Two days ago, I purchased Irish pork ribs on JD.com. On the morning of March 21, JD Express delivered the goods to my home. After opening the package, I immediately took some of the pork ribs to cook and made a bowl of braised pork bones.
After tasting a few pieces, I felt the flavor was a bit off—it had a strange sensation. I wondered if there was something wrong with the imported pork bones? Or maybe imported goods just taste different?
With doubt, I looked at the product packaging and was shocked to find that these pork bones had an expiration date of February 21, 2021—exactly one month past the date as of today.
Not long after, I felt a faint sensation of nausea, followed by stomach pain and diarrhea. I felt that these pork bones were likely spoiled and rotten, and I immediately thought that if elderly people ate such food with safety concerns, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Hangzhou is a city with many elderly people, and many young people, out of filial piety, often buy food through JD.com for their parents living alone at home. These expired and spoiled pork bones might have already been sold in many portions in Hangzhou. If measures aren’t taken immediately, the consequences could be very serious.
I am a returned overseas Chinese and lived in Japan for several years. The Japanese government has always attached great importance to similar food issues and would use decisive means to crack down on illegal food activities involving counterfeit and shoddy food.
While living abroad, I saw the flourishing situation at home on Chinese websites, and that the government attaches extreme importance to the health of the people; I always believed it and took pride in it. So I immediately dialed the Mayor’s 12345 hotline in Fuyang District, Hangzhou, to report this food safety issue to them.
I asked people from the market supervision and management department or the health and epidemic prevention department to come to my home as soon as possible to check the physical items, communicate with me, and take follow-up measures quickly to prevent large-scale food poisoning.
To my surprise, after hearing this, the staff member of the Fuyang 12345 Mayor’s Hotline actually said: “Since you bought the food online, you can only complain to the online merchant. We don’t handle these matters.”
I said: “This is a food issue related to the health of thousands of households. If it were clothes or something, I could contact JD directly, but food safety issues must be managed by the government. It’s likely that the government needs to issue a warning for other buyers to notify their families not to eat it and for JD to stop selling it. Please send someone to check and handle it quickly.”
Despite all my persuasion, the Fuyang 12345 staff simply ignored it and insisted: “We don’t handle online shopping disputes.”
After making these few phone calls, I felt a sense of deep despair. Is this still the same Hangzhou Municipal Government from before?
Comparison of Service Attitude: Past vs. Present
I remember clearly that sixteen years ago, there was also a food quality incident. I bought a pack of spoiled sausages and called the hotline of the Shangcheng District Health and Epidemic Prevention Department in Hangzhou. Comrades from the epidemic prevention station immediately arrived at my home, inspected and sealed the items on the spot, took them back for testing, and ordered the merchant to remove all problematic food from the shelves first.
A few days later, they issued a certificate for the food spoilage and cooperated with me and the merchant to handle the subsequent compensation work.
I didn’t expect that after more than ten years, while the world is progressing, the work attitude of Hangzhou’s civil servants has undergone a reverse transformation, becoming more and more prone to shifting responsibility when handling public incidents.
Similarly, regarding things happening online, many people are pursued across provinces or placed on online wanted lists by local governments just for saying a word or two online. Contrasting this, does it feel like a kind of black humor?
Patriotism shouldn’t just be a slogan, nor should it only be called for from the common people. If a country or a local government lacks the concept of considering the health and safety of the common people and only knows how to shout slogans of serving the people, it will likely not be easy to win the hearts of the people.
Many low-level civil servants in Hangzhou receive high salaries of over 400,000 yuan (RMB) a year. Should they ask themselves: “Am I worthy of such a high salary given by the taxpayers?”
A confused overseas Chinese in Japan, 2021.3.21迫