Outrage as bleeding China toddler left on street

[galvatron]

Outrage as bleeding China toddler left on street


BEIJING, October 17, 2011 (AFP) - More than a dozen passers-by ignored a two-year-old girl as she lay critically injured on a street in southern China after being run over twice, the official Xinhua news agency said Monday.

The incident has sparked outrage on China's hugely popular social media sites.

Surveillance cameras showed a series of people walk past the girl, named Yue Yue, after she was hit first by a van and then a truck outside her family's shop in the southern Chinese city of Foshan.

Xinhua said a rubbish collector who finally came to the girl's aid, moving her to the curb and shouting for help, was ignored by several shopkeepers before he finally tracked down her mother who took her to hospital.

In response, one netizen on Sina Weibo, a Chinese micro-blog similar to Twitter, wrote: "This society is seriously ill. Even cats and dogs shouldn't be treated so heartlessly."

But others linked the incident to an earlier case in which a man who tried to help an elderly woman after she fell over was prosecuted, apparently because his intervention broke government rules on dealing with accident victims.

Doctors said Yue Yue was in a coma and unlikely to survive the ordeal.

"She would not be able to survive any operations. She's very close to brain death," a spokesman for the hospital treating her told AFP.

Police have detained the drivers of both vehicles involved in the incident, Xinhua said.
Link
http://www.mysinchew.com/node/65254

See also
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3e-O3r2iYw

The Child have died according to the news from youtube.
What happen to those people who pass by?

[Trien Chieu]

The two drivers deserve harsh sentence for hit and run.
Wow, it's suck that the man who tried to help an elderly woman got prosecuted. What kind of law is it? That man should be praised for doing the right thing instead of got prosecuted. No wonder people ignored it. I guess they do not want to get prosecuted for doing the right thing. Nothing will happen to those people who passed by, they simply see no wrong and do no wrong.

[Ken Cheng]

Whether it's Confucians, Legalists, or Communists calling the shots in Chinese society, that society's capacity for shameless "look the other way"-ism is unparalleled in the world.

[ROI]

Trying to link this to that another case where a man was prosecuted for helping obscures the real problem. This goes deeper than just a fear of getting sued. A child just got run over for crying out loud. People were acting as if nothing happened. No one could at least look for the parents or call for help? Or even just stop traffic so she doesn't get run over again?

[Dirt]

Taiwan was pretty similar back in the day. I couldn't say if China will find it's moral, social compass anytime soon.

So far as good samaritan thing is concerned, there's a reason the USA has a "good samaritan" law.

[Ken Cheng]

Taiwan was pretty similar back in the day. I couldn't say if China will find it's moral, social compass anytime soon.

So far as good samaritan thing is concerned, there's a reason the USA has a "good samaritan" law.

At least in the US, the need for such a law was recognized, enacted, and then enforced.

In China, it would get you a confused, blank stare, and then a question of, "Why is such a law necessary?"

It's not even just a matter of law and government...it's the (barely existent) philosophical underpinnings of the Chinese cultural worldview. Nothing in the history of China's social development suggests that Chinese civilization has ever regarded human lives as valuable in of themselves. It's a concept alien to Chinese culture.

[Cesare]

What was that about seeds of virtues in all men and a child falling into a well, Mencius? ;-p :-]

Nothing in the history of China's social development suggests that Chinese civilization has ever regarded human lives as valuable in of themselves. It's a concept alien to Chinese culture.

Chinese culture makes a lot of sense in this regard (though it does generate a somewhat ...hostile environment to function in).

[Trien Chieu]

Whether it's Confucians, Legalists, or Communists calling the shots in Chinese society, that society's capacity for shameless "look the other way"-ism is unparalleled in the world.

This is Communism/Marxism at its purest form. Confucianism and legalism would not accept such behavior.

[Ken Cheng]

This is Communism/Marxism at its purest form. Confucianism and legalism would not accept such behavior.

Yes, they would, and therein lies the problem: it's not a specific political or governmental doctrine that led to the current state of affairs, but Chinese social development (beyond politics) as it's unfolded over thousands of years.

[Trien Chieu]

Yes, they would, and therein lies the problem: it's not a specific political or governmental doctrine that led to the current state of affairs, but Chinese social development (beyond politics) as it's unfolded over thousands of years.

Ken, what would you do knowing you can get into big trouble for doing the right thing?
This is a comment from someone live in Mainland China:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...#disqus_thread
As a Hong Kongese having lived in Chinese mainland for quite some time (20 years), let me tell you why this is happening.

It dates back to 2006 in Nanking. On the morning of November 20th, a 65-year-old woman Xu Shoulan had fallen and injured herself at a bus stop. A man, Peng Yu, helped her up and then, upon her requests, took her to the hospital. The old woman then blamed him and claimed that he had run into her. Peng Yu resolutely denied this. The old woman sued him for 130,000 RMB of medical cost.

After four trials, the judge ruled that since he admitted to being the first person to get off the bus, and in accordance with COMMON SENSE ("if you hadn't run into her, why did you help her up?"), there was a GREATER probability that he had run into the old woman, and so he was ordered to compensate her over 45,000 RMB.

It's not that mainland people have no sympathy over those in need. The reason why mainlanders are reluctant to help is because of FEAR OF BEING FRAMED FOR GOOD INTENTIONS. If you try to step up and help, people will kindly tell you not to, because "it will stick to your hands". After several incidents of this kind most people say that if they were at the scene, they would create the “evidence of being innocent” (for example, video evidence showing they are not the one who caused the accident) and at the same time step up and help.

FYI, this is not a one-off case and is now a TREND.

Do you want to become another Peng Yu?
For me, hell no. I would never want to become another Peng Yu. If you carry the girl out of the harm way and call the police the judge can charge you with his f-up common sense, you life would be screw. If you call the police and leave the girl there, the judge can charge you for not taking the girl out of the harm way, your life again would be screw. Either way, trying to do the right thing could f-up your life pretty badly, would you do it? or just walk away and "See no wrong and do no wrong". I blame it on those f-up judges. Ken, do some research on Peng Yu Nanjing, you will see what I am talking about.

[Dimeron]

Whether it's Confucians, Legalists, or Communists calling the shots in Chinese society, that society's capacity for shameless "look the other way"-ism is unparalleled in the world.

There is an official name for this. It is called the bystander effect.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bystander_effect

Aka human apathy at its worst, and it is seen all over the world. Just last year a homeless man in New York was stabbed to death after he was defending a woman from being mugged. He bleed to death and no one bothered to help him. One guy stopped to take a picture of him with his cell phone, but didn't bother to call the authorities.

[PJ]

A child just got run over for crying out loud. People were acting as if nothing happened. No one could at least look for the parents or call for help? Or even just stop traffic so she doesn't get run over again?

Passersby are thinking:

Will helping the child make me more money? No.

Will it get me a beautiful wife? Maybe, if they had a heart, but there aren't many left.

Will it get me the latest Calvin Kleins sunglasses? Probably not.

Then it's of no interest to the average consumerist, opportunistic person of China.

[PJ]

Also not encouraging altruism are stories where altruism gets screwed. Consider the story of a goodwilled person who saw an old lady get hit by a car, and helped her get to the hospital. When they got there, she claimed it was he who hit her.

[Trien Chieu]

PJ, people aren't that selfish in China. I think most people would love to help but do not want to become another Peng Yu of Nanjing. If you were in their shoes, you would do the same. I blame those f-up judges for the whole situation.

[Ken Cheng]

There is an official name for this. It is called the bystander effect.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bystander_effect

Aka human apathy at its worst, and it is seen all over the world. Just last year a homeless man in New York was stabbed to death after he was defending a woman from being mugged. He bleed to death and no one bothered to help him. One guy stopped to take a picture of him with his cell phone, but didn't bother to call the authorities.

"Bystander effect" did not originate with nor is it unique to China, but what is unfortunately *very* Chinese is the tendency to accept such situations as given and attempting to rationalize/justify/excuse such behavior. In other societies, people are also quite capable of being immobilized by bystander effect, but in those other societies, those who fail to act at least feel guilty/ashamed and are decried by their society for failing to act. China? We Chinese pat those people on the shoulder and say, "Good thinking!"

It's that attitude that needs to change.

[Guo Xiang]

"Bystander effect" did not originate with nor is it unique to China, but what is unfortunately *very* Chinese is the tendency to accept such situations as given and attempting to rationalize/justify/excuse such behavior. In other societies, people are also quite capable of being immobilized by bystander effect, but in those other societies, those who fail to act at least feel guilty/ashamed and are decried by their society for failing to act. China? We Chinese pat those people on the shoulder and say, "Good thinking!"

It's that attitude that needs to change.

I read that there are actually some online commentators that criticised the woman who helped the girl as "attention-seeking". Something is seriously wrong.

[Cesare]

BTW - how does the health care in China work, exactly? Isn't whoever calls the ambulance risking that they will have to pay for the expenses? That sort of thing can cost a lot in China, from what I have heard. (Luckily, my health served me well and I encountered no accidents during my 10 months there, so I have no direct experience.)

I guess 20th century crises and transformations might have left their mark. The disintegration of traditional relationships and value system during Mao's era - and following economic transformation that has more or less destroyed the communist collectivist spirit as well (Wang Jie or Lei Feng are a joke these days) - have left Chinese people in a sort of ethic/moral vacuum where money is one of the very few things you can rely on.

[Ken Cheng]

BTW - how does the health care in China work, exactly? Isn't whoever calls the ambulance risking that they will have to pay for the expenses? That sort of thing can cost a lot in China, from what I have heard. (Luckily, my health served me well and I encountered no accidents during my 10 months there, so I have no direct experience.)

I guess 20th century crises and transformations might have left their mark. The disintegration of traditional relationships and value system during Mao's era - and following economic transformation that has more or less destroyed the communist collectivist spirit as well (Wang Jie or Lei Feng are a joke these days) - have left Chinese people in a sort of ethic/moral vacuum where money is one of the very few things you can rely on.

It's easy to lay it all at the feet of the Maoists, and indeed, they *were* a part of it...but they didn't invent these problems. They aggravated one that had already been there for thousands of years.

It's especially a shame because supposedly, originally, Communism was going to be China's path away from that kind of mentality. Unfortunately, Communism only reinforced those old flaws.

[Cesare]

I think it was rather that rapid transition from hardcore maoism to hardcore capitalism that brought out the darker aspects of Chinese mentality. And I am not putting all blame on Maoists, as you might have noticed...;-p

[Trien Chieu]

BTW - how does the health care in China work, exactly? Isn't whoever calls the ambulance risking that they will have to pay for the expenses? That sort of thing can cost a lot in China, from what I have heard. (Luckily, my health served me well and I encountered no accidents during my 10 months there, so I have no direct experience.)

I read some blog and that is what many people saying. The one who called the ambulance must pay for the expense if the victim or his/her family unable to pay. Also, if you call the ambulance or health the victim and the victim accuse you, it's like likely that you will be convicted by the court with their f-up reasoning. Before accusing the bystanders, put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself whether you want to be another Peng Yu of Nanjing. If the US/Canada have such system, people wouldn't want to be another Peng Yu either and would do the same. If China wants their citizens to change, the law of the land must change accordingly. The current system really discourage people from doing the right thing.