How a city transformed within 30 years… they had no natural resources, all they had was the sea, through hard work and visionary leadership, it’s currently one of the tourism hubs in Asia.
The sacrifice by its citizens and the selfless attitude by its leadership brought about the huge changes and gains, today the citizens enjoy a good standard of living…
If African citizens stop blaming leadership, stop waiting for its governments to build their societies, it could see a transformation… Also if leaders could be less selfish and corrupt and citizens would vote and choose change and not political parties, then we could also be heading there.
The citizens of this small city had the mindset of sacrificing for change. I was told in the early days when they decided to build this city collectively with their leaders, they made huge sacrifices, the citizens were ready to put less money in their pockets and their homes weren’t that much comfort.
They believed that once the society was getting better with social amenities and infrastructure and their environment looking beautiful and friendly their livelihoods will as well see some changes.
Today they may not even be part of the top 10 cities in China but their living standards and the place they call their hometown is worth the sacrifice. A foreign friend of mine visited 3 countries in West Africa and I wanted to know his thoughts or assertions about his trip. He asked me a question, which I couldn’t answer even up till now.
He wanted to know how we voted for our leaders in Africa? On what issues do people vote? His assertion was that our homes or most indoors were beautiful and clean but the roads leading to these homes is nothing to write home about.
He wasn’t only going to blame the government but also the citizens. His point was with how rich most individuals were, if every family at least fixed the road or contributes with their neighbours to at least fix the road or street in front of their homes, it could have been a starting point for a bigger change and a way to encourage the town council or city councils to do likewise.
And the name of the small town is: Qingdao.
Check below for the photos…