Exception should be the norm

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Opinion / Raymond Zhou

Exception should be the norm

By Raymond Zhou (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-08-11 05:07

The Internet is a mind-boggling platform when it comes to communication.
Perfect strangers can meet there and conduct meaningful conversations,
which may lead to special relationships and, in some cases, even marriage.

This week, a 32-year-old Chong-qing resident sent an e-mail to the Party
secretary of the municipality, and soon got a response from the leading
official of this province-level administration. One more exchange later,
he was summoned to a face-to-face meeting with both the secretary and the
mayor.

This was widely reported by the press and dissected from every angle by
pundits. But what does it really mean?

Du Shulin, the netizen, had submitted a 10-point proposal on how to build
up his hometown - this vast municipality that incorporates a downtown
metropolis and large swathe of countryside. He did it in answer to Party
Secretary Wang Yang's call for good ideas.

What made it special, it seems, was that Wang took the trouble to respond
and then meet him for further dialogue; and what made it newsworthy was
the identity of this "ordinary citizen" - a netizen nonetheless.

This cannot hold water, though. If he had sent in his proposal via
telephone or post, this would probably be buried in the local paper and
never picked up by others. And what's so special about being a netizen?

Suffice it to say, China's online population is a skewed reflection of
the general public. But as it grows to 162 million strong, it is losing
more and more of its uniqueness as a demographic. In other words, this
would not have moved more quills of appreciation than necessary if the
official already had regular channels of communication with his citizenry.

However, we must remember that the Internet has taken on an irreplaceable
role when it comes to mass rejection of unpopular policies. When another
city planned to build a facility of potential chemical hazard in close
proximity to residential districts, it was the Internet that allowed
citizens to aggregate their voices and ultimately block the project from
turning into a local nightmare.

In my understanding, the Internet is just icing on the cake for regular
government-citizen communication. If an official picks the brains of only
a select group, e-mail suggestions are not going to pile up on his desk.
But if he makes an extreme move that offends a significant portion of the
populace, the Internet - and to some extent, mobile short messaging - can
give voice to the public that otherwise cannot be heard.

The Chongqing official deserves plaudits for his willingness for citizen
brainstorming. While it is unrealistic for an official of his stature to
sit down and talk to everyone who sends in advice, a public official
should have a mechanism to hear out public opinion.

Letters and e-mails should be sorted and forwarded to the right
departments. They should be categorized: those that require immediate
action should be effectively addressed, and those that cannot be solved
should be explained to the sender. Issues of mass interest should be
publicized in the media to raise awareness.

There is an undertone to the national media's hyping of the Chongqing
story: People extol what that official did because it was extraordinary.
He went out of his way to welcome public opinion. If most officials were
open to such grassroots input, the story would not have much news value.

So, it is important to turn an exception, more or less, into a norm. Yes,
some officials know how to reach out and talk to their constituents, but
others should see them as role models and make an effort to improve
discourse with those they serve. Social harmony is only possible when
public has a say in the decision-making at city hall.

(China Daily 08/11/2007 page4)

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