'Secretary of chile' sows the seeds of progress

Learned man

Saydahmat said that his high school and college years in coastal provinces enabled him to learn farming techniques.

In 2000, Saydahmat was selected as one of the first Xinjiang students to attend high school in a developed city and study with local students, which was part of government efforts to boost educational levels and the development of the country's western region.

He studied at Guangdong Guangya High School in Guangzhou, Guangdong province. "In my middle school in Xinjiang, I ranked among the top students, while in Guangzhou, both I and other Xinjiang students found it hard to exceed in academic performance, especially in English. I slept about four hours a day to catch up," he said.

He gained admission to Xiamen University in Fujian province and majored in mechanical engineering. After graduating in 2008, he returned to Xinjiang to work as a civil servant.

Although most of his university classmates earned higher wages working for enterprises in coastal cities, Saydahmat said he returned to his hometown because "Xinjiang was less developed and needed university graduates".

"I was born in Ili Kazak autonomous prefecture in northern Xinjiang and had never been to the southern parts," he said.

"In my first year in Hotan prefecture, which is about 1,500 kilometers from my hometown, the desert environment was strange to me and I felt a sense of loss at the beginning."

However, Saydahmat said he gradually became familiar with the people and work and found a way to become a valuable member of the community. "I love studying agricultural technology and learning more about grassroots people and issues," he said.

Saydahmat has since moved from Taryigil to the Xinjiang Committee of the Communist Youth League based in Urumqi, but every now and then villagers contact him for advice or simply to say hello. "It is quite a good feeling that some people still keep me in their hearts because I did some meaningful things for them," he said.