Yìmàn Jiâng: candidate profile and interview

The Pulp Editors sit down with the Board hopefuls.  

Faction: Independent

Slogan: Yes to Yìmàn

Colour: Orange

Manager: Hanxiong Qiu

Degree: Commerce and Law V

Quiz score: 47%, 6th out of 10

Jiâng is a refreshingly positive candidate with plenty of passion and initiative. She ranked mid-pack in the Pulp quiz, scoring 47% with a lack of knowledge about campus life. Jiâng is running for board because of her positive experience in the USU and her belief that the USU can help get students more engaged with university life.

Jiâng is running as an Independent with no strong view on how much politics should influence the running of the board. She clearly states that she is not a political candidate but recognises the need for some political stances to be made on board. Jiâng says that “if someone is being too political I believe there would be people pointing it out” but that the board should advocate for certain political changes on the basis of student interests. 

Despite Jiâng’s declared interest in campus life, she does not appear to be aware of recent controversy surrounding CathSoc’s LifeWeek and made a general statement about the USU condemning discrimination. Likewise, her criticism of the USU is vague. She proposes that the USU needs to do more to “bring campus life to a more colourful and vivid stage” .

When asked about her key policies, Jiâng expressed evident excitement about her proposal for a career mentoring program, on which she went into great detail. Despite this excitement, Jiâng’s vision was lost due to her lacking precision and conciseness. This took away from her ability to clearly explain her other key policies on International student engagement and off-campus discounts. When asked about how she would engage students stuck abroad, Jiâng proposed sending gifts to students stuck abroad - an admirable but likely unfeasible proposal.  

Jiâng doesn’t pinpoint any candidates that she would or wouldn’t prefer to work with on board, nor does she back any of the ongoing Directors for president. It’s likely that, if elected, Jiâng will be a passionate and dedicated Director. Whether she possesses the precision to deliver her vision remains to be seen. 

Voting opens 9:00am May 17 and closes 5:00pm May 21. Voting is exclusive to USU members, who will be sent an email to submit their vote. Sign up here.

Watch the full interview below.

Article by Emily Graetz. Video by Kristin Miao.