Content provided by British Council
[1] A Chinese secondary school student who asked his classmates to save their used water bottles so he could sell them has been praised online. He hoped to help ease his family’s financial position. The plea in the form of a blackboard message was written by a Grade Two pupil at No 5 Middle School in Huainan, in China’s eastern Anhui province.
[2] His request went viral on social media at the end of November. Fellow pupils shared it online, the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald reported. “My fellow students in Grade Three, could you please put your used bottles in one place? I will come to collect them. The reason for me to do this is to pay my mother’s medical bills and to repay my father’s loans. My father is a farmer who has debts of more than 100,000 yuan (HK$110,310),” the unidentified boy wrote. “I thank you all on behalf of my family. I hope you succeed in the university entrance exam.”
[3] The school confirmed that the boy’s family had financial problems. Boxes and buckets were placed in the classrooms to collect bottles. According to the school, the boy’s mother once worked at a garment factory in another city. However, illness forced her to quit her job and return home to the countryside. She has been receiving medical treatment ever since. The boy’s father was in debt due to poor harvests.
[4] The boy also wrote an open letter saying he will not accept donations in any other form. “My family and I hope to earn money using our own hands. I am already grateful for your used bottles or waste books or scrap paper. I will not accept cash or other forms of donation,” he wrote.
[5] The who earns 20 to 40 yuan per day, asked his peers not to drink more water than they needed to help him. “Many people are in more difficult situations. I am very content with my current life and feel assured of making money through hard work,” he said. The boy said he was uncomfortable with the public attention he had received, however, “because of your encouragement, I feel this winter will not be cold”.
Source: South China Morning Post, December 7
