Apparently, 92 per cent of the 16 million Shanghainese think the same, so I am in good company. Of these, only 3 per cent plan to purchase a car, which leaves 95 per cent who, for various reasons, will continue to tread the pavements, and support the excellent public transport services.

And that is exactly why the system is good and reliable.

It is viable because it is used.

What isn't so good, is the state of the city's sidewalks.

It pays to keep the buses and trains running sweetly. The worker is grateful, gets to work on time and doesn't feel that he can complain about little things like big holes in the ground.

Lots of them.

I have noticed one, ever-widening, missing its manhole cover on one of the city's main streets, over a six-week period.

It is an accident waiting to happen. Multiply me by... say 20,000 workers who pass daily and guess at the number of near-misses. Does it need one broken leg or worse, to alert the authority concerned or do you think 20,000 thumbs-down would have more clout?

I will explain why I believe no action is taken.

We will take a circuitous route from airport to hotel, to conference room, to boardroom, to Leonardo's and its like and back again and not once will the investor (for who else would he/she be?) set their feet down onto a sidewalk.

Certainly, any holes will be skirted by their thoughtful hosts, not wanting a prospective deal to be put on hold for want of a manhole cover.

That would never do.

But spend money replacing manhole covers trodden only by workers? Why waste it when it can buy Bonds and Stock and Commodities, raise the Composite Index and make the city and its brokers richer than even they dreamed was possible?

And of course the sky's the limit if you prioritise, go for it, ignore those who beaver away, put in the hours, take few holidays, limp home injured but uncomplaining.

The worker-pedestrian doesn't figure in grandiose schemes listed on the business pages. Prospective investors are lured, coaxed, seduced (I choose my words carefully) to citadels of power, Rolls-Royce-d from the flight, wheeled into gilded foyers under lofty atriums and keyed into the cocooned, silken- calm of their scented staterooms.

So who gives a jot for the workers?

Not the banker, not the broker, not the potential investor, not the tourism festival board official, and certainly not the taxi drivers who rescue the fallen ones, if they can afford!

And that's another thing.

I read that non-business travellers, embarking on one of the few National holidays are likely to pay more for their mid-level hotel rooms this year, generating additional revenue, whilst Five-Stars will be slashed to attract the 15 per cent business-class travellers who chose not to show up last year.

The worker...stung again!

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