In bad taste

A SO-CALLED "Body Feast" of Japanese dishes served on the naked body of a young woman incurred strong criticism after it appeared in a restaurant in Kunming, the capital of Southwest China's Yunnan Province.

It was reported that the recipe for the dinner's presentation required that all the beauties on which it was to be served should be college students, not more than 1.70 metres tall and with beautiful skin.

Customers also had to reserve tables three days in advance and the minimal charge for each customer was 1,000 yuan (US$121).

Zhou Shijun, a commentator wrote in the Xin Kuai Bao that such a dinner was nothing more than an excuse for the restaurant to increase its profits, and had no connection with art or culture. It was actually disrespectful and an insult to women.

It also ran counter to the rules of equality between men and women set out in the law.

On April 5, local authorities had banned the disputed feast by saying that the it violated related food safety regulations because the restaurant could not provide any health certificate of those young women.

Brave challenge

MANY observers applauded a food company from North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region for its courage in suing the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) and the State Grain Administration over a trademark dispute.

The media also sang the praises of Fan Hanyun, deputy director of the Trademark Office of SAIC, who attended the hearing as an attorney.

A columnist named Wei Wenbiao wrote in the Beijing News that the case had drawn such wide attention because it revealed an attitude of respect for the law.

He said that if some enterprises got into a fight with governmental authorities, many just tried their best to get a solution through various types of personal relations which could easily lead to corruption.

The case also reflected the enterprise's confidence in the two administrations because it would have to have work connections with the two defendants in the future.

Bus bust-ups

TWO elderly people became involved in fights on two separate bus trips in Nanjing, the capital of East China's Jiangsu Province, while they were scrambling to get a seat. One fight was with a pregnant woman and the other with a disabled man.

Witnesses said the disabled man had fought with his elderly opponent until the bus pulled up at the next stop and another seat suddenly became vacant..

According to an article in the Jiangnan Times by Zhang Xu, Changchun, the capital of Northeast China's Jilin Province and Nanjing have announced that passengers who gave up their seats to the weak would be rewarded.

It was seen as a move to establish good social ethics and no one can deny that bad manners prevail in society today.

The writer said that people should not blame the old man and the disabled man for the fight and the key was to push harder and more efficiently for better moral standards.

(Star News)