Should we scold government officials who waste public money?

The Japanese news a few days ago said that the Osaka local government closed the largest temporary medical facility in Japan at the end of May, which is similar to the Chinese version of the makeshift hospital, or what Taiwan calls an enhanced epidemic prevention hotel. Just closing a prescription cabin hospital was not enough to make it into the national news. The key point is that it spent about 6 billion yen in public funds (about 320 million yuan in RMB or about 1.4 billion in NTD). It has been opened for nearly half a year and has accommodated 303 people. . The number is correct. During the entire opening period, only 303 people have been admitted to this makeshift hospital, which can accommodate 1,000 people at the same time.

After this news appeared in the newspapers, many people in Japan had their opinions to express. Three days later, 2,753 comments have flooded into the comment column of Japan's Yahoo News, and the most liked comment is not criticizing the government for wasting public money.

Not only the most popular first comment, but all the comments on the first page with more likes than downlikes are basically the same type of argument. The main opinion of netizens is that even if a large amount of money is spent to build a mosquito house, it is better than to be held accountable after the fact. Compared with other local governments that only open their mouths and talk, at least the officials of Osaka Prefecture are responsible and dare to take risks and deploy ahead of schedule. This time, the bad points can be investigated in more detail. For example, why everyone did not make good use of the Fangcang shelter hospital, and what steps can be taken to improve it. The media should not use such sensational headlines in an attempt to create a public opinion orientation, which will make government officials who dare to do things timid.

For someone like me who often reads Taiwan news, this Japanese news report is very objective and detailed.

First look at the title [6 billion yen set up コロナ temporary facility, use 303 people no みで lock... "track correction できなかった"]

Literally translated into Chinese [The new crown temporary facility set up at a cost of 6 billion yen, only 303 people have used it, but it will be closed... "The track cannot be corrected"]

Japanese sometimes has to dig deep into the true meaning of what it wants to express. The subtext of this title says that it will be closed after spending so much money to accommodate so few people. How can there be no way to improve it during such a long opening period!

The content of the news mainly introduces why the decision was made at the beginning, who made the decision, the qualification criteria used, why not many people use it, and what improvement measures were taken in the middle, and also interviewed the opinions of Osaka Prefecture officials and medical professors, and the future has been determined. What is the content of the plan to be carried out.

The news source is attached, and interested friends can click on it by themselves. If you want to know the content of Japanese netizens' comments, you can directly see the screenshot below.

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/270c3c11d50342fb7bed37a9cae9d5556c809ece

In the face of the service provider, consumers have their own personal needs. As consumers, the Japanese are one of the most difficult-to-treat customers in the world. There is even a saying in Japanese that [お客様は神様です] means that it is the uncle who spends the money. However, for Osaka Prefecture, which has spent so much public money, there are not many people who think that they are wasting citizens' tax money at will (estimated by the number of people who downvote).

It is easy to blame others, but it will be a hundred times more difficult to make decisions for yourself, especially when the position is reversed. Put yourself in the shoes of others, be less accusatory and more forgiving. Recently, I have seen a lot of small thoughts on Taiwan's news about the epidemic.

2022/06/02 posted.

Original link to Japan behind-the-scenes observation