Who Is The Most Talked About No Quake Hero In China?

Most news reports would focus and write about teachers being heroes in 512 earthquake. On the news a teacher named Mr Tan QianJiu, when found, his body was shielding four of his students, and all of them are alive.

But what happen to some school teachers whose self survival are more important than their students? Should they being kicked out from school?

Those teachers have their own argument about this matter! I read about what this secondary school teacher was telling how he abandoned his pupils during the 512 earthquake and leave them to their fate.

The following facts of information can be found on todayonline.com.

Mr Fan Meizhong set out on an online forum his guiding principle — in matters of life and death, it’s every man for himself.

When the quake struck, rather than overseeing an orderly evacuation, he said he just shouted “Stay calm, it’s an earthquake!” and ran for it without looking back to see if his pupils were following.

"I ran towards the stairs so fast that I stumbled and fell as I went. When I reached the centre of the football pitch, I found I was the first to escape. None of my pupils was with me,” wrote the man now known across China as “Runner Fan”.

When his pupils began to arrive, they asked: “Teacher, why didn’t you bring us out?”
His explanation was simple. “I have a very strong sense of self-preservation,” he said. “I have never been a brave man and I’m only really concerned about myself.”

But Mr Fan went further, attempting to justify his abandonment of his pupils, who all survived the quake.

“I didn’t cause the earthquake, so I have no reason to feel guilty,” he said in an interview. “When I got back to the classroom, the students were all fine.”

He also risked angering those close to him, saying he would not have tried to save his own mother if she had been present, though he might have made an exception to his general rule for his one-year-old daughter.

He pointed out that education law does not demand that a teacher save his pupils during an earthquake.

“If every teacher was like Mr Tan, then we’d have no more heroes,” he said. “I admire heroes like Mr. Tan, but I can’t do that myself. I love my life more.”

Now the head of the private school where Mr Fan worked is under pressure to fire the teacher and publicly questionedMr Fan’s wisdom in being so frank.

Running might be a normal reaction, he said, but talking about it afterwards was something else entirely.

What do you guys think about this teacher? He is no quake hero?