Huang Guoxin
Mr. Huang Guoxin is a more "special" Australian Chinese, as mayor of Adelaide, he is Australia's true sense of the first Chinese mayor. In an environment in which Chinese are ethnic minorities and most Chinese are unwilling or unable to engage in politics, Huang Guoxin, mayor, appears somewhat different. Well, why did he choose the road to politics, and what is it like to be mayor of Australia? what are the advantages and disadvantages of the Chinese in politics? The reporter recently talked to Mayor Huang, who is visiting China, about the ups and downs of Chinese politics in the West.
Chinese are rarely involved in politics, but now there are only five or six.
When Huang arrived in Australia from Sichuan via Hong Kong in 1965, he was 27, studying in Australia, and five years later he became an Australian citizen. At a time when Australia is on the verge of abolishing the White Australia policy, which is dominated by white people and discriminating against Chinese and ethnic minorities, and encouraging multiculturalism, the Chinese are gradually emerging from the situation of exclusion. According to Huang Guoxin, he is not the first person with yellow skin to become mayor of Australia. In 1984, the mayor of Darwin, northern Australia, was also a Chinese, but he was born in Australia and does not speak Chinese, nor does he have the habit of living in Chinese. I believe there is no connection with China. In this sense, when Huang Guoxin, who emigrated from mainland China to Australia in May 2000, became mayor, Australia had its first Chinese mayor. In addition to Mr. Huang, there are many Chinese Australians working in important local government departments. Mr Su Zhenxi, an immigrant from Hong Kong, was recently elected mayor of Murben. Others have recently been elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council. Still, Mr. Huang said: "at present, there are no more than five or six Chinese in Australian politics, not many."
An important reason why Chinese don't want to go into politics is that being an official does not have much economic benefit.
Why are the majority of Chinese in Australia mainly engaged in business, education and other fields, but not many people in politics? Generally speaking, many Chinese emigrated to Australia, and they need to build an economic foundation, first of all, to have a stable life, Mr. Huang said. And in Australia, it takes money to run for government office, at least tens of thousands of Australian dollars will be spent on election matters such as publicity, and after being elected, there will be no "snowflake" in the economy. The mayor's annual salary is less than A $84000 (about 400000 yuan), which is not high in Australia's personal income, and many Chinese make far more in their own business. So they are not willing to give up their own business to run for public office. In addition, the election requires candidates to enter the mainstream society, and it is only possible to participate in the election unless they enter the mainstream. In a society with a majority of white people, it takes a long time for Chinese immigrants to enter the local mainstream society. And, after all, there are only a few people who can get in. For Mr. Huang Guoxin, one of the main aims of political engagement is to acquire a sense of satisfaction at the spiritual level. He said: "I want to campaign to prove that although I am a minority, but I am able to be elected, and in this position to do a good job, better reward society. It also proves the multiculturalism of Australia. "
For the first time, a handful of people chanted, "No Chinese as mayor."
Mr Huang's path as mayor was not easy. When he first ran for office in 1997, he was frustrated by a Waterloo. "the first thing I was disappointed was that a Chinese came out against me," Mr. Huang said. "I still don't know why he opposed me. Although his opposition has not played a decisive role, but it has a great negative impact, it gives the impression that, you see, even the Chinese do not support the Chinese themselves, but also be mayor. " Racial discrimination also hindered Huang Guoxin's election. A handful of extremists demonstrated in front of his office, breaking the glass of his office and writing manifestly discriminatory slogans such as "no Chinese being mayor". In the final defeat of Huang Guoxin in that election campaign, he also reflected on whether to run for the next election when he was depressed. After analysis, he found that his approval rate was still very high, but he did not reach the 50% statutory number of votes for election. So if you insist on the next re-election, the odds are still high. Sure enough, in 2000, Huang ran for a second time with an indomitable spirit and won 58% of the votes. The other four candidates won no more than 42% of the votes together, and Huang had his wish to be mayor of Adelaide.
The three elements of success: ability, personnel, and time
Chinese only 2% in Adelaide, but only rely on the Chinese vote Huang Guoxin can not succeed. He concluded that there are three elements of success: ability, personnel, and time. "A lot of people are worried about whether the Chinese political participation will be discriminated against, not in my personal experience. Although it is true that a few people are racist and make it harder for you to participate in politics, it is not decisive. The most important thing is whether you have the ability to do this or not. It doesn't matter whether you are Chinese or not. Most of the electors are highly educated and rational, and the most important thing they choose is to see if you are competent or not. " Mayor Huang's growing up describes some of the key conditions of his career in politics: as a master's degree in engineering and business management, he was in Adelaide, Sydney. Melbourne and many major infrastructure projects abroad serve as civil engineers and senior managers. Mr. Huang Guoxin was first elected to Adelaide City Hall in 1992. During his tenure in the city hall, Mr. Huang was elected chairman or vice-chairman of various committees and was elected vice mayor twice. The experience of the councilman and deputy mayor not only raised his profile, but also convinced voters that he was an executive-experienced candidate who could take on more responsibility. At the same time, Huang also admitted that his traditional Chinese habits and lifestyle have also had an impact on his success in politics. "the Chinese do things seriously, industriously and responsibly, and I can make use of the strengths of the Chinese to match the strengths of Westerners and do something." He stressed, of course, that the features of the actual East and West had merged in him, and it was now difficult for many things to distinguish between what was Eastern and which was Western.
When the mayor has a headache, it is to solve the problem of administrative efficiency.
One might not imagine a big difference between the mayoral power of Australia and that of China. In 2000, a Chinese government official who visited Australia humorously likened the mayor of Australia to a "street office director". Although this metaphor is not very accurate, it vividly describes the characteristics of the Australian mayor's mandate: small authority, less responsibility, and less population under jurisdiction. In Australia, mayors are not even considered a full-paid position, which means mayors can sometimes be part-time. The functions of the municipal government are mainly to legislate, plan and build the city, and there will be no direct government control of the enterprises. The power, telephone and water supply traditionally managed by the government are now privatised, and the government does not care. "from this point of view, Australia's mayor has less responsibility, so it's easier." Said Mayor Huang. But this kind of government system has one characteristic: because it is an elected mayor, it is very difficult to "operate in the dark box" before making any decision, and it is subject to pressure from different sides. The advantage of doing so is to listen to the views of the people more. Reduce unstable factors, but the shortcomings are also obvious, that is, multi-mouth, low administrative efficiency. "for example, we are now planning to build a road in Adelaide, to seek public opinion through the media, and to hold a public meeting to discuss it. So far, the road is only a plan, which is on display in the municipal government."
Chinese study in Australia can also stimulate the local economy
Mr. Huang's other position in Adelaide is chairman of the board of directors of the city's education promotion department, whose main purpose in China is to preach the city's education, including higher education and vocational training, and to attract more Chinese to Australia. But he also admitted that the Chinese study in Australia does not mean that Australia's education is definitely better than China, more important to learn outside the field of vision. In fact, China's current education in many aspects of science and engineering is no less than that in the West, such as the construction of high-rise buildings, railways and other hardware facilities in Beijing, which are better than those in Australia. But in terms of software such as services and management, Australia has a certain advantage. Therefore, Australia and China have a certain degree of complementarity in education. " At the same time, China's limited educational resources and large population has always been a big contradiction, but Australia is relatively rich in this respect, so the Chinese to study in Australia is a way to solve the problem of scarcity of educational resources; Of course, the export of education can also bring great economic benefits to Adelaide. After all, students living in Australia need to eat, live, travel, have fewer Australians, have limited domestic demand, and have more Chinese coming to stimulate the economy. More importantly, the opportunity for Chinese to study abroad will open their eyes to different cultures, whether they will stay in Australia or go back to China to start a business, will contribute to the local community. Huang Guoxin said: "I am a Chinese, also was a foreign student, when I dare to accept the challenge, to do so today." The Chinese people are very industrious, I have confidence in the next generation of China, many people are very strong, if I can do it, why can't they? "