Web users amused by Chinese university that looks like a toilet
A 12-floor block at the North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power in Zhengzhou, Henan province, has been nicknamed “the toilet” online, according to Vcg.com. Staff at the building help graduates set up their own businesses. Internet users joked that the front of the building looked like a toilet bowl and the back a cistern. Even the roof of the block at the college looked like a toilet lid, they joked. “It looks ugly and strange,” one internet user said.
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What next? About 86 million yuan (US$13 million) was invested in the building. It opened last year. One internet user was a little more forgiving about the building’s design. “I can’t see any innovation and beauty in the building, but the designer did well if it’s to help local graduates,” they wrote.
Saudi women get into a taxi on a street in the Saudi capital Riyadh. Photo: AFP
Saudi Arabia ending long-standing ban on women drivers is a ‘huge step’
Women will be allowed to drive for the first time in Saudi Arabia from next summer, marking a significant expansion of women’s rights in the only country that barred them from getting behind the wheel. Neither Islamic law nor Saudi traffic law explicitly prohibited women from driving, but they were not issued licences and were detained if they attempted to drive. Prince Khaled bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Washington and the king’s son, said letting women drive is a “huge step forward” and that “society is ready”.
What next? As recently as late 2014, two Saudi women were detained for two months for defying the ban. Despite the change, Saudi women remain largely subject to the whims of men due to guardianship laws, which bar them from obtaining a passport, travelling abroad or marrying without the consent of a male relative.
Chinese men walk in Beijing’s Central Business District. Photo: AP
China signals patriotism as key element for entrepreneurs
The Chinese government has underlined that patriotism is a core element of entrepreneurship, with official media saying it had for the first time defined what enterprise means for the world’s second-biggest economy. A joint statement issued by the Communist Party’s Central Committee and the State Council called for stronger party guidance of entrepreneurs and for them to endorse party leaders.
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What next? “Key elements of the document relate to the phenomenon of Chinese firms going on massive overseas shopping sprees,” said Han Meng, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Institute of Economics in Beijing. “If not reined in, this could hurt China’s economic base. Patriotic entrepreneurs are those who can do more to benefit the domestic economy and society.”
