Zhang Qian

    zhqcindy@163.com

    FOUR expats were invited to attend a forum focusing on daily life problems yesterday afternoon at a community cultural center in Futian District.

    At the forum, the expatriate speakers shared their experiences in dealing with problems such as garbage classification, keeping pets, picking up children after school and dealing with noise pollution such as that caused by “square dancing.”

    Syed Israr Ali Shan from Dubai raised the problem of waste sorting that has been a challenge for the city.

    “In my country, people take hygiene issues extremely seriously and educate the children not to litter on the streets,” said Shan, who has been living in Shenzhen for over seven years.

    “I think to keep our living environment clean is not only about an individual’s effort, but the whole country’s awareness should be strengthened,” said Shan.

    Another expat, an American English teacher known as Andrew in his late 30s, agreed with Shan and said that the problem of pollution also existed in the United States when he was a child.

    “I remember I was in primary school when I first saw public advertisements on the TV to educate people on garbage classification and then the promotion of environmental protection became increasingly common,” said Andrew.

    The English teacher thinks that Shenzhen, compared with other cities in China, has a cleaner environment, but the government should do a better job to raise the residents’ awareness of garbage classification.

    A resident who lives in Futian responded to Andrew and said that there have been different kinds of rubbish bins at her residential garden since several years ago and she is willing to tell others to throw the waste into the bins.

    The forum kept on with another issue about how to pick up students from primary schools that normally finish at 4:30 p.m., while the parents are still at work until 5 or 6 p.m.

    Karina Semenenko from Russia is a teacher at Yitian Primary School in Futian.

    She said that normally she would organize after-school activities for students who stay behind.

    (Continued on P3)

    “We don’t have care centers where students can stay and be taken care of around the schools in Russia like here in Shenzhen and I think it’s a brilliant way to let the children stay there until their parents come to pick them up,” said Semenenko.

    The residents at the forum said that the care centers normally charge a few dozen yuan for taking care of the children, but it would be much more expensive if the parents sent their children to be tutored at educations centers near the schools.

    However, Shan also mentioned that parents should pay more attention to the students’ safety when picking them up.

    “Young students can be extremely excited after schools and they sometimes rush out of the schools without looking out for cars or pedestrians, which can be very dangerous,” said Shan. He suggested parents pull over and stand away from the streets when waiting for their children.

    Apart from the two topics, the expatriate speakers and the invited residents also discussed better ways to keep pets at residential compounds and ways to avoid noise pollution caused by group dances at squares and parks.

    The forum was one of the serial forums organized by Futian Government in a bid to invite expats to share their opinions and suggestions on leading better lives in the area.