Let us put it more straightforward. Last week one million forty thousand people took the civil servants selection examination in China. 2010 program envisaged that 15 thousand people will be employed; but one million forty thousand people took the selection examination. The exam was held in 44 centers. Last year, 770 thousand people had taken the exam. The number of positions to be filled was around 13 thousand 500 in 2009. I heard about the news from the centerfold photograph of the British the Guardian and I could not stop wondering. Here in Turkey, we have more important concerns as you all know; we are so busy with going at hammer and tongs that we do not have the time left to take a look around. In an environment where everyone, including the Prime Minister, fights with passion with his/her neighbor; such news do naturally not interest the agenda of the media. But it does interest me, anyway. The photo depicted people lined up like a pack of ants waiting to take the exam. Let me tell you what that photo made me think. If you are sick and tired of the persistent milieu of discussions in Turkey; please keep reading.

In China, people tend to call jobs with regular income and insurance as having an "iron rice bowl." The phrase refers to safe job. In fact, some in twitter called this last exam the "gold" rice bowl. I believe it is obvious why. Since the 2008 crisis started to terrorize the economy; becoming a civil servant has gained importance in China once more. Last year, young people we interviewed generally said: "I applied for sixty jobs; ten of them returned by application. All said 'we will call you.' So, I wanted to give this exam a shot." It seems that the crisis will also affect 2009 graduates aside 2008 graduates. Number of people that enter civil servant selection exams increases by 35 percent over a year. At this point let us note that, those thinking how things are going in China had better take this into account.

After all of the information, let me express what the photo in The Guardian made me think: Taking a look at the photo, you understand better that we are not alone on the planet. Centralized exams are held not only in Turkey; China also holds them. Systems based on competence definitely require a rationing mechanism. Of course, in Chinese case, it becomes imperative to design a rationing mechanism given that there are one million people seeking to be assigned for only 15 thousand posts. This is valid as well for university entrance examinations. Though in Turkey a senseless "we will abolish university entrance exam this year" talks go on each year for some reason, this is how it is done throughout the world. It is necessary to either initiate intense efforts to make universities become anything other than a university; as YÖK (Higher Education Council of Turkey) does with passion for years, or design a rationing system for entrance to genuine universities.

Therefore, the issue here is in fact the designing of a rationing system that serves to the purpose. Otherwise, it is already obvious that a rationing system is necessary. Just as China maintained a system based on competence from Sui Dynasty to Qing for 13 decades, we come from a similar tradition residual from the Ottoman Empire. They have maintained such system from 605 to 1905; they have ensured the continuity of the state through competence. This is in fact what we used to do in normal times. Considering the recent period, China has been holding centralized civil servant selection examinations since 1994. There exists a definite examination system. For instance, those found out to be cheating during the examination are banned from entering the exam for five years. First an IQ test is applied and then entrants write an essay. At the beginning of the new year, a comprehensive interview is made. Each exam also establishes its own bureaucracy; each exam creates a separate Student Selection and Placement Authority.

Second point is should be this I guess: taking part in the state bureaucracy is still important in China. In fact, it becomes increasingly more important. However, China used to be the paradise for entrepreneurship. It appears that in the face of the crisis that creative destruction process does not work well.  Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, President of Union of Chambers and Stock Exchanges of Turkey, had a purpose in saying that he was highly heavy hearted. The reason was simple; during his visits to different of Turkey; increasingly more businessmen asked his help and support so that their children could find a job as a civil servant. Hisarcıklıoğlu said: "That a businessman seeks civil service post for his children is a sign that things do not change for the better." We had better note this. See; there is no major difference between what happens in Turkey and in China. This is what globalization does and this is exactly now the global crisis must be acknowledged.

So, what happens in China? Number of people entering the civil servant selection exam increases by 35 percent over a year. If new posts increase by 10 percent whereas applicants for those posts increase by 35 percent reaching 700 times as big as those posts, this is a problem. At this point please let me make a third conclusion: If the number of people that want to become a civil servant jump while the economy grows in dynamism on paper; we should accept that that economy has a dichotomic structure. This I guess is another global trend that started to gain prevalence along with the last crisis. Things go well for a certain segment of the economy. Indicators reflect the average but neglect the rapidly growing discontent within another segment.

We need new indicators and new perspectives in order to understand what we are going through. Those who believe that the recessionary period is over are by way wrong. We are in a period where figures should be examined over and over.

We should recall that Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) declared that the number of people in hunger rose by 100 million and exceeded one billion. These are the ideas that captured my mind when I saw the photo of Chinese youngsters resembling a pack of ants, taken in Wuhan on November 29, 2009. I thought that the things going around in a borough of Ankara should also be analyzed with the same perspective. However, as Michael Ende repeatedly says in Momo; "that's a different story and must be analyzed later in detail."

I wish you all a nice weekend.

This commentary was published in Referans daily on 05.12.2009