Lunar New Year bowing service in China stokes controversy

BEIJING – A Chinese odd jobs mobile app has cancelled a service that let users hire proxies to bow to their elderly relatives during Chinese New Year family visits, sparking scrutiny of China’s “hire-anyone-for-anything” service sector.

Promotional images of the now-deleted service depicted an orange uniform-clad delivery worker on their knees bowing, forehead nearly on the floor, in front of a smiling elderly couple. Online responses ranged from outrage to mockery.

“Filial piety should not be commoditised,” one Weibo user said, referring to the culture of respect for and deference to older family members.

Visiting loved ones and offering good wishes are an important part of the traditional Chinese New Year holiday, although bowing is not widely practised today.

“After careful consideration, we have voluntarily removed the services that caused controversy,” said odd jobs app UU Paotui, based in central China’s Henan, in a WeChat post on Feb 11.

As of Feb 13, the app still offered a New Year greeter service – with immediate dispatch options – but the 999 yuan (S$180), two-hour bowing-for-hire package was no longer visible.

Buyers of the now-deleted bowing package could hire gig workers to buy and send gifts, “perform traditional etiquette”, and offer “one minute of auspicious blessings” to loved ones, among other services.

The services were meant to help people living far from their families and those with mobility issues maintain traditional customs, UU Paotui said, adding it would offer triple compensation to customers who had already booked.

People who have moved away for work typically return home to visit their families for the most important festival on the Chinese calendar, creating a travel rush commonly referred to as the world’s largest annual human migration.

In a nod to the increasingly virtual nature of social life in China, UU Paotui suggested replacing the in-person visits with an app could help avoid awkward social interactions.

“If you don’t want to have social anxiety during the new year (celebration), the experience has to be online!” said a Feb 9 Weibo post announcing the service.

Proxy services are not uncommon in China, where labour costs are relatively low and convenience is at a premium for urban consumers.

Outside the holiday period, UU Paotui users can hire someone through the app to accompany them to hospital, feed their pets, or wait in queues at restaurants and other busy locations.

A commentary in the People’s Daily, the Communist Party newspaper, on Feb 11 called the bowing service “very awkward” and urged closer scrutiny of the proxy service industry.

“Real innovation should meet needs while also safeguarding values,” it said, pointing out that paying a proxy to cover work shifts, for example, could come with legal risks.

The controversy comes amid increasing concern for China’s often overworked delivery workers, who can sometimes be seen sprinting through shopping malls and residential compounds to deliver an order on time.

President Xi Jinping met delivery workers on Feb 11 to wish them a happy new year and acknowledge their hard work.

“The city couldn’t function without workers like you,” he said. REUTERS