There are many RAKs that don't involve "reacting to an accident". I knew a guy in the UK who would sometimes spend half an hour over lunch topping up any local parking meters about run out. Just for the fun of it! The parking meter attendants were not happy, but...

@yankee

Wow, no need to get mean if you run low on reason.

Thats low even for you!

Really? try google translate and I am sure there are tons of people speaking tons of languages to find out.

And you really think people would just accept to pay the cash, shut up and go on with their lives.

People can't even walk down the road, get on a bus, order food or talk about food without complaining and making a huuuuge deal about how bad everything is or how they get over priced buying stuff out of the supermarket.

I am sure somebody would have picked up on it especially that I actually know a bunch of TV journalists just waiting to hear a confirmed story such as this. As a matter of fact when this scam rumor outbreak started in BJ around 2005-2007 they actually tried to go for it but came back empty.

So please if you believe this scam don't get mad when you are being victim of stereotypes as you are obviously putting a label on every Chinese person that needs help.

And I agree with all those guys helping other, because it is just the right thing to do and anything else seems cowardly and self righteous.

If you don't want to help or if you are scared just don't blame it on something that most likely never happened. Not saying that China hasn't got a lot of issues and problems and acceptance or sufficient courteous behavior. But telling yourself you don't need to help not the right way to go. Plus one day you may be the one that needs help. Good luck then.

i remember the good samaritan act in shanghai that recieved so much attention after the stories of china losing its moral compass. i remember the story was about a pregnant woman on the bus fell ill, she was helped and then driven to hospoital by a stranger. turns out is was all a stunt to show that people do care. however the human flesh search enging esposed the scam.

@The Dudeson's,

"If you don't want to help or if you are scared just don't blame it on something that most likely never happened"

It definitely happened, but if I need help when hurt, I don't go around extorting money from innocent people who helped me.

"I am sure somebody would have picked up on it especially that I actually know a bunch of TV journalists just waiting to hear a confirmed story such as this."

Read reports about Blacks in China and you'll only get stories about riots, drugs, illegal stays, illegal work etc... The abundance of "Western" journalists here aren't interested in stories where Black Africans are the real victims. They only want "Westerners".

"And you really think people would just accept to pay the cash, shut up and go on with their lives."

That's pretty much what happened, with the support of the authorities to intimidate him. He even asked the woman to have an extra x-ray at his own expense under his supervision, but she categorically refused and she was also backed by those authorities. Who received the red envelope? I'll let you guess.

Again, volunteer, help the poor, pick up a young one who fell down, but stay away from the oldies.

@ yankee
This is fantastic I heard exactly the same story, literally. The second x-ray story. And the cops helping the poor victim and being all bad bad laowai on him. May I ask where your friend's story happened.

It seems to be a very sophisticated scam.

Also there was one where a old tuc tuc guy hits a car and a french guy helped, asked for 30,000 US$ comp...
I heard that one to have happen in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Xi'an and two cities in Vietnam (weird but what the heck). What strikes me is that it is always a French dude helping, accused for the same injury and sued for the same amount of money.

I can name a whole bunch that happened all over the country. See how many are exactly the same but magically happen in every city in China.

That's what I call an Urban myth.

Btw. There is plenty of media coverage about the mistreatment in the black community in Guangzhou.

I read about the black guy who jumped the window = police violence/homicide covered as suicide, random arrests, (false) accusations of crimes, racial streaming, all covered in Western news in Europe and (western news) in China.

Believe it or not they have very competent journalists in the Beijing offices. I met a few. Although now they magically have visa problems.

I'm sure there is racism and persecution of critical journalists, and there are scams, in China. Too much of this? Any is too much. More than elsewhere? More than some places, less than others. Are most people in China involved? I think not. Are there enough random acts of kindness, by anybody, Chinese or otherwise? I think not. Is there a risk in helping somebody? Probably. Is life safe? Never. So don't be stupid but have some guts and do the right thing.

@alien
beautifully put.

@alien
Agreed :) Case closed!

I appear cynical here usually. I want to just say, for myself, I think it is okay to do kind things. No need to brag about it later either. But some simple kind little act is okay. I think the stories of people suing people who assist them is blown out of proportion. It happens for sure. But not every person who falls down and spills their groceries is a scam artist. We can get hard and callous here easily. I have. I was with a Chinese friend at Nanpingjie and gave two kuai to a beggar ( yes I give money regularly to beggars here) and the Chinese person started on about how I should not do that, and that those people are cheaters. I felt since the guy have two deformed legs and was covered in dirt and soot he was most likely a person in dire straits day to day.

But I have also saw a Chinese lady give her child ten kuai to walk over and give a beggar, teaching the child charity and kindness. That is the person I want to remember more.

I regret I have become cynical but I am told by my Chinese friends I am actually pretty patient for a foreigner and they are comfortable around me. I need to focus on those comments from Chinese people and not the always bitter ones from most ( not all) paranoid laowai.

My wife and I have tried to be nice and help people but often we are ( more she as she is Chinese) used by foreigners and Chinese for money and services. But we have learned and have not become too paranoid. But we did say no to a colleague of hers who wanted to "borrow" ten thousand RMB last week. They spoke English and I took the phone and said no way. No. No. Of course they took offense but being kind and helpful has to have boundaries. Same with foreigners wanting my wife to shop for them on Taobao or set up a travel itinerary for them. Those days are over. One does have to be careful or you can get hurt by others.

I guess the idea of this RAK thing is doing something like picking up tacks on the street or putting money in parking meters, but avoiding helping people directly, helps you feel good about yourself with little risk.

I think it is good to help but now I am remembering a few things here in China and how I have shut down a lot. I wanted to help people but now remember how I got screwed over a lot here. I hope I can still do something, but not sure what. The more you give the more people want and in the end they drop you bitterly sometimes. Maybe I give money to beggars for some selfish reason (I have been told anyway) but I am moved by suffering, of people and animals. Our cat and dog are strays, but we cannot take in all strays. There are boundaries and limits to kindness when dealing with real beings, maybe not when picking up rubbish from the sidewalk.

But it is still good to try I guess, just don't get hurt from being kind if possible.

Sometimes I get a bit down about China and how some people don't seem to give a toss about others note in their family/friend groups. But a couple of months ago....

I was approaching a notoriously bad intersection nearby my apartment on my bicycle when I heard a "screeeeeech BANG screeeech"... and knew what had happened. The intersection should have 3 sets of light changes but instead has two which causes traffic to overlap all the time. Sure enough as I arrived I saw a scooter about 5 metres from a mian bao che and a guy on the ground unconscious - the rider. The driver of the mian bao che was out helping the rider by that stage and a big crowd of people was gathering on the side of the road about 10m away. I was standing back though and what did I see? Some movement UNDER the mian bao che... there was another guy trapped under it and nobody seemed to notice him...

Jumping into action I pulled my bike up to block traffic and yelled to the driver who looked my way, saw the person under his car and INSTANTLY saw what was needed (like me) and yelled to all the bystanders to come and help pick up his car! And sure enough virtually instantaneously we had the van surrounded by about 25 men, a quick "YI, ER, SAN!" and we lifted the van off the man, setting it down off to the side.

This act restored my faith in Chinese people, they all acted without hesitation when someone's life was in danger. However I also noticed that they all disappeared pretty quickly after that melting back into the crowd of watchers. About a minute later we had police officers on the scene (its about 100m from a police station) and the sound of ambulances coming from the nearby tongren hospital.

I tell this story not to seem like a hero or anything, I think pretty much everyone would do the same thing as me. But it does show that firstly as a foreigner you can be a catalyst for good change in a foreign land (I aren't sure the people would have come to this poor mans aid as quickly if I had not been there urging people to help) and secondly that I believe Chinese people are actually generous at heart, when it comes to life and death situations they will do all they can for someone. I also noticed after that the men were all secretly chuffed with themselves with lots of smirks and smiles in the crowd when they saw the man responding to the police who were trying to treat him (they told me to go away!).

The dude had a broken arm and lots of surface wounds but otherwise seemed OK to me. Possibly broken collarbone/punctured lung (breathing was laboured), but the ambulance arrived about 1 minute later and dragged them both off pretty quick smart. I suspect both of them got off lightly with emergency services being there within about 3 or 4 minutes, something that stunned me as so fast for China!