Two incidents that reflect the mood of mainland society
從新年兩宗新聞 看內地社情民意
文章日期:2017年3月10日

雙語社評齊齊聽

英語 (足本收聽)

普通話 (足本收聽)

【明報專訊】IN mainland China, the Chinese New Year holiday period just past saw two social events that caused an uproar on the Internet. The kind of social discussion triggered by the two pieces of breaking news — which was full of mood swings, vociferous and charged with emotions — is a reflection of the restlessness, distorted values and pervasive atmosphere of grievance and hatred of today's mainland society, which is worthy of the authorities' serious contemplation.

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在剛剛過去的農曆新年假期中,內地有兩宗社會新聞在網絡上引起了軒然大波。從這兩宗突發事件在民間引起的討論峰迴路轉,劇情一波三折,口水四射,情緒激烈,折射出內地社會人心浮躁,價值觀扭曲,瀰漫嚴重的怨氣戾氣,值得當局認真反思。

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On the afternoon of 29th January, which was the second day of the new Chinese Year, a man who came from Hubei but worked in Zhejiang visited the Ningbo Youngor Zoo with his family. He bought tickets for his wife and two children, which were 150 yuan each for adults and half the price for children. But to save money for himself, he climbed over two walls, which were three metres in height, and crawled through the wire fence, paying no regard for the warning — "Wild animals inside, do not climb over". Having jumped onto a hill of lions and tigers, he was mauled by a tiger, which would not let go of him. Security guards and police arrived and took him back from the tiger, but he was pronounced dead in hospital. The tiger was shot dead during the rescue efforts.

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年初二(1月29日)下午,在浙江打工的一名湖北男子攜家人到寧波雅戈爾動物園遊玩,他在為妻子和兩名孩子購買了門票(成人每張150元人民幣,小童半價)後,自己為省錢,爬過動物園兩道3米高的圍牆,鑽過鐵絲網,不顧「內有猛獸,禁止翻越」的警示標識,跳入獅虎山,結果被一隻老虎咬住不放,保安和警察趕到將他解救下來,但送院已告不治,而施救過程中特警將那隻咬人老虎開槍擊斃。

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A travel safety accident that seemed straightforward, it, however, became a topic of heated discussion on the Internet. Not long after the accident, it emerged that the man was trying to evade fare, and the good wishes and compassion turned into denunciation and verbal abuses. Soon afterwards, it became known that the deceased was a low-status worker earning just several thousand yuan a month, and was the breadwinner of the family. During the Chinese New Year holiday, he took his wife and children to the zoo. But he was really reluctant to pay 150 yuan for a ticket for himself, and chose to climb over the fence. The tide of opinion turned again, with the zoo being accused of overcharging tourists, making frequent price rises, obtaining the site from the government at a low cost and failing to have adequate protective facilities in place. Shouts of "collusion between the government and business" and "tyranny is even fiercer than a tiger" reverberated through the cyber world.

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這宗看似簡單的旅遊安全意外,卻成了內地網上的熱門話題。事發不久,當死者是為逃票而命喪虎口的真相被揭發後,網上輿論就從祝福、同情,變成了譴責和咒罵。不久後,當死者身世被揭發是一名卑微打工仔,月入不過數千元,是家中經濟支柱,過年帶妻兒來遊玩,因實在不捨得150元門票錢才攀牆逃票,劇情又再反轉,動物園被指門票奇貴,頻頻加價,獲政府低價批地,防護設施又不足夠,一時「官商勾結」,甚至「苛政猛於虎」的調子又衝上雲霄。

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Some might say that the politicisation of the mauling was an outburst of emotion. But the opinions expressed online regarding the killing of a policeman must be a true reflection of the political reality on the mainland. On 27th January, the Chinese New Year Eve, Qu Yuquan, a civil policeman in Harbin, went to a karaoke bar to mediate in an argument after receiving a report. He was beaten to death with a brick. His wife, a nurse on duty in a hospital, insisted that she had to stay in the hospital until her colleague was there to sit in for her. She rushed to her husband afterwards, but it was already too late. The story of a policeman who died when performing his duty and a responsible nurse is indeed a heart-rending one. But after the incident happened, many netizens called it "uplifting" instead, praising the killer as a "hero". Last week two netizens in Guangzhou and Nanning were arrested one after another for "insults to police".

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如果說老虎咬死人事件的政治化還屬情緒宣泄的話,對警察被殺的網上輿情就是內地政治現實的真實反映。年三十晚(1月27日),哈爾濱市民警曲玉權在接到一間KTV報警後前往調解糾紛時遇襲,被人用磚頭襲擊致死。他任護士的太太在醫院當值時接獲丈夫受傷的消息後,堅持等頂班同事來到後才趕到丈夫身邊,但為時已晚。一名殉職的警察和一名盡職的護士,本來是一個感人故事,但事發後網上卻有不少網民表示「大快人心」,讚殺警者是「英雄」,以至上周廣州、南寧先後有兩名網民因「辱警」罪名被拘捕。

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Even if some opinions on the Internet are no more than verbal abuses, outbursts of emotions or sensationalisation, the authorities cannot turn a blind eye to them just because they are not rational. They should not treat opposing views as a danger and prosecute people for what they say without good reason. The authorities should instead turn netizens' attention on hot issues into a chance to develop citizens' civil awareness so as to build a mechanism for the public's more mature participation in public affairs in a gradual affair.

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即使網上輿論有謾罵宣泄、藉機炒作,但當局既不可因為網上言論欠缺理性,就置諸不理;更不應把逆耳之言視作洪水猛獸,動輒以言入罪;而是不妨把網民對熱點事件的關注,當作公民意識的演練,並以此逐步打造對公共議題更加成熟的大眾參與機制。

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明報社評2017.02.06

Presented by lecturers of Hong Kong Community College, PolyU and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Ms CHAN, Zoe Ka-ling

Lecturer

www.hkcc-polyu.edu.hk/staff_directory/language_communication/CHAN,_Zoe_Ka-ling-82.html

王翔

講師

www.hkcc-polyu.edu.hk/staff_directory/language_communication/WANG,_Iris_Xiang-342.html

【Bilingual Editorial】