It's time to rebuild social trust

By Wang Linyan (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-20 11:48

It's a traditional Chinese virtue to help people without letting your name be known. But now it seems necessary to bring a TV camera and record every detail when you do a good deed. Otherwise, you might be in trouble, as in the case of one Mr Zheng in Nanjiang.

According to media reports, on a recent Monday morning, Mr Zheng arrived at the Nanjing Railway Station to take a train to Shanghai. At the station square, he saw a boy bump into a woman, who then fell to the ground.

Noticing the woman was pregnant and looked to be in pain, Mr Zheng approached her and asked if she needed to call 120 for help. The woman tried to stand up but failed. After helping her stand up, Mr Zheng was about to leave when the woman grabbed him and shouted: "You bumped me. Don't go away."

She called her husband over, who questioned Mr Zheng: "If you didn't bump her, why would you help her? There are so many people at the square, why were you the only one to be good?

The couple demanded 2,000 yuan from Mr Zheng, who had to turn to police.

Finally, the police had to check out the video tape from surveillance cameras installed at the square to find out what really had happened. And Zheng was proved to be innocent. Only at this point did the couple apologize to Mr Zheng who refused to accept their apology.

Surveillance cameras are installed to catch bad guys, but now they have become crucial in the proof of a good guy's innocence.

Mr Zheng is fortunate in that the video was available and clearly showed he had done a good deed.

Yet, the damage is already done, not only to Zheng, but also to social trust. After reading that report, who would want to help people in a similar situation?

Mr Zheng's experience could convince people that it's too much of a risk to be nice to people in need, which in turn may justify selfishness and insensitivity common in our society.

Perhaps Mr Zheng should have sued the couple for libel. This would send a strong signal to those who return kindness with ingratitude that they have to pay a price for their acts.

Years ago, I helped an elderly woman walk across the zebra line. Now I think I'm lucky that she didn't fall and accuse me of anything.

Will you offer a helping hand when you next see someone in need of help?

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