Protecting China's safety also women's work

• Source: Global Times
• [21:49 March 02 2010]
• Comments

Ren: Any woman in a military environment faces a physical problem, the lack of a woman's bathroom. Troop facilities are not designed for women.

Such facilities are located in desolate places, like plateaus or deserts, where conditions are usually poor.

When doing testing in wild field, before I wash I have to ask to make sure nobody else is using the facilities.

GT: Does your work conflict with your role as a wife and mother?

Lu: There must be some conflict between work and daily life. When we do some tests, or take on technical support, we usually have to work overtime at night or on the weekend. We had so much work last year that we had to give top priority to it.

Sometimes both my husband and I go out of town for business field trips, then our daughter has to dine at the canteen, or we just buy her some instant noodles. We try to make it up to her when we're home.

My daughter will enter university this year, but all the universities she applied for are in other cities. She said if she stays in the city where we live, it must force us to keep thinking about her all the time. She doesn't want to put more burdens on us. Her thinking really moves me.

GT: Can research be fun?

Xiao: The purpose of research is to find a new way of creating something. Any task assigned to you is a small target in your life.

The fun exists not only in achieving your goals, but also in the means you use to do so. If you take pleasure in your work, you can't help thinking of how to make it better.

After years working in the military field, now I feel my work is respectable. We are working for 1.3 billion people's safety and security.

GT: Do you feel proud of contributing to your country?

Ren: When my salary was just 2,000 yuan ($292.78) per month, my schoolmates who were working as professors were being paid more than 6,000 yuan a month. But they all feel proud of me. They knew I am working in the most important part of the national defense forces.

A strong artillery is necessary for China's security, so not only I feel proud, but also all my friends and classmates.

Doing meaningful work is always more important than being paid well. Compared to our classmates who went abroad, we did give up the chance of a big house and a good salary, but none of us regretted that. On the contrary, we even feel lucky.

Lu: I grew up in the army. My father is an officer. Throughout my long period living in army bases and being educated in army, I never thought that gender was a special issue.

A peaceful environment is the basis of everything, and everybody should be responsible for that.

Whatever fantastic houses you built, they can be easily destroyed by just one missile. That is what I am pursuing as a service woman, making our country strong and peaceful.

GT: Do women have to work harder than men to succeed?

Xiao: Strong self-discipline is more important than gender differences, and it isn't good for women to focus on those. In a work environment, it can have a negative effect.

Pay more attention to the work, and focus on that, be confident in any position in the work, even as a leader. The most important thing is to enjoy your work.

Ren: Once I saw some words: Civilization is based on women, and the renaissance of a nation is dependant on mothers. I did not fully understand these words when I first saw them, but now, years later, I think I do.