His approach is to avoid work and responsibility.
“My motto is if I do more, I make more mistakes; if I do less, I make fewer mistakes; if I do nothing, I make no mistakes,” Hao says.
The approach works until Ms Ma, his new boss, falls into the pothole and then goes to Hao’s office in search of answers – all the while pretending to be a member of the public.
Unaware of Ma’s identity, Hao tries to blame others for the pothole, saying Ma fell into the pothole not because he had not done his job, but “the public had low awareness to prevent potential road risks”.
The Lunar New Year sketch “Pothole” takes aim a cadre inaction. Photo: CCTV
By Sunday afternoon, online discussion related to the skit had been read more than 800 million times on Twitter-like Sina Weibo platform, with many commenters saying the act was the best programme of the show because it reflected reality.
“It’s a bold skit that should be praised,” one commenter said.
“It’s ‘positive energy’, but it’s also realistic, that’s quite rare,” another said.
The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) appeared to agree.
On its official website on Sunday morning, the Communist Party’s anticorruption agency said the skit was not only funny, but cutting as well.
“It vividly depicts a lying-flat cadre who lacks a sense of responsibility and disregards public grievances while looking for glorified excuses, such as the public’s ‘low awareness to prevent potential road risks’,” the CCDI said.
“It is so sarcastic that we are at a loss as to whether to cry or laugh.”
The CCDI went on to say that civil servants who “lie flat” could obviously hurt society.
“As a party member and civil servant, we need to establish and practise a correct political achievement value, get to know the sufferings of the masses, and be proud of serving the people,” it said.
The CCDI added that to remedy such behaviour and encourage hardworking officials, there needed to be a more scientific mechanism for choosing talent.
“Lying-flat officials” also should be punished, warned and supervised by disciplinary departments, it said, adding that “as long as you are a cadre, you cannot resort to inaction”.
03:59
Protests flare across China over zero-Covid, lockdowns after deadly Urumqi fire
The reference to “low prevention awareness” echoed comments from officials in the aftermath of a residential fire in Urumqi in November that killed 10 people and injured nine.
The tragedy prompted widespread fury on the internet when officials rejected suggestions that Covid restrictions stopped the victims from fleeing. Instead the officials accused some residents of having “weak capacity for self prevention and self rescue”.
“At last, the Spring Festival gala has the courage for sarcasm,” a commenter said.
