Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama 9781800410107

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Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Full details of all our other publications can be found on http://www.multilingualmatters.com, or by writing to Multilingual Matters, St Nicholas House, 31–34 High Street, Bristol BS1 2AW, UK.

Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Adrian Blackledge and Angela Creese

MULTILINGUAL MATTERS Bristol • Blue Ridge Summit

DOI https://doi.org/10.21832/BLACKL0091 A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Names: Blackledge, Adrian, author. | Creese, Angela, author. Title: Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama/Adrian Blackledge, Angela Creese. Description: Bristol, UK; Blue Ridge Summit : Multilingual Matters, 2020. | Summary: “This highly original book brings compelling narratives of migration and social diversity vividly to life. At once a play script and an outcome of ethnographic research, this book is a rich resource for the interpretation and representation of life in the multilingual city. This text is an ethnographic drama based on audio-recordings, field notes, and interviews collected at Chinese Community Centre, Birmingham, as part of a research project which examined communication in multilingual, superdiverse cities. Characters are fictionalised versions of community centre workers, clients, and researchers who agreed to participate in the research.”– Provided by publisher. Identifiers: LCCN 2020028444 (print) | LCCN 2020028445 (ebook) | ISBN 9781800410084 (paperback) | ISBN 9781800410091 (hardback) | ISBN 9781800410107 (pdf) | ISBN 9781800410114 (epub) | ISBN 9781800410121 (kindle edition) Subjects: LCSH: Chinese–England–Birmingham–Drama. | Immigrants– England–Birmingham–Drama. | Multilingualism–England–Birmingham–Drama. Classification: LCC DA690.B6 B55 2020 (print) | LCC DA690.B6 (ebook) | DDC 822/.92--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020028444 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020028445 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue entry for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN-13: 978-1-80041-009-1 (hbk) ISBN-13: 978-1-80041-008-4 (pbk) Multilingual Matters UK: St Nicholas House, 31-34 High Street, Bristol BS1 2AW, UK. USA: NBN, Blue Ridge Summit, PA, USA. Website: www.multilingual-matters.com Twitter: Multi_Ling_Mat Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/multilingualmatters Blog: www.channelviewpublications.wordpress.com Copyright © 2021 Adrian Blackledge and Angela Creese. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher. The policy of Multilingual Matters/Channel View Publications is to use papers that are natural, renewable and recyclable products, made from wood grown in sustainable forests. In the manufacturing process of our books, and to further support our policy, preference is given to printers that have FSC and PEFC Chain of Custody certification. The FSC and/or PEFC logos will appear on those books where full certification has been granted to the printer concerned. Typeset by R. J. Footring Ltd, Derby, UK. Printed and bound in the UK by the CPI Books Group. Printed and bound in the US by NBN.

Contents Text Conventions vi Notesvii Characters and Setting viii Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama Scene 1 Scene 2 Scene 3 Scene 4 Scene 5 Scene 6 Scene 7 Scene 8 Scene 9 Scene 10 Scene 11 Scene 12 Scene 13 Scene 14 Scene 15 Scene 16 Scene 17 Scene 18 Scene 19 Scene 20 Scene 21 Scene 22 Scene 23 Scene 24 Scene 25 Scene 26 Scene 27 Scene 28 Scene 29

1 4 7 11 16 20 23 28 35 38 44 47 50 55 63 67 71 74 81 85 92 96 101 105 110 116 121 125 130

v

Text Conventions Stage directions are in italics. Speech in Chinese languages is translated into English, and is in the serif font (Sabon). Speech in English is in the sans serif font (Frutiger).

vi

Notes This text is an ethnographic drama based on audio-recordings, field notes and interviews collected at Chinese Community Centre, Birmingham, UK, as part of a research project which examined communication in multilingual, superdiverse cities. Field work was conducted over four months. Characters are fictionalised versions of community centre workers, clients and researchers who agreed to participate in the research. In all cases names of participants have been changed. The research was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (1 April 2014 – 31 March 2018) as a Translating Cultures Large Grant: ‘Translation and Translanguaging. Investigating Linguistic and Cultural Transformations in Super­diverse Wards in Four UK Cities’ ((AH/L007096/1) £1,973,527), Principal Investigator, Angela Creese. With Mike Baynham, Adrian Blackledge, Jessica Bradley, John Callaghan, Lisa Goodson, Ian Grosvenor, Amal Hallak, Jolana Hanusova, Rachel Hu, Daria Jankowicz-Pytel, Agnieszka Lyons, Bharat Malkani, Sarah Martin, Emilee Moore De Luca, Li Wei, Jenny Phillimore, Mike Robinson, Frances Rock, James Simpson, Jaspreet Kaur Takhi, Caroline Tagg, Janice Thompson, Kiran Trehan, Piotr Wegorowski and Zhu Hua. Further information about the research project is available at https://tlang.org.uk We would particularly like to thank Rachel Hu for her considerable contribution to the research. Rachel was a key member of the research team and conducted much of the data collection at the Chinese community centre.

vii

Characters and Setting Characters

Advice and advocacy workers: Lifan, Meili, Qi, Xia Day care worker: Alix Clients: Bai, Chang, Chen, Fan, Fu, Guo, Han, Huan, Kai, Lan, Lee, Lin, Min, Shu, Tai, Tu, Wang, Yan, Yong Researcher: Jin Civil servants and other officials: H, an officer at Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC); HBO, housing benefit officer; JCO, job centre official; DC, debt collector; IR, insurance representative Setting

All action takes place in an office in the upstairs room of a Chinese community centre in Birmingham, UK. Two large windows offer views across the street to a dilapidated industrial warehouse. Inside the room, four desks with chairs. On each desk a computer and keyboard. In front of each desk a chair, each with a steel frame and orange upholstery. The carpet is threadbare, especially beneath the desks. Pinned to the wall, a poster labelled ‘Benefits Rates’. Also on the wall a Chinese calendar. A large metal filing cabinet. A bookcase heavy with lever-arch files. Shelves labelled: ‘Immigration Matters’, ‘Working Tax Credit’, ‘Housing Benefit’.

viii

Scene 1 Four women, Lifan, Qi, Xia and Meili, each sit at a desk. Each of them looks at a computer screen. In a corner of the room a chair is empty. Lifan looks at her watch. Enter Jin, shaking out an umbrella and placing it, still open, under the window.

Jin Hello, hello, sorry. Terrible traffic this morning. Terrible weather, terrible traffic. Some kind of incident on the way into the city, all the buses at a standstill, nothing moving. Lifan That’s all right. The first client cancelled anyway. She was probably in the same traffic as you, so you haven’t missed anything. Have you got the recorder? We can get set up if you like. Jin Oh yes, let’s get you wired up. Here is the news at ten, BBC! You’ll be on, everything recorded. [laughs] Lifan

I don’t think so! [laughs]

Jin [Goes to Lifan and fastens a tie-clip microphone to her clothing, placing a digital voice recorder on the desk] Like last time, you just need to keep an eye on the red light. If it’s on, everything’s fine. It should be all right, but keep an eye on it, check it every now and then if you remember. I will mic up everyone else once we get started, okay? Lifan And I do the same as normal, nothing different? Like you said, do my job the same as usual? Jin That’s right, that’s right, just do your job as usual, thank you, yes. And here are the consent forms. Remember, they all have to sign before you start. Explain the research project briefly. If anyone doesn’t want to be recorded, don’t switch on the recorder, and if they don’t want to be involved, I won’t take notes. Lifan No problem, no problem, that’s all right. I don’t think anyone will object. I’ll ask them to sign the form. Jin [Sits in the chair in a corner of the room, downstage. She takes a laptop computer from her bag. She speaks to Lifan] If we have a few minutes before your first appointment, I wonder whether I can ask you a couple of questions. Is that all right, just while we have a couple of minutes? 1

2  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Lifan Of course, anything you like. Jin Could you say a bit about how you came to work here? How long you have worked here, and what attracted you to this work. Lifan Here? It was a while ago now. It must be twelve years. The job centre sent me to interview for the office job. I didn’t know anything about the organisation. I mean, I had heard of them. Meili I remember interviewing you. It can’t be twelve years! Lifan The work wasn’t difficult: keeping records, typing letters, filing papers, taking notes. It was part-time, and there was always a free hot lunch in the dining room. Then after four months I moved to the day centre, working with the old people. It was harder work, but more rewarding. I quite liked it down there. The old people made me laugh. Meili They loved you. Lifan But as soon as I settled to that I made another move, to Advice and Advocacy, as a community advisor. I wasn’t sure about the move at the time. I liked the old people. In A and A you never know what kind of problems are coming through the door: it’s unpredictable. People have all kinds of needs; they want all kinds of help and support. Jin You agreed to the move though? Lifan I was told I had a talent with people, an ability to help them. A natural, they said. So I joined the community advice team. And ten years later here I still am, listening to people’s problems, doing what I can to help. Jin They flattered you into it? Lifan Ha ha ha! I didn’t really mean that, but you could say so, yes. I suppose they did. Jin From what I have seen already, you do more than listen to people’s problems. You have a fantastic knowledge of the welfare benefits system, immigration rules, taxation, how insurance works, all kinds of bureaucratic processes. I can see that you really help people to find their way through the system. Lifan You have to keep up to date. The rules are constantly changing. I go on courses when I can. Jin Do you see yourself as a community advisor or a translator? I think most people who come for help need some support with speaking and understanding English – is that right?



Scene 1  3

Lifan Both, I suppose, it has to be both, but it isn’t only a question of translating English: it’s translating all those complex bureaucratic systems. People get lost with them. It isn’t only a question of English. The regulations are difficult for anyone, but it’s more, it’s more than that: it’s about listening to people’s stories, working out what they need. Some of them have a lot of problems. Jin What kind of problems? Lifan It can be challenging. You are dealing with technical language a lot of the time, and of course there are areas I can’t help with: I don’t give medical advice and I am not allowed to give legal advice. I am not trained as a legal advisor. You have to be careful not to go beyond your remit, but yes, I would say it’s both, at the same time an advisor and a translator. You might say an interpreter. Jin Interpreter? Lifan Yes, it could be that. I don’t want to dress it up too much. We do what we can to help people. Jin You seem to be able to move easily between languages, going back and forth. That doesn’t seem to be a problem for you. Lifan

I don’t know whether it’s even that, whether it’s even about languages. It’s about communication, about findings ways for people to communicate their needs and working out how to meet those needs. 

Scene 2 A small, smartly dressed man, Chang, needs help with a claim that has been turned down by his insurance company. He sits in front of Lifan’s desk. Lifan telephones the insurance company and speaks to a representative, IR. She speaks to Chang while still on the phone to IR.

Lifan She said they have contacted the police and they are still waiting for a response. Chang The police? Lifan There’s this form called disclosure, it’s to see if you have ever com­ mitted a crime. Chang I have never committed a crime. Lifan She says your claim is not valid. Chang Why is it not valid? Lifan [To IR, on phone] He says why is his claim not valid. She says when you took out the policy you failed to complete the disclosure. She says you should have completed the disclosure. Chang What is the disclosure? Lifan He says what is the disclosure. She means the criminal disclosure. Do you mean the criminal disclosure? She says yes, the criminal disclosure. Chang I haven’t made a disclosure. Lifan He says he hasn’t made a disclosure. She says you failed to complete the basic criminal disclosure check, it shows your convictions. Chang I have no convictions. Lifan He says he has no convictions. She says you don’t have to have convictions. Chang I have no convictions. Lifan He says he has no convictions. She says you failed to complete a disclosure. 4



Scene 2  5

Chang They didn’t ask me to complete a disclosure. Lifan He says you didn’t ask him to complete a disclosure. She says they did. Chang I have never heard of it before. Lifan He says he has never heard of it before. She says it is standard procedure. You have to send your ID, like a credit card or driving licence, and twenty-five pounds. You have to pay for the disclosure. Do you have a record? Chang What record? Lifan It’s called a conviction. It includes everything, criminal law, civil law, economic, any kind of conviction has to be disclosed. It’s compulsory, you have to disclose your convictions. Chang Why should I tell them? Lifan It’s the procedure. It’s their way of dealing with things. There are things they need to know. If you don’t comply, it might affect your insurance claim. You have to do as they say, disclose any convictions, or they won’t process your claim. Chang So I have to commit a crime? Lifan You don’t have to commit a crime. It’s called disclosure. Once you fill it in, they can track down any criminal record, if you have one, or they can see if you have a clean record. Chang I have never heard of it. Lifan He says he has never heard of it. She says without the disclosure your claim is not valid. Chang But I have the insurance certificate. Lifan

He has his insurance certificate. How does he have the insurance certificate if he had to provide the disclosure?

She says without the disclosure the certificate is not valid. Chang How did I take out the insurance without the disclosure? Lifan How did he take out the insurance without the disclosure? She says without the disclosure it is not valid. Was he told that when he took out the insurance? Were you told that when you took out the insurance? Chang They never mentioned the disclosure. I have never heard of it.

6  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Lifan He was not told about the disclosure when he took out the insurance. She says you would not have been able to take out the insurance without providing the disclosure. Chang I have been paying for the insurance. Lifan He says he has been paying for the insurance. She says without the disclosure it is not valid. Chang But I have not committed a crime. Lifan He says he has not committed a crime. She says it does not matter whether you have committed a crime. It does not matter whether he has committed a crime? Oh, it does matter whether he has committed a crime.

She says whether or not you have committed a crime you must provide the disclosure. Disclosure of the crime he did not commit? She says you would have been asked to provide the disclosure. Chang I have never heard of it. Lifan He says he has never heard of it. She says it is standard procedure. Chang I have never heard of it. Lifan He says he has never heard of it. She says you would have been asked to provide the disclosure. Chang I have not committed a crime. Lifan He has not committed a crime. She says without the disclosure your claim is not valid. 

Scene 3 The same office. The advisors, Lifan, Meili, Qi and Xia, remain at their desks in front of their computers. Jin types notes at her laptop computer. None of the advisors currently has a client.

Qi After all the sacrifice, all the work, all the driving across the city in the rain and dark three nights a week, all the money, for God’s sake, thirty pounds a lesson, ninety pounds a week for a year, for the best part of a year. I daren’t even count it up. I daren’t. Xia And what, you’re saying she got a place but she doesn’t want to go? She passed the exam and they offered her a place? Meili What is it then? Her friends are going somewhere else? Xia Or it’s a boy, is it? Her boyfriend’s going to the local school. That can happen. I knew a family once. Qi You wouldn’t believe it if I told you. Jin Four thousand six hundred and eighty. Meili Four thousand? Jin Based on fifty-two weeks. Xia What is? Qi You wouldn’t believe it if I told you. Xia What? Qi After all the studying, the verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning, the quadratic equations and simultaneous equations. Jin What? Qi The Latin declensions and English comprehensions. Xia Wouldn’t believe what? Qi That, after all that, she’s decided she’s discovered her social conscience. Jin Her social conscience? What has her social conscience got to do with which school she goes to? 7

8  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Xia Oh, you mean like that girl who protested outside parliament every Friday. What’s her name? The one from Finland, or Norway. What’s her name? I know her name. Qi No, not exactly. Meili No, I know who you mean. Xia

I think she’s very brave. She gets a bad press at times.

Lifan

Greta something.

Qi That wasn’t about schools. Jin Sweden. Xia What is? Jin

Sweden, she’s from Sweden.

Xia Okay. Qi What I’m saying is, she’s not yet eleven years old. Three months short of her eleventh birthday and she’s decided that selective education is the cause of all the world’s inequality. Jin That’s ridiculous. Qi She’s not even talking about private school. I mean it’s grammar school. Xia Where does she get that from? Qi Seriously, the money and effort I have had to put into getting her through that exam. The time. Meili I know. Qi

I had to learn it all myself, everything, all the grammar, syntax, that was the worst, the maths, algebra, mental arithmetic, problem solving, all of it, like I haven’t got anything else to do with my life, Bought the books. They’re not cheap. The hours of revision, and she gets through, passes the exam and then, after all the sacrifices.

Jin What does she mean inequality? Qi She says because they’re selective. Jin That’s the point though isn’t it? Isn’t that the point? Qi She says that’s how they cause inequality. Xia Grammar schools are the very opposite, aren’t they? They are the



Scene 3  9

ladder up for so many people, working people, migrants like us, people who aren’t born with all the privileges. A way of levelling the playing field, levelling up for people who aren’t born to it. Jin They allow the cream to rise to the top. Qi That’s what I said. Xia You have to have a way of rewarding talent. You have to put the brightest and the best together and let them fly. Let them reach their potential. Let them learn together. Qi That’s what I said, but she won’t have it. Xia What did she say? Qi She says no one ever asked her if she wanted to go to grammar school, we took it for granted. Xia That’s ridiculous. You are only doing it for her. You want what’s best for her. That’s the end of it. Qi She says the whole grammar school system is about elitism. Xia Elitism? Qi She says it’s about creating an elite at the expense of everyone else. She says the system is designed so that the majority lose and the minority win. Xia Who loses? Qi She says it’s about creating failure, creating failure for most people and allowing a few to succeed. Lifan It’s the opposite though, isn’t it? It’s about success. Xia It’s not about creating failure, is it? You just want to do the best for your own child. Everyone does. Qi That’s it, that’s the bottom line. Everyone wants the best for their own child. We’ll all fight for that. Xia Exactly. Qi But she says it’s discriminatory. She says you have to invest in everyone, not the few who can afford the extra lessons and the expensive tutors. She says selection is unfair. Xia It’s not like we’re rich though, it really isn’t. We make the sacrifice for our children. We work hard for them because it’s their future. Where would they be if they had to go to the same schools as everyone else?

10  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Qi That’s what I said. Xia So what did she say? Qi She says everyone should learn together. It teaches fairness and equality. She says everyone should have the same chance. Jin It’s not just the academic side though, is it? There’s the music lessons, the trips overseas, the sport, the skiing, visits to the theatre, Shakespeare, the things you can’t get just anywhere. You can’t give that up and let everyone in, you can’t. Xia And you have to think, who do you want your children to spend time with? Who are going to be their friends? It’s about making the right connections. You don’t want, well, you know. Qi

I worked so hard for this. It’s the golden ticket. It’s what you plan for. It’s everything, and she tears it up, says it’s against a fair society. I don’t know, she throws it back in my face.

Meili My daughter went to the grammar school. She had all the tutors, we bought all the books, did all the practice papers, she took the test. Maybe it wasn’t so tough back then. She got in. She found it hard. She didn’t really fit. I used to find her crying in her bedroom at night. I used to hear her sobbing. It broke my heart. I didn’t understand. It turned out she was being called all sorts of names. She didn’t make friends. She told me she was never happy there. It did, it broke my heart. Xia But it isn’t always about happiness, is it? You have to look after the future. It’s more than happiness. 

Scene 4 A nineteen-year-old client, Fu, sits in a chair in front of Lifan’s desk. His mother, Han, sits beside him. He is wearing large headphones. Lifan speaks to Han. Jin sits in the corner of the room, typing at her laptop computer. None of the other advisors is present.

Lifan So what is his condition? Han It’s mental, it’s mental, mental. Lifan How does it affect him? Han It makes him on edge all the time. He’s on medication, but it doesn’t calm him down. He paces about, he doesn’t keep still. Lifan Why did he go to the assessment interview on his own? Han We couldn’t go, we were in Hong Kong. My mother is not well. I tried to reschedule the interview but they wouldn’t listen to me, they wouldn’t let us change it. Lifan The assessment report came out with a clean bill of health. The assessor couldn’t find anything wrong with him. He is not going to qualify for benefits with that assessment. It’s going to be difficult to make a case, they say there’s nothing wrong. Han When someone meets him for the first time he is always plausible. He can charm the birds out of the trees. He’s very clever. But as soon as he gets home he’s a different person. Lifan How do you mean? Is he violent? Does he hit anyone? Han He gets angry. He loses his temper. Lifan He’s angry? Han Yes, shouting, swearing, angry all the time. Lifan Is he violent? He hits you? Han Not these days, no, he doesn’t, but there’s the spitting and the shouting. And on bad days he will break things. He smashed a window once. It was an accident, but it was frightening. Lifan He’s not violent these days? But he has been violent to you before? Does he still sometimes hit you? 11

12  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Han Not since he’s been on medication. Lifan Does he throw things? Han He throws things if he doesn’t like them, if he’s feeling agitated. Lifan Can he control himself? Han It depends. He struggles with it. He tries but sometimes he loses it. Lifan Does he eat meat? Han He does, yes. Why? Lifan And the medication doesn’t work? Han

I wouldn’t say it doesn’t work, but it doesn’t always calm him down, you know what I mean?

Lifan What is the worst thing he has done? Han When his sister said she was going to visit from Scotland he sent her a text saying he was going to kill her children. Lifan He did? Han

I don’t know what gets into him. I mean, of course he isn’t going to harm them. He just says it.

Lifan That he’s going to kill his sister’s children? Han It sounds terrible. He wouldn’t harm them for anything. It’s upsetting. He loves his sister, he loves those children. I don’t know why he would say that, I don’t know. Lifan What about his health in general? Han He’s healthy. In fact he’s quite fit. Lifan But he can’t live an independent life? Han No, he’s too unpredictable. He’s not reasonable. He argues about the smallest thing. Lifan Is he violent? Han He can be frightening. You really don’t want to get into an argument with him. He can get angry. Lifan All right, I’m going to call the benefits office and see what we can do. [She calls the welfare benefits office and speaks to a benefits officer.]

Hello. Yes, I said I was going to call in relation to the case of, yes, that’s right, yes. Yes, he’s here. Yes.

[To Han] They want to speak to him. It’s a security check.



Scene 4  13

Han [Gestures to Fu to remove his headphones] The benefits officer wants to speak to you. Fu [Removes his headphones and takes the telephone]

Hello? 2nd July

1999. Juventus. Yes, I am. Yes. Thank you.

[He hands back the phone and replaces his headphones.] Lifan

All right? So his mother is here and she has been telling me. He has ­threatened the lives of his sister’s children. When she was planning to visit. Scotland. He has attacked and beaten his own mother. She’s frightened. He’s very aggressive. Sorry? I’ll ask.

[To Han] Does he have an official diagnosis from the doctor? Han They told me, but I don’t know it. They told me the English word, but I don’t remember. Lifan Do you have a letter from the doctor? Han

I have a letter, but I can’t read it.

Lifan Bring the letter. I will translate it for you. Han Yes, next time. Lifan

[Pause]

Yes, his mother is right here in my office, and that’s what she is saying. She says he is unable to control himself. He often loses control. His anger gets too much, and even the strongest medication can’t control it. Yes, he has been violent to her when he loses control. Also he throws things at her, and he breaks windows. He paces around, gets angry, very agitated. Sorry, I’ll slow down while you type. Yes, make sure you get it all down. My fault, speaking too fast. You take your time.

Han He says we put pressure on him. He gets angry with us. It’s very frightening. We don’t understand how we put pressure on him. We don’t know why he’s angry. We don’t do anything to upset him but he still gets angry. He’s very unpredictable. It’s exhausting. Lifan His mother is saying she is often frightened of him. He is very threatening. That’s right. She says he is unreasonable. He loses control. Yes, out of control. He won’t listen to her.

Han He doesn’t like anyone talking about him. He knows what’s going on and he will be angry later. Lifan

His mother says he will get angry when they leave the office today. He will lose control and shout at her. She can’t reason with him. When he t­ hreatened his sister’s children, that was very scary. She finds him frightening. He can be very violent. Yes, violent.

14  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Fu [Sings aloud from Kylie Minogue’s ‘I Should Be So Lucky’] I should be so lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky.

[Han presses a finger to her lips and gives Fu a severe stare]. Lifan Does he know we are talking about him now? Han He knows all right, and he doesn’t like it. He will bring it up later. He will be angry. Lifan What will he do? Han He really doesn’t like it. He’ll say we were all talking about him and he will get very angry. He’ll shout at me and accuse me of betraying him. He doesn’t like it that I am talking about him. Lifan He shouts? Han

I will have to wait until he calms down. Then he’ll probably watch films on his computer. He spends hours and hours watching films. He likes Die Hard, you know, Bruce Willis, that kind of thing, and the Star Wars movies. He’ll watch them for hours and hours.

Lifan

His mother says that he can’t stand anyone to talk about him, even when they are trying to help. He gets very angry and out of control. He can’t control himself.

Fu [Sings loudly] I should be so lucky in love. Lifan

His mother says when he meets someone for the first time he is charming and clever. You can’t tell what he is really like. He doesn’t show it. The first time I met him he seemed quite normal. But when you know him better you can see that he is not in control of himself. In the assessment interview the health professional would not have known what he was like. It’s impossible to know when you first meet him. But his mother knows.

Han Later he will have a go at me. He will bring it all up. He will be very angry with me for talking about him. Lifan

She says with strangers he can pretend, but with her he gets out of control.

Han

I mean not all the time. Sometimes he’s just quiet and stares into space. I don’t know what to do with him. Then he’ll suddenly start shouting, getting angry with no one in particular.

Lifan

His mother says he’s very unpredictable. She says he hears voices, has hallucinations. She doesn’t know what he’s going to do next. She says he’s always shouting, getting angry, throwing things, threatening to beat her up, threatening to kill his sister’s children.



Scene 4  15

Han It’s very upsetting. He talks away, arguing about this and that, but there’s no one there. It’s not normal. Lifan

She’s asking you to look at the assessment again. What is the process? Mandatory reconsideration. Fill in the form. Yes, yes, we can do that. And if that is turned down? Independent tribunal. Oh yes, all right. In person. Yes, yes. We can do that, yes. Yes, I can do that. Thank you. Thank you. We definitely will.

Han What did they say? Lifan We can appeal. It might take a long time, and there are no guarantees. But we can try. 

Scene 5 The same office. The advisors Lifan, Meili, Qi and Xia remain at their desks in front of their computers. None of the advisors currently has a client. Jin asks them about the history of the community centre.

Jin Can you say a bit about how the centre was set up? Meili At that time there were more and more people arriving. When they got here they had nowhere to live, no job, they knew nothing about the welfare state, the NHS, didn’t know how to sign on. They didn’t know where to go for help. No money for food. They didn’t speak English. Xia Some never learn English, not really. Lifan Not that English people would necessarily learn our language if they went to live in China. Xia But if you want to fit in, if you want to get on. Meili And there were really no classes for them, nowhere for them to learn, no support from the government. Lifan So you can’t blame people really. Meili Something had to be done, and slowly we did. We put a proposal to the council, and that was where it all began, that’s where it started. There were only three of us in the beginning. Jin Where was this? Meili At first we worked out of a tiny office on Corporation Street, you know, where the law courts are. One shared room, but we stuck at it, and over the years we have helped a lot of people. Jin Was it mainly people from Hong Kong back then? Cantonese? Meili Mainly, yes, it was. Xia You do, though, you have to learn English if you apply for your citizenship. You do these days, or even to stay in the country, your leave to remain. You have to take the citizenship test. Jin Yes. 16



Scene 5  17

Xia And I think that’s right. You need the language. You need to share British values and that’s all about the language. Qi One of the things we did was to put on English classes for the newly arrived people. No pressure, and no charge back then. The government paid for English lessons. Meili The questions they ask though, in the citizenship test, I don’t see how anyone can answer them. Xia

I didn’t find them difficult. You have to study the book. As long as you work hard it’s quite straightforward.

Meili I was helping my neighbour the other day, going through the questions in the blue book, testing her, because she’s got the test coming up. You more or less have to learn everything in the book. Xia Is she Chinese? Meili No, from Lithuania. She’s such a nice person, but she’s a bit nervous about the test, so I help her when I can. I ask her practice questions and check the answers. Xia Lithuania? Meili But I was going through the questions with her and I swear I didn’t know most of the answers. Lifan What like? Meili [She rummages in her handbag] Here you are, I’ve got the book here. I’m meeting her after work to do more practice. Lifan Go on then, ask us a question. Meili Let’s see. Here’s one, a typical question, Where did the people of the Bronze Age bury their dead – burial mounds, earth barrows, round barrows, or wheelbarrows?

Lifan

Wheelbarrows?

Meili That’s what it says. Xia Go on, what’s the answer? Meili You try, what do you think? Xia

I couldn’t say.

Meili There you are then. Xia No wait, what was it, the Bronze Age? Say the options again.

18  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Meili

Burial mounds, earth barrows, round barrows, wheelbarrows.

Xia

I’m going for earth barrows.

Meili I Googled it, and it’s complicated. Your answer isn’t wrong, but it would be marked wrong on the test. Any of the answers could be right. The early Bronze Age was different from the late Bronze Age, so you could reasonably argue that any of the answers are right. Jin Except wheelbarrows. Lifan What has it got to do with learning English anyway? Xia And what has it got to do with citizenship? Qi Give us another question then. Meili All right, let’s see, yes here, here’s one,

Who was James II’s eldest daughter, Mary, married to, the Duke of York, the French Dauphin, William of Orange, or she never married?

Qi

James II’s eldest daughter, Mary?

Meili

Mary.

Lifan

I haven’t got a clue.

Xia Yeah but they can’t all be like that. There must be easier questions. You are choosing the most difficult. Qi

I don’t see what that’s got to do with learning English, or whether you should be allowed to stay in the country.

Xia When I got the citizenship it wasn’t that hard. The questions were easier, I’m certain they were. Qi

I’m not sure any of us would pass.

Xia Go on, we’ll have one more. Let’s get one right at least. Lifan Otherwise we all might end up being deported. Qi Don’t even joke about it. Meili You sure? Let’s have a look then. Yes, here’s one. You have to say whether the following statement is true or false, okay? Xia Go on then. Lifan At least we’ve got a fifty–fifty chance of getting it right. Meili

ISAF is building up the Afghan National Security Forces and helping to create a secure environment in which governance and development can be extended.



Scene 5  19

Qi Whoa, slow down! Meili

True or false?

Xia

I

Meili

ISAF.

what?

Qi Which is what when it’s at home? Xia

Afghan? Is this for real? This isn’t for real.

Qi Security? Xia These questions can’t be for real. Meili It’s in the book .This is why my neighbour is nervous. These are the questions. You have to answer two-thirds of them correctly. You do it on a computer. You have to get sixteen out of twenty-four. Lifan

I wouldn’t be able to, not those questions.

Jin You have to learn it from the blue book. If you can learn everything by heart you can pass the test. Lifan But what’s the point of that? 

Scene 6 A small, trim woman with short hair and plain but neatly pressed clothes, Min, sits in the chair beside Meili’s desk and tells her story, or her husband’s story. Her voice is remote, as if she is telling a tale from a bygone age. Lifan, Qi and Xia are at their desks, looking at their computer screens. Jin sits in the corner of the room, typing at her laptop computer.

Min He can’t, no, he doesn’t know how, he doesn’t know how to measure cups of rice. He always mistakes weijing for salt. He can hardly tell men from women. He doesn’t know how to speak to people. He is inappropriate with people. I ask him not to say anything. Meili I’ll translate for you what I have typed into the form so far: I am not able to cook on my own. Min He’s getting older and it’s getting worse. His blood pressure is a hundred and ninety. When the doctor put the monitor on him he got really scared. I mean really terrified. He hit the doctor. A nurse came in and he fought her as well. It was embarrassing. He hated it. Meili In this section I have said, I can’t tell apart bicarbonate and salt. Min He doesn’t know how to use the cooker. He rummages in the fridge, eats whatever he can find. He doesn’t know when to stop. It’s scary to see how much rice he gets through. I told my mother-in-law and she was shocked. I have to sit with him when he’s eating. Meili We can move on to the next section. I have said that he is not able to cook for himself. What about washing and bathing? Min He has no hair, but that doesn’t stop him using a whole bottle of shampoo every time he showers. He spends more than an hour in there. It’s not good for his blood pressure to be in the shower for so long. And the boiler is on a timer. He’s broken the hot water system four or five times. Meili So I have said this: I don’t know when to get out of the shower. My wife has to tell me to switch it off. Min It takes him ages to tie his shoelaces. They said his fingers are not flexible because of his blood pressure. And he can’t do buttons. He 20



Scene 6  21

has to have trousers with a zip. He loses everything if you don’t watch him. Yesterday he lost the shopping I gave him to carry. Meili I have said, I have trouble tying my shoelaces and I cannot wear clothes with buttons. Min He’s frightened of going to the doctor. I have to go with him, and the doctor asks me questions, so of course I have to talk about him. It’s hard to discuss his problems in front of him without it sounding negative. He might not be clever but he does have self-respect. Meili

I think it would be better if we leave out the fact that he understands what people are saying.

Min He doesn’t know how to talk to people. He can’t start a conversation. He can say one or two sentences, that’s all. He really doesn’t know how to chat to people. He doesn’t understand much. If other people laugh he just copies them and laughs along with them. He doesn’t know what he’s laughing at half the time. Meili We have to be careful. We don’t want anyone assessing his claim to think he can understand other people. Min Yesterday we were almost hit by a car. He doesn’t know what traffic lights mean, even though I’ve told him so many times. I have to hold his hand when we cross the road. For once I didn’t pay attention and he walked out on his own. Meili

I have said, I don’t understand dangerous situations. And what about communication, how is he with that?

Min If he believes that someone is saying bad things about him, or telling him off, he stares at them as if he hates them more than anything. That’s what happened that time when he was with the doctor. I thought he was going to kill him. Meili That still suggests that he knows what people are saying, that he knows people are talking about him. Min Once I bought a new television, which cost a fortune. He broke it in less than a month. He messed about with the plug and set it on fire. It was completely ruined. My daughter was devastated. It was supposed to be a present for them both. Meili I’m not sure whether we can include that on the form. What if a stranger tries to harm him? Min He definitely doesn’t know what to do if he’s in danger. He doesn’t

22  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

even recognise danger. Once he allowed complete strangers into the house and let them take whatever they wanted. He doesn’t know about buses or trains either. He doesn’t understand. I have to be with him all the time, unless he is with his friends. Meili I’ll say he can’t tell bad people from good. We probably shouldn’t mention friends. 

Scene 7 Alix comes into the office with a tray, on which are six cups of tea. She hands them to Lifan, Xia, Qi, Meili and Jin. Alix sits on Meili’s desk.

Lifan

Ah, bless you.

Xia

Thank you, darling.

Jin [To Alix] Do you mind me asking, you were born here, were you, born in this country, in the UK?

Alix

Me? No, I was born in Hong Kong and came here as a baby.

Jin

What did your parents do? Was it the catering trade?

Alix

No, no, I didn’t know my parents. I was found abandoned on a Hong Kong street. I spent my early years in two orphanages before being brought here on an adoption programme. I was adopted by an English family.

Jin

Oh I see.

Alix

I’ve got an English brother and sister, a younger brother also adopted, half white, half Asian.

Xia

Yes, she’s quite the cosmopolitan.

Alix

But it was a very English childhood.

Jin

How do you mean?

Alix

I was an English child, with English parents. No one tells a young child they are different. In that bubble of love and care in the family I didn’t even think about it, and by the time I was old enough I knew that everyone was different anyway.

Xia Didn’t you experience any problems at all? I mean, looking different from your parents, didn’t anyone give you a hard time?

Alix It was there, yes, but my parents dealt with it. I think it was harder for them. But I noticed it when I started school.

Jin Was that kindergarten? Alix Not so much at my first school. My family travelled round for work. It would have been the second or third school. We moved out to the country. We lived in a small town. 23

24  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Jin How old were you then? Alix

I would have been about six .On the very first day at school a boy in the playground spat in my face. He sang a rhyme about Chinese people and told me to go back home.

Meili When you were six years old? Alix That’s right. Another time I was in the local post office and called my mother mummy. A woman turned round and said she’s not your real mummy. My mother was so angry; she was really upset.

Jin So, if you don’t mind me asking, what happened to your parents? Have you ever tried to find out?

Alix My birth parents? I never knew them. The people who adopted me are my parents. They are good, kind people.

Xia But don’t you ever imagine what your birth parents were like? Aren’t you at least curious?

Alix Why would I be? They are nothing to me. They didn’t want to know me, so that’s all there is to it. Xia

I would be curious, I’m sure I would. Blood’s thicker than water and all that. It’s about your roots, your genes.

Qi

I don’t think that’s right.

Lifan

I don’t think I would. I mean, what are you going to say if you meet them? They would be complete strangers. You’d have nothing in common.

Xia You would, I think you would, you would know immediately. There would be that family connection, even if you didn’t know each other.

Meili

I think it would be awkward. I don’t see what you would get out of it. Some things are better left alone.

Xia You would have your family back. That’s worth doing, isn’t it? That must be worth something, surely.

Qi She’s got a family though. She doesn’t need to. Lifan

I think that’s right. It would open a whole can of worms.

Xia But you can’t go through your life knowing that your parents might be out there somewhere, and you can’t ever know them. You’ve got a right to meet them, haven’t you?

Alix At one time when I used to go to London I would avoid going to China Town, because I couldn’t speak the language, and I didn’t want to be embarrassed. I didn’t feel part of that.



Scene 7  25

Qi People understand that though. Alix

I wasn’t interested in Hong Kong, and even less interested in China. It didn’t mean anything to me.

Xia But what about your roots, your heritage, your culture? Alix It seemed to me that it was all about pixiu and fortune cookies, the year of the dog or the snake, or whatever.

Jin Stereotypes. Alix

Chinese people would look at me and assume I was one of them, but I wasn’t, I was English.

Jin So you didn’t seek out Chinese people? Alix It was going to university in a city, and settling there, living there, moving from small-town England to a city where everyone was accepted, whatever they were like. It didn’t matter anymore. Everyone was different, so no one was different.

Jin Have you never been back? Alix To Hong Kong? Jin Yes. Alix

I hadn’t planned to, but I heard someone on the radio say she was trying to set up a group of transnational adopted children. I was curious and found out a bit more.

Jin When was this? Alix A few years ago. I went along to the meeting and spoke to one of the other people who came on the same programme as me all those years ago. We were adopted at the same time.

Jin One of the other babies? Alix She was a social worker, specialising in adoption herself. Jin She was a social worker here? Alix She brought a newspaper cutting. It was very faded and grainy. The babies’ faces were really hard to make out.

Qi That must have been nice though. Alix Well, it was just interesting to meet people with that particular history, with that shared background. Xia Did you keep in touch?

26  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Alix It wasn’t what I really wanted. There wasn’t all that much to say after the adopted-as-a-baby conversation, we didn’t have anything else in common. It was a bit awkward after a while.

Jin So was that it? You left it after that? Alix

I did, but sometime later I saw on a website a small announcement that there was going to be a reunion of adoptees from Hong Kong.

Jin And you followed it up? Alix

I went to a meeting in Manchester. People were talking about a neighbourhood called Mong Kok, and for some reason it sounded familiar. When I got home I opened my wardrobe and took out all the papers I had kept from the adoption service.

Jin From the adoption service? Alix

I had never read them properly, but there it was, the neighbourhood where I had been found as a baby, and the name of the first orphanage that took me in. Even my original birth certificate was there. I mean, I couldn’t read them of course, but I could see.

Jin How did you feel about that? Alix

I had never wanted to address any of that – it was all too remote, and too Chinese.

Xia Too Chinese? Jin But you did end up going to Hong Kong? Alix The trip to Hong Kong was ridiculous. You could hardly move for people. Everything made of sheer glass. Beautiful, yes, the buildings, the water, the incredible lights, all amazing, but it was not my place, that was not where I was from. I was an English girl from the home counties.

Jin What happened? Alix Twelve

of us were ushered through meetings, taken on organised trips, given the VIP treatment.

Jin By who? Alix There seemed to be an expectation that we should say what a success the whole adoption programme had been, to say how wonderful it was, how we had been saved in some way.

Jin Did you try to find your original family? Alix Some of them did. They tried to find the place they had been found, and even hoped to track down their original parents.



Scene 7  27

Jin But you didn’t? Alix It wasn’t for me. I didn’t see what I had to gain. I wasn’t ready for that, not at that time.

Jin So did you just go home without anything? Alix

I wasn’t really looking for anything in particular, so I wasn’t disappointed.

Jin And that was the end of it? Alix Until five years later. I went back, found the neighbourhood called Mong Kok, where I had been discovered as a baby in a market hall.

Jin Did you find your parents’ home? Alix

I found Hope Street East, where they lived, but no sign of number thirtythree. There were numbers one to twenty, and forty-five to sixty, but in between only a new shopping mall. The original building had gone.

Jin What about the orphanage? Alix

I found the orphanage, but the matron wasn’t there, and no one else was available to talk. They were very busy. I wasn’t sure what to think, or feel. I didn’t have any memory of the place. I was just a baby. I don’t know what I expected.

Jin What happened then? Alix When

I arrived back in the UK there was an email to confirm that the orphanage had been my home for the first four months of my life, but nothing more than that.

Jin And you didn’t go back again? Alix Sometimes

I imagine a mother so distressed and traumatised by being a mother that she wraps up her child in her warmest blanket, lays her in a basket and leaves her out in the cold to face life and the future alone. And sometimes I imagine a father. But no, that’s where it rests. I won’t go back again. I have done all I need to do.



Scene 8 A woman, Lan, requires help to complete an application for benefits on behalf of her sister. She sits in front of Xia’s desk. Lifan, Qi and Meili are at their computers. Jin sits in the corner of the room, typing at her laptop computer.

Xia We need to finish the questions on the assessment form. Can she get dressed and undressed? Lan

I sometimes help her. She has a device to help her, like a stick. She uses it to help her get dressed.

Xia Someone helps her? Lan No, no one. We help out sometimes. She has a sort of stick she uses to assist her, but otherwise she does it herself. Xia A stick? Was it given to her by the doctor? Lan She applied for it. Xia

I haven’t seen that kind of thing.

Lan Like a forked stick. You hold it like this to help you get dressed. It seems to help. Xia With something like a.… Lan Like a stick. Xia Can she put her shoes on? Lan Very slowly. Xia What about buttons, can she do buttons? Lan Not really, we get clothes with zips. Xia What was the stick you just mentioned? Lan She holds it to get dressed. Xia How thick is it? Lan Like this big. Xia She holds it in her hand? Lan Yes. 28



Scene 8  29

Xia Did she get it from the doctor? Lan It’s for disabled people, like people in a wheelchair. You can apply for it from the welfare. Xia

I didn’t know about them.

Lan They’re very difficult to describe. Xia What is it called – a dressing stick? [She types at her computer, turns the screen towards Lan] Like this? Lan Yes, looks like it. Xia With a hook? Lan To help her get dressed. Xia You mean she can’t grip with her left hand. Lan Not easily. Xia She uses the stick to help her dress and undress? Lan Not to undress, only to get dressed. Xia Can you show me? Lan Uh? Xia Can you show me how she uses it? Lan Here? Xia If you can. Lan All right [She demonstrates how her sister uses the dressing stick, mimicking her movements]. Xia She does that? Lan Something like that. Xia Does she need help to undress? Lan It takes a long time if she is on her own. We help her if we’re around, but she manages in the end. Xia She can take off her dress? Lan She can if it is not too tight. Xia How does she undress? Lan Very slowly. It takes time. She’s not as agile as most.

30  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Xia And socks and shoes? Lan Also very slowly. She can do it, but very slowly. Xia Slow, but not incapable? Lan Yes. Xia Can you show me? Lan Show you? Xia How she takes off her socks and shoes. Lan Here? Xia If you can. Lan Uhh [Breathes heavily as she slowly takes off her socks and shoes.] Xia Like that? Lan Something like that. Xia Does she dress appropriately for the weather? Does she understand which clothes she needs? Lan No. Xia Can she distinguish between front and back? Lan Usually. If her clothes open at the front, then she can do it. Xia Can she tie shoelaces? Lan No, we don’t buy them. Xia Can she distinguish between left and right? Lan Definitely not. Xia It is her hand, is it? She can’t grip firmly with her hand? Lan She can, but very slowly. Xia Is it her fingers? Lan She can’t hold anything with her left hand. Xia Can she raise her hand? Lan Not her left hand, no. She always keeps her hand down. She’s in constant pain. Xia Can she communicate?



Scene 8  31

Lan Not really, no, no communication. Xia Can she use a telephone? Lan No. Xia Can she speak fluently? Lan No. Her mind is like that of a three-year-old. Xia When you go to the GP, and the doctor asks her questions, do you explain what is going on? Does she understand? Lan

I just tell the GP what I observe.

Xia Can she tell you where she feels pain? Lan No, she can’t tell anyone what the pain is like, or where, she can’t. Xia Will she initiate a conversation? Lan It is worse this year. She used to say hello, but now she doesn’t really say anything much. Xia So she’s more or less silent? Lan She doesn’t say a word unless you directly ask her something. I once phoned her but she didn’t answer. I asked her why, but I think she just didn’t feel like talking. I mean, she can talk, but she doesn’t talk much. Xia She doesn’t understand you? Lan

I am going to tell the social worker tomorrow what happened on Monday when she was watching TV.

Xia What was that? Lan She heard offensive words on some TV programme and she said she was cursed. Xia She said she was cursed? Lan She said the evil woman on TV cursed her. Xia Does she normally watch TV at home on her own? Lan Yes, nobody talks to her very much. Xia Does she understand what is on TV? Lan Probably not, but she likes to watch. Xia Does she have problems with her eyes?

32  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Lan

I don’t think they are very good.

Xia Does she wear glasses? Lan

I’m not sure whether she needs glasses. She can’t say.

Xia Is she able to read and write? Lan No, she can’t. Xia Does she recognise danger? Lan No, she tries to imitate what I do without understanding the risk. She saw me defrost a loaf of bread in the microwave, and the next day she tried to use the microwave herself, but managed to blow it up. Xia Oh no. Lan Fire engines came. She was lucky the neighbour got her out. She might have suffocated from the smoke. It was terrible. Xia

I will write down the case of the microwave.

Lan Will they say she is not adequately cared for? I can’t be with her twenty-four hours a day – it’s too much – I can’t. Xia

I’ll write this up to let them know [she translates from the computer screen]: I am unable to read and write. I need someone to explain to me. When my sister defrosted some bread in the microwave I was curious and wanted to try, but there was an explosion, and my neighbour called the fire brigade.

Lan

I didn’t teach her. I didn’t tell her anything. I didn’t tell her to do it.

Xia [She translates from the computer screen] I put the bread in, pressed a button, and it blew up, and fire engines came. What about getting along with other people? Lan No, no one. Xia If you ask her to go out, does she want to go? Lan Only if she is taken out by someone. Xia Does she want to go out? Lan If she goes with someone familiar to her. Xia Will she go with strangers? Lan No, but if we take her out she will go. Xia Is she afraid of strangers?



Lan

Scene 8  33

I don’t know about that.

Xia She won’t go because she is afraid? Lan She dare not go out. Xia Why? Lan Unless she is with people familiar to her, she won’t go. Xia How many people are familiar to her? Lan Neighbours, her sisters, people she knows. Xia Not many people? Lan Very few. Xia So if she is invited she will go out, but she doesn’t know how to communicate, and just sits there. What about shopping? Lan She has no sense of value. She buys whatever she likes and doesn’t care about the cost. Xia But she likes shopping? Lan Yes, she likes going out. She wants people to take her out. She doesn’t like staying at home. Xia [she translates from the computer screen] I don’t dare go out, I don’t know how to communicate with others, I like going out but I need company, I need someone familiar like my sister. Does she have any sense of money? Lan No, no sense of value. Xia Do you take care of her finances? Lan Yes. Xia Can she manage to go to the doctor on her own? Lan She knows the place, but we don’t let her. It’s dangerous for her to cross the road. I have to go with her. Xia So she can’t manage to go anywhere strange or new? Lan No. When she is out she follows me and stays close to me. She wouldn’t know how to get home. Xia When she claimed disability benefits there were two components. The first one was seventy pounds. How much was the second one? Was it twenty pounds, do you know?

34  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Lan

I don’t remember.

Xia Does she use a walking stick? Lan She very rarely walks any great distance. Xia Does she get tired, or fall easily? Can she walk more than two hundred metres without stopping? Lan It’s difficult for her to walk much. She has a blue badge. Xia She walks very slowly? Lan Yes, she can move her right leg, but her left leg is weak. She falls if she tries to walk too quickly. Xia Does she get tired after a walk? Lan Sometimes she says her hands and legs are numb. Xia Anything else? Lan

I don’t know.

Xia You can sign here. Lan Sign in her name? Xia Yes. 

Scene 9 None of the advisors has a client. Lifan, Meili, Qi and Xia remain at their desks in front of their computers. Jin is also present, typing at her laptop computer in the corner. The advisors answer Jin’s questions about the purpose and function of the Advice and Advocacy service.

Lifan So many people need just a little bit of help, you know, they come about all kinds of things – passport applications, insurance claims. Meili Council tax. Lifan Disability payments. Qi Money advice. Xia Getting their kids into school. Qi Gambling problems. Meili Parking permits. Qi Housing benefit. Lifan Student loans. Xia Hospital appointments. Qi Letters they need translated. Xia You never know what problems are coming through the door next. Lifan Health issues – this week a man with a crumbling spine. Qi A baby with a birthmark on her face. Xia A woman whose husband has lost interest. Lifan A child with scurvy. Xia Scurvy in this day and age, you can’t believe it. We’re back in the Middle Ages. I mean, scurvy. Meili Not that we can do much about people’s health. We’re not medics. We are not here for that. Lifan No, but if we can sort out their benefits, give them access to what they’re entitled to, if we can do that, and that means they can put bread on the table, it goes some way to giving them a healthier life. 35

36  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Xia Often it’s that they don’t speak English, or don’t understand the system. They need someone to navigate for them. It’s a labyrinth really. They don’t know where to start. Qi You can help people though. You feel good when you make a difference to people’s lives. Lifan Sometimes it’s like we’re papering over the cracks. For every person you help there are a dozen more you will never see. They’re in the queue for the food bank, or on the streets. Xia It’s not that bad. Lifan You need change at the political level. You can’t keep on applying sticking plaster when the system doesn’t work. The benefits system should be reformed. It doesn’t work. Qi There’s that new city councillor. What’s her name, the new city councillor? She’s Chinese. Lifan Yes, there’s now a Chinese politician. That’s very good, but there have been Chinese people in this city for more than a hundred years, and we’re supposed to be delighted that finally someone represents us. Xia A hundred years? Lifan Over a hundred years. Qi She’s a Tory anyway, isn’t she? Xia What difference does that make? She’s a democratically elected politician, she represents her constituents. Qi Wasn’t there something about corruption, a scandal of some kind? I read it in the Metro. Xia They would say that though, wouldn’t they, because she’s Chinese. Meili Was she born in China, or? Xia The papers are always going to say that: the Chinese are corrupt, on the take, don’t pay their taxes. Meili Was she born in the UK? Xia My daughter’s boyfriend’s parents have met her apparently. Meili They met her? Xia At a business dinner. Very grand it was, at the new place off Victoria Square. What’s it called, the one opposite the Town Hall?



Scene 9  37

Meili Oh, the new one. It’s supposed to be very nice. Xia They said it was beautiful. They do a non-stop buffet. Meili Non-stop? Xia Eat as much as you like. Very plush. Meili It’s called something palace. Xia It was to do with making partnerships with China. All these Chinese businessmen were there. Meili Not Chung Ying Palace. Is it Chung Ying Palace? Xia The beer and wine were free, sponsored by the council, or it might have been the Chamber of Commerce. Meili I’ll have to look it up, I do know it. Xia A Sunday afternoon it was. Qi

I can’t drink during the day: it makes me fall asleep.

Xia

I’m the same. Even a glass of wine at lunchtime and that’s me for the day. It knocks me out.

Qi But if it’s free you might as well. Lifan And she was there? Meili Who? Lifan The councillor. Meili Yes, apparently. She didn’t give a speech. All the speeches were made by men, but she was there, schmoozing with the businessmen. Xia What was she like? Meili I don’t think they really got to talk to her. She would have been too busy with the Chinese. Xia Oh, I was right, Chung Ying Palace. Is that the place? Non-stop buffet. That’s it, non-stop buffet. 

Scene 10 A man, Chen, in his sixties, sits in the chair beside Lifan’s desk. He is dressed in a suit which has seen better days, and wears a trilby hat. He wants help to find a place to live. Meili, Qi and Xia are not present. Jin sits in the corner of the room, typing at her laptop computer.

Lifan The council will have to rehouse you. Chen

I’m not homeless.

Lifan You’re not homeless? Chen Not actually homeless. Lifan You have to show them your rental agreement. Chen

I haven’t got a rental agreement. I live with my uncle. I just want to live in a place of my own.

Lifan They have to rehouse you. Chen

I live with my uncle.

Lifan Have you got a rental agreement? Your uncle can sign it. You need to show the rental agreement. Chen He’s not literally my uncle. Lifan Not your uncle? Chen Not literally, not as such. Lifan That’s probably for the best. Chen It is? Lifan The rental agreement has to show that you were paying rent. Your uncle has to sign it. Chen Paying rent? Lifan You have to show it to the council. Chen

I haven’t got a rental agreement.

Lifan They will have to rehouse you. Chen What do I have to do? 38



Scene 10  39

Lifan Talk to your uncle. Chen He’s not literally my uncle. Lifan Talk to him and tell him to sign the rental agreement. Chen He has to sign? Lifan Tell him to sign. Chen He has to sign it himself? Lifan Tell him to sign. Chen How will I find somewhere to live? Lifan They will have to rehouse you. Chen Why? Lifan They have to find you somewhere to live. They are legally obliged. Chen

I live with my uncle.

Lifan They are legally responsible. Chen If I move out? Lifan If he tells you to leave. Chen Can I apply for a flat with the council? Lifan If you apply for a council flat it will take forever, and you will have to accept a place you don’t want. You only get two chances to turn a place down and then you have to accept it. Chen Why two chances? Lifan If your uncle kicks you out they have to rehouse you straight away. Chen He’s not my actual uncle. Lifan If he kicks you out. Chen He hasn’t actually. Lifan

I need your uncle’s name and address.

Chen He’s not my uncle. Lifan

I will write to him.

Chen He has not actually kicked me out. Lifan Are you British? Chen Yes.

40  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Lifan Have you got your passport? Chen Not today. Lifan Not today? Bring it next time. We can photocopy it and keep a copy here. How many bedrooms in your uncle’s house? Chen Only one. I sleep in the sitting room. Lifan You sleep in the sitting room? You don’t even have your own bedroom? For how long? Chen More than a year now. That’s why I want to move out. I need to live in a place of my own. Lifan So you urgently need somewhere to live. Chen

I suppose.

Lifan What do you want to do? Chen Find somewhere to live, my own place. Lifan If you have nowhere to live, you will go onto housing benefit. Your rent will be paid. They are obliged to rehouse you. Chen

I don’t know.

Lifan We have to fill in the form. We need to give the name of your landlord. I’ll say you don’t have a landlord. You live with your uncle. Chen Not literally my uncle. Lifan Do you have any pets? Chen Pets? No. Lifan No pets. Are you looking for one bedroom? Chen Yes, I want a flat. Lifan Not a bungalow? Chen People smash your windows if you’re in a bungalow. Lifan One-bedroom flat, no pets. All right, good. Chen The only thing is, I go to Hong Kong now and again. Lifan If you leave the country you have to inform them. Tell the government. Once you are on benefits you have to tell them. Chen Why? Lifan It’s not like owning your own house. Then you can do what you want,



Scene 10  41

but if you are on housing benefit you have to tell them whenever you leave the country. Chen The government? Lifan And even if you tell them, you can’t stay beyond the prescribed limit. If they write to you when you are away, and you don’t respond, they will stop your benefits. You have to inform them, even if you go for a short time. It’s always better to inform them. Chen But I am already on benefits, and I went to Hong Kong. Lifan How long did you go for? Chen Four months. Lifan Four months? You should tell them. Chen Do I have to tell them? Lifan Tell them. Chen

I didn’t know I had to tell them.

Lifan Tell them you didn’t know you had to tell them. Chen

I didn’t know. Do I have to go and tell them that I didn’t know?

Lifan Better to tell them. Chen Tell them? Lifan Tell them. It’s better to tell them. Chen What if they stop my benefits? Lifan Say you didn’t know. Chen What will they do? Lifan Say you had important matters to attend to in Hong Kong. You didn’t know you had to tell them. Chen Important matters? Lifan Did you? Chen

I had to stay because I had trouble with my leg. I had a pain in my leg. I couldn’t travel.

Lifan If you had trouble with your leg you could have stayed longer. There’s an exception for health issues. It’s better if you inform them. Chen So I need to inform them if I leave the country?

42  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Lifan It’s better to be safe, otherwise they could stop your payments. Let them know when you are leaving, and when you are coming back. What about the housing benefit form? Shall I fill it in? Chen

I want to find a place of my own. Can I apply for a council flat? I need a place of my own.

Lifan It will take a long time to get to the front of the queue. It could take a year, even two. Chen Two years? Lifan And the living conditions are not so good. I can help you with the form. First you need a letter signed by your uncle. Chen He’s not my uncle. Lifan Your uncle needs to sign it. Take it to the council office in the city centre. Do you know where it is? Chen How will I choose where to live? Lifan It’s all on the computer. Chen

I don’t have a computer.

Lifan You have to do it on the computer. They give you so many points. You can bid for a flat based on the number of points. Chen Points? Lifan They release the properties every Wednesday. Chen Where? Lifan On the computer. Chen

I don’t have a computer.

Lifan Make an appointment for next Wednesday afternoon, and I will help you look at the computer. Chen Can I choose the area? Lifan It’s all on line, all on the computer. You pick what you like and bid for it. There will be a long queue. It’s very slow. Chen

I don’t have a computer.

Lifan Go to the housing department. Tell them you need somewhere to live. Chen

I do need somewhere to live.

Lifan They have to find you something. You might have to wait a year, or two years, because you have got a roof over your head at the moment.



Scene 10  43

Chen Two years? Lifan Or there’s the place next door. Chen What place next door? Lifan Next door to here. Older people from the Chinese community live there. They have shared activities. Some of them come over for lunch, it’s a very good arrangement. Chen Sounds dreadful. Lifan No, it’s good. All the rooms are en suite. Chen It’s some kind of care home? An old people’s home? Is that what you’ve got me down for? I come in here looking for help, and you’re telling me my life is over? Lifan It’s not like that at all. There’s no pressure, but if you want you can have a look. It’s a supported environment. Chen

I’d rather stick pins in my eyes.

Lifan Well the offer’s there if you change your mind. Chen

I want to find a flat of my own.

Lifan Your uncle is getting benefits, so you are not allowed to stay with him. You are staying there for free, aren’t you? Does the council know? You are not supposed to stay there. Chen They know I am there. Lifan They know you stay there? Chen They know I am there. Lifan With your uncle? Chen He is not my uncle. Lifan What do you want to do? Chen

I want to live near where I live now, but in my own flat.

Lifan The council will have to rehouse you. Chen What shall I do? Lifan Go to the council. Say you live with your uncle. Chen He is not actually my uncle. 

Scene 11 The advisors Lifan, Meili, Qi and Xia are waiting for clients to arrive. While they wait, they chat to Jin about users of the community centre.

Meili You notice the difference now. Ten years ago ninety per cent of our clients only spoke Cantonese, or Hakka. Xia They were the older generation from Hong Kong. They came to us for benefits advice, but at that time the centre was also a meeting place for them. It was a kind of social hub for the community. Meili They lived in cramped, overcrowded homes. We gave them an opportunity to get together, often with people from the same village in Hong Kong, their neighbours. Qi Not so many speak Cantonese now. More of them are from China. Meili And their needs are changing. The new arrivals have no family here, just themselves. Qi These days, out of fifty people we see, I would say that only one or two speak Cantonese. Meili I wouldn’t say that, more than one or two. Qi It might be different with the older people. Lifan It’s changing though. This country is closing the door. If you don’t have the skills they cancel your visa. Meili People pay a lot of money to get here, to earn a work permit, and as soon as they get their status they have to pay it back. Lifan The new arrivals only make immigration lawyers rich. Qi And now it seems the UK doesn’t want migrants anymore. Lifan What do they call it, the hostile, the hostile environment. Meili I voted to remain. I voted for migrants. They don’t come to the UK to claim benefits. They bring labour, technology and expertise. We need them to help the economy grow. Qi But once the gates are open you can’t expect that only good and honest people will come. 44



Scene 11  45

Meili Still, they bring in more than they take. They work hard, they pay their taxes, they buy things, pay VAT. It all goes to the government, not like some people who sit around waiting to be fed. Qi

I voted to remain, but you have to accept the result, it’s democracy. Once you have the vote you have to respect it.

Lifan But people were lied to. Xia My son was saying that leaving the EU is a good thing. We can be more independent, build our own nation, don’t rely on others. The country can grow taller and stronger, unleash the potential. He says things will be better now we are free. Lifan You can’t say that when we came it was all rosy. Not at first anyway. It was a struggle. Qi It’s true. Lifan It sometimes annoys me, the prejudice back then, the discrimination, the way people were treated. You don’t hear about it. You don’t hear much about the racism faced by Chinese people. It hasn’t gone away, not really. It’s serious. It affects people’s lives. It affects Chinese people, but you don’t hear those stories. Meili You don’t hear that so much. Xia My son says the EU is corrupt and out of date, so the result was right, we’re better off out of it. Qi But from the point of view of the country, and from the point of view of your family, you don’t want to see the economy going down, you don’t want to see inflation go up. You have to think of the bigger picture. You have to think how it affects vulnerable people. Xia There was that programme about – what did they call it? – Fortress Britain. Meili Oh, I saw that. Xia How they have made the country a difficult place for migrants, so no one wants to come here. Lifan That’s what I’m saying, the hostile environment. Meili All the changes to the benefits system. Xia How you can’t work until you get the status, and you can’t get the status unless you work. Meili Catch-22.

46  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Xia

Catch-22, that’s what they said, it’s Catch-22.

Lifan We watched the thing on Channel 4. Jin The one about a terrorist gang planning to blow up the Houses of Parliament. That was good. Lifan

I like that actor, the one playing the prime minister. I can’t remember his name.

Jin The way they travelled through the underground passages of London, the disused tube lines and sewers. Meili That’s a thing isn’t it? You can do something like that in London. They call it the undiscovered underground or something like that. I saw it advertised. It’s a new tourist attraction. Qi

I sometimes think it wouldn’t be a bad thing if.…

Xia

I went to London once.

Qi The Houses of Parliament. Lifan

I don’t know whether I would do that, there would be rats.

Meili Never more than ten yards away from a rat. Lifan You would almost be like a rat yourself, in the sewers. Xia It was such a good day. 

Scene 12 A man, Guo, has received two demands for overdue council tax payments. Also, his application for housing benefit has been rejected. He sits in the chair beside Qi’s desk. Qi telephones a benefits officer, BO. Lifan, Meili and Xia are at their desks. Jin sits in the corner of the room, typing at her laptop computer.

Qi [On the phone] He received a letter dated twenty-ninth of March, about his housing benefit application. It says his claim is unsuccessful. He wants to challenge the decision. He’s been asked to provide more information so that the claim – I know, yes, but as far as he’s concerned he has no more information than he submitted when he made the application. Mm hm. He says he has not received anything else from you. Nothing since the twenty-sixth.

[To Guo] He says they wrote to you on second of June asking you to provide information about your nationality, and requesting proof of residence. You are sure you didn’t receive the letter, definitely? No, he’s shaking his head. That’s easy though, he can produce his passport. Yes, he will take it in to the neighbourhood office today, mm-hm, he can bring it over to you.

Can you take it over today? [Guo nods.] He can bring it over to you today. And council tax, can you check for me, he got an overdue bill for more than a thousand, and the other is for just five pounds. Which does he need to pay? And why has his housing benefit been suspended? How is he supposed to survive from day to day if he has lost his only means of support? Hold on, the one thousand twenty-six thirty-four, is that for the previous year? Will he have to pay that? And what about for this year? Has he been sent a bill?

Have you received a council tax bill for this year? [Guo shakes his head.] No? You’re sure? If it wasn’t delivered you have grounds for appeal. He said this year’s bill is one thousand four hundred and twenty-nine pounds. Can you resend him the council tax demand for this year please? He has not received it, no. We will have to lodge an appeal then, because he has not received the bill. It was not delivered. Hang on, I’ll ask him.

What is your weekly income? Guo Between five and six hundred pounds a week. It depends. Qi He says his weekly income is between five and six hundred. Can you see when his benefits were cut, can you see that from your screen? What should 47

48  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

he do with this bill for one thousand four hundred: should he pay it off in full, or can we put in a backdated claim? It says he needs to pay within seven days. Yes, hold on a second, I need to explain.

This bill is for the whole of last year, that’s why they didn’t pay your council tax allowance. He said make a fresh application, and they might reconsider. Does that make sense? He said if you provide your P60 they will review your claim. But before they reconsider it you have to pay. Guo

I don’t know if I can.

Qi If you can’t settle the whole lot at once, you should set up instalments, pay a little each month. Guo

I don’t know.

Qi Think about it at least, it’s a way to face up to things positively. Think about paying in instalments. [To BO] He’s trying to do something about it. He will pay what he can, but there’s no way he can settle his council tax bill in full. I see, yes. So first he needs to set up a plan, and then I will backdate the claim, and we’ll see what happens after that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, he’s ready to pay, but it’s a credit card. He’s left his debit card at home. I know. He’ll have to phone and ask his wife or daughter to send it. Hang on.

She says you can’t set up a standing order if you don’t have an account number. Can you phone someone at home and ask them to send over your debit card details? [Guo nods.] Yes? He says he can. In the meantime, that letter is not too pleasant, the one asking him to pay in seven days. I thought you might put a stop on it, and not proceed with taking him to court. Oh, he has to pay by five o’clock today? Wait a moment please.

He says you have to pay by five o’clock today. What if he can’t pay by then? If he has to go to court he will pay an extra seventy pounds for the standing fee, and that isn’t going to help him. All right, all right, I’ll tell him. Yes, yes, thank you, I will. Goodbye.

Why do you keep missing their letters? I asked him if he can give you extra time to pay, but he said you have to pay by five o’clock today. [She types at the computer.]

So this is what we are saying in the letter to the benefits office [she translates]: I rang the department and spoke to an advisor, who said they had sent a letter to my home on the second of March. But I didn’t receive any such letter. The advisor said that my application was unsuccessful. I’ve added a note that it has been very stressful for



Scene 12  49

you and your kids these six months since your benefits were stopped, and that you can’t face being kicked out by your landlord. Guo It has, it has been stressful. I just want it sorted out. Qi

I know, I pleaded with them. Just sign here, and that’s it done. This letter goes with your passports when you hand them in.

Guo That is not my address now. Qi Where? Guo On the letter, that’s my old address. Qi You changed your address? Guo Yes. Qi When? Guo About two months ago. Qi Two months ago? Guo Just over. Qi Did you redirect your post? Guo Redirect? Qi So that’s why you don’t get the letters. Guo

I don’t.…

Qi Is it? You have to tell them. Come back next week, next Thursday at eleven o’clock. Guo Eleven o’clock. Qi

Thursday. We’ll sort everything out then. 

Scene 13 The advisors Lifan, Meili, Qi and Xia have a quiet moment between clients. They engage in conversation about personal issues. Jin is also present.

Qi Everyone has gone vegetarian these days. Meili Not only vegetarian, it’s vegan. Xia We had Jen’s boyfriend round for dinner the other day. It wasn’t just no meat or fish, it was no milk, no cheese, no butter, no eggs. I can’t imagine what he eats. Meili Is he allergic? Xia He’s not allergic, he’s vegan. Qi They have to have a special sort of bread. Xia

Jen’s boyfriend will only eat bread he’s baked himself.

Meili He bakes his own bread? Qi Why? Xia It has to be vegan. Qi There’s no animal products in bread. Xia She says he’ll only eat bread he’s baked himself. Qi Why’s that? Xia

I offered him a biscuit and he asked to see the packet.

Qi Why? Xia Chocolate bourbon, from Waitrose. Qi Why did he want to see the packet? Xia

I had thrown it away. The biscuits were on the best china. The packet was in the bin. I told him.

Qi Why did he? Xia Next thing I know, there he is rummaging in my kitchen bin looking for the biscuits packet, tail up, head down, like a – what do you call it? – a raccoon, or a bear. 50



Scene 13  51

Meili Or a rat. Xia A rat in my kitchen bin, I couldn’t believe it. Lifan It’s good that he bakes his own bread. Meili And the other thing is honey. Qi What is? Xia Honey’s vegan though, isn’t honey vegan? Meili It’s exploiting bees. Xia Exploiting bees? Meili Apparently it’s like stealing the bees’ honey. Xia Isn’t that what bees are for? Meili That’s the argument though, not exploiting animals for the benefit of humans, like milking cows. Xia But bees? Qi What about jam? Meili Jam? Qi Without bees you wouldn’t have the fruit for the jam. Don’t you need bees for pollination? Meili That’s not the same. Qi Isn’t it? Meili Is it? Xia You get to the point where you can’t eat anything. Qi Or drink. There’s vegan wine now, and beer. Xia There’s fish in Guinness. Lifan Does he cook as well? Xia Someone sued them. It was in the Metro. Meili More men cook these days. Xia My son cooks. We went round for a meal on Sunday. He made tagine. Meili Tagine? Xia It’s Moroccan. Everything goes in together, all in a large pot, a large dish, called a tagine. That’s how it gets its name.

52  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Meili Moroccan! Lifan What was it like? Xia Nice. It made a nice change. Lifan Not vegan then? Meili We were thinking about a holiday in Morocco, Casablanca. There was a hotel with a swimming pool. Qi

I love that film, Humphrey Bogart and what’s her name, not Lauren Bacall.

Lifan That last scene. Qi What’s her name then? Meili Peter Lorre’s in it. I like him. Xia

Sydney Greenstreet.

Qi

Claude Rains.

Lifan At the airport. Meili Ingrid Bergman. Xia Definitely not vegan, not my son. Lifan We might all end up that way, that’s what they say. Qi You’re going to Casablanca then? Meili We were thinking about it. My husband isn’t.… Xia Not in our lifetime. I can’t see it. Meili We eat less meat than we used to. Xia

I haven’t thought about it.

Lifan For health reasons, or for the environment? Meili Both I suppose. The doctor said it would be sensible. Lifan It’s probably coming to us all. Xia What is? Lifan Having to be sensible about eating and drinking, and exercise. Meili Do you still go to your pilates class? Lifan Twice a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Meili Is it the same teacher? Lifan Yes, she’s very good.



Scene 13  53

Meili My Jen teaches yoga. Lifan It isn’t the same, is it? Qi

I don’t know. What’s the difference between pilates and yoga?

Lifan No, they are not the same thing at all. They are different. Meili Isn’t yoga more, like, spiritual? Xia One of them’s from Germany, isn’t it? Meili Germany? Lifan Pilates is more about strength and flexibility. Xia

I thought that was yoga.

Lifan They’re not exactly the same. Meili One of them is more about mental well-being. Qi Which one? Meili Then there’s Tai Chi. I was talking to the man – what’s his name? – who teaches Tai Chi downstairs. Xia Oh, I know who you mean. Meili He was saying you need to be not only physically able, but also intellectually able, to do Tai Chi. Xia Intellectually. Qi That’s me out then. Meili He said it’s the combination of the spiritual aspect and the physical form. Xia Spiritual? Meili You have to unite the two, it’s about that unity. Xia My doctor said I should go to the gym, do weight training. Qi Weight training? Why would you do weight training? Xia It’s to do with your bones. Qi Your bones? Xia That’s what she said. Qi You don’t want huge muscles though. Xia She said bone density.

54  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Qi Do this, do that, eat this, eat that. You do wonder. Xia When you get older you should do weights in the gym. Qi You don’t want huge muscles though, do you? 

Scene 14 A man, Tu, in his mid-thirties sits in the chair in front of Lifan’s desk. His home and business have been damaged by fire. He is separated from his wife and children. He speaks in a low, emotionless voice. Jin is present, but the other advisors are not.

Tu They’re playing tricks. I’ve totally given up. I can’t do this. Lifan Don’t be so pessimistic. Get over this bump and everything will be fine. Go and see the insurance people and see what they say. It can’t do any harm. See what they have to say. Tu They just play tricks. Lifan If you still feel that they are playing tricks, you can come back to me and I will follow it up for you. Tu Sometimes, you know, not everything is as you would like. Things don’t happen how you want them, you know, things don’t turn out how you thought they would. Lifan You can change things. You don’t have to accept them as they are. You can change things. Tu You can’t change things just by being relentlessly positive, being cheerful, it doesn’t work that way. There are things that can’t be changed, no matter what you do. Lifan

I’ll help you with your application for a living allowance.

Tu Who wants the living allowance? It’s not worth having. I can’t work because of my health. How am I supposed to remember anything? So much has happened. I can’t cope. Lifan Okay, I know that things seem really complicated, and you have a few things to deal with. Tu

I want to see my kids.

Lifan

I don’t know much about child custody issues.

Tu

I only want to see my kids.

Lifan

I don’t know your full story. 55

56  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Tu The worst things have happened to me. Lifan All right, bear with me a moment. How many children do you have? Are they with your ex-wife? Tu Three, I have three children. I don’t have any clue where they are, or who they are with. Lifan So when was the last time you saw them? Who were they with last time you saw them? Tu They were staying with their mother last time I saw them, which is at least six months ago. I can’t remember exactly how long ago. I haven’t seen them for such a long time. It was such a long time ago. Lifan Is somebody stopping you seeing them? Tu She accused me of domestic violence. She took me to court and filed for divorce, but I never touched her, I would never touch her. I’m not like that, I wouldn’t. Lifan Okay. Tu

I hired a solicitor. I missed one meeting, but then he just didn’t show up for our next appointment.

Lifan Did the police get involved when she accused you of domestic violence? Did the police investigate? Tu The police didn’t do anything. They came once, asked me a few questions, and took the case to court. They told me to hand in some documents, and that’s it. Nothing much. I haven’t heard anything more. Lifan Did you go to court? Tu

I did, and she was going to withdraw her accusation, but I was running late, and my solicitor didn’t show up, so.

Lifan You didn’t get to court on time, and nor did your solicitor? Tu

I don’t know what happened.

Lifan So she didn’t withdraw the accusation? Which means you have that on your record. Is that correct? Tu Probably. I don’t know what happened. Lifan So it will show up on your record, and it counts as a conviction. Tu Who knows?



Scene 14  57

Lifan Have you consulted anyone else to find out whether you can see your children? Tu So many things have happened to me, one after another. How am I going to cope with it? What can I do? Lifan You should try to stay strong. Tu

I had such hopes and dreams when I came to this country. I couldn’t work because I didn’t have the status, but I still had dreams, and I thought things would eventually work out.

Lifan

I can try to help, but I’m not an expert on this. Do you know where your kids are?

Tu

I know they are here in the city. That’s why I have to be here. I need to find them.

Lifan

I’m not a psychologist, I’m not a therapist, so I don’t know how to help you. I don’t know what to say.

Tu The government told me to go to another country. They said that I can take nationality there. Lifan Nationality where? Tu What’s the use of nationality if I can’t see my kids? It’s a way to get rid of me, to make me someone else’s problem. Lifan I really don’t know what advice to give you. I’m sure I would be much worse than you are. Tu Doctors can’t cure me. They don’t know what’s wrong with me. They say it’s a state of mind. Lifan

I’m just saying, if I were you, I might be doing even worse. I wouldn’t be coping as well as you. You should be pleased that you are managing so well.

Tu Ha! Lifan You know, life is a long journey. You have to move on. You have to deal with what life gives you. Tu Everybody I meet makes me feel unwelcome. Lifan That isn’t true, surely. I didn’t make you unwelcome. Tu

I’m not saying that you did, but most people I meet do.

Lifan You think the whole world is against you. You feel you were set up, but it probably isn’t like that.

58  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Tu It doesn’t take much to set someone up. Lifan If you keep thinking like this it is going to be hard to get out of your negative frame of mind. Other people have come across difficulties in life, but they still manage to survive. Tu It’s the government. We are all set up by the government. Heheheee. Lifan

I really don’t know what to say. If you can get yourself out of this mindset I’m sure you will start to feel better. That’s my personal opinion. You might not like it, and you might not think it’s very helpful but….

Tu The sooner I die the better. Lifan Die? Tu The sooner I die the better. Lifan

I will do what I can to help, but it’s not my area. I will find out who can help.

Tu My home and business burned down, my children are gone. What can I do? I have nothing left. Lifan All I can do is to try to find an organisation that can help you to see your children. Tu There’s no one. Lifan Have you ever done things like that before, when she took you to court? Tu Like what? Lifan When she accused you. Tu

I absolutely never hit her.

Lifan

I mean before you were supposed to go to court, have you ever?

Tu No, I have never hit her. All the bad things that could possibly happen have happened to me. Lifan Bear with me a moment. Tu All these things happened to me at the same time. Lifan You’re in a bad patch. You’ll come out of it. Tu

I’m sure I was set up so that she could take my kids away from me.

Lifan But you have to have evidence, otherwise it looks as though you are just imagining things.



Tu

Scene 14  59

I’m not imagining things.

Lifan You will need evidence then. Tu And my daughter, she poured boiling water over my daughter. What’s that then? Am I imagining that? Lifan Do you mind if I try to find more information about organisations that can help you to get access to your children? Tu Okay, fine. Lifan I can’t guarantee anything. I can help you with application for benefits and other things. Tu What if the benefits don’t cover my living costs? Lifan One of my friends was in a very similar situation to yours. He survived it, and now he has a better life. He went home. He was born in Hong Kong, and now he’s living there by himself, enjoying a simple life. He was in a similar situation. Tu Good for him. Lifan He had also gone bankrupt, lost his business, lost everything, all his savings, his property. All gone. Tu Sounds familiar. Lifan Like you, he claimed unemployment benefit, lived in a council house, and like you he didn’t talk to anyone. He didn’t know where his children were, so he decided to go back to Hong Kong. Tu How could he see his children then? Lifan His ex-wife had also made up evidence against him, so he didn’t know whether he would ever be allowed to visit his children. Tu So I’m not the only one. Lifan He had to sell his house. He was homeless, and his wife applied for a council house for herself and their children, and they moved away. He hasn’t seen them for years. Tu He hasn’t seen his children? Lifan What could he do? He had to get on with it. Tu It’s not exactly a success story. Lifan When his children are older they will make their own decisions about contacting him. If your children still love you they will come and find you.

60  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Tu What do you mean? Lifan She changed her phone number, her address, changed their school. The city can be very big if you want to find someone. Tu Exactly. Lifan Don’t think too much about it. You have to get by. Tu Did he find them? Lifan He had to live on the government’s seventy-four pounds and ten pence a week. He had to survive on that. Tu Seventy-four pounds? Lifan He lived in a bedsit, a very small room with a small kitchen, a toilet and a sink. Imagine that, compared to his previous life. He had to sell everything to pay his debts, but he survived. Tu

I don’t see how that helps me.

Lifan If he had given up hope, he would be finished. But he has survived, he’s still alive, and if he can, you can as well. Tu But he still hasn’t seen his children? Lifan It’s gone horribly wrong for you, but you are still healthy, you still have your hands, so you can work; you still have your brain, so you can support yourself. When your children are older they will come and find you. Tu But how will they know where I am? Lifan If you give up too easily your children will look down on you. Get yourself together, stay strong, keep the faith. If your children saw you now, what would they think? Tu They don’t know where I am. Lifan You couldn’t even afford to take your children out for a nice meal, or take them to the cinema, or to a theme park. You couldn’t even take them to McDonald’s. Tu How do I know they will even recognise me? Lifan My friend had been used to a life of luxury. He couldn’t bear to lose face by working for someone else. Tu

I can understand that.

Lifan

I told him I would see him as a hero if he could give up his fancy ways and earn a living.



Scene 14  61

Tu Why couldn’t he see his children then? Lifan Because his wife framed him. She said he had mental health issues. Tu That’s what happened to me. Lifan He was forced to go to a psychiatric clinic. He didn’t know what was happening until one day a group of people knocked on his door and dragged him into a car. Tu That’s what I mean. Lifan He didn’t know where he was being taken. He told them he had no problems, but they kept him there. They schemed so that he lost touch with the children, and they arranged it so that he wouldn’t be able to track them down. Tu You see, things like that happen. Lifan It’s so similar to your situation. I should introduce you to my friend. Tu

I don’t want to be pitied by someone who’s in the same position as me. How would that help?

Lifan

I’m just saying that he’s in Hong Kong now. He lives a simple life. And he doesn’t need to live on seventy-four pounds ten pence a week. It’s got to be better than staying here.

Tu But he still doesn’t see his children. Lifan You have to do something when things happen to you, that’s all. Tu Since I was a child everything has been against me. I’ve never had a normal life. Lifan You need to hold on to the hope of seeing your children one day. Why don’t you go to work? If you don’t pull yourself together, and your mental health problems get worse, no one will even look at you. Tu All right, all right. Lifan If you are like this, with no money. Tu What am I supposed to do? Lifan If you really want them your children will come back to you one day. Tu That’s why I stay here, rather than going anywhere else. Lifan Make yourself strong. Focus on making yourself better and stronger. Tu All right. Lifan Go back and prepare all the documents the insurance people have asked you for, and do what they say.

62  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Tu Okay, okay. Lifan Your first priority should be pulling yourself together. If you can win your insurance case you will have the funds to put things right. That’s all I am saying. Tu But they are plotting against me. Lifan You shouldn’t worry about that. You should be entitled to significant compensation. It will take time, but you have a good case. Tu They probably won’t even pay. Lifan It’s the same with every insurance company. Things always move slowly. The police have to investigate whether somebody set your place on fire. Do you have enemies? Tu Enemies? Lifan It could take years to get a result. Tu They are just dragging out the case, playing games. Lifan If the case is genuine they will have to pay. Okay? Tu Yeah, well, we’ll see. 

Scene 15 Xia, Qi, Meili and Lifan are at their computers. Jin sits in the corner, typing at her laptop. They discuss migration histories.

Xia

I was twenty-six when I came here. In less than a year I felt like forty-six.

Qi In China you relied on your parents for everything, but here you had to fend for yourself. Meili I remember thinking how grey everything was. Xia Grey and one dimensional. Everything the same colour. Meili The people saved it though. Xia Once you got used to them. Meili

I noticed the small things, like, back home everything was paid for. If you had to make a phone call at work you picked up the phone and made the call, but it wasn’t the same here.

Qi

I don’t think it’s like that at home now. My cousin said everything has been tightened up. There’s a different regime.

Meili It’s all small businesses now. It was never like that when we were there. You couldn’t…. Xia Don’t you sometimes wonder whether we should have stayed, waited it out? There are more opportunities now, opportunities that weren’t there for us back then. Meili You can’t regret anything. Lifan It was a different time, a different life. I had a government post, well paid, a job for life. We called it the iron bowl. Xia What was your job? Lifan Official tour operator, in Guangzhou. Meili Tour operator? Lifan

I took groups of tourists to the mountains, the enchanted palace, the waterfall, the lake, the heritage museum, the people’s park, the zoo. 63

64  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Xia

I don’t like zoos, the animals always look so sad.

Lifan

I studied hard, learned English. Not so common in those days. Today, everyone is.…

Xia

I took my nephew and niece last year. We watched for I don’t know how long this puma, or jaguar, walking up and down its cage.

Qi What’s the difference between a puma and a jaguar? Xia Up and down, up and down, up and down, the same walk all day every day, nothing ever different. Lifan

I did all right. Even kept my tips. Some of those businessmen.…

Xia Such a beautiful animal. You could see it was frustrated, bored, nothing to do, the same few metres. Lifan Now everyone is setting things up from scratch, not relying on the state so much. Xia An animal like that shouldn’t be in a cage. Meili What did we know? The other side of the world seemed like a great adventure, a new chapter. Lifan Once you leave there is no going back. Qi Then you get here and everything’s grey concrete, everything grey, everything the same. Meili But the people are good. Xia On the whole. Meili I wouldn’t have met my husband. Xia You wouldn’t have had three children. Qi You don’t know. Meili The youngest one gets his results tomorrow. Qi Big day! How does he feel about it? Meili He always plays it down, always says he’s done worse than he really has, but he’ll do all right. Xia He’ll be fine. He’s the clever one, isn’t he? Meili My daughter’s not doing too badly, studying medicine at Man­ chester. She got a first for her second year. Qi What’s the other one doing now?



Scene 15  65

Meili He’s taken a year out. He was going to travel, but now he’s thinking about an internship. Xia You wonder about internships, all that work for nothing. Meili It wouldn’t be for nothing. You get your foot in the door. You need the experience first. Qi It’s that same thing again isn’t it? If you don’t have the experience, you won’t get the job. If you don’t have a job, you can’t get the ex­ perience. Xia So you work for nothing. Qi Catch-22. Xia Catch-22. Meili That’s the way it is for young people now, that’s the game. Lifan It is grey, but they’re trying to improve things aren’t they? Regenerating the city centre. Qi When will it all be finished though? They’ve been regenerating the city centre for twenty-five years. I mean, have you ever known a time when it wasn’t a building site? Xia All the buses have been re-routed. You don’t know where you might end up. You can’t find the bus stops. Meili A lot of the old buildings have gone. Cinemas turned into bingo halls, banks into cocktail bars. Lifan The law courts a hotel. Meili Friends’ meeting house a restaurant. Qi The church on Bank Street a mosque. Meili The bank on Church Street a pub. Xia Have you seen Paradise Circus, a hole half a mile wide. I mean, literally, no exaggeration, it was in the Metro. Lifan Isn’t that where they found a skeleton, thousands of years old? Xia

I went to have a look. There were a lot of people there, but they had taken it away by then.

Meili They found King Richard buried in a car park. Xia You could just see the diggers and trucks. It was raining. Qi In Leicester.

66  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Meili Richard III. Qi They proved it was him. Lifan They had to re-bury him. Qi You never know what you’re going to find. 

Scene 16 A couple, Tai and Huan, want help responding to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) about an overpayment of tax. Tai and Huan sit beside Qi’s desk. Qi dials a number on her phone. She switches to speaker and waits for an answer. Lifan, Meili and Xia are away from their desks. Jin sits in the corner, typing at her laptop computer.

Qi You have to be careful not to look as though you are engaging in fraud. If you get caught you have to pay it back, and you can be prosecuted. You have to pay back every penny. Huan Is there a fine? Qi That’s if you’re lucky. [An officer at HMRC, H, answers the phone, and can be heard on the speaker.] H

Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. Can I help you?

Qi Hello, I hope you can. I am calling on behalf of a Chinese lady here. She recently received a letter from you regarding her bank account details. We need to update you about that.

H Can she speak to me for the security check, please? Qi I think she can. Should I pass the phone to her so you can talk to her directly? [To Tai] Just like last time, talk to him. Tai Should I tell him my name, or what? Hello? H Hello, can you tell me your National Insurance number, please? Qi

W P two.

Tai

W P two.

H

W P two.

Qi Six six two. Tai Six six two. H Six six two. Qi

D.

Tai

D. 67

68  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

H

B.

Qi No, no, sorry, it’s me, it’s the advisor here. The last letter is D for delta. I’ll give the phone back to her. He he, sorry. H Can you tell me your date of birth? Huan [To Qi] This one? Tai One nine seven four two eleven. H And your address? Qi You have to tell him the address. Huan Sixty-six Northwood Road. Tai Sixty-six Northwood Road. H Okay, what’s the date of birth of the youngest person living at this address? Qi The youngest child’s date of birth, the youngest one. Huan Two thousand and eleven, October eighteenth. Qi Eighteen. Tai Eighteen. Qi Ten. Tai Ten. Qi Two oh. Tai Two oh. Qi Eleven. Tai Eleven. Qi Is that the youngest one? H What is your second child’s date of birth? Qi How many children do you have? Tai One. Qi Only one child. Tai Only one child. H What is your partner’s date of birth? Tai His date of birth? Huan My date of birth? Sixteenth of May.



Tai

Scene 16  69

May.

Qi Sixteen. Tai Sixteen. Qi Nineteen seventy-three. Tai Nineteen seventy-three. H Okay, that’s fine, thank you. You’ve passed your security check. Qi [She switches off the speaker]

It’s the advisor again. Mm hm, yes, okay.

Wait a moment please.

[To Tai] He said you need to set up a password. Tai Set up a password? Qi It’s simple. He will ask you a question, then you answer it. He’s just setting up a password for us, all right? Tai Sure. Qi [To H] Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, um-hum, okay. They won’t write to you again with this password. You have to remember it. Next time they ring you need to tell them the password, so you can bypass the security procedure. Okay? He’s asking where you were born. Tai China. Qi In English it is China. Remember this, make a note of it. Okay? If he asks you where were you born, you answer China, all right? The next question is, what was your favourite subject when you were at school? Tai Hehehe. Qi Just make one up. Tai Primary school? Qi No, like Chinese, or maths, or art, or music, or history. They’re all imaginary questions, so just make one up. Don’t say English though, because your English is no good, hehehee. Tai Hehehehehe. Qi Do you have a favourite subject? Tai Me? Qi Yeah. Just make one up, just go for one.

70  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Tai English. Qi No, English is no good. Drawing or something like that. Drawing in English is drawing. Drawing, okay? Okay, okay. This is the first question, and this is the second. And just answer like this. The first one is China and the second one is drawing. [To H] Yes they got a letter. The bank is refusing to pay them. Why do they need new bank details? Okay. Yes, the account number is 9949821. Okay.

[To Tai] Have you been getting your milk money? Tai Yes. Qi Which bank is it paid into? Tai His. Qi [To H] Okay, the child benefit goes to her partner’s account. All right, okay, okay, all right, thank you. Bye-bye, bye-bye.



They will switch the money to your other account. It won’t be in one go. If they owe you five hundred, they won’t pay you five hundred at once. They will pay you in several transactions.

Tai Several? Qi Yeah, slowly, but they will pay you all the money owed. Tai Hehehe, thank you, thank you. Huan So they will ring us? Qi If they ring you and ask you where were you were born, you just say China, China, and your favourite subject in school, you say drawing, drawing. They won’t ask you for all the other information. But you might get asked your address, your name, date of birth, National Insurance number. All these are standard things you might have to confirm. Huan Where can we pay the fee for today’s session? Qi Downstairs, they will tell you how much to pay. All right? C10 Yes, good, good. 

Scene 17 Xia, Qi, Meili, Lifan and Jin discuss personal and family matters. The advisors remain at their desks. Jin sits in the corner of the room.

Xia

I majored in computing. When I graduated I went to work as a programmer in a Sino-American company. I did that for about three years.

Jin And then you moved on? Xia My next job was as a teacher at a training college, teaching computer science, training government officials and administrators how to use computers. Jin How did you come to the UK? Xia

I had been working in the college for about seven years, then my son was born. My husband came to the UK, so I came to visit, stayed to do a master’s degree, and never went back. I loved the British lifestyle, the whole culture, everything about it.

Jin How did you find studying here? Xia The language was really a big challenge. I had to look after my son on my own because my husband went back to China, and I didn’t have any money. That was a struggle for a while. Jin Your husband went back? Xia My English wasn’t that good, so it took me three years to graduate, but I got there in the end. Jin You were on your own? Xia With my son. Jin What did you do when you graduated? Xia

I found a job supporting people with cancer, working with carers.

Qi In the NHS? Xia Part of the job was to do home visits to identify clients’ needs at home, so I had direct contact with British people. That really helped me with my English, and my knowledge of British culture. 71

72  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Lifan That can’t have been an easy job. Meili Rewarding though, in a way. Lifan My mother had cancer of the bowel. Qi Oh, that’s right. Lifan She never had any of that support at home. The doctors and nurses in the hospital were wonderful, but you never saw anyone at the house. We didn’t know anything about that. We had to do everything ourselves. There was nothing. Qi It’s very difficult. Lifan And social care wasn’t there. It was one thing if you had money, another thing if you didn’t. Meili It’s a bit of a lottery. Lifan You end up doing most things yourself. It’s very intimate, you know, things you never imagined yourself doing for your mother. It was distressing for her because she could see that it was difficult for me, but she was the one suffering. Qi You can end up having to sell your house to get a place in a care home, even here, even with the NHS. Lifan I have worked in this country for twenty-five years, paid my tax and National Insurance all that time, never missed it, and I end up looking after my mother on my own at home. Qi She couldn’t stay in hospital? Lifan They needed the bed. Once they decide they can’t do any more for you, they send you home. Meili There are hospices. Lifan If you’re lucky, but there were no spaces. You have to be lucky. Meili You were very strong with it all. Lifan It’s terrible, just the most terrible thing to see your mother fade away in front of your eyes. You try to get her to eat something but she can’t do it. She doesn’t want to do it. You know she has to. You cook small amounts of her favourite meals, the things she has always liked, but she is not interested, it’s too much for her. Meili Yes.



Scene 17  73

Lifan Now and again she might eat something so you cook the same thing again, and she eats it again. You think this is progress, this is working, then it stops, she can’t do it, and you have to get her one of those plastic cups like a baby’s feeder cup. You think, how can it come to this? Is this what we have to look forward to? Is this what it’s all about? Meili You did everything you could, everything. Xia You can get help. There is support available, but things are so stretched, there isn’t enough for everyone. Lifan You only have one mother. It’s one time. No one teaches you what to do. You don’t get a second chance. 

Scene 18 A man, Lee, asks for help with his application for housing benefit. Xia dials a number on the telephone. She puts the telephone on speaker while the city council’s automatic message plays over background music. Eventually the phone is answered, and Xia speaks to the housing benefit officer, HBO. Lifan, Meili and Qi are not present. Jin sits at the desk usually occupied by Lifan, typing at her laptop computer.

Xia Hello, I am phoning on behalf of one of my clients. I need to check if he has made an application for housing benefit. He can’t remember whether he applied.

HBO Have you got the National Insurance number? Xia Yes, Z zero, C charlie, six four four three, seven D, delta. HBO Could we do the security check, please? Xia Yes, hold on. [To Lee] Can you speak a bit of English? He will ask your name and address. Can you do that? Lee

I can, hold on.

Hello.

HBO Hello, can you tell me your name? Lee

Xi Lee.

HBO And your address. Lee

92 Gethsemane Gardens.

HBO Date of birth? Lee Seven four fifty four. HBO Thank you very much. Do you give permission for your advisor to discuss your benefit application on your behalf?

Lee Yes please. HBO Thank you. Can you pass the phone back to your advisor? Xia [Switches the telephone from speaker] Hello, thank you, yes. He said he made a claim, but he’s not sure when. Okay, I do, yes, thank you so much. 74



Scene 18  75

I will ask him to do that as soon as possible. Okay, thank you. Bye-bye, bye-bye.

[She hangs up the phone.] We phoned just in time. You are claiming Job Seeker’s Allowance, right? It’s already been granted, is that right? Lee Yes, but I haven’t had a payment for this week. Xia But it’s already been granted to you? Lee Yeah. Xia The good news is that the only thing you are missing is your tenancy contract. You need to hand it in to the neighbourhood office as soon as possible. Lee

I don’t know where the neighbourhood office is.

Xia

I can give you the address. Do you have your tenancy contract on your phone? Can I have a look at it?

Lee Hang on a minute. Can I email it to you? Xia Let me look at it first, to see what it says. Lee It’s here. Xia Do you have a signature? This is an electronic version. Can you get in touch with the landlord? Lee

I’ll ring him. He’s waiting for me to contact him. I haven’t called him yet because I need an interpreter.

Xia Take this contract to the neighbourhood office. Let me give you the address. I’ll write it down, okay? Lee Okay, thanks. Xia Hand in this document, and your National Insurance number, and they will make a decision. Lee How will they decide? Xia They will assess your situation and decide whether to pay benefits to cover your rent. Lee Will they need to interview me? Xia They shouldn’t need to interview you, but they will decide how much housing benefit you get, based on your monthly rent. Lee

I haven’t had it this week.

76  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Xia Haven’t had what? Lee Would you mind checking with them? Xia With who? Lee The other day I went to the job centre, I missed a week, and it looks like the money has been stopped. Xia Oh, the job centre. That isn’t for housing benefit. Lee

Summer Road.

Xia When do you get paid? Lee When should I get paid? Xia Are you paid once a week, or every other week? Lee Every other week. Xia When was the last time you received your payment? Lee Last week, last Friday, Friday two weeks ago. Xia Okay, so when should you get your next payment? Lee This Friday. Xia Is it paid directly into your bank account? Have you checked your bank account today? Lee

I didn’t report to them this week, but I did last week. They shouldn’t have stopped my money so soon.

Xia You didn’t sign on this week? Why didn’t you? If I phone I need to give them a reason. Lee

I’ve moved to a new address.

Xia You’ve changed address? Lee That’s right. Xia What happened? Lee

I lived at a hostel, and now I’ve moved into a flat.

Xia

I see.

Lee So I’ve moved to a different job centre. Xia Did they change it for you or did you ask to change? Lee They told me to change.



Scene 18  77

Xia And you didn’t go and sign on? Lee

I did sign on, but not this week.

Xia Why didn’t you sign on this week? Lee

I wasn’t feeling stable.

Xia You weren’t feeling…? Lee

I suffer from depression.

Xia Not stable? Lee

I am on two types of medication.

Xia So you didn’t sign on? Lee That’s right. Xia Let’s ring them and see what they say. Lee Yes, thanks. Xia This is your current address, is it? Lee Yeah, I moved because I want to forget the past, forget all the unpleasant, negative stuff. I want to forget it all, I want a brand new start. Xia Let’s try it. Lee Just try to sort things out. [Xia dials and waits for the phone to get through. The call is answered. She switches the phone to speaker.]

Xia Like just now, tell them your name. [The phone is answered by a job centre official, JCO.] Hello, I am ringing from a community advice centre. My client was not able to sign on this week. Can I ask?

JCO Is your client there? Xia Yes. JCO

I need to do a security check before I can talk to you about your client’s benefits, okay?

Xia Okay, he is here. Lee Hello. JCO Hello. Can you tell me your marital status? Are you married?

78  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Lee Me? JCO Yes, are you married? Lee Yes, ah, no, separate, separated. JCO Okay, separated. Lee Sorry? JCO Can you give me your mobile phone number? Lee Hang on, please. 08972132512. JCO Can you tell me who you bank with? Lee Sorry? JCO Bank, who do you bank with? Xia The name of your bank. Lee Oh, HSBC. JCO Do you have any children living with you? Lee No. JCO Do you want the lady to speak on your behalf? Lee Thank you. Xia [Switches the speaker off] Hello, yes, he’s on antidepressants and he has



mood swings. On Tuesday he didn’t feel that good, that’s why he missed his signing on day. He wasn’t well enough to go to the job centre to sign on. Okay, let me ask him.

Can you guarantee that this won’t happen again? If you are asked to go and sign on, will you do it?

Lee Yes. Xia He said yes, yes. Wait, I’ll check. She says can you go to the job centre on Friday? [Lee nods.]



Lee

Okay, he can. Okay, uh-huh, uh-huh, JSA 211. Okay, uh-hum, thank you very much indeed. Can I have your name, madam? Thank you very much, Lesley. Bye-bye. We will do it right now. Thank you, bye-bye. [She hangs up the

phone.] Do you have the phone number of the person you have to report to at the job centre? If not, you will have to go yourself. If you have, I can speak to them now. I might have, I don’t know.



Scene 18  79

Xia You have to go there on Friday. I can write down the address for you. Go to the reception desk, and ask for form JSA 211. You need to fill it in. If it’s a problem for you to fill it in, try to find someone to help you with it, okay? And you need to tell them that you are late signing on. Lee Can you repeat what you just said? Xia What’s his number? Lee Can you tell me again what you just said? Xia [The phone rings. Xia answers]

Good afternoon. Yes, yes, speaking. Thank you for calling back so quickly. He is. Okay, okay, thank you so much. Thank you. So we wait for the phone call instead of going to the job centre on Friday? Does he still need to fill in the form? Okay, I see, I see. Thank you so much, Lesley, thank you. Bye-bye. I will let him know. Bye-bye. Thank you, thank you very much. Thank you so much. Bye-bye, bye-bye.

Wow, what a lovely lady. She rang back. That never happens. It seems you’ve told them before, so you don’t need to go to the job centre, and there’s no need to fill in the JSA 211. Lee

I don’t need.

Xia Just wait for their phone call. Lee They are going to phone me? Xia An advisor will ring you before five o’clock today. He will give you a new time. Make sure you take his phone call. His number will start with zero three, okay? Lee What if I can’t understand him? Xia Ask him to find an interpreter for you. Lee Does he have one? Xia Ask him to find one for you. Lee How do I say it? Xia You are exempt from all these forms. It looks as though they already know your circumstances. Lee And this is the address? Xia Yes, you will have to go to the neighbourhood office. You have to do that yourself. Lee Is he the one who will move me to another place?

80  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Xia What? No, that has nothing to do with him. It’s too late to go today. You should go on Monday. Lee What about replying to my landlord? Xia Why do you need to reply to your landlord? Just tell him you have a good chance of getting the benefit, and you expect to have the money on Monday, that’s all. Lee My landlord’s agent asked me to text him or ring him today. Xia To tell him what? Lee What my situation is. Xia Just say it’s done. Lee It’s done? Okay, done. Xia And say you’re waiting to pick up your payment. You’re waiting for payment, just tell him that. Lee Okay, okay, waiting for payment. Xia You might not get the full three hundred and fifty, but tell him there’s no problem, okay? Lee Do I have to reply to him? Xia Reply to him. 

Scene 19 Meili, Qi, Xia and Lifan are at their computers. Jin sits in the corner with her laptop. They are in conversation about everyday matters.

Meili He just got used to living on nothing when he died. Qi

I don’t get it.

Xia That’s the thing with jokes, if you have to explain why they’re funny they probably aren’t funny. Qi Why is it funny? Meili It probably isn’t funny. Qi He just got used to living on nothing when he died? Lifan Who did, the horse? Meili Never mind. Qi Your son told you that? Meili He heard it at school. Qi Why is it funny? Meili No, you’re right, it probably isn’t, not really. Lifan We used to have a horse, well, not really a horse, a mule, used to pull the cart. Xia A different life. Lifan

I was a child.

Qi The things they bring home from school. Meili Jokes? Qi

I don’t understand half of it.

Meili Like what? Qi The words. Lifan Had to clean out the straw from the shed. Filthy job. Qi

I can’t think of one now. 81

82  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Xia You mean like fam. Lifan Make sure there was water, enough food in winter. Meili Peng. Xia Blood. Meili Wagwan. Lifan

I was the youngest. I had the worst jobs. My brothers did nothing, they never lifted a finger.

Xia Chirpsing. Meili Dench. Lifan Lit. Meili Peak. Lifan Wetin. Xia Bangin. Lifan Lush. Xia Long. Meili Jokes. Xia Jokes? Qi You could be speaking Russian for all I know. Meili You’ve got to get down with the kids, man. Jin But we have that as well, like chinsumer. Meili Yes, smilence. Xia Harmany. Lifan It’s not really the same. Jin Departyment. Lifan

I don’t know.

Qi You get to the point where you can’t understand your own children. You wouldn’t think a school like that would allow it. Xia Wait – what day is it? What day is it? Jin Wednesday. Xia Have you done your lottery? I have to do my lottery. It’s the rollover. Nineteen point six million.



Scene 19  83

Meili How much? Jin Nineteen point six million pounds. Xia Can you imagine? Meili What would you do with it? Nineteen point six million. Xia When you come to think about it, you don’t really know how you would spend it. Meili A new car. Xia Takes you down to nineteen point five. Qi A nice house. Xia Nineteen million left. Meili Clothes, jewellery. Jin Eighteen point nine. Meili You could give it to charity. Xia Some of it. Jin Eighteen point eight. Meili Travel round the world on a cruise ship. Jin Eighteen point seven. Xia It’s not easy to spend that amount of money. Qi Give up work, you could, that would be something. Meili Then you think what would you do all day. Xia End up watching repeats of Pointless. Qi

Deal or No Deal.

Xia

Bargain Hunt.

Qi

Supermarket Sweep.

Lifan You know what I would do, I’d go into space, one of those rocket trips they’re going to do. Meili The space shuttle. Qi Space station. Xia An astronaut. Lifan Not necessarily an astronaut. Meili Yes.

84  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Lifan So quiet, so beautiful, the solitude, everything in slow motion, stars, planets, nothing. Meili You wouldn’t be scared? Xia

I would. Rockets can explode.

Lifan Everything in slow motion, silence, nothing, slow motion, silence. 

Scene 20 A woman, Yan, in her early thirties, wants help with a demand for repayment of debts associated with a former relationship. She sits beside Meili’s desk. Lifan and Xia are at their desks; Qi is not. Jin sits in the corner, typing at her laptop computer.

Yan Can you help me to look at this letter. I don’t understand why I owe so much money. We’re separated, and I don’t know why I have got a letter chasing this debt. I don’t think I owe them this money. Meili Who’s this? Yan It’s my ex-boyfriend. I don’t know where he is now. And these two letters are the same, the same amount of money. Meili He’s your ex-boyfriend, right? Yan Yes we separated. Meili When was that? Yan Last year, last year, a long time ago. I can’t remember. Meili So when you were together did you ever apply for tax credit jointly? Yan Yes. Meili And after that, did you inform them when you moved in together, or is it that you didn’t let them know when you separated? Yan We told them when we separated. Meili You informed them? Yan Yes, we did. Meili Let me make a phone call to find out for you. We need to find out why they have come after you for this money. Yan Good. Meili Normally the repayment should be split between the two of you. Each of you should pay half, okay? Let me find out for you. Give me your National Insurance number. Yan

I thought it stopped when we separated. I’ve paid back three 85

86  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

thousand pounds already for the overpayment of child benefit. I had to pay back fifty pounds a month. It took me years to clear it off. Meili The situation should be obvious to them, it’s straightforward enough. They must know that both of you are liable for half of the repayment. Yan We did tell them that we were separated. We cancelled our benefits immediately. Meili Or could it be that you didn’t specify the date of your separation? Yan We did, we rang in to tell them. Meili Let me have a look at it. It must be due to an overpayment. There can’t be any other reason. It looks like they have handed over your case to a debt collection company, and one thing for sure, you will have to return all the money overpaid to you. Yan

I don’t think.

Meili There’s no way to get away from it. If you don’t pay it back they can deduct it from your salary, or from your benefits. Yan

I cancelled everything when we separated.

[Meili makes a phone call to a debt collector, DC. She switches on the speaker phone.]

DC Hello, good afternoon. How can I help? Meili Hi, hello. I work as a community advisor. I’m calling on behalf of my client. She’s with me, yes, she’s here with me now. I think she can. Hang on a minute.

Just like before. [She passes the phone to Yan.] Yan Hello.

DC Hello, can you please give me your National Insurance number? Yan

S N one two four four seven four D.

DC Sorry, is that B for bravo at the end? Yan

D for door, D for door.

DC

D for dog?

Yan

D for door.

DC It’s D for dog, okay. Yan No, no, A B C D.



DC

Scene 20  87

D, yeah, D for dog.

Yan Okay, yeah. DC Okay, so we got S for sugar, N for November. Yan Yeah, yeah. DC One two four four seven four. Yan Yeah, yeah, yeah. DC

D for dog.

Yan Yeah, thank you. DC Oh, that’s fine. Can you tell me your date of birth please? Yan Seventeen October, nineteen eighty-nine. DC And where were you born? Yan

China.

DC Okay, you’ve passed your security. Now, if you’d like the other lady to speak on your behalf, that’s fine.

Yan Yeah, okay. Meili [She switches off the speaker] Right, she received a letter from the debt recovery agency about her overpayment, two thousand nine hundred and eighty-five pounds and five pence. She doesn’t know how this overpayment has happened. Can you explain it please? Eighty-five and five. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, okay, okay. Thank you, thank you.

[To Yan] He says it’s from some years ago. It’s one of two overpayments you have to pay back. He’s now looking into the records for eleven to twelve, and years twelve to thirteen. Yan That’s all been sorted already. They must be mistaken. We got our status in two thousand and eleven, so it must be his benefits. Meili He’s going to work out the breakdown of the overpayment. According to him, it’s from quite a few years ago. If you jointly applied you are both liable for the overpayment. Yan We did apply for it jointly but…. Meili Where is this person? Yan He’s gone now. I don’t know where he is. Meili You don’t know where he is?

88  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Yan We split up and I don’t know where he is. Meili If you applied jointly, whichever one of you they can get hold of will be responsible for the payment. Yan

I don’t know where he is.

Meili If you know where he is, it’s better for you if you tell them. Yan But where did this overpayment come from? Meili It must be because of something that happened to you, but you didn’t inform them in time, like when you split up, or got together, or quit your job, or changed your employer. Yan No, I did. Meili It must be that you didn’t inform them in time, and they have found out that you claimed more than you were entitled to. Yan That’s not right. Meili If it’s because of the separation, you quit your job, or changed your job, you’ll have to tell them. Yan It isn’t. Meili If you quit your job on the first of April but you only told them on the first of August, you would have had four months’ overpayment, so you need to pay that money back. Yan That isn’t.… Meili It must be something like that. Yan

I’m sure that isn’t.…

Meili He’s looking up the details for you. They probably found out from the tax department. There are so many possibilities, it could be anything. They will have records that go back. It was several years ago, but the records never expire. Yan It’s so many years ago that I can’t remember anything. Meili It’s always there on the record. They always come back to it. The fact that they have done nothing so far doesn’t mean they won’t take action now. Yan But I don’t even know about this money. Meili You don’t know about it?



Scene 20  89

Yan If I knew I would have sorted it out earlier, but they didn’t tell me anything about it. I have no idea what this is about. Meili As I say, he’s finding out, he’s looking into the breakdown of the overpayment. Once he gets the details you will have to pay back what you owe. Yan

I don’t think I owe anything.

Meili They haven’t taken the payment by force. They haven’t sent anyone round to your house, or deducted money directly from your account. They can do those things. Yan If they had sent me a letter I would have come to you before. I asked one of my friends to ring them, but she couldn’t get through, that’s why I came to see you. Meili The tax office passed it on to this debt recovery company. Yan

I sent my son back to China. I didn’t inform them in time, but I told them everything later on, and paid back all the money.

Meili If your son is not here anymore, that could be where the problem is. Yan

I told them myself.

Meili You have to tell them straight away. It’s not good if you only told them later. Yan

I told them the date my son went to China, and I have given back that money. I’ve no idea why I suddenly have to repay so much.

Meili He’s investigating it. Yan

I paid my tax as normal. If I hadn’t I’m sure they wouldn’t have paid me benefits. When we split up I reported it myself. I don’t understand how this has happened.

Meili Like I said, if you applied jointly they will come after whichever of you they can find. It would be better if they could contact both of you, so that you can share the repayment. Then you can discuss how to pay it back between the two of you. [DC returns on the telephone.] Meili Hello, yes, that’s okay. Yes, she did say it’s her previous partner. Uh-hum, yeah. It’s breaking up, can you please repeat the sentence? Okay, okay, okay, yeah, uh-hum, um-huh, uh-hum, yeah, okay, okay, yeah, uh-hum, okay, uh-hum, uh-hum, yeah, okay, yes. Can we just pause for a few minutes? I need to explain so she understands.

90  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

He said it’s your separation. According to his records, you separated on 31st January, but they kept paying you until 21st August. This is how it has happened. Okay? And according to them, after 20th August you wrote to them saying that you are going to pay back all the money you owed, but they say you haven’t. Yan

I don’t think so.

Meili On 22nd September HMRC wrote you a letter asking for your bank account details, because you had agreed to pay the money back. But they say nothing has happened since then because you didn’t provide your bank details, you were supposed to. Yan That’s not. Meili There’s an overpayment of eight hundred and thirty-one pounds over the seven months after you split up. Yan

I don’t think.

Meili They had a record of your payment of four hundred pounds, but nothing more since then. Now the outstanding balance is overdue by two years, so they have passed it on to this debt recovery company to sort out. Yan

I don’t recall that I ever made a payment of four hundred.

Meili He said their records show that they received this payment. It might have been deducted from your income. Yan Tell them I have no capacity to pay it off now. Meili There’s no choice, you have to start making regular payments. We need to ring them to negotiate how to pay it off in instalments. You’ve done that before, right? Yan Yes. Meili So do you understand about the overpayment now? Yan

I understand, yes, I understand.

Meili You understand. [She speaks to DC on the phone]

Hello. Thanks for your patience. The client understands where this overpayment has come from now. If she wants to pay, do we call this number? Okay, thanks for the reminder. Thanks very much. Okay, bye-bye, bye. You too, bye-bye.

[To Yan] He said if you decide to pay it off we need to ring this number, but he reminded me that no matter what, you should start



Scene 20  91

to make payments immediately, otherwise you could be in a lot of trouble. What I will do is negotiate with them a minimum payment each month, the smaller the better, all right? Yan

I didn’t know about this money.

Meili The only thing you can do is find this person. If you can’t, you’ll have to pay it all yourself. Yan It’s no use. Even if I can find him, he’ll only wash his hands of it. I don’t expect a penny from him. Meili You can give his address to the company, so you each pay half of the debt. Separation involves the two of you. Yan He won’t care. Leave it. I don’t want any trouble. Meili How much can you afford to pay back a month? Yan Fifty a month, if that’s okay. My brain gets so messed up with all the money I owe. Meili Now at least you know what it is. 

Scene 21 Xia, Qi, Meili and Lifan currently have no clients. They ask Jin about the purpose and conclusions of her research.

Lifan This research you’re doing, you come here, listen to our sessions with clients in the advice centre, you make notes, you record what we say. Jin Yes. Lifan So what is it exactly that you’re after? What do you think your conclusions will be? What is it all leading to? Jin It’s too early to say what the outcomes will be, but we’re interested in how you help people to access rights and resources, how you assist them not only with English, but also to make sense of the welfare system, to negotiate migration law, taxation, insurance. How you enable them to deal with bureaucratic worlds where often they are lost. Lifan And you do some kind of analysis? Jin

I have weekly meetings with two professors. We look at transcripts of recordings, interviews and field notes. I translate sections of the transcripts. We think through the material together, and we discuss the meanings and implications.

Qi But what good will it do when everything is analysed? What difference will it make to people’s lives? Jin We have been thinking about different types of translation, the very skilled work you do here. There’s a lot to learn. Qi Isn’t it a bit obvious, though? People come for help with benefits or whatever, and that’s what they get. Jin We can already see that there is a whole world of knowledge here, people making sense, joining things up, doing everyday translation. It might seem obvious, but it’s a hidden art. Untrained people who learn on the job, what you might call the anonymous heroes of the modern city, what makes the city tick, what makes the diversity of the city a success, what makes it a story of inclusion rather than exclusion. 92



Scene 21  93

Qi Heroes? Jin If we can get that message out, let funders and decision-makers know what happens, and what is needed, we think that can make a difference. Lifan It’s definitely good to hear that there are positive stories coming out of the research. Qi But not every problem that comes through the door is solvable. Some people have complex problems which need specialist help. We aren’t always able to help. Meili That’s right, we are not supposed to be a one-stop shop to solve all the world’s ills. Sometimes we have to refer on to other services. Lifan And we do, we do refer. Jin Our interest is not so much in whether every individual case has a successful outcome, but in how your support gives people the chance to be a little more empowered. Xia But will your research really make any difference to the lives of people in the Chinese community in this city? Jin It’s hard to point to specific examples because change is slow. It will be long-term. Xia But without making a difference there’s no point, is there? Jin It makes a difference if we can bring to light approaches to advice and advocacy which are focused on social justice, flexibility, adaptability, doing the best for whoever comes through the door. Xia We just do our job. Jin You put the client at the centre, rather than focusing only on the rules and regulations. You work to achieve the best outcome for the client. Xia Yes, but I don’t see. Jin The impact of the research comes slowly. We work with politicians and policy-makers. We make sure that we communicate our findings as clearly as possible, in a variety of settings, and through a range of media, so we do get the message across. Meili What we need more than anything is stable and consistent funding, and more of it. Everything is on a shoestring here. We do what we can, but we are under-resourced. That’s where the money should be going.

94  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Jin Hopefully our research will have a positive effect on that, but of course there are no guarantees. Xia You’re welcome to sit in with us, but I’m not sure about any positive effect on the clients. Jin The impact of what we do is wider than the clients here. Our findings will be taken up nationally and internationally, where other people are doing similar work. Meili Internationally? Jin There will be interest, for sure. Qi Did you say you are doing similar research in other parts of the country, in other cities? Jin As part of the same project we are looking at communication in different settings in four cities. We have spent several months in each site, a market, a volleyball club, a library, a football team, an arts organisation, a community centre, places where people come into contact and have a reason to communicate with each other. Xia Is it all with Chinese communities? Jin No, no. In other cities speakers of other languages are included – Polish, Arabic, Czech, Slovak, Portuguese, Romani. It’s a very multi­ lingual project, with a multilingual research team. Qi So you record people’s conversations in all those places, in all those different languages? Jin There’s a huge amount of material. Qi It all has to be analysed? Jin First transcribed, translated into English. It’s a bit of a challenge. Qi How do you make sense of it all? I mean, it’s everyday conversation, ordinary stuff. What can you say about it that is meaningful in the end? Jin You work closely with your colleagues, have meetings, make notes, write summaries, look for patterns and repetitions, share ideas across the team, write reports. It’s all about collaboration, about jointly constructing knowledge and understanding from the material we collect, different people bringing their different expertise. Meili It must take some organisation.



Scene 21  95

Jin We have whole team days. We plan carefully, talk through issues or problems, work with partners, review progress. We learn as we go. It’s not an exact science. Xia You have done well to get that job. It’s good to work at the university. That’s a good place to work. Jin

I am hoping to do a PhD, that’s my dream.

Lifan You should definitely go for it. Qi You should. 

Scene 22 A man and woman, Kai and Lin, require help with their application for welfare benefits. Kai sits in front of Qi’s desk, Lin to the side. Lifan, Meili and Xia are absent. Jin sits at the desk usually occupied by Meili, typing at her laptop computer.

Qi When did you start work at the take-away? Which month? Lin Around October. Qi So that’s about six months. Lin It was October or November. Qi Have you got your pay slip with you? Kai You mean the P60? Qi Let me have a look. Lin Is that what you need? Qi Is this right? Lin It is probably right. Qi It doesn’t look right. Lin Are they going to give me a tax rebate? Qi It’s not a tax rebate. Qi Do you have any other income? Lin No, I don’t. Qi They will check your total income for the last two years. Lin Who? Qi Every penny earned by your family. Lin Why? Qi You have to declare it. Lin For two years? Qi They will make a deduction based on that. 96



Scene 22  97

Lin On income or savings? Qi It’s quite likely that you will get nothing in the end. Lin Nothing? Qi It’s likely that you will get nothing. Lin Why? Qi Is this for the whole fifty-two weeks? Lin

I’m not sure.

Qi How come you paid so little tax last year? Lin He only worked a few months last year. Qi Why have you paid so little tax this year? Kai

I don’t know.

Qi If you were working, why is your tax so low? Kai

I don’t know.

Qi This is not going to be enough. Lin

I don’t understand.

Qi It needs to look more convincing. Lin How? Qi They won’t give you anything based on this. Kai

I only started working for them in October or November.

Qi Is there something missing? Kai

I don’t know.

Qi Ask your employer if they got the figure wrong. Kai Okay. Qi You get paid six twenty-five an hour. It’s not enough. Kai Six twenty-five, that’s right. Qi It’s not enough. Lin Six twenty-five. Qi It doesn’t look right. Lin Okay.

98  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Qi Those figures don’t look right. Lin Uh? Qi The minimum wage is more than that. Lin Minimum wage? Qi Why are you are paid less than the minimum wage? Kai Minimum wage? Qi You’d better tell your boss. Kai So it should be higher? Qi Like I said. Kai How much did the pay slip say I was paid? Qi Six twenty-five. Lin That’s less than the minimum wage? Qi More than a pound less. Lin How much should it be each week? Qi They could make further investigations into the business. Kai Investigations? Qi Employers don’t always pay their staff what they should. Kai That’s right. Qi But you don’t want to mess things up, right? Kai No. Qi They don’t pay you well, but…. Kai They tell you that you have got a pay rise, but actually…. Qi At the same time you don’t want to get your boss into trouble. Kai No. Qi If you want to get working tax credit your weekly income has to look right, okay? Kai Okay. Lin

I don’t know what.

Qi Is it possible your employer got the figure wrong?



Scene 22  99

Kai Possibly. Qi Do you have any savings in the bank? Lin Not much. Qi What, a few thousand? Lin Maybe. Qi Do you have more than six thousand? Lin Yes, six thousand, yes. Qi How many thousands? Can you tell me? Lin

I’m not sure, hehehe.

Qi You can still apply if you have more than six thousand, but there will be a deduction. Lin Deduction? Qi They will deduct one pound for every two hundred and fifty pounds. Lin One pound for every two hundred and fifty? Qi They will know how much is in your account. Lin Is it okay to declare only one account? Qi No, no, it’s your entire savings and income, for both of you. You have to declare it all. Lin Everything? Qi They will ask about your total assets. You have to tell them about all of your accounts. If you don’t tell them and they find out they will track all the money you have been paid. Lin We have to tell them everything? Qi You can’t get away from it. You have to include accounts for your children, trust funds, things like that. That counts as well. Lin Trust funds? Qi Some people think that doesn’t count, and try to hide it, but it does. I don’t know how much more than six thousand you have. Lin

I’m not sure.

Qi You have to tell the truth. Lin

I have to check.

100  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Qi You won’t get anything if you have more than sixteen thousand. You don’t have that much, do you? Kai No, we don’t. Qi They will find out. Kai Do we need to provide pay slips? Qi No, not pay slips, but they will check your total savings. Lin How will they know? Qi They can find out. Kai So now what? Qi They will ask you how much you get paid per week. Then they will do the calculation. Kai Actually paid? Qi If your benefits entitlement is a hundred a week, and you get paid a hundred and ten a week, it cancels the benefit, so you get nothing. Lin Nothing? Qi You can apply for it, but you won’t get anything. Lin Nothing? Qi It cancels out. Lin Oh, I see. Qi Let’s see what happens. Okay? Lin Okay. 

Scene 23 Jin discusses with Meili and her colleagues Xia, Qi and Lifan the development of the Chinese Community Centre.

Meili I’ve been here longer than any of you. I came in the late seventies, as a student, as an overseas student from Hong Kong. Jin What did you make of it when you arrived? Meili It was a shock to me. The weather was really bad. It was September. Really it was a shock. Jin Why was it such a shock? Meili The weather, the culture, the whole place was a shock. I didn’t enjoy it, didn’t like it. I hated it, but now…. Jin You love it? Meili Almost forty years. I don’t love it, no, I don’t love it, but I am still here. I don’t love it. I don’t love the place, no. Jin Still hate the weather. Meili I came nearly forty years ago, thirty-eight years ago this month, almost to the day, and thirty-eight years later I am still here. Jin You just get on with it. Meili I got a job that was supposed to be temporary, but it’s just amazing, after all these years, I am still working in the same place. Jin Did you come on your own? Meili No, I came with my two sisters to study. Three girls together. We were companions for each other, we looked out for each other, it wasn’t that bad. It was bad, but not that bad. Jin It’s easier to stay here when you have a job, you have something that you can commit to. Meili It’s a commitment because of the job, family, husband, but to be honest I don’t intend to stay here when I retire, not at all. Jin Retirement? You’ve got a long way to go before you talk about retirement, you’re not old enough. 101

102  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Meili Yes, retirement soon. I was trained as a social worker, juvenile community worker in the eighties. After I got my qualification I was offered this job by the community centre. I loved the job. Jin What was it like back then? Meili What was it like? There was nothing for the Chinese community at that time. People lived and worked in silence. Jin In silence? Meili There was no voice for them, nothing for the Chinese community. It was hard, it was difficult. Jin But you came to work here? Meili Luckily we won some funding from the council back in the early eighties. It was a challenge. Most people we dealt with, young families, they came on work permits in the seventies and eighties, brought their families. It was a struggle for them, a struggle. Jin What were the difficulties? Meili They lived in the city with little help. They struggled because of the language. They were mainly from Hong Kong, from the New Territories. They spoke Hakka. They had no English, so it was hard, it was very hard. They didn’t even have the basics. They knew nothing. Jin So they couldn’t access resources because they didn’t speak English? Meili Yes, but it wasn’t only the language. Chinese families lived in small houses. They shared with three or four other families. There was overcrowding. Facilities were really limited. Jin In the same house? Meili We helped the families, helped them to settle, to get the kids into education, find them a school, help with better accommodation, help them apply for benefits. Jin Were you funded at that time? Meili Eventually the city council gave us some funding. That’s how we managed to employ staff to work with the families. It was hard, it was a really hard time. People needed that bit of support. Jin Yes. Meili Gradually, we were able to take people to hospital, to translate for them at health appointments, to negotiate with social services, to



Scene 23  103

attend parents’ evenings in school. Things started gradually getting on track. Jin

I see.

Meili Then the problems were not only about education, housing, accommodation. Kids were getting older. You got more issues with schools. There was bullying. Kids got bullied, we got involved with the teachers, with the school head, governors. Jin Right. Meili Also with family issues involving grandparents. That generation has got old now. Grandchildren. Social services involved as well. The issues are more complex. Jin How complex? Meili We need more help, more funding from the council to deliver more services. There is more demand from Chinese families, more demand from the Chinese community. It’s challenging. Jin Yes. Meili The lack of resources, the lack of funding, it makes our job more difficult. We need more resources. Jin Mm hm. Meili These days we serve more people from mainland China, people who speak Mandarin. We have several members of staff who are tri­lingual: English, Cantonese and Mandarin. Jin That’s helpful. Meili It isn’t only catering now. People are going into other professions. They do well at school, go on to university, become doctors, accountants, lawyers, architects, business people, pharmacists. More and more young Chinese people are getting into other professions, which is a good sign, good news. They are doing well. Jin Yes. Meili But we still provide language support for people when they need it, to deal with migration issues, benefits, insurance claims, tax. If they lack confidence using English, they come to us, ask us to help. Qi We have a carer’s project for Chinese people. We have been doing that for the last ten years. It is really needed. We have funding for that.

104  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Meili A health development project. Qi A day care centre. Meili That’s three days a week. Xia Lunch club. Qi We cook a hot Chinese meal every day. Meili Mainstream services are not really appropriate for the Chinese elders because they don’t have Chinese-speaking staff, or an appropriate cultural service for Chinese people. Qi Well-being activities. Lifan Table tennis. We have table tennis club twice a week. People come into the centre Tuesday evening, or Saturday morning. People come and play table tennis with friends. It’s a kind of social club. Xia Dance group. Meili We have a dance group, transcultural dance. Again, it’s run by volunteers. We go out and perform for Chinese New Year, Mid-Autumn festival. We go around different cities and towns to perform Chinese cultural dances. That is very successful. Qi

Tai Chi classes.

Meili We run Tai Chi classes. We have a volunteer comes in. Xia Calligraphy classes. Lifan And calligraphy. We don’t just offer it to Chinese people, it’s for nonChinese as well. They are always welcome. Qi Language classes. Lifan We run language classes for Chinese and non-Chinese as well. People want to learn Mandarin these days. They come because they see it is becoming a global language. All kinds of people. Xia Dementia. Meili The dementia project. We’re running a twelve-month dementia project, which is very successful. Xia Interpreting and translation. Meili That’s another thing, interpretation and translation when people attend hospital appointments, GP appointments, the dentist, all that. That’s always been important. 

Scene 24 A young woman, Yong, dressed in expensive but casual clothes, speaks to Xia. None of the other advisors are at their desks, but Jin is present. Yong wears a hat which hides her eyes.

Xia

I spoke to your mother.

Yong Yes. Xia We’re here to find out whether you are able to live independently, and if not, what level of support you require from the government, whether to apply for benefits.

Yong Yes. Xia

I will ask you some questions and you answer in whatever way you can. You get points for your answers. The more points you earn, the more chance you have of qualifying for benefits. Do you understand?

Yong Yes. Xia The first set of questions is about whether you are able to cook for yourself, you know, make a simple meal.

Yong A simple meal? Xia Prepare a simple meal. Peeling, chopping, opening a packet. Like peeling potatoes. Can you? Chopping an onion. How long does it take you to prepare a simple meal? Say a cheese and tomato omelette.

Yong

I’m not a big fan of omelette.

Xia What do you like to cook? Yong

I can cook, but I’m more likely to get pizza.

Xia But cooking’s not a problem? Yong Cooking is not my biggest problem. Xia All right, the next section is about drinking. Yong Drinking? Xia Whether you need help. Do you need help? 105

106  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Yong Everyone likes a drink now and then, don’t they? I’ll have like a glass of wine or two, and leave it. At the weekend possibly a cocktail, a gin and tonic, maybe shots if I’m out in town, the same as everyone else.

Xia Yes, I don’t think it means…. Yong

I don’t drink any more than the next person. Has someone said something? There was a time when I overdid it a bit, it’s true, but I’m past that. It’s a social thing now, you know, nothing too heavy, so if you’ve heard something else I’d like to know.

Xia

I don’t think the questions mean that, but there are support lines we can contact. I can put you in touch if you have any worries.

Yong Support lines? Xia If you have a problem. Yong

I don’t have a problem.

Xia Good, good. I can tick off eating and drinking, no problem. Yong No problem. Xia The next section is washing and bathing. The first thing is washing under your arms.

Yong You want to know whether I wash under my arms? Xia That’s what the form says. Yong Have you got the right form? Xia It’s about washing your limbs, face, underarms and hair. Yong

I can wash my hair, I can wash my face, I can wash my nose, I can wash my ears, and I can wash under my arms. Maybe you can tell me what business that is of the government. What has this got to do with anything?

Xia So you don’t need help? Yong

I thought this was about applying for benefits.

Xia

I realise that not all the questions are relevant to your condition, but to make an application for benefits we have to go through the form.

Yong Condition? Xia Your condition. I spoke to your mother, whether your condition impedes your ability to look after yourself. Whether your condition affects your ability to live an independent life.

Yong What condition?



Xia

Scene 24  107

I mean, don’t you, you don’t have a diagnosis? You haven’t….

Yong Diagnosis?

I’m not sick. I want to make an application for benefits. Why would I need a diagnosis? What is this?

Xia Okay, well, I’m just going to put that bathroom needs are not a problem for you. Maybe we can get through the rest of the form quite quickly. So, dressing and undressing. Whether you can dress yourself, and whether you can choose clothes that are appropriate. Can you?

Yong Choose clothes that are appropriate? Xia That’s what it says on the form. Yong What is this, the fashion police? Xia Does someone else select your clothes? Yong

I choose my own clothes.

Xia

I’m going to put down no problem for dressing and undressing. Next is communicating. Do you have problems communicating?

Yong Sometimes I have no idea why the person I’m talking to is asking me stupid and irrelevant questions. It’s like I’m on some sort of parallel track. I am able to hear the other person but unable to make sense of what they’re saying. Their words are familiar but they don’t have any meaning, you know? I’m not sure why it is.

Xia Is this a symptom of your condition? Yong It’s a symptom of the fact that I’m talking to someone who appears to be asking me questions from the wrong government form.

Xia Next

is reading. Can you read signs, symbols and words? Do you need someone to explain them to you?

Yong Where will this form go when you have finished? Who sees the answers? Who makes the decision?

Xia The decision-maker. Yong What? Xia The decision-maker makes the decision. Yong The decision-maker. Xia At the benefits office. The decision-maker. Yong Of course. Stands to reason. The decision-maker. Xia

I am putting that you can read and understand written sentences without any help, okay?

108  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Yong Whatever. You can put down my three A-levels as well if you like. Xia Mixing with other people. Can you? Do you have friends? Would you say that you can socialise? Do you find it difficult to mix with other people because of anxiety or stress?

Yong Anxiety or stress? What am I supposed to be anxious about? Xia In a social situation I mean, are you able to get on in a group of people, or even with one other person? Do you get anxious about it?

Yong You’re sure you haven’t got the wrong form? Xia

I’m putting down that you can socialise with other people. Now, about money.

Yong Finally. Isn’t that what we’re here for? Xia What it means is, can you manage money? Do you know how much things cost?

Yong Can I manage money? I don’t have any money to manage. That’s why I’m here, to apply for benefits. Xia In general, you know, things like how much change you should get, what you can buy for a pound, that sort of thing. Paying your bills. Can you do that? Or does someone help you?

Yong

I can do that.

Xia What about your condition? Does it stop you thinking clearly and planning your budget? Does it get in the way of paying bills and planning future purchases? Do you know what I mean?

Yong Read my lips. I do not have a condition. Xia Your mother said, well okay, have it your own way. Yong What did my mother say? Xia

I’m going to say you can plan your budget and pay your bills without any help. But you don’t score any points for that. Unless you say you have problems with these things, you will not score points, and that won’t help your claim for benefits.

Yong You want me to make it up? Xia The next section is about going out. Are you ever prevented from going out by severe anxiety or stress?

Yong Haven’t you already asked me that?



Scene 24  109

Xia You can plan how to get somewhere, and find your way there, without any help, it’s not a problem for you? I mean, you got here today. You can find out when the bus is coming, that sort of thing.

Yong Here I am. Xia The last one is about moving around, about mobility. Can you walk all right, or do you need help?

Yong To walk? Xia Can you walk the length of five buses parked end to end? Yong You want to know if I can walk as far as five buses? Xia That’s what it says, parked end to end. Yong Five buses? Xia Five buses. Yong Is it a joke? Xia It’s about mobility. Can you walk? Yong

I can walk, run, skip, hop, jive, boogie, jitterbug, tap dance and do the mashed potato. But what has any of it got to do with my benefits application?

Xia It’s about your condition. The question is asking whether, in your condition, you can live an independent life. That’s all it is. Do you have a walking frame? Or a prosthetic leg?

Yong A what? Xia Like an artificial leg. Do you? 

Scene 25 Jin discusses personal and family issues with advisors Xia, Qi, Meili and Lifan in a moment when no clients are present.

Qi That was where I met my husband. It was a grim place in some ways, but it will always mean something to me. Meili And you moved here together? Qi We moved here together, nearly twenty years ago. Jin Where is your husband from? Qi Where’s he from? Jin Which part? Qi He’s from Cardiff. Jin But before that I mean. Where’s he from? Qi

Cardiff, well, Tiger Bay.

Jin Originally though. Qi His parents were both from Tiger Bay, but I think his grandad worked in the steel factory at Port Talbot. Jin He’s not from China? Qi

China? No, he’s Welsh. I think his family was originally Italian, going right back.

Jin Oh, he’s not Chinese. Qi He might be a bit more Chinese than when we met. I’m working on it. Jin Oh, ha ha ha! Meili How did you two get together then? Qi He was my English teacher when I first arrived. Jin Oh, he was your teacher. Qi He had these sideburns, like a shorter version of Tom Jones. 110



Scene 25  111

Jin Can he sing? Qi Not so you’d notice. Meili But he was like Tom Jones? Qi It was the sideburns. Jin Was he a good teacher? Qi He always said I spoke English with a Welsh accent. Meili You picked up his Welsh accent? Qi That’s what he always said. Xia

I can’t hear it.

Jin It’s quite romantic. Lifan

I don’t know.

Jin What do you mean? Lifan That teacher–student thing. I don’t know. Jin It’s not like she was a child. Lifan No, but there’s a power dynamic. Xia They were both consenting adults. Lifan

I’m just saying.

Xia But you can’t know. Lifan All right, I’m sorry I said anything, it’s just.… Xia If you like your teacher, and your teacher likes you, and you are both footloose and fancy-free, where’s the harm? Qi He was married actually, but he was never happy. Lifan Having that power, being the authority figure, it’s a bit dodgy is all. Jin You can’t…. Lifan

I mean, is it a basis for an equal relationship?

Xia Dodgy? Lifan It is though. Xia Why dodgy? Meili He was married when you met, when you started going out?

112  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Qi He wasn’t happy. Meili Even so. Qi It was on its last legs. Xia You can’t say it’s dodgy. They could have been the same age. Qi He was going to end it. Jin

Tom Jones was from Tiger Bay, wasn’t he?

Lifan The teacher has the power in the relationship. Xia What if the teacher is the woman and the student is the man? Meili Or a woman and a woman. Jin Or a man and a man. Lifan It’s unequal. Meili These days. Xia

LGBT.

Meili It’s all trans now. Lifan That’s not the point: it’s about unequal relations of power. Meili My daughter’s best friend turns out to be gender neutral. Xia What’s that? Jin It’s a different identification, more flexible. Xia It’s not the same if the teacher is a woman. Lifan

I don’t know, I still think….

Meili I met my husband in China. Jin So you came over together? Qi So what does it mean, gender neutral? Jin How people identify. Meili We were in the same group at college. We had the chance to come over to study. We came at the same time. Xia That’s nice. Meili We didn’t really know each other. Jin You got together when you arrived here?



Scene 25  113

Meili He’s a solicitor now. Xia He’s a solicitor? Meili He works in a solicitor’s office, he’s not an actual solicitor. Xia He’s not a solicitor? Meili In a solicitor’s office. Qi My daughter wants to be a solicitor, or a barrister. Xia What’s the difference again? Qi

I think a barrister is more important.

Xia Which one wears a wig? Lifan A wig? Xia One of them wears a wig. Qi

I think that’s the barrister.

Lifan Better salary for a barrister. Meili His friends are solicitors. Xia Not barristers? Meili We had them round for dinner once. Xia You had the solicitors round for dinner? Meili And their wives. I spent the whole day cooking. Xia What were they like? Meili It was such an occasion. Xia What were the wives like? Lifan They were all men? Meili There were the wives. Lifan But the solicitors. Meili It was a triumph. Lifan The solicitors were all men? Xia They liked the food? Meili We started with cocktails, strawberry daquiris. My husband has a book.

114  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Xia What did you cook? Meili They said it was a banquet. Xia Who said? Meili The wives. Xia A banquet? Meili That’s what they said. Xia When was this? Meili A few years ago, a few years ago. Xia They didn’t come again? Meili They’re very busy people, very busy. Jin [To Lifan] What about your husband? Lifan We came from Hong Kong together twenty-five years ago. Jin As students? Lifan Not students. We had work permits, at that time it wasn’t difficult, you only had to apply. Jin Is he still working? Lifan

I suppose he is. I don’t know. I don’t see him.

Jin Oh, you’re not together now? Xia What happened? Did he walk out? Lifan It was over the referendum. Xia What was? Lifan He said he was going to vote ‘leave’. Qi He was going to vote ‘leave’? Lifan

I said if you vote ‘leave’ it means leave.

Xia Seriously? You told him to leave? Lifan He voted ‘leave’ so I told him to leave. Qi That’s just politics though, it’s not like it’s real life. Meili No, I can see that. You can’t live with someone who has the opposite point of view. You can’t. Xia It’s one vote though. Your marriage is for the whole of your life.



Scene 25  115

Meili You can’t spend the whole of your life with someone who…. Xia You don’t have to talk about politics. Meili I don’t think you can avoid it. Every time the news comes on the radio, you turn on the TV, open the newspaper, look at the computer. Xia Didn’t some people vote ‘leave’ because they felt left behind, dis­ enfranchised? They wanted to be noticed for once. Qi If you love someone. Meili You can’t love someone. I don’t think you can. Qi It’s a bit radical though, ‘leave’ means leave and he has to leave. Meili What would you talk about? You would have no point of reference. It defines who you are. Lifan

I think that’s right. It isn’t whether you talk about it, or what you talk about, it’s who you are, what kind of person you are. It means signing up to the lies when you know they are lies. It means signing up to isolationism, to pulling up the drawbridge, to fake news, to discrimination, to inequality.

Xia It’s just politics though. Meili You can’t look someone in the eye. Xia But then what? You’re on your own. Meili No, I can see that, I can. You can’t sit across the breakfast table. 

Scene 26 A man, Wang, needs help with his application for Employment Support Allowance. He is accompanied by his wife, Fan. They sit beside Meili’s desk. Lifan and Xia are at their desks. Jin sits at the desk usually occupied by Qi, typing at her laptop computer.

Wang A couple of days ago I received a letter asking me to confirm my identity. Meili From who? Wang I have it here. They took a copy of my visa and my passport. Meili It’s an application form for getting the government allowance for not being able to work, but not the one for disability. And they ask for your proof of visa and passports. Have you handed them in? Wang Yeah, I did. Meili Did you hand them in yourself, or post them? Wang The staff there made copies of the documents. Meili You’ve been there? You gave them the originals and they took copies of them, did they? Wang That’s right. Meili We will have to wait then. They will send you a form like this, but a white one. It will ask a lot of questions, such as can you have a shower yourself, cook for yourself, go shopping by yourself, things like that. Wang Oh all right. Meili They still need to see the evidence themselves. They will need to confirm that you have residence status here first before they send you the form. They will need proof. Wang Okay. Meili And then you need to fill it in and send it back to them, so further waiting time. After that, they will either ask you to go into their office for an interview, or they will come to your place. 116



Scene 26  117

Wang They will come to our home? Meili They might. It can take months before a decision is made. Some applicants make a full recovery by the time their application is granted. Wang But some get worse? Meili I suppose. Wang They will come to our home? Meili Normally they won’t give you a lifelong award. They might only give it to you for a few years in the first instance, then review it later. Wang Now I’ve left my job, what happens next? Meili Will you apply for ESA? Wang I wouldn’t know about that. Meili Were you self-employed? Whose name is the business in? Wang No, no, it’s not ours. We work for someone else. Meili The take-away is not yours? Wang No, it’s not ours. Our employer owns it. Meili Both of you work for them? Wang Yeah, we do. Meili Have you ever been self-employed? Wang No, we haven’t, we haven’t. Meili Have they ever paid you sick leave payments? Wang No, no, I haven’t applied, never. Meili Have you ever had a sick note from your doctor? Wang No, I haven’t asked for one. Meili You haven’t got one? Wang No, I haven’t. Meili How are you going to apply without a sick note? Wang I can show you letters from the hospital. Meili Let me see them. Wang Yes. Meili But without your sick note, your application will not be valid. In English it’s called a sick note.

118  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Wang Sorry? Meili In English it’s called a sick note. You can get it from your doctor. Wang What is it? Meili The sick note needs to cover at least three months. Wang Only three months? Meili It will say which dates you are unfit to work. Wang So he needs a sick note from the doctor? Meili That’s right. Without a sick note there’s no chance. Wang I will tell them. Meili You can’t just say you’re sick, they need to see the evidence. Wang A sick note? Meili When you have filled in the form you have to send in your sick note, to show the dates you are not fit to work. Then they decide if you qualify, and how much they should grant you. Wang Can you write it down for me? Meili [She writes on a sheet of paper and reads what she has written in English.] Sick note. If you ask the doctor, she will know what it is, it’s universal. It’s printed out like a form, and it will have dates on it, from which day of which month you can’t work, and because of what condition. Wang So I need a sick note? Meili With the doctor’s signature. Wang The doctor has to sign? Meili Bring me the sick note and then we can apply. What was the date you left your job? Wang It was last week. Meili What was the date? You can ask the doctor to write any date, say 13th of the month, so if they decide to give you the allowance it will be counted from that day, starting from the date on your sick note. Wang The date on the sick note? Meili

I will fill the form in as much as I can for you, then bring in your sick note when you get it.



Scene 26  119

Wang I thought it would be enough if I had the papers from the hospital. Meili I only need the page with the diagnosis, just that page, the doctor’s diagnosis report. Fan

I don’t need the hospital papers?

Meili If you can get a sick note from your doctor, you will get benefits for the first thirteen weeks. After thirteen weeks you need another sick note. Fan Another sick note? Meili The longest a sick note can cover is either three months or six months. You won’t get anything without a sick note. Fan Oh. Meili How were you going to apply without a sick note? Fan We need a sick note? Meili Without a sick note you can only apply for JSA. That’s the one where you have to sign on at the job centre every other week. Fan

JSA.

Meili You won’t need to sign on if you apply for ESA, but to do that you need a sick note. Fan

ESA.

Meili If after the first thirteen weeks you give them a new sick note, you will get paid twenty pounds extra. If they decide you can’t work at all, you will get an extra twenty-five pounds. Fan First we need a sick note from the doctor? Meili Yes, a sick note. Fan What other documents are we missing? Meili First it’s the sick note. In English it is sick note. Fan

Sick note.

Meili There will be a box for the diagnosis. They have all this information. Talk to your doctor and ask for a sick note. They will know what you are talking about. As I said, there’s a template for the sick note. It’s not handwritten, it’s a form they can fill in and print out. Fan

I will see if they can book him in to see the doctor. You have to ring early in the morning to make an appointment at the surgery, but you can still wait two or three weeks.

120  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Meili Will your doctor give sick notes? Fan

I haven’t asked.

Meili GPs sometimes refuse to give them, and get abused or even attacked. Fan Can you do anything to appeal if the doctor refuses? Meili Doctors might be reluctant to give you a sick note because they think you look fine, and there’s nothing to stop you working as normal. And they will charge you. Fan They charge? Meili They can tell if the sick note is not for your employer, if you ask for it to cover several months, they know. Fan Oh. Meili I’ve written ESA here, so your doctor will know what you need the sick note for. Fan Yes, thank you. Meili They have probably been warned by the government not to prescribe sick notes too easily, otherwise everyone will ask for one. Fan Quite possibly, quite possibly. Wang The doctor told us it will be at least six months before I can work. Meili So you shouldn’t have any trouble getting a sick note. Why didn’t you apply for sick pay in the first place? Fan Because our employers are relatives, and the government…. Wang We heard sick pay is not paid by the government, but by the employer, so we didn’t want…. Meili Have you asked the accountant? Fan Yes, and it seems that it is paid by the employer. Wang No one expects these things to happen. 

Scene 27 Xia, Qi, Meili, Lifan and Jin discuss plans for holidays.

Xia Is anyone going on holiday this year? Meili I’m going with my three children. It’s the first time the four of us have been away for years. Xia Oh, where are you going? Meili A small Hebridean island called South Uist. Jin Hebridean? Meili Off the coast of Scotland. It’s very remote. We are volunteering for a week. It’s a permaculture project on a farm. It’s my daughter’s idea. Xia Sounds a bit cold. Jin Permaculture? Xia Is it like permafrost? Meili It’s about community resilience, ecosystems, respecting nature, mini­ mis­ing waste, maximising the benefit to the environment. Xia Where will you stay? Meili There’s a bunkhouse. You share it with other volunteers. It’s quite cheap for a twin room. Jin It’s important to spend time with your children. Xia They’re not children any more though, are they? Meili Well no, they…. Xia

I’d rather keep my creature comforts. It sounds a bit basic to me. I don’t like the sound of a bunkhouse.

Lifan

I’m going to Hong Kong for two weeks as usual.

Qi And it doesn’t exactly seem like a holiday. Too much like hard work if you ask me. Meili My daughter has done it before. She says it’s good, a nice atmosphere. You meet new people, a sort of community. 121

122  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Lifan Doing something for the environment, we should all be doing that. If everyone does something, however small. Meili It’s a way to get out of the city, get some fresh air, live the healthy life for a week, spend time with my children. I’m looking forward to it. They speak Gaelic up there. Lifan Don’t forget to send us a postcard. Xia Do they even have a post office? Qi

I’m going to Rome.

Jin Oh, that’s nice. Xia Just you and your husband? Meili Isn’t Italy expensive? Lifan

I would love to go to Rome. I’m so jealous.

Xia Just the two of you? Lifan How long for? Jin It’s wonderful, you’ve got the Colosseum. Lifan The Vatican. Xia The Sistine Chapel. Meili The Forum. Lifan The Borghese. Xia

Palatine Hill.

Meili St Peter’s Basilica. Xia The Pantheon. Jin The catacombs. Lifan The Trevi fountain. Jin

Castel Sant’Angelo.

Xia

Piazza del Popolo.

Meili Spanish Steps. Xia

Piazza Navona.

Jin

Pyramid of Caius Cestius.

Lifan

Baths of Caracalla.



Scene 27  123

Xia The Lateran Obelisk. Jin

Bocca del Verita.

Lifan Oh yes, remember that film? That scene with Burt Lancaster? Jin

Gregory Peck.

Lifan Yes, Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn. Jin They put their hands into this massive stone mouth. Lifan And it’s supposed to bite your hand off. Jin If you tell a lie. Lifan And she thinks it’s bitten his hand off. Jin Such a romantic film. Lifan

Roman Holiday.

Xia

I wish I….

Jin

I wish I could persuade my husband to go to Rome.

Meili How long are you going for? Jin Don’t go in August. Qi A week. Jin Too hot in August, and crowded. Qi My husband isn’t going. Lifan Get tickets online before you go. Jin Wear a hat, broad brim, a good hat. Xia Your husband isn’t going? Lifan The queues, avoid the queues. Xia Are you going with a friend? Jin And a scarf for the churches. Xia Isn’t your husband originally Italian? Lifan And the food, but you have to get away from the tourist traps. Qi It’s our twentieth anniversary, and his sixtieth birthday. I wanted to do something special. Jin A pair of comfortable shoes. You will be on your feet all day. Meili Is it an organised thing, like a tour party?

124  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Qi It’s just me. Meili He won’t go? Qi

I said if he won’t come, I’ll go on my own. He didn’t believe me.

Lifan You will have a lovely time, a woman travelling alone, it’s ideal. I think you will love it. Qi Yes, I think so too. 

Scene 28 A man, Bai, and his wife, Shu, require help claiming benefits as he waits for a hip replacement operation. They sit in front of Xia’s desk. Lifan, Meili and Qi are away from their desks. Jin sits at the desk usually occupied by Lifan, typing at her laptop computer.

Xia Date of birth? Shu He is 1968, January 20th. Xia And yours? Shu

1969, April 6th.

Xia And your National Insurance number? Shu Where did you put your P60? Xia

I need both of your National Insurance numbers.

Bai

I have my P60.

Xia And your current address, is that seventy-seven something? Bai Yeah, seventy-seven. Xia Seventy-seven, this one? Shu Here, here, I’ve got it here. Xia So both of you have the same address, right? And your mobile? Bai My number? Xia Here, here, I’ve got it here. There’s no need to read it out for me. Is this the right number? Bai We won’t be able to understand. What if they ring us? Xia You still need to tell them your number. And your nationality is Chinese, right? Shu Yes, we have residence status though. Xia Both of you, right? Shu Yes. 125

126  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Xia And you are married, right? Bai Yes. Xia And this, this illness, when did it start? Bai Illness? Xia The hip. Bai Probably around 2008. Xia

2008? When did this latest problem start?

Shu It was last year, and it got gradually worse. Xia We can put a date in, but it will need to be confirmed by your doctor, so you need to remember. Shu All right. Xia It’s unlikely that you will get paid from that date unless it’s the same date your doctor gives. Shu That’s all right. Xia Which month was it? Shu

I can’t remember.

Xia Roughly? Shu Probably May. Xia What was the date? Shu The date? I can’t remember. You can just fill in anything. Bai

First, first then.

Xia We’ll say first of May, and it’s your hip. Give me the letter from the doctor. I need to give a brief description of your condition. Have you got the letter from the doctor? Shu

I don’t know which one it is. It could be this one. I just put all these together. They’re from the hospital.

Xia Not this one, that’s not from the doctor. Shu Let me see, this one is about arrangements for the date of the operation. Xia In future please keep the letter from the doctor to hand. We will need to send it in with the form, okay?



Scene 28  127

Shu Right. Xia There are so many medical terms I haven’t heard of. I don’t know what they are. I have to copy them down letter by letter. Shu Hehe. Xia

I wouldn’t know what they were talking about even if they were in Chinese, apart from the word hip.

Bai It’s all medical jargon. Xia This is not very legible. I can’t tell what they are saying here. I can’t read this. Is this date in May when you are going to hospital for your operation? Shu It’s only the date to give us further information. Xia It’s not for the operation? Shu We don’t know when the operation will be. Xia Will it be in the next three months? Shu The next three or four months, that’s what they said. It’s hard to say. Xia

I thought you were going to have your operation in May.

Shu That date is for an appointment to prepare us for the operation, to give us more information. Xia Okay. Shu It will be June at the earliest. Xia Will you have your operation by nineteenth July? Bai

I don’t know.

Xia We will have to say we don’t have a definite date yet. We will leave this section for now. Shu Okay. Bai

I’m not sure if this is the letter telling me that I’m going to wait for three or four months for my operation.

Xia You are the lucky one though. You can wait for as long as a year, or a year and a half, before you get a date for your operation. Shu He can’t wait that long, his condition is too severe. Xia If you tell them that you are applying for benefits they will give you a slot tomorrow.

128  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Shu Hehehe. Bai Really? Xia Some older people have to wait ages. Once you are retired, it doesn’t matter to them how long you wait. Shu It depends what operation you are going to have. He can’t even walk. He can’t wait. Xia They will get nervous if you mention benefits. They don’t want you on benefits for too long, so you’ll get a date for your operation. Shu If he’s kept waiting for a year he won’t be able to walk. He might never walk again. Xia Does your employer cover your wages if you are sick? Bai They might. Xia If you were so ill that you couldn’t work anymore, would your employer keep paying you? Bai

I don’t know. I don’t think so.

Xia Will they give you sick pay? Bai

I don’t know.

Xia Does your employer pay your insurance or pension? Bai Not insurance, for sure. Xia Pension, sorry, pension, private pension. Does your employer pay anything into a pension for you? Bai No. Shu No. Bai There’s so much to fill in. Xia They ask very detailed questions. You don’t claim any benefits at the moment, no benefits? Bai Not at the moment, no. Xia You don’t have child benefit? Shu What’s that? Xia Milk money. When did child benefit stop? Shu My son’s.



Scene 28  129

Xia Is it two years? Shu

August two years ago.

Xia Two years ago? Shu When he finished his A-levels, he was over eighteen by the time he finished, so it ended. Xia During the last five years, have you been out of the UK for more than a year? Have you been back to China? Bai Yes. Xia How long did you stay? Shu

I went back two years ago, for about four weeks.

Xia And you have only been back once during the last five years? Shu

I go back every other year for about four weeks.

Xia Four weeks, okay. 

Scene 29 Xia announces family news to Qi, Meili, Lifan and Jin.

Xia We had some news over the weekend. Qi Oh good, something to break the endless, monotonous cycle. Xia My Jen and her boyfriend announced that they are getting married. Meili That’s wonderful news. Qi You must be very happy. Xia We can’t get over it, my Jen. Lifan This is the boyfriend with the obsessive vegan tendencies? Xia He has principles. Jin Principles are good. Qi So did he come and ask for your daughter’s hand in marriage? Xia They bought a cake. Qi Cake? Xia Lemon drizzle, Marks and Spencer. Qi Oh, nice. Xia

I made a cup of tea.

Qi Yes. Xia Then Jen told us. Meili That they are getting married. Xia Been planning it for ages. They never said anything. Qi Planning it for ages? Xia With a wedding planner. They have the date, the venue. Meili Are they getting married in church? Xia It’s humanist. Meili Humanist? Lifan What’s humanist? 130



Scene 29  131

Meili Is she? Xia It’s like Church of England, anyone can be it. Lifan What’s humanist? Qi So where? Xia An animal sanctuary. Qi Animal sanctuary? Xia The one out near the motorway. Meili Is it outside? Qi In the open? Xia Umbrellas provided if necessary. Meili Lovely. Xia She’s even chosen the dress. Qi She chose the dress without you? Xia They chose it together. Meili The boyfriend? Xia It’s vegan. Meili The dress? Qi How? Meili The dress is vegan? Lifan Is it white? Xia She showed me a picture on her phone. Lifan Is it white? Xia It’s cruelty-free. Qi Oh? Xia Ethical. Lifan Is it white? Xia They don’t want presents. Qi No presents? Xia They are asking for a donation, not less than fifty pounds.

132  Interpretations – An Ethnographic Drama

Meili From every guest? Qi Nothing personal, but I don’t mind if I’m not on the list. Jin My cousin asked for John Lewis vouchers. Meili What’s the money for? Lifan How much will it cost? Xia Seventeen thousand. Meili Pounds? Xia That’s everything, all in: drink on arrival, three-course vegan meal, wine on the table, Jelly Babies for every guest, disco until midnight. Qi Wait, is the disco outside? Xia There’s a temporary dance floor. Meili How many guests? Xia Fifty, they are inviting fifty. Jin Two thousand five hundred. Lifan What is? Jin Everyone donates fifty pounds. Qi The disco is outside? Xia It’s in July. Qi When it never rains, right? Xia They’re hiring a professional DJ. Jin Fourteen thousand five hundred. Lifan What is? Jin Still to pay, after donations. Meili They’re not asking you to pay that? Xia I…. Qi They are asking you to pay for everything? Meili That accounts for the lemon drizzle cake. Xia It was a bit dry, not like Sainsbury’s. Qi They are asking you to pay for everything?



Scene 29  133

Meili You can’t turn down your only daughter. Qi We give our children too much though, don’t we? Lifan We always have. Qi We give them everything, make life too easy. Jin It’s the Chinese way. Meili It’s not only Chinese. Jin We do though. Meili You can’t say that. There are billions of Chinese people, all different. There’s no such thing as a Chinese way. Qi Maybe we’re worse here than in China, maybe the struggle…. Meili You can’t. Qi We have to let our children stand on their own feet. Jin We only want what’s best for them. Lifan Jelly Babies? Xia For every guest. Lifan Are they vegan?