Tightrope walk for Good Samaritans

Opinion divided on the need to provide helping hand to the needy

Being a Good Samaritan and helping people in need, especially the aged, should not normally be controversial. But very often the helping hand finds itself mired in a web of deceit, greed and anger that triggers doubts on whether such acts of kindness are indeed necessary.

Two incidents in China during the past few weeks have stoked public interest and debate on the issue of Good Samaritans. In Jiangsu province the helper became the accused, while in Wuhan, the general public was accused of lack of sympathy.

Though both the incidents involved senior citizens, the focus was on the two common fixes to the issue.

Most commentators and writers felt that the real culprit in the issue was the existing moral fabric of the society and felt that there was an urgent need to sharpen the moral education of the general public, especially in schools and at home.

The second fix was the oft-sought refuge of the need for effective legislation, like the one in California, to protect the rights of the Good Samaritans. Some commentators felt that the random acts of greed and selfishness have in general made people wary about helping those in need, especially the elderly.

In the first incident, bus driver Yin Hongbin never expected that his good deed would turn sour. Yin, who helped an 81-year old woman who had fallen down on an overpass in Rugao in East China's Jiangsu province, was accused of having knocked down the old woman he helped.

Luckily for him, the video cameras on the bus exonerated him.

Bai Yansong, a China Central Television anchor in his comments on the Jiangsu incident said that, "saving others is difficult and saving the old women is even more difficult."

But what has irked many is the lack of conscience and basic empathy by some that have made it virtually impossible for those in need to get timely help as the second incident demonstrates.

In this case an 88-year old man surnamed Li lay helpless in a downtown street in Wuhan, Hubei province, among a crowd for over 90 minutes with no help coming his way. Li collapsed face-first as he was returning home after buying bananas at a market and subsequently died from a nosebleed that had blocked his airway

Xia Jinluan, a sociologist at Peking University says that public indifference in a case like that of the elderly Li is a reflection of the distrust among people.

"It will take a long time for society to rebuild the frayed relations among the people. In the past, society highlighted justice, but now people put their own interests first," he says.

There is still hope in the air for Good Samaritans as a new foundation set up by the South China Normal University (SCNU) promises to deal with the risks of helping the elderly in difficult situations.

More than 60 lawyers have volunteered to provide legal services to those who have got into trouble for helping the elderly.

Tan Fang, a professor at the SCNU who helped set up the foundation, says that, "society lacks a mechanism to protect those who would like to help the elderly, and those who support the old with a helping hand might be sued and misjudged."

While the debate about ethics and Good Samaritans continues to rage the one thing that is clear is that something needs to be done urgently to dispel the notion that doing a good deed can be a bad experience.

China Daily

(China Daily 09/09/2011 page3)