OPINION> Commentary
Merit should be basis for awards
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-01-09 07:39

Allowances should be awarded to intellectuals according to their contributions and not their academic titles, says an article in Science and Technology Daily. An excerpt follows:

It is reported the Shenzhen municipal government has laid out different preferential policies to attract talents at different levels, offering them different conditions in housing, children's education, medical care and research subsidies. An academician could get a 2-million-yuan subsidy if he or she transfers residence and workplace to the coastal city.

Such a move by the municipal government is understandable. After all, it should be a kind of social progress if government money is invested in the cultivation of badly needed talents. It is also a disgrace to a society if most of its top-ranking academicians live a miserable material life.

However, for our academicians who already enjoy admirable titles and handsome incomes, what they need most is a good environment for scientific research apart from the 2-million-yuan housing subsidy. An in-depth study should be conducted on what our intellectuals really need most before any move is taken.

Also, an academic title only represents one's past achievement, and it does not inevitably point to his or her future contribution to society. We have some intellectuals around us who are mainly devoted to acquiring top-level academic titles but not intent on time-consuming research. The real value of scientists does not lie in their past titles, but in their ability to continue innovation and contribute to society.

(China Daily 01/09/2009 page8)