Who guards those who guard the gates? That is the question that we must ask ourselves following the recent shocking revelations by China and the severe repercussions that have had a ripple effect on the international community. Indeed the discoveries of ‘pau’s, Chinese Delicacies have been found to contain cardboard and other chemicals. Mattel products manufactured in China have been found to contain magnets that are dangerous for the children to play with. Years ago, China products were found to have contained high amounts of toxic contents in clothing’s and other products. This raises ethical as well as safety questions regarding the products that are manufactured in China. The ethical questions are that of the manufacturers trying to save a little money here and there by cheating and using cheaper but unsafe substitutes or maybe even using harmful chemicals to cover up the fake items that they add into their products as seen in the case of the ‘pau’s. The ethics of the manufacturers come into question and this is a very serious issue considering the fact that China is fast becoming the next booming economy and Asia’s pride, the Rising Dragon as she is called. The other question is that of the safety schemes that the Multi-National Companies and the Aviation and Food authority, or any other ministries in charge of the manufacturing of these products, have in place to ensure that the manufactured products are safe for consumption or use by anyone. It takes two hands to clap and the blame must not only lie with the factories and the people manufacturing the products. With China becoming a hub for manufacturing as well as the host of next year’s Olympics, these questions must be answered and the problems resolved to ensure that everything can go safely and smoothly for the international community. Safety issues aside, focusing on the ethical issues are the most important part for me, as I feel that that is the underlying problem. Solve it and there will no longer be a need for any group to be set up to combat such problems. Aldolf Hilter was a paranoid person who had to be the last guardian over every single member of the army, he did not trust anyone and so he kept a close watch on those who kept a close watch for him on others. This will not be practical in today’s society, and ethics and integrity play a very important role. As in the case of the affected products in China, the manufacturer must have integrity when making these products so as to ensure that no party gets harmed in any way. If everybody plays his or her own part, then there will not be any need for any governing bodies over such trivial matter. We should never let greed control us, especially when it concerns the lives of many people out there. Greed in trying to profit from using defective products could cause thousands of deaths due to intoxication of banned substances in products from China. The ‘Made in China’ tagline is now one that is notorious for its lousy quality, rather than the cheap and wonderful goods that is has been capable of coming up with in the past. True, China has always been at the forefront of the world’s inventions, with the inventions of gunpowder, compasses and many others during the ancient and long illustrious history of China, however, to date, China has not been putting its creative juices to good use, rather to gain profit creatively like cardboard food. Items crafted in the past by the Chinese were always one that was of the highest quality, both being brilliant in design and also for its durability, old furniture and many products built by the Chinese coolies in the early days of Singapore were of good quality as the people then were proud of the work that they had to do from the very bare hands that crafted many exquisite products. The quality was there as they took pride in whatever they did and did not try to cheat their way out. Ethics, ethics and ethics. That is the keyword that has to be on our minds. Without that, everything that we do is meaningless.
