Deadly bus arson fuels debate on social ills
Social ills may drive some to take violent revenge on society, but many papers warn against sympathy for such perpetrators
Mainland media revealed more details last week about the life of Chen Shuizong, the arsonist who killed himself and 46 other passengers this month in a bus fire in Xiamen.
By interviewing relatives and neighbours, the media depicted a disgruntled street vendor who had struggled in poverty - an unfriendly, ill-tempered old man who was easily upset. He called himself "a grass-roots citizen" in his microblog the day before he ignited a can of petrol aboard a crowded commuter bus, saying life had treated him unfairly since his youth.
In the 1970s, he was one of the millions of urban youth sent to work in the countryside. Failing to find a job after returning to Xiamen in the 1980s, he eked out a living as street hawker and by doing odd jobs.
He had recently applied for a pension but was refused several times because the government said he did not qualify.
While some media outlets reflected on the causes of the tragedy - his experience aroused sympathy among many people - others warned that terrorists never deserve understanding.
The ran a sharply worded commentary describing Chen as a "frenzied" man who deserved society's condemnation.
