Chinese basketball star Yao Ming, who plays for Houston Rockets in the US, was officially nominated on April 14 as a contender for the title of National Model Worker. He will compete for the final selection with 2,976 other candidates.

Despite the fact that Yao has twice been named a model worker in his native city of Shanghai, the nomination of a millionaire living in the celebrity world of the United States for the national-level title is a controversial one.

The State Council, China's cabinet, has been selecting national model workers since 1950, and only once every five years since 1989. Candidates are traditionally chosen from exemplary figures among the country's huge working population of about 750 million to inspire public enthusiasm for socialist construction.

Celebrated model workers typically include toilet cleaners, bus conductors, plumbers and scientists with outstanding accomplishments.

Yao's four-year contract with the Rockets, signed in October 2002, is worth US$18 million. He also enjoys income from various product endorsements, notably a seven-year deal with Reebok signed in October 2003 that is potentially one of the most lucrative shoe contracts in history.

"According to past criteria, the title of model worker should only be given to ordinary laborers," said Zhou Xiaozheng, a sociology professor at Beijing's Renmin University of China. "Sports stars, who owe their outstanding achievements not only to their own hard work, but also to their innate sports talent, are not the perfect models for the public."

However, sociology professor Yu Hai of Fudan University in Shanghai argued, "Yao answers the call of his motherland whenever he is needed, for example, at the Athens Olympic Games. He has inspired China's national basketball team with his exclusive skills and experience acquired in the NBA matches to achieve a historic breakthrough."

The Shanghai Municipal Judging Panel for Model Workers said that the primary reason for Yao's selection was that as the most prestigious Chinese basketball player in the world today, Yao is a perfect image ambassador for China.

The panel also said that Yao had repeatedly showed his patriotism by always putting his country's interests above his own.

Zhang Mingji, Yao Ming's agent, said that Yao himself took the honor very seriously his homeland's recognition of his hard work.

This is the first time that the list of candidates for the model worker award has been released for public comments. In the last selection, the unprecedented inclusion of more than 30 entrepreneurs on the list also triggered intense debate.

The winners of this year's award will be announced on April 30 in Beijing.

Model worker pundits say Yao doesn't stand a chance of winning the title.

(Xinhua News Agency, China.org.cn April 20, 2005)