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Society

Women take role in building harmony

By Guan Xiaomeng (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-12 06:52
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Women take role in building harmony
Xiao Yan, a CPPCC member, and her husband, Yang Ming, an NPC deputy, stand outside the Great Hall of the People on Thursday.[Feng Yongbin/China Daily]

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Soft-spoken manager juggles roles to create better future

Beijing: When Xiao Yan appeared before fellow members of a discussion group at the ongoing sessions of the country's top political advisory body, she was greeted by thunderous applause.

The soft-spoken member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) presented an emotional appeal for help to fight a severe drought in her village of Fubao in Kunming, capital of Yunnan province.

Xiao, a manager of a tourist and recreation resort, was on her third trip to the annual sessions. She also juggles roles as a head of a village collective and a housewife.

Her husband, Yang Ming, is the village head of Fubao and a deputy of the National People's Congress (NPC), the country's top legislative body, which is also holding its annual sessions in Beijing.

"Women's roles are crucial in all aspects of modern society," Xiao said.

"I'm here as a CPPCC member and I'm speaking for my people at home."

For the past five months, Xiao's home province has been plagued by the worst drought in half a century. More than 6 million people as well as crops and livestock are reportedly suffering from the water shortage.

"Please come to Yunnan and experience the drought yourself," Xiao said with tears in her eyes. "I came to Beijing to ask for your advice."

Members in her discussion group have called for more measures to fight the drought, including building more reservoirs and increasing relief efforts.

Xiao has also called on her employees at Fubao Culture Town and Spa Center, as well as local enterprises, to help out.

"We're not only trying to help with current drought relief. We have to work out long-term solutions before the next drought comes," she said.

The latest government work report by Premier Wen Jiabao listed water conservancy projects as a way of strengthening agriculture infrastructure this year.

"I'm glad the government report highlighted rural infrastructure construction. Yunnan is a mountainous area and we need more infrastructure to support economic growth," Xiao said.

As a member of the Bai ethnic group from the rural grassroots, Xiao is familiar with the hardships faced by farmers in the area.

"I have been proposing to set up a national farmers' day for three consecutive years since my CPPCC membership. The festival will raise the social status of the 900 million farmers in China. Farmers should have their own festival as people of all walks of life do."

The Ministry of Culture responded to her appeal last year, when Vice-Minister Ouyang Jian led a research group to Yunnan. Before leaving for Beijing this year, Xiao received the news that the ministry would travel to Yunnan again this year to fix a proper date for the festival.

"I hope it will be Sept 19," Xiao said, explaining that the date is harvest time and falls before National Day.

"If such a Farmers' Day is realized, it will help promote ethnic unity and border stability. I think that is what 'social harmony' means."

Since she submitted her proposal two years ago, Xiao has already established a 'Farmers' Day' at her company by giving employees paid leave on Sept 19. She is trying to persuade other rural enterprises to do the same.

Her workers are all thankful for her efforts to improve the community. Their recreation center, boasting a unique spring water world, now hires more than 6,000 people.

Over the past 30 years, Fubao village has grown from a poor fishing settlement into a "model village of prosperity".

Still, Xiao has more ideas for the area's further development.

For example, she always believes that better education is the key to a better life.

"We need to lure more well-educated young people to educate the local rural youth," she said.

Xiao said she wants to propose medium- and long-term education reform to build more vocational schools in grassroots areas and give students more time for social studies.

"Young people must learn about the outside world," she said.

A youth organization funded by her company has already produced several young leaders. Shen Xiong, a gardening major graduating from Beijing Forestry University, is one such person active in the tourism village after three years in the organization.

In recent years, the village has also received several officials who are graduates of renowned universities, some of whom have decided to settle there long-term.

Xiao has urged for better pay to keep more of these people in rural positions, echoing what her husband wrote in his NPC proposal.

"On the other hand, we treat them as family members and they can't bear to leave the village," Xiao said.

"The whole village is like one big family. We respect the elderly, cherish the youth and help the sick. I am happy to be a part of this family."

The village also provides daily necessities to seniors living alone and has been paying half of people's medical expenses for three decades. Xiao is currently aiming to spread such activities to rural areas nationwide.

"I want all rural people to benefit from this kind of collective prosperity."

Despite her entrepreneurial drive, Yang Ming said his wife is the perfect housewife at home.

She cooks for her big family of more than 10 members - husband and in-laws - whenever she finds the time. Yang said he himself is the biggest fan of her cooking.

The couple said they never interfere in each other's work in the national sessions.

Xiao's advice to women is to "just be a wife to your husband".

In response, her husband said he always keeps his temper in check at home, even if he stumbles at work.

"I owe my achievements to her support," he said.

"United families mean harmonious neighborhoods and, in turn, a harmonious society," Xiao said.

"Women play a leading role in that."