Knowing Your Bottom-line
By Chip Tsao | published Aug 05, 2010
A pregnant woman in a Shenzhen hospital woke up after giving birth to her baby last week and found—to put it bluntly—her ass stitched up by the doctor, because her stingy husband had left him only RMB 100 in lai see. The doctor first explained that the extra stitches were the result of a minor side-operation to address a piles problem, which was done free of charge. Upon persistent protest by the angry husband, the hospital promised an “investigation.”
Paying a few extra bucks for lai see (lucky money) to doctors and nurses during a medical crisis is common practice in Chinese hospitals. The problem is you mustn’t ask how much it would take to make a doctor happy because it is officially “illegal” for hospital staff to accept bribery. Therefore, one must second-guess themselves, like how Google does business in China, or how the mainland self-censoring media works or even like how Donald Tsang, our Chief Executive, must be pondering whether or not he should legislate anti-subversion laws under article 23 of the Basic Law.
A few Chinese intellectuals have defied these so-called “understated rules,” such as dissident Liu Xiaobo, and they ended up having their lips sealed permanently with more than 10 years in jail. Even knowing the price of the freedom of speech and keeping your mouth shut constantly, you could still earn yourself a lesson in blood for not knowing the minimum under-the-table charges. Although sometimes it’s difficult to tell the difference between people talking shit and just talking, living in China, it is imperative to have a good all-round knowledge of what separates one’s ass from one’s elbow.
The only hope for this pregnant Chinese woman and her husband would be to get enough money to cross the border and reach Queen Mary’s—that’s the only way to truly ensure her ass is safe. Even if she suffers the same fate, with someone like Dr. York Chow (GBS, SBS, MBE, JP), an orthopedic surgeon graduated from the University of Hong Kong in the colonial vintage year of 1967, as our Secretary for Food and Health, one may place a bet of confidence on Sir Donald Tsang’s government—and assume the accident was nothing more than another terrible mistake of gross negligence. Or with more money, she could board a first-class flight to a Los Angeles or Toronto private hospital, where her baby’s freedom of speech, as well as freedom of excretion, would be fully protected for life.
That’s why a US green card or a Canadian passport is worth so much and passionately pursued by so many well-to-do Chinese. It does feel good when an immigration officer greets you with a smile and a cheerful “welcome home” after examining your papers, which guarantee the freedom of passage without any kickbacks.
A pregnant woman in a Shenzhen hospital woke up after giving birth to her baby last week and found—to put it bluntly—her ass stitched up by the doctor, because her stingy husband had left him only RMB 100 in lai see. The doctor first explained that the extra stitches were the result of a minor side-operation to address a piles problem, which was done free of charge. Upon persistent protest by the angry husband, the hospital promised an “investigation.”
Paying a few extra bucks for lai see (lucky money) to doctors and nurses during a medical crisis is common practice in Chinese hospitals. The problem is you mustn’t ask how much it would take to make a doctor happy because it is officially “illegal” for hospital staff to accept bribery. Therefore, one must second-guess themselves, like how Google does business in China, or how the mainland self-censoring media works or even like how Donald Tsang, our Chief Executive, must be pondering whether or not he should legislate anti-subversion laws under article 23 of the Basic Law.
A few Chinese intellectuals have defied these so-called “understated rules,” such as dissident Liu Xiaobo, and they ended up having their lips sealed permanently with more than 10 years in jail. Even knowing the price of the freedom of speech and keeping your mouth shut constantly, you could still earn yourself a lesson in blood for not knowing the minimum under-the-table charges. Although sometimes it’s difficult to tell the difference between people talking shit and just talking, living in China, it is imperative to have a good all-round knowledge of what separates one’s ass from one’s elbow.
The only hope for this pregnant Chinese woman and her husband would be to get enough money to cross the border and reach Queen Mary’s—that’s the only way to truly ensure her ass is safe. Even if she suffers the same fate, with someone like Dr. York Chow (GBS, SBS, MBE, JP), an orthopedic surgeon graduated from the University of Hong Kong in the colonial vintage year of 1967, as our Secretary for Food and Health, one may place a bet of confidence on Sir Donald Tsang’s government—and assume the accident was nothing more than another terrible mistake of gross negligence. Or with more money, she could board a first-class flight to a Los Angeles or Toronto private hospital, where her baby’s freedom of speech, as well as freedom of excretion, would be fully protected for life.
That’s why a US green card or a Canadian passport is worth so much and passionately pursued by so many well-to-do Chinese. It does feel good when an immigration officer greets you with a smile and a cheerful “welcome home” after examining your papers, which guarantee the freedom of passage without any kickbacks.
Labels: Politically Incorrect, 陶傑
posted by Gemini Saga at 12:00 AM
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