China's most unlikely heroine, Xiong Deming, has decided to leave her hometown and look for a job in the city. She is trying to find an escape from the fame that has been dogging her since she complained to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao last October.
"I have no professional training and I don't know what kind of work I can do in the city," said Xiong. "If I had a choice, I would rather stay in my village and raise pigs."
This 42-year-old woman from a remote village near southwest China's Chongqing Municipality never expected to find herself in such an awkward position when she complained about a local construction company defaulting on payment of her husband's 2,240 yuan (US$270) in back wages.
She relayed her tale of woe to Premier Wen Jiabao in October 2003 when Wen made a surprise inspection tour to Longquan Village.
Six hours after talking with the premier, Xiong got her husband's wages. More importantly, Xiong's complaint to the premier became the fuse for a nationwide campaign to retrieve wages in arrears for migrant workers. She became a heroine to millions of migrant rural laborers in China.
"Since then, my life has become such a fuss," Xiong complained.
It is not only the media frenzy that is creating trouble for Xiong: she is being deluged with visits from migrant laborers from around the country seeking her help.
Just a few days ago, she received 12 migrant workers from other regions. After hearing their complaints, she went to borrow food and quilts to provide board and lodging for the uninvited visitors.
So far, Xiong has received 600 to 700 such migrant workers, who come from around the country to ask for her help in retrieving the wages owed to them. More have written to her asking the same thing.
"They thought I must be able to get their payments. But I am just an ordinary country woman, what can I do for them?" Xiong asked.
Even the 700 yuan (US$84) that Xiong's husband mails home every month doesn't cover the cost of housing the visitors.
"But they've all had the same experience as my husband. They come from far away with such big hopes, how can I turn my back on them?" Xiong said.
Many times, Xiong has shed tears over their experiences.
Xiong received a letter from a migrant worker named Song Xiaolin, who was working in Shandong Province. He hadn't been home to northeastern Heilongjiang Province for six years because of unpaid wages, and 94 of his fellow workers had similar experiences. In his letter, Song said if Xiong could help him to retrieve his money he would pay her back by working for her for three years.
"I have been tortured by such stories, but it's really beyond my power," Xiong said.
All Xiong wants to do is farm her land and raise a few more pigs. But the media blitz and the flood of petitioners abruptly ended this simple plan.
Another problem is Xiong's estrangement and isolation from her neighbors.
When Xiong became famous overnight, a rumor spread through the village that she had received a large reward.
"The villagers think I should take out the money to help them. But since I didn't get any reward at all, what can I pay them?" said Xiong. "Now I feel isolated in my village and I am not happy at all."
Xiong planned to raise more pigs this year but she had to give up the idea when she failed to get a loan. Disappointed, she decided to find a job in the city.
A company in Chongqing has offered jobs to Xiong and her husband.
"They will pay me a monthly wage of 1,000 yuan (US$120) and my husband 600 yuan (US$72). But I am wondering what kind of job I can do?" Xiong asked.
"The confusion Xiong has encountered is to be expected," said Yu Ping, director of the sociology research institute at the Chongqing Academy of Social Sciences.
The All-China Federation of Trade Unions reports that China has about 94 million migrant rural laborers, whose employers are in arrears on their wages some 100 billion yuan (US$12 billion).
"Xiong does imply that the man in the street can also change the status quo of China's economy. But fundamentally, the protection of migrant workers' interests depends on the laws rather than top leaders' concern," said Professor Yu.
Despite the turmoil it has brought her, Xiong said she has never regretted her honesty in telling the truth to the premier, since her words have helped so many migrant workers get their money.
(People's Daily March 15, 2004)
