WangXinyi,an18-year-oldgirlfromapoorfamilyinnorthChina鈥檚HebeiProvince,wasjustadmittedintotheprestigiousPekingUniversityafterperformingincrediblywellonthisyear鈥檚nationalcollegeentranceexamination.Inarecentarticle,shethankedpovertyforhersuccess.Althoughgrowingupinextremedifficulties,鈥渘arrowsmyvision,stabsmyself-esteem,andeventakesthelivesofmylovedonesindirectly,Istillwanttosay,thankyou,poverty,鈥漵hewrote.Thearticlequicklywentviral,triggeringdiscussions,debatesandspeculationamongthepublic.
Manypeoplehaveexpressedbewildermentathergratitude.TheyarguedthatWangdidwellinthenationalcollegeentranceexamnotbecauseshecomesfromapoorfamilybutbecauseshehasmadeunremittingeffortstoenteranexcellentuniversity.Therearealotofpeopletobethanked,likeherparents,teachers,friends,butbynomeansshouldpovertybethanked.Especially,atatimewhenthewholecountryisworkinghardtoeliminatepoverty,it鈥檚discouragingtosingitspraises.
Othersbelievethatsheisnotthankingpovertyforthemiseryithasinflicteduponher,butthestrongwilltofight,optimismandresilienceextractedfromthebattleagainstit.StillothersthinkthepublicandmediadonotfullyunderstandWang鈥檚ideaswhenshethankspoverty,andshouldthereforestopthehypeandfocusinsteadondelvingintoherarticleandherstory.
Povertyalleviationunshakable
ZhuChangjun(GuangmingDaily):Thenewsofagirlgrowingupinpovertybe-ingadmittedintoPekingUniversityisreallyencouraging.However,herThankyou,Povertyarticleisunderstandablycontroversial.
Wangshouldnotbeblamedforthankingpoverty,butinthepubliccontext,hergratitudetowardpovertyshouldneverbeamplified.Whatthewholesocietyshouldlearnfromsuchstrongandsuccessfulexamplesisnottothankpoverty,buttoseetheresilienceandhardworkingspiritoftheseyoungpeople.
Formostpeople,povertymeanssetbacksandtrauma,andthusit鈥檚somethingthatdoesnotdeservegratitude.Surveysonleft-behindchildrenlivinginpovertyhavelongpointedoutthatpovertydoesmoreharmthangood.Thus,theefforttopushforwardsocialprogressmeansliftingmorechildrenoutofpovertysothattheycancompetewiththeirricherpeersonaleveledplayingfield.
Whatweshouldfocusonistheimbalanceoftheeducationalresourcedistributionacrossthecountry,notsimplytospinanordinaryinspirationalstory,althoughherstoryisindeedinspiring.
Thewholecountryisnowgearinguptoeliminatepoverty,soweshouldtrytoavoidusingstoriesofindividuals鈥檚truggleagainstpovertyaspropaganda,asitmaybeusedtojustifypovertyandevendownplaytheurgencyofpovertyalleviationefforts.Wang鈥檚storywillhelpmorepeopletoknowbetteraboutthelifeandpsychologyofpeoplelivinginpoverty,andthisispartofthevalueofherstory.Asforsociety,theimmediatetaskistorallysocialresourcestoeradicatepovertysothatyoungpeoplelikeWangdon鈥檛needtoexperiencesuchhardships.
LiJi(www.hebei.cn):ManypeoplecommentedbelowthepostofWang鈥檚story.Theremarksrangedfrom:鈥淚tisyouyourselfthatshouldbethanked,notpoverty,鈥漷o鈥淚tisyourcourageandoptimisminthefaceofpovertythatdeservesthanks,ratherthanpoverty,鈥漚nd鈥淧overtyisthelastthingthatyoushouldthank.鈥漈herefore,alargepartofsocietydidnotagreewiththegirlonherattitudetowardspoverty.
So,whatshouldshefeelgratefulfor?Firstofall,thepeoplearoundher:herparents,whohaveendowedherwithtalentanddonesomuchforherinthepastyearsandwillcontinuetodosointheupcomingyears;herrelativesandfriendswhohavehelpedherthroughdifficultiesbyofferingherandherfamilyclothesandotherdailynecessities;aswellasmanykind-heartedstrangerswhohavereachedoutahelpinghand.
Ofcourse,sheshouldalsothankherselffornevergivingupunderadversesituations,butbynomeansshouldshethankpoverty.Hergrandmotherlostherlifetocancer.Ifithadbeenarichfamily,theelderlywomanwouldhavestoodagoodchanceofsurvivingandWangwouldn鈥檛havebeensohardhitbytheearlydeathofhergrandmother.
Wang鈥檚articleisrifewithoptimismandself-confidence,buthardshipandbitternessbroughtonbypovertywillnotdisappearjustbecauseofherattitude.
Moreover,formostchildrengrowingupinpoverty鈥攏omatterhowindustriousandhardworkingtheyare鈥攖heoddsofbecomingsuccessfulorgoingtoaprestigiousuniversityismuchlowercomparedtothosewhogrowupinricherfamilies.
Thefactthatitwentviralonlinewasnotthegirl鈥檚intention,butwasduetoalargeextenttothemedia鈥檚hypingherstorytopandertocertainreaders鈥檌nterest.
Successbasedonhardship
PengJian(DailySunshine):Franklyspeaking,Idon鈥檛thinkit鈥檚righttoeitherexaltorcriticizeWang.Whilethankingpoverty,shedoesnotmeantopraisepoverty.Instead,sheislookinginretrospectatthehardshipsinherlifeandrevealinghertruefeelingsafterovercomingallthedifficulties.IfthearticlehadnotbeentitledThankyou,Poverty,butThankyou,Hardship,muchlesscontroversywouldhavearisen.
Behindthearticle,thereareindeedthingsworthyofattentionorevenvigilance.Weshouldbevigilantofpovertyitself.Itshouldbeeliminatedbyawell-governedsociety.Povertyisneitherworthpraisenoroverestimation.Weshouldindeedbewarythatpovertywillhampersocialmobilityandentrenchpeopleinit.Povertyisanunavoidablesocialproblem.Wang鈥檚growingupinapoorfamilyandbeingadmittedintoChina鈥檚topuniversityissomethingtobecelebrated.However,mostchildrenfrompoorfamiliesmayalreadyhavefallenbehindatanearlyage.Sheisanexception.Theseverityofpovertywillnotabateevenalittlebecauseofthissingleexception.Ofcourse,weshouldalsobewaryofcommercialexploitationandexaggeration.Itwasherprivacydecisiontowriteanarticlethankingpoverty,butwhenitisbroughtintothespotlight,itistotallyanothermatter.
XiaoJiang(TheBeijingNews):Weallknowthatpovertyisnotconducivetocultivatingaperson.Itdoesharmtobothmentalandphysicalhealthandevenkillspeople.
Thosewhomanagetogetoutofpovertydependontheirperseverance,frugalityandevenfortune.Theyfeelgratefulthattheyhavenotbeenknockeddownbyallkindsofhardshipsstemmingfrompoverty.Theyregardthehardshipsandpovertyasaninvaluableassetandbecomestrongerandbraverforthefuture.Mostpeoplelivinginpovertyareunabletoriseoutofpoverty.Forthosewhostillliveinpoverty,theywillneverthankpoverty.
Atthecurrentstage,povertyalleviationisstillapriority.Bynomeansshouldpovertybewhitewashed.AsforWang,heradmissiontoPekingUniversitydeservescongratulations.Whilethankingpoverty,sheisactuallycelebratingthefactthatsheisabletosaygoodbyetopoverty.Sheisonly18yearsoldandstillhasalotofthingstoexperienceinlife.Wesincerelyhopethatshecanfighttotheend.Thepublicshouldreadherarticleinamoreflexibleway,insteadoftryingtounderstandsuchstoriesfromonlytheirownperspective.
CopyeditedbyRebecaToledo