A foreign 'chengguan'? British woman, 21, becomes traffic warden in Hunan
Weeks into the job, expat may already be having the desired effect by stopping would-be jaywalkers in their tracks
PUBLISHED : Friday, 19 September, 2014, 6:24pm
UPDATED : Friday, 19 September, 2014, 7:11pm
James Griffiths [email protected]
A 21 year old British woman has become a traffic warden in Henan. Photo: Zhuzhou Evening News
A city in China’s Hunan province has hired a 21-year-old British woman to work as a traffic warden after she failed to find work as an English teacher.
According to the Zhuzhou Evening News, the expatriate, identified as "Leah", began working as a pedestrian traffic warden earlier this month.
Though her Chinese-languange skills are not particularly polished, she has memorised key phrases such as “Please be aware of and abide by traffic regulations” and “I love Zhuzhou and I hope we can both make this city into a beautiful place”, the newspaper reported.
The Briton, with brown locks and a calm demeanour, does not fit the stereotype of a chengguan, China’s widely loathed urban administrative and law enforcement officers.
The reputation of chengguan has been marred by multiple reports of their use of excessive force in dealing with minor infractions, sometimes resulting in injuries and even death.
Having a foreigner direct pedestrians may prove more effective than native traffic wardens.
“With a [foreigner] there, I don’t have the nerve to jaywalk,” one unnamed resident said. Locals heaped praise upon Leah, with one suggesting she should join the city’s “urban management team”.
That isn’t perhaps as outlandish as it might seem. In June, the government of Foshan, Guangdong province, became the first in China to open up to foreign talent, hiring five expats to work in the Foshan Bureau of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation.
“We get to see [government] from the inside, how it works and get to shape it by providing recommendations,” Nicolas Santo, one of the five, told the South China Morning Post.
Government jobs may provide an alternative for foreigners coming to China for work as Beijing tightens regulations on the expat mainstay of teaching English.
An undercover Post investigation revealed this week how applicants were not required to provide references or even a visa for positions working with young children, despite a number of high-profile scandals over questionable hires.
In one case, a foreigner worked for almost four years at an international school in Beijing despite being sought by British police in connection with child sex offences.
New regulations that come into force next month will require prospective teachers to have five years’ teaching experience or equivalent qualifications.
