FILIPINO Nepcosimo M. Guisona, 27 and a science major, spends much time on sociological research.

With a master's degree in physics from University of the Philippines, Guisona was first hired to teach at Shekou International School when he came to Shenzhen in April last year. Now, he is a self-hired tutor for expatriate students in the city.

"I kept an English training center back in Iloilo City, Philippines, where I also taught physics at the Central Philippine University Jaro," Guisona said. "The Shenzhen school hired me back at home and sent me here."

As he is saving money to fund his future education in the United States in two years' time, Guisona decided to accept the contract.

"But I've left the school so as to work more flexibly and have time to pursue my own interest," he said. Guisona has spent over one year on a comparative study of teenage pregnancy in the Philippines and here in China, and he will need one and a half more years to complete it. He once traveled more than four hours by bus to a village in Guangdong Province to visit three teenage mothers there.

"Back in my country, where abortion is illegal, teenage girls often give birth and then give the babies away to welfare centers. The girls seldom meet their children again, as most of them try hard to forget that they've got a baby. While in China, most choose abortion, few give birth, raise the children, and fewer give birth but send the babies away," he said.

Guisona said the three teenage mothers he met in the village were lucky to have tolerant and rich families to let them give birth and raise the babies.

A keen music fan, Guisona learned singing from several Filipino bands performing at the Portofino Bar and Seaview Hotel. He spent 25,000 yuan (US$3,125) on recording equipment, and made two albums of his own. "I buy a lot of classical music CDs," he said.

Guisona will start learning Chinese, in his own words, "seriously," next week, because he wants to make more Chinese friends. So far, he has some 20 English-speaking Chinese friends with whom he can only speak a little Mandarin.

Editor: Wing