Why Does a Salad Cost More Than a Big Mac?

In the United States, the Farm Bill, a massive piece of federal legislation making its way through the US Congress, governs what children are fed in schools and what food assistance programs can distribute to recipients. The bill provides billions of dollars in subsidies, much of which goes to huge agribusinesses producing feed crops, such as corn and soy, which are then fed to animals. By funding these crops, the government supports the production of meat and dairy products—the same products that contribute to America's growing rates of obesity and chronic disease. Fruit and vegetable farmers, on the other hand, receive less than 1 percent of government subsidies.

The US government also purchases surplus foods like cheese, milk, pork, and beef for distribution to food assistance programs—including school lunches. It is not required to purchase nutritious foods.


When the House of Representatives debated the bill in July, PCRM, along with many other health and public interest groups, supported the Fairness in Farm and Food Policy Amendment, which was offered by Reps. Ron Kind (D-WI) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ). This amendment would have limited government subsidies of unhealthy foods, cut subsidies to millionaire farmers, and provided more money for nutrition and food assistance programs for Americans and impoverished children overseas.

Unfortunately, politics doomed the reform effort. At the eleventh hour, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) feared that freshman representatives who voted to cut subsidies might risk losing their seats in farm states in the 2008 elections, endangering the Democratic majority. The reform amendment was defeated 117 to 309.

Nonetheless, Congress did make some modest changes to the Farm Bill’s subsidy programs at the very last minute.

This fall, the Senate will have its turn debating and voting on the bill. PCRM will need your help again to encourage senators to cut subsidies for unhealthy foods and increase support for fruits, vegetables, and vegetarian foods. Other groups, including the American Medical Association and the President’s Cancer Panel, are also calling on Congress for sweeping reforms.

Good Medicine.

Beijing Deploys Giant Deodorant Cannons to Freshen Up City Landfill

Link to video.

High-pressure fragrance sprays will be installed at Asuwei dump, one of several hundred overflowing landfill sites that are the focus of growing public concern



Beijing is to install 100 deodorant guns at a stinking landfill site on the edge of the city in a bid to dampen complaints about the capital's rubbish crisis.

The giant fragrance sprays will be put in place by May at the Asuwei dump site, one of several hundred tips that are the focus of growing public concerns about sanitation, environmental health and a runaway consumer culture.

Municipal authorities say they will also apply more plastic layers to cover the site in response to furious protests by local residents who have to put up with the stench when the wind blows in their direction.

The high-pressure guns, which can spray dozens of litres of fragrance per minute over a distance of up to 50m, are produced by several Chinese firms and based on German and Italian technology. They are already in use at several landfill sites, but they are merely a temporary fix.

Beijing's waste problem - and China's - is expanding as fast as its economy, at about 8% each year. With millions more people now able to afford Starbucks, McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken and other elements of a western, throwaway lifestyle, the landfill sites and illegal tips that ring the capital are close to overflowing.

According to the local government, the city of 17m people generates 18,000 tonnes of waste every day - 7,000 tonnes more than the capacity of municipal disposal plants.

"All landfill and treatment sites in Beijing will be full in four years. That's how long it takes to build a treatment plant. So we need to act right now to resolve the issue," said Wang Weiping, a waste expert in the city government. "It's necessary to restructure the current disposal system. We cannot rely on landfill anymore. It's a waste of space."

Less than 4% of Beijing's rubbish is recycled – the UK recycles 35% – but is still near the bottom of the EU recycling league. Two per cent of Beijing's rubbish is burned but the rest is dumped in landfill sites, which cover an area of 333,000 sq m. Cities throughout the country face a similar problem.

There are more than 200 legal and illegal sites around Beijing, according to Wang Jiuliang, a photographer who has spent the past year recording and plotting the wastelands using GPS systems and Google Earth.

Together, they form what he calls "Beijing's seventh ring", where the city meets the countryside with smart new ring roads, expensive housing complexes and the detritus of consumer culture.

"People are forced to use these places for dumps and landfills. There is no better place," he says. "China has become a consumer society over the past 10 or 20 years. The authorities are working hard to solve the garbage problem, but it has emerged too quickly."

Environment authorities in cities throughout the country are struggling to keep pace with this burgeoning problem. According to the government, about 20m tonnes of urban garbage went unhandled in 2008.

They want to deal with the waste by burning it. But government plans to build 82 incinerators between 2006 and 2010 have encountered an increasingly hostile "not-in-my-backyard" movement.

According to Chinese media reports, at least six incinerator projects have been put on hold due to public opposition, including Panyu in Guangdong province, Jiangqiao in Shanghai, and Liulitun and Asuwei in Beijing.

The number of rubbish-related public complaints in Beijing increased by 57% last year, according to the Municipal Petition Office. Many residents have safety fears about incineration facilities despite reassurances by the government.

In an attempt to win public confidence, the managers of a new 800m yuan incinerator in Gao'antun set up a giant display screen earlier this month that contains real-time data on emissions of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide.

But it continues to raise concerns because there are no figures for dioxins - the toxins released during the burning of plastic and other synthetic materials. The plant has had to scale back operations in the face of public opposition.

In the longer term, the government plans massive investment and new legislation to double the capacity of waste disposal facilities, increase the incineration rate to 40% and to cut the growth in the volume of rubbish to zero by 2015 through recycling.

There is a long way to go. Currently, even when waste is separated by schools and companies, it is often just crammed back together by refuse collectors. A Beijing News report last month noted that distribution and disposal plants are not designed to deal with separated waste.

"We just compress, pack and then bury everything directly," said staff from Mentougou district waste transfer station.

Efforts to promote recycling have a long way to go. Public litter bins offer two options - marked recyclable and non-recyclable - but few people are aware of the distinction because there has not been an adequate public education campaign.

"I am willing to take time and money to separate and recycle my rubbish, but there's just no such system here," said Beijing resident Cui Zheng.

The Guardian. Mar 26, 2010.

Crop circles 2009

This man has all the latest tech ... from the 80s.

Digg.

GST-related articles

Hong Kong drops sales tax plans

The Hong Kong government has dropped plans to introduce a new sales tax in the face of public opposition.It had hoped that a goods and sales tax (GST) would bring in an extra $3.8bn (£1.9bn) in revenues to boost the city's public services budget.
Hong Kong currently has one of the world's lowest tax regimes, with a 16% personal rate and 17.5% for businesses.
Critics said a new sales tax would hit lower income groups disproportionately and could also hurt tourism.

Budget deficits
The government had held a nine-month consultation on the planned tax reform.
It has said that the territory needs to boost its sources of public revenues in order to cope with the welfare burden of an ageing population and any potential economic downturns.
The city ran up large deficits in the late 1990s after the Asian financial crisis.
"Although the public understands that GST can broaden our tax base, it is clear from the views collected that we have not been able to convince the majority to accept GST as the main option to address the tax base problem," said Financial Secretary Henry Tang.
At the moment only 35% of Hong Kong wage earners pay income tax, and the government has previously suggested that it could look at reducing personal allowances to get more people into the tax net.

Hong Kong backs off on sales tax - Business - International Herald Tribune

Widespread public opposition forced Hong Kong's government to back down Tuesday on a proposal to introduce a sales tax on goods and services.

"We accept that at this time we do not have public support or the right conditions" to introduce the tax, Financial Secretary Henry Tang said.

A goods and services tax of 5 percent was proposed to broaden Hong Kong's tax base. A nine-month consultation started in July and the government has so far received 2,200 written comments.

"For the remaining part of the consultation we will not be advocating" the planned sales tax, Tang said.

Tang and Chief Executive Donald Tsang have said that government costs are rising and that a sales tax would be a more stable source of revenue than taxes on salaries and profits. Opponents say sales taxes hurt the poor and small businesses.

Tsang said that he and all members of the government's executive council backed Tang's decision.

Retail sales growth unexpectedly eased in October as tourist arrivals increased at the slowest pace since China loosened visa rules for visits to the city three years ago, a report this week showed.

The consultation on the sales tax will continue as scheduled.

Tang said, "By March next year, upon conclusion of the consultation, we will draw up a report for consideration by the government of the next term."

The government and credit agencies say the tax base is too narrow, making public finances vulnerable during economic downturns.

Such a downturn occurred as recently as in the years after the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, when the government ran up a series of large budget deficits.

Government finances are now back in surplus after three years of robust economic recovery, but the government says that an aging population will put further pressure on the budgets in the future.

Retailers and other business groups have vehemently opposed a goods and services tax, saying it would hurt tourism.

At the same time, many members of the public say that there is no need to introduce a tax now that the economy is doing well.

UNESCO-related article

Heritage plea for TST bus terminal

Joyce Ng
Activists have taken their campaign to save the Tsim Sha Tsui bus terminal to new heights - asking Unesco and international scholars to consider its historic value. Until now, the campaign has focused on the terminal's convenient access to the Star Ferry pier.
Our Bus Terminal, a four-member group, will fly to Hanoi next month to present a research paper at an annual Unesco seminar on heritage issues. Their paper will argue that the government is destroying the city's historic urban landscape by removing its first public transport interchange.
Meanwhile, the Central and Western Concern Group and an architecture professor from Hong Kong University will speak at the Unesco seminar about the Urban Renewal Authority's redevelopment of Central's historic Graham Street market.
The terminal activists formed a network on the social networking site Facebook to promote their cause last year, after the government announced a plan to turn the terminal into a piazza with a five-storey shopping mall. It has gathered support from over 3,000 netizens.
Its chairman, Leslie Chan Ka-long, said the bus terminal, which has been in operation since 1921, was the first of its kind in the city - a connection between a ferry pier, a railway station (since torn down), taxis and minibuses - which contributed to Tsim Sha Tsui's development.
He is glad the forum will draw international attention to their cause.
'I hope this will exert some pressure on our government to think twice before destroying the terminal and turning it into a soulless, open space.'
The terminal is used by as many as 3,000 bus passengers per hour on weekdays, according to a count made by his group last month.
The transport flow comprised an impressive part of the urban landscape, he argued in the paper, and the government's piazza plan would 'delink the historic fabric'.
Mr Chan's paper has won three As, one B and one C from an evaluation committee of scholars on heritage preservation organised by Unesco.
'An interesting paper, especially in the choice of transport infrastructure as the unit of analysis,' said a committee member who gave it an A grade.
A spokeswoman for the Tourism Commission said the piazza plan was supported by the Yau Tsim Mong District Council and the tourism industry, and that a new transport interchange would be created near the adjacent Hong Kong Cultural Centre.
Transport hub
The Tsim Sha Tsui bus terminal has been in use since: 1921

Heritage preservation grips Hong Kong amid building boom

HONG KONG (Reuters) - In the dim confines of the time-worn Wing Woo grocery, a short hop from Hong Kong's gleaming financial towers, Kwan Moon-chiu, 73, quietly arranges supplies of salted-fish and eggs, knowing his store's days are numbered.

"This shop is 130 years old, I have deep feelings for it. But if the government wants to tear it down, what can I do?" he said.

The plight of Kwan's rickety store, which faces demolition for a massive urban renewal project, embodies the dilemma faced in Hong Kong -- one of the world's most densely populated places with 7 million residents -- of whether to raze or save.

While development has long taken precedent over heritage preservation -- the recent demise of two iconic colonial-era piers sparked widespread public outrage among Hong Kongers tired of seeing their history effaced in the name of progress.

"I would see it as a major social movement in Hong Kong and it's an emerging attitude among the young," said Lee Ho Yin, an architectural conservation expert at the University of Hong Kong.

Activists who chained themselves to the doomed piers and who wrote protest banners in their own blood helped foment heritage-preservation an emotive, hot-button civil cause, alongside other long-established Hong Kong issues like the push for greater democracy and social equality.

"Our city would be identical to any other, lacking personality. It would just be blasts of glass, steel and concrete blocks," said Hong Kong resident Bonnie Yiu.

Kwan's shop stands to be demolished in a controversial HK$487 million redevelopment that rips the heart out of one of Hong Kong's oldest neighbourhoods centered on Central's last surviving street market on Graham and Peel Streets.

Thirty-seven mostly post-war tenement blocks will be replaced by four 30-40-storey skyscrapers including a hotel and new shops that will displace the quirky, old stores including noodle-makers and incense sellers lining the narrow, sloping streets.

The numerous, boisterous street hawkers selling all manner of produce from broccoli to live crabs in wicker baskets and pig trotters hung on metal hooks also face an uncertain fate.

"This market must really be preserved for its historical, economic and social value," said Katty Law, an activist with a network of social and heritage groups who have been campaigning against the project.

"Other countries have charters guiding the preservation of old areas but Hong Kong has never done this," Law added.

In the 1950s -- Hong Kong's waterfront was still filled with red-brick Edwardian and Victorian buildings with columns and elaborate facades. These have since been largely demolished.

A historic Victorian building called Murray House was dismantled and rebuilt in 1999 on the other side of the island in a manner which critics say was tasteless and failed to preserve its original character.

Neighboring Macau on the other hand -- which is even more densely populated than Hong Kong -- has managed to preserve much of its historic Portuguese core -- and is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The chairman of Hong Kong's Urban Renewal Authority, Barry Cheung, defended the development project by saying it would create more open, greener spaces, resettle residents now stuck in the decrepit buildings and generally gentrify the area.

"If somehow through what we do or what we haven't done, that street market dies, then I'll take it upon myself as having failed," Cheung told Reuters. But he said he was also "touched" by the wave of public concerns regarding heritage preservation and was willing to rethink existing plans for the market.

"Not everything has been cast in stone," he said.

MATURING SOCIETY

With Hong Kong marking its tenth anniversary since returning from British to Chinese rule, observers say the city's growing civil activism -- of which heritage preservation has become a part -- is tied to a greater sense of belonging and a desire to preserve the city's cultural roots and unique identity.

"Up to 1997, people were not focused on the living environment because Hong Kong had a sell-by date," said Paul Zimmerman, an expatriate activist opposed to the reclamation of large chunks of Victoria harbor for redevelopment.

"The whole mentality has changed," he added.

But for activists like Chu Hoi-dick -- who fought to save Queen's Pier -- Hong Kong's heritage activism boils down to a simple lack of democracy and the government's heavy-handed policy-making without adequately involving the public.

"I do not deny this is just the beginning of a new political movement. It is a movement to re-establish the identity of Hong Kong people, not controlled by the British and not controlled by Beijing," said Chu.

Hong Kong's Urban Renewal Authority has said it will preserve several older buildings in the area including the facade of the Wing Woo grocery -- but some say the development will still bleed the district of its vitality and color.

"What makes Hong Kong such a unique city is all the local markets, otherwise it's just the same as any other city," said Aaron Martin, one of many tourists who flock to the market daily to soak up its quintessential Hong Kong charm.

Cancer Foundation-related articles

Arts foundation hopes workshops will get more young people to open up about cancer

with Andrew Sun. Additional reporting by Vivian Chen.
In polite company, cancer is not usually a topic of conversation. But the Youth Arts Foundation wants more young people to talk openly about the often hushed-up disease.
With funding from Operation Santa Claus, the arts group is moving forward with a project to empower young adults who are either living with the illness or have (had) close family members who are.
Through a series of workshops due to begin this month, participants aged between 15 and 30 will be encouraged to interpret and explore their feelings about the disease though visual art forms, digital mediums or in good old-fashioned words.
One of the artists facilitating the project is Rae Leung Wai-hon (left) who has been living with the disease since 2007.
The results will be put on display at the end of the programme, hopefully to demystify the disease and promote more public awareness. The workshops are free but you do need to sign up and the deadline is tomorrow. We suggest you contact the foundation to let them know you or someone you know might have an interest.


Donation helps young cancer patients explore artistic talent

Adrian Wan
About 100 people fighting cancer will be able to take part in a six-month art workshop, thanks to Swire group's HK$150,000 donation to the Youth Arts Foundation yesterday.
In its 15th year of sponsoring Operation Santa Claus, John Swire & Sons - one of the longest-serving corporate donors - raised the money through its charitable trust, for the foundation's new project targeted at 18 to 30-year-olds with cancer, The C Word. Hunter Crawford, staff director of the Swire group, said: 'The company has had a long-time relationship with the foundation. And the project is a great cause, so we're happy to help them get the publicity in the English media they need.'
The Swire group, which comprises about 80 companies with 70,000 employees, 'will continue to support Operation Santa Claus as long as possible', he said.
Rae Leung Wai-hon was diagnosed with cancer in 2007.
She will be the artist in residence for The C Word, a free workshop not only for the young people living with the disease, but also relatives struggling to deal with their own feelings.
The C Word will be open to about 100 people, run for approximately six months, and comprise workshops on audio recording, writing, photography and collage-making.
Leung said she came up with the idea after noticing there was not much support for cancer patients in her age group.
Last month, the foundation and the Little Life Warrior Society, another OSC beneficiary, sat down to talk about the benefits of art for people living with cancer. Dr Matthew Shing Ming-kong, a founder of the mutual-aid organisation for children with cancer, said he used art as a way for his patients to express their thoughts and feelings. 'It lets them understand themselves and others,' he said. 'And it undoubtedly lets people who care, like me, to get a glimpse of their inner feelings.'
He recalled treating an 18-year-old avid badminton player two years ago. 'The moment he knew he had cancer,' Shing said, 'the first question he asked was, 'Can I still play badminton?' To be frank it wasn't optimistic because his right hand was losing agility.
'Later, I saw his drawing of himself playing badminton with his left hand. His strong desire to continue playing badminton was amazing. But if it hadn't been for the painting, I wouldn't have known.'
The young man regained strength in his right hand.
'Our children engage in lots of painting, singing, writing, arts and crafts, or even photography, in their leisure time,' Shing said.
'By no means is their artistry sophisticated, but it's certain that the arts provide avenues for them to give vent to their feelings.'
Yick Ling-yan, visual arts manager of the arts foundation, agreed that art was 'a nice way to express one's thoughts'.
Knowing the benefits art could bring to children with cancer, the foundation conducted a puppet-making programme for the Little Life Warrior Society a year ago.
She said: 'It inspired uncertain children to share with people around them their happiness and their sadness.'
You can help make a difference


Santa brings hope to little warriors

Adrian Wan
It is a diagnosis everyone dreads: cancer. And the reaction can range from stoic acceptance to despair and thoughts of suicide.
Dr Matthew Shing Ming-kong, senior medical officer with the Lady Pao Children's Cancer Centre at Prince of Wales Hospital, Sha Tin, has seen it all.
One Hong Kong mother considered jumping out of the window with her five-year-old son when he was diagnosed with cancer.
Shing tried to reassure her, telling her that nowadays more than 70 per cent of children with cancer were cured. A counsellor encouraged her to look on the bright side.
There was one person in that room who lifted her spirits - a young leukaemia survivor, who had recovered from the disease more than 10 years earlier. The survivor gave the woman the hope she needed.
That experience prompted Shing to form a support group, Little Life Warrior Society, in 2002. Children with cancer, their families and medical staff can fight the battle together.
About 20,000 people in Hong Kong are diagnosed with cancer each year, of which about 200 are children. Cure rates were much higher than for most adults, Shing said, adding that more than 70 per cent of children could be completely cured.
'It's true that treatment of children's cancer has been improving, but their sadness can't simply be resolved with advanced medical facilities, high-quality care and counselling services,' he said. 'Our group lets the little warriors and their families get together and support each other.'
Anson Lau Cheuk-lam, 12, developed leukaemia last year and had to skip school for more than half a year to receive treatment. 'It was so tough getting chemotherapy and radiotherapy - my face turned purple sometimes,' she said. 'The worst thing was it tired me very easily, and I couldn't participate in my PE lessons even after the treatment.'
Treatment for Anson's cancer ended two years ago, and she had three years to go before she was considered cured, Shing said.
The society organises regular ward visits, tea gatherings, parties and other events for its more than 800 members. It held a four-day childhood-cancer camp last year, and Shing hopes to do it again when he gets new funding.
'We'll make use of the money collected and help children with cancer on the mainland, because fewer than 10 per cent of them can afford the cost of treatments,' the doctor said. 'Most of them get diagnosed and go back home.'
The society is one of the beneficiaries of Operation Santa Claus, the annual charity drive organised by the South China Morning Post and RTHK. It intends to use donations to continue providing services to child cancer patients and survivors in the city, and to do more work and set up similar groups on the mainland.
Shing said: 'We manage our finances transparently and use every dollar to help children.'
Other charities receiving Operation Santa Claus support are Suicide Prevention Services, Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Elderly Home, conservation body WWF, Youth Arts Foundation, Autism Partnership Foundation, Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy Charitable Trust, the Nesbitt Centre, Po Leung Kuk, The Intellectually Disabled Education and Advocacy League, Baptist Oi Kwan Social Service, the End Child Sexual Abuse Foundation and Operation Dawn.
You can help make a difference

Paparazzi-related articles

Watchdog investigates racy photos of activist


Anita Lam
Media watchdogs have received more than 110 complaints against a magazine in the past two days over the publication of racy pictures of a student activist.
The Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority has launched an investigation after the latest issue of Chinese-language magazine, Oriental Sunday, featured on its cover photographs of University of Hong Kong student Christina Chan Hau-man in a tight top and a thong in her Cheung Chau home.
The authority will determine if the photographs breached the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance. Most of the 111 complaints received by the authority and the Press Council since Tuesday concerned obscenity and indecency.
However, Obscene Articles Tribunal adjudicator Mervyn Cheung Man-ping said the pictures might pass scrutiny if they did not reveal the subject's private parts.
'It is unethical to publish such shots especially as they were taken of her inside her house. But it is more a question of an invasion of privacy than the pictures' obscene nature as Chan had her clothes on,' he said.
In 2006, the tribunal ruled as indecent a picture published by the now-defunct Easy Finder magazine that showed Canto-pop star Gillian Chung Yan-tung changing her clothes back stage at a concert.
The tribunal said that although the pictures exposed no intimate parts of the star, they were presented with text that was 'extremely detailed, graphic and provocative' and meant to be sexually arousing and pornographic.
Oriental Sunday, in the text accompanying the photos, said it acted on complaints by Cheung Chau residents who were shocked by the activist's wild behaviour.
But Chan said she never received nor ignored any complaints. She said the pictures were not recent and the story had forced her to consider moving. She plans to stage a protest outside the authority's offices today.
Oriental Sunday, which is owned by the New Media Group, did not comment last night.


Press Council condemns photos' publication



The Press Council yesterday condemned Oriental Sunday for publishing in January paparazzi photographs of student activist Christina Chan Hau-man in underwear at her Cheung Chau home. The council, which received 49 complaints over the photos, said they infringed her privacy and breached the code of practice. Oriental Sunday, owned by New Media Group, made no response to the judgment.

Handsome Chinese vagrant draws fans of 'homeless chic'

Identity of 'Brother Sharp' - dubbed China's coolest man - remains a mystery


The photograph shows a starkly handsome Chinese man walking with a model's measured gait, and wearing a rag-tag but well co-ordinated overcoat on top of a leather jacket. His eyes peer into the middle distance, in what one fan described as "a deep and penetrating way", and he strides confidently forward.

But this is no catwalk model. This is a homeless man in the city of Ningbo. And now a band of web followers are calling him the coolest man in China.

His good looks and bohemian dress sense have won him thousands of online fans after a resident of Ningbo posted a picture online. Web users in China have called him the "Beggar Prince", the "Handsome Vagabond", and, most often, "Brother Sharp".

He is 5ft 8in, around 35 years old, and always has a cigarette between his fingers. He also appears to have a fondness for women's clothes, which has only served to fuel his status as a fashion icon. His good looks are reminiscent of popular Asian actors like Takeshi Kaneshiro or the Oscar- nominated Ken Watanabe.

One particularly striking picture juxtaposes Brother Sharp's with a model showing the latest Dolce & Gabbana collection. "Look at him wrinkle his brow... nothing needs to be said... sexy...", ran one comment on the Tianyu site.

Another wrote: "He doesn't really look like a beggar, more like a vagabond. The quality of this person's tops are all not bad, a down jacket, cotton jacket, even a leather jacket inside, and though they're a bit dirty, they're all in good condition, not the kind that beggars find from the trash."

The suggestion that homelessness can be cool chimes with a fashion trend that many have considered tasteless: in January, the designer Vivienne Westwood presented a "homeless chic" show in which models were styled to look like rough sleepers, a move prefigured by Ben Stiller's satirical film Zoolander, which featured a similar show called Derelicte. Two years ago the supermodel Erin Wasson revealed the homeless were her fashion inspiration, saying: "When I... see the homeless, like, I'm like, 'Oh my God, they're pulling out, like, crazy looks and they, like, pull shit out of like garbage cans.'"

But anyone with similar designs on Brother Sharp's sartorial tips is out of luck. His identity remains a secret, and social workers in Ningbo say they want to keep it that way. "Homeless people are vulnerable. It is incorrect to use them for entertainment purposes," said one worker at a homeless centre in Ningbo. Brother Sharp is said to appear mentally disturbed when approached on the street.

In China, begging is technically illegal, as the Communist Party-run state provides all a citizen could need. In reality, the rapid development of the Chinese economy in the last 30 years has marginalised many.

The rumours surrounding Brother Sharp's true identity persist. Some say he is a university graduate who lost his mind after his girlfriend left him. Others have blogged about how they sought him out and tried to help him find work or to go back to his family, but that he appeared frightened and cried out without speaking.

The local government in Ningbo said it had a policy of looking after the homeless, and that it would extend the same treatment to Mr Sharp.

The Independent. Mar 4, 2010.