A remarkable incident occurred on April 22nd in Shandong’s Liaochang, where parents were waiting outside a private primary school for their children to finish their school entry interviews.
The parents, eager to find out how their children performed, were leaning at the school gate to get in when the entire gate suddenly collapsed, causing a chaotic scene.
It is generally believed that children’s educational future is decided as early as getting admitted to that one kindergarten or primary school, which adds to the stress among Chinese parents to get their child into the school of their choice; academic pressure starts from an early age.
China’s private education sector is flourishing. Depending on the school, there is often a wide variety of private classes and after-school activities and full-time or parttime boarding-school options. These private schools, such as the one in Liaochang, often have a strict selection procedure, including interviews with prospective students – as young as they may be.
In this case, the school had not anticipated the crowd and chaos during the interview procedures. Because of the sea of people, parents were unable to reach their children inside the school building. Eventually, the school had to bring all children to the more spacious playground so that their parents could collect them from there.
Although this incident is a rare example of parental pressure at school, it is not uncommon for Chinese parents to be so anxious to know about their children’s academic performance that they will go to extremes.
During the first day of school, dozens of parents often stand outside the school windows to catch a glimpse of their child; a post about this phenomenon went viral on Weibo last year when it said that: “If you spot these kinds of people near a preschool today, there’s no need to worry about them. They’re not bad people, they’re no kidnappers, it’s just that their child has their first day of school.”
The phenomenon of Chinese parents who cannot say goodbye to their schoolgoing children does not just occur outside kindergartens. In 2016, the so-called ‘tents of love’ (爱心帐篷) became a hot topic on Chinese social media.
When students have their first day at college, parents who come from far will often travel along with their children and spent the first days sleeping in tents outside the school. They do this to give their children both emotional and practical support, but perhaps more so to soothe their own separation anxiety.
“tents of love”: parents set up their tents at university campus to support their child.
About the Liaochang incident, some people on Weibo comment: “It must be so difficult for children to go to school and having to deal with their parents!”
Miranda Barnes is a Chinese blogger and part-time translator with a strong interest in Chinese media and culture. Born in Shenyang, she used to work and live in Beijing and is now based in London. On www.abearandapig.com she shares news of her travels around Europe and Asia with her husband.
*shudders* smothering behaviour is already established as “love” in chinese and korean culture. this kind of behaviour really reminds me of those infuriating hello counsellor episodes. the one about a brother obsessed with his sister, and a wife who is stalked by her violent husband.
Chinese Female Homeowner Slapped in Altercation with Nanchang Office Worker
This viral video has exposed the violent actions of Yang, an office worker who initially provoked the anger of local residents and has now ignited fury on Chinese social media as well.
An incident that happened on September 27th in Jiangxi’s Nanchang has become a major topic of discussion on Chinese social media over the past two days, and all revolves around a viral video that shows a man suddenly striking a Chinese female homeowner across the face.
The backstory of the video revolves around a dispute between the local homeowners and the man, who holds a higher position at the office building situated within the residential area’s property.
Upon discovering that an iron fence, which separated the residential area from the office area, had been cut open without notifying the local homeowners, the woman entered the office building to seek an explanation for why the fence was damaged and breached without the consent of the residential area’s residents. Apparently, employees at the company wanted to create a shortcut.
During the confrontation, the man told the woman: “If you want to talk, go to the community meeting room.” Just as the woman asked him why the fence was cut open with a cutting machine, the man suddenly and forcefully slapped her in the face.
What was he thinking?! This 43-year-old office worker from Nanchang suddenly turned violent, striking a female resident across the face after being asked why they cut open an iron fence separating the office & residential area (probably as shortcut). The slap has now gone viral. pic.twitter.com/vDNDczgyYQ
After the incident, the woman was taken to a local hospital for a medical examination, and the police initially intervened in the case as mediators. However, the latest updates on the case reveal that the man is now detained for ten days. Apart from slapping the female homeowner, a 32-year-old woman named Wang, the 43-year-old office worker Mr. Yang reportedly also struck another woman, a 37-year-old local named Cheng.
The video has captured the attention of netizens not just because of the man’s actions towards a woman but also because it seemed to occur out of nowhere. One moment, the man was engaged in conversation with the woman, and the next moment, he suddenly slapped her across the face.
Recently, there have also been other ‘slapping moments’ that went viral on Chinese social media. Earlier this year, the “high-speed train slapping incident”, involving two women arguing on a train and slapping each other in the face, garnering widespread attention (read here). Another recent incident involves the ‘Subway Judge,’ a young man who intervened in a subway argument and suddenly slapped an older man in the face (read here).
As is often the case, a short video may not capture the full context of a situation, and some Chinese netizens who claim to have more information about the incident suggest that multiple office workers were actually involved in the confrontation with the women.
Another video provides additional footage of the altercation, revealing that Yang threatened one of the women with a cutting machine. It also shows how he brought Ms. Wang to the ground after the initial slapping incident.
Local residents and Yang, who is believed to oversee the office department, have been in a longstanding conflict. According to a homeowner’s post on Weibo, when the residents bought their apartments, they were not informed about the nearby office building. They only discovered it when they received their keys.
Initially, Evergrande, the property developer, had promised separate management for the residential and office areas, but due to apparent financial difficulties, this plan was never finalized. The homeowners therefore erected the iron fence to separate the residential and commercial areas, leading to continuous arguments and intimidation between the office workers and the residents.
Mr. Yang on the office side of the fence. He has now reportedly been detained for ten days.
Some Weibo commenters are suggesting that the man’s behavior makes him seem more like a gang member than a typical office worker. In addition to the legal consequences that Yang is facing from local authorities, his reputation is undoubtedly taking a hit.
As of now, Chinese netizens have already exposed his identity, and the internet is never forgiving when it comes to these kinds of incidents, leaving a lasting mark on one’s public image.
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The story of a restaurant employee who had to pay the price for sharing a video of a mother beating her child has triggered anger on Chinese social media.
The incident happened on September 14, when Mr. Jiang (江), an employee at the ‘Peng Shu’ Western-style restaurant in Changsha, stopped a mother from beating her young daughter at the shopping mall where the restaurant is located.
As reported by the Guizhou media channel People’s Focus (@百姓关注), a mother and daughter at the restaurant drew the staff’s attention when the mother began physically assaulting her daughter.
The mother, clearly overwhelmed by her emotions, resorted to kicking, hitting, yelling, and even attempting to strike her child with a chair, allegedly in response to the child accidentally spilling ice cream on her clothing.
During this distressing incident, which was captured on video, Mr. Jiang and another colleague intervened to protect the child and immediately alerted the police to the situation.
But the one who was punished in the end was not the mother.
Changsha restaurant staff intervened when seeing a mother beating her child. The topic went trending as a case of injustice after an employee was forced to pay a 10k rmb fine for spreading a video of the incident, while the mother faced no punishment. Read https://t.co/tHGSJx3EGNpic.twitter.com/of5j8KBlCe
The video of this incident was shared online, leading the woman to repeatedly visit the restaurant in frustration over her unblurred face in the video. The police had to mediate in this dispute.
To the dismay of many netizens, the employee ended up being forced to pay the woman 10,000 yuan ($1369) in compensation for “moral damages.” He has since resigned from his job and has left Changsha. A related hashtag was viewed over 110 million times on Weibo (#餐厅员工发顾客打娃视频后赔1万离职#) and also became a hot topic on Douyin.
The majority of commenters expressed their anger at the unjust outcome where a restaurant employee, who had attempted to protect the child, faced repercussions while the mother appeared to avoid any legal consequences for her actions.
“Where is the All-China Women’s Federation when you need them?” some wondered, while others wanted to know why the incident was not followed up with an immediate investigation into the child abuse. Others suggested that if it were a man who had beaten his child, authorities would have been quicker to intervene.
The issue of corporal punishment for children often comes up in Chinese social media discussions. While many people find it unacceptable to beat children, using violence to discipline children is also commonplace in many families.
When China’s first national law against domestic violence came into effect on 1 March 2016, article 5 and 12 specifically addressed the special legal protection of children and made family violence against children against the law.
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winona
May 13, 2018 at 10:39 pm
*shudders* smothering behaviour is already established as “love” in chinese and korean culture. this kind of behaviour really reminds me of those infuriating hello counsellor episodes. the one about a brother obsessed with his sister, and a wife who is stalked by her violent husband.