Showing off

The need for pomposity, however, underlies many decisions that at surface are celebratory of human achievements but are in actuality hints of insecurity and lack of self-confidence.

Why does Yangzhou need this title? The namesake fried rice is served in Chinese restaurants across the world. It is probably better known than the Singapore or Hainan variant.

On the other hand, touting Yangzhou fried rice may not be able to help its tourism simply because it is available everywhere and people do not need to travel there for a taste. The same is true of brand names, like Xerox and Hoover, that were so popular they turned into generic verbs.

Titles that include words such as "best", "longest", "tallest" and "largest" have special appeal to local authorities, who feel the pressure of being drowned out by competition. Granted, the first to win such a title gains indisputable publicity. But once such titles and certificates are handed out like Christmas cards, they function mostly as self-congratulatory items.

Almost every organization in China can produce a dozen plaques with all varieties of claims to accomplishments. Sometimes they fill up a whole wall or form a vertical column at the main entrance of an office. Then, someone notices that big-name international companies don't do such things, which makes such flaunting look somewhat boorish. This is just like a celebrity who lists only his or her name, sometimes only the first name, such as Beyonce, and a no-name person whose card lists two dozen titles.

Guinness says it rejects 90 percent of applications annually. In China it should probably adopt policies that take into account the allocation of public resources as an ethical concern. Its swift rescinding sent the right message, that it won't tolerate even a small amount of food waste. But it needs to look at some of the fundamentals behind the applicants' zeal and determine whether their certificates eventually serve the public good or only the interests of some title-coveting, ego-massaging officials.