CHineseINK

From: Caroline Kim Jonsson [mailto:ckjonsson@gmail.com]

Sent: Monday, 23 August 2010 11:39 a.m.

To: syoung@stevenyoung.co.nz

Subject:

My husband and I were in New Zealand for a month and the only  unpleasant part was the chinese. Living in San Francisco, the same is true here. Why do they choose to live in countries yet not choose to  develop manners? We don’t spit, we don’t flick cigarettes, we don’t chop down trees - the chinese have no respect for nature and are  arrogant. Why? Do they want to be disliked? Do they want to be called dirty chinks? Why aren’t they being taught to integrate and taught manners?

I don’t like feeling this way but everytime I am around a group of them, especially when I go back to BC, I cringe and my dislike escalates.

caroline kim jonsson

 (415) 455-8315

“He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how” Nietzsche

Caroline

I am not responsible for the Chinese in New Zealand or in BC so I don’t know why you are complaining to me.

I don’t think you saw any Chinese cutting down trees in  New Zealand and flicking cigarettes is a characteristic of thoughtless smokers everywhere. So perhaps you are generalising.

I am sorry you haven’t met a better class of Chinese in your life.

Some of them are quite nice, considerate, thoughtful, creative, hardworking and positive people.  Sorry they can’t also be white like you.

STEVEN YOUNG

From: Caroline Kim Jonsson [mailto:ckjonsson@gmail.com]

Sent: Monday, 23 August 2010 12:22 p.m.

To: Steven Young

Subject: Re:

I  have friends or Chinese origin but are 100% American (don’t even speak mandarin or cantonese) they explain that older generations hate Americans and are  taught to respect nature and the country they are living in. The many stores we went into in Christchurch, the chinese didn’t even make an effort to speak English. THAT is not okay.

PS - you made an assumption that I am white… interesting and very incorrect. Don’t  ASS U ME

Caroline,

Again, why are you complaining to me? Really I’m not responsible for the unpleasant people you encounter.

So you think Chinese are OK if they are completely American and don’t speak any Chinese. 

In some parts of the world we call such Chinese “bananas” because they are yellow on the outside but white on the inside. As for not speaking Chinese at all:

As someone famously said, “If English was good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for me!” 

You, Caroline, are “white” whatever your skin colour. Because you have internalised white prejudices.  What were you before you started hating the colour you were born with, and all the characteristics of your ancestors?

STEVEN

Local Government Network

NZ Diversity Forum

Wellington

24 August 2009

Biculturalism is now integrated in the political structures of New Zealand, but how well is it accepted by the non-pakeha and non-Maori sectors in New Zealand? If the Treaty has become a quasi-constitutional document, how can the ethnic sector access it?

What are the aspirations of the “multi-cultural” sector for future political participation in New Zealand – especially those whose families have settled here for generations, and whose forebears hail from countries destined to be the engines of economic progress in the 21st century particularly in the Asia Pacific region?

In recent times, Local Government, that is City Councils and District Councils, taking the lead from central government, have integrated biculturalism into their operations. Because the staff of most local government organisations number in the hundreds rather than the thousands, and possibly because they lack the huge budgets of central government departments and other organisations, they have been rather more constrained and more practical in their implementation. Also because a local authority is typically under the control of a single CEO reporting directly to a Council whose members live in the community, local authorities have the potential to respond more quickly to the practical effects of changing demographics in New Zealand.

It is fairly obvious even to a casual observer, that in metropolitan areas, and even in smaller centres, New Zealand is becoming increasingly “multi-cultural.”   Aucklanders can hardly fail to notice the number of “Asians,” that is, Mainland Chinese, Taiwanese, Koreans, Japanese, and Vietnamese in the streets; Wellingtonians will have noticed the sudden influx of Indian students and others in the last couple of years.

If Wellington is typical, then Local Government generally will have implemented a number of practices in an attempt to cater to the “ethnic” sector, that is the non-European and non-Maori citizens and ratepayers – of which there are many.Typically Councils will have implemented some multi-lingual and translation services to assist those with language difficulties and organised some regular “Ethnic Forums” to elicit the feelings and to give some  voice to the ethnic sector.

Having attended some of these ethnic forums, my impression is that they cater well to new settlers who have yet to find their feet in New Zealand.  However, the relationship whether unwitting or not, often has the flavour of  authority-and-supplicants:  “You can ask, we might be able to give.” In reality it is very difficult to hold a meeting with 200 people who might include Somalis refugees, Zimbabwe poets, Fiji-Indian shopkeepers and Chinese seismologists and to write up a coherent  outcome which can reasonably inform Council services, let alone Council policy. Well-established Wellingtonians from the so-called ethnic sector who may attend out of duty may well find such ethnic forums not entirely productive for them – even if they are too polite to say so.

Such people who may be active in their communities may well be invited to participate in the more mainstream Long Term Council Community Plan.  This involves attending a number of meetings which seem to be dominated by play activities such as changing tables every 10 minutes bringing along refreshments,   lining up in a row holding a piece of paper indicating ones preferences on a scale of 1 to 10 for a good sewerage system and then being group-photographed.  One might then see every possible idea in the room being pinned on the wall and then magically written up in an email the next day to be argued over. The outcomes and recommendations are often remarkably in line with Council plans.

I would suggest that such processes have been captured by the connoisseurs and cognoscenti of consultation, heirs to the play-way, everyone-is-right, my-opinion-is-as-good-as-yours crowd.

I think that this approach is somewhat foreign to the majority of people but especially the long-term, long-established ethnic sector who have overcome the vicissitudes of being new settlers, found a place in New Zealand society, but bring and keep with them the practical experience of surviving racism, building or re-building a family on a foundation of hard work, education and self-discipline,  keep in touch with another culture which has a different history, a  comprehensive set of moral and ethical values and various forms of artistic expression and incorporate a different perspective of life and wider world view.   Welcome to the multi-cultural sector.

However, why should local authorities invest time and effort and perhaps political capital to cater for this sector?  Because it is coming to a city near you! In the last 30 years, since the passing of the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975 and its amendment in 1985, the political and cultural landscape of New Zealand has been transformed by recognition of the Treaty of Waitangi and the political Maori Renaissance which it sparked.

This biculturalism is manifested in many ways to create a set of political arrangements, government practices and cultural expressions which now uniquely identify New Zealand.  It is the result of many influences which are too numerous to discuss exhaustively here, but include the recognition and the local interpretation and implementation of  human rights, indigenous peoples’ rights, demographic and electoral pressures and the increasing energy and activism of Maori.

It would not be going too far to say that the Treaty of Waitangi has nearly the status of a constitutional document – a document which defines the arrangement for the governance of New Zealand – in a country which has no written constitution.Increasingly the Treaty is being referenced in governance at every level including at local government level.

However the Treaty essentially defines the relationship between the Crown and Maori.  If asked where the ethnic sector might fit in this arrangement, officials will reply that they are represented by the Crown.  However, just as Maori insist on expressing themselves through the Treaty, so the ethnic sector might wish for some input in constitutional arrangements beyond reliance on the officials representing the Crown in Treaty negotiations.  Otherwise they are being governed under a document to which they have no access.

Ironically the only toe-hold for the multi-cultural sector in New Zealand is in Article Three of the Maori version of the Treaty, which says in a recent translation:

The Third

For this agreed arrangement therefore concerning the government of the Queen, the Queen of England will protect all the ordinary people of New Zealand and will give them the same rights and duties of citizenship as the people of England.

The English versions has even less room:

Article the third

In consideration thereof Her Majesty the Queen of England extends to the Natives of New Zealand Her royal protection and imparts to them all the Rights and Privileges of British Subjects.’

Neither offers a very firm place for the multi-cultural sector to stand. 

The reality of recent developments offers some clues to the next step.At the same time as the passing of the Treaty of Waitangi Act, a parallel movement has occurred in the  in the multi-cultural sector.  The impetus for this arises from New Zealand situation – physically at the edge of the Asia Pacific region and economically at the edge of nowhere.

Whereas New Zealand has been home to Chinese and Indians (dating back to the 1860s) the numbers have been small. (in the case of Chinese less than 15,000 up until 1986. Since then the number has increased to about 110,000,  about 75% in Auckland.) It is likely that with the increasing importance of China and lately India as engines of the world economy,  we will see a two-way flow of people to service trade and other exchanges. These include increased educational, technical and cultural links.  This will lead to migration and the permanently settlement of people from those countries  to join those already here.

Already the so-called Asian population totals nearly 9.2% of New Zealand’s population compared with Maori who comprise about 12%. 

Unlike the last century when the migrants were economic, political or social refugees from backward countries, the new wave of migrants will instead come from advanced societies with high educational levels,  substantial economic clout and geo-political heft.In this new world, New Zealand will need to adapt – just it has had to adapt to the reality of resurgence of Maori.

Just as we have adapted to biculturalism, New Zealand needs to adapt to a post-biculturalism. I need to choose my words carefully: 

A post-colonialist discourse (in literature for example)  seeks not to reject colonialism but to understand the effect of colonialism in a country and to build upon it.  

Compare this with post-modernism which rejects the modernist movement (for example in architecture) and seeks to revert to traditional forms, and even use these in an ironical or exaggerated way.

New Zealand has come too far with biculturalism to reject it and revert to traditional forms of inter-community relationships. We need to understand it better and to build upon it. How that is to be done is something for the future, but not the far future. Already there is a movement afoot to have  the reality of  multi-culturalism New Zealand official recognised.

The New Zealand Chinese Association has (in May this year)  made submissions through the Minister of Ethnic Affairs for the Government to officially recognise multi-culturalism. The New Zealand Federation of Ethnic Councils is at this moment pushing for a Multicultural Act.

These are long term projects requiring consultations within the multi-cultural communities as well as between the multi-cultural communities and the Maori community and the wide community.  Like with the use of Revlon shampoo – improvements will not happen tomorrow, but they will happen!

How might an official multi-culturalism affect Local Government? That is a question for the future. Just as it was difficult to predict the practical effect of the Treaty of Waitangi Act in 1975 and its amendment in 1985, so it is difficult to predict the long-term outcome of the official recognition of multiculturalism.  However, changes are likely to reflect the new reality of New Zealand’s location at the periphery of two powerful “neighbours” who seemed destined to be provide not only economic leadership, but also technological and cultural leadership.

At present, Councils’ response to multi-culturalism is essentially to provide migrant and  new settler support. However in time, these people will overcome their difficulties and integrate their aspirations into the overall system.

“Multicultural” councillors might become permanent fixtures in the make-up of the various Councils. Already underway, the percentage of Council officers with a “multi-cultural” background would increase.Within the population, the multi-cultural sector will increase and their own priorities may mandate a re-ordering of priorities  Councils and a re-allocation of resources. 

Increasingly migrant and new settler support offered by Councils will evolve into a kind of post-biculturalism where awareness of bicultural practices will extend to other cultures – which may not only be in ceremonial forms and cultural acknowledgements, but attitudes to problem solving, conflict resolutions, productivity and efficiencies.

The Murder of Chow Yat

Joan Rosier-Jones

Published by: Stead & Daughters Ltd

Friday 21 August 2009

Wanganui

First I would like to thank Lesley Stead, for inviting me to speak and for sending me a copy of the book “hot off the press.” so that I could read it before the launch and, hopefully, have something useful to say.

Secondly I would like to congratulate Joan Rosier-Jones for her hard work in pulling together the story from scattered sources.

In particular I would to congratulate her for including background information about the early Chinese in New Zealand in the book, especially about

• Their lives and circumstances in China.

• Their lives in New Zealand at the beginning of the 20th century which is the period before Chow Yat and his employer came to Wanganui.

• Their lives in provincial New Zealand between the world wars – being the setting of this story.

It is heartening that in the early 21st century Joan and her publishers believe that there is a market and therefore an audience for stories about the Chinese in early New Zealand.

There was a time when New Zealanders could not have cared less about the death of lone Chinese man tending a cabbage patch.

Indeed in  Joan’s book there is a suggestion that the people of Wanganui in 1922 weren’t too concerned that the case against Toldy the Hungarian, the man initially charged with Chow Yat’s murder, collapsed.

There was no great public clamour to locate the real murderer,  although I must note that subsequently the Commissioner of Police in Wellington gave the local constabulary a fail mark and got them to do their homework again - after the Prime Minister got a letter from the Chinese Consul. 

While Joan has been  channelling Lilly Rush (Cold Case) while trying to put together a  case against a reputedly hair-triggered Ted Stewart, the outcome, as she admits in her book, is still “not proven.”

Be that as it may, Joan’s efforts in writing this book should be seen in the context of an increasing interest in incorporating New Zealand Chinese history as New Zealand mainstream history.

The seminal works of James Ng, Manying Ip and Nigel Murphy are already well known.

But in recent times, individuals and groups, including the New Zealand Chinese Association have (almost physically) reclaimed large parts of the Chinese community’s history and incorporated it into the history of New Zealand.

The activism which resulted in the Government’s apology for the Poll Tax and the subsequent establishment of the funded Poll Tax Heritage Trust is well known.

Other, more guerrilla, operations have provided interesting results:

• Joe Kum Yung is no longer the nameless, hapless Chinaman shot at random by arch-racist Lionel Terry in Haining Street, Wellington in 1902 but is remembered by a brass plaque paid for by the Wellington City Council to mark his centenary.

• Kim Lee is no longer the nameless, hapless Chinaman who was diagnosed with leprosy and incarcerated on Somes Island in Wellington Harbour  in 1905 and who, not surprisingly, died after been kicked out  by the other “lepers” to live in a wet cave in Mokopuna Island – essentially a large rock in the surf.  His centenary was marked by boatloads of people going out to Somes Island  -  filmed by two TV Channels.

• The story of the MV Ventnor which sank off the New Zealand coast carrying the 499 coffins of Chinese goldminers  - some of which were retrieved by local Maori – is another story about to be told in film.

Will Joan  be  playing Miss Marples  in The Murder of  Chow  Yat in the rustic village of Whanganui?  Idle speculation perhaps?

So, Joan, on behalf of the Chinese community I thank you for your research efforts and for putting together  the story of the murder of Chow Yat and the community in which he lived.

And to Stead & Daughters, I would like to thank you for your faith in the project, and taking the considerable gamble that the storey of Chow Yat will find resonance in the Chinese and wider community.

And to the family and descendants of Kwang Chong For who looked after Chow Yat in life and accorded him respect and decent burial in death, may your family forever prosper.

Joan Rosier-Jones

Stead & Daughters Ltd

2009

Joan Rosier-Jones resuscitates an otherwise soon-to-be-lost story of the murder of  lone Chinese market gardener Chow Yat in Wanganui in 1922, dissects the rather botched Police investigation and gathers evidence pointing to another suspect now dead. Of Chow Yat himself, we learn little, possibly because there was little to know other than that he was from Panyu County, in Guangdong Province in China, a kindly bachelor of 62, who was attacked in his whare (Maori style hut) one evening, shot four times in the face and robbed. We do learn about the life of Kwong Chong For, the local Chinese patriarch and Chow Yat’s employer and benefactor. After some superficial investigation, suspicion falls on another foreigner,  Toldy a Hungarian, who is arrested and charged, but the case is thrown out because of lack of evidence. Rosier-Jones finds some circumstantial evidence pointing to a shell-shocked First World War veteran who may have suspected Chow Yat of interfering with his three daughters.

Rosier-Jones has tried to fill out a sketchy portrait of Chow Yat by reference to background material about the Chinese of that era drawing from standard sources: turmoil in China, a second wave of Chinese migrants/sojourners following the first wave of gold-seekers eventually drifting into provincial centres seeking employment, and attaining a stable and bearable but restricted life on the periphery of European society. In this period more enterprising Chinese such as Kwong Chong For enlarge their families and prosper –with Rosier-Jones reporting that many of the next generation following the classic Overseas Chinese trajectory of entering the professions.

Yesterday I attended a function at the Villa Maria Estate, Auckland, organised by the New Zealand Olympic Committee to announce the team uniforms. At the end of that function I represented the President of the New Zealand Chinese Association, Kai Luey, to present the Dragon Sculpture to the NZ Olympic Committee.

The function was attended by the Chinese Ambassador HE Zhang Yuanyuan, members and officials of the NZ Olympic Committee, past and present Olympic sportsmen and women and a large contingent of Chinese New Zealanders drawn from both the old and new migrant communities. The presentation was fully covered by the news media.

With the designer of the sculpture, Guy Ngan at his side, Ron Sang, architect, described the fundraising, organisation and processes involved in bringing this project to fruition in a short time. I then made the presentation. My speech is attached.

The sculpture in real life is more dynamic than the model, and particularly under spotlights, the angles, curves, planes and levels of the various parts of the dragon generate an interesting interplay of light with its stainless steel background and granite base. The actual sculpture (on a lightweight temporary base) will go on public display at various airports in New Zealand in the next two months before being shipped to Beijing.

My speech:

I am here today to represent Kai Luey, the President of the New Zealand Chinese Association to present this Dragon Sculpture to the NZ Olympics Team.

The sculpture will be shipped to Beijing and located outside the Team’s quarters during the Games. After the Games, the NZ Olympic Committee will present the sculpture to the Beijing Olympic Organisation and it will go on permanent display at its new building.

I should emphasise that although the fundraising was organised by the New Zealand Chinese Association, the funds came from a wide cross-section of the Chinese in New Zealand, drawn from both the old migrant community and the new migrant community. The names of the major donors to this project are inscribed on the stainless steel sculpture and all donors are recorded in a book.

Apart from Kai Luey, Guy Ngan and Ron Sang have had major roles in the project.

Guy Ngan is New Zealand’s most senior Chinese artist who work in various contemporary media is underpinned by Chinese philosophy. Guy has been responsible for many public art works including sculptures outside the Wellington City Council, the Reserve Bank, the Government Printing Office and the entrance to Stokes Valley. Guy was responsible for the design of the dragon.

Ron Sang, who besides being an eminent architect in Auckland, is a long-time collector of art. His home houses one of the greatest private collections of modern New Zealand art. He has recently branched into fine art publication. Ron has been instrumental in the implementation and delivery of the design.

As you can see, the sculpture is a dragon in abstract form, fabricated in stainless steel with a pounamu pearl on its tongue.

The dragon is a symbol representing the Chinese people. Unlike the dragons of the western tradition, the Chinese dragon has many positive connotations such as moral rectitude and justice.

The fact that this dragon is executed in a contemporary idiom shows that the Chinese people are not stuck in the past, but adapt themselves continuously to the modern world.

In the case of this dragon, the indigenous Maori culture is recognised by the inclusion of a pounamu pearl on its tongue. How appropriate!

The Chinese community is presenting this sculpture to the NZ Olympics Team in a year that the Games are being held in Beijing.

This shows that the New Zealand Chinese community is proud to be kiwi, supporting our national team. At the same time the community proudly remembers its links with its former home country.

In a world which is increasingly globalised, relocations and the formation of new communities have become common and necessary. But at the same time, recognition of ones history and heritage are increasingly important to ones sense of identity.

By choosing one of its own artists to create a contemporary representation of a central deity from its ancient mythology and presenting it to the New Zealand Olympics Team the Chinese community in New Zealand affirms that its future is firmly grounded in the New Zealand and its western culture. By doing so on the occasion of China’s first Olympics, the community re-affirms its pride in its heritage, its confidence in the future of China and its hope and wish for an ongoing, dynamic and deepening relationship between the community’s new home and its historical home.

So on behalf of the Chinese community in New Zealand, and the particularly the major sponsors, I would like to transfer this sculpture to the care the NZ Olympics Team. As you see it each day, may it remind you of the link between the country you are visiting for the Games and that community of New Zealanders who originally hailed from those shores. May the Dragon bring you good luck, good health and success in your endeavours.

The Wellington Branch of the New Zealand Chinese Association organised a dinner at the Grand Century Restaurant to raise funds towards the Dragon Sculpture to be donated to the NZ Olympic Team and after the Games, to be left on permanent display in Beijing.

The dinner was attended by 170 people including Wellington Branch Committee, Members and their friends; representative from the Tung Jung, Seyip and Poon Fah Associations, the NZ China Friendship Society, the China & New Zealand Business Council, Asian Magazine, Robyn Wong and two tables of sports friends, and the staff of the Embassy.

Distinguished guests included the Deputy-Mayor Ian McKinnon, the Ambassador HE Zhang Yuanyuan, the NZ Olympics chef de mission Dave Currie. Also present unofficially were the Secretary of Defence and former NZ Ambassador to China John McKinnon, historian Dr Malcolm McKinnon and the sculptor for the Dragon Guy Ngan.

The restaurant was decorated with Olympic banners, and film clips showing the Olympic venues and preparations in Beijing and the preparation of the NZ athletes were projected.

The event included raffles and auctions for which the Embassy donated many items of Olympic merchandise and memorabilia, the China & New Zealand Business Council art and souvenir items, Guy Ngan a large number of designer tee-shirts, Ron Sang an art book and the NZ Olympic Committee vouchers for two Olympic jackets to be signed by New Zealand’s medallists. The event raised over $8500.

The event ended on a up-beat note and apart from the funds raised, the event likely enhanced the relationships between the Wellington Branch and other Chinese organisations in Wellington, the Wellington City Council, government officials, the Chinese Embassy and of course the NZ Olympic Committee and its sportsmen and women.

The World Premiere of Chinese in Molesworth Street – 90 years trading in the Government Centre was held on Saturday 23 February 2008 at the NZ Film Archives located at the corner of Taranaki Street and Ghuznee Street. True to the traditions of E! canapés from Scopa were served, liquor flowed freely, the 70 documentary film junkies and invited guests rubbed shoulders with the stars, the Director pitched her opus, acknowledged the sponsors and thanked the crew, while the Producer appeared in auteurial black and mumbled modestly. Then it was into the projection room to see seven of our “world famous in Wellington” intrepid heroes, filmed on location outside their former premises, all sitting on genuine apple boxes as in the days of yore, telling their sometimes wry stories of commercial and personal triumphs.

Mrs YH Lowe told of the nearly 40 years that she and her husband (and before them, her father-in-law and his brother) operated the Peter & Son fruit shop/Chinese grocery store opposite the Wellington Railway Station; and how 11-year-old Tommy delivered orders and later met Lee Kwan Yew when he came to the shop make a purchase, (possibly chewing gum?)

Ken Chan, outside what is now the Court of Appeal, recalled how, as an 18-year-old Wellington College senior he inveigled the then Chief Justice, Sir Humphrey O’Leary, a customer of the Hop Lee Laundry starched collar service, to witness his application for New Zealand citizenship in the hope of joining the Air Force near the end of the Second World War; and his 18-year-old would-be-aviator’s keen observation of American servicemen leading kiwi girls down to air-raid shelters under the grounds of Parliament on Sundays, presumably for their own protection.

Laywood Chan, his wife, his father Dan and his grandmother apparently all got front row seats when the young Queen Elisabeth II arrived through the main gates of Parliament during her 1951 Coronation Tour; and later (probably another day) sent Mrs Holyoake home with fish ‘n’ chips for Sir Keith’s supper.

In the same location, Sonny Tom, to the astonishment of well-informed Japanese tourists, was able to personally indulge the post-cabinet-meeting munchies of Prime Minister Norman Kirk and Internal Affairs Minister Lance Adam-Schneider with oysters and chips on a regular basis.

Willie Wong, operating a providor business for 20 years that supplied fruit, vegetables and all manner of goods and services for visiting ships, had to get up a 2.00am several days a week, which he insists helped his social life. He was helped in the business, now the site of the State Services Commission, by his wife Loretta and after school by his children who later escaped to London to work in the City.

Richard Young, a sometime IT specialist, took over the providor business in recent years and developed a produce import/export business alongside. Strangely, his children also appear unwilling to take over the business.

Allan Tso, was the third generation to operate a fruit shop on a site adjoining the old Shamrock Hotel (now relocated) and presently the offices of the Accident Compensation Commission. As such he had to contend with the daily disorder associated with excessive drinking during the “6 o’clock swill.”

Nigel Murphy took a rare break out to the sunlight of the National Library forecourt to provide an on-site historical perspective to help explain the circumstances which led to the establishment and successful operation over many years of Chinese businesses in Molesworth Street.

The filming for this documentary took place in 4 hours of one day from 10.00am until 2.00pm using a small borrowed video camera and borrowed camera operator. The introduction for each interview was done in two or three takes with the barest of script outlines. The interviewees’ responses were certainly improvised on the spot. The raw footage yielded 37 minutes in the final cut. A conscious decision was made during editing to allow interviewees the opportunity to tell their stories fairly fully. The interviews are however, not intended to be oral histories where the emphasis is on completeness and historical accuracy. A hypothetical broadcast version would probably need to be cut to 22-24 minutes. Editing was not done on an editing suite but in a bedroom on a dual-core PC using Final Cut software – by post-graduate students of film.

Originally intended as a contribution from the Chinese community to a City Council- initiated urban design/community art interaction project involving a one-off lunch-time street-level discussion in a freight container setting, all curated by Siv Fjaerestad from Enjoy Art Gallery, I decided that our community could not give an adequate representation of itself under these conditions. I therefore naively suggested that we film the interviews with a view to projecting them in the freight container in the same week. It soon became obvious that in terms of pre-production planning, research, scripting, logistics, principal photography and the most elementary editing that it would take far longer than the time available for the film to be used for its original purpose. The approaching end of the academic year meant that our volunteer film editors had to take time off to finish their course projects and for prior commitments at Christmas. In the New Year, with second unit (background) photography, sound re-recording and historical image research and acquisition, subtitling of the Chinese language interview and copyright and archival deposit agreements, event planning, catering etc, the final, final cut was completed mere hours before the world premiere.

The Wellington City Council contracted Enjoy Art Gallery to curate the In-site container project, and this enabled Enjoy to work with us on this project; however the outcome is effectively a zero-budget film. Wellington Chinese Association has only funded the venue hire and the reception cost of official guests at the World Premiere; most people paid a small entry charge for the reception and film. Of course, we have had the unpaid use of equipment and the labour of several volunteers in the making of the documentary – notably the editing, arranged by Enjoy Art Gallery. We have also had the access to the creative input and expertise within Enjoy and for these reasons copyright of the film is shared with them. The deposit agreement with NZ Film Archive is such that the public may view but not copy the film. Other uses would be controlled by the Chinese Association.

A professionally produced DVD is available at a cost of $15, and a very small part of that price will go towards defraying the cost of consumables and the wear and tear on equipment.

With the advent of Youtube and movie-making capacity built into even $300 digital cameras, moving images are the new baseline for effective communications and producing, directing, editing and presentation will become key skills. The experience gained in producing this film will be extremely valuable in future projects – such as the recently-announced film-based “action research” on Chinese youth leadership and identity by Assoc. Prof. James Liu– part of a larger project to be undertaken by the Centre for Applied Cross-cultural Research at Victoria University on Chinese, Muslim and Pasifika youth with a $200,000 grant from the Foundation for Research Science and Technology. More on that exciting project later. Those who cannot wait can contact me.

STEVEN YOUNG syoung@stevenyoung.co.nz

The hypocrisy of the NZ First leader wooing politicians in Asia as our Foreign Minister while his deputy Peter Brown demonises Asians in New Zealand will not be lost in regional capitals.

While we understand that Mr Brown (a recent class-impacted Brit wharfie migrant!) is making inflammatory remarks about Asian migrants only to shore up support for his party in the upcoming elections, we need to remind him that he is also undermining race relations in New Zealand. His stirring of latent white racism in people who cannot accept the implications of a multicultural New Zealand anchored in the Asia-Pacific region, will do far more harm than some recent immigrants maintaining their cultural practices while learning to integrate into New Zealand’s mainstream society.

Mr Brown can take heart from our experience which is that such integration will happen within half a generation. Most of our own members, some fourth and fifth generation Chinese New Zealanders, no longer run takeaways in ghettos, but instead have careers in the professions, business or the arts, are all-too-well integrated, speak English too good and now need special programmes to maintain even a modicum of Chinese language and culture.

(Darft letter to NZ Herald)

BEING MAORI CHINESE MIXED IDENTITIES – MANYING IP

A Marsden-funded research project led by Associate Professor Manying Ip from the School of Asian Studies at The University of Auckland, with support from Professor Margaret Mutu, head of the Department of Maori Studies, has given insight into a previously unexplored area: the evolving dynamics between Maori and Chinese in New Zealand.

The project examined the relationship between Maori as New Zealand’s indigenous people, the tangata whenua, and Chinese as the country’s earliest and most sizeable non-European immigrant group. This relationship was traced from the earliest encounters in the late nineteenth century when it was cordial and close, to contemporary times when it has become more complicated.

The researchers used oral history interviews with elders of both communities, in-depth interviews with young urban Maori and new Chinese immigrants, as well as focus group meetings. Census data were also examined, as well as opinion polls and a specially designed bilingual online survey. Media analysis was conducted on both Maori and Chinese language media in order to examine the possible influence of these on the popular views of both groups.

Early interactions between Maori and Chinese centred around market garden semi-rural regions, and the results of the research showed that the relationship between the two groups was close and cordial during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Fond memories of warm interactions are still evident in the rural regions where Chinese market gardens once flourished.

In contrast, contemporary relationships unfolding in urban centres involve considerable tension and social distance between the two ethnic groups. Each group tends to stereotype the other, and it is common for both to feel that the Government favours the other. In smaller centres, where there are more frequent, meaningful social contacts between the groups, there is much less stereotyping and racial fear.

The results show that the Chinese view of Maori appears negative on the surface, but their responses to specific issues indicate that they are more positive and sympathetic towards Maori than Pakeha on specific Treaty issues. Chinese views of Maori are more sophisticated than expected: more multi-faceted and dynamic. There is evidence that Chinese empathy towards Maori stems from their feeling of being “equally marginalised” by Pakeha.

The study included a group of people with mixed Maori-Chinese descent, and showed that they often feel “caught in between”. The younger generation in this group are typically more comfortable with their mixed heritage than their parents or grandparents. Many younger Maori-Chinese people have typically shown great pride in their mixed heritage, which they increasingly regard as an asset rather than a liability.

The Chinese media research showed that Maori issues loom rather large on the Chinese horizon and there is a general desire to know more about Maori because they were regarded as very important to the acceptance of the Chinese by New Zealand society.

The research on Maori media found no reporting of Maori relationships with, or opinions of, Chinese in the nineteenth century Maori newspapers. A twentieth century government publication for Maori, however, contained some positive reporting and noted the Maori-Asian ancestral connections, and Maori Television featured a major documentary series on China and several documentaries relating to Chinese, as well as a children’s cartoon series based on a Chinese folk hero.

The study found that social contact between Maori and Chinese and acculturation of Chinese migrants could both be key drivers for a better Maori-Chinese relationship, and the longer immigrants stay in New Zealand, the more sympathetic they become towards Maori. Overall, the results of this research will help provide a basis of knowledge from which better ethnic relations could develop.

For more information contact:

Assoc Prof Manying Ip

The University of Auckland

my.ip@auckland.ac.nz

NEW ZEALAND CHINESE ASSOCIATION

National President’s Speech at the Chinese New Year Parliamentary Reception in the Grand Hall, Parliament Buildings on 19 February 2008.

Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Helen Clark; Minister of Ethnic Affairs & Minister of Education, Honourable Chris Carter; Ministers of the Crown and Members of Parliament, Ambassador of the Peoples Republic of China; Mr Zhang Yuan Yuan, Distinguished guests, Members of the Chinese Community, Ladies and gentlemen.

The New Zealand Chinese Association would like to wish everyone here tonight a very happy and prosperous Chinese New Year. Gong hei fait choi, sun nean fal lock.

On behalf of all the guests here tonight, I wish to thank the Prime Minister and the Minister of Ethnic Affairs for graciously hosting this parliamentary function to celebrate our Chinese New Year. This event, to welcome the Year of the Rat, is highly appreciated by the Chinese community.

Prime Minister, i still remember very vividly being present for your public apology to the Poll Tax payers and their descendents at a similar reception on Chinese New Year Day, 12 February 2002. This was a very emotional and historical occasion for the Chinese community who had personally suffered hardship and injustices under the past selective discrimination.

Your subsequent announcement of the reconciliation package on 11 February 2004 and the setting up of the Chinese Poll Tax Heritage Trust later in 2004 has provided appropriate closure of the Poll Tax grievance issue. The Poll Tax descendant community will be eternally grateful for this courageous action by you and your Labour Government.

The annual income from the trust is being used to fund projects that provide tangible support for our Chinese New Zealand history, our Cantonese heritage language, our unique identity and Chinese arts & culture, particularly that of the early settler Chinese community.

As you and many others are aware, the New Zealand Chinese Association, worked tirelessly from the early 1990’s on the Poll Tax issue, and as a national organisation with many Poll Tax descendants as members, we have initiated or enhanced many activities with the financial support of the Poll Tax Trust.

Major NZCA events that have benefited from the support of the Poll Tax Trust include the series of very successful Banana events which examined the identity of Chinese New Zealanders both in a local and global context, two Leadership Camps attended by about 40 young Chinese on each occasion to learn more about their cultural heritage
and to acquire leadership skills, and the annual Easter Sports Tournament & Cultural Event which attracts many participants and supporters from throughout NZ.

Our assocation is the only truly national Chinese organisation in NZ whose aims and and objectives are summarised by the following succinct mottos:

• Serving NZ Chinese for over 70 years with 13 Branches nationwide

• Leading NZ Chinese into the future

NZCA considers it is very important that we enhance the relationship of the descendants with all Chinese residents in New Zealand and the wider New Zealand community. This should produce a stronger and united Chinese community and a stronger multi-ethnic society in New Zealand for the benefit of all New Zealanders. “We are all childen
of migrants. The only difference is when our parents came here”.

I am tonight launching a fundraising appeal for a gift by all Chinese New Zealanders to the NZ Olympic Team going to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. It is proposed that the gift will sit outside the NZ Team living area in the Olympic village and be presented to the Chinese Olympic Committee
at the end of the games.

This is an unique opportunity which may not re-occur in our lifetime to demonstrate to all NZers that NZ Chinese feels an integral part of our adopted country and that we greatly appreciate the opportunities to settle here and enjoy the better lifestyle here. And to China, our former home country, the gift signifies that NZ has fully accepted Chinese as worthy citizens who have made immense contributions to their new home country.

Messrs Ron Sang and Guy Ngan, eminent NZ Chinese artists, have organised an appropriate design for the gift consisting of a two metre long modern stylised dragon (symbolising China) with a greenstone pearl on its tongue (symbolising Maori) on a granite base at a total estimated cost of about $40,000. The sculpture needs to be completed by mid - May to ship with other equipment for the NZ Olympic Team.

A charitable trust is already in place and hence any donations made are tax deductible. The names of all persons and organisations who donate $1,000 and more will be suitable engraved on the sculpture for all to see. (And if you are ready to write that cheque out now, please see Harvey Wu or myself after this speech).

At this stage, I would like to introduce Mr Dave Currie, Chef de Mission, and Robyn Wong, Team Services Manager for the NZ Olympic Team who will ensure safe delivery of our gift to Beijing and the handover to the Chinese hosts after the games. I now unveil a model of our gift for you all to view.

Once again, I wish to thank the Prime Minister and the Hon Chris Carter for hosting this Chinese New Year celebration, and thank you all for attending.

Kai Luey