The language has brought him many advantages — passing theexam to go abroad to study in China， choosing the courses he liked，looking for jobs， being promoted， courting， and marrying a Chinesegirl. In a word， his Chinese has given him advantages in everything.
But he sometimes has troubles or problems， too.
“I’m a person who plays by the rules， and I point out any badbehavior or conduct that I see. I’m just the frank and outspoken type.
I think that as a citizen I should contribute to society， not only work tomake money. Sometimes， when I see someone smoking in public area，spitting or littering， I will go to them and tell them they shouldn’t dothat. Some people are good and accept my suggestion or opinion. Butothers sometimes retort by saying， ‘What are you doing here? It’s notyour business.’ I think the Beijing Municipal Government has done alot of good things for us — constructing so many beautiful buildings，streets， and gardens at street intersections， and each one of us has a responsibilityto take good care of public property and the environment.
This has a lot to do with people’s habits. Someone might not noticethat their conducts hurts others or affects society. Take dog ownershipas an example. According to real estate regulations， if someonerides an elevator with a dog， they must hold the dog and keep it fromtouching others. Some people do carry their dogs or leash them so thatthey don’t bother others， but others don’t have that consciousness.
You know that Muslims can’t touch dogs unless they are working in a226 special field in which they are required to touch them. Moreover， dogowners should clean up their dogs’ messes properly， and not let themaffect our city’s beautiful environment and image. He went on to say， “One day， I took a walk carrying my threemonthold son. As we approached a small park at the side of the street，a big dog suddenly ran at us. It ran in front of me and stood on its hindlegs to lick my poor son. I was very angry. I don’t like dogs， but I canbear it if the dog bites me. If it bites my 3-month-old baby， however，it might cause serious problems. So I said to the female owner of thedog， ‘You should understand that there are people in this society whodon’t like dogs.’ She replied， ‘People who don’t like dogs shouldn’t walkhere！’ That’s ridiculous. I know she was wrong. It was a public place，but I didn’t want to quarrel with her， and only said to her， ‘You shouldread the “Administration Regulation on Dog Ownership in Beijing carefully. I’m certainly not against people raising dogs， but they mustunderstand not everyone likes dogs as they do. We at least have theright not to be touched by dogs！ Seeing the seriousness with which he spoke， I couldn’t helpthinking of something else， and asked， “The other day I saw you comingback from work and speaking to a boy aged three or four. Afterwardsthe child walked away feeling embarrassed. What on earth didyou say to him? “He said， ‘Hey， a foreigner， a foreigner，’ as soon as he saw me.
So I told him， ‘You shouldn’t say this in front of other people， it is impolite.
