Fresh atrocities
Nine children were killed during the December 7 US air raid to eliminate some alleged terrorists in Afghanistan. Innocent children have again fallen victim to the superpower's lofty cause of fighting terrorism.
Though the US government's has given its condolences, there still seems to be no end to innocent blood being shed in the US campaign against Al Qaeda or Saddam loyalists.
Endangering innocent lives in the name of so-called justice is nothing more than irresponsibility. The US Declaration of Independence claims that all men have an inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Why have these Afghan children been deprived of such basic human rights? Famine, drought and the horror of war have long tortured the poverty-stricken country. Afghan children have no education, no hospitals and not enough nutrition and now their very survival has been compromised!
That's what is called a war for freedom? Is that something necessary in a civilized world? The answer is absolutely in the negative. While the occupiers of Afghanistan and Iraq are mourning their fallen soldiers, who has concern for the innocent children there?
It's high time that all countries and international organizations take the lives of innocent people, especially children, into account.
The international community must try their best to halt any kind of violation of children's rights.
After all, children have nothing to do with wars.
Wang Tao
Taken for a ride
The article about Beijing taxis (Shanghai Star, November27-December 3) leads me to write about our first day in Shanghai.
We landed in the city at around 10:00am on November 19 and after leaving the international arrivals terminal at Pudong Airport we were approached by a young man who offered to find us a taxi ride into town.
We accepted and he led us to where the taxis were waiting outside. We got into a taxi and the driver drove us to the city centre.
When we got out at our hotel we paid 600 yuan to the driver and the young man accompanying him. I don't know how the driver managed to make the taximeter read 600 yuan because we learned in the hotel that the fare should have been between 120 and 130 yuan.
The important points are that we were strangers in Shanghai and did not know there should have been a registration number for the taxi displayed inside the vehicle. Without this means of identification it seems the taxi was especially set up for the kind of robbery we suffered.
We won't be forgetting for a long time the day we arrived in Shanghai.
Rifat Kara
No place like home
Two years ago, I went to Jingdezhen to go to college. I know now that there is no city better than Shanghai in China, but at the time I imagined there would not be too much difference between one city and another.
I now know I was totally wrong. I learned the same lesson Zhang Zhenlian wrote about in her article, "A tale of two city's taxi drivers'' (Shanghai Star November 27-December 3). It's really true that it's only after you have lived away from your own city for some time that you learn to cherish what you have always taken for granted about it.
Life in Jingdezhen was really difficult. In Shanghai, it's easy to find an ATM machine when I need cash but in Jingdezhen, to tell the truth, I did not see one during my first year in the city.
Hundreds of times I went to the bank but could not withdraw money because the Net was very busy. How ridiculous. I never ran across such trouble in Shanghai.
And that was not the worst. I found it hard to bear the service in the railway ticket office, the post office, the bank, etc. People were really impatient and displayed a bad attitude. Of course such behaviour is not confined to Jingdezhen. Many other cities have the same problems.
Every holiday I have, I come back to Shanghai, I find life here is so much easier, the people are so genial and friendly.
My Japanese friends and foreign teachers have often said to me: "Shanghai is really a wonderful place. It's just like Tokyo and New York. Life is so easy and you can get whatever you want.''
Each time I heard this, I couldn't help but think that Shanghai is the only international metropolis in China.
Liu Lang
Beneficial tickle
Like Inga Noeckel, I also had my first foot massage recently. Between the tickling and manipulation, I can't remember which part was best. The tickling made me giggle, which caused the plate of melon on my stomach to wiggle and jiggle. This led to peals of laughter from my partner and the two girls. Suddenly she inserted her finger up to the third knuckle into my foot and I flew a meter into the air. I had injured my knee in June and for five months, it was sore and swollen. After the foot massage, I have had no pain and the size is back to normal.
So, I'm happy with my experience and will return for another massage very soon.
John Ingersoll
Hangzhou
Student tragedy
Nine Chinese students have been confirmed dead after the pre-dawn fire in a dormitory at Moscow's Patrice Lumumba People's Friendship University.
Hearing about the news, I felt astonished, wondering why another tragedy involving Chinese overseas students has happened.
As we all know, thanks to China's opening-up policy, the number of Chinese students studying abroad has been increasing year on year, with disasters affecting Chinese students occurring more frequently. The safety of Chinese overseas students has become a major concern.
Due to their low cost, Chinese students are more likely to go to those countries which require low tuition and living expenses. On the other hand, the schools in those countries take less account of safety issues, as they are usually not able to insure the good quality of all equipment in terms of learning and living. As a result, they make room for hidden dangers, which can be really awful. In cases such as that in Russia, a lack of funds and safety consciousness were responsible for the incident to a certain degree.
Therefore, we, the whole nation, as well as all the countries around the world, both common people and governments, ought to pay more and closer attention to these safety issues, which are a matter of life and death, in order to protect innocent students.
Firstly, we should ensure the quality of all the educational equipment in schools, especially in developing countries. It seems clear to me that schools with insufficient funds can't really guarantee proper standards for all the necessary facilities. They should improve the situation, otherwise students will stop attending such institutions.
Secondly, local governments should set up relevant agencies to supervise the quality of facilities and crucial safeguarding tasks in order to avoid similar risks.
Thirdly, those students willing to go abroad for higher education should be far more careful and conscious when choosing their schools.
More significantly, the education on teachers and students about safety and risks to human life should be carried out thoroughly so as to prevent similar accidents from occurring again.
Also, I am writing this essay to encourage all readers to reconsider the importance of life, particularly those intending to go abroad. After all, life comes first.
George Wang
Ningbo
