Go back in time and be a chaebol

Chapter 1151 The Daily Life of the Nanyang People (First Update, Please Subscribe)
Although it is near the equator, the gentle breeze blowing from the sea still makes the early morning in Kuching seem a little cool.

Under the bright sunshine, white, yellow and blue houses are lined up one after another, one after another. Although the shapes look similar, they are all two-story and the attic windows on the roofs are also roughly the same, but they are distinguished by different colors. From a distance, these houses are hidden beside lush trees. A small river flows in from the south, meanders through the town and flows out from the northeast.

As the sky gradually brightened, the whole town woke up. Women in nightgowns opened their doors, lifted the magnetic screen doors, picked up newspapers and milk in front of the corridor, and greeted familiar neighbors warmly and said "good morning". Laughter filled the corridor in front of the house.

This is a typical Nanyang style of life, peaceful and tranquil.

Every day, tens of millions of Nanyang people wake up in small towns like this and start their day's work.

However, compared with the outside, the inside of the house seemed a bit chaotic.

Li Juying had just brought the milk home and hadn't even taken it to the kitchen when she heard her son crying. Before she could go take care of him, her little daughter started crying again.

"Mom, mom, where are my socks?"

For Li Juying, who has six children, every morning is so busy, and she, who is three months pregnant, has no choice but to shout loudly.

"Abao, Abao, hurry up and help little sister find her socks, big sister..."

Now was the time to fully consider her command ability as a commander. Soon, under her command, the children finally calmed down. Until then, Dai Mingyuan came out yawning. Although he had finished washing up, he went to bed very late because of work, and was still yawning until now.

"Just make me a cup of coffee."

For those who work overtime, coffee is the life-saving thing. While drinking coffee, he glanced at the newspaper on his left hand. The newspaper was folded in half as usual, and there were a few envelopes on the newspaper.

You can tell just by looking at the colors - the blue envelope is the utility bill, and the second one made of kraft paper is the rent bill.

As soon as he saw the brown paper letter, Dai Mingyuan couldn't help but complain:
"Really? It's just a few dollars every month. No one has ever defaulted on rent. They send this letter every month. This letter costs 2 cents for a stamp! A few dollars is money, but these 2 cents are not money..."

After he said this, his son, who had just sat down at the dining table, became unhappy.

"Dad, our teacher said that what we pay is not just rent, part of it is for maintenance funds. That letter tells you where the money is spent. Every citizen has the right to know where the taxes paid go..."

Public housing tenants in Nanyang do not own the houses. The houses belong to the government, which rents them to families. Tenants must pay rent to the government every month. As the landlord, the government will send them a payment notice after collecting rent every month, telling them how much rent was collected in the district this month, how much of the rent was used to repay the housing provident fund, and how much was used for house repairs.

The former is because Nanyang's public housing is funded by housing provident funds. Nanyang residents pay provident funds every month according to the proportion of their wages. Every time a community is built, the Housing and Development Board will calculate the cost of the house through a complex formula based on the location, land price, house cost and other data of the community, and then based on the amount of provident funds paid by individuals, combined with the repayment part of the monthly rent, etc., the community property rights can usually be transferred in about 20 years. That is, in about years, the property rights of the house belong to the residents.

The government shall not make any profit in this process.

However, expenses for house repairs and other aspects need to be paid from rent. There are also special regulations for the maintenance of public housing, which basically requires minor repairs every 5 years and major repairs every 10 years. Minor repairs refer to the renewal of the facade and outdoor paving, while major repairs refer to increasing the area or improving the function, so that residents' houses can continuously adapt to the changes brought about by the improvement of people's living standards.

Therefore, this expenditure must be clearly informed to the residents of the community. If there are any questions, they can question the relevant departments and request an independent audit. For this reason, every month, they will list the monthly expenses in detail to avoid misunderstandings.

After being scolded by his son, Dai Mingyuan was stunned at first, then asked.

"From civics class?"

Dai Haoze nodded seriously and said:

"Yes, Dad, I also learned the formula for calculating personal income tax. When our family files taxes next year, I can help you calculate it."

Seeing his son's serious look, Dai Mingyuan, an accountant, did not refute him, but nodded and said:

"When the time comes, you can help calculate it first."

As he said this, he picked up another letter. On the white envelope was written "Kuching City District Court". The inexplicable letter made Dai Mingyuan raise his eyebrows and said:

"Why did the court send the letter?"

As he said this, he tore open the envelope, unfolded the letter, and after just one glance at it, his brows furrowed as he spoke.

"It's so boring. Everyone is so busy every day, how can they have time to do this?"

After saying that, he put the letter aside, but Dai Haoze picked it up. It was a subpoena from the jury commissioner's office, requiring him to report to the district court on September 19 to perform his citizen jury duties.

In Nanyang, being a juror is the duty and responsibility of every citizen. This is the third time he has received a jury summons this year.

To serve as a juror, those who have a job must inform their employer in advance and arrange their work. The employer cannot stop employees from fulfilling their juror duties for any reason, and their salary must be paid. In addition, each person will receive a hard work fee of two yuan per day, which will be paid by the Municipal Taxation Bureau.

Listening to his father's words, Dai Haoze frowned and spoke seriously.

"Dad, I think you should take extra civics classes."

As soon as he finished speaking, his eldest daughter Dai Ziyan also spoke up.

"Yes, yes, my brother is right, Dad, being a juror is the duty and responsibility of every citizen. The jury represents the voice of the public, which is conducive to protecting social justice and maintaining the credibility of the law."

"It can reduce the authority of the judiciary, thus making the judicial process more fair." "It can prevent judges from being the only ones in power and make the court a one-man show for judges, thus avoiding wrongful convictions to the greatest extent! Although it is not perfect, at least it seems to be effective at present."

"If we do not fulfill this obligation and cherish this right, then who will protect us when we suffer from judicial injustice in the future?"

Dai Mingyuan felt ashamed by his son and daughter's words. In fact, what he was against was not the jury, but being a juror himself, which would definitely affect his work.

Although he is an accountant, as a college graduate he also has a certain understanding of the law.

Because North Borneo and Sarawak are former British colonies, Nanyang naturally follows the Anglo-American legal system, with case law and the jury system at its core. In short, the sentencing results of the Anglo-American legal system are mainly determined by the jury to decide whether the person is guilty, the judge announces the jury's results, and then imposes the sentence according to the law; the sentencing results of the continental legal system are mainly decided by the judge.

The former is not necessarily good, but the latter certainly has more shortcomings. The biggest shortcoming is that all you have to do is bribe the judge, just like what is said in the opera, "The gate of the yamen faces south, don't come in if you have a reason but no money." The absurdity and injustice of the process of "the plaintiff becomes the defendant, and the defendant becomes the plaintiff" is mainly because the county yamen is a one-man show by the county magistrate. In the court of the continental legal system... the judge also has the final say.

In this case, let alone collecting money, his mood and even personal likes and dislikes will affect the judgment result.

In comparison, juries are more difficult to manipulate.

No matter how they are selected, the twelve jurors are lawyers for both the plaintiff and the defendant, who are selected from among fifty candidates based on the interests of both parties.

From a statistical point of view, it is much more difficult for a lawyer to bribe or manipulate a dozen people than to bribe a single judge.

Moreover, the probability that all thirteen people are conscienceless is possible, but it is unlikely. After all, ten people may even have twenty thoughts. This is human nature.

As jurors, they do not necessarily need to understand the law. They only need to determine the facts of the case based on the evidence provided by the prosecution and the defense, as well as their life experience and common sense. In fact, it is a simple sense of right and wrong. Therefore, as long as they have a basic conscience and sense of right and wrong, it is enough.

Seeing her husband was silent, the wife beside him couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Haha, you're a certified public accountant, you actually left the kids speechless."

Facing his wife's teasing, Dai Mingyuan did not get angry, but replied directly:

"The truth is not in the loudness of the voice. What they said makes sense, so I naturally have nothing to say."

Looking at the complacent children, Dai Mingyuan had complicated feelings, but more of a feeling of relief. He could feel the difference in the children. They were different from him. Compared to him, they paid more attention to rules and respected rules. They knew very well what rights they had and what responsibilities they should bear.

Perhaps this is why Nanyang schools offer civic education classes from kindergarten and base their lessons on rules and laws. Their purpose is to cultivate a new generation of Nanyang people.

Perhaps, they are the real Nanyang people!

Looking at the children, Dai Mingyuan smiled, and in his smile there was a certain expectation, looking forward to the children growing up!

Looking at them, he thought of his Excellency's speech: "This country is created by us, and it should be like this - when we hand it over to our children, can we tell them that we have tried our best to make this country better, because they deserve better!?"

Yes, they deserve a better world, and this is the fundamental reason why they try their best to build and work hard, just to give a better world to these children.

That day, Dai Mingyuan thought a lot and even took a look at the children's "Citizenship Textbook". The simple content made him ponder for a long time.

A few days later, Dai Mingyuan came to the court as scheduled. The judge asked them about their situations one by one, including their occupations, hobbies, reading range, whether there were law enforcement officers among their family members or relatives, whether they had been victimized, whether they had been convicted, whether they knew the defendant, and whether they could guarantee that they would make a fair judgment, etc. The process was long and boring, but no one was impatient, and everyone answered consciously.

For many of them, this has long been a part of their lives. In fact, many people are very happy to serve as jurors, rather than being judges.

"Can No. 38 make a fair judgment?"

This time, when facing the judge's questioning, Dai Mingyuan deliberately said, "I am easily influenced by others and cannot guarantee a fair judgment, as I was busy with work and afraid of wasting time." This was of course eliminated.

His answer was perfect, because if they were found to be lying, the law could punish them. However, in fact, it was impossible for the judge to find out, and most of the time, the judge chose not to believe that they were lying.

In fact, most people choose to cooperate. After all, most people now take this obligation and responsibility for granted. Just like now, with his son's reminder, he realized that this is related to whether he can be treated fairly in the future.

But today, when faced with inquiries, Dai Mingyuan said.

"Your Honor, I can guarantee that I will make a fair judgment based on my common sense and conscience!"

When he finished speaking and sat down, the sun was shining brightly outside the window of the court. In the sunshine, people were walking hurriedly back and forth. Every day, tens of millions of ordinary people lived here. They came from all over the place and eventually came here. They took root in this land, had children and lived the most ordinary life.

Here, a person grows from youth to middle age and finally retires. The old people are just ordinary people, living the most ordinary life. Their children grow from babies to teenagers, then to adults, middle age, and finally retire. They just live quietly, living the life that ordinary people deserve.

Of course, for some young and promising people, Nanyang is also a hall of opportunity. Here, as long as you have special skills and are diligent, you will be rewarded with promotion and security.

This is what Nanyang gave them.

As people were hurrying on their way, the rain began to fall. People quickened their pace, holding briefcases or newspapers on their heads. While some people were hurrying on their way, some people took shelter from the rain on the road. Although they were strangers, they smiled at each other while taking shelter from the rain. Everyone looked peaceful and energetic.

And this is Nanyang!

(End of this chapter)