IF there were a list of the most memorable people of 2003, Sun Zhigang's name would be near the top, if not in first place.

The death of the 27-year-old university graduate while being held in a detention and repatriation station in Guangzhou aroused the whole country and directed attention towards the plight of migrant workers generally. The Shanghai Star published related stories in the June 12-18 edition, entitled "Change on the cards".

The unanimous crusade of the Chinese media in the wake of Sun's murder played an important role in the abolition of China's 22-year-old domestic detention and repatriation regulations.

Under the old system, all migrant workers working in a city had to have an ID card, a temporary residence card and a work card. The lack of any of the three meant being cast into a detention station and repatriation to their hometown.

Sun was detained under the former regulations and was beaten to death in a detention station.

The old law gave the police far-reaching powers and caused many hardships to poor country folk seeking jobs in cities.

The legacy of Sun's case did not end only with the lifting of a burden from the shoulders of migrant workers. A more lasting effect was in reforming the country's legal system.

Not long after Sun's death was exposed by the media, legal experts jointly sent petitions to the National People's Congress (NPC) stating that the old law was a serious violation of human rights and was actually unconstitutional.

The Shanghai Star published on June 12, reported an interview with Professor Yu Ziqing, a constitutional expert from the East China University of Politics and Law. He said about the petitioning:

"It marks the first time citizens have used their right to appeal to the parliament to examine questions of constitutionality."

Half a year has passed. If it were not for the marked increase in the number of beggars on the city's streets, people might have forgotten the event.

Without the fear of being detained and repatriated to their home villages, more and more beggars are coming to the city. (See the stories in the August 14-20 edition of the Shanghai Star - "Begging for a life").

For a while there was a worry that government aid stations - the former detention centres whose new function now is to provide aid to homeless people - might become overcrowded with those seeking help.

"However, the fact is that not many beggars go there," said Pan Zihan, a senior police officer. "Although the city's aid stations provide the beggars with about 10 yuan worth of necessities a day, some can earn several hundred yuan on a good day 'working' on the streets."

Another survey showed that one third of the city's beggars are considered to be nuisances who harass people to get money.

The growing number of beggars has refreshed people's memories of the former detention and repatriation regulations which once helped keep them out of town.

How to deal with the beggars has become a controversial topic enthusiastically discussed in the press. Some writers argue that the "bad" beggars have adversely affected citizens' ordinary lives and others refute this saying that begging is a civil right which should be respected.

He Weifang, a professor from Beijing University who was one of the scholars who sent a petition to the NPC questioning the legality of the detention and repatriation rules, had this to say about the issue:

"The beggars' manner is simply a reflection of the whole society's spiritual level. Among the well-off and highly educated urbanites, there are still some who jump the queue or jaywalk. It is something which needs a long time to change. If the city only thinks of its own image, it is actually behaving vaingloriously."