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Hu Jintao talks about ticket scarcityPosted by Eric Mu on Friday, January 16, 2009 at 6:24 PM
 The Beijing News January 16, 2009 Tens of millions of people in China’s cities are queuing up in the winter chill in the hopes of getting a ticket back home for the holidays. But there's no guarantee they'll be able to obtain that red piece of paper. Hu Jintao sympathizes. Today’s newspapers reported that the president issued instructions to the railway ministry yesterday: "Use your brains to find out solutions to solve the problem." Following Hu's instructions, a meeting was held for ministry officials at one o'clock this morning. Although Minister Li Zhijun pledged to improve service to "satisfy the people," "solutions" are unlikely to come any time soon. In other train-ticket-buying-related news, at a press conference yesterday, the railway ministry apologized to railway passengers for "hurting their feelings" and promised to investigate allegations of improper ticket sales. The apology came after a video clip surfaced showing a railway ticket assistant holding back newly printed tickets despite the protests of people outside the window. The clip enraged many viewers, who saw it as evidence that ticket clerks, and maybe the station itself, was trying to profit by withholding tickets from legitimate customers in order to sell them to scalpers for higher prices. The ministry previously explained that the incident was a misunderstanding caused by new measures introduced to improve efficiency: pre-printed tickets are supposedly distributed to ticket counters so that purchasers don't have to wait for a clerk to wrestle with the ticketing computer. The problem with these tickets is that they are generally for the entire route, meaning that anyone wanting to get off at an intermediate stop ends up paying more than they should. Links and Sources
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Comments on Hu Jintao talks about ticket scarcity
"Use your brain to find out solutions to solve the problem!"
Yes, good idea, how didn't we think of that before!
snarky commenter to HJT: "use your brains to prevent such problems from arising in the first place... ... ...year after year after year."
@slowboat: Spot on. Also:
"The ministry previously explained that the incident was a misunderstanding"
I wish I could believe that. But I suppose it's our fault we do not understand China!
To just show how fastidious I am:
The 'red piece of paper' is actually pink:
link
Hu's word only shows his attitude and his big concern. The translation "Use your brain to find out solutions to solve the problem" is misinterpreting if you truly understand what "开动脑筋" means in Chinese. Yes, Chinese officials say empty words, but don't you think you act like a big loser to joke about this?
I concur with Eric that there is a difference between "开动脑筋" and "use your brain" in terms of the tone of voice and meaning. But the mistake might have been done unintentionally. After all it was just a piece of translation from one language to another and all translations are open to question.
I went to Beijing West Railway station a few days ago, it was packed with people traveling for Spring Festival.
I would imagine that the point is not what he is saying but that he is saying it. Top officials often come out with empty slogans whose purpose is to say: "pull your socks up because we are watching you". This will (hopefully) filter down into more concrete deeds.