To my mind, golf can be categorized as an aristocratic game reserved exclusively for the leisured classes, big shots and whimsical big spenders. Considering the emergence of a generation of nouveaux riches and the influx of foreign investors, maybe the construction of a few golf courses is understandable. The courses can cater to their needs and may also be a means of boosting state revenues.

In view of the negative effects the construction of this exotic form of recreation may have on the environment and agriculture in particular, city planners should envision the whole affair from a macroscopic point of view - they should be circumspect when embarking on the sensitive issue, ready to slam on the brakes before it runs out of control.

I hear that an 18-hole golf course normally takes up around 1,000 mu of arable land (a hectare equals 15 mu) and the outlay for building it runs as high as 100 million yuan. The maintenance fee is also likely to make a big dent in the proprietor's budget - hitting a record high of 30 million yuan annually.

To keep the turf in good condition, pesticide must be sprayed regularly. The residue of the chemicals, after seeping through the soil, will definitely contaminate the water table, thereby causing an irreversible damage to the environment that could take decades to fix.

In fact, what we are obliged to pay for the grandiose plan far exceeds the figures mentioned above. My assertion is by no means groundless if we take into account our 1.3 billion population and per capita arable land. Anyone with basic arithmetic can see the balance being tipped heavily to our disadvantage.

Despite this reasoning, officials responsible for city planning have given the green light to building golf courses one after the other, saying that, being an "image project", it has a significant impact on the investment environment. Whether it makes a profit or not matters little compared with the launching of an "image project".

Therefore, an express highway that runs for 142 kilometres is said to be flanked on either side by four golf courses. Up to the early half of 2003, it was estimated that more than 200 golf courses have been built across the country. Far from being checked in time, the drive is gaining impetus and the government department concerned is forging ahead at full throttle.

We Chinese are best known for going to extremes. Shanghai, for example, now tops the world with some 4,000 high-rise buildings. If the Municipal Government had not imposed a ceiling on high-rises, the real estate developers would most likely go happily ahead tapping the source of this fortune - building even more top-notch high buildings.

But an ill-devised project is bound to rebound on its initiators. Eighty per cent of the golf courses in a super-sized city were reported to be in the red, let alone those owned by medium-sized ones. In addition, the possibility of the whole thing becoming a hotbed of corruption does exist. A corrupt official was found to possess a dozen golf club memberships.

If only we cared more for the rank and file, and appropriated a good portion of the funds for the needy. If only we brought charcoal to the poor kept indoors by heavy snow instead of embroidering the brocade with flowers.

I am not against constructing golf courses, nor luxurious apartments, if we always remain sensible about how far we should allow ourselves to go and never fail to balance the advantages of doing one thing against the disadvantages. Overstepping the limits, we are bound to find ourselves on the rocks sooner or later.

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