When about a dozen cats were abandoned by their owners in Yandlord Garden, an international community in the Pudong District, it was the neigbourhood committee that gave them a home and helped them find adopters.

The stray cats were seen wandering around in the greenland of Yandlord Garden, playing and searching for food day and night. The neighbourhood committee decided to find a shelter for the cats. They sent letters to residents asking for their suggestions and put an advertisement in the neighbourhood newspaper looking for adopters.

Finding homes for the stray cats was just one task performed by Yandlord Neigbourhood Committee. An administrative organization with governmental background, the committee is also engaged in day-to-day affairs ranging from street security to family planning.

"For some reason, the residents especially the foreign residents do not know what a neighbourhood committee is. They regard it as a spy working for the government to watch the activities of the residents," said Lu Kaiming, an official of the committee.

"In fact, the neighbourhood committe is an organization with members elected by residents to handle the day-to-day affairs in the community," said Lu.

The residents put forward proposals to the committee and have the right to elect members of the committee. The committee asks the residents for advice when it makes a decision.

"We send letters to each family and tell them our proposals. They have the right to vote for the final decision," said Lu.

The committee started publishing a community newspaper in 2002, in English and Chinese. All the news, activities and proposals are made public in the newspaper. The residents can contribute their comments and opinions.

"Their advice and opinion will guide us in making decisions. We also have to negotiate between different voices to make sure no one's rights or interests are violated," said Lu.

Yandlord Garden, one of over 30 international communities in the Pudong District, boasts over 1,900 families, 40 per cent of them foreign.

"It is a challenging job to work in the neighbourhood committee in an international community," said Lu.

In 2002, the neighbourhood committee was established in Yandlord Garden with four members sent there by the local government. The residents initially had an indifferent and even hostile attitude to the committee and its work. Cultural differences and communication problems contributed to the embarrassing situation.

"We realized the problem and we tried to solve it and made the residents realize we were part of them," said Lu.

The committee members took part in birthday parties and other activities among the residents.

"It is important to narrow the culture gap and forge links between people of different nationalities and interests in order to build a better neigbourhood," said Lu.

However, Yandlord Garden is one of only a few international communities in Shanghai in which the neigbourhood committees are established.

"There is no law or regulation requiring that neigbourhood committees be established in international communities," said Ma Yili, director of the Pudong Labour and Social Security Bureau. Li Jian