月饼福利(yue bing fu li): Moon cake benefit

This Mid-Autumn Day Festival, many government organs and State-owned enterprises (SOEs) did not give their employees moon cakes or any other festival bonus in accordance with the central leadership’s austerity drive and anti-corruption campaign.

In the past, festival bonuses were often a ruse for corruption. For instance, some government departments gifted certain employees “gifts” for Spring Festival that were worth several months’ salary. Some SOEs offered their top executives traveling packages. And moon cakes, a delicacy savored during Mid-Autumn Festival, were used as an excuse to extend excessively high festival bonus in the form of vouchers, which could also be cashed or used to buy other things.

Such benefits and bonuses have now disappeared thanks to the intensified drive against corruption. Along with them, it seems, has also disappeared the tradition of gifting real moon cakes during Mid-Autumn Festival. As a result, some people are complaining that their employers have taken away their “rightful benefits” on the pretext of following the anti-corruption campaign.

For many grassroots civil servants, who have little or no chance of seeking or getting bribes, a few moon cakes were a form of festive greeting from their departments. People find it difficult to accept that their benefits have been curbed. Though moon cakes are not worth much, seeing their benefits being taken away makes people feel cheated.

The existing norm for festival bonus is not standardized. Government offices could give officials bonus, if they want to, using taxpayers’ money. The lack of transparency has led to not only corruption, but also monumental waste. Over the past few years, prices of moon cakes had shot through the roof because of the unregulated vouchers circulating in the market.

Cutting all festival benefits, irrespective of whether they are reasonable or not, may not be a good idea in the long run. The solution, therefore, is to design a comprehensive and transparent budget system that shows detailed salary and benefit standards. There won’t be so much debate if moon cakes are given purely as festive greetings.