‘Foreign affairs coordinators’ make it easy for local expats
Print Edition
EXPATS in Shanghai are often stymied by the travails of navigating daily life without Mandarin skills. Some turn to Chinese friends or colleagues to help them out. In nine residential areas in Pudong, assistance is always at the doorstep.
Several communities there are providing what are called “foreign affairs coordinators” — a somewhat lofty title for people employed to help expats with issues like enrolling in fitness gyms, filling out visa and residency paperwork, explaining utility bills and settling disputes with landlords or property management.
There are eight coordinators already working in Pudong’s Lianyang community. This week, another 57 will come on board in Lujiazui, Zhangjiang, Jinqiao, Kangqiao and other expat enclaves of the district. The coordinators speak English, Korean and Japanese.
Shanghai has embarked on programs to attract and retain foreign professionals in its quest to become an international hub of innovation and commerce. Retaining expats means making them feel at home and reducing the angst of living in a foreign environment.
About 8,700 foreign residents from 80 countries live in Lianyang alone. The number of expats living in Pudong surpassed 47,000 at the end of September, said district exit-entry officials.
Currently one foreign affairs coordinator is employed for every 1,000 foreign residents, but Pudong officials said that community needs may require a higher ratio in the future.
In addition to providing assistance, the coordinators help organize social and educational events aimed at involving expats in their communities.
“We hope this service will help foreigners blend in with local people and encourage them to stay and work in China,” said Gan Mengsheng, vice director of the Exit-Entry Administration Office at the Pudong Public Security Bureau, which oversees the coordinator program.
Expats, too, expressed appreciation for the program.
“I was invited to take part in charity events and various festivities in the neighborhood,” Wikum Hettiarachchi, a professional from Sri Lanka who moved to Shanghai seven years ago and lives in Lianyang. “The people here are always so very nice. I believe we have more to contribute to our local neighborhoods.”
He singled out coordinator Li Yuesu for special praise in helping expats feel part of the community.
Li has been working for the No. 5 Residents’ Committee for about five years. She initiated the International Mama’s Club, a neighborhood organization that organizes social events for foreign families and sponsors activities such as calligraphy and Chinese painting classes, a flea market, children’s talent shows and volunteer projects.
Li said it usually takes her about a year to “break the ice” with foreigners, many of whom are wary, shy or simply disinterested. “Once they got involved, their attitudes really change,” she said. “It’s a pity that some foreign residents leave town when their work contracts expire after two or three years, just when they were becoming active in their neighborhoods.”
Lee Joon Mo from South Korea who has lived in Lianyang for four years, started taking classes in Mandarin a few weeks ago. “I find the classes very helpful,” he said. “My work schedule is very tight, but the class makes me want to explore other events in our neighborhood.”
Ding Yizhou has been a coordinator at the No. 1 Residents’ Committee for five years. She cites the sort of small success story that makes the coordinator program so valuable.
When the Nianhua neighborhood started to require residents to use access cards to get through the front gate, a new resident signaled to the guard that he didn’t have a card and wanted to be let in. The guard tried to open the gate, but his remote control device wasn’t working properly. The resident thought the guard was simply refusing to open the gate and grabbed his remote control device. The incident threatened to get out of control, so the resident called Ding.
She had the resident and the guard sit down and sort out the misunderstanding and helped the resident fill out a form to get an access card.
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