I was in a jammed bus on my way to a wedding party the other day. It was peak hour, so I was fully prepared for a tightly packed ride. I had had considerable trouble elbowing my way in and barely kept my balance in the crammed aisle when I heard a couple of giggly teenage girls sitting by the window conversing heatedly on whether or not they should dye their hair.

"I am not sure red really goes with my complexion," explained one girl, playfully twirling a strand of hair, her carefully trimmed and polished fingernails glinting in the rays of the morning sun.

"What? It certainly does!" the other girl replied authoritatively. "You are fair-skinned, so you can totally carry off red."

"Hmmm...I don't think so. Red may be too offensive anyway," said the first one with a tone of uncertainty. "Who knows I will not be taken for a 'miss'? And I would get a good dressing down by my parents showing up with red hair."

"Yeah, I guess you are right," the second one answered without missing a beat, "but then..."

Their chat was drowned out from time to time by the ceaseless noise going on both within and without. And the two young ladies kept on nattering on about hair fashion all the time pretending not to see an old man standing close by, who tried hard to stay steady against every jolt of the bus while it edged its way through the heavy traffic. Or they did see the grey head, but the thought of offering their seats to him never occurred to them.

On another occasion, this time in a McDonald's, I was standing in a line behind two high schoolers, probably lovers, who had moved to the counter. They were discussing the menu in a leisurely manner, pausing thoughtfully in between comments as they tried to make a choice, with total disregard for those still lining up behind. "Maybe I will have a cheeseburger, I've missed it so much," said the girl. "Or is that too fattening? What do you think?" she asked her boyfriend earnestly.

"You should stay away from too much fatty food," the boy declared sagely.

"Of course, you are absolutely right," she said. "So, what do you think I should have?"

As the conversation dragged on for some time without a decision, I could hardly resist the urge to brush forward and yell at them to stop wasting other people's time. What is the point, I grunted, in queuing up for a long time only to listen to all their silly talk right when I get to the counter?

I believe many people may have had similar unhappy experiences. A considerable number of young adults today are exceedingly wise but impatient and unrestrained. And in public places, they often act with little thought or care for their neighbours, and elders in particular.

I always think that good manners are a product of fine breeding. And they are also a part of personality - the outward manifestation of one's innate character and attitude toward life. If parents and teachers teach the kids to say "please" and "thank you", it's good. If they further teach them to give up their seats to seniors on a bus, or think about what they would like to order as soon as they get in line, then that's even better. But for those with parents or instructors who fail to educate the adolescents on the finer points of etiquette, it isn't their fault. So it seems unfair if we simply put the blame on the teenagers for being inconsiderate of others. Instead we must seriously reflect on whether or not we focus too much of our attention on the grades-oriented teaching approach at the expense of social ethics cultivation.

Many of China's primary and high school students are indeed the most arduous labourers struggling day in and day out at their heavy academic work. However, outside their campus life, they probably know more about the latest computer games and pop stars than traditional moral values and good manners. And they may be more interested in eating fast food and seeking fun than becoming well-behaved, responsible citizens.

Nationwide, we are currently making every effort to vigorously promote a national spirit centred on patriotism and to intensify the ideological and moral education of young people. From this perspective, I think the traditional Chinese morality of courtesy should be regarded as one of the important spiritual sources of a modern society, and be incorporated in the curriculum of primary and middle schools. Such refined public spirit, however, cannot be fostered solely through classroom lecturing, but should be infused into every trivial aspect of the daily life of young people - students of today, citizens of tomorrow. So schools, families and the whole society should join hands in fulfilling the task of instilling the ideas of public morality into the minors' minds. It would have a far-reaching influence on the development of Shanghai if its citizens displayed the polite behavior of treating strangers with care, respect and tolerance. And I think that is the very reason the city authorities call on us to "Go with civility, and be beloved Shanghainese" (yu wen ming tong xing, zuo ke'ai de shang hai ren).

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