Like many other people, I was horrified to hear the news of Wang Yue – the two-year-old girl who died from severe injuries in Foshan Hospital in October 2011. She was run over by two vehicles. This was not the appalling part. After the first truck ran her over, 18 passers-by stood by or walked away in a span of 7 minutes.

The incident sparked a national outrage in China and a fierce debate about the degeneration of the Chinese society. Some Chinese netizens were even talking about sentencing the 18 “cold-blooded murderers”.

I’m just as mad as others about the cold-blooded murderers. Why they didn’t even bother to call for help, let alone leaving a 2-year-old toddler dying on the street? I remember back in schools, teachers taught us “heal the wounded and rescue the dying” is a Chinese virtue. Are we losing that virtue?

We probably are. A slew of similar cases were covered in the media. In 2010, Sina News reported an incident in Shenzhen. An old man fell on the ground, but no one came to help and the old man died by himself 20 minutes later. A security guard finally went to the police station to report it. Asked why he didn’t help the old man himself, he was cited as saying: “I don’t want to take that responsibility.”

Chinese citizens are infuriated about the apathy in Chinese society. On a number of online communities, the campaign of “Stop Apathy” has garnered millions of supporters.

But I doubt that activism is likely to change people’s reluctance to help strangers. They are more afraid of the legal repercussions. In today’s China, helping a stranger can be dangerous. One can even end up in big trouble by being kind.

The biggest controversy happened in 2006 in Nanjing, still known today as The Case of Peng Yu. An old lady was knocked down by the crowd. A young man named Peng Yu helped her up and sent her to the hospital. Instead of thanking him, the old lady and her family accused him of pushing her down. He was later sued in court and demanded a compensation of RMB130,000. This was already shocking enough. What was more shocking is how it ended. The case went on over a year and was finally settled out of court. Peng Yu paid RMB45,800 as compensation. It’s no less than extortion – legally.

If I was put in a situation like this, I too, would probably think twice before rescuing someone I don’t know. Am I going to be sued over this? Am I ready to put myself through a year’s legal proceedings? Am I ready to pay for my kindness?

The Case of Peng Yu highlighted a loophole in Chinese laws. When it comes to the protection of the good Samaritans, the court found itself unequipped to deal with such cases.

In Singapore, Medical Protection Society provides assistance to those who are sued as a result of a Good Samaritan act. In US, Canada, Australia, Germany and many other western countries, Good Samaritan laws are basic legal principles.

The Chinese society has made tremendous progress, but many things still lag behind, particularly the legal system. Without an improvement in that area, we might see more Chinese virtues vanish.