Cui Yongyuan, former host of the talkshow “Talk the Truth” (Shíhuà Shíshuō) and current host of “Talk to Little Cui,” known for his relaxed, straightforward hosting style, spoke his mind very straightforwardly but not relaxedly on his Tencent and Sohu weibo pages yesterday after a philanthropic initiative he set up in collaboration with the China Red Cross was snubbed by the Hunan Provincial Education Department.
The “Cui Yongyuan Public Fund,” established in 2007, has already provided training for teachers in 700-or-so rural villages in Gansu, Guizhou, Sichuan, Hunan, and Heilongjiang provinces.
This August, in response to announcements that another 100 teachers in Hunan were set to benefit from the program, the Hunan Provincial Education Department for some odd reason chose to turn a cold shoulder on the good news, with a curt “three no’s” notice: “Not opposed, Not in support, Not participating.”
A shocked and incensed Cui wrote back boldly with his own notice: “No work ethic, No drive to achieve, No shame!”
The majority of netizens are behind Cui on his decision to insult government officials, some speculating that the pointed reticence on Hunan’s part might be persnickety politician speak for “we’re not not supporting you, but you haven’t made enough nice-nice with us” (again, code for “where is our money”).
A small contingent thinks Cui may be overreacting, as the double-negative is actually a kind of tacit approval—apparently all one do-gooder can hope for.
