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Fear of extortion keeps people from helping
By Li Hongmei |
September 26, 2011, Monday
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A 90-year-old man fell down at a bus stop in Jinan, Shandong Province, on September 16, and appealed for help.
A middle-aged woman surnamed Liu stopped by to help - but for fear she might become a new Good Samaritan victim as in the infamous Peng Yu case, she called together nearby witnesses.
On conditions that the witnesses would attest to her innocence if necessary and the fallen old man would never try to extort money from her, Ms Liu helped him up and called his family.
But after the old man spoke with his grandson at the hospital, he suddenly changed his story. He made a false statement, reporting that Liu had knocked him down. Fortunately, Ms Liu was saved by her own foresight. She had witnesses. Otherwise she would indeed be in trouble like Peng Yu.
The notorious "Nanjing Peng Yu" incident is fresh in people's minds after five years. Back in 2006, in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, a young man named Peng Yu who had just gotten off a bus went to the assistance of a 65-year-old woman who was knocked down by a fellow passenger. The woman eventually sued him for 136,419 yuan (US$21,332 today, saying he was the one who knocked her down.
In a judgment that infuriated the public, the court ruled that Peng Yu was liable to pay 40 percent of the total damages. Even after an extended period of legal wrangling that culminated in an out-of-court settlement, Peng Yu was still made to pay 10 percent.
For fear of being victimized in similar scams, people have been buying video cameras for cars; sales have reportedly shot up since the bus driver was saved by his video. Nowadays, when someone sees a fallen old person, he or she will have to think twice before springing to the rescue.
In China today, it seems, a good deed can result in a case of extortion - it even can be legally punished. That's why Good Samaritans are thin on the ground these days in a country that has time-honored traditions of helping those in need. A recent online poll found that 84 percent or those polled would not go to the aid of a fallen oldster on the street, for fear of extortion.
"It is not always necessary to help old people immediately after they fall down," according to the "timely" guidelines published this month by the Ministry of Health. "If the fallen person has shown symptoms of a stroke, fracture or lumbar damage, passersby should not move them."
As expected, the guidelines brought gasps of disbelief, and a brouhaha erupted.
Online comic strips take a swipe at the guidelines. One shows hordes of passersby standing around and gawking while a man comes to the assistance of an old man who has fallen to the ground.
But before he helps, he takes a few photos, saying "I can't help it, I'm just protecting myself." Then he turns to the old man and shows him a document. "Please sign this agreement before I help you," he says. Finally, the old man holds up a big sign that says, "Passersby please take note: I'm a good man."
There are many cases that demonstrate that it's not good to be a good man in trouble. For instance, an 88-year-old man had to lie helpless on a crowded avenue in Wuhan for about 90 minutes before someone took him to the hospital. He was dead on arrival. The cause of his death? A nosebleed that blocked his airway eventually suffocated him. This could have been prevented if someone had bothered to lift a finger.
The author is a Xinhua writer.
A middle-aged woman surnamed Liu stopped by to help - but for fear she might become a new Good Samaritan victim as in the infamous Peng Yu case, she called together nearby witnesses.
On conditions that the witnesses would attest to her innocence if necessary and the fallen old man would never try to extort money from her, Ms Liu helped him up and called his family.
But after the old man spoke with his grandson at the hospital, he suddenly changed his story. He made a false statement, reporting that Liu had knocked him down. Fortunately, Ms Liu was saved by her own foresight. She had witnesses. Otherwise she would indeed be in trouble like Peng Yu.
The notorious "Nanjing Peng Yu" incident is fresh in people's minds after five years. Back in 2006, in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, a young man named Peng Yu who had just gotten off a bus went to the assistance of a 65-year-old woman who was knocked down by a fellow passenger. The woman eventually sued him for 136,419 yuan (US$21,332 today, saying he was the one who knocked her down.
In a judgment that infuriated the public, the court ruled that Peng Yu was liable to pay 40 percent of the total damages. Even after an extended period of legal wrangling that culminated in an out-of-court settlement, Peng Yu was still made to pay 10 percent.
For fear of being victimized in similar scams, people have been buying video cameras for cars; sales have reportedly shot up since the bus driver was saved by his video. Nowadays, when someone sees a fallen old person, he or she will have to think twice before springing to the rescue.
In China today, it seems, a good deed can result in a case of extortion - it even can be legally punished. That's why Good Samaritans are thin on the ground these days in a country that has time-honored traditions of helping those in need. A recent online poll found that 84 percent or those polled would not go to the aid of a fallen oldster on the street, for fear of extortion.
"It is not always necessary to help old people immediately after they fall down," according to the "timely" guidelines published this month by the Ministry of Health. "If the fallen person has shown symptoms of a stroke, fracture or lumbar damage, passersby should not move them."
As expected, the guidelines brought gasps of disbelief, and a brouhaha erupted.
Online comic strips take a swipe at the guidelines. One shows hordes of passersby standing around and gawking while a man comes to the assistance of an old man who has fallen to the ground.
But before he helps, he takes a few photos, saying "I can't help it, I'm just protecting myself." Then he turns to the old man and shows him a document. "Please sign this agreement before I help you," he says. Finally, the old man holds up a big sign that says, "Passersby please take note: I'm a good man."
There are many cases that demonstrate that it's not good to be a good man in trouble. For instance, an 88-year-old man had to lie helpless on a crowded avenue in Wuhan for about 90 minutes before someone took him to the hospital. He was dead on arrival. The cause of his death? A nosebleed that blocked his airway eventually suffocated him. This could have been prevented if someone had bothered to lift a finger.
The author is a Xinhua writer.
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