Flyers deserve better treatment

Four lawyers in Guangdong province have requested the Civil Aviation Administration of China to ask airlines to give passengers information on the crew before a flight takes off. But more than that, passengers need information on flight delays, which have become common in China, says an article in Guangzhou Daily. Excerpts:

The request to give passengers information on the flight crew was obviously prompted by the Asiana Airlines crash in San Francisco earlier this month. Airlines are not only obliged to let passengers know who the crew members are, but also to ensure their safety.

But Chinese passengers face another major problem: flight delays. The on-schedule rate of flights in China is at a relatively low level, with two of the major Chinese airports ranked at the bottom among 35 major international airports. Worse, some airlines have come to take flight delays for granted and thus do not even bother to inform passengers about the reason. They seem to ignore the importance of time and do not care much about apologizing to passengers or providing them with the services that an air carrier should in case a flight is delayed.

Although airlines are not the major reason for flight delays, as service providers, they are answerable to passengers.

Perhaps it's time a specific law was promulgated on who should provide information about flight delays and who should be held responsible if such information do not reach passengers in time to avoid chaos at China's airports.

Molesters don't deserve leniency

A man harassed a woman on Shanghai metro line 9 in front of other passengers, who asked her to report the incident to police. But the woman decided not to file a sexual harassment complaint against the man, setting bad example for others, says an article in Youth Times. Excerpts:

Even though other passengers encouraged the victim to report the crime to police, she didn't do so. Perhaps she is kind-hearted and thought the man had not been "aggressive" enough to be reported to police. Or, she was afraid of retaliation in case she reported him to the public security bureau. In both cases, she was wrong.

A sexual offender will not change if he is not reported to the authorities for his first or second offense. Instead, he will be encouraged to commit more such crimes taking advantage of women's kindness or fear, or both.

Besides, sexual offense is a crime, and it is the responsibility of every citizen to ensure that a sexual offender is punished. Why was the woman on the metro afraid of a lone molester with so many people around? Why didn't she file a complaint against him with police to teach him a lesson?

Before criticizing the decline in social morality, people should analyze their role in society as responsible citizens. The woman on the Shanghai metro, for example, was not willing to seek police help even when fellow passengers encouraged her to do so. She should know that tolerating a crime may not be as bad as committing one, but it's no better.

(China Daily 07/23/2013 page9)