Amid all the financial gloom, it may seem longer than just five months since the nation celebrated the opening of the Beijing Olympic Games. But many of the images of that night endure. A reminder was the appearance in Hong Kong yesterday of Yang Peiyi, the little girl whose face was judged not pretty enough for her to appear in the ceremony in the National Stadium, but whose singing voice was deemed indispensable. As a result, another girl with picture-perfect looks lip-synched seven-year-old Peiyi's performance of Ode to the Motherland.
Disclosure of the deception, ordered from a high level 'in the national interest', led to wide criticism that it was contrary to the Olympic ideals and potentially harmful to Peiyi. Calls for her to appear in the closing ceremony went unheeded. It is good that now both girls have been able to accept invitations to perform at a Kwun Tong shopping mall to add welcome cheer to a festive period overshadowed by economic pessimism. The mall owner decided to invite Peiyi after nine-year-old Lin Miaoke, the girl who lip-synched, appeared in November. While popular opinion is that officials were right about the best singing voice, many remain unconvinced about the need for substitution on the grounds of beauty, particularly references to Peiyi's chubby face and crooked teeth. They argue it sent the wrong message to China's younger generation that looks are more important than inner qualities and ability.
Happily, Miaoke insists the pair are still good friends, and Peiyi says her pride in hearing her voice fill the stadium is not diminished by regret over her absence. Both girls appear to have emerged from a potentially damaging experience of political meddling as worthy role models. The controversy could have been avoided if the substitution had been more transparent. Peiyi's seemingly unaffected charm may owe something to a loving father's guidance. Even that could not prepare her for questions from a battery of reporters yesterday, during which she burst into tears. We hope she can put yesterday's unhappy moments behind her and that the appearances of both girls in Hong Kong have played a small part in putting a regrettable episode to rest.