SARS more than a disease to China

Shi Nangen, China Daily, Asia News Network, Beijing

SARS may strike again, not in the form of an outbreak, but as a hazard of a more unexpected nature.

SARS, the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, should not fade in our memory only as a disease, or a panic, or an aberration to our thriving lives. It, to many, will be remembered as a curse to our neglect of order and discipline, the mismanagement of resources and wealth and our disrespect of nature and belief.

With poverty and hardship only a decade behind us and prosperity and affluence looming so close at hand, it is understandable that people now toil to amass the greatest fortunes possible. The nation seems to be on the run.

Many are running to riches and respect, to power and pride.

But riches do not kindle respect when they are irrationally spent. Nor does power engender pride if it does not benefit others.

People buy houses. But do they enjoy fresher air, greener surrounding, more convenient and reliable services, easier access to social networks, more affable community environments, and a better overall life instead of a mere spatial expansion between walls?

People buy cars. But are they free of scuffles caused by congestion, disputes over parking, annoyances over time-consuming inspections and registration, worries of theft and insurance, and all in all, a better life instead of merely a moving seat on wheels?

Houses and cars, the new symbols of the good life, are upgrades from the simpler material requests of our fathers and grandfathers. Strangely and sadly, it is always such things, the hard, tangible and touchable objects, that have been enlisted to define each phase of modernization.

Today, we need some "soft" things to serve as indicators of overall development.

One of them must be, at the very least, a scientifically planned, conscientiously maintained and incessantly improving system, be it for housing, traffic, or some other business of greater significance.

The administrators, at whichever business, on whatever level, ought to bear this in mind. Because it is they, not the people in the street, who will be held accountable for the bankruptcy or failure of their respective communities. As in the case of SARS.

SARS is now more conveniently condemned as a venom born out of ineffective disaster monitoring and prevention, a malfunctioning public health system, the clogged flow of information and bad personal hygiene and dietary habits.

By the same token, SARS was quickly contained and defeated, thanks to an efficient and centralized command team, the intensive input of resources and energy, authentic and instantaneous publicity, a strong sense of responsibility and unreserved dedication.

The story tells us it is not that there is no system, but the system is not fully activated; not that we cannot do it, but that we did not.

We Chinese never lack the "soft" things. There is a reservoir of creeds and doctrines on how a life should be lived. The earliest and most indigenous speak up in the Confucian catechism "The Analects." And there is also a cluster of guidelines and policies on how the nation should grow and prosper. The latest and the most pertinent are enunciated in the documents of the 16th Party Congress and this year's National People's Congress.

Creeds or doctrines, guidelines or policies, can take effect only when they are localized and substantiated accordingly, because China is huge, and there are huge disparities in different areas.

For example, sustainable development is universally accepted, but would mean different priorities and prohibitions in various localities. To make it work, it requires a vision which is both broad and far-reaching, wits both conventional and inspirational, and resolution both from the top and at the grassroots level.

And the "soft" things can be imports. The developed world suffered more during industrialization. It took centuries to synchronize machine and man, to integrate man to mankind and to harmonize mankind with mother nature. It cost cash and lives to find a remedy for an upstart society, which should work well for our reference.