生活英语|ants eating style of corruption 蚁贪

Two education bureau officials in Tiantai, Zhejiang province, demanded kickbacks^{1 from a local printing company for each exam paper it printed. Within five years they received kickbacks of as much as 250,000 yuan from about 25 million exam papers. The practice of repeatedly embezzling2 while only taking small amounts of money each time is described by netizens as ants eating style of corruption3.}

浙江天台县教育局两名官员与当地一家印刷厂约定，印制一张试题就提取一点好处费，5年共收受回扣达25万元，涉及约2500万份试题。这种每次金额不大但次数不少的贪污现象被网友称为蚁贪。

蚁贪多发生在基层公职职员（grassroots officials）中。与被称作老虎的腐败高官（corrupt high-ranking officials）相比，蚁贪的特点是单次金额少，纳贿次数多、持续时间长、困难被知道（not very noticeable）。

蚁贪任其进步必危及经济进步和社会稳定，破坏党和政府形象（undermine the government image），影响党群干群关系（estrange the government from the people）。