A recent survey on government officials' "reading habits" found
that engagement in work and social functions leaves them little
time to read.
The survey, designed by China Books Business Journal
and Outlook Oriental Weekly, investigated 100 leading
officials from five randomly chosen provinces across the country.
The officials all acknowledged the importance of reading but 87
percent blamed "busy work" and "too many social engagements" for
encroaching on their time for reading.
A "leading official" is usually a decision-maker for governance
at a certain level. Correct decisions stem from correct judgment,
which, in turn, depends on the official's knowledge of the matter
to be decided. Besides drawing from practical experience, one's
knowledge comes primarily from reading. Without adequate reading,
no officials are really qualified to fulfill their duty.
For instance, local leaders have a final say in deciding whether
a dam should be built. They need not to be geologists or
hydrologists but should have some elementary knowledge to
understand the feasibility reports submitted by professionals on a
locality's geological and hydrologic conditions.?
That is not a groundless supposition. In the 1970s, I was a
teacher in a rural commune. In 1974, the commune leader decided to
build a dam across a river in a valley. He chose the site at the
place where the valley was the narrowest because it would "need the
minimum amount of earth work". The decision was made in haste and
the dam was built in several months.
A fellow teacher of mine was a graduate of a well-known
hydroelectric college. He told me that to build a dam needs
investigation of local geological conditions and study of
historical hydrologic data
I didn't know if the commune leader had consulted the
technicians from the county-level water conservancy bureau but I
knew nobody came to listen to my colleague, who had the highest
educational background in hydroelectricity in the county.
It was the heyday of the "cultural revolution", when knowledge
and reading were despised as useless and even harmful.
Intellectuals were sent to work in rural areas away from their
professions.
Just as the dam had taken shape, heavy spring rains dramatically
raised the water level of the upper stream and the dam burst. The
flood swept down the valley, causing deaths and destroying
houses.
The commune leader was not a villain. He labored hard together
with local farmers to build the dam and refused to withdraw to
safety as the dam burst. But his contempt for science and knowledge
had serious consequences.
Most of today's officials hold graduate degrees. But they also
need to constantly update their knowledge through reading.
Unfortunately, many of them indulge in social life - banquets,
ceremonies and parties under various names - and spend little time
reading. They complain that they cannot shun these social
activities because some of their work has to be done on these
occasions.
That is an unfounded excuse. Moderate participation in these
activities may be necessary but a person of lofty character would
love reading more than yielding to the temptation of epicurean
pleasures.
And reading can help a person rise above fleeting interests and
develop sound judgment -- a requirement for leadership.
(China Daily June 6, 2007)