The following article comes from Santiangge, the author Chi

Sancengge.

Shanghai Life Observer

1

More than half a month ago, I met a scientist because of an award ceremony. For five hours, we talked from work to life, almost sharing our respective growth histories, and the ceremony had not yet begun.

Such a pair of strangers were trapped in this conversation out of helplessness. We went to receive the award that day and arrived at the scene early in the morning as required to wait for the rehearsal.

Actually, rehearsal has little to do with us. It really takes a lot of time for those who sing and dance to come on stage, practicing sentence by sentence, and carefully studying every action.

It is our turn to clarify where we stand when we receive the award on the stage and how to receive the award from the leader. It will be done in less than five minutes.

It is not easy for a government unit to hold such an event. There are many links, cumbersome processes, and many leaders attending the conference. In order to achieve success, the organizers want to arm themselves to the teeth.

而我们这些领奖人，在工作日向各自单位请了假，被要求一遍遍彩排。Just for these five minutes, everyone spent five hours.

In addition to this scientist, there were also many scientific researchers and entrepreneurs in other fields on the same stage that day. Everyone generally took it seriously and dressed it up carefully, but unfortunately they were a little discouraged from waiting. When it came to receive the award, their makeup was smeared and their suits were wrinkled.

Some experienced recipients invited assistants and secretaries to rehearse on their behalf in the first half and came in the afternoon before the official award ceremony. However, scientists and I had no experience and no secretaries, so we had to make fun through hardship and cherish each other.

2

Later, I talked about this with friends in the system, and they expressed the same feeling. People from all walks of life will be invited to participate in awards, commendations and other activities organized by some government departments and mass organizations. If there are heavyweight guests present, long pre-event rehearsals are almost standard.

The grandeur of the event can sometimes express the degree of respect for the participants. It's just that there is a huge waste of time and manpower, and the comprehensive operating cost of society is always too high.

Perhaps, without this morning's inefficient rehearsal, the scientist could break through a key bottleneck and the entrepreneur could negotiate one more contract.

Some people may feel that this wasted time and energy may not create any value. But some unnecessary costs are obvious.

Some grassroots cadres once complained to me about how "exciting" activities are now. 一个产业项目奠基开工，以前大家一起挥挥锹、垫垫土，以示庆贺。后来开始舞龙舞狮，弄得锣鼓喧天。再往后，得放礼炮、放彩球、亮灯牌……总之就是一顿“整活儿”，让外界瞧着新鲜，实际上却是“空转”。

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It is also an event and a ceremony. Looking back, there are really a few activities that have been praised and unforgettable by the media and the public.

In 1995, the People's Bank of China moved to No. 18 Lujiazui, Pudong. At the celebration meeting for the completion and opening of the new office building, the local government presented a generous gift to the People's Bank of China-a white and clean little goat, implying that the People's Bank of China plays a "leader" role in Pudong's development and opening up.

In 1996, Japan's Yaohan International Group headquarters officially announced the move from Hong Kong to Shanghai. Pudong New District presented a "Penguin Picture" to Yaohan President Kazuo Kazuo Kazuda, because he said many times that he was the first to enter the water. After testing the water temperature, swarms of penguins would follow.

现在回看，This simple but sincere "whole job" probably doesn't cost much money, but every penny is spent on the cutting edge. 上台接受“礼物”的企业负责人不必事先“排练”，但是感受到了政府部门的满满诚意和尊重。

Let's go back to the award ceremony at the beginning of this article. The embarrassment of the whole morning made those scientific researchers and entrepreneurs complain a few more and have more thoughts. If there are similar "good things" to receive awards in the future, it will probably be mixed with joy and sorrow.

Commendation has become a burden on the commended person, which is probably not in line with the organizer's "original intention". In the operating logic of market entities and scientific research institutions, efficiency is life. When efficiency is ignored, intangible costs are already incurred. And once such costs accumulate to a certain stage, government units often have to pay other costs.

For example, some companies are invited to participate in the government's investment promotion conference every year, and even won several awards, but they have not seen substantive services; some companies are busy receiving condolences and surveys from various government departments, and preparing for three to five days. As a result, the leader only came for 10 minutes and did not discuss any specific issues in depth. Over time, companies will form stereotypes about local business services, and it will be very difficult to recover.

At the beginning of this year, the Lingang New Area of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone released the "Ten Commitments of the Lingang New Area Management Committee to Help Enterprises Reduce Burden and Optimize the Business Environment". The first one is to control the frequency of surveys on the same enterprise and never let Enterprises become "research model rooms" and "visit check-in points". Such commitments are still very popular among enterprises.

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I usually communicate with many grassroots cadres and listen to them laughing at themselves. I have been working in the government for more than ten years, but I dare not say anything else. My ability to organize activities is no worse than that of advertising companies.

Whether cadres need this kind of ability or not, but whether they can properly handle a meeting to "satisfy" superior leaders and whether they can play gimmicks in activities should never be a cadre's core competitiveness, let alone evaluate the work results of an agency. The baton.

At the training class for young and middle-aged cadres at the Central Party School (National School of Administration) in the spring semester this year, the General Secretary sent a message to young cadres to "establish and practice a correct view of political performance, follow the party's mass line in the new era, improve their ability to do mass work, and use heart and soul to solve the urgent, difficult and anxious problems of the masses."

In fact, the vast majority of party members and cadres should follow this simple principle in their daily work. Party members and cadres serve the people, and their core competitiveness should also be the ability to serve the people, which of course also includes the ability to serve market entities. If the cart is put before the horse, values are neglected, or even administrative resources are mismatched, then party members and cadres will never be in the same temperature level as the common people and perceive the real Chinese society. That is a deviation from the original intention.

After the award ceremony, I occasionally chatted with the scientist. We won back the certificate for our respective units. Everyone was very excited and cherished it. This honor was heavy and inspired us to forge ahead better.

浪费几个小时参加排练终究是小节，想必大家不会放在心上。但 We still hope that government departments and mass organizations at all levels will optimize the content and processes when organizing awards ceremonies and other activities, improve quality and efficiency, so that the recipients can feel like a spring breeze and the participants can gain something.

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