Asiad not a political show but a sporting event
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From Beijing and Shanghai, to Guangzhou. From the Olympics, and the World Expo to the Asian Games. In three years, China's largest three cities have used these three mega-events as coming-out parties to demonstrate to the world the nation's urbanization miracles and organizational capabilities.
After all the applause has ended, China will need to rethink the meaning of these events. Are these events political in nature or economic, or are they simply sporting events?
Just a little over two years ago Chinese were overjoyed at the thought of the Olympics being held in China for the first time. Generally, the public and the media were on board with the plan despite problems and inconveniences like traffic restrictions and factory closures.
Just before the Shanghai Expo kicked off earlier this year, concerns were raised over the anticipation over the record turnout of at least 7 million visitors.
Now as the Asian Games arrives, critical voices appear even louder. Local officials, facing growing criticism by the media and the public for various inconveniences, have been forced to make apologies and adopt some suggestions from the public.
The subtle changes in the public's psychology over the past few years are worth considering. After two mega-events, domestic audiences are looking at these large-scale events as something normal and unspectacular. Many people are more pragmatic about the mega-events instead of overjoyed or excited. They won't just endorse these projects blindly.
Nevertheless, officials seem to be a bit slow reacting to this change in the public's attitude. Although local officials in Guangzhou were quick to respond to the public's rebukes, their mentality of treating the Asian Games as a government task related to their political performances has not fundamentally changed.
The intolerance of nothing but perfection may lead to times of greater spending of money and resources, as well as inconveniences to citizens.
Compared with when China first hosted the Asian Games 20 years ago, when the entire nation was drenched in pride and joy, the public seems far less enthusiastic about the Guangzhou Asian Games.
Along with a maturing Chinese public, the government is also embedding the idea of public service into these activities, and trying to satisfy people through interaction. But this is not enough.
In the future, the government needs to gradually withdraw from such events, and instead play a supporting and supervisory role. The government should further transfer the workload of event organization to market forces.
Only when such mega events return to their original nature as sporting events or trade shows, could both the public and the government really treat them with a peaceful mind.
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