.
Chinese authorities say the new restrictions are necessary to root out pornography, piracy and other law-breaking activity on the Internet and in electronic communications.
According to China Daily, the police will evaluate the text messages of users suspected of transmitting unhealthy content, and during that time, China Mobile will suspend the text-messaging function for those phone numbers. If the authorities clear a user of any violation, they will issue a certificate allowing text-messaging services to be resumed, the newspaper said.
Do you think the telecommunication company have the rights to scan users' text messages?
Most Efficient Team on the Web
So I was trying to post a translation of Google's "New Approach to China" announcement on Kaixin001 (Chinese version of Facebook) yesterday.
I failed.
The first time I posted, the post vanished after 10 minutes; I thought I posted it wrong and posted it again. The post was up for 30 minutes, in which time two people forwarded my post to their friends, after which, the post and my friends' forwards vanished and there's no trace of it anywhere.
I'm not shocked that the translation got erased, I'm shocked at the speed it got erased. The team working on ensuring China's "free" Internet is mind-blowing efficient.
Chinese Cop’s Drink Death ‘In Line Of Duty’
A police officer in China has been declared a revolutionary hero after drinking himself to death at an official dinner.
Chen Lusheng, 38, a traffic policeman in the southern city of Shenzhen, "died in the line of duty" following the epic drinking bout at a dinner with officials in October, the state-run China Daily said.
Mr Chen was awarded the designation of "martyr" after his family complained that compensation offered over his death was inadequate, it said.
The status means the relatives could get more than the 360,000 yuan (£32,500) normally paid out over the death of a working sergeant.
The policeman had become notorious for his drinking ability and "became a target of the hosts, who, one by one, asked for the officer to 'gan bei'," the paper said.
"Gan bei" is Chinese for "cheers", and literally means "drain the glass".
After vomiting, Mr Chen was taken to rest on a nearby sofa where he was soon found breathless and with a purple face, the report said. He later died in hospital of suffocation.
The police officer's death was the latest in a string of casualties arising from the Chinese tradition in which officials and businessmen ply guests with strong liquor at elaborate banquets to frequent cries of "gan bei!"
A village party secretary in eastern China was found dead last month after a night of boozing with businessmen.
And a water resource official in central China died in July after excessive drinking at a formal dinner.
The state Xinhua news agency said in July that about £45bn in public funds is spent each year on official banquets.
My promise to China (if China promise to unblock Google)
I use Google to check my personal email and company email, I use it to share word documents and spreadsheets, I use it for search and read up on my favorite blogs. However, today, everything came to a grinding halt when China blocked (and still blocking) Google and its applications.
I don't care why China is blocking Google, but I'm innocent (I promise) and this punishment on Google have indirectly affected millions of people.
So here's my promise to the Chinese government if they unblock Google for me:
1. I promise NOT to search for politically sensitive keywords;
2. I promise NOT to search for "unhealthy" materials;
3. I promise NOT to search about that Gate in the middle of Beijing;
4. I promise NOT to search about that man in exile in India;
5. I promise NOT to search about that "law wheel gong";
6. Finally, I promise NOT to search for anything that might hurt the feelings of China.
OK now, would you pretty please with cherry on top, open your gate and let Google in?
Fake Gmail from China, Gmail China | Gmail 中国
Gmail China
Gmail or Google Mail is a mail service that I use everyday. So when I heard about Gmail China (Gmail 中国) I thought it's Google's email service tailored to the Chinese market. Boy was I wrong.
Gmail China is operated by "爱思美（北京）信息科技有限公司", an Internet service provider that offer services such as domain name registration and management, web hosting, website design, enterprise email service, blog service, photo service, and SNS.
Here's their copyright notice:
著作权
爱思美中国、GMAIL中国、GMAIL.CN、中国核电信息网著作权均属于爱思美（北京）信息科技有限公司（以下简称“爱思美”）。爱思美保留网站上独立拥有相关内容（包括但不限于文字、图片、音频、视频资料以及页面设计、编排、计算机软件及名称）版权和其他知识产权。商标
爱思美、ISM、Gmail、Heneng.net.cn、1997.cn 文字、字母或图形的商标或注册商标以及软件名称权受中华人民共和国著作权和商标权等知识产权保护，违反上述声明而给爱思美造成损失的，爱思美将依法追究其法律责任。
For those who can't read Chinese, the statement above simply states Gmail China, the Gmail name, the Gmail dot cn domain name, pictures and colors are copyrighted and are under the protection of the Chinese Copyright Law.
What a pile of crap!
Behind the May 1st Holiday
Tomorrow is the May 1st Holiday (五一劳动节). In China, May 1 used to mark the start of one of the country's three "Golden Weeks". However, since last year's holiday reforms, May 1 labor day went from "Golden Weeks" to "Golden Weekends".
I used to think May 1 is a socialist holiday (whatever that means) and it is only celebrated in communist countries like China, North Korea, and the former Soviet Union. However, interestingly enough, the May 1 holiday had its origin in the United States.
May 1 or International Workers' Day is the commemoration of the Haymarket Massacre in Chicago in 1886, when Chicago police fired on workers during a general strike for the eight hour day, killing a dozen demonstrators. In 1889, the first congress of the Second International, meeting in Paris for the centennial of the French Revolution and the Exposition Universelle, following a proposal by Raymond Lavigne, called for international demonstrations on the 1890 anniversary of the Chicago protests. These were so successful that May Day was formally recognized as an annual event at the International's second congress in 1891.
We take for granted our 8 hour day today but it's hard to believe that people actually died fighting for this right more than 100 years ago. So, thank you!
But, more and more people these days are getting paid for 8 hours of work but are working over 8 hours. According to a research report on China's migrant workers released by the policy research institute under the State Council, migrant workers usually put in long hours at very labor intensive jobs. Most work for more than eight hours a day and many work more than 10 hours a day. The studied showed only 13.7 percent worked for no more than eight hours a day, 40.30 percent worked eight to nine hours, 23.48 percent put in nine to 10 hours a day and 22.50 percent worked more than 10 hours. Over 85% of workers work more than 8 hours a day in China.
Zhaopin, a large job hunting site, recently conducted an online survey of 15,000 people. The survey found that approximately 40% of the respondents worked extra hours "voluntarily"; and according to a recent survey by the Chinese Medical Association of 330,000 people in 33 cities, 70 percent of the respondents complained of fatigue, insomnia and appetite disorders.
So let's not just celebrate a holiday because we get one day off, let us take this "Golden" opportunity to remember the people who died fighting for the 8 hour day and remember why they fought for it.
What I’ve learned from lunch
Lunch time is havoc time for me because I only get one hour and thousands of people are crowded into the little cafeteria where I eat. Waiting in line, waiting for my food, searching for a seat is part of my lunch experience - and I'm used to it. But something happened today that infuriated me. I went to a little stand in the cafeteria where they sell wontons (a Chinese dumpling); it is customary in this cafeteria to pay first and get your food afterwards. So I paid and waited. After a while, I realized a lot of people are waiting by the stand with angry looks on their face. It turned out that the cook couldn't do any cooking because there's no fire. So everyone is waiting by the wanton stand while the cook is literally trying to get a fire going. What infuriated me was the cashier was still yelling "try our wonton, come and get it, delicious wantons, get your wontons here!" You can't cook without a fire, why are you still trying to sell? So more people are buying wantons without knowing they won't get their food for a long time.
After living in China for 3 years, I have become more and more cynical towards China's businesses.
Chinese Business Mentality
China has two types of businesses: monopolies and non-monopolies.
Monopolies
Examples of monopolies are China Mobile, China Life Insurance, Petro China, CCTV, basically any company with China or Sino in their name is state owned and monopolistic. These companies are not worried about making a sale because customers have to choose them in order to use their cell phone, get gas, watch TV, or get insurance. The characteristics of these monopolies are bad internal organization (wasteful and proud of it) and bad service (we don't give a damn and proud of it.) These organizations are on the Fortune 500 list not because they are excellent companies but because they make tons of money by being monopolistic. That's why the Chinese governments have limitations on foreign companies' business in China because if those companies have full access to China's market, those state-owned companies cannot compete. With the government backing them, these monopolies treat customers like dirt, as if they are doing the customers a favor.
Non-monopolies
These companies either lack money (like small businesses) or have loads of money but not as rich as the monopolies. These two types of businesses gain their profits by working hard (a small minority), or cutting corners. Making a profit is every company's priority, but to some, greed overcomes and results in doing unethical things.
Cutting corners
I don't need to say too much about how Chinese companies are cutting corners. Real-estate developers cut corners when deciding on what materials to buy to build their building; milk producers cut corners by putting poison in the milk; food companies put poisons in their food and sell them to consumers, the list goes on and on. Businesses cut corners to save money and saving money translates to make money. Look at Mengniu, one of China's largest milk producers. Mengniu and Yili almost have a monopoly in Northern China, but they still cut corners to make a profit. Even after businesses in China bailed Mengniu (a public traded company) out to prevent a hostile take over, it still can't produce clean milk. Why? I think it's because of unethical leaders and greed.
All businesses exhibit these problems
Yes, all businesses have these problems, even in the United States (Enron, Worldcom) and Europe, but it seems to me China exhibits these problems more abundantly. So why? China constantly talks about "the rule of law" but that's not the case. For example, Sanlu, the milk producer infamous for producing baby powders contaminated with melamine, the rule of law didn't stop them from producing poisonous milk for 6 months; the New Zealand government had to tell the Chinese government about Sanlu's wrong doing, after which, the Chinese government took its time (after the Olympic is over of course) to act. Bad seeds are everywhere, but some government can clear those bad seeds while others can't.
In conclusion
Not all businesses practices in China are unethical, but there are a lot of unethical business practices in China. Those known gets reprimanded by the government while those hidden are still reaping the benefits from the government. In my opinion, most businesses in China still do not know how to establish a long-term and mutually beneficial relationship with their customers. Perhaps this is because the current Chinese market (with Chinese characteristics) does not allow them to do so, or because making money fast is their only priority. However, this is for sure, in the future, these multibillion companies will crumble if they still take for granted their customers because they believe the government or cutting corners is all that matters.
有占座的, 排队有占位的, 第一次遇到占电梯的.
今天吃完中午饭, 回办公室的路上, 刚进入电梯准备上楼, 两个40多岁的女的就跟上来, 站在电梯门口不动了, 开始说话. 为什么你问, 因为她们有个朋友正在停车, 她们为朋友占电梯. OK, 我忍了, 你朋友能快点吗我想. 等了快30 秒, 没人来, 两个女的也不说声不好意思, 也不用傍边的另外一个电梯, 就好像没其他人似的, 叽里呱啦说着话. 我有点怒了, 我就说 "你们能等另外一趟吗, 让我们先上去?" 其中一个女的就出了电梯找朋友去了, 另外一个依然守在电梯门口不让电梯关门. 真是不可思议, 天底下既然有这样的人, 这些没素质的为了不浪费自己的时间就浪费大家的时间. 我看不下去了, 转身走出电梯, 看了看那看门的狗, 心里想我情愿爬六楼也不多看你一眼.
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