Editor,

After reading your article entitled "Wage hike a positive step for migrants (September 1)," I feel very heartened. This should have come along a little bit earlier as I have witnessed much suffering and distress for the migrant workers. They toiled day and night only to keep their body and soul together.

With the new regulation formulated and promulgated in Guangzhou, I think their wage conditions will surely be improved and better guaranteed. However, here I have two relevant points to make.

Firstly, can we spread and promote this measure to other cities? You may argue that other cities' economic level is lagging behind Guangzhou, however, it is a generally recognized fact that compared with the bosses' enormous economic returns, 700 or 800 yuan (US$86 or 99) salary/per month for the manual workers is really nothing whatsoever.

Secondly, though the new regulation has been staged, the faithful implementation has yet to be seen and tested. Some problems may arise at the real management level, such as how to define the exact demarcation line of the urban and suburban area?

Anyway, this is an encouraging step forward and should be applauded dutifully!

Chen Xiaguang, Guangzhou

Social values upheld

Editor,

I read your article "Respect other peoples' sense of decency (August 16)" and agree with the points of view. Social values and moral traditions are very important even in this modern world. No democratic society can give absolute freedom for exposing nudity. If we give this liberty to an individual there will be no end to it.

In art an artist can depict the nudity but that should be a piece of art. Art and literature accept nudity but not vulgarity.

I appreciate your strong views on nudity and sex. I feel, the liberty of sex in the modern society is creating havoc and killing millions of people by AIDS and other diseases. In India, a married male or woman cannot think to have relations with any other person. I married in 1962 and still we are faithful to each other. What others will say to it - backwardness or modernity with values?.

Thanks for your provocative article. I am a retired professor of University of Delhi (India) and presently in New York.

Kamal Kishore Goyanka, New York

Workers' rights

Editor,

The article "'Efficiency' made at cost of workers' interest" made an interesting read of the August 30 issue of the opinion page.

I am a white-collar worker with an MNC and face the same kind of mentality of maintaining the proxy "high-efficiency." We are made to work extra hours without extra payment.

This is not only the problem of the Chinese but also of the expatriates who work here.

If only I were doing the same job deputed in the United States (my company has branches there as well), my boss would allow me a Monday "off" if I work on weekends. I can accumulate the number of extra hours I put, that is tracked by the punch-in/out time and can get them accrued to my annual leave. Instead I end up working here for free everyday 10-12 hours straight (official working hours are 8), and on weekends whenever required.

When I go to my boss for my legitimate demand of annual leave, he would frown and say that, "I will loose my billing to the customer for this month. The profit will be low for the half month that you would go, why don't you split your holidays?"

Given the fact that it takes me three to four days to reach my home and same number of days to travel back to China, how do you think I can stay for less than a week there, for my family reunion? Hence, I postpone my travel, lest that the money I would spend will not be worth it, if time is insufficient.

We are a part of this vicious circle, whether we like it or not.

Yan Ka (via email)

(China Daily 09/18/2006 page4)