Photo of bag-carrying ambassador charms China

I refer to the article: "Photo of bag-carrying ambassador charms China"(http://sg.news.yahoo.com/photo-bag-carrying-ambassador-charms-china-184349082.html)

This article shows a photo of Gary Locke, the first Chinese-American ambassador to China, and a former governor of Washington state. The photo shows him paying for his own coffee. After this photo was posted on Sina-Weibo, it generated 40000 reposts and thousands of comments.

The huge response meant that it was something that we probably do not see often, if not at all. Officials, despite how low ranking they are, will still have a personal assistant to serve them coffee; therefore it was very surprising that the Chinese-American ambassador was buying his own drink.

Doing their own "dirty work" without the help of an assistant seems to portray a humble image in many leaders. If I imagined President Obama was in the White House, in his room, and was hungry and wanted to eat, what would I expect him to do? Would I expect him to drive alone to a hawker centre to eat? Of course not. Instead, I would expect him to pick up the phone on his desk and call for an assistant to get him some food. Such is our impression of leaders; they always have someone to help them get what they want, in which they can just sit around and wait for their orders to arrive. As such, Gary Locke buying his own drink resulted in such a large amount of response; it was something that people hardly see.

After this incident, I am sure Gary Locke's popularity will increase, as people enjoy having a leader, or a high ranking official that can empathize with them. For example, a while ago, there was a picture of then new Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew taking the public bus. People were impressed and started showing their support for Minister Lui Tuck Yew. They were happy with having a minister that could actually empathize with their daily lifestyle, such as taking bus.

However, I would like to say to leaders: Do not "do your own dirty work" just for the sake of your image. Do it only if you really want to. Many people have also said that Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew is just putting on an act to get the support of citizens. Whether or not it really is remains to be seen. Of course, I feel that leaders should do it only from the bottom of their heart; what comes from the bottom of one's heart reflect one's true character.