Nanfang Insider | Life in the PRD

Pregnant woman injured after being hit on the head by falling kitchen knife

Posted: 06/18/2013 11:00 am

As we told you in March, there are some phenomena in the Pearl River Delta that may cause us to meet our maker no matter how vigilant we are.

Add to the list objects falling from tall buildings, although on this occasion the victim looks likely to pull through.

At around 9 a.m. on Sunday (June 16) a pregnant woman was walking through a residential complex in Shenzhen when a kitchen knife fell from an upper-storey balcony, landing on her head and sliding down to her hand, Jiangsu Television reports. The victim, Mrs. Wang, is recovering in hospital.

Wang’s mother, Mrs Luo, told reporters at Peking University Hospital in Shenzhen, the knife cut a tendon in her middle finger.

A police investigation showed that the knife fell from the balcony of a resident surnamed Wang. He explained that he had left it out on the balcony to dry. “I was so stupid. I didn’t know what I was doing,” Wang confessed.

The same thing happened to a pregnant woman in Shenzhen’s Longgang District last year. She sustained a shoulder injury.

So, should we worry about similar things happening to us? In this year’s book “The Art of Thinking Clearly,” novelist Rolf Dobelli argues that we should avoid following the news. One of Dobelli’s arguments is as follows:

News leads us to walk around with the completely wrong risk map in our heads. So terrorism is over-rated. Chronic stress is under-rated. The collapse of Lehman Brothers is overrated. Fiscal irresponsibility is under-rated. Astronauts are over-rated. Nurses are under-rated.

We are not rational enough to be exposed to the press. Watching an airplane crash on television is going to change your attitude toward that risk, regardless of its real probability.

The book is hit-and-miss and somewhat repetitive because it was originally published in the form of many short articles. But it’s enlightening and well worth a read if you don’t mind being told how to think logically by a guy who makes up fiction for a living.

Anyway, tune in tomorrow for more news.

Tagged: fallingkitchen knifePregnant WomanRolf DobelliThe Art of Thinking Clearly

Village in Zhongshan caught cooking the books by National Bureau of Statistics

Posted: 06/18/2013 7:00 am

The government of Henglan Village has been caught hiding important data and submitting false information to the National Bureau of Statistics, according to the Zhongshan Municipal Government Information Office. Those responsible were forced to resign on Sunday, XKB reports. The issue is being investigated.

The village is guilty of four violations: the network reporting company issued false information; local enterprises fabricated their data; industrial statistics were misrepresented by up to 6.3 billion yuan; and senior officials in the village were guilty of negligence.

Economists have been speculating for years as to whether China is cooking the books. CNN Money has this to say:

Pose this question to a group a China watchers and you’re likely to receive a variety of responses. Some observers are convinced that China is cooking its books. Others believe state statistics are largely reliable and useful for drawing conclusions about the world’s second largest economy. Still others will debate the accuracy of certain data classes, pointing to more meaningful alternatives.

The article ends by leaning towards the suggestion that official data coming out of China is mostly legit.

This particular instance of cooking the books has been dealt with, and that at least must be a good sign.

Guangzhou to extend subway system to Shunde by 2016

Posted: 06/17/2013 7:00 am

Extension work on Guangzhou’s subway line 7 to bring it all the way to Shunde by 2016 is set to begin, Guangzhou Daily reported at the weekend.

A meeting Friday attended by Mayor Huang of Shunde concluded that an extension of subway line 7 was the best way to improve ease of travel between Shunde and areas of Guangzhou such as Panyu and Nansha. The project has already passed a feasibility study, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

The line will stretch from Guangzhou South Railway Station to Beijiao Station in Shunde, but details such as exactly which route have yet to be finalised.

Boosting infrastructure spending is China’s strategy of exiting its economic slowdown, Bloomberg reported in January.

Tagged: BeijiaoFoshanGuangzhou South Railway StationNanshaNational Development and Reform Commissionpanyu districtShunde

Watch: Comically incompetent cargo handler at Guangzhou airport

Posted: 06/16/2013 7:03 pm

Do you ever worry about how your checked luggage is treated when you fly? If so, you should be even more worried.

Footage of a cargo handler at Guangzhou airport who threw boxes on the conveyor belt haphazardly (missing more than half of the time), and stopped to answer his phone, has gone viral in China. He went about his work so inefficiently that it took more than twice as long as necessary. The video has now been posted by such influential media as Guangzhou Daily and Southern Metropolis Daily.

The four minutes of footage, which is accompanied by highly critical running commentary given by the passenger, has been viewed over 700,000 times on Sina Video and is also on YouTube and 56.

Netizens’ reactions ranged from shame to amusement. One Chinese netizen said: “The shameful Chinese race. But don’t just blame this guy. Blame the system of management at Chinese airports and blame the culture of service.” Another called for the immediate sacking of the guy. Another said, with a laughing emoticon: “Cheap labour, you get what you pay for.”

Guangzhou destroys two heritage buildings from the 1940s, despite protests

Posted: 06/14/2013 10:00 am

Two buildings on Guangzhou’s Shishu Road which represent a rare form of architecture were leveled on the morning of June 11 in spite of locals having written to the government to protest, Xinhua reports. Both were built during the Republic of China period in the 1940s.

The demolition crew in action, courtesy of Xinhua

The buildings were said by experts to represent a form of architecture that mixed the ancient with the modern and is extremely rare. The type of architecture was even described as being as important to China’s cultural heritage as the panda.

Historically significant buildings being demolished in the name of development is, of course, nothing new.

Philip Pan described the process in his 2008 book, Out of Mao’s Shadow:

In reality, though, local officials often approved projects and sold land-use rights to developers without going through the trouble of buying or seizing them from homeowners first. Officials then conspired with developers to pressure owners to give up their land. Developers often hired thugs to intimidate residents while police looked the other way. And local authorities sometimes cut off water, electricity, or heat to the holdouts. If necessary, the government intervened on behalf of developers and ordered a forced eviction on questionable legal grounds. Altogether, between 1991 and 2003, more than half a million families in Beijing were evicted by developers.

This has given rise to the coinage of the term “chaina,” which sounds like the English word “China” but means “Where should we demolish next?”

Tagged: 1940schainademolitionforced demolitionOut of Mao's ShadowPhilip PanRepublic of ChinaShishu Road拆哪

Five Japanese men in Zhuhai suspected of beating compatriot to death

Posted: 06/14/2013 7:00 am

After a Japanese man was found dead in a rented room in Zhuhai on Tuesday (June 11), police announced the following day that they had arrested a group of five other Japanese people on suspicion of beating him to death, Nanfang Daily reports.

The gang is also suspected of being involved in telecommunications fraud and other white collar crimes.

At 10 a.m. on June 11, police received a report that a man’s corpse had been found in a rental room in Nanping Village in Xiangzhou District. The autopsy showed that he had most likely been tied up and beaten.

The local Public Security Bureau subsequently arrested five Japanese men in a Western restaurant at around 6 p.m. that evening. The suspects range in age from 23 to 39.

One of the suspects, a 26 year-old man surnamed Sato, is known to have committed fraud in Gugen Village before. Moreover, the five men were seen leaving the rental room.

Tagged: GangJapaneseMurderNanping VillageSatowhite-collar crimeXiangzhou DistrictZhuhai

The Nanfang has talent! Our own Kevin McGeary sings Mandarin break-up song

Posted: 06/13/2013 2:00 pm

The group of contributors at The Nanfang do a great job of bringing interesting stories to our readers each day, but they do far more than just that.

Our Senior Editor, Kevin McGeary, is a great example: Kevin has become well-known in Shenzhen for singing songs in Putonghua during open-mic nights around the city. His shtick? Singing songs in Putonghua using words that, shall we say, would probably ensure he’s never played on mainstream radio.

Kevin’s exploits earned him a feature article recently in the Shenzhen Daily:

McGeary, a 29-year-old man from Northern Ireland and a former teacher with Shenzhen Polytechnic, garnered considerable attention in the city over the past two years by writing and singing Chinese-language songs that humorously reflected on social phenomena in China.

Some people found McGeary’s music a lot of fun, but others said the lyrics were a little too radical and sometimes offensive. As a man who takes pride in his satire, the mixed reactions were probably just what McGeary was looking for.

With the help of noted Shenzhen-based photographer Jesse Warren, Kevin has finally transformed one of his songs into a music video. It’s a break-up song called “Crossroads” starring Casse Zong.

Check it out.

Food poisoning at a Dongguan factory kills one, leaves 160 battling illness

Posted: 06/13/2013 10:00 am

A suspected outbreak of food poisoning at a Dongguan factory has left one dead and 160 workers infected. It happened at food manufacturer Hsufuchi International, Xinhua reports.

A picture of the Dongguan factory from the company’s website

On June 10 there was an outbreak of vomiting and diarrhea among the staff. A woman who worked as a dish washer was later found dead in her dormitory. The cause of her death is as yet unknown.

By 10 a.m. yesterday, 160 people were reportedly sick and the cause is being investigated.

The canteen where the outbreak is thought to have started has been closed off.

Shenzhen introduces teacher blacklist as cases of abuse continue to emerge

Posted: 06/13/2013 7:00 am

Education authorities in Shenzhen are planning to implement a blacklist system to prevent teachers guilty of immoral and unlawful behaviour from getting into the classroom, Shenzhen Daily reports.

If a teacher is blacklisted, he or she will never again be hired by any school in the city. The city also plans to introduce a system through which all students’ and parents’ complaints about teachers can be investigated.

This comes after a series of child molestation cases emerged from schools around the country, including in Shenzhen and Guangzhou.

The 42 year-old teacher at the centre of a pedophilia scandal in Shenzhen has been arrested and will never teach in the city again. Shenzhen Daily has more:

Chen Xiaohong, vice Party chief of Nanshan District Education Bureau, said the teacher suspected of molesting four students at the private Hongji School in Nanshan District had been fired by the school, his teaching certificate had been revoked, and the four students were being transferred to other schools.

Awareness of the risks facing children is on the increase as cases continue to emerge.

In Xinning County in Hunan’s Shaoyang City, a 57 year-old teacher was arrested on June 4 on suspicion of molesting a female primary school student.

And, as many of you know, China’s English teaching industry is poorly regulated and has employed some seriously bad seeds down the years. In recent months, a foreign teacher was arrested in Beijing on suspicion of molesting a boy and it came to light that an alleged child rapist wanted by British police was teaching in Beijing.

Hopefully the ones who give foreign teachers a bad name will be weeded out and some faith will be restored.

Clearer skies for China Southern with new Boeing Dreamliner?

Posted: 06/12/2013 6:32 pm

The much delayed arrival of Boeing’s troubled Dreamliner at Baiyun Airport earlier this month has breathed some life into China Southern.

Make no mistake, this landing cements China Southern’s emergence as a serious player in the air. It’s the only global airline to operate both the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 787 – two of the world’s most advanced aircraft.

The flight path to Guangzhou was bumpy, though.

Over in Seattle, a crack team worked round-the-clock to fix the many problems which plagued the plane, which originally forced a worldwide grounding of the 787 fleet.

At last, and after many apologies from Boeing, one of China Southern’s top lieutenants was delighted to be handed control of his “baby.”

The 787 is tipped to fly to Paris after it serves domestic routes for the next three months. Auckland, London and Vancouver are next in the pipeline as are nine more Dreamliners.

Flying to major cities in Europe and the Americas is now affordable with the fuel-efficient 787, potentially bringing unsustainable losses from international operations to an end.

Here’s a line from my previous aviation update:

The combined popularity of Asia’s largest airline and the allure of Australia means that all services Down Under are turning a profit. It’s a rare bright spot, with most international routes deep in the red as a result of aggressive expansion.

Transiting should be a big part of a refreshed strategy as increasing number of passengers are using the Canton Route to fly between Europe and Australia. Aside from being cheaper, the 72-hour visa free policy gives another reason to fly China Southern.

Getting approval to launch the service overseas was hard to come by, however. Beijing’s iron fist has ruled over Guangzhou’s flying ambition for years.

With the regulator’s refusal to approve international flights, the A380′s entry into China has been as painful as childbirth. It ensured that China Southern couldn’t fly its flagship plane outside of Chinese airspace.

Since its inception, the A380 has lost CSA RMB400 million (US$62.5 million) up to March 2013, according to a report in National Business Daily. Given the losses generated by international operations, the red ink from the A380 hurts.

Only now, at long last, is it able to launch flights to Los Angeles and Sydney.

China Southern’s first quarter earnings saw an 82 per cent slump in net profit to RMB57 million (US$9.1 million).

Photos: Byeangel/Flickr and Noel Jones