The sign reads as follows:Friend, for the sake of your family's happiness, please comply with the planned birth policy.
A girl is just as good as a boy. A daughter will also carry on your family line.
The bottom right indicates that the sign is provided by the Nangang District Planned Birth Committee.
There seems to be something very politically-charged in a sign like this. I'm not sure if it's the way in which it addresses readers as "Friend", or the "Committee" authorship. Regardless, I'm more interested in the cultural implications. To my mind, and I suspect the minds of most Westerners, the idea that a girl is as good as a boy is self-evident. However the cultural bias here seems so deeply in-grained that it must be spelt out explicitly.
I described the spate of 'Happy Slapping' which inexplicably plagued London a couple of years ago to Teacher Zhang, and from her expression, I suspect I'm feeling a similar level of incredulity.
Imagine the sign!
Friend, please be a law-abiding citizen and don't go round happy-slapping.
Hitting someone in the face while your chav mate records it on his stolen Nokia is not very nice.
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