It has been a tough week for purists in China.
Last week saw the life suspension of champion male back stroke swimmer, Ouyang Kunpeng, shamed for performance enhancing drug use.
Today we see another case where the public's trust has been abused with the revelation that the south China tiger images were faked and the officials and photographer face the docks.
Unfortunately it follows three similar cases last year involving the abuse of the public trust and it's setting a precedent1 that must be addressed.
Most recent was the manipulation of digital images concerning a flock of white pigeons. Zhang Liang from the Harbin Daily submitted the picture Over 800 pigeons at a square take the bird flu vaccine2, to the China International Press Photo Contest in 2005 and won a gold award. Sadly he was later exposed in May this year as a phony.
This followed another misrepresentation by Liu Weiqing, a 41-year-old Daqing Evening News photographer that severely3 breached4 the ethical5 codes of journalists mid6 February this year. He stuck together two photos into one showing more than 20 Tibetan antelopes7 frolicking under a bridge. The photo, named Qinghai-Tibet Railway opening green passageway for wild animals, was ranked among the 10 most impressive news photos of 2006.
All of which were preceded by another journalist, Zi Beijia who last July, concocted8 a story regarding cardboard stuffing that was allegedly being used in dumplings. Not only did he put people off their dinner he later forced us to query9 the desperate measures writers and photographers may go to satisfy over eager editors' quest for captivating content.
Getting beyond the initial shame experienced by the offenders10 and their immediate11 families and friends, now comes the national humiliation12 that China bashers will exacerbate13 as they condemn14 rampant15 pirating of intellectual property rights and a culture that seems to condone16 plagiarism17 and a blurring18 of the truth.
In this situation there is justice in their attack. The issue needs to be tackled and within the education system at a middle school level there is room for the ministry19 to get involved.
At present it is estimated that almost 200,000 Chinese students will study abroad this year. Projections20 for the future forecast greater numbers. Getting past the initial IELTS/ 托福 hurdle21 on entry to a foreign campus students quickly realize that past modes of academic practice as developed in their homeland do not suffice in the current international setting.
Here academic literacy as it pertains22 to referencing and plagiarism are of paramount23 importance to one's success and development and any educator who has worked with international students will be aware that Chinese are some, if not the worst, offenders in this regard.
Excusing the 54-year-old Shaanxi farmer who creatively doctored the tiger photo earning a bit of much needed extra cash, one finds it more difficult to forgive the officials, journalists and seasoned photographers who may themselves have had an education.
Yet it is within the very heart of education and the nation's classrooms that adherence24 to global practice regarding factual representation and ethical creation of cultural products needs to be addressed.
While cram25 schools profit off the English language boom and overseas study markets mushroom, more responsibility needs to be shown that proper referencing of somebody else's work, blatant26 copying of another's material and rote27 styles of learning are not satisfactory in the 21st century global economy.
New habits of international merit need to be cultivated to restore the esteem28 of China's new cultural creators who profit off a previously29 sound tradition.
