Reactive, or Prioritising?

One week ago, 58 people died when a Shanghai apartment building caught fire. The cause of the fire was shoddy renovation work being carried out by unlicensed workers, but the wider consequence of the fire has been immediate:

• My apartment building has suddenly got fire prevention and fire emergency posters highlighting the precautions to avoid fires and the emergency actions to deal with the discovery of a fire
  

• My office building now has smart new signs to show the locations of the fire extinguishers and fire evacuation lighting is being installed
  

A cynic might say that this is another example of China's reactionary government which tends to only take a problem seriously once it has made headlines (SARS, Baby Milk, Food Standards, Coal Mine disasters, etc).

But a more sympathetic view is that China has SO many things to fix, and SO many things on its "to do" list that it really can't win.

China's airports, China's railways, China's urban planning are all as good as anywhere in the world (and arguably the best). China is clearly focussing its considerable efforts and cash reserves on initiatives and projects that regenerate, create future wealth potential and catch up with the basic structural infrastructure that the developed economies built over 100 years ago.

So having pondered on this, I am of the view that this terrible tragedy is probably more a victim of the latter than the former. However, as China matures it needs to realise that the country's "software" needs to catch up with the "hardware"...and this starts at school. Only a fundamental reassessment of what is taught, and how it is taught, in Chinese schools will start the sea change of social responsibility and accountability that this country needs so badly. Common sense curriculum items such as fire prevention, road safety and sex education (all seemingly absent currently) would be a good start.

Will it happen? Maybe one day. But sadly not as quickly as the time it takes to build another new airport.

Two Worlds in One - but for how long?

The picture below, taken in the recently opened luxury brand mall San Li Tun North in Beijing, captures the unique consequence of rapid economic growth in China today


WIth the backdrop of a pristine Armani store, an elderly couple enjoy evening Tai Chi, seemingly unaware that their surroundings have changed unrecognisably in just a few short years. I suspect that this couple have been performing Tai Chi in this street for decades, but they, and millions others like them, have largely missed the wave of prosperity sweeping the country. With their savings wiped out by inflation in the 1990's, many elderly Chinese resent the changes that have transformed their country and remember fondly the days when everyone was equal.



But for good or for bad, those days are now a fading memory for some and mere history book stuff for the wealthy young target audience of Armani. Gradually, sights like this will be lost from urban China as the older generations pass away, and China's traditional social group activities like Tai Chi become irrelevant.

China will be poorer as a result, no matter how wealthy the county becomes.