At the end of August, the United
Nations Environment Program (UNEP) elected 10 new advisors for
the
Tunza Youth Advisory Council, an environmental protection body
organized and run with global youth activities and young advisors.
Li Sixuan, a?senior student from Yandaojie Middle School in
Chengdu, Sichuan
Province, is China's representative and the only one from Asia
among the 10 advisors.
?
From elementary school to senior high school, Li Sixuan has
received more than 72 national and international awards. President
Hu Jintao and Vice Premier Wu Yi both have had interviews with her
when she won the Soong Ching-ling Scholarship, the only state-level
scholarship for the nine-year compulsory education in China.
This young star is now not only the chair of the students' union
in her school, but also a senior student facing the university
entrance examination. Now, she is an advisor for the Tunza Youth
Advisory Council. How can a 17-year-old girl maintain balance in
her life? Recently, she was interviewed by CCTV.
Q: Since the UNEP has many regional offices to
adjust environmental protection issues in different areas around
the world, why has it elected 10 young advisors? What kind of
impact are these advisors likely to have?
?
Li: I believe we are acting as guides for young
people. Communicating with youth is a part of our work. We could
communicate well with youth but for the existing information gap.
We should all be involved in the work of environmental protection
as the future belongs to us. Now, we need to build up a protective
net around the world and to engage young people to join us.
Q: We heard that you were recommended to the
Tunza International Youth Conference by Mr. KlausToepfer,
executive director of the United Nations Environment Program. And
we know that he thinks very highly of you. Do you know why?
Li: I guess this is because of my passion to
work and my awareness of the unexpected developments in the
environment.
Last year, I was luckily elected as the only spokeswoman to make
a speech at the opening ceremony of the Chengdu World Youth
Environmental Protection Forum on World Environment Day. Then, I
was chosen to be the English hostess of the forum's international
section. Mr. KlausToepfer told me that he had listened to my speech
carefully and thought it was very good for young people to focus on
environmental protection. He hoped to know what our thoughts were
on environmental protection issues. Or we can say he wanted to know
what we believed was the most important thing in environmental
protection.
Q: You two communicated together very well and
you made a deep impression on him, didn't you?
Li: Yes, I guess so. He left his card with me
and I have sent him emails since then. Especially this year, I
wrote a thesis entitled SARS and Environmental Protection. After he
read the thesis he sent it to a leading official of the Tunza
International Youth Conference. Then, the official contacted me and
introduced Tunza to me. He asked me to fill in an application form
to join the election for advisors of the Tunza Youth Advisory
Council. He said I would be an excellent candidate in the election.
Actually the registration had ended by that time. I felt lucky that
I was given the opportunity to become the only Chinese candidate in
the election.
Q: You have joined many different kinds of
environmental protection activities before you were elected as an
advisor of the Tunza Youth Advisory Council. There was a project
entitled "Home of Love". We heard that the project was canceled due
to business difficulties. Do you think that there are conflicts
between environmental protection interests and merchandising
activities????
Li: I just want to be involved in public
activities at my age. Maybe such activities will bring some benefit
to business. It is quite good if it can promote the development of
environmental protection activities. This depends on its purpose
and how the money is dealt with.
Q: Now you are working for the UNEP (United
Nations Environment Program), do you get paid?
Li: No, I don't. I do it voluntarily as it's my
passion.?
Q: Is it your hobby to join in these
environmental social activities?
Li: Yes, it is. Now I am a senior high school
student and facing university entrance examinations. It is a kind
of skill practice as well as relaxation for me to join in with
these social activities after studying
hard.????
Q: I know that you have many hobbies, including
science, literature, art, gymnastics and social activities. You
have won many prizes in all these areas. Many people call you a
"little supergirl".? Do you think you are a "supergirl"?
Li: I am an ordinary student. I have many
friends, and they just treat me as a friend not a "supergirl". I am
very lucky and so I won many prizes. Both my parents are
professional volleyball players. They educated me in a different
way. I got benefits from their educational style.
Q: What education style did they take?
Li: They are very strict with me. For example,
my mother would be very angry and punish me if I told lies. But in
some areas they just let me do what I want. Just as I said before,
I'm very lucky. My parents took me to the gym first when I was four
years old. I like it very much. When I was in elementary school, my
music teacher recommended for me to sing in the Children's Palace.
There were many classes to teach different skills to children at
that time. I am a person who is very curious about things. At that
time I wanted to learn everything except boxing. My parents tried
their best to satisfy my curiosity. I did what I wanted to do and
learned what I wanted to learn.
Q: You parents have strongly influenced
you.
Li: Yes, they have.
Q: You have received a title of national
secondary athlete. You have also won prizes for singing, drawing
and dancing. You must be gifted to maintain so many things with
such quality.
Li: I never strive sedulously to do anything. I
just let them be. But I do wish I could do everything better. If I
fail I don't feel disappointed in myself. I am optimistic. This
psychology helps me to do things
smoothly.????
?
Q: It is very easy for you to become the focus of
public attention. Are you getting used to it yet?
?
Li: I don't think I am a focus of public
attention. I am an ordinary girl. I get along quite well with my
classmates. Just like other girls, I need my friends by my side to
support me. Sometime I am not so self-confident, and I need my
friends to encourage me. Now, I am one of the students who face the
university entrance examination. The most important thing I have to
do right now is to study hard.
Q: What kind of major do you want to study once
you get a place in college??
Li: I want to study environmental protection or
architecture.
Q: What do you think about Liang Sichen and Lin
Huiyin, the talented environmentally aware architects?
Li: They were the forerunners of environmental
protection awareness. They are our guides. They taught us how to
merge architecture with the environment in a beneficial way. They
showed us the direction for developing architecture that doesn't
damage the environment.
(China.org.cn translated by Wu Nanlan October 24, 2003)