Pianist Li Yundi. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
On Thursday night, well-known pianist Li Yundi was detained by the local police of Chaoyang district, Beijing municipality, for allegedly soliciting a prostitute. According to the official Sina Weibo account of the police, he was caught together with a 29-year-old woman and both confessed their crime.
Li is not the first well-known public figure caught committing such illegal activities. Since 2014, famous singers and actresses such as Li Daimo, Jaycee Chan Jo-Ming and Ke Zhendong have been caught taking drugs, while famous actor Huang Haibo and director Wang Quanan have been with prostitutes.
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All of them share one thing: Fame. Being famous public figures, they have huge influence and millions of followers, and every piece of information they share on Sina Weibo might be echoed by hundreds of people, even thousands.
It is impossible to accurately sense their state of thinking, but maybe the words of Xue Manzi, a famous angel investor caught and punished for prostitution in 2013, quite typically reflect them. In an interview after he was caught, he said he felt "reviewing reports from subordinates" while reading the comments from his followers on social networks.
It is this illusive sense of superiority that leads them to illegal activities. Maybe these celebrities need to learn some basic rules of the modern society, namely that everybody is equal in terms of law and to have huge influence in the public does not grant the person any privilege.
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On the contrary, the celebrities with millions of followers need to discipline themselves more strictly so as to set good examples to the public, because any of their wrongdoing might prompt young followers to copy.
At the micro blog account of Li, last updated on Oct 16, there are over 7,000 comments, most of which blame him for prostitution and ask him to correct the wrongdoing after finishing his detainment. That's a positive trend in the social network sector as it shows the public is reasonable enough to tell right from wrong and will not blindly follow an idol for his/her wrongs.
Maybe Li and public figures like him can get some lessons from his followers, who appear more awake than the idols themselves.