Walking on all fours now a craze at China varsities

Compiled by C. ARUNO, PAVITHRA RAMAN and R. ARAVINTHAN

WALKING on all fours has recently become a craze among university students in Beijing, with videos of undergraduates emulating animals such as alligators and bears going viral online, reported China Press.

The videos, reportedly of students from prominent universities such as Tsinghua University, the University of International Business and Economics, and the Communication University of China, initially sparked speculation that it was a form of punishment imposed by the universities.

However, the universities later released statements denying the rumours, saying that these were a student-organised activity.

In the videos, students were seen gathering at fields and would get down on their knees and walk in circles.

According to second-year female undergraduate Deng Xinyu, the activity was an exercise to strengthen one’s body.

“I told my father that this was to make my body stronger. The different styles strengthen different parts of the body. He did not believe what I said but pointed out that it is good as long as young people find it as a way to release stress,” Deng said.

She found out about the exercise after joining a Chinese boxing club at the university which uses it as a form of warmup before training.

“Before this, no one suggested that we should do it together at the field. I was too shy to do it alone,” she said.

A 19-year-old sceptic Huang Ya decided to take part in the activity after seeing many of her peers doing it.

Although her knees were hurting after the exercise, she said she felt surprisingly energised after it.

“Doing it together with friends makes it more of a relaxing activity rather than an exercise. It is a way to release stress,” she said.

However, opinion on the Internet is divided as to how effective the exercise is.

“There are so many kinds of exercise to strengthen one’s body. Why have they chosen this?” a netizen wrote.

According to a Nanning-based physical therapist Lin Qiqi, the exercise helps to improve cardiovascular health.

> Taiwanese aboriginal singer A-Lin revealed that she was sexually harassed on the metro recently, reported Sin Chew Daily.

The 39-year-old, whose real name is Lisang Pacidal Koyouan, broke down while recounting the incident to fans on Instagram.

According to A-Lin, she and her friends took the Taipei Metro recently but bumped into a man who made vulgar gestures at them.

The singer scared him away by yelling: “Catch that pervert!”

Despite their attempts at chasing him, he managed to get away.

A-Lin was discovered by a talent agent at 16 when she taught children to sing the hymn Amazing Grace after the 921 earthquake in Nantou County.

The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.