STARTING October 1, all non-registered residents living in Shanghai for more than three days should apply for a residence card or temporary residence card, according to a local newspaper. Reports also mentioned that four experimental units will be established in Shanghai for applications, and a new residential system will be introduced in the city before the end of the year.
The news has triggered criticism and doubt on the Internet. Many people think it will cause trouble for foreigners who come to the city for travel or business.
According to information from the local Social Guarantee Service Centre, it is not necessary to apply for a residence card since only a temporary residence card is required, the Beijing Youth Post reported.
Staff involved in the application process admitted there were some shortfalls in the system. The fact that all the staff enjoy legally defined holidays and cannot work every day may pose difficulties for the applications of those on short visits to Shanghai.
Notes from
underground
MANY "underground travel agencies" have found new and profitable targets: campuses. Many organizers of these travel agencies are college students themselves, and distributing advertisement flyers is the most common way of attracting customers, Xinhuanet.com reported.
Such tour service ads can be seen everywhere on campuses - in cafeterias, dormitories, libraries, playgrounds and even in telephone boxes. The flyers include an introduction to the tour lines, the names of intermediaries and their telephone numbers, but no names of the travel agencies themselves. Many students are attracted by such tour groups due to their low price.
One student from a campus "travel agency" revealed that big profits could be made by such a tour organization, whose only task was to find a bus. One insider said the current market for campus travel was still a mess, with a shortage of standards or security guarantees.
Exclusive university
A WOMAN surnamed Li from North China's Hebei Province took her niece to Beijing University, wanting to bathe the child in the cultured atmosphere of the institution of higher learning. However, she was turned away by police officials at the gate. The university has put restrictions on the number of visitors, saying the move is designed to enhance campus security. Only those with proper documents can enter the university.
One man surnamed Wang from the security department of Beijing University said the university was not a park, and that many people come as tourists during national holidays. Another school in Beijing -Qinghua University - has declined to place similar restrictions on its visitors.
Dead lines
DURING the relaxing national holidays, the major public help-lines in Chengdu, capital city of Sichuan Province, are busy replying to citizens' questions and solving their problems. However, some helplines based in the city's outskirts have been shut down, a local newspaper reported.
A netizen named Liu Haiming expressed his concern about the situation on xinhuanet.com. As a result of the national holiday, many urgent questions faced by ordinary people who needed government help went unanswered, he said.
Liu said the way such help-lines spent the holidays might reflect government attitudes to ordinary people. Even if there were no clear regulations to ensure help-lines remained open during holidays, it was a fact that social problems and emergencies would not disappear in this period. He said keeping the lines open was not totally incompatible with maintaining the holiday spirit and some effective measures could be taken to solve this problem. Most importantly, the issue depended on the government's determination to serve citizens.
Nine-yuan marriage
THE nine-yuan fee for marriage certification in the process of marriage registration does not suffice to cover the management cost of the marriage registration department, according to the marriage and family association in Guangdong Province. As a result of the funds shortfall, problems have emerged in some marriage registration operations, especially in regard to their services.
An official at the local bureau of civil affairs has computed that the registration fee for a new couple should be 361.8 yuan (US$43) to cover the regular operation of the marriage registration department on the basis of the practical situation in Guangdong.
Ma Longsheng, a columnist at people.com.cn expressed doubts about the calculated registration fee. He said the registration fee could be a bit higher than nine yuan, but he could not understand why it would need to be anywhere near 260 yuan since the marriage certificate was just a piece of paper.
Referring to his own experience of marriage registration, Ma said it was not a complicated process and the cost for the registration should be flexible. He said marriage registration was by nature a public service provided by the government and the "nine-yuan marriage" was basically appropriate.
Worst student
"3-A student" is an honourable title for students who are doing well in their studies and other aspects of their lives. However, another title - "the worst student" - has been coined in a middle school in Shanxi Province in North China. A student surnamed Zhou committed suicide by poison, after being selected as the worst student by his classmates, according to the local newspaper.
A netizen named Jiangcheng, writing on xinhuanet.com, said that it was a ridiculous mistake to have such a selection at school. Students can make mistakes because they are still young and it was the responsibility of teachers and schools to point out their shortcomings and correct them in an appropriate and effective way.
He said that "selective education" was still very common in the Chinese educational system but humane education was more important with the educational principles of harmony, tolerance and humanity in urgent need of restatement.
(Star News)
