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Tighten the belt further

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-06-26 07:44

We should try to turn measures taken by the central government departments to save money that can go for the aid of the quake areas into a normal practice, says an article in the website of People's Daily. The following is an excerpt:

On Monday, a vice-finance minister declared at a meeting that the central government departments will save 2.545 billion yuan of office expenses for the anti-quake work. The savings will be made possible through shortening conferences, cutting business trips, simplifying receptions, reducing uses of government cars and saving water, power and oil. This huge sum of money saved by these departments will benefit the people and the country and set a good example for others.

Thrift is one of the virtues of our nation. When an individual is not held accountable for the use of common assets, waste tends to arise. With the expansion of administrative bodies, extravagances may appear. Take the convening of a conference for example. A conference with hundreds or thousands of participants may only solve a problem that could have been solved via the telephone.

Another example is overseas business trip - it in fact only meets the desire for tourism for some people and seldom solves any business problems. A great deal of money is wasted on the road. The lights in offices that are never switched off, the year-round receptions and dinners are all examples of wastage.

Every one of us realizes that it is bad to waste, but some just cannot stop wasting. The reason behind this is that China lacks a set of systems to check waste and also lacks a moral atmosphere in which people feel ashamed to waste. We wonder how many people are wasting public money without the slightest hesitancy and how many people have got away without punishment.

We cannot stand the waste any more. Government officials should set a good example for the citizens and take the lead in thrift if we want our country to have a sound and fast development and hope to see our society to be civil, healthy and harmonious.

(China Daily 06/26/2008 page8)