The local housing authority in Guangzhou is trying out a performance assessment program on the residents of government-funded apartments. This scoring system allots each resident 20 points and deducts points for various violations. Those who lose all 20 points within two years will be evicted and will not be allowed to apply for government housing for a year. Some violations, such as spitting chewing gum on the ground will result in a three-point deduction from their etiquette scorecard.

I can hardly imagine how difficult it would be to implement such rules. And I don't believe that the local housing authority is unaware that spitting chewing gum has nothing to do with qualifications for government housing. I don't believe they don't know such rules are hard to pass and even harder to implement. But they still feel nothing wrong by establishing such rules. Are they trying to get a sense of satisfaction and superiority from almsgiving?

More and more irrelevant things are required to qualify for the apartments. Other welfare policies prohibit low-income families from owning dogs. That is to say, some local housing authorities are making a big mistake on their understanding of the welfare policy.

Why does our society need the government? Government can help maintain a stable social order and maintain basic social equality, which includes providing basic social security to low-income families using tax revenues. It is the government's obligation to provide low-interest rates or government-financed housing.

Nowadays, gulfs between different social groups are often talked about. It is of key importance to reduce the income gap in order to narrow the gulf. But it is also very important to protect the dignity of the poor, who will be deeply disappointed with society if they can only enjoy the support by sacrificing their dignity and accepting ridiculous additional obligations.

(This post was first published in Chinese on January 7, 2010 and translated by Li Xiaohua.)