Rude way to get courtesy

Golden agers have been caught on video bullying youngsters into giving up seats, and their actions have been criticised on social media.

CHINA is a country that emphasises filial piety, respect for the elderly, love for the younger ones and protection of the disadvantaged groups, in order to create a harmonious society.

Children have always been taught to take care of the elderly, but this should come willingly and not be forced.

Giving up train and bus seats to the golden agers is one way of showing respect, but it is not a crime if a person refuses to do so.

Video clips of senior citizens lashing out at youngsters for not offering their seats are often posted on the Internet, leading to debates on whether these are instances of dao de bang jia.

A common term in the Middle Kingdom, dao de bang jia, which literally translates into moral kidnapping, is used to describe the action of forcing people to do something in the name of morality.

In some cases, the senior citizens took it to the extreme by humiliat- ing the young people or giving them hilarious and unforgettable lessons.

On a public bus in Chengdu of south-western China’s Sichuan province, an old man rubbed his buttocks against a young boy in an attempt to get the child to leave a seat designated for senior citizens, pregnant women and the disabled.

An eyewitness, known only as Jiang, told China.com that the man, in his 60s, boarded the bus past 3pm. All the seats were taken.

“He headed straight to the priority seat and soon after, he started scolding a boy occupying it,” she said, adding that the man called the boy “rude” and told him that “you have no mother or father to teach you”.

The boy, aged about six, appeared to be frozen with fear and confusion, and did not move from the seat.

“After a while, the man started rubbing his buttocks against the boy’s body, and eventually forced him to stand up,” said Jiang, who took a video of the incident.

In Shanghai, an old man verbally attacked a young woman who was sitting in a priority seat on a crowded subway train. He next tried to pull the woman off the seat but failed. He then sat on her lap despite her saying she was sick. The terrified woman got up immediately.

In another incident, an old man dragged a boy off his seat in a train and then took the seat. The boy’s mother, who sat not far away, rushed over and told the old man that the child was sick.

Accusing the mother of lying, the man demanded to see a medical certificate as proof.

In Wuhan of Hubei province, an old man slapped a woman in the face when she refused to give up her seat to him.

All these episodes were captured on video. Often, the senior citizens are seen still scolding and cursing the youngsters although they had won the battle for the seats.

These men have been lambasted on social media for committing dao de bang jia, with the critics saying these “public transport bullies” were unreasonable and took advantage of the young ones.

Sometimes, the youngsters need these seats more than the senior citizens, a sales assistant wrote on Weibo, a Chinese Twitter-like social networking site.

“Imagine if you have stood and worked for more than 10 hours. You really need a seat and have no more energy to stand all the way home,” she said.

In at least one case, a golden ager not only demanded a seat, but expected it to be vacated right away.

In Xian of China’s northwestern Shaanxi province, a mother-to-be was reprimanded by a senior citizen for being “too slow” to offer her seat. When she pointed out that she was pregnant, the man answered: “Pregnant? So what? I am old. You should give me your seat!”

In a clip that made its rounds on the Internet recently, a bus driver was praised for giving his seat to an expectant mother. The driver got up and asked the woman to take his place and then taught her to drive the bus.

Upon seeing this, the other passengers got up too and offered her their seats.

Judging from how the passengers acted and the camera angles, the video looks staged.

That aside, it serves as a reminder to respect the elderly and to care for the more vulnerable among us.

Although these moral values should be encouraged, those whom others should respect and care for, should also be polite. Nothing in this world ought to be taken for granted.

In Shangdong province, an 80-year-old man gives handmade thank you cards to those who give up seats to him. He has handed out more than 200 cards so far.