Hands off our precious Golden Weeks

If you asked Chinese people what they are most looking forward to or excited about at the moment, I think most would reply: "The National Day Golden Week."

This sounds like a statement of the obvious. Who wouldn't look forward to staying away from work for seven days? But the upcoming National Day holiday does bear some added significance. It has been nine months since people had the last seven-day holiday - the Spring Festival - because the May Day Golden Week in between was cancelled. In addition, there is the danger of losing the National Day Golden Week.

Tsinghua University Professor Cai Jiming, head of the "Project Panel for the Reforming of Holidays", said recently that the National Day Golden Week should also be cancelled "if the conditions are ripe with regard to paid vacations". The panel is believed to be the mastermind behind the government's decision to shorten the seven-day May Day holiday to three days and add three more public holidays related to three other days on the Chinese lunar calendar.

Cai's words evoked a wave of public criticism. All the surveys conducted by China's major Internet portal websites indicated that more than 80 percent of netizens opposed the suggestion. They accused the professor of depriving them of the precious holidays while enjoying two long vacations himself every year.

Cai has defended his idea by blaming the Golden Weeks for causing overcrowding on public transport and at tourist venues. People's need for longer holidays, he said, can be met by popularizing the practice of paid vacations.

Professor Cai must have been to Western countries, or at least learned a lot about them, and envied them for their vacation system. I also admire the practice but I doubt it will be practiced in China without obstruction.

Now, so-called paid vacations in their true sense are seldom seen in China. Even though some companies and government organizations do have a paid vacation schedule, it is often ignored. Employees usually "voluntarily" give up the vacation because they find it difficult to get someone to fill in for them they are on holiday.

With the Golden Week system, however, Chinese employees are guaranteed three long vacations every year as they are compulsory by law. These days are a precious time for employees who work away from their hometowns because they can take the time to visit their kith and kin. In fact, most holidaymakers, the majority of whom are students and rural migrant workers, use the three Golden Weeks to visit their families and relatives.

Even for those who use the holidays for tourism, paid vacations are an inferior alternative. People usually hope to spend holidays with their loved ones; how can they ensure that they can succeed in asking for leave from their respective workplaces simultaneously?

The cancellation of the May Day week has deprived Chinese people of an important opportunity for a family reunions. It is understandable why people are so angry with the "experts" who have now selected the National Day week as their next target for "holiday reform".

The experts may claim that that they only called for the scrapping of these holidays "when the conditions are ripe with regard to paid vacations". However, ordinary people will ask them: "Were the conditions ripe when you cancelled the May Day Golden Week?"