Those helping others need protection_美文_趣味英语-查字典英语网

Those helping others need protection

Isn't virtue its own reward? Hasn't it been a moral imperative to help others in need here for thousands of years? Indeed, being ready to help others for a just cause and never hesitating to do what is right have been core societal virtues since at least Confucius' time.

Speaking personally, I think of myself as a person who is predisposed to helping others. When I lived in New York I never gave it a second thought to give up my seat on the bus or subway to someone in need, or to help a blind person cross the street. In China, however, I always think twice about doing so and I hold myself back from helping someone who is seriously injured or in real distress. I have read too many stories, or heard them from friends, about people being held liable for damages by courts that conclude that nobody would help another injured soul unless the helper had caused the damage.

I hope China can soon enact legislation that protects people helping others. In most countries such people and laws are labeled good Samaritans after a story told in The Bible. In this country I think it would be more appropriate and more widely understood to name the law after Lei Feng, who was a soldier from Changsha but is famous for helping people in need. Upon hearing his name, every Chinese citizen would immediately "get" its import.

I also hope that China considers enacting legislation that severely punishes with both prison and fines those people who pretend to be injured with the intention of entrapping well-meaning people coming to their aid. To me this is no different than a kidnapper or modern-day pirate seeking to hold someone for ransom. The penalties should be severe enough to deter all but the most foolhardy.