A startling result of an online survey of more than 3,376 people published by Insight China magazine reveals that China's prostitutes are considered by some to be more trustworthy than its politicians, teachers and scientists!

The survey found that 7.9% of the respondents considered sex workers trustworthy, placing them third behind farmers and religious workers. A post on China Daily website says a result like this is surprising and embarrassing at the same time. The article analyzes the social background and reasons which lie behind the sex workers’ unexpected prominence on this list of honor and concludes that it reflects the government's indifference to, if not disregard of, citizens.

Generally speakingChinese local cadres report only to their superiors, and their appointment, promotion or removal has little, or nothing, to do with input from the community they are supposed to serve. So, the author suggests that efforts must be made to restore the government's credibility and the first step is to put an end to public servants being remote from the public interest. Chinese netizens seem in total despair as to the credibility of their government officials. The following is a selection of comments on the topic at SouFun.com:

不过我觉得这个对比不太合理。在诚信度方面，妓女都是后付款的，诚信度自然很高。和二奶比较的话很合适……那个一般都是先付款的。

Another netizen says:

民间已经以这种极端的方式来表达他们的信任程度，这说明中国共产党的信用已经破产了。

Someone thinks that the current social context is the main cause:

社会环境造成的。现在官员说话，与电视广告一样。

A blogger named Zuiyanwulong posts a comment on Sina.com saying one party dictatorship is the root of bribery and corruption:

中国腐败已快烂到根了，为什么中国人民这么老实本分甚至麻木？因为说也没用，气也没用，一党执政，没有威胁，没有压力，他们就恃无忌惮的贪，因为从下到上金字塔形的贪污模式，所以以官官相互为原则，实在瞒不住就以牺牲下级官员为解决方案，所以贪不断根啊！

Besides the scattered thoughts, coherent opinions can also be found online. A blogger posts an article on the famous Chinese forum Xici.net saying that he worries about that the poll may show wider and deeper problems in current China- namely the social credit crisis:

设若说房地产老板、演艺明星等被认为是诚信最差的群体，笔者绝不怀疑，因为在金钱决定一切的这个商业时代，人们早已领略了他们的为钱而动的“风采”。

The author continues:

但令笔者颇为惊讶的是，原本社会声望较高的科学家、教师居然也排在了诚信危机的范畴之内，且“不及性工作者”。——怪哉，过去妓女属于下九流，而今教师的信任度在人们心目中居然还不如妓女，这实在是一件令人极度惊诧和匪夷所思的事情。

In conclusion, he thinks it's society's shame:

诚信的本义就是要诚实、诚恳、守信、有信，反对隐瞒欺诈、反对伪劣假冒、反对弄虚作假。所以，教师更应为人师表，言传身教，以信取人。但时至如今，教师居然还不如妓女，这能说不是一种悲哀吗？

Simultaneously, an English blogger looks on the positive side of the survey result and thinks that it indicates that worship of personalities now belongs in the past:

At least prostitutes work their butts off for an honest living rather than plundering the people who do work.

Edited by Bob Guy