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Gao crash is wakeup call for celebrities

(China Daily)
Updated: 2011-05-12 07:57

Pop singer Gao Xiaosong crashed his SUV into three vehicles in Dongzhimen on Monday night when he was drunk. Do you think he and other celebrities will really take this as a lesson?

We should not tolerate this behavior. Celebrities have more influence than us normal people and should receive much more severe punishments. I remembered movie actor Zhou Jie once drove into a Beijing taxi while drunk and then ran away. What a coward. It's not just a traffic accident; it's about human lives. No one will complain if the laws get stricter. To solve this long-time headache, it needs strict regulation and enforcement, but on the other hand legal means are never sufficient in dealing with drunken driving, which needs constant media attention, as well as self-discipline of every individual. It's such a shame that people no longer care about losing mianzi, or "face", when it comes to traffic rules. You can see people don't wait for the traffic lights to change or jump lines pretending nothing has happened. I'm really fed up with that.

Beijing authorities plan to relocate up to 1 million low-income "mouse tribe" residents from former civil air defense shelters this year due to safety concerns. What do you think?

I'm very sympathetic. The underground environment is totally unsuitable for people to live in. It's just because they can't afford to live somewhere better. Sadly, that's what Beijing is facing today, especially as the city grows bigger. Government figures show the city is a giant with an amazing population of more than 19.6 million. I think the real figure could be more than that, as people are still flooding in from everywhere. Anyway, it has already surpassed capacity. Most of these "mouse tribe" resident are doing low-end service jobs to make ends meet. Beijingers are people who care about "face". They would prefer to earn just 2,000 yuan renting out their homes than do labor work and be looked down on, so jobs like running snack shops or small bicycle repair shops are left to these "mouse tribe" residents. They work very long hours and are under a lot of stress. We can't live without them.

Want the inside track from METRO's talkative taxi driver Dou Keying? E-mail your questions to metrobeijing@chinadaily.com.cn.

(China Daily 05/12/2011 page)