CHineseINK

 

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.

 

6 August 2009

 

Groups within the “Old” or long-established Chinese community will have an important role to play in the upcoming Chinese Cultural Day 09.

 

To date I have had expressions of interest (not yet confirmed) that the following groups can provide performances and support:

 

 

Wellington Chinese Sports and Cultural Centre

1.         Dragon Dance

2.         Lion Dance

3.         Kindergarten children’s dance

 

 

Poon Fah Association

4.         Cantonese Opera performance

5.         Chinese teenage Hip Hop Dancers

 

 

Wellington Chinese Language School

6.         Traditional Dance

 

 

Seyip Association

7.         Logistical support

 

 

Tung Jung Association

8.         Logistical support

 

 

New Zealand Chinese Association

9.         Use of rehearsal space in Marion Street (New Chinese Friendship Association)

 

 

Anglican Chinese Mission Church

10.       Lion Dance

11.       Traditional Dance

 

 

 

This is Version SY 2.0 based on a draft by Shen Nalin.

Date:                26 September 2009

Time:                10.00am to 5.00pm

Venue:              Te Papa – the National Museum of New Zealand

                        Wellington

 

BACKGROUND

The ancient Mid-autumn Festival has been celebrated in China on the 15^th  day of the 8^th  month of the Lunar Calendar for thousands of years.   It is also a very important spiritual and cultural event throughout Asia and originated as a celebration of  harvest in a region even now heavily dependent on agriculture.

Wellington Chinese Culture Day 09 is a whole-day celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival in Wellington – showcasing traditional Chinese activities associated with the harvest.  By doing so, the organisers hope to promote Chinese arts and culture in a contemporary fashion relevant to all the people of New Zealand.

Activities include:

·        Cultural performances by community groups.

·        Live modelling of traditional costumes.

·        Calligraphy and painting demonstrations.

·        Tea and moon cake making and tasting demonstrations.

·        Professional Chinese musicians in concert performing original works.

 

·        A photographic display to  showcase modern Chinese history, highlighting the significant developments over the past 60 years  - from the first Chinese National Day on the 1^st  October 1949. and the dramatic changes as a result of economic reform and the mixing of western culture into contemporary Chinese society.

The organisers consist of various Chinese communities in Wellington who, through this exciting event,  hope to connect a mainstream audience to the rich art and cultural heritage of modern China.

We invite everyone to attend our version of the Moon Festival,  enjoy the Celebration Concert and also participate in the festivities celebrating China’s 60th National Day.

PROGRAMME

Part I: The Moon Festival 2009

Background Display: A multi-media presentation of the historical background, rich culture and traditional customs associated with the Mid-autumn Festival.

The fun-filled day events also includes: live demonstrations of Chinese painting/calligraphy, traditional dress, tea making and tasting cultures suited for all age groups. Moon cakes tasting and art performance will provide entertainment for the whole family.

Time:  10:30am – 2:30pm

Venue: the Wellington Foyer, Level 2, Te Papa

Events:

·        Pictures / Multimedia Display

·        Chinese painting/calligraphy demonstration by artists.

 

Time: 11:00am – 12:00pm

Venue: the Wellington Foyer, Level 2, Te Papa

Events:

·        Chinese traditional dress fashion show.

·        Chinese traditional music (Guzheng, Erhu and Bamboo flute)

 

Time:  1:15pm – 2:15pm

Venue: Meeting Room off Te Marae, Level 4, Te Papa

Events:

·        Photo/Painting display of related to the Moon Festival

·        Moon Festival related stories.

·        Moon cake and tea  tasting.

 

Time:  1:15pm – 2:30pm

Venue: Te Marae, Level 4, Te Papa

Event:

·        Chinese Culture Day show with performances from Chinese communities.

 

Part II: 09 Wellington Chinese Culture Day Opening

A short opening show will hold at Te Papa Forecourt. This out door performance includes Chinese traditional Lion Dance, folk drums dancing and Chinese kungfu performance.

Time: 12:00pm – 12:30pm

Venue: The Papa Forecourt

Events:

·        Chinese traditional Lion Dance

·        Folk Drum Dance

·        Chinese kungfu performance

·        Chinese traditional Dragon Dance

 

Time:  1:00pm – 1:15pm

Venue: the Te Marae, Level 4, Te Papa

Event:

·        Maori welcome  (xx proper name)

·        Formal launch ceremony.

 

Part III: The Celebration Concert

Time:  3pm – 5:30pm

Venue: The Soundings Theatre, Level 2, Te Papa

To celebrate the 60^th National Day of China,  a concert featuring internationally renowned musicians as well as top performers from the local community. The programme includes song, dance and instrumental performance  in a  truly unforgettable finale to Chinese Culture Day Wellington 09.

Stars include:

• Gao Ping (Composer & Pianist),
• Tingzheng Wang (Sheng soloist),
• Xingxing Wang (Soprano),
• James Meng (Tenor),
• Wei Wensheng (Chinese painter),
• Xu Jingwen and Qi Huan (ballet dancer).

 

 

Organiser:

Chinese Students and Scholars Association of Wellington

Wellington New Chinese Friendship Association

Chinese Students’ Association of Victoria University of Wellington

New Zealand Chinese Association Inc

 
Biographies of Musicians and Artists

Gao Ping Composer & Pianist

“Gao Ping is one of a new generation that is breathing new life into the classical tradition. An evening with Gao Ping’s music is a true adventure” (Frederic Rzewski)

A representative figure of the “sixth generation composers” in China, composer/pianist

Gao Ping was born in the city of Chengdu in the Sichuan Province of China.

Gao Ping’s music has met success in Europe, Asia, Russia, across the Americas, New Zealand, and Australia.  In demand as a composer and pianist, he has received commissions and performances from the Zurich-based Ensemble Pyramide, pianist Frederic Rzewski, Ursula Oppens, Frederic Chiu, James Tocco, violinist Arnold Steinhardt, the New Zealand String Quartet, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Chamber Orchestra, and the Taiwan National Chinese Orchestra.

His compositions have appeared on venues such as the Aspen Music Festival, the Gaudeamus International Music Week in Amsterdam, Ravinia Music Festival, Kita-Kyushu Chamber Music Festival in Japan, Asia/Pacific Music Festival in Wellington (2007), the Amati Music Festival in New York, the Cincinnati MusicX Festival, the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival in Detroit, and the Beijing-Modern International Music Festival.

Gao Ping’s chamber music on Naxos label was critically acclaimed and was described by a German critic as “music which wants to be heard with ears of a child, full of wonder and amazement…. deep and vulnerable.” It was selected as the Top Ten Best Classical Records by “the Listener” in 2006. 

His piano piece “Night Alley” was commissioned and performed as the compulsory work for the 4th China International Piano Competition in 2007.

In May, 2008, he premiered his Piano Concerto with NZ Symphony Orchestra. “The Listener” called “a major concerto.”

Dr. Gao is a composition lecturer in the School of Music at the Canterbury University in Christchurch, New Zealand. He has worked with musicians such as Joel Hoffman, Frederic Rzewski, James Tocco, Zhou Guang-Ren, and his father Gao Weijie.

 

Shen Nalin Composer

Born in southwest of Sichuan, in 1983, Shen Na Lin studied composition at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music with Prof. Gao Wei Jie and Yao Yi Rang. During the late ‘80s he was active in radio, film and television, including working as a broadcaster of classical music program in the Music Radio of Guangdong. In 1994 he moved to New Zealand and worked at Auckland AM 1476 and AM 990 Chinese Radio for five years before enrolling at the School of Music at Victoria University of Wellington, where he studied with Jack Body, and graduated in 2000 with Master of Music with Distinction. In 2001 and 2002 he was granted a Postgraduate Scholarship for PhD study and a Top Achiever Doctoral Scholarship. For his PhD studies he is composing an opera based on the dramatic life and writings of Chinese poet.

 He has composed chamber and orchestral music for piano, strings, orchestra, voices and compositions using Chinese instruments including The Mortal World for sheng, zheng, suona and percussion, and The Cold Dream for zheng, sheng, strings and percussion He completed his First Symphony in 1988. His more recent work has been influenced by traditional Chinese music, the string quartet: Zha Xi De Lei influenced by Tibetan folk songs and the chamber works Sheng Sheng Man and Hymn to the Virtue of Win. Shen Nalin has received awards from the Autumn Musical Festival of Chengdu, the 21st Annual Composition Contest 1990 Composers Guild USA, the fifth Guangzhou Musical Festival, and the Composer’s Competition of Victoria University of Wellington. His compositions had been performed at The 2002 Melbourne Festival Australia, the Asia Pacific Festival in Wellington in February 2007 and the ISCM-ACL World Music Days

 

 

Xingxing Wang Soprano

Wang Xingxing originates from Chongqing, China. She came to New Zealand in 2003 to study, and completed her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance at the New Zealand School of Music under JennyWollerman in 2007.

 

Xingxing appeared as the leading role Kim in the Napier Operatic Society’s productionMiss Saigon in 2009. Her operatic role included Yuner in the world premiere of the opera Fatal Desire by Shen Nalin, conducted by Gao Ping in the 2007 Asia Pacific Festival held in Wellington. In competitions, she was the Rockfire Cup winner in Wellington Aria competition 2007. In 2008 she was the recital class winner of the Napier Performing Arts Competitions, and was awarded 2nd place in the Napier Computer System Aria competition, and the most outstanding competitor in the Senior Vocal competition. Xingxing has been invited to sing the New Zealand National Anthem in Parliament in both 2007 and 2008. She has appeared in various concerts as a soprano, recitalist, Guzheng player, and has been a member of the Chapman Tripp Opera Chorus for NBR New Zealand Opera since 2007.

Xingxing runs a private music studio in which she teaches singing, piano and Guzheng. She is on a project of translating Western vocal pedagogy books into Chinese.

 

Ling (Sonia) Green Piano teacher

Originally from China, moved to New Zealand in 2001 to continue her studies in music. In 2004 she completed her Masters in piano performance at Victoria University.  As a student she has won many competition awards. Since her graduation she has played tours with the Vector Wellington Orchestra and also a CD recording with the NZ