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International columnist, political analyst and senior journalist Ahmed Mohiuddin Siddiqui’s articles are published across Asia, Africa and Europe. He writes for The Moroccan Times, The Tunis Times, India Tomorrow, Kohram News, The Etemaad Urdu Daily and for news papers published from Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. You can follow him on Twitter at: @journopolana[/symple_box]
Muscat, Oman—China is a land of myriad possibilities. The booming population has its own advantages and disadvantages. The huge potential of human resources is a positive factor for China. It has transformed its economy like never before. There is downside to this success story of China. Family life and human relationships have been on the losing ground because of the demands of work pressure.
The Spring Festival brings cheer to the Chinese, who look forward to the holiday. A holiday is much hard earned in China unlike other parts of the world. The urbanization phenomenon has redefined the way of life of the Chinese. As more and more Chinese are moving to the cities in search of making fortunes, a holiday is very difficult to come by. A woman working a garment factory wanted a day off from work. She had not seen her child in the last six months. She was told by the owner that she could have a day off. But, he cannot guarantee her job when she comes back after a day. This shows amply clear that there is no time for family. There is no time for love and to get married too. The young Chinese feel pressure from the family for not finding a ‘girlfriend or a boyfriend’ to get married.
As the Chinese heed for home to the rural regions to celebrate Spring and the new year, their most prized possession is their girlfriend or boyfriend. Those who are lucky to get one, flaunt them in front of their parents and make them feel proud. Journalists are always searching for information for their reports. During one encounter on the internet, I bumped into an advertisement from Taobao, China. This advertisement was for ‘’rent-a-boyfriend services’’. My initial shock transformed into curiosity and this led to the birth of this strange but true report from China. I had to dig a mountain of sources because this sort of thing has not been reported in the English media and I am not familiar with the Chinese language. But my determination to read and inform was crowned with success. My investigation into this ‘rent-a-boyfriend’ service opened new vistas of knowledge about the upheavals in the Chinese family life.
The number of Chinese girls who are renting a fake boyfriend to take home with them for the Chinese New Year holidays is a new development to shield them from parental pressure to get married. Many girls would suck up the family pressure on the issue of marriage. But those who feel embarrassed going home without a boyfriend resort to a fake boyfriend. Most of the clients are in their 30s. The rent of a fake boyfriend or a fake girl friend is from 800 Chinese Yuan (US$ 128) a day to 1,000 Yuan (Us$ 160). If the male or female clients sign a contract with a rented partner, this business contract remains valid as long as they do not violate it by having sex, according to Chen Genglu, a specialist lawyer from Yongheng Law Firm dealing with rent-a-partner cases. He adds a note of caution and says that both female clients and rented girlfriends should be on the guard since it would be difficult to protect themselves or provide evidence in the event of rape or sexual assault.
Business houses and companies are known to encourage their hard working employees with an end of year bonus. An owner of a company from Wuhan province found a novel way to reward his hard working female employee. Ms. Li was sitting at her desk busy with work. One day, a man who resembled the Korean actor Li Min Gao came into her office. He walked up to her and politely requested her to stand up. He then slowly backed her into a corner and leaned against the wall and ‘’gazed at her deeply.’’ Li flushed bright red and got a bit flustered. Then the man told her in a deep loving voice that “I hope you enjoy this end of year bonus and that next year you will continue to work hard for the company.’’ He then handed her a big Hongbao full of cash. This was Ms. Li’s end year- end bonus. Her boss had hired this handsome young man to reward Ms. Li for her hard work. Ms. Li was shocked as her boss appeared to be normally very businesslike and straight forward. The boss was inspired to create the unusual bonus to coincide with Spring and Valentine Day celebrations.
Demands of work often do not allow even spouses to meet each other. Their duty timings and shifts are completely different even in the Western countries. The Chinese situation reminded me of my brother’s hilarious comment about life after migration to Canada. My loving brother Amjad described his meetings with his spouse thus: ‘’Your sister-in-law and I are meeting like lovers at the bus stop.’’ Their work timings hardly gave an opportunity for them to spend quality time with each other. It is the hard reality of life. Poet William Henry Davies said thus:What is this life, if full of care, We have no time to stand and stare.
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International columnist, political analyst and senior journalist Ahmed Mohiuddin Siddiqui’s articles are published across Asia, Africa and Europe. He writes for The Moroccan Times, The Tunis Times, India Tomorrow, Kohram News, The Etemaad Urdu Daily and for news papers published from Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. You can follow him on Twitter at: @journopolana[/symple_box]
