The Right to Challenge Strong and Powerful Rules.
Sunday, October 18th, 2009Five years ago, I interviewed a man. This guy brought a bottle of water on the train, which costs 1.5 yuan. And then he asked fapiao for the cost from the train attendant. The train attendant laughed and said: “There is no fapiao for the cost on the train ever.”
The guy sent the Ministry of Railway to court afterwards.
He said people always choose to accept when they are facing strong and powerful rules. But if we give up the right to ask fapiao for 1.5 yuan today, tomorrow we may have to give up the landright, property rights, and even the right to live… If we don’t fight for our rights, these rights will just be a piece of paper.
He won the case at last. I thought him and the Ministry of Railway will be angry from then on. However, when next time he ate in the restaurant car on the train, the chief conductor deliver his food in person, and asked him if he wants the fapiao right away or after meal.
I asked him, how you win the respect?
“By the perseverance to fight for my rights.” He said.
His name is Hao Jinsong, a 34 years old lawyer.
I heard the story from a journalist in her speech competition yesterday. I appreciate Hao Jinsong’s courage to go against the powerful government branch for his legal right. I also appreciate the journalist’s work to record the small but powerful stories like this and broadcast them.
A nation consist of different idividuals. They create and define the nation. Only if a nation have the people who has independent thinking, who strives for the truth, who filghts for their constitutioanal right, who knows the world is not perfect but never gives up trying, the nation can have its future, a better one.
Ps: Fapiao is an official receipt. It used for calculating the in-comes, so that the government would know how much that one earns, and then easy for tax.
