Filial Piety Revisited

[nakatago]

What was it that they say to other countries? Internal affairs even if foreigners are involved? Should not meddle in internal affairs?

Bah.

[Mad Scientist]

The parents are in China and had sent their kids to NZ to study. International tuition fees and board obviously does not come cheap, so these are not poor village people or anything.

What I found disgusting was the belief that they'd lost more than other families because they expect their kids to pay for them as they get older. And that they'd already considered the financial loss of "their investment".

I thought those perished are covered by EQC. Anyway when you travel overseas you are expected to cover yourself with travel insurance. IN NZ everyone are covered by EQC. I do not understand why they demand for more

[k1w1]

That's the mind-blowing part... Everyone is covered by the Earthquake Commission (EQC) and Accident Compensation (ACC). Foreigners are getting the same government compensation as kiwi citizens, and are allowed to access full benefits like red cross assistance etc. And yes, they are meant to have additional insurances.

These parents claimed they deserved more compensation than everyone else because they lost their only children, and therefore had no retirement income anymore. Something of a slap in the face of all the other families who lost loved ones, which is vile enough, but then there is the apparent financial value (and expectations) they'd placed on their kids.

Thankfully, they've been told to naff off.

[Mary Hatch Bailey]

naff off.

A term worth folding into my American vocabulary

[JR8]

I wonder if Chinese travel insurance comes with 'Filial piety cover'. You know, if the insured pre-deceases the parents, then the latter are paid $x00/month 'pocket money'.

[ev-disinfection]

Maybe they were trying their luck and hoping to get more,
maybe a couple of "millions" more, so that they can go back, give birth again, and send their kids to the next most possible disaster area?
What more is there for them to lose, with their kids gone. (one child policy)
Probably still in a state of shock, and alone without any family there.
what would you do if you were in their shoes? in a foreign land.

Well, if it was me.... i would not know too.
Maybe we should ask one of them..... instead of just speculating.

[x9200]

Sorry EV, I do not know and don't want to know, but for sure I would not think about financial compensation and retirements plans.

[ev-disinfection]

Sorry EV, I do not know and don't want to know, but for sure I would not think about financial compensation and retirements plans.

Well, to that i say - To each his own, you never know when your time is gonna be up, all we can do is to be prepared.
Be safe guys... Word to your mother.

[ev-disinfection]

Wait a minute....... it was China that asked for more compensation for their nationals, not the victims parents...... (just read the article)

I remembered when Michael Fay was about to get whipped here, the US asked the gahmen to cool it....

and NO, i don't think that the parents should get extra.

[sundaymorningstaple]

So you are saying the Chinese government also has this warped sense of FP as well!!!

[ev-disinfection]

So you are saying the Chinese government also has this warped sense of FP as well!!!

Nope, IMHO they are just trying to act superpowerish and ask.... nothing of FP there.
Perhaps 1 of them are their gang member..... hmmmm.

[ksl]

So you are saying the Chinese government also has this warped sense of FP as well!!!

Nope, IMHO they are just trying to act superpowerish and ask.... nothing of FP there.
Perhaps 1 of them are their gang member..... hmmmm.

Actually it's the Chinese saying that we are not accepting liability just because we made the one child law, that's how I see it. Of course the parents are devastated and demanding restitution by the Chinese government. I see it as a normal demand from any parent to blame the Chinese government.

It is typical of any government not to accept liability, and families will have difficulty claiming anything at all individually, unless they are covered for acts of nature.

I know that soldiers going into combat will also have difficulty getting insurance cover, for a reasonable fee and the payout by MOD is insulting, to say the least, in fact the enemy are more likely to benefit through claims, sounds ridiculous but it's true.

So either way one wants to look at the situation New Zealand is right in paying out equally, and it's quite normal for a country to lean on another Country for more, if you don't ask you don't get! It is mainland China that should compensate of course, as they made the one child law!

[k1w1]

Wait a minute....... it was China that asked for more compensation for their nationals, not the victims parents...... (just read the article)

I remembered when Michael Fay was about to get whipped here, the US asked the gahmen to cool it....

and NO, i don't think that the parents should get extra.

Nope, it was the parents.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/christc ... mpensation

Losing a child (especially in such circumstances) is obviously tragic and horrendous and no one is denying or down-playing that. But plenty of other families lost their only child too. It is extremely poor taste for the Chinese parents to suggest that these losses are not as tragic, or deserve less compensation, because of their own expectation that they would retire off their kids.

It also begs the question: What additional compensation did the Chinese government offer to the families who lost their one child in the Sichuan earthquake?

[Mad Scientist]

As I understand it those Chinese students that were perished in the earthquake were International Student. It is mandatory of all International Students studying in NZ to get Personal Insurance Cover themselves when they get enrolled to the college in NZ

[tyianchang]

Going back to the original topic somewhat... This is big news in New Zealand today: parents of the Chinese students who were killed in the ChCh quake are demanding extra compensation from the New Zealand government (more than everyone else and more than they are currently receiving) because they not only lost their children, but also their retirement income.

The arrogance of assuming only Chinese kids support their elderly parents, and only Chinese families lost their one kid, is mind-boggling. As is the insistence that Chinese parents deserve more money than other parents who lost their children:

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-wo ... 1btrn.html

Some of these kids are still laying in fallen buildings and the recovered bodies have not been returned to families, and here these parents are screaming about losing their cushy retirement plans.

The link you provided says, "Chinese parents asked for extra..." which is not the same as your interpretation of ," The arrogance of assuming only Chinese kids support their parents..."
The loss of lives in such natural disasters must be really tragic for any parents. It shocking that such deep seated grudges can be whipped up with the number of very harsh words used.
I should think that the NZ govt's compensation or the students' private life insurances have nothing to do with the parents' retirement plans.
My OP focuses primarily on FP as a family matter?
To be perfectly honest, when I posted the op, I was not aware that it is still such an important facet of Chinese lives in mainland China, or that the MOE in SG is flagging up what I thought is now history.
In whatever way you look at it, you're talking about parental claims for the loss of their children's lives which is entirely different from what I said of children practising FP within some family groups.
In view of the recent and still to come earthquakes in Japan and the unimaginable fragility of lives, bricks and mortar, I find it strange to even think about equating any sum of money to lives so unexpectedly lost.
If a generosity of spirit is unfelt by those with such hardened hearts during such times, forget about FP. It's better to just live in tents and burn your $ in the face of human relations.