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Q: Big deal about New Zealander?
For those of you who have read about the New Zealand teacher who threw the 5 year old into the pool, other than the fact that it was a stupid thing to do and he definitely deserves to pay the fine to the family, what is the big deal about this whole event? Is it because of the whole revamp with the visa situation and the 100 day crackdown?
I can imagine there is a lot more to this story. Chinese should take a warning if you let your little Emperor or Empress run around and act like a spoiled little shit it will piss people off……there are other people in the world apart from your family! Only in China when something happens to your child 20,000rmb takes away the pain and suffering.
Yet another embarrassment to China and its people. China you suck balls
Xpat.John:
Money is a secondary issue. The main issue is that this man picked up a kid and threw her. If he did it with the kids permission as a way of playing with the child, then that is one thing. But if he picked up the kid and threw her without permission, then that is a complete other story.
The fact that the police couldn't find enough evidence (even with video tapes) to charge him with anything says that he probably did nothing wrong. But, then it makes me wonder how they can make him pay a fine to the parents. What would happen if he didn't pay? Since they didn't have enough to arrest him in the first place, what would they charge him with? The Chinese way of dealing with things really makes my head hurt sometimes.
mattsm84:
You wonder what they could do to make him pay the fine? Just what is it about living here that gives you so much confidence in their legal system? They probably told him that if he didn't they'd nail him to the wall, and honestly, there would be little stopping them.
Xpat.John:
Matt, that is true, but if threats of physical violence is all that is needed in order to demand payment from strangers, then I am sure there would be a lot more cases of this. But since this was (supposedly) a police mediated settlement, I am just curious how it works since we hear about these types of payouts all the time.
fish79:
John learn to take a loss, money is never secondary in China you sound like an over paid wu mao..
mattsm84:
I don't think they threated him with physical violence. I think they threatened to attach criminal charges and hand it over to a judge.
Basically, a 5 year old girl was playing around a hotel pool and bumped into this New Zealand English teacher who proceeded to pick up the little girl above his head and throw her into the pool. Then he simply walked away while the child almost drowned in the pool. The child was eventually saved by a Chinese man who witnessed the event.
The foreigner tried to use the fact that he recently had heart surgery as an excuse.
As a father of 4 year olds, I think if this guy really did this he should spend a very, very long time in a Chinese prison and then get his ass thrown out of China permanently.
Edited for clarity's sake.
derek:
John, I just read that she swam near the teacher. Did you read the same article on this site?
Xpat.John:
http://www.chinahush.com/2012/07/04/foreign-man-threw-5-year-old-girl-into-a-pool-causes-uproar
That is the link I read the story on.
Xpat.John:
You can also get more information about this story here: http://shanghaiist.com/2012/07/03/nz_teacher_throws_5-year-old_girl_i.php
derek:
How could both stories be so different? This is hard to take. Why are there no comments from the teacher?
fish79:
Same article taken from Chinese media sources sorry not worth the paper they are printed on. John I have noted a few times you quoted or giving links to Chinese media I think China is the place for you. We won’t know what really happened until the couples are safely back home as part of the 20,000 rmb bribe included a media gag.
Xpat.John:
Fish,
I think it is amazing that if this story was about a Chinese person throwing a child in a pool, you would believe it without hesitation. But if it includes an expat, then it must be biased.
I approach everything I read, regardless of the country of source, with an open mind. All I said was that IF this guy did it, regardless of where he is from, that he should be punished severely.
fish79:
If he did do what they say which sounds like bullshit to me as no person would just out of the blue pick up a child and throw it for no reason whatsoever taking a 20,000 rmb payday from Childs pain and suffering is disgusting.By the way i shall tell my Chinese wife and two 1/2 Chinese kids that some Expat nob said i don't like them.
mattsm84:
I'm sorry, I don't know if I can believe the article from the Shanghaiist. Any article that begins "Another day, another Laowai douchebag causes a commotion..." can't exactly be free of editorial bias. The article on this websites main page seems much more even handed, and I have a difficult time having much sympathy for the girl or her parents based around what I know of Chinese children and their parents.
crimochina:
listen guys. there is no excuse for putting your hands on someone elses kid. especially a 5 year old. if the kid is bothering you leave.
paulmartin:
I also have kids,and if i saw anyone throwing my child in anyway that upset them,i would be really pissed off.I wouldnt ask for money though.If done as a joke that went wrong an apollagy would be ok,if done in malice a slap if they were old a punch if younger.Thumbs up by the way
I used to love going to the pool when I was about that age. My dad would pick me up and throw me in the pool (we'd both be in the pool, he'd just launch me a short distance away), not unlike in the story. It was a blast! Of course, the big difference is I could swim, and about 90% of the Chinese population cannot (the 90% number comes from scientific observations and sampling by your's truly).
My opinion, the fat bastard shouldn't have touched someone else's child, let alone toss her in the pool. If it had been my child, *I* would probably be the one paying the 20,000 rmb due to excessive damages to the bastard's facial area.
All that being said, I can still see Fish's point of view. First, we'll never know the 100% truth of the story; we'll just hear the parents' recollection of the events...totally unbiased, right?. Second, children in China are on a whole other level of undisciplined, unruly devilishness (not unlike their Chinese parents). You're just another obstacle in their way, to be pushed, hit, stepped on, pissed on, screamed at, pointed at, etc....maybe the kiwi just popped, he's only got a month left in China anyways....
Well, do I think that 50 year old men--other than pedophiles--of any nationality, hang out at hotel swimming pools to harass children? I'm not sure I do. Do I feel that Chinese children often feel entitled to a foreigner and his time? Yes, I certainly do. I think that the most likely scenario here is that this guy was swimming laps at the pool, the kid started to bother him, and he threw her away from him. I think that her grandmother probably heard or saw what happened and flipped out, because nobody can coddle a child like a Chinese grandmother can coddle a child. And I think the child probably keyed on the grandmother's response, as there was no physical damage. I think that the police told him that they wouldn't press charges if he paid a fee to the family. I don't feel that this guy is a scum bag. The child is probably a little entitled, and her grandmother is over protective. That said, probably best not to touch other people's children, but a 20k fine is pretty excessive.
john: i have no ideea why you have 3 thumbs down
don't let the 20k blind you. this is china land of 1.3 bil scam artists.
but here is the problem, don't put your hands on someone else's child. period. he's a big grown man if you are seriously bugged out over a 5 year old acting silly go home or beat up the daddy. do not put your hands on someone elses child. in the usa that will get you killed
mattsm84:
No, my father would have slapped me for bothering an adult, and that would have been the end of it.
Xpat.John:
Do you really have room to throw around names? Once you have a hand shoved in your ass, you blue furry, you start demanding people put hard things in your mouth.
This comment has been brought to you by the letter "A"hole.
crimochina:
matt: you do realize you are in china? which means parents are incompetent buffoons. so you are going to deal with children off the leash. put your hands on the parent(s) or walk away.
You can't have it both ways . you can't choose to stay in china admit and acknowledge the ignorance of the people and then expect everything to be as it was back home and be shocked that things are different here.
cookie monster: grow some balls and stand behind what you post. my new name for you is Mel Gibson same pathetic excuse
mattsm84:
"In the USA that would get you killed"
I disagreed with this statement, and I said what had happened to me in the US whenever I bothered an adult, whether he touched me or not. I'm not shocked by anything that has happened here. Not by the actions of that guy from New Zealand, not by the actions of the grandmother, and not by what I assumed the actions of the child were. But that doesn't mean they can escape my scorn. I believe the man from New Zealand, while deserving of some measure of blame, doesn't deserve the whole of it. I believe the grandmother deserves some for allowing a 5 year old to roam about a pool without adult supervision. I believe the child deserves some for bothering an adult. I believe the parents deserve blame for raising a child that would bother an adult. I believe that the pool staff deserves some blame for not being at their posts. I the believe the chinese media deserves some scorn for even judging this story to be worthy of national news. I believe that way the chinese adjudicate civil disputes is deserving of scorn for depriving the public of a clear narrative as to exactly what happened. Again, I'm not shocked by any of this, but I am disappointed. For you to just dismiss all of, save the part played by the foreigner is just intellectually lazy, and implying that I am not entitled to my feelings on this is out right insulting.
you really got to be kidding me just like any child we loved it when we were thrown in the air in a swiming pool we used to line up and have one of the adults trow us this normal not only normal but fun unless u are a spoiled little child thats how we learned how to swim give me an f break
Thoughts on the incident: Guy is an idiot, you don't throw a kid you don't know into a pool, one reason being how do you know they can swim? Secondly, that would scare the hell out of the child.
I doubt the guy "cursed" and walked away unless he was being harrassed by some bitchy grandmother first.
Thoughts on the incident even being news? Why the HELL does everything in this country involving a foreigner have to be an international incident? Seriously, if you opened your newspaper back home and saw this story you'd cancel your subscription.
crimochina:
exactly you can't say "but my niece loved it" because she is not your niece and she is a complete stranger to you. understand different situations calls for a different set of behaviors.
