'Humiliated' museum admits wrong word blunder
By Liang Yiwen |
May 17, 2011, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE Palace Museum in Beijing has finally admitted using the wrong word in a thank you banner presented to police for their actions after the theft of art treasures.
At first, the museum had denied the mistake when it was brought to their attention - it thanked police for "shaking" the homeland's prosperity rather than "safeguarding" it.
Yesterday, it blamed its security department for the error.
"The security guard department was responsible for contacting the producer to make the banner. Due to time pressures, the department brought the banner to the police station directly from the production site without taking it back to the museum for checking," the museum said.
"What's worse, the department insisted it hadn't made a mistake with lame arguments when challenged by the media without reporting to officials for instructions. This is an even greater error, which misled the public and humiliated the museum."
Meanwhile, in another turnaround, the museum slapped down plans for a luxurious club for the rich in one of its palaces, though it had at first denied online claims of a club aimed at billionaires.
The museum said the club was the idea of a firm commissioned to provide hospitality services.
"The firm commissioned to provide garden hospitality services - Beijing Palace Museum Palace Culture Development Co Ltd - had sent out membership application forms without the museum's approval, aiming to compensate for the cost of their services," the museum said in statement. "The inappropriate behavior has stopped. Currently, no membership contract has been signed and no membership procedures have been made for anyone."
The firm is a joint venture established by the Palace Museum Culture Service Center affiliated to the museum in 2005 and started to participate in the operation of the Jianfu Palace garden in 2009, according to the statement.
The statement came after more details of the club in the Jianfu Palace were released online, including details of the membership fee - 1 million yuan (US$153,674) - and plans for waitresses to be dressed as imperial palace maids.
And in a third statement yesterday, the Palace Museum sought to reassure the public that improvements would be made in its security following the art treasures theft.
The museum admitted its patrols, especially in areas closed to the public, needed to be improved. It was in one of those areas that the thief hid before making off with seven jewel-encrusted gold objects.
And it said that guards hadn't reported a breakdown in the alarm system timely and had underestimated the seriousness of the case which gave the thief the opportunity to run off even after being detected.
The guard dogs in the museum also didn't react during the theft because of their lack of training.
The museum plans to upgrade its alarm system and replace windows and doors with toughened glass. The suspect gained access to the exhibition hall by breaking a window.
At first, the museum had denied the mistake when it was brought to their attention - it thanked police for "shaking" the homeland's prosperity rather than "safeguarding" it.
Yesterday, it blamed its security department for the error.
"The security guard department was responsible for contacting the producer to make the banner. Due to time pressures, the department brought the banner to the police station directly from the production site without taking it back to the museum for checking," the museum said.
"What's worse, the department insisted it hadn't made a mistake with lame arguments when challenged by the media without reporting to officials for instructions. This is an even greater error, which misled the public and humiliated the museum."
Meanwhile, in another turnaround, the museum slapped down plans for a luxurious club for the rich in one of its palaces, though it had at first denied online claims of a club aimed at billionaires.
The museum said the club was the idea of a firm commissioned to provide hospitality services.
"The firm commissioned to provide garden hospitality services - Beijing Palace Museum Palace Culture Development Co Ltd - had sent out membership application forms without the museum's approval, aiming to compensate for the cost of their services," the museum said in statement. "The inappropriate behavior has stopped. Currently, no membership contract has been signed and no membership procedures have been made for anyone."
The firm is a joint venture established by the Palace Museum Culture Service Center affiliated to the museum in 2005 and started to participate in the operation of the Jianfu Palace garden in 2009, according to the statement.
The statement came after more details of the club in the Jianfu Palace were released online, including details of the membership fee - 1 million yuan (US$153,674) - and plans for waitresses to be dressed as imperial palace maids.
And in a third statement yesterday, the Palace Museum sought to reassure the public that improvements would be made in its security following the art treasures theft.
The museum admitted its patrols, especially in areas closed to the public, needed to be improved. It was in one of those areas that the thief hid before making off with seven jewel-encrusted gold objects.
And it said that guards hadn't reported a breakdown in the alarm system timely and had underestimated the seriousness of the case which gave the thief the opportunity to run off even after being detected.
The guard dogs in the museum also didn't react during the theft because of their lack of training.
The museum plans to upgrade its alarm system and replace windows and doors with toughened glass. The suspect gained access to the exhibition hall by breaking a window.
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