On 13 October in 2011, a 2-year-old girl named Xiao Yue Yue was run over by two vehicles in an alley of Busan, Guangdong Province, and both of the drivers fled. After the accident, there were 18 passers-by but none of them gave a hand to save her. Until a scavenger named Chen Xian Mei passed by, Xiao-Yue Yue was rescued and finally sent to the General Hospital of Guangzhou Military Command. Unfortunately, she finally passed away in a few days. After the incident, the social media and the general public blamed heavily the drivers and those 18 passers-by with “cold-blooded”, and criticize the current “moral standard” of the Chinese. We started to question: Is there anything wrong with the "moral standard" of Chinese people now?
To begin with, Morality refers to the codes of conduct put forward by a society which used to judge whether or not a person's behavior is justified with the guidelines. It acts as a scale to evaluate and regulate people's behavior towards the social norm. In this Xiao Yue Yue incident, as the society as a whole criticize the drivers and those 18 passers-by, it is clear that we all have a common ‘moral standard’ in our mind that indicate what should be done and what shouldn't be. It is no question that we are told to follow this ‘moral standard’ setting by the society and perform the corresponding behaviors, but why did those 18 passers-by act in an exact opposite way?
In fact, nowadays, it is very risk to give help to any strangers on the street in China. Prior to the Xiao Yue Yue incident, there is an issue often being discussed in the Mainland society in recent years – Will you give a hand to help if you saw any elderly fall down on the street? Incidents were happened in a similar pattern: many people were being framed after helping the elderly, and some of them even required to compensate the elderly with up to one hundred thousand dollars. It is believed that on one is willing to be an indifferent passers-by, but why we need to think twice before we give help in China? Why is it so difficult to be a good person in China?
This phenomenon could ascribe to the current Chinese legal system. As Chinese legal system is based primarily on the Civil Law model, it holds legislation as the primary source of law, and the court system is usually unbound by precedent. It also defines the rights & duties of individuals and organizations. Hence, if you are being accused under this Civil Law system, you have to proof your claim on “the balance of probabilities”: This is a standard of proof that is much less rigorous than the level of “beyond reasonable doubt” required in a criminal case. Thus, if you cannot proof that you are innocent, you are more likely to be convicted. Let’s take Wu-Jun-Dong case as an example: He helped an elderly couple up who fell from electronic vehicles when he was driven on the way home in 2010. Sooner or later, their family insisted that the elderly were knocked down by him, and claiming for compensation. It is difficult to find any witnesses, and even if he could, most of them are not willing to give help as the proceedings is too complicated and time-consuming. As a result, in most of the similar cases, the “so called” plaintiff brings the action for compensations against the person who “said to be” causing the injury, who is the defendant.
Moreover, it is no question that people tend to do things that favorable on their own terms, while avoiding those that would harm themselves. It could also be explained by the Egoism – right or acceptable behavior was defined in terms of consequences to the individual, in other words, people aims to maximize once personal interest. Therefore, if helping someone else only require little efforts and no need to worry about the consequences, at least there should be part of the 18 passers-by would try to give help to Xiao Yue Yue; however, if giving help would get you into big trouble, like turning yourself to be the perpetrator and force you to pay for the compensation, or even being sentenced of meddling, no one would be willing to take the risk ever anymore. Although Chinese people traditionally emphasis on moral and conscience, as to protect their best interest and take the consequences of their actions into account, most of them would just choose to sit back. On the other hand, as the injured party is intended to receive compensation after an accident no matter through what methods, only by suing the one who helped them, which an actual contact has been made, it could be much easier for them to get the result they want – being compensate.
To cope with this phenomenon, I believed that there were few ways could be adopted: First of all, The China government should carry out new legislation as to protect the legitimate rights and interest for those who rescue the others. There are already many relevant regulations in other countries like France and Singapore etc. As long as he or she was not intentionally to cause any harm on others, the criminal and legal responsibility should be dismissed while rescuing others. Besides, civil awareness in China should be reawaken through more emphasizing on moral education. Civil awareness refers to the self-awareness of citizens' own position in the public society, including the recognition of their civil identity, civil rights and civil responsibility. Such recognition could sublimate their sense of belongings to the society, leading them to consciously participate in and contribute to the development of public interest, and no longer focusing on their own individual interest.
Last but not least, as the Xiao Yue Yue incident has caused a worldwide attention, and leading to a "moral judgment" of the Chinese. As being one of the Hong Kongers, undeniably a part of the Chinese, it is an opportunity for us to reflect on these phenomenon and think about how it could mean to us.