The lighter side of the legislature

As the CPPCC/NPC sessions continue, the newsmedia is concentrating on the big issues: anti-separatism, the agricultural tax, economic growth rates, school funding - the important stuff readers flip past on their way to the latest football scandal. Hence, the human interest angle. Photos of brilliantly costumed minority delegates. Celebrity sightings (It's NPC delegate and famous actor Zhao Benshan! On a bus! With other delegates!). And quirky proposals from CPPCC members.

The CPPCC, as a Political Consultative Conference, takes recommendations and proposals from its members under consideration to become future laws. Coming from representatives of "various ethnic groups and social sectors", the proposals are often closely related to the members' own fields of expertise. As a typical example, The China Daily recently ran a report highlighting a 10 million yuan allocation for preservation of traditional Kunqu opera troupes, whose proposal was submitted several years ago by the president of the Shanghai Kunqu Opera House.

This year, a CPPCC member from the cultural bureau of the Shanghai government has recommended making lip-synching illegal. The proposal, Cultural Law is a Necessity For the Establishment of an Advanced Socialist Culture by Ma Bomin, is a response to the growing condemnation of prerecorded vocals that are practically inescapable in variety shows and concerts. Asked for a reaction, singers interviewed by The Beijing News were somewhat reticent to discuss such a tired topic. Cui Jian, who has been the most outspoken critic of lip-synching recently (and who appears in an accompanying photograph with a curiously unnamed Luo Dayou), would only say through a spokesperson that he had "already said too much".

And actor Chen Daoming recommends that an actors' union be set up to establish industry standards, reports yesterday's Legal Mirror. In addition to this, good Beijinger that he is, Chen is proposing "Public Transportation Days" in Beijing. This is an attempt to alleviate traffic by prohibiting private cars from driving downtown. Chen also gets points for staying at home rather than booking a hotel on the State's dime.