A Civil Servant Who Doesn’t Accept “Gifts”

(Minghui.org) People familiar with government agencies in China regard civil servants as “fat cats.” In the past, most people couldn’t get such jobs even if they wanted to. They were reserved for the privileged few. Ordinary people had to ask them for “favors,” which would involve “material benefits,” i.e. gifts.

The Chinese Communist Party has carried out an “anti-corruption” campaign and indeed dealt with some corrupt government officials in the past few years.

As a result, people have become less enthusiastic about becoming civil servants, and fewer people have wanted these jobs. They are afraid of getting into trouble and being held accountable for accepting bribes.

Our local leader was desperate to find someone to fill a position, so he came to me. He said, “I’ll give you this job—I know you will do it well.” I didn’t say anything and just took it. Every job is the same to me. Falun Dafa practitioners are not picky, as there is no good or bad job.

My job was to assist rural households in difficulty, such as people with illnesses or the elderly, families in financial hardship, and so on.

These people are already miserable, so in my work, I first had to follow the policy and review applications correctly. Second, I had to help them as much as possible within the scope of my power, complete my job efficiently and effectively, and solve their problems.

Many people who want to apply for a subsistence allowance give “gifts” to the person who processes their application. People are accustomed to doing this and think it’s normal to give money as a gift to government employees who provide public services. No one thinks this is corruption.

Obviously this is wrong. A government employee’s job is to serve the people. They are paid by taxes collected from the people and they are supposed to do a good job. People should not have to bribe an official to apply for public services.

Many people who applied for a subsistence allowance came to see me at work or to my home and tried to give me hundreds or thousands of yuan as a bribe. In every instance, I refused to accept their offer and told them, “If your application meets the requirements, you will get what you want. I am here to help you. I will never make trouble for you, you can be assured of that. If you don’t qualify, I can’t help you.”

I tell them that I never accept gifts because I am a Falun Dafa practitioner and live by the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. If I was unable to refuse the gift, I would find the person’s bank details and transfer the money back to them. People who come to me are poor and need help. How can I take their money!?

Only recently, a villager over 60 applied for a subsistence allowance. He couldn’t work due to his many ailments and had spent a lot of money on medical treatments. I prepared the proper documents for him, and the next step was to give the application to the County Civil Affairs Bureau to be approved.

The man came to my office and asked me to come outside so we could talk. As I followed him out, he took a pile of bills out of his pocket to give to me. I quickly pushed his hand back and said, “We practitioners don’t accept gifts. Don’t worry. If you meet the requirements, I will definitely help you. You can go home now.” He saw that I really didn’t want the money, waited for a while, and then left.

Another man in his 60s who was involved in a car accident a few years ago and cannot work anymore wanted to apply for the subsistence allowance. He came to my home one afternoon, explained his intention, and took out a thousand yuan. While pushing the money back to him, I said, “I will handle your application according to the regulations. I will do it for you if your case meets the requirements. Don’t worry. I can’t take a penny from you. We practitioners cultivate Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and don’t accept gifts.”

Then he knew I definitely would not accept the money, so he took it back.

This has happened many times. Sometimes I thought that, if I didn’t practice Falun Dafa, in today’s turbulent world, I would most certainly have gone along with the trend.

Nowadays, many people, especially government officials, go after money. Because I practice Falun Dafa, I believe in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and understand that doing bad things creates karma, so whatever I do, I must value virtue. That is why I can stay unmoved in the face of money, not accept gifts, act impartially, and do my job well. Many people have said that I am a really good person, because they rarely see civil servants like me who don’t accept gifts.

Last year, the Political and Legal Affairs Committee carried out the “zero-out campaign” to try to force Dafa practitioners to renounce their belief. The deputy head of my workplace said to me, “We know that you won’t change your belief. You have been practicing [Falun Dafa] for so many years. Tell me about its benefits.”

“If I’d had this job before I started practicing Falun Dafa, I would have accepted all of the gifts offered to me,” I replied. “Now that I’m a practitioner, I won’t accept any gifts because I cultivate Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and understand that the purpose of life is not to pursue money—it is something much higher.”