Daily Lessons from Life 15 August 2010 - 30 city officials ordered to withdraw from club

"30 city officials ordered to withdraw from club - Sun, Aug 15, 2010 China Daily/Asia News Network

SHANGHAI - More than 30 government officials have been ordered to withdraw their membership of a luxurious golf club in the wealthy eastern city of Wenzhou following a torrent of online criticism.

Authorities in Wenzhou in East China's Zhejiang province have launched an investigation into the city's social groups and non-governmental organizations in a bid to clean up any potential government involvement in the wake of this scandal."

The entrepreneurs of Wenzhou is reputed to be the best in China. They are the ones who moved the property price of China! They are found all over the world now too! They are the most successful group of business people in China.

So, it is hardly surprising to find this type of juicy news in Wenzhou. The surprise really is that it took that long to be reported or headlined!

Lessons for me are:

1. the government officials have no business to be in this luxurious golf club. At least not on their normal earning. They should have known better. The fact that they have the gall to have their names in this Club meant that they must have thought their senior leadership do not mind since the city is very successful in meeting the quotas for growth in GDP, tax receipts, custom duties, etc!!;

2. it also meant that this is just another publicity stunt by the Central government or the authority in Zhejiang Province where Wenzhou is supervised. Does it matter to the business people? I don't think they care. Do the people can? None will bother too as long as they are having a good life! Such is the 'I am ok and you are ok' mentality of the business people!!;

3. where does this 'action against corruption' lead to? If the people are not oppressed or exploited, nobody care really. If there are corruption, will the authority goes all the way to prosecute those committed the crimes against the laws and the interest of the ordinary citizens? If not, the credibility of the authority will be questioned and dissent will build up. Maybe now the dissidents can be silenced. However, eventually, when the corruption too wide spread, when the innocent people be exploited become desperate, maybe the most dreaded word: "revolution" will become popular again!!

An interesting news. Will it lead to any profound change? That is the question people want to know. It is also a question where the answer will not be found in the next 2-3 years! Maybe in 10 years!