Updated: 2012-06-18 10:34 By Zhang Yue ( China Daily)
<iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rlNGpKniBkk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
A job-hunting TV show that has stirred controversy by criticizing students who have returned
from studying abroad has had to rethink its attitude. Zhang Yue reports in Beijing.
China's most popular employment reality TV show, Only You, has seen 305 applicants find jobs since
it started in late 2010, with 51 of them being students who studied overseas. It doesn't sound like a
recipe for controversy, but it is.
Only You is filmed by Tianjin TV Station and hosted by Zhang Shaogang. On its May 20 broadcast,
the 32-year-old Guo Jie, who had studied in France for 10 years and earned three degrees, fainted on
stage when it was alleged his master's degree was a fake.
The judging panel mistook his BAC+5 degree (equivalent to a master's degree) as a high school
graduate diploma.
This is not the first time that overseas returnees have been challenged on the show.
Over the past few months, the TV program has been a controversial topic online, especially on Sina
Weibo, because of Guo's fainting incident and because many viewers think the program is biased
against overseas returnees.
A video of the show was also posted on YouTube, with English subtitles, and has had tens of
thousands of hits. There is even a parody of the show, which turns Guo (with a rainbow colored
face) and the judges into cartoon characters.
The former chief of Google China, Kai-fu Lee, who was educated in the United States, responded by
initiating a campaign to boycott the show.
During the one-week online activity, 410,402 participants showed their opposition to the program,
while 24,438 participants were supportive.
Other returning students were also incensed and on June 7 the production team of Only You,
including presenter Zhang Shaogang, appeared in Beijing to face more than 20 student returnee
representatives and apologize.
The discussion was heated, and lasted for four hours, with the students describing their experiences
of studying abroad.
Xue Lei, who graduated from The University of Sydney, in 2009, said every returning student was
required to have their degree ratified by the Overseas Students Center, affiliated to the Ministry of
Education.
He said every student who studied abroad knew this, but presenter Zhang had no idea.
In a survey conducted by www.eol.cn, China's largest education portal, 9 million people registered
for the national college entrance examination in 2012, 1.4 million fewer than in 2008.
At the same time, student applications to study higher education abroad have increased 20 percent
year-on-year since 2008.
<iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rlNGpKniBkk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
A job-hunting TV show that has stirred controversy by criticizing students who have returned
from studying abroad has had to rethink its attitude. Zhang Yue reports in Beijing.
China's most popular employment reality TV show, Only You, has seen 305 applicants find jobs since
it started in late 2010, with 51 of them being students who studied overseas. It doesn't sound like a
recipe for controversy, but it is.
Only You is filmed by Tianjin TV Station and hosted by Zhang Shaogang. On its May 20 broadcast,
the 32-year-old Guo Jie, who had studied in France for 10 years and earned three degrees, fainted on
stage when it was alleged his master's degree was a fake.
The judging panel mistook his BAC+5 degree (equivalent to a master's degree) as a high school
graduate diploma.
This is not the first time that overseas returnees have been challenged on the show.
Over the past few months, the TV program has been a controversial topic online, especially on Sina
Weibo, because of Guo's fainting incident and because many viewers think the program is biased
against overseas returnees.
A video of the show was also posted on YouTube, with English subtitles, and has had tens of
thousands of hits. There is even a parody of the show, which turns Guo (with a rainbow colored
face) and the judges into cartoon characters.
The former chief of Google China, Kai-fu Lee, who was educated in the United States, responded by
initiating a campaign to boycott the show.
During the one-week online activity, 410,402 participants showed their opposition to the program,
while 24,438 participants were supportive.
Other returning students were also incensed and on June 7 the production team of Only You,
including presenter Zhang Shaogang, appeared in Beijing to face more than 20 student returnee
representatives and apologize.
The discussion was heated, and lasted for four hours, with the students describing their experiences
of studying abroad.
Xue Lei, who graduated from The University of Sydney, in 2009, said every returning student was
required to have their degree ratified by the Overseas Students Center, affiliated to the Ministry of
Education.
He said every student who studied abroad knew this, but presenter Zhang had no idea.
In a survey conducted by www.eol.cn, China's largest education portal, 9 million people registered
for the national college entrance examination in 2012, 1.4 million fewer than in 2008.
At the same time, student applications to study higher education abroad have increased 20 percent
year-on-year since 2008.
