Some days ago I received a question from a Chinese lady working with a Rotary Club in Italy:
“Why is it that Chinese staying and studying there seem reluctant at best to get involved in any of the local activities such as Rotaract (a special program for young people)? Reactions were very cold and suspect for Rotary, even after we showed the website and all the story of Rotary and Rotary Foundation.”
I replied I was not too surprised. Follows here more or less my comments and recommendations:
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I can understand the problem. A bit complicated and complex.
First of all, Chinese people are still very unfamiliar with charity related work and organizations. Especially young people have little understanding – and interest. Furthermore, Chinese abroad unfortunately tend to isolate themselves from the local community and hang out between themselves. As a result they have little contact with locals and their language skills remain quite poor. This can be seen when they return to China: they stay for years in the USA or UK and their English is still really poor. This is very disappointing for foreign companies trying to hire them.
An organization like Rotary also for them is “strange” and even suspicious. Once again, they know little about all that. Rotary is a non political and non religious organization but they might not know/understand this.
In China, Rotary has two clubs (as explained here in my blog): Beijing and Shanghai. As China has not yet formulated the NGO law we are not officially registered as such. But the authorities know Rotary very well and are happy with it. We do a lot of charity work here. Because of the existing problem with NGO we cannot have Chinese members in our club, a bit strange for Rotary. We also keep a low profile on request of the Chinese authorities. As for now we only have 2 clubs – far too little for the cities we live in, not to mention the size of the country. Last year, when we had our big Gala Lunch and Dinner we invited people from the local “Public Security Bureau (Gong An)” to be present, so they could see we are OK and have nothing to hide. They were actually sitting at my table…
Some people get confused by our logo and think it is related to the wheel of a certain sect blacklisted here. Of course, no relation at all.
Chinese authorities are now paying more attention to CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility – and charity work in general. Every week China Daily has a page about it. This is all very new for Chinese. In this sense, Rotary does the right thing. Whenever needed we work closely with official organizations.
For the Chinese young people staying in Italy, I could say the following:
– you must learn to communicate with the local population. Rotary is an excellent channel to do this, also Rotary members have often important positions and this can give very interesting networking possibilities (GUANXI!). That will also help them to improve language skills and communication, essential for their later career. Also, having been involved with those social activities looks great on a CV when applying with a foreign company in China (or anywhere);
– they must adapt to the new China where CSR is now being promoted. Chinese must learn what it means to help others in need;
– Chinese abroad must change their poor image: “of being isolated from the locals, uninterested in local contacts and culture, too narrow-minded” (money and business only and mostly interested in playing computer games!). In other words they must help to improve the image of China. It is their patriotic duty;
– Rotary activities are a good way to do this! They can learn a lot.
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Seems my comments at least helped to understand a bit the averse reaction.
As said, charity in China is still an alien word for many but the government is trying to change this, including coming up with better regulations such as for tax deductions.