A heaping horde of helping hands

• Source: Global Times
• [11:01 June 24 2010]
• Comments

Illustration: Lu Ting

By Chris Russell

Usually grateful for a helping hand, I naturally welcomed the extra assistance I received last week during my visit to the Agricultural Bank of China. The young man in plain clothes who shadowed me for my visit crushed me with kindness until the bank teller finished her job. His superfluous presence is one example among many in Shanghai since the World Expo 2010 commenced in May.

Volunteers young and old are offering their cordial services in banks, supermarkets, restaurants, subway platforms, and even in front of bars as security during the World Cup matches. Additional service seems like a great thing, but is it necessary?

Marked by floppy red armbands held on with safety pins, these do-gooders spend their day placating ungrateful crowds in between their spurts shooting around the city, or simply standing around looking bored stiff. They continue to stick to their tiresome duty to open doors to rise to more fulfilling titles.

Volunteering in China is equivalent to an internship in North America. Even the word volunteer in Chinese zhiyuan also means to aspire.

With the household registration system known as hukou, any Chinese looking for prospects in a different city will face barriers that favor permanent residents. As competition in the world's most populous country can be fierce, many looking to try their luck outside their hometown will do whatever it takes to thaw social barriers.

In North America, the word volunteer usually refers to charity work. Joining the Peace Corps or teaching English in a remote village in Qinghai Province are admirable acts that people with spare time choose to take up as an act of goodwill. These acts of charity aren't merely limited to foreigners of course. The difference here is that the North American concept of volunteering is usually a choice made by the few with a lot rather than the many with a little.

Giving back to your community is great in principle, but not when it's done on instigated impulse. The establishment of multitudinous tasks created for volunteers, like those assigned to direct commuters to line up in the metro during rush hour, creates a world of tedium for the volunteer that rarely results in skills that will go beyond this pro-bono assignment.

Nothing highlights this more than the gaokao - China's college entrance exam. For students without a Shanghai residence permit, the passing benchmark for local universities is set higher.

Students not making the final grade will probably not be volunteering for a security shift at a McDonald's, but it's certainly not out of the question. In a country this large, sometimes it is a good thing that positions are being made to raise an individual's competitive skills. But really, thanks. I don't need any help carrying my tray of chicken nuggets.