Should young people travelling home after working a night shift give up their bus seats to elderly people heading out for their morning exercises?

The question has triggered a lively discussion of attitudes in the city, Beijing Morning Post reports.

The topic appeared on a questionnaire concerning citizens' moral outlooks in the Dongcheng District. The three possible answers to choose from included: A. Seats should be given up to the elderly unconditionally; B. The workers should not give up their seats; and, C. It depends.

"My choice is definitely A, because respecting the aged is an honourable Chinese tradition," said a college student. But a young man who often works night shifts argued that such workers are greatly in need of rest at that time, so he would choose B.

The different responses reveal a change in people's moral criteria and ways of thinking from a more uniform judgment adhered to in the past, experts said. Social criteria shift according to different situations and changing times. Therefore, nowadays, young workers are not as likely to give up their seats, said Chen Shaofeng, an ethics professor at Peking University.

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