New Zealand Chinese

Sperm donors line up for 'dragon baby'

2012-01-26T23:22:00.000+13:00

Potential sperm donors from across the country have stepped forward to help an Auckland woman who wants a "dragon baby".

Bevan Chuang, a single 30-year-old, wants to get pregnant this year so her baby is born in the Chinese year of the Dragon which is considered the most auspicious sign in the 12-year astrological cycle.

The New Year was welcomed in on January 23 and will run until February 9 next year.

Chuang went public with her search earlier this month and has since been contacted by about 20 men.

With just a couple of months to fall pregnant Chuang has made shortlist and will spend the next few weeks meeting the possible fathers.

"About five or six of them are genuine, like they really want it because they understand where I'm coming from and they want to help me pursue what I want to do.

"I've had people who are older that tell me they already have children but they just want to help me.

"And then I have one single man who has been having trouble finding a partner so he just wants a child."

Potential fathers for her child have ranged in age from 27 to men in their 40s.

Chuang says she would like a donor who could remain a part of the child's life but says offers have come from around the country.

"There's a few from the South Island, a couple from Christchurch, someone from Kaitaia - they're not all from Auckland."

She says rather than conducting a formal interview she just wants to meet potential donors and find out what they're like.

"I will have to meet them and talk to them and find out more about them.

"The correspondence I have got so far has just been electronic, I haven't met these people."

Chuang says she is open to fathers of all ethnicities and does not mind if they are not dragon babies themselves, but will ask potential donors if they have a family history of genetic illnesses.

Chuang, whose sperm donor quest has landed her on television and radio, says feedback from the public has been mixed.

"It's been interesting to see the comments online, to see what people assumed was the motive behind it.

"There are people, especially my friends, who are really supportive but there are people saying I wasn't being responsible or that I was selfish to have a child as a single woman.
She says one person accused her of trying to get residency, but says having a child here wouldn't entitle her to that anyway.

Chuang says it is English-speakers who are surprised at her request.
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"I think in China it's more acceptable because it's not uncommon that people want a child in this year."

According to Chinese astrology, dragon babies are destined to be wealthy and successful.

China is expected to see a five per cent increase in the birth rate this year as a result of couples trying to have dragon babies.

- © Fairfax NZ News

Fireworks rules no sales dampener

2012-01-21T18:37:00.001+13:00

Tough fireworks restrictions did not stop bumper sales yesterday as people stocked up for Guy Fawkes celebrations.

New government regulations have raised the age that people can buy fireworks from 14 to 18, and have cut the sales days from 10 to four.

Hamilton's Frankton Model Shop owner Geoff Leong said opening day sales were strong, with about 12 people waiting outside early yesterday to buy fireworks.

Based on initial sales, he said, he might sell as many fireworks as last year. While the shop had cut its stock slightly, it was still offering about 80 varieties.

"We've had lots of families come through and buy packs," Mr Leong said. "Asking for ID hasn't been a problem either, people have been really good about it."

Under the regulations, popular "sparklers" have to be sold in packs with other fireworks.

Mr Leong said sparklers had become a problem recently with some people making sparkler bombs. "It's a real shame because sparklers are popular with families. I'm sure these families are disappointed by the restrictions."

Mill St Pak 'N Save owner Glenn Miller was confident the Hamilton supermarket would sell as many fireworks as last year.

"Every year it seems people are told that this could be the final year of firework sales and so they go out and buy them."

Environmental Risk Management Agency chief executive Rob Forlong said the regulations were designed to "reduce the irresponsible use of fireworks". "We want to see an end to the damage caused by fireworks when they aren't used as they should be."

He said the shortened sale period should limit firework use, with sales ending on Monday.

Community fireworks displays include today's Waikato Fireworks Fiesta at the Ohaupo Rugby Club grounds, Forkert Rd. Entertainment begins at 5pm, with the main display at 9pm. Adults cost $7, children $3.

A Fireworks Extravaganza at the Morrinsville Recreation Ground today starts at 5pm. Adults $10, children $5.

- © Fairfax NZ News

Last updated 00:00 03/11/2007

Chinese group to invest in Kiwi startups

2012-01-21T18:34:00.000+13:00

A group of well-heeled Chinese business people with connections to New Zealand is getting together to invest in promising Kiwi companies.

New Zealand's first Chinese angel investment network hopes to start operating in February.

It's the brainchild of the Ice Angels, the private investment group set up by Auckland University's Icehouse business incubator in 2003 and which is now the largest in Australasia.

Ice Angels advisory board member Brent Ogilvie said they looked around at their membership and realised they were predominantly New Zealand Caucasian.

''There is obvious wealth among overseas Chinese with some connection to New Zealand.

''We think there's an opportunity and we have done some soundings with key individuals in the Chinese community in New Zealand to form a subgroup.''

The Ice Angels have secured the support of Auckland City's economic development agency ATEED, which will fund a Mandarin-speaking intern to provide administrative and language support to the fledgling group.

It has enlisted the help of Auckland University to find a suitable post-graduate student.

The ATEED connection will also offer access to prestigious meeting room facilities such as at the Town Hall - something that Chinese business people consider important, Ogilvie said.

The Ice Angels themselves would provide full support. Each member of the Chinese group would be paired with an advisory board member, and the network would be offered a pre-qualified deal flow.

Only businesses that had already received money from organisations such as Ogilvie's investment firm Pacific Channel or funds accredited to the governement's Venture Investment Fund would be put before the group.

Given that it was likely not all members would be in the country at the same time the group was aiming for a total membership of around 12, Ogilvie said.

Angel investing was done in China but the networks were not as large.

But the Chinese believed in growing businesses through relationships. ''So in many ways they have been doing angel investing for a long time.''

Group member Kenneth Leong said Kiwi businesses were crying out for funds.

''There is a huge pool of untapped capital right under our noses.''
Chinese business people had an appetite for New Zealand assets but many held their funds here in bank deposits or property.

They were prepared to take on risk. Go to the high rollers' room at the casino at 5pm on any given day and 95 per cent of the patrons will be Chinese, he joked.
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''What's lacking is a platform for Chinese investors to connect with New Zealand businesses.''

Other forums had been too structured, but it was hoped an informal network of angel investors would enable deals to occur organically, Leong said.

- © Fairfax NZ News

MARIA SLADE
Last updated 05:00 15/12/2011
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/small-business/6142028/Chinese-group-to-invest-in-Kiwi-startups

One family, two cultures

2012-01-21T18:32:00.001+13:00

They eat new potatoes as much as noodles and in many other ways the Leong family fit the ever-changing profile of a modern New Zealand Asian family.

Figures issued by Statistics New Zealand yesterday projected that the 400,000-strong Asian population would increase by 3.4 per cent a year to 790,000 by 2026.

The proportion of Kiwis identifying with Asian ethnicity by that time would rise from 10 per cent to 16 per cent.

Among them will be the Leongs; they classify themselves as Chinese New Zealanders and incorporate aspects of both cultures into everyday life.

It is a practice that has become entrenched over three generations of the Seatoun family, with Jack Leong, 84, raising his son David as a typical Kiwi respectful of his Chinese heritage.

In turn, David is raising his two daughters and son, also called Jack, 17 months, in the same way.

David's wife, Angela, said the assimilation of both cultures into family life was something that had "just happened".

"We didn't make a conscious decision but we were raised as Kiwis and we wanted our kids raised the same way but to still understand the traditions and customs of Chinese culture."

These come to the fore particularly around how the Chinese handle the delicate issue of death.

"At funerals, mourners are traditionally given handkerchiefs to wipe away the tears, lollies to lessen the bitterness and money for good luck."

Her two older children, Stacey, 8, and Cate 5, have been made aware of their heritage and are encouraged to hold on to that side of it.

One aspect which may already be lost is the language; Angela spoke it as a preschooler but soon lost fluency and she laments that it probably will not be picked up easily by her children.

"With my parents both living in the South Island, I find the language is getting further away too."

She is, however, determined that other parts of the culture will be retained.

"We try and follow some traditions because we think it's important."

- © Fairfax NZ News

FAMILY: They eat new potatoes as much as noodles and in many other ways the Leong family - including Jack and his namesake grandson - fit the ever-changing profile of a modern NZ Asian family. Last updated 01:42 03/04/2008 http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/343883/One-family-two-cultures

Chinese? Yes please

2012-01-21T07:34:00.001+13:00

My colleague Alistair Kwun sometimes posts photos on Facebook which looks as if he's on holiday in China, Singapore or Malaysia but when I take a closer look, I realise he's here in Auckland.

In recent years, increased migration has led to Auckland becoming a far more cosmopolitan city. It's possible to step into some neighbourhoods or eating establishments and feel as if you're in another, possibly more exotic, world.

January provides a great opportunity for a "cultural exchange" while staying in Auckland as the country's Chinese community marks the biggest celebration on its calendar: Chinese New Year.

Auckland, as the city with NZ's biggest Asian population (estimated at around 260,000), hosts some of the biggest celebrations.

Where to celebrate

Today the Auckland Chinese Community Centre Inc welcomes the Year of the Dragon with its annual Chinese New Year Festival and Market Day at the ASB Showgrounds, Greenlane.

Prime Minister John Key and Mayor Len Brown officially open the festivities, which begin with a Lion Dance performed to bring good luck, fortune and health in the coming year as well as drive away evil spirits.

As well as more than 200 specialist market stalls, there's an extensive programme of Chinese cultural songs, dances and musical items (performed by groups as diverse as community organisations and Chinese pop bands), martial arts and tai chi demonstrations. This year, entertainment also includes a visit from a troupe of shadow puppet performers and traditional folk musicians from Gansu in northwestern China.

Later today in Manukau, World TV Limited presents the ASB LunarFest 2012 from 3-11pm at TelstraClear Pacific Events Centre. Organisers say it's an Asian tradition, especially in China, to have a festival before New Year's Eve. It's called a "flower market" where visitors can buy flowers and plants but also crafts, arts and other items.

The LunarFest has those elements but also the feel of a summer "music extravaganza" with cultural and magic shows, pop music and appearances by Chinese Idols and NZ Chinese beauty queens.

Fireworks are a feature of Chinese New Year, so they'll be a highlight of LunarFest. A 12-minute display begins at 10pm and features special sequences of red and gold along with choreographed new pyrotechnic effects.

The Fo Guang Shan North Island Temple and Tea House in Flat Bush was built based on the palatial designs of the Tang Dynasty. It occupies a four-hectare site and features expansive temple buildings as well as meticulously landscaped and maintained gardens.

Crowds will gather on Sunday evening for the New Year's Eve Dharma Function and First Incense offering. Incense is offered to Buddha to wish for good fortune in the New Year. On Monday, New Year's Day, there are further services - the New Year Respecting a Thousand Buddhas Service from 10am-midday, as well as the New Year Vegetarian Food Fair to which everyone is welcome.

The festivities don't finish on New Year's Day. A week later, the Northcote Town Centre celebrates Chinese and Korean New Year with a free family day featuring Asian food stalls, children's entertainment and special activities like fortune-telling. The party kicks off on Friday, 27 January from 5.30-9pm and continues on Saturday with activities from 10am-3pm.

Chinese Auckland all year round

There are a number of ethnic precincts around this city which provide a chance to experience Chinese culture: Northcote, Somerville and Botany Park Estate, Upper Queen St and the Chinatown Markets in Pakuranga to name a few.

Opened in 1997, the Somerville Business Centre in Howick is one of the oldest such purpose-built precincts. It includes a Tai Ping Supermarket, service businesses like accountants and travel agencies, Asian fashion boutiques, jewellery stores and a range of eating establishments.

Such areas make it easier for migrants to do business plus provide the chance for new arrivals to trial businesses in a familiar environment but the benefit for the wider population is a more varied range of goods and services - just check out the range of Asian and Pacific fruit and vegetables at Tai Ping.

On a wet, windy supposedly summer night, when a holiday somewhere tropical would have been welcome, Alistair and I visited Dominion Rd, on the border of Balmoral/Mt Eden. A much older shopping strip, it has been transformed in recent years thanks to the arrival of a number of Asian businesses.

On this stretch of Dominion Rd, there is a rich range of cheap 'n' cheerful Asian restaurants/cafes where the emphasis is strictly on the food. Forget about linen tablecloths, mood lighting or silver service and simply eat and enjoy.

We ate at Barilla Dumpling. The restaurant was filled with a mix of students, families and couples enjoying an incredible range of delectable, authentic and very reasonably priced dishes. The menu is huge and includes soups, rice and noodle dishes, sizzling platters, vegetarian options, casseroles, pancakes and, of course, dumplings - the house speciality. Think of a dumpling filling and Barilla is likely to provide it.

Next stop was further along Dominion Rd, towards Mt Roskill, at J's Tea. Tea houses and cafes are a feature of Chinese life and they're popping up all over Auckland. With its striking red and white decor, J's is a contemporary take on the cultural phenomenon and attracts a young Chinese crowd who wants to hang out, play cards, listen to and watch music videos, catch up on reading Asian fashion mags and, of course, sip fantastic teas and enjoy snacks from an extensive menu.

For a completely different teahouse experience, head to Flat Bush and the Fo Guang Shan North Island Temple and Tea House. The temple is a working Buddhist monastery, huge in scale, and one of the most potent and spectacular symbols of the growth of Chinese culture in New Zealand.

With its dark wood furnishings and traditional Chinese decor, the teahouse is unique. It serves vegetarian food, coffee and tea and makes a perfect spot for experiencing a taste of another culture.

While food is one of the most accessible ways to experience Chinese culture, there are other ways to learn more. With branches in Mt Eden and Mangere, the Auckland Chinese Community Centre, for example, offers language lessons to children and adults in both Cantonese and Mandarin.

The Confucius Institutes are non-profit public institutions spread throughout the world to promote Chinese language and culture. Though similar to organisations such as France's Alliance Francaise and Germany's Goethe-Institut, Confucius Institutes are aligned to the Chinese Government and operate through universities and schools.

Auckland University is the base for a Confucius Institute, where Chinese language and culture classes are taught. Two courses offer a brush with Chinese culture - literally - as they're focused on teaching calligraphy and traditional Chinese brush painting. You can find out more at www.ci.ac.nz.

Cultural melting pot
Other organisations throughout NZ now acknowledge the importance of Chinese New Year; NZ Post even issues special stamps.

On Sunday January 29, the Chinese Associations of Auckland have organised the Cultures of China, Festival of Spring concerts performed by the Soldier Acrobatic Troupe of PLA in Guangzhou at 2 and 7pm at the Bruce Mason Centre.

Other ways of marking the Year of the Dragon could include attending the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra's Chinese New Year concert which features pianist John Chen, soprano Jenny Wollerman and Hong Kong Philharmonic Associate Conductor Perry So.

The concert opens with Wollerman performing The Floating Bride, The Crimson Village, a song cycle by Ross Harris and inspired by the art of Marc Chagall and the poetry of Vincent O'Sullivan. Red-hot young pianist Chen teams up with the NZSO to perform The Yellow River Piano Concerto which was composed as a cantata in 1939 and recomposed as a piano concerto during the country's Cultural Revolution.

Further down country, the Marlborough Wine Festival, on February 11, is embracing the Year of the Dragon spirit, too, with veteran band Dragon as its headline act.

Lantern Festival

The Chinese obviously like a good celebration because they keep their New Year activities going for two weeks and end with another party. In Auckland, New Year celebrations end with the Asia New Zealand Foundation's very popular Auckland Lantern Festival in Albert Park. Now in its 13th year, hundreds of brightly coloured lanterns light up the park from Friday to Sunday, February 3-5.

New lanterns are created each year for the New Zealand festival and made in Zigong, in the Chinese province of Sichuan. The 2012 display features a special pair commissioned by China's Ministry of Culture to mark the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between our two countries.

Multimedia artist, DJ and music producer Darryl Thompson (also known as DLT) has designed a taniwha lantern while Shanghai-born Aucklander and graphic designer Dennis Juan Ma has made a companion dragon lantern.

Aside from wondering at the lanterns, entertainment includes Beijing-based Long Shen Dao (way of the dragon spirit), considered China's best reggae band.

Thanks to Alistair Kwun for help with research for this article.
By Dionne Christian Dionne Christian: Chinese? Yes please
By Dionne Christian
5:30 AM Saturday Jan 21, 2012

It's the Year of the Dragon

2012-01-20T18:28:00.000+13:00

According to the Chinese calendar, the New Year ticks over on January 23 and celebrations marking the start of the 4709th year last 15 days. Welcome to the Year of the Dragon Auckland.

The local Chinese community are kicking things off a little early this year, making sure there are lots of things to see and do to celebrate:

Chinese New Year Festival and Market Day - Saturday, January 21

With more than 20,000 Aucklanders expected at this one day event, organisers have made sure they will be entertained.

John Key's official opening of the day at 10am will be followed up by an acrobatic, shadow puppet and musical troupe from Gansu, China.

Other highlights include more than 200 specialist stalls selling traditional Chinese delicacies, food and drink, arts and crafts as well as an extensive programme of Chinese dances and musical performances, martial arts and games.

Chinese New Year Festival and Market Day 2012 at ASB Showgrounds, Greenlane on January 21. Entry is free.

Chinese Lantern Festival - starts Friday, February 3

For what has become an Auckland tradition, hundreds of Chinese lanterns are about to transform Albert Park. For three nights, the inner city park will be lit up by imported paper lanterns and pack with food stalls to make picnicking even easier.

Plus there will be non-stop entertainment including a dragon and lion dance group from Shanghai, a Chinese-reggae band from Beijing, an opera and modern dance group from Taizhou and a Hong Kong a cappella group.

Chinese Lantern Festival at Albert Park on February 3-5. Entry is free.

NZSO Chinese New Year Concert - Friday, February 3

Celebrate Chinese New Year and welcome in the Year of the Dragon with young New Zealand pianist John Chen, soprano Jenny Wollerman, and the return of Hong Kong Philharmonic Associate Conductor Perry So as they bring one of China's most beloved compositions, The Yellow River Piano Concerto, to life along with other stunning pieces.

NZSO Chinese New Year Concert at the Auckland Town Hall on February 3. Tickets from The Edge.

Auckland Libraries celebrations

Libraries around Auckland are holding a programme of free activities, displays, stories and presentation to coincide with the lunar New Year. Kids can enjoy a story time for little dragons as well as making their very own scaly creature, while the older ones can try their hand at calligraphy or computer classes in mandarin plus a whole lot more.

Auckland Libraries celebrate Chinese New Year around Auckland from January 18 to February 11. Visit www.aucklandlibraries.co.nz for more information.

Chinese New Year at SkyCity

Auckland's Sky Tower will again be lit in the traditional colours of red and gold for the Chinese New Year period, while inside SkyCity there will be a special menu at the Jade Dragon restaurant. The festivities will start with a bang on January 22 as firecrackers are let off at the base of the Sky Tower.

The next night on Chinese New Year's Day, the celebrations really start with acrobats, a lion dance and more.

Chinese New Year at SkyCity from January 21. Entry is free.

- © Fairfax NZ News Your guide to celebrating Chinese New Year
BRIDGET JONES
Last updated 05:00 20/01/2012

Natalie Chan: Bringing back glam

2012-01-19T21:14:00.000+13:00

New Zealand designer Natalie Chan is bucking the recent trend of economic doom and gloom in the fashion industry with the opening of her store in Auckland.

The new space is below Chan's workroom in Parnell and is a reflection of the designer's love of vintage and opulence.

She says the shop is 'an overflow of pieces from her home'.

Chan previously worked for designer Trelise Cooper and has made a name for herself designing one-off bespoke outfits, fascinators and bejewelled headpieces.

Her current collection is filled with bright jewel-coloured silks and whimsical vintage fabrics sourced from her travels overseas.

She says her aim is to bring back femininity and the hey-day of the headpiece and beautiful dressing.

"I want to see the confidence expressed in women who dress to show off their individuality and femininity."

Key pieces include a silk, backless, reversible halter dress which can be worn in a multitude of ways. BY TRACEY BOND
Last updated 11:10 26/02/2009

All eyes on sun sense at Mt Eden Normal

2012-01-19T21:10:00.001+13:00

The eyes of year 1 students from Mt Eden Normal will be well protected during the hot summer months.

Ellerslie Eyecare optometrist Jeremy Wong donated a pair of glasses to 140 five-year-olds at the school, which his son Zachary attends.

Mr Wong says a lack of understanding about how the sun can damage the eyes made him decide to give the sunglasses away for free.

"The parents of most children wear sunglasses themselves, but the kids don’t," Mr Wong says.

"But the kids eyes are more sensitive to UV, so that’s why I wanted to give the kids a free pair."

While damage to children’s eyes isn’t immediate, he says protection is vital in their early years to prevent damage later in life.

"An eye damaged by UV can bring on cataracts. It’s a cumulative thing over time."

In previous years, Mr Wong provided sunglasses to schools through a nationwide programme.

But he decided go it alone because the programme supplied the kids with glasses in February rather than at the start of summer.

"If they’re a fun pair of glasses they will wear them," he says.

Five-year-old Zachary says he likes his pair of glasses because they have blue frames, while room 26 classmate India was pleased with her bright pink pair.

"I’m going to wear them at playtime," she says.

Deputy principal Chris Patel is thrilled Mr Wong decided to donate the glasses to the school’s year 1 students.

"It’s a very generous thing. The thing that he gets out of it is a personal buzz.

"It’s a really lovely thing giving more than you take."

Mr Wong hopes to donate the glasses to Mt Eden Normal’s youngest students at the start of every summer.

- © Fairfax NZ News Last updated 14:18 16/12/2008

JASON OXENHAM/Central Leader
SUN SMART: Optometrist Jeremy Wong, with son Zachary on his lap, has donated free sunglasses to year 1 pupils at Mt Eden Normal in time for summer. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/765414/All-eyes-on-sun-sense-at-Mt-Eden-Normal

Doctor makes life-saving sacrifices

2012-01-19T21:05:00.000+13:00

Top burns specialist Richard Wong She will miss part of his daughter's 13th birthday on December 3.

But that's a sacrifice he is willing to make for his patients. Dr Wong She is asking you to consider paying a much smaller price to help the National Burn Centre at Middlemore Hospital get the equipment it desperately needs.

He will be among those attending a Mad Butcher and Suburban Newspapers Community Trust fundraising dinner on his daughter's big day. The evening is being held as part of the trust's Operation Heal – a project aimed at raising $200,000 for a state-of-the-art operating microscope.

Dr Wong She says the microscope will make sure about 100 people a year receive the operations they need.

It will help burn victims, breast cancer patients and those needing serious limb injuries repaired.

"What we're using now is almost a decade old. The new microscope allows us to take a block of tissue, transpose it and plumb it into the arteries and veins of a new part of the body.

"We have seven surgeons who specialise in this type of procedure but only one and half older microscopes. It's like having a team of courier drivers but only one old van."

One patient eager for the arrival of the new microscope is 15-year-old Jimi Harper.

The wall of his stomach was blown out by a stray 11,000 volt powerline and he's been waiting since 2003 for an operation to repair it properly.

"The operation is not possible without this microscope," Dr Wong She says.

"So we will be able to finally fulfil that promise to Jimi and his family that we made seven years ago."

Dr Wong She also had to skip a nine-year-old daughter's birthday this year because he was training junior doctors. He says missing family milestones is necessary when lives are at stake.

"It's hard having to explain to my daughters why I missed their recitals, birthdays, and prizegivings. But I'm willing to make these sacrifices because I know I can make a big difference."

He says all the staff at National Burn Centre are now gearing up for their busiest time of the year.

"We see a definite peak about November, December and January. Holiday plus sun plus alcohol equals badness. So while the rest of the country is enjoying themselves – we're dealing with the carnage.

"That's why we're asking the public to please help us to deliver the 21st century healthcare that it needs."

The Mad Butcher and Suburban Newspapers Community Trust will hold a corporate charity dinner at Auckland's TelstraClear Pacific Events Centre on December 3. Guest speaker Prime Minister John Key will be interviewed on stage by broadcaster Paul Holmes during a night of glitz and glamour to raise funds for the National Burn Centre.

The evening starts at 7.30pm and will include live and silent auctions as well as music from the band Black Salt. A cheque will be handed over to the National Burn Centre at the end. Tickets cost $1850 + GST for a table of 10 or $185 + GST per person. Call Shandall on (09) 531-5910 or email shandall@madbutcher.co.nz.

JUSTIN LATIFF
Last updated 10:23 17/11/2010

Dr Wong
Justin Latif
OLD EQUIPMENT: Dr Richard Wong She with the older operating microscope used at Middlemore Hospital.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/papakura-courier/4353116/Doctor-makes-life-saving-sacrifices

Non-payment of award 'bad look'

2012-01-19T21:03:00.001+13:00

An exploited Malaysian Chinese cook awarded nearly $100,000 after employment hearings last year has yet to receive a cent from the Chinese restaurant in which she worked.

Her Christchurch immigration agent, John Horan, said the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had inadequate "teeth" to enforce awards, which he believed should be treated more like fines.

Boon Chwee Tan, 57, came to New Zealand from Malaysia in 1999 and in 2000 began working at the Asha restaurant in Riccarton operated by businessman Chung Wong.

She told the ERA hearings that she had often worked more than 60 hours a week until 2008 but was never paid overtime, holiday pay or penal rates for working public holidays.

Authority member Helen Doyle last year ruled Tan was unjustifiably dismissed and awarded $95,000 in back pay and costs against both Wong personally and his company Asha Co.

Wong's lawyer recently advised Tan the restaurant could not pay as it had no funds.

Tan told The Press her inability to get payment was a bad look for the New Zealand justice system.

"It feels like we won the battle but lost the war," her partner, Trevor Taylor, said.

Horan said he, Taylor and Tan had worked hard for two years to get a just settlement.

"This case shows how difficult it is for employees to get compensation out of small businesses which don't have a big profile," Horan said.

His client now faced a long battle in the courts to get the money she was awarded, he said.

"Surely it would be better if the ERA immediately enforced payment through time payment or whatever, with an ability to impose fines or imprisonment if no money is forthcoming. Some employers can thumb their noses at the ERA."

Wong did not respond to messages.

Initially, staff at his restaurant said he was busy and later said he no longer operated the restaurant although he helped out occasionally.

Chwee Tan's story

I am now 57 and work in a factory in Christchurch. It is relaxing compared to working at the Asha Restaurant.

I live with my New Zealand partner whose wife died of leukaemia several years ago.

I came to New Zealand from Malaysia in 1999 as a trained chef and obtained a work permit. I had been working as a chef for about nine years.

In August 2000, I began work as a chef at the Asha Restaurant in Riccarton owned by Chung Wong, who had previously been a chef himself.

There was a lot to do and I worked 10-hour days six days a week.

I was paid $350 in the hand each week in cash. I had Tuesdays off.

I was never paid any extra for working public holidays or for the extra hours I worked. I did not get any holidays and did not get holiday pay.

Chung told me since I worked in a Chinese restaurant, it was the laws of China.

I had to keep working because I was in New Zealand on a work permit and would have to leave if I could not find other work.

I hoped to show a good work record and get permanent residency.

When I did apply for permanent residency my tax records showed I only paid a little amount of tax.

I got permanent residency last year.

In 2003 my wages were increased to $450 weekly. Chung said that included holiday pay and public holiday pay.

In 2004 the restaurant started opening for longer – to 2am – and I had to cover for a worker who left. I had to work very hard, sometimes 12 hours a day.

I thought I had no choice because of the work permit situation.

I got a lot of the blame for things going wrong in the restaurant. Chung would yell at me and I felt small and bad because of his yelling.

I always worried I would lose my job and many times over the years I went home crying. This was my life for so many years I became very sick and lost much weight and always felt very unhappy.

In 2006 my employment contract was for me to be head chef, but I was not paid any more wages and worked on average 69 hours over a six-day week.

During 2007/2008 my pay was $550 cash every week but Chung would give me the money and take $50 back and say it was to help me pay tax.In late 2008 I began a relationship with Mr Taylor who I had known for many years.

He said I was being treated like a slave and insisted I not work on public holidays unless I was paid the proper New Zealand rates.

Around Christmas of 2008 I told Chung I wanted the proper pay rate to work the public holidays. We had a big argument and Chung was very upset.

He yelled at me and said in New Zealand you kill someone and you just go to jail, not like China where they execute you. [Wong denies saying this.]

I worked Christmas Day and Boxing Day and on December 30, 2008.

I was paid an extra $100 for Christmas and Boxing days and told not to come back because there was no work for me.

I was very tired and stressed. I had to rest for a long time before I felt better again.

I know of other Chinese workers on work permits who have had similar experiences.

I was never told about my employment rights in New Zealand.

I was told by other Chinese "just work. No questions or no job".

- © Fairfax NZ News MARTIN VAN BEYNEN
Last updated 05:00 12/02/2011

$90,000 win for worker
BY MARC GREENHILL

A Christchurch restaurant worker who says she was threatened for asking for a holiday at Christmas has been awarded more than $90,000 in compensation.

The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) ruled that Boon Chwee Tan was dismissed unjustifiably by her employers, Chung Wong and Asha Co Ltd, in December 2008 after eight years at the Asha Restaurant in Riccarton Rd.

The authority's decision was released yesterday.

Tan told the authority she did not have any paid holidays, was not paid appropriately for working public holidays, worked considerable overtime for which she was not paid, was subjected to verbal threats and was discriminated against.

She said she was contracted to work up to 40 hours a week, but worked up to 57 hours over six days.

Tan said Wong threatened her when she requested leave for Christmas Day 2008.

She quit because she was "very tired and worn out" and gave two weeks notice on December 22, 2008.

She said Wong agreed to her leaving on December 30, but then told her to go on December 28.

Wong said Tan gave only one week's notice and that he did not argue with her or make threats.

He said he was told she did not want to work because her partner would "make trouble".

Wong said Tan was paid extra for working public days.

During the initial part of her employment, she worked four days, from noon until 2pm and from 4pm to 8pm.

She would also work on Saturdays and Sundays, from noon until 2pm and from 4pm until 8.30pm.

Wong said this changed in September 2005 when Tan's wages were increased and she worked from 11am to 2pm and from 5pm to 8.30pm during the week, and from 11am to 2pm and from 5pm to 9pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

ERA member Helen Doyle said she was satisfied that Tan worked longer hours than the 38 hours, and later 40 hours.

"I find from her evidence that she was starting to feel quite torn between her partner's view that she should not work in such conditions and her workplace where she had worked for eight years," she said.

Doyle said the threat alleged was "serious" but found it was made by another employee.

"It may have been made by another employee, but I am not satisfied that it was made by Mr Wong in relation to Ms Tan working on Christmas Day," she said.

" I find that the reason for Ms Tan resigning was the pressure she was feeling about claiming money and enforcing rights in circumstances where she was continuing to work at the restaurant."

Doyle awarded Tan a total of $90,304 and reserved costs.

- © Fairfax NZ News http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/4205292/90-000-win-for-worker

Trip a mix of fun and science

2012-01-19T20:59:00.001+13:00

It was an extraordinary science trip for Palmerston North Girls' High School student Jenny Wong, 17, who was awarded a scholarship to the 2009 Professor Harry Messel International Science School.

Miss Wong, who plans to study medicine, spent two weeks in Sydney at the end of July learning at the School of Physics.

Only five scholarships were awarded to New Zealand students and 145 students attended the two-week-long trip.

Students were from all around the world including America and Japan.

Miss Wong said the trip was a great experience for her.

"I'm really into science. I know it is something I want to do. And I had never been to Australia."

Biology is her favourite science and although she went on a more physics-based trip everything she learnt can still be applied.

"Everyone is born being curious and science allows us to know more about life on earth and gives us a new and better approach to things."

Lectures were given by professors from Australia, someone from NASA and a French university lecturer.

One of the things Miss Wong liked the most about the experience was the people she got to meet and learn from.

"You definitely know that the people that are going are intelligent and work hard to get there. From some of the countries students had to take an exam."

Social activities were also included during the two weeks and Miss Wong was able to see the harbour bridge and the Opera House as well as attend the Beauty and the Geek disco.

Miss Wong received her $3000 scholarship through the Royal Society of New Zealand and was also given funds from her school.

- © Fairfax NZ News BY CAITLIN MADDEN
Last updated 12:00 11/08/2009

Palmerston North student Jenny Wong spent two weeks studying in Sydney as one of five NZ students to be awarded a scholarship to the 2009 Professor Harry Messel International Science School.
WARWICK SMITH/Manawatu Standard
BUDDING SCIENTIST: Palmerston North student Jenny Wong spent two weeks studying in Sydney as one of five NZ students to be awarded a scholarship to the 2009 Professor Harry Messel International Science School.

Twizel film close to completion

2012-01-19T20:57:00.001+13:00

Director Declan Wong has completed his long-awaited film about Twizel – he is just waiting for the premiere to be arranged.

Mr Wong has been working on the film for nearly two years, and admits it has taken longer than everyone expected.

"It's sort of stretched out from what was the original idea of the film, which was basically just to promote Twizel," he said.

"The more I delved into the town's history, the more I got interested in it."

The film is a project of the Twizel District Promotions Association. More than $100,000 has been raised towards the film, largely through community grants and fundraising.

Mr Wong said it was only this week that he had finished off the final editing and sound mixing for the film.

"We'll be talking over the next couple of weeks about a premiere, it's been such an effort that I'm looking forward to it being released," he said.

Mr Wong said most of the film would focus on the hydro development, and the locals' subsequent fight to protect the town after the Government initially threatened to decommission it. Over the last few weeks, he has been able to source a lot of archival material from Opus Consultants.

"I've talked to a wide range of people who were involved in the development, particularly (chief engineer for the Upper Waitaki project) Max Smith, who is still razor-sharp," he said.

"That sort of project could not have been done now. They shifted something close to four million cubic metres of soil in one four-month period," he said.

"That sort of speed and scale of work could only happen when everyone answered to one department– the Ministry of Works.

"These days, you would have to get geologists to assess the area, and workers certainly wouldn't be allowed to work 15-hour days week-in, week-out."

As well as documenting the hydro development, Mr Wong said the film would also focus on the history of farming in the region, as well as pre-European settlement days.

"I'm amazed at how much the land use has changed in the town, even in the last decade or so," he said.

"If I had the opportunity, I would really like to make a film all about dairying in Twizel. There are some really strong views about it from both sides, particularly from those older farming families who have worked the land for generations, while ecologists are concerned about the long-term effects on the environment."

There were aspects that Mr Wong found difficult, particularly choosing what aspects not to leave in, but ultimately, he said he was satisfied with the finished film.

"When I showed parts to my kids, they told me they had no idea how interesting the town's story was. So that's been a good test of how it's gone," he said.

- © Fairfax NZ News MATTHEW LITTLEWOOD
Last updated 05:00 01/07/2011

Kiwi pork, Asian-style

2012-01-19T20:52:00.001+13:00

A whole pig roasted the traditional Chinese way fed young men's and women's bodies, while speakers fired up their minds in Palmerston North.

The five-day New Zealand Chinese Association leadership and development conference was held at the Massey University Sport and Rugby Institute last week.

The pig, selected by Pioneer New World owner Darrin Wong, was prepared on Friday night.

After the bones were removed, the pig was wired to keep it together. Five spice, garlic and soy sauce were rubbed into the meat and left to marinate overnight.

The rain brought the roasting forward on Saturday and at times the men had to shield the flames with plastic.

With the temperature reaching 500 degrees Celsius in the double brick kiln built in Aokautere by JJ Chew in 1962, the pig was cooked in one hour and 15 minutes.

Shoulder meat was removed during preparation to ensure an even thickness. It was dangled into the flames on hooks – a process called char sui (fork roasted).

Twenty-four young Chinese delegates attended the conference, hosted by the Manawatu branch of the New Zealand Chinese Association.

The first conference was in 2007 but this is the first time it has been in Palmerston North.

The aim was to "create leaders that will shape our future".

Delegates had to be aged between 18 and 30 years and members of the association.

Applicants for the conference had to explain where they see themselves now and in five years time.

The live-in conference started each day at 7.30am with tai chi and ended after dinner with the men learning a dragon dance and the women a lantern dance.

Speakers included Gisborne mayor Meng Foon on tri-culturalism in New Zealand, Christchurch emergency physician Paul Gee on leadership in a crisis and for a cause and Stephen Young and Tony Thackery on the Chinese influence on New Zealand history.

Sheila Yeh said she found the history of Asian Kiwis interesting – her parents were born in China. The 20-year-old is in her third year of a bachelor of business studies at Massey, majoring in economics and finance.

It was also Aidan Wong's first conference. The 26-year-old Palmerston North accountant enjoyed the team work exercises and Rodney Wong's talk, because he could relate to the city businessman's life experiences.

Rodney Wong's talk was called "Business and future value planning, or if only I knew then what I know now".

Delegates split into groups to prepare a skit for a potential television advertisement to promote the association and to brainstorm ideas to increase the number of young members.

One group developed Wokc, Wellington Overseas and Kiwi Chinese.

They said the early 20s was a vulnerable age when people can become disconnected from the Chinese culture.

Aucklanders Joanna Wong and Kelly Wing had not been to Palmerston North before.

Miss Wong, 24, said the city was very green and she was surprised to see a block of shops, then turn a corner and see farmland.

She was used to eating pork that came in packets from the supermarket.

Miss Wing, 23, remarked how many trees Palmerston North had and said the city was bigger than she thought.

- © Fairfax NZ News
http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/tribune/6275106/Kiwi-pork-Asian-style
JUDITH LACY
Last updated 11:34 18/01/2012

Goldsmith racks up top award with novel necklace

2012-01-19T20:46:00.000+13:00

Proving that inspiration can come from the most unlikely sources, Wellington goldsmith Nigel Wong has won one of the jewellery industry's top awards with a design inspired by a towel rack.

Mr Wong took the fine jewellery section at the New Zealand Jewellery Show last week. His winning necklace, "X-tension", was modelled on a device he saw while his father-in-law was showing off his new camper van.

"He told me he had issues about placing his towel after his shower in such a confined space, and then he showed me this extendible shower towel rail and I was quite impressed by the mechanism."

A few weeks later when Mr Wong was working on a competition entry, he realised his initial design thoughts mirrored what he had seen.

The piece, on sale for $18,000, is a concertina style design in yellow and white gold, with 13 diamonds and a centrepiece of triangular green tourmaline.

True to its name, the piece is extendable, allowing the wearer to adjust the length.

"It has a lot of versatility," Mr Wong said. "If you have a low neckline dress, you can extend it down and if you want to wear it casually you can wear it closer to the neck."

It is the first time Mr Wong has won the fine jewellery section although he was a finalist in 2008. His employers, the Village Goldsmith, have a good track record in the competition. Colleague Karl Williams was a fellow finalist this year and another colleague, Nick Hensman, took the title last year.

"There's a little in-house rivalry here – although it's all friendly – to improve our levels of skills and design parameters," Mr Wong said.

He has been with Village Goldsmith for 12 years and goldsmithing for 30 years.

Meanwhile, Village Goldsmith is working to establish a global brand of designer diamond rings.

The collection, designed by owner Ian Douglas, was launched eight months ago after several years in development.

Mr Douglas described the rings as "almost architectural".

"They explore new techniques of holding diamonds and settings. They're done in such a way that they're nothing like traditional engagement rings."

The company was aiming to establish a chain of overseas distributors for the range. Talks were already under way with a small jewellery chain in Helsinki, he said.

Sales were doing well through its Auckland distributor.

The range will also show alongside a select group of exhibitors in the design gallery of the world's biggest jewellery fair in Hong Kong later this year.

- © Fairfax NZ News BY CATHERINE HARRIS
Last updated 05:00 06/07/2010
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/3886557/Goldsmith-racks-up-top-award-with-novel-necklace

Drug could have new use

2012-01-19T20:44:00.001+13:00

Sufferers of a debilitating respiratory condition could get a boost in managing their illness.

Counties Manukau District Health Board is receiving $1.19 million over the next three years to trial a medication that could improve treatment for bronchiectasis, a long-term condition that affects a person's ability to breathe.

The Health Research Council awarded the funding as part of a wider $74m investment into health research.

Clinical head of respiratory Dr Conroy Wong is leading the trial of an inhaler now widely used to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease – COPD.

With bronchiectasis irreversible damage can occur to the bronchi in the lungs for various reasons, he says.

"Patients don't have the normal defence mechanisms to clear mucus from their lungs, making them prone to recurrent infections and further damage.

"Any treatment we can assist with will be an improvement to any patient with bronchiecstasis."

In most developed countries the rate of bronchiectasis has declined over the years. But New Zealand's rates remain higher than in other developed countries and are even higher among Pacific and Maori children.

Dr Wong says a lack of evidence-based treatments for bronchiectasis means his study will set the agenda for treating the condition.

"Very few countries could do this study because it's not easy to get large enough numbers to get a trial that makes a difference,`" he says Dr Wong.

"If it is as effective as we believe it should be, we should see a marked reduction in flare-ups of the disease, which would reduce the number of hospital and GP visits and also less antibiotics for patients.

"So any treatment that we can do to reduce that will be of huge benefit to all patients with bronchiecstasis."

The study will trial tiotropium, an inhaler drug commonly used to open up the airways of emphysema and chronic bronchitis sufferers.

If the three-year trial is successful the evidence will make a viable case for Pharmac to fund the drug, Dr Wong says.

- © Fairfax NZ News

ADRIAN EVANS
Last updated 08:45 09/08/2011

Conroy Wong
ADRIAN EVANS
TREATMENT TESTING: Health board head of respiratory medicine Dr Conroy Wong's three-year study could change the way bronchiectasis patients are treated. http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/manukau-courier/5411968/Drug-could-have-new-use

Audience with Wong enthrals

2012-01-19T20:38:00.000+13:00

Alison Wong, Granary Festival Cafe. Saturday October 16. Reviewed by Jessica Le Bas.
Last updated 13:02 19/10/2010

Award-winning novelist/poet Alison Wong opened this year's Readers and Writers section of the Nelson Arts Festival in conversation with events organiser Jacquetta Bell.

The Granary was done out like a cosy lounge, a backdrop of lamps and bookshelves and armchairs, and Independent Bookshop of the Year, Page & Blackmore.

Wong is foremost a poet. Even her debut novel, As the Earth Turns Silver, reads like fine poetry. It won the 2010 NZ Post Book Award for Fiction, and is shortlisted in the Australian Prime Minister's Literary Award.

Wong's a petite, softly spoken woman of Chinese descent. She grew up in Hawke's Bay, and initially majored in mathematics. She talked about her life and her writing, entertaining and captivating her audience.

At a family reunion in the 1990s, Wong first heard that her great-grandfather was murdered in 1914 in his Wellington fruit and vege shop on Adelaide Rd. It was a gruesome crime, and never solved. It became the catalyst for her novel.

As the Earth Turns Silver took Wong 12 years to write, with a Stout Research Fellowship.

"When you write a novel you need to know how the people live, how they eat and cook and wash."

She used the exact geography, searching out the shop's deeds and plans. The rest she created.

"It's not my family's story."

Wong's audience was spellbound by the quiet, modest way she retold experiences of early Chinese immigrants.

"You get prejudice in so many different ways in all societies.

"There's always suspicion when people are different."

Novel writing is "excruciatingly difficult" for her.

"The concentration and stamina needed doesn't fit well with a normal life."

She's working on another novel, and laughed self-deprecatingly about the long process ahead of her.

Alison Wong was a warm and congenial and intelligent guest.
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- © Fairfax NZ News http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/blogs/in-touch-with-the-festival/4248189/Audience-with-Wong-enthrals

Kerry Wong of Masterton

2012-01-19T20:34:00.001+13:00

Kerry Wong takes out big Hokonui prize

Relative unknown fashion designer Kerry Wong of Masterton has taken out this year's Hokonui Fashion Design Awards' Award of Excellence.

Wong's collections section entry of three men's outfits took out the supreme prize before a capacity audience of 750 in Gore last night.

It was once again a gala occasion as heartland New Zealand put on the ritz to be wowed by 200 garments, from the sophistication of the nightlife section to the outlandish, as steampunk made its debut on the catwalk.

While Wong's win was a popular one, the designer may still be oblivious to his $12,000 prize package.

Awards director Heather Paterson said Wong was in Australia and attempts to contact him over the last two days had proved unsuccessful.

However, she had spoken to a brother so was hopeful the message had got through, she said.

Wong's garments, in shades of grey and black, were predominantly made of wool. They featured incredible detail and showed outstanding workmanship, Mrs Paterson said.

A collections section entry was responsible for honours in one of the other major awards of the night, the Young Designer Award, which went to Allison Brooks of Dunedin. The Best Southland Designer went to Gore woman Andre Tamblyn.

The debut of the secondary schools section was a resounding success with the creativity of the young designers a standout. The inaugural award of excellence when to Hasting's teenager Hayley Baston.

Detailed results:

Award of excellence: Kerry Wong, of Masterton.
Young Designer: Allison Brooks, of Dunedin.
Southland Designer: Andre Johnson, of Gore.
Knitted award: Helen Marshall, of Invercargill.
Best use of fabric: Eleni Kristea, of Upper Hutt.
Garment with the most commercial potential: Kristin Leitch, Maxine Woolridge and Samara Woolridge, of Auckland.
Streetwear: Angela Ward, of Hastings; runner up, Sarah Holmes, of Southbridge.
Denim: Andre Johnson, of Gore; runner up, Kristin Leitch, Maxine Woolridge and Samara Woolridge, of Auckland.
Wool: Kristin Leitch, Maxine Woolridge and Samara Woolridge, of Auckland; runner up Amanda Donaldson, of Christchurch.
Steampunk: Amanda Hasselman and Kate Scott, of Glenorchy; runner up Jeannie Dyer, of Leeston.
Collections: Kerry Wong, of Masterton; runner up, Eleni Kristea, of Upper Hutt.
Avante Garde: Kerrie Williams, of Motueka; runner up Hannah Shand, of Waikanae.
Menswear: Sarah Odering, Christchurch; runner up, James Bush, of Wellington.
Nightlife: Roberta Davids, of Christchurch; runner up, James Bush, of Wellington.
Secondary Schools Award of Excellence: Hayley Baston, of Hastings.
Steetwear: Gabrielle Sayer, of Rotorua.
Nightlife: Hayley Baston, of Hastings.
Steampunk: Tessa Knierum.
Avante Garde: Lauren Anderson, of Lower Hutt.

- © Fairfax NZ News
http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/life-style/5366009/Kerry-Wong-takes-out-big-Hokonui-prize

SONIA GERKEN
Last updated 00:53 31/07/2011

50,000 dumplings for Chinese New Year

2012-01-18T17:45:00.001+13:00

Restaurant owner Chunlan Zhao has spent weeks preparing tasty treats for Chinese New Year.

Food stalls are a cutthroat business during festivities but she hopes her 50,000 dumplings will soothe people's cravings on Saturday.

It's Zhao's second year as a stallholder at the Auckland Chinese Community Centre's New Year market day at ASB Showgrounds and she is bringing back her dumplings by the dozens.

The north-east Chinese cuisine is a hit with ex-pats living in Auckland and a feature food of many Chinese celebrations.

The versatile dumplings are regarded as comfort fare in the cooler northern hemisphere winters.

They are traditionally eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

''The festival is not just about making money it's the fact that Kiwis are buying my dumplings and learning about Chinese culture that makes me really proud,'' Zhao says.

She has a team of seven staff making thousands of them each day in the lead-up to the festival.

The queen of dumplings was one of the first immigrants from China who came through the business migrant scheme.

Zhao spotted a gap in the market and has been running the Chinese King Dumpling Restaurant on New North Rd since 1999.

Her specialty dish is just one of hundreds of delicacies on show at the festival to help welcome the Year of the Dragon.

More than 200 stalls including food, arts and crafts, and community services will be offering a glimpse at all aspects of Chinese culture. Acrobatics, shadow puppet and songs, dance and music are also set to keep visitors entertained throughout the day.

The Chinese Community Centre has been running the new year celebrations for two decades and expects crowds of up to 20,000 people on Saturday.

''The dragon is an auspicious and very important symbol for Chinese, and the Year of Dragon is going to be a year that allows us to overcome challenges,'' chairman Arthur Loo says.

The Chinese New Year Festival and Market Day is a free community event at ASB Showgrounds, Greenlane, on January 21 from 9.30am to 4pm.

- © Fairfax NZ News HANNAH SPYKSMA Last updated 05:00 18/01/2012

Photos

http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/6270858/50-000-dumplings-for-Chinese-New-Year

Sixth NZ Chinese leadership conference

2012-01-17T22:04:00.001+13:00

Saturday, 7 January 2012, 4:04 pm
Press Release: NZCA

Sixth NZ Chinese leadership conference to be held in Palmerston North

New Zealand Chinese Association (NZCA) will hold its annual 5 day residential Leadership and Development Conference (LDC) from 11-15 January at the Massey University Rugby & Sport Institute in Palmerston North, challenging young people’s perceptions of what it means to be Chinese today.

Over five days, the 27 talented young Chinese between the ages of 18 and 30 will connect and discover their identity, potential, and place as Chinese in New Zealand and the world. The conference will deepen their outlook on life as they explore their relationship with culture, heritage, community and their leadership role.

“Those chosen will gain confidence, skills, and ideas that will enable them to grow and shape a future society that is strong, proud, and inclusive of their stories and communities,” says New Zealand Chinese Association President, Virginia Chong.

Designed as a storytelling event, NZCA LDC-2012 invites high-profile personalities of Chinese descent from across New Zealand to share their leadership journeys with the delegates. The programme also features a range of outdoor adventure activities, cultural immersion, group discussions, and a team leadership project.

The theme for 2012 is “Create Leaders that will shape our future”. This year’s presenters, drawn from the business, non-profit, and academic communities, include: Meng Foon (Mayor of Gisborne & NZ Rugby League board); Greg Tims (HR Guru); Dr Paul Gee (Christchurch Hospital Emergency department surgeon); Arthur Chin (Mindset Cultural Consultancy); Steven Young (ex-President NZCA & social commentator); Tony Thackery (member of Poll Tax Trust, solicitor at Opie & Dron); Rodney Wong (Stargate Investments); Sarah Yee (Opra).

Now in its sixth year, the conference is open to New Zealand born and overseas born Chinese. NZCA LDC receives support from Chinese Poll Tax Heritage Trust and the New Zealand Chinese Association. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1201/S00014/sixth-nz-chinese-leadership-conference.htm

Immigrant's view: Hong Kong

2012-01-16T22:08:00.000+13:00

Bevan Chuang, 26, PA, Auckland. From Hong Kong, 11 years here.

"Like a lot of Hong Kong Chinese, we were desperately trying to get out of the country before the handover [from British to Chinese rule]. I went to Selwyn College in Auckland. I'm more proud of being Chinese now than when I was in Hong Kong. In New Zealand, suddenly you become a minority, and you're trying to find your identity.

"In Asian countries you're expected to achieve really well. Getting good grades is extremely important whereas here I had the freedom to be myself. "Because we don't have relatives here, we don't have to do the usual Sunday family things - go to yum cha, go shopping. I can take my dogs for a walk. That's something we couldn't have in Hong Kong - it's all apartments, all concrete.

"New Zealanders probably have an assumption that Asian women are relatively submissive, but Hong Kong women are famous for being too bolshie. Women have a bigger say in Hong Kong, they're able to work in high-level jobs whereas here not many women are managers or CEOs.

"A growing number of New Zealand men want to go out with Asian women. There's an exotic feeling to it and it's more acceptable for a white male to go out with a Chinese girl than vice-versa. A lot of Chinese women are quite westernised, and probably think white men think more similarly to them than Chinese men.

"My ex is a Pakeha from a small town in Hawke's Bay. He is very Kiwi. Although he got along quite well with my mother, and even my grandmother, there was still a cultural clash in the way we think.

"I'm a workaholic, he's more laid back. He wanted to go fishing on holidays, I wanted to do something more exciting, maybe go to work. I'm expected to live with my family until I get married, and to look after my elders. Here, kids are expected to have an independent life. I've had lots of arguments with my ex when I couldn't go out with him because I had to look after my grandmother.

"Asian culture is similar to Maori culture in understanding you are part of a collective world. More Asian people need to engage with Maori. When they see the similarities it's probably easier to settle here.

"People see Hong Kong as part of China, and we really want to distinguish ourselves from Mainland China. "Sometimes I don't respond when people ask where I come from? It pisses me off because it immediately puts you into a stereotype.

"And people think if you're Chinese you came from a poor village. I come from a fairly well-off background, I grew up with luxuries around me. "European countries love our products - look at how they steal Maori words and use them in commercials. We should make the most of what is uniquely New Zealand. "I like this place because it is so different. New Zealand is a place where I can stand out and grow. We can still try new things - technology, the creative arts, the way we deal with people."
By Nicola Shepheard By Nicola Shepheard
5:00 AM Sunday May 18, 2008

Simple food top of the menu

2012-01-15T14:20:00.001+13:00

A normal day for me begins before 5am so we can start preparing for what is usually a 12-hour working day.

My first task is to start up the ovens and begin making snacks like sandwiches and muffins. It's around 6am that we open the doors.

Our rush hour is lunchtime, traditionally 11.30am to 2pm, but the mornings can be very busy especially when everybody needs that all-important coffee before work.

My wife Ivy is the expert when it comes to the art of a good coffee so I'm usually in the kitchen out back preparing the meals.

The food we make is very straight-forward with eggs and bacon a popular choice with customers.

When I opened this business I tried to make the food fancy but quickly realised that people don't always want their breakfast or lunch to look extremely complicated. At the end of the day an egg is an egg no matter how you try to smarten it up.

I am originally from southern China where I worked as a chef in Chinese cuisine. I moved to New Zealand about 10 years ago to do a chef's course at AUT and worked at various restaurants.

It was about five years ago that we bought this lunch bar.

The one thing I enjoy about running a small business is getting to know people from all different walks of life; It just makes the job more enjoyable. We have our regulars – neighbours from nearby businesses and also the kids at the two schools who are always coming in for breakfast or lunch.

You really have to find a balance with business and friendship if you want to be happy in your job.

We have and it is great because you do feel part of a small community.

Around 2.30pm we begin the clean-up process and the shop is shut after 3.30pm.

We then go shopping and begin the preparation for the next day.

When we do get home I enjoy a quiet glass of red wine and spending valuable time with my son.

- © Fairfax NZ News

Last updated 12:00 12/01/2012
TUREI MACKEY

BUSY LIVES: Ivy and Vince Li operate the Get Fed lunch bar in Henderson.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/western-leader/6246178/Simple-food-top-of-the-menu

2012-01-14T09:32:00.000+13:00

Desperately seeking dragon baby

2012-01-14T09:31:00.000+13:00

5:30 AM Saturday Jan 14, 2012

Bevan Chuang is seeking a sperm donor to help her make a 'dragon baby' this year. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Bevan Chuang, 30, is desperate to have a "dragon baby" - and she's determined not to let the fact that she doesn't yet have a partner hinder her plans.

The Hong Kong-born Auckland Council ethnic panel board member, who has the blessings of her mother, is seeking a donor to give her a child through artificial insemination.

Many Chinese consider the Year of the Dragon to be the most auspicious year to have a child. Those born under the sign of the dragon - the fifth, and the mightiest of the 12 Chinese zodiac signs - are said to be outstanding, driven, independent and destined for success.

Miss Chuang, who is born under the rooster sign, believes a dragon child will also be "perfect match" as the two zodiac signs are said to be most compatible.

"Waiting for a full cycle, or another 12 years, is not an option because I'd be 42 by then," she said.

Others, like Malaysian-born Dawn Chong, who is three months pregnant, said she was happy to be in New Zealand to be delivering her child.

"My pregnant friends in Malaysia say it's just crazy over there," said Ms Chong, originally from Petaling Jaya.

"They are finding it hard to get pre-natal checks because even the doctors and nurses are themselves preparing to go on maternity leave to have their own dragon babies."

Chinese media reported that dragon babies are expected to set a new birth record in China, where many hospitals have been booked until August and fees for post-natal caretakers have taken a drastic rise.

Feng shui practitioner Janet Chan said no other zodiac sign could be compared to the status of the dragon, which symbolised power, strength and good luck.

She said the Emperor of China also used the dragon as a symbol of his imperial power.

"Emperors are believed to be no ordinary humans who rule the kingdom with the blessings of the dragon," Mrs Chan said. "Many parents believe that babies born in the Dragon Year will also enjoy this same stamp of royalty and blessings."

She said some would also name their children dragon, or Long in Mandarin, believing it would add "power and balance" to their lives.

People who have dragon in their names include kung fu star Bruce Lee (Li Xiao Long) and Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Mrs Chan said there would definitely be a spike in the number of Chinese mothers in New Zealand giving birth, but did not believe the numbers were large enough to affect hospitals or the health system.

As determined by the lunar calendar, the first day of the Year of the Dragon falls on January 23 and will run until February 9, 2013.

Auckland Chinese Community Centre, which has been hosting the annual Chinese New Year festival for over 20 years and saw 20,000 attend its event at the ASB Showgrounds last year, said it expected an even larger crowd next Saturday.

A highlight at the event kicking off the New Year celebrations is an acrobatic, shadow puppet and musical troupe from Gansu, China.

Dragon and lion dances, and the use of gongs, drums and cymbals, will also be a feature as it is believed the loud noise will dispel evil spirits and bring good luck.

Many Chinese believe housework could wash away good luck, and some would even avoid washing their hair on Chinese New Year.

The celebrations
(Year of the Dragon starts Monday, January 23)

Chinese New Year Festival and Market Day: ASB Showgrounds, Saturday, January 21, 9.30am to 4pm.

LunarFest 2012: TelstraClear Pacific Events Centre, Saturday, January 21, 3pm to 11pm.

Chinese and Korean New Year Festival: Northcote Central, January 27 and 28.

Auckland Lantern Festival: Albert Park, February 3 to 5, from 5pm nightly.

Dragon characteristics
Innovative, enterprising, self-assured, brave, passionate but conceited and quick-tempered.

Dragon people
Bruce Lee, Russell Crowe, Joan of Arc, John Lennon, Al Pacino, Nicolas Cage, Sandra Bullock and Shirley Temple.

Tai chi master a 'living treasure'

2012-01-07T21:16:00.001+13:00

When Loo-Chi Hu left China in 1948, he did not think it would be for ever.

However, 60 years later, 83-year-old Hu considers himself more Kiwi than Chinese.

Hu's life, which has seen him rescue stricken sailors and become a world authority on tai chi, is the subject of a documentary at this year's International Film Festival.

The Christchurch man is a reluctant film star.

"I actually I don't like it. Why should I publish myself?" said Hu at his Phillipstown home.

Hu left China in 1948 and travelled to Taiwan to work in the fishing industry. While Hu was away, Mao Zedong came to power in China and his father advised him to stay away.

It was not until 1995 that Hu was able to return.

In 1970, Hu helped rescue Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl during his crossing from Morocco to Barbados in a ship built from reeds.

"In Barbados they cannot find it. Lost," said Hu.

"So United Nations asked me to go and help them. There was nobody else. Looking for the boat lost on the ocean is very difficult. I know they came from Morocco so I know where they are from and where they end, and so I searched between them."

Hu located Heyerdahl after four days and three nightsand guided him into Bridgetown.

After settling in New Zealand in the early 1970s, Hu designed commercial equipment for the then Marine Department. As a ship master, he worked on navigation and fishing gear for the New Zealand fishing industry.

Hu's expertise in fishing was only one string to his bow.

He has been teaching tai chi in Christchurch since 1971. In 1988, his pupils established the New Zealand National Tai Chi Chuan Association.

"Tai chi is not just a physical exercise, it is a mental exercise," said Hu.

"Before I learned tai chi, I learned the hard martial art and with the hard martial art your behaviour is hot and you sometimes fight with people. My father advised me to practise tai chi, and since I have never got in a fight."

In 2003, he released a DVD teaching people how to practise the art. He still has a 6am tai chi session every day and teaches students in a shed next to his house.

The documentary, called Huloo, Hu's nickname, features interviews with Hu and people he has influenced.

Wellington-based director and co-producer Robin Greenberg is a former tai chi student of Hu's.

"I hope people will find it as interesting and amazing, as I have," said Greenberg. "His life and career have been extraordinary. I feel he is a living treasure."
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The film will screen at the New Zealand International Film Festival in Wellington and Christchurch in mid-July.

- © Fairfax NZ News Last updated 00:20 28/05/2008

Renee Liang: My sister, the film maker

2012-01-07T21:09:00.001+13:00

By Renee Liang
7:00 AM Thursday Mar 24, 2011

Renee Liang reflects on having her and her family's stories fictionalised in her sister Roseanne's debut feature, My Wedding and Other Secrets.
Top, Dr Renee Liang reflects on the very personal story and experiences of growing up that led to her sister creating My Wedding and Other Secrets. Photo / Supplied
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Top, Dr Renee Liang reflects on the very personal story and experiences of growing up that led to her sister creating My Wedding and Other Secrets. Photo / Supplied

From the age of 7, I knew the power of stories. My mother (to get a break, I realise now) packed us off for a nap every afternoon. We feigned sleep. Then, when the sound of her feet had faded safely from the corridor, I began. Rhea, one year younger, and Roseanne, the baby, snuggled up as I recounted alien adventures, rescues and random battles with light sabres - all starring us, of course. Roseanne, at age 2, was remarkably sentient, though I don't remember her saying much. She was a great listener, so long as I mentioned her in the story every now and then. The one disadvantage was that she liked to suck items of clothing as we slept, and more than once Rhea and I woke up to find our socks dripping wet.

We grew up of course, and through my teenage years I more or less ignored her as a short, somewhat intrusive being in my life. (She started talking a lot.) I think I was at university when I noticed her again. She'd started drawing. Fantastical aliens with pot bellies and blobby heads appeared on bits of paper. She also pinched out dragons from polymer clay, baking them in the oven when my mother was out. They were quite good. We asked her what she wanted to be. "A doctor," she replied.

"Why?"

"Cos everyone in the family is. I won't be able to understand you when you talk."

As a second choice, she admitted that she'd thought about being an animator. "Making stories. That might be cool," she said.

Time moved on. Roseanne worked her ass off in 7th form. She was dux. She learned she'd got into medical school. We harangued her through the summer months. Our friends, who didn't know her rang up and harangued her too. "You don't want to do medicine. Trust us, we're doing it."

No doubt she saw our persuasive wisdom, for she deferred her place and started a Bachelor of Arts and Science, graduating eventually with a Master of Creative and Performing Arts. The rest, as they say, is history.

Last week my sister, Roseanne Liang, released her first feature film, My Wedding and Other Secrets. It's a highly personal film - and quite a personal story for me too.

The original story goes something like this. Girl meets boy. Girl falls for boy and vice versa. Girl keeps relationship a secret from parents because she's worried how he might be received. Girl eventually breaks up with boy. Boy dies in a freakish accident of fate.

It doesn't sound like the synopsis you've read? No. That's because that's my story. And it's portrayed in the film as well, although not exactly the way it happened. More on that later. Anyway. Roseanne's real-life story had a far happier ending. If you don't know it already, watch the film. Because although it's a fiction, it's also very much a true story.

As adults, Roseanne and I have a tight relationship. We're close as sisters, but we're also close as fellow artists. She's a filmmaker, I'm a writer. We're both still figuring out things about stories. And we both draw on one of the most powerful type of stories - those about family - as material.

Although it's about love, My Wedding and Other Secrets is not the light romantic comedy that its marketing would have you believe. It's quirky, yes, and you'll laugh. But when I went to watch the screening, I snotted all over my face just like that infamous scene in the documentary the movie was based on, Banana in a Nutshell. Bring tissues, because this one might get you.

This is what I think the film is: a love letter to my parents. Because making a film is how my sister communicates. Making a film is how she tells them she loves them.

I'm crying as I write this, because learning to communicate with my parents has been one of the hardest things I've had to learn growing up - and I still feel as if I'm at a junior level. Not communicating with my parents meant that someone I loved died without being given the chance to be accepted by my family. And communicating is the task that hungrily, drivingly, bullishly at times, my sister set out to achieve.

I know there are some in the Chinese community who feel that telling such a personal story in public is wrong. When we were growing up my mum often taught us to put our heads down and keep quiet, even if something was unfair. There was a sense that, as newcomers and readily identifiable "outsiders", we should try to stay invisible. "Keep quiet and they'll let you get on with it" seemed to be the sentiment. It was not done to "hang your dirty laundry in public", no matter what the source of the dirt. And though sentiments have indeed changed as more of us find our strident Kiwi voices (after all, we were born here), my sister has endured walkouts, anonymous emails and insults so violent she had to talk to police. When these failed to provoke a reaction, the people she loved were taunted, or hurt in other ways. We have learned the downside of telling our stories. I hasten to add that there are many others who support us and go a long way to do so.

The thing is that any story, once told, becomes the truth and that is why people are so careful about the stories they tell. One could argue (forgive the writer's bias) that we are all made up of a collection of stories. In my sister's case, the need to tell her story, to have it understood, makes her both vulnerable and strong.

Communicating is important to her. You can see it in the film as her main character Emily tries and tries again to say how much she loves her mother. She stuffs up but she tries again (there's a strong gene for stubbornness in my family). Eventually, she learns to do, not say. It turns out that's how my parents have always told us they loved us. We were just too stubborn to listen.

I admit we all had our worries about the film. Aside from the community reaction, I worried about scraping open a wound that had only recently healed (by falling in love again). I want to say here that Roseanne has always been more than respectful whenever she's touched my story. Initially I was fiercely protective. I baulked when she and her co-writer Angeline wondered if they should merge mine and Rhea's stories into a single character. ("But I can't be married to Brad!" I protested.) But as a writer, I also knew the teaching that whatever you write must serve the story.

But is that really true? Who must the storyteller ultimately answer to? Herself? The subjects of the story? The community the story comes from? The audience she aims to connect with? These things are not clearcut, and there's no right answer. My sister decided that remaining true to herself was what this film demanded, and part of my tears on watching the film came because I saw that struggle. The documentary worked because it was so raw and honest. The film, although fictional, maintains that quality.

While the film was being shot, I spent time with my "pretend family" - board games, trips to the Lantern festival, "family" dinners. We all felt the absurdity of it. We felt close, and also quite strange. No one tells you this, but when a film deals with such recent history, the dividing line between fact and fiction doesn't stay still. Halfway through the filming my sister realised Michelle Ang (who plays Emily) was taking on her mannerisms, and she was taking on Michelle's. Little slips with names betrayed the cast and crew's confusion.

In making reality fiction, often the details are betrayed. I made exactly the opposite choice that my doppelganger, "Susan", makes in the film. I found the portrayal of my ex-partner two-dimensional - he was so much more complex than that. But then, my writer's brain forgives, even as my emotional brain worries that people might think it was the real story. My writer's brain argues that it's my sister's story and we are necessarily the side characters. Everyone tells history from a different point of view.

In the small moments I spent with my fake sisters - Michelle Ang, Celeste Wong and Kat Wong - I felt we could have grown up together. When we compared stories, some were quite similar. I think the power of any family story is its universality, and I'm hoping people will go the film, not because it's a Chinese story or even a Kiwi Chinese story, but because it's the story of a daughter wanting to express her love.

My sister has taken a family story - our family story - and unfurled our hearts to the world. In doing so, she has placed us at risk. But I'm proud of her. Proud that my sister is a filmmaker, and that she makes films worth watching.

*My Wedding and Other Secrets is at cinemas now. Dr Renee Liang is a paediatrician , published poet, playwright and short-story writer.
By Renee Liang

Matt Whelan and Michelle Ang make an odd but happy couple. Photo / Supplied Movie Review: My Wedding and Other Secrets

"While Ang is typically cast in confident, sexy roles, Liang says she had noticed a nerdy persuasion which reminded her of herself."
Jacqueline Smith; My big secret Chinese wedding

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10714482

Chinese memories inspire award winner

2012-01-07T13:23:00.000+13:00

Friday, 2 December 2011, 4:52 pm
Press Release: Auckland University

As a child Yumian (Dino) Chai moved around a lot. He lived in different cities in China, moved to Christchurch, and finally ended up in Auckland.

These early experiences were a catalyst for The University of Auckland Architecture student’s winning entry in this year’s AAA Cavalier Bremworth Unbuilt Architecture Awards entitled 100 Rooms of Solitude.

Dino won first place in the student section with his work that featured 100 tiny models representing 100 days of memories.

The 26-year-old Mt Eden-based masters student found inspiration while travelling from his flat to University each day.

A fence could trigger memories of a garden from his past and Chai used these longings for other places as his basis for each model. For 100 days he constructed his models using whatever he had to hand.

The judges described the work as “an intelligent, experimental, poetic, universal, endlessly inventive, delicate and sensitive project that fully expressed the potential of the award and demonstrated a maturity that stood out”.

Chai, who won $3,000 with his entry, hopes to have a long career in architecture. While he is keen to tackle any project, he’s interested in domestic buildings because he believes it is the form most people have contact with. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/ED1112/S00014/chinese-memories-inspire-award-winner.htm

NZ-born Chinese man keeps in touch with his cultural origins

2012-01-05T06:44:00.000+13:00

He was born in Wellington, but Robert Ting was determined not to forget his Chinese roots.

Mr Ting, 71, of Newlands, has been involved in Wellington's Chinese community for more than 50 years.

This year he received a Queen's Service Medal for his efforts.

"A group of guys nominated me, behind my back of course, and it came out of the blue. I was quite happy to accept it but there are lots of other members of the community who don't seem to get recognised."

Mr Ting is treasurer of the Tung Jung Association, founded in 1926 by immigrants from Southern China. He is the honorary auditor for both the New Zealand and Wellington Chinese associations.

His grandfather came out to New Zealand in the goldrush days. It was a time when Chinese people were discriminated against, paying a "poll tax" to the government on the basis of their nationality.

From 1881 until 1944, Chinese entering New Zealand were legally required to pay the tax – initially 10 but eventually 100. No other nationalities had to pay the tax.

Chinese were also denied the right to naturalisation for more than 40 years.

In 2002, the prime minister at the time, Helen Clark, apologised to the Chinese community for the poll tax, which she said had caused a lot of hardship.

Mr Ting said a strong Chinese community had remained in Wellington since those early days. He was determined his children would not forget their roots, and remembered many years of happy involvement with the Wellington Chinese Sports and Cultural Centre. "We used to have a lot of fundraising evenings. I wasn't too adept at cooking, but I'd go along and help with the dishes, or put some decorations up." This is a series on lesser-known recipients of New Year honours.

Last updated 05:00 03/01/2012

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/6208930/NZ-born-Chinese-man-keeps-in-touch-with-his-cultural-origins

The kiwi and the dragon

2012-01-02T09:19:00.000+13:00

By Simon Collins
5:30 AM Saturday Apr 9, 2011
In some ways, Chinese influence in New Zealand has grown faster and more strongly than anywhere else in the world.
In a special Herald series over the next week we look at what that means for this country.
Today, Simon Collins gives an overview of the impact of China on New Zealand's economic and cultural landscape.

Some time in the late 1990s, Tina Peters looked out of her car at an intersection and realised that almost all the other faces she could see were Asian.

Tina, a nurse, moved with her family from Papatoetoe to the fast-growing Botany area 12 years ago. Suddenly their ethnic landscape switched from the traditional Kiwi mix of European and Polynesian to include a surprising number of Chinese.

"With our children there has been that period of confusion, of bewilderment, for a little while of absolute fear thinking, 'I don't understand this'," she said at a pot-luck dinner at a Chinese neighbour's home on Neighbours Day last month.

"I didn't know how to communicate. You are missing the communication, and then there's that fear of, 'Oh my God, is my country disappearing?"'

New Zealand's ethnic Chinese population jumped more than seven-fold in the 20 years to the 2006 census, from 19,600 to 147,600.

In Auckland it rose almost 10-fold, from 10,500 to 97,400. Parts of Botany, Epsom and New Lynn are now more than 30 per cent Chinese.

Sociologist Paul Spoonley says the scale of this ethnic transformation, like the scale of New Zealand economic reforms in the same period, was unparalleled globally.

"The mix in Canada and Australia is almost identical, but they had much larger Chinese populations to start with," he says.

And of course this local ethnic change came just as the Chinese homeland burst on to the world stage. Two decades ago, even including Hong Kong, China produced only 2 per cent of global output and ranked 11th in the world. Last year, with 9 per cent of world output, it passed Japan to become the second-biggest economy on Earth.

Three years this week after signing a landmark free trade deal, China has already surpassed the US as New Zealand's biggest trading partner outside Australasia for both exports and imports, our leading source of international students, our second-biggest source of immigrants after Britain, and our fourth-biggest source of tourists.

Over the next week the Herald will report on how these dramatic shifts are transforming our economy and our society. In some respects Chinese influence has grown more strongly here than in any other country outside Asia.

Economically, our exports to China have leapt ahead through the past three years from just under $2 billion to $5 billion a year, when even Australia's exports to China only just more than doubled and China's overall imports stuttered through the global recession.

Dairy exports have quadrupled from $450 million to $1.9 billion. China is now by far our biggest dairy customer and the main driver behind recent record dairy prices.

Fonterra China managing director Philip Turner says this is only partly because of the scandal with melamine-contaminated Chinese-made milk which killed at least six babies in 2008, turning more sophisticated consumers towards imported milk.

"To a large extent this is simply demand exceeding supply," he says. Although Chinese milk production has grown exponentially from 6000 tonnes to 35,000 in the past decade, demand has grown even faster. Fonterra now supplies 5 per cent of the Chinese market.

Wood exports have quadrupled too, from $240 million to $1 billion a year since 2007. Timber Industry Federation head Brent Coffey says most of this is raw logs to feed China's property boom.

Our imports from China have grown rather less quickly because of our recession, from $5.6 billion to $6.9 billion. But the longer-term shift from costly local production to cheap Chinese imports, played out in extreme form here since import protection was largely abolished in the 1980s, has seen dramatic falls in the prices of clothing, footwear, toys and homeware.

Arguably, despite the loss of jobs in formerly protected industries, these cheap Chinese imports have made us all better off - at least in the short term.

"For 15 years up to 2007-08, the world enjoyed very stable prices and abundant capital with resulting cheap interest rates, and both of those things were very largely China's doing," says economist Srikanta Chatterjee.

"The Chinese effectively said: we'll lend you the money to buy these goods; therefore we had low interest rates. That is the very great advantage that we enjoyed."

This may not last. As China's own wages and living standards rise, its massive surpluses may diminish and it may have less surplus capital to lend.

The rest of the world will then need to either cut spending or raise output to live within our means.

China's abundant capital helped whiteware giant Haier buy a 20 per cent stake in Fisher & Paykel Appliances two years ago. Another Chinese company, Agria, is bidding for 50.01 per cent of our leading farm service firm, PGG Wrightson.

Overall Chinese investment is still minuscule at $5.6 billion or less than 2 per cent of total foreign investment. But the Chinese company Natural Dairy's failed bid for the 16 Crafar family dairy farms shows that Chinese investors are looking for opportunities in food and other natural resources.

Still a highly controlled society, China was slow to open up overseas travel. New Zealand and Australia became the first countries outside Asia to get "approved destination status"; this was only in 1999.

Total outbound travellers from China more than quintupled worldwide in the past decade to 56 million last year. The numbers going to both Australia and New Zealand almost quadrupled to 454,000 for Australia and 123,000 for New Zealand, propelling China into fourth place for visitors to both countries, behind each other, Britain and the US.

Today's launch of three weekly China Southern Airlines flights between Guangzhou (Canton) and Auckland adds capacity for an extra 25,000 visitors.

The airline already flies to Sydney and Melbourne, added Brisbane last November and plans 50 flights a week to six Australian cities by 2013.

There has also been an explosion in the numbers of Chinese students abroad. Visas for new Chinese fee-paying students here leapt from just 46 in 1998-99 to almost 20,000 in 2001-02, lifting the numbers here to a peak of 56,000 in 2003.

Anatole Bogatski, who was the Auckland Chamber of Commerce's international manager at the time and later established his own language school, says New Zealand was the first country to abandon quotas on Chinese students.

"We had a very low bar to cross and relatively easy immigration rules on converting their student visa into permanent residence," he says.

The boom collapsed almost as quickly as it occurred, when Education Minister Trevor Mallard made students prove that they could pay their future course fees and living costs.

Two language schools, Carich and Modern Age, closed in 2004 leaving students stranded.

New Chinese student visas plunged to under 2500 in 2005-06 before climbing back to a modest 4700 last year. Total Chinese fee-paying students have stabilised at around 21,000, or 22 per cent of all international students.

This reversal is purely a New Zealand story, as Chinese students studying overseas kept rising worldwide from under 300,000 in 2003 to almost 1.3 million last year. In Australia they increased from 48,000 in 2002 to 168,000 last year.

More broadly, like India, Europe and more recently New Zealand, China has long had a sizeable diaspora of citizens who have left to seek better lives elsewhere.

Apart from a handful of 19th century gold miners, New Zealand barred its doors to those migrants by denying permits to non-British citizens with few exceptions right up to 1987, when the policy changed to seek skilled people and rich "business investors" from anywhere.

The change came just as Britain was preparing to hand Hong Kong back to China in 1997. Hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong's elite sought refuge abroad - 380,000 went to Canada alone between 1980 and 2001, and 25,400 arrived in New Zealand as permanent or long-term migrants in the decade up to 1997.

A similar exodus from Taiwan brought almost 20,000 migrants to New Zealand in the same period. And then, just as many of the Hong Kong and Taiwanese migrants actually started going home again from all countries, China's 1999 relaxation of travel restrictions sparked a new outflow from China itself. Chinese permanent and long-term arrivals here jumped from 3500 in 1999 to 16,000 in 2002.

This new influx was dominated by students and their families, and fell away again as the student boom collapsed. By last year China, including Hong Kong, was back down to only our third-biggest net source of immigrants behind India and Britain.

But the net effect of the two waves of immigrants was to lift the total ethnic Chinese share of New Zealand's population to 3.7 per cent by the 2006 census, the second-highest in the OECD behind Canada (3.9 per cent) and ahead of Australia (3.2 per cent). The 1.9 per cent of our population born in mainland China is higher than for any other OECD country.

Like all modern migrants, the Chinese are mobile. A fifth of all the Chinese approved for residence in the six years to 2009, and 40 per cent of the Taiwanese, had been absent for at least six months as at last June, compared with 14 per cent of migrants from Britain.

A 2007-09 study by Asian studies professor Manying Ip found that two-thirds of ethnic Chinese NZ citizens or permanent residents still identified only with their home country, and most of the rest identified with both countries. Only four out of 78 identified solely with New Zealand.

She found that many families alternated between their homelands and New Zealand or Australia, often getting educated here, returning to China or Hong Kong to work or to care for ageing parents, then coming back to New Zealand for their own children's education.

"The new Chinese migrants are astute and wish to keep all options open," she says.

Joe and Marianne Noma, an older Chinese couple at the Neighbours Day gathering in Botany, originally migrated to Melbourne in 1985 and still have a home there as well as in Auckland. Their son works with them in their property development business here, but their daughter is in Melbourne and they may go back there.

But Lisa Chu, who came here with her parents when she was 6 in 1986, may stay here with her Malay/European/Maori fiance, engineer Shariman Saad. She wants her future children to learn Chinese, but regards herself as a "Kiwi".

Their Neighbours Day host, Pastor Samuel Chong, who brought his family here from Malaysia eight years ago, says he has committed his life to New Zealand but is also proudly Chinese. "When I received the citizenship certificate they said, in a letter, you don't have to put down your own culture," he says. "It's so kind."

Chong says their Botany street has five Chinese families, four from Korea, two from India, a Filipino and about 20 Europeans.

Twelve years on, Tina Peters has become used to the changes.

"When we moved from where we were and came up here we started being that little bit more integrated and talking to everyone and having a bit more courage - well, this is how it is, we'd better start talking to people," she says.

Her husband John, who works with Chinese colleagues as a scientist at Middlemore Hospital, says the change "has not been negative at all".

"We have learned about the food and different cultures," he says.

When their daughter graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree at Auckland University about eight years ago, almost all her fellow graduates were Chinese. She and her husband now live in Singapore and plan to teach their children both Chinese and Japanese to equip them for the modern world.

Gradually our culture is changing. Saad and Chu buy takeaways from a variety of countries and enjoy Saturday night markets at the Pakuranga shopping centre. "It's Chinatown," Saad says.

Chinese businesses have sprung up in growing suburbs such as Botany and Albany, and have revitalised older parts of Auckland such as Dominion Rd and Northcote.

Tina Peters says Hong Kong and Taiwanese investors drove up local house prices in the 1990s.

"Every time we went to buy a house we were vying with five or six Chinese families," she says.

"We would put in an offer and they would just go over the top. Then you find out they had bought three of them. Of course house prices just went whoosh."

But the migrant investors were less noticeable by the time Saad and Chu bought their house four years ago. Indeed as a developer, Joe Noma believes Chinese builders are holding down new housing costs.

"We sell [building sites] to builders. In the last two years virtually 80 to 90 per cent are bought by Chinese builders," he says.

"They work hard. They work on Sunday, they work late in the evening. There's no such thing as 9 to 5."

But Dave Brown, who represents Auckland on the Certified Builders Association board, believes Chinese builders predominate only in the Botany/Dannemora area where many of the developers are also Chinese.

"They are prepared to work hard and are pretty competitive," he says. "But I'll stick my neck out and say I don't think they are taking work off New Zealand guys."

Hard-working Chinese students are changing the culture in our schools too. In 2009, 8.7 per cent of Asians who passed level 3 NCEA achieved with excellence, compared to 5.3 per cent of Europeans, 1.5 per cent of Maori and 0.5 per cent of Pacific students.

The Rev Stuart Vogel of the Auckland Chinese Presbyterian Church recalls resentment in the early years when Chinese students started "sweeping all the prizes" at his children's school, Mt Roskill Grammar. "Then people came to realise that they do the work for it. If you want the prize you have to do the work," he says.

At Auckland University, Ip says her students now work much harder than when she started teaching there in 1982 - due to course fees and a tougher job market as well as Chinese rivals.

"It was much more relaxed at that time, students negotiated about deadlines," she says. "That would not be allowed now."

In much the same way, Chinese preferences for apartment living and for large houses on small sections have contributed, along with rising land prices, to the shrinkage of the Kiwi quarter-acre section.

"Most of us are from the city and we don't know gardening," explains Pastor Chong.

The immigrants have helped expand public transport. Asians accounted for 82 per cent of the increased use of buses and trains by Aucklanders commuting to work between the 1991 and 2006 censuses. The census does not count journeys for study, but a glance into almost any term-time bus into central Auckland shows the effect of Asian students.

Of course Asian migrants have added to road traffic too, accounting for 38 per cent of Auckland's increased commuting to work by car between 1991 and 2006. Nationally, Transport Ministry figures show Asian drivers were involved in 9 per cent of all crashes in 2009, exactly equal to their share of the population.

Although many migrants are still not working in the fields where they qualified, some are breaking into the professions. Just over 5 per cent of our medical doctors are Chinese.

Local-born Chinese writers such as 2010 NZ Post Book Awards winner Alison Wong and film-maker Roseanne Liang have won recognition in mainstream Kiwi culture, and Chinese faces are now taken for granted on the TV news and in popular shows such as Masterchef.

It has been harder going in politics, with Labour's list MP Raymond Huo the sole Chinese MP since Pansy Wong resigned last year. There are no Chinese on the new Auckland Council and only three out of 149 people on local boards: Peter Chan in Henderson-Massey, Lily Ho in Whau and Wayne Huang in Howick.

Arguably Pacific people were only really accepted as New Zealanders when rugby stars such as Michael Jones and Tana Umaga started playing for the All Blacks. The Chinese may never make the All Blacks but sport can still provide links into mainstream society, as Huang found in February when he got the Howick Local Board to sponsor a visiting Chinese martial arts group.

On the other hand, he could not get the board to write an invitation letter to an 800-strong group from a major Chinese steelmaker who wanted to visit here after a reward trip to Australia. They didn't come.

"We lose a lot of opportunities like that," he says. "They need respect. They need to feel welcome."

In Botany, Pastor Chong believes cross-cultural interaction will increase gradually.

"If we organise more lantern festivals and Chinese New Year celebrations, more Kiwis will come and join us and slowly the Kiwis will understand us," he says.

"But one thing they need to know is that the world is like a village. You can't stay by yourself - you need to accept anybody who comes to your doorstep."
By Simon Collins | Email Simon

Winning over our hearts, and stomachs

2012-01-02T09:17:00.000+13:00

n part 2 of the Herald series 'China and us', Lincoln Tan looks at how China has influenced the eating habits of New Zealanders.

Simon Verbiest says having a Chinese fiancee has spurred his interest in Chinese culture. Photo / Greg Bowker

This Kiwi has been interested in all things Chinese for the last half a century - long before the meteoric rise of China to a global economic powerhouse or even before large numbers of people from the Middle Kingdom migrated to Middle Earth.

For 78-year-old Allan Hughes, his love for everything Chinese began more than half a century ago when a Chinese girl - the only one at the school he studied at - dropped him a note on the last day of school saying she liked him.

"I envisioned we will be spending our lives together, and began taking an interest in the Chinese culture and learned a few words so I could converse with her family," said Mr Hughes, a retired Immigration New Zealand compliance manager.

But their love was not to be, and although the pair went their separate ways after finishing Palmerston North Technical, Mr Hughes started a new love affair - with the Chinese culture - which has carried on until today.

"There is a certain depth, richness and a sense of mystery in the culture and language that just intrigues you," he said.

Some of Mr Hughes' friends call him the "Kiwi Chinaman".

He's the only Pakeha member of the Chinese band Bai Hua (100 Flowers) and his hobbies include watching Chinese DVDs and playing Chinese tunes on his ukulele.

Two large gold-framed Chinese calligraphy sets adorn the living room wall at his Lisnoe Ave home, where the flags of both China and Taiwan are also prominently displayed.

Last year, he participated in and won a Chinese radio singing contest crooning what's regarded as the most famous Chinese love song The Moon Represents My Heart by Teresa Teng.

Mr Hughes says he loves how the Dominion Rd area, close to where he lives, has been transformed into a "mini Chinatown", where Mandarin and Cantonese fill the air and the smell of roast duck and barbecue pork curls out of the many Chinese restaurants and cafes.

Like many Kiwis, not too long ago getting a takeaway dinner meant fish and chips or roast, but Mr Hughes says now it's more likely yang chow fried rice or roast duck noodle at a local Chinese cafe.

Although Mr Hughes is likely to be the exception rather than the norm, sociologist Paul Spoonley says China's growing influence will continue to touch the lives of Kiwis in many ways - but the biggest influence will be in food and how we eat.

"New Zealanders will eat less roast and potatoes and more rice and soya chicken. In fact, it's already happening," said Professor Spoonley, of Massey University.

"Our habits have changed, and instead of heading out for Sunday roast, many more Kiwis are going to Chinese restaurants for yum char."

Professor Spoonley, who heads the Integration of Immigrants Programme, said food and retail were the two most popular "business choices" for Chinese immigrants.

In 2006, 20.8 per cent of China-born migrants were involved in food and accommodation services, while 15.8 per cent were in the retail trade.

Between 2001 and 2006, the number of migrants from China doubled to 53,694, which now makes up more than half of the ethnic Chinese population of Auckland.

"Of the retail businesses they start, most also involve food or consumption, such as a grocery shop or a Chinese supermarket selling Asian food and ingredients," he said.

Chinese food retailers and restaurants have been part of New Zealand since the 1920s, but gained a foothold in the 1960s.

Since the 1990s, Chinese food and restaurants have become an "omnipresent and obvious part" of most major cities in New Zealand, especially Auckland.

Professor Spoonley said food is the "most obvious manifestation" of diversity and Chinese presence in New Zealand.

He said many of the fish and chip takeaways and coffee shops that had been taken over by Chinese operators were imbued with a "Chinese touch" - offering a Chinese menu or selling Chinese pastries on the side, and many also no longer alter the dishes "to suit Kiwi tastes".

Asian food guru Connie Clarkson says Chinese food is attractive to New Zealanders because it is "affordable and easily accessible" - and it will become even more so in these tough economic times.

"Dining at a European restaurant can burn a hole in your pocket, but you can get a decent feed for around $10 at some Chinese ones," Ms Clarkson said.

She said the Chinese influence in food also extends into meat cuts and ingredients used at Western restaurants, and even some cooking programmes on television.

"Pork belly, a Chinese favourite, is now widely used even at top end Kiwi-European restaurants, where Asian fusion dishes are becoming common," said Ms Clarkson, an ethnic Chinese originally from Singapore.

Chinese ingredients are now used in shows like MasterChef New Zealand, she said.

Most Chinese restaurants approached by the Herald said they have experienced a growth of between 20 to 50 per cent of non-Chinese customers in the last five years.

Dynasty Chinese Restaurant on Wakefield St said its non-Chinese patronage has grown from 10 per cent when it opened about 15 years ago to making up more than 50 per cent now.

"Pakeha customers used to order just things like sweet sour pork and fried rice, but now they are more adventurous and some are even asking for dishes that they have discovered during their travels in Asia," said Mui Seng Lee, who co-owns the restaurant.

Simon Verbiest, a business consultant, says eating Chinese meals has gone from "just a novelty" to becoming "a regular staple" for him.

The 24-year-old described himself as "semi-adventurous" who would eat anything except red beans, but finds eating things with bones - like chicken feet - hard work.

Mr Verbiest said having a Chinese fiancee also played a part in his interest in Chinese food and culture.

Retail assistant Janine Lawson, 26, who grew up on a Waikato farm said she started "falling in love" with Chinese food when she moved to Auckland to further her studies five years ago.

Until then, she had been eating mainly porridge and scrambled eggs for breakfast and roast meals for dinner, but now prefers eating "char shao bao" (barbecue pork bun), which she has ready stocked up in her freezer, and fried rice and chow mien for tea.

Auckland-born Chinese lawyer Arthur Loo recalls how his father had to import Chinese ingredients from Hong Kong "just so that we can have an authentic Chinese meal" 40 years ago.

"Now, we can get everything just five minutes away."
By Lincoln Tan | Email Lincoln By Lincoln Tan
5:30 AM Monday Apr 11, 2011

2012-01-01T10:43:00.001+13:00

Endless rain bad news for strawberry lovers

2012-01-01T10:41:00.000+13:00

Strawberry fields forever? Forget it: right now they're a sodden mass of mud and rotting fruit.

The relentless rain of recent days has drowned strawberries across the country. Some growers and suppliers are losing more than 65 per cent of their crops.

Anyone thinking about serving up strawberries and champagne at the tennis in Auckland next week may have to think again. Ready- picked prices were around $9 per kg recently but had spiked to $12 last week.

At Auckland's Mangere Strawberry Farm, co-owner Grant Young pointed across his fields. "Everything should be dry out there and you should see a sea of beautiful strawberries. But what do you get? A lot of green leaves and not much fruit," he said.

The family-owned strawberry farm was losing more than half its crop each day to the rain.

The fruit needs sun to ripen, said Young. On a beautiful day they ordinarily sold 300kg; on Friday, when the Herald on Sunday visited during a downpour, they had sent their pickers home by lunchtime and were not expecting to sell more than 100kg.

That's a far cry from the week before, when customers were queuing to get in the carpark in search of strawberries.

In the wet, in Kumeu, Phil Greig was also counting his losses. "We were all geared up for a big weekend, but now it won't happen," said Greig, who sells to buyers from Whangarei to Invercargill. The rain, combined with warm weather, caused strawberries to rot, he explained.

At the gate, punnets were two for $4 and despite probable rises at supermarkets, Greig said retailers had been paying him just $1 a chip - "we're not even covering our costs on that".
By Geraldine Johns

5:30 AM Sunday Jan 1, 2012

Grant Young is concerned about how the bad weather and particularly rain damage will affect his strawberries. Photo / Janna Dixon
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10776117

Looking back to 1911 ...

2012-01-01T10:08:00.002+13:00

The Ohakune Town Board was first elected on August 11, 1908, and had its first meeting a week later.

However, by 1911 Ohakune was growing rapidly and as such a joint committee comprising the Town Board and Chamber of Commerce worked toward the town's constitution as a borough.

Ohakune was proclaimed a borough on November 2, 1911 with the inaugural election of Ohakune's first mayor and council taking place on November 30, two days after the last meeting of the Town Board. Newspapers recount that there was a large turn-out for the elections.

Ohakune Township began as a small settlement alongside the through road from Raetihi to Taumarunui at the junction of the Mangawhero and Mangateitei streams.

The area has been settled since around the 1600s, first by the Ngati Rangi (Sky People) and Ngati Uenuku (Rainbow People) sub-tribes.

In the late 19th century, railway surveyors arrived looking for a route for the Main Trunk Line. Once the area was opened up, saw-millers arrived to take advantage of the abundance of forestry and the availability of rail transport.

Soon after, Chinese market gardeners established the first market gardens in 1925, and later farmers settled to work with the rich volcanic soil in the area. After the war years, land was converted to rehabilitation farms for returning servicemen. In 1984 the Big Carrot was unveiled, in recognition of the importance of market gardening to the local economy.

- Central District Times Last updated 12:25 26/10/2011

A proud heritage behind the 'last man weeding'

2012-01-01T10:04:00.000+13:00

William Young is the beneficiary of a legacy created by the uncomplaining hard work of the generations before him.

His grandfather, Young Jong Loo, came to New Zealand from China in 1919 and grew vegetables on leased land in Horowhenua and Hawke's Bay before settling in Palmerston North.

Later he brought his two sons out from China and Mun Hor (he was told to choose an English name at school and picked Arthur) inherited the small business.

William is the third generation and "last man weeding" on the land. His brother, Gerald, is a doctor in Auckland, elder sister Sandy runs a company supplying shop fittings in Auckland and younger sister Jenny is head of marketing for Telstra Australia in Sydney.

For the grower of cabbages, leeks, celery, broccoflowers and maize on 28 hectares, life could have taken a similar direction. He had high marks at school and earned an accredited university entrance pass, but his love of the land won out.

In his late 40s, but looking 10 years younger, he could still be mistaken for an upwardly mobile young professional.

He is smartly dressed, even in the field, his hair is in a fashionable cut and he sports designer spectacles. He talks animatedly and a smile as wide as his 20-disc harrow is never far away.

His mother, Chue King, who came out from China in 1955 to marry his father, is a living reminder of the debt his generation owes.

At 75, bent as a staple and with fingers askew with arthritis, she refuses to stay in the warmth of her home. She joins her son in the fields, weeding, picking and sowing, hunched over on her heels, as she has always done.

Arthur, now 80, his balance robbed by a stroke, is, to evident frustration, forced to stay close to home.

William lives with his parents and marvels at what they and his grandfather had to endure. "Each generation worked for the next, to give them a better future.

The payback is that you carry on the legacy, provide a platform for the next to spring off. The torch gets passed on and you can't let them down."

It wasn't just the backbreaking hard work; they were the victims of racist policies that financially penalised them.

It was a hidden shame of New Zealand history that was recognised only in 2002 with an apology by prime minister Helen Clark.

Jong Loo had to find [PndStlg]100 (almost $10,000 today) for a poll tax at a time when the average yearly wage was [PndStlg]3 17s before he was allowed into the country.
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He could not bring his wife, could not become a citizen and was barred from owning land.

The last of these restrictions was not lifted till the 1950s, but racial prejudice remained. William remembers being told of Chinese who were stopped from sitting upstairs at the movies and were refused a haircut by some barbers.

A regime of long hours of hard work permeated his childhood. "We would come home from school and go straight into the field.

Then, after tea, we would be back out there, weeding and planting, picking and packing. We worked all weekend.

There was no time off for sports and we still had to do our homework."

His brother, Gerald, was the only one brave enough to rebel and insist on playing rugby for a school team. "He was a smart cookie," William says wistfully.

In 1978, he made the decision to not go to university but stay on the farm with his parents. "I had - still have - a love for the soil and in those days, vegetable growing was a promising career. Returns were good and so was the lifestyle."

Weekly auctions could be relied on to accurately reflect the market dynamics of supply and demand and their dependability allowed him to savour the rare treat of leisure time.

Thirty years on, a lot has changed. The auctions are no longer held and he deals with wholesalers who sell to supermarket chains and independent retailers.

He has to meet a fluctuating demand seven days a week.

He misses the auctions and their ability to be a "visual barometer".

"We didn't mind a kick in the pants when there was a sea of one vegetable to be sold because on another day we would be the only one who had the celery or cabbage everyone wanted to buy. But now, who sets those prices? No-one knows."

An option is to sell at farmers' markets but it would be too restrictive.

"One year, celery was in so much demand I sold 1500 crates in one week. You can't do that at a farmers' market."

He has also seen a big rise in working expenses - fuel, fertiliser, fungicides and pesticides and local government compliance costs.

"I've got no-one to pass those on to. I'm still passionate about growing, but it would be nice to make some money along the way."

And, ironically, better fertiliser, sprays and vegetable varieties and cell transplant technology have contributed to a bigger problem - that of over-supply.

This autumn the weather has made things worse.

"It's been too nice," he says with a grin. "It's been fine and warm and yields have been high, too high, and the market has been flooded with vegetables. Added to that, when it's warm people don't eat so much."

Usually, May can be relied on for regular frosts, nature's weeder, but they didn't arrive. He shrugs his shoulders.

"It's part of farming. When you plant, you don't know what the weather will be like at harvest."

He describes the small farm as "the old one-man-band scenario", but then is quick to acknowledge the work his mother still contributes.

"She's a good team player, truly awe-inspiring. She doesn't get the recognition she deserves, but then she doesn't ask for it. She's humble - that's the Chinese way."

He could expand, use some or all of the 18ha planted in maize, but that would mean he would have to employ extra workers.

"I'm not sure I want the added hassle," he says. "I manage because the maize operation is so mechanised. I sign a contract with the chicken factory and I know what return I'm going to get."

Another option is to form a co- operative. "They seem to be making it work up north with kumara, and if we get the numbers right, it could be quite profitable," he muses.

"There's been talk, it's been bandied about, but people are hesitant." His grin returns. "So far, it's all hui and no doey."

He has not been afraid to get involved in industry politics and is chairman of Horticulture New Zealand's brassica crop advisory group.

He says it is his way of giving something back to the industry. "It's a chance to learn and participate. You get to know people, a lot of people, and they get to know you.

You are close to where the action is and where big decisions are being made. And, hopefully, you are in a place to really make a difference."

On the worst days, when it's pouring with rain and he's out in the mud battling wind and the cold, he wonders if he did the right thing all those years ago. "I do think about it, I do, but it passes. The sun comes out and I'm glad I'm not stuck in an office in a big city. We all have our niches and this is mine."

The small Chinese family vegetable businesses are disappearing as younger generations move away.

There's a tinge of regret that when his time comes, he won't have anyone to pass the farm on to. He doubts his nieces or nephews will be interested.

"The biggest shortcoming of the Chinese community is that they educate their kids too well. No-one wants to be a grower. They want to work out of the weather, have their weekends off and go on overseas trips. I don't see anyone saying, 'I don't want to be a doctor, I'll go back to growing.' " He grins again. "Like that's going to happen - yeah, right."

However, there's a pride, also, in knowing that from these many small businesses have come so many highly educated, successful professionals who make a positive contribution to New Zealand society.

But hanging over this is a dark shadow.

He is disgusted that the hard-won high reputation of the early Chinese immigrants is being undone by more recent arrivals.

"Our forefathers came here and worked in the soil on their hands and knees through all the daylight hours, seven days a week. They didn't want a handout when times got tough and were scrupulously law-abiding. They just wanted to make a better life for their children.

"Modern Asian criminals are making a mockery of that. They're giving us a bad name and European New Zealanders can't differentiate between us. It is difficult to take."

- © Fairfax NZ News

BY JON MORGAN
Last updated 20:20 10/06/2010

Growing pains: William Young in his celery field.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/business/farming/3794107/A-proud-heritage-behind-the-last-man-weeding

THE QUEEN'S SERVICES MEDAL (QSM) 2011

2011-12-31T21:10:00.000+13:00

Audrey Bing Shum Chan, services to the community, Auckland. THE QUEEN'S SERVICES MEDAL (QSM) 2011

Kitty Shui Fung Chiu, JP, services to the community, Auckland. THE QUEEN'S SERVICES MEDAL (QSM) 2011

Arthur Loo, services to the Chinese community, Auckland. THE QUEEN'S SERVICES MEDAL (QSM) 2011

Robert Joseph Ting, services to the Chinese community, Wellington. THE QUEEN'S SERVICES MEDAL (QSM) 2011

Robert Ting

2011-12-31T20:41:00.000+13:00

New Zealand honors pillar of Chinese community

WELLINGTON, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- The New Zealand government has honored a stalwart of the country's ethnic Chinese community in its annual New Year honors list for his services to maintaining a strong Chinese culture.

Robert Ting, 71, received the Queen's Service Medal on Saturday for his 50 years of work with many of the country's leading Chinese organizations.

Ting, whose grandparents emigrated from south China's Guangdong province in the early 1900s, told Xinhua the award symbolized the growing recognition of the contributions the Chinese community had made to New Zealand.

The Wellington resident was for 17 years treasurer of the Wellington Chinese Sports and Cultural Centre and for three years treasurer of the New Zealand Chinese Association, and for the last 10 years has been treasurer of the Tung Jung Association, which was founded in 1926 by Chinese who emigrated from the Tung Qwoon ( Dongguan) and Jungsen (Zengcheng) districts of Guangdong.

"I come from a family that was quite heavily involved in the Chinese community from the early 1900s. My grandfather was the founding president of the Tung Jung Association," Ting said in a phone interview.

Originally set up to maintain kinship ties and to help fellow Chinese in trying times, the association became a focus for many of New Zealand's early Chinese immigrants and has since evolved into an education and research institution to support Chinese language and culture and to help with research into family histories.

"The Tung Jung Association maintains all the Chinese cultural occasions and we always hold dinners to celebrate Qingming and the Chinese New Year as well as other traditional festivals," said the retired accountant.

"Unfortunately I don't speak Chinese myself my mother spoke English to us all the time at home, so I never learned."

Recent immigration from China had seen a growth in the use of the Mandarin dialect in New Zealand's burgeoning Chinese community and distinctions between the established Chinese and new arrivals, he said.

"My heritage is Cantonese and it has become increasingly difficult to keep the prevalence of Cantonese."

However, interest in New Zealand's early Chinese immigrants has grown since the previous Labour Party-led government under Prime Minister Helen Clark apologized in 2002 for historic injustices against the Chinese population, in particular the infamous poll tax.

The Chinese Immigrants Act of 1881 imposed a poll tax of 10 pounds a sizeable sum at the time -- on every Chinese entering the country, and this was raised to 100 pounds in 1896.

The discriminatory levy meant many Chinese men could not afford to bring their wives and families with them to New Zealand and it left many in long-term debt.

After petitions to the government, the poll tax was waived from 1934, but it was only officially repealed 10 years after that.

In a gesture of reconciliation in 2005, the New Zealand government established the Chinese Poll Tax Heritage Trust with a grant of 5 million NZ dollars (3.88 million U.S. dollars) to promote the preservation of Chinese New Zealand history and to support Chinese New Zealand history, language and culture, particularly that of the early Chinese community.

The establishment of the fund marked a long awaited formal acknowledgement of the Chinese community's contribution to New Zealand, said Ting.

"The interest from the trust fund has been distributed to many worthy Chinese projects, such as books and other research."

Asked whether he considers himself predominantly a Chinese or a New Zealander, Ting replied: "A mixture of both I still like to keep my ties to the Chinese."

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2011-12/31/c_131337207.htm

Chinese street name suggestions to be sought

2011-12-31T15:23:00.001+13:00

George St, Princes St and Moray Pl, in Dunedin, could be joined by Sew Hoy Lane or Guangdong Rise.

The Dunedin City Council is to seek suggestions from the city's Chinese community on names for the city's new roads.

The move came after councillors this week voted to adopt the council's new road naming policy, which spelt out rules for new names and the aim of better reflecting the area's identity.

The draft policy was first released for consultation earlier this year, prompting three submissions from members of the public.

One, from Chinese historian and retired general practitioner Dr James Ng, of Dunedin, argued the Chinese contribution to Dunedin and Otago should be recognised in road and place names.

The Chinese had played a significant role in the region's history, from the goldfields of Central Otago to commerce and employment in Dunedin.

That included Sew Hoy and Sons, which employed "300 or more" workers in their clothing manufacturing business for more than 30 years, and the more recent arrival of the Chinese Garden, built for the city by workers from China, he said.

The city even boasted a Chinese former mayor in Peter Chin, he said.

Despite that, the city had yet to recognise its Chinese heritage in a place or street name, and that needed to change, he said.

He suggested Sew Hoy or Guangdong as examples of road or place names that could be used.

The suggestion won support from Cr Richard Thomson at this week's infrastructure services committee meeting. He asked for the suggestion to be given weight in the council's new road naming policy.

Cr Kate Wilson - one of the councillors appointed to review submissions - said the idea had been considered, but cautioned pronunciation and spelling might create problems for emergency services.

Despite that, councillors voted to create a register of approved road names available for use when new roads were created, and to ask the Chinese community for possible road names to be considered for inclusion.

A process for approving names for the register would also be prepared for a later infrastructure services committee meeting.

The new policy also confirmed existing names would only be changed if there was a "clear benefit" for the community, and council staff confirmed at Tuesday's meeting there were no plans for a clean-up of existing names.

The policy prohibited new road names that were the same or similar to existing names, and said names should reference the area in which they were located.

The policy also allowed the use of macrons when spelling new Maori road names, and allowed changes when the use of macrons was of "demonstrable importance" to mana whenua.

When a road name using macrons was approved, the spelling of it without macrons would be "discouraged, but permitted", the policy said.

Councillors would continue to have the final say on recommended road names.

chris.morris@odt.co.nz

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/188878/chinese-street-name-suggestions-be-sought

2011-12-31T15:21:00.000+13:00

Chinese community feels left out of constitutional review

A Chinese community leader and commentator says the local Chinese community feels left out of the current Constitutional review debate, and continued sidelining of the group will disadvantage New Zealand in the future.

Steven Young, the immediate past-President of the New Zealand Chinese Association, said there was a lack of response from the government to engage the Chinese in the debate which has so far been confined only to the politicians, academics and others with vested interests.

Chinese Kiwis feel under-represented on treaty issues, according to the Wellington-based consulting engineer.

While the government has advanced on treaty issues in the last 30 years it has had little time to think about the country’s relationship with those who are not directly party to the treaty – the ethnic communities, said Young, who came to New Zealand from China at a very young age.

“Visibly-different migrants usually have stronger cultural needs and aspirations which they would like to maintain, express and develop, while learning to also be loyal New Zealanders. However, they feel left out of the Constitutional debate – which is what the development of the treaty relationship is. The official view that such migrants are represented by the Crown in the treaty debate is a kind official deafness to the needs of the multicultural sector and the Chinese who make up a large proportion of that sector. This lack of an official response could disadvantage New Zealand in the longer term.”

Ethnic communities form a significant part of a multicultural New Zealand. There are close to 150,000 Chinese living here.

In the light of the coming general election, Young hopes the new government will do something and actively encourage and facilitate participation from the Chinese.

“This would include explaining and defining the current Constitutional situation and exploring alternatives. The debate should be brought down to street level. Full participation will help define what kind of society New Zealand should be in the 21st century and beyond,” said Young.

When asked to comment on the difference in approach between old Chinese politicians such as former Dunedin Mayor Peter Chin and Gisborne Mayor Meng Foon, and new Chinese immigrants standing for election, Young said Chin and Foon had been around long enough to understand local issues and to resolve local problems; they had earned the confidence of the locals.

On the other hand, Young noted Chinese immigrants entering politics were usually “shoulder-tapped by political parties looking for a token Chinese to ‘represent’ a potential constituency”.

With barely 10 years of residency in New Zealand and lacking a track record of working with the minorities, “they are parachuted into list seats without a great deal of political experience or a power base of their own.

“At best they can only act as salesmen for their parties to an ethnic sector. We would expect that such candidates once elected will advocate ethnic ‘motherhood and apple-pie’ positions for their communities,” said Young, adding that he expected the pattern to continue in future elections until such time when the Chinese community “is able to fully participate in mainstream parties over a period of years and in sufficient numbers to influence the development of policies”.

Young does not see any political party gaining a majority of Chinese votes on Nov 26.

He said the Chinese had in the past supported Labour because of “its history of looking after the underdog by word and by deed... However for both old and new migrants, their cultural history, personal drive and economic positioning has increasingly placed them somewhat more to the right on the political spectrum.

“If people vote in accordance with their beliefs and interests, then no party can expect a majority of Chinese support”.

Interview by Yuanyong Yang
Written by Kwan Kwan Lim

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/your-news/187570/chinese-community-feels-left-out-constitutional-review

Maori Cucumber?

2011-12-25T08:10:00.000+13:00

Gudao, Lone Islet

2011-12-22T21:38:00.000+13:00

Gudao, Lone Islet

Diary from Chinese youth leaders' camp

2011-12-22T21:28:00.001+13:00

Carolyn Ding, student | Thursday, December 22, 2011 8:29

Carolyn Ding is in Year 11, at Saint Kentigerns College. She attended the New Zealand Chinese Association (NZCA) first ever Youth Leadership Camp at Camp Adair in December 2011.
Winston Gee

Chinese students earmarked as future leaders have taken part in the first youth leadership camp run by the NZ Chinese Association. One of those chosen Carolyn Ding, is Year 11 at St Kentigerns. She kept a diary of the experience for the Aucklander. The 43 students - aged 14 to 17 - were exploring what it means to be young and Chinese in New Zealand. They were chosen because they have been earmarked as future leaders. Albert King, a personal development coach from Singapore ran the weekend which featured speeches from high-profile Kiwis of Chinese descent including film director Roseanne Liang (My Wedding and Other Secrets), Andrew Young (ex-CEO, Starship Foundation) and Meng Foon (Mayor of Gisborne).

The Aucklander asked one of future leaders who took part to keep a diary. Carolyn Ding is in Year 11, at Saint Kentigerns. This is her account.

DAY ONE
Today I caught a lift with Jess, meeting Maisy and Alice, and drove an hour to Hunua's Camp Adair. The only other camps I have attended were in primary school and last year's choir camp.

We were allocated our cabins and I soon realised others were in the same position as me - quite nervous about meeting others. The committee, including Richard Leung and David Wong, met us an introduced us to our new coach and mentor, Albert King, who had flown in from Singapore!

I was nervous this morning knowing that I would be surrounded by a new environment, strangers and tasks that may be mentally and physically challenging.

We played a few'meet and greet' activities and acknowledged what we wanted to get out of the camp. I really like the way Albert explained that the more we put into it, the more we'd get out of it. I know I've heard that so many times but just the way he challenged us, really made me think and want to give it a go. I hope I can give 110 per cent.

He also explained our comfort zone and how we have a stretch zone and also a danger zone, the stretch zone being the extension and putting ourselves to the test and the danger zone being stretching ourselves way too far and endangering ourselves such as a panic attack etc. (I don't think that'll be too likely though).

I haven't thought about this before. I hope I can actually gain a better idea of who I am by the end of the camp.

We did activities aimed at getting to know each other. There are a couple of St Kentigern College students (Meghan Koh and Nick King) who I have seen around school but haven't had the chance to talk to before. There are also a number of Diocesan girls, some from Wellington, Levin and one all the way from Queensland!

Later, we were fortunate enough to hear from the the director of My Wedding and Other Secrets, Roseanne Liang! I love that movie and have watched it so many times, so I feel as if I kind of already know her. It was an excellent talk in which she spoke about her films, endeavours and hard work getting there. It was very inspiring the way she spoke from the heart about finding herself and her Chinese identity. It's also really interesting that her Chinese ancestry has actually helped her in her success, and she knows who she is despite the confusion of her mixed culture. I wish I could be that decisive. She also shared her childhood and her parents' Chinese influence. It's funny how so much has changed and where most of us accept ourselves as Chinese New Zealanders and may not even know our Chinese roots or the language. Are we still Chinese if we can't speak the language, don't share the culture, but simply look the part?

I guess I see myself as a New Zealander even though I am Chinese. I now feel as if my culture of Chinese enhances the New Zealand. I do know how to speak a bit of Cantonese and yes, I do know the Chinese culture to a point, but my roots and ancestry are still a bit hazy. Something to research.

Roseanne accepts that life is full of learning curves and we should put in the hard yards to strive to'not be a bad person' but instead a good, moral person. When put like that, I see life in a different perspective. I just wish we could sometimes take a simpler route to our ideal image instead of going through the hard yards.

Afterwards, we watched the lion dance performed by kids aged 4-19. I've seen this previously so it was no biggie for me. We were also given the chance to give it a go.

Chill time. At dinner, I sat with some Diocesan girls. Had some classic Chinese noodles (stirfry and chicken). Yum.

Group activities were next. Got into our groups - Davina, Sian, Cammy, Wei Luok, Nick, Braden, Nathan and I. Our facilitators were Alice Chan and Winson Fong.

Made a name: Panda Power! Made a logo. Made a chant.

'We are black, we are white, we are mighty dynamite!

Was really fun working in the group, Sian is the leader of our group and Davina is the messenger.

Burma trail
It was alright, not too adrenaline rushing as we could see in the dark and everyone was talking but it was fun spending time with the group anyway whether we could see them or not.

Supper, then played cards, tin the other dorm. Also played a few truth and dares.

It's now midnight and everyone is asleep except me. I am so tired and still have to wake up at 7.30am tomorrow. Not looking forward to that part.

DAY TWO
Woke up to my friend, Jess, tapping me on the shoulder for a 6.30am wake up call. No not 7.30am. It's a Saturday and usually I'm used to waking up around 10.30am.

Today: It was the outdoor high ropes designed to push us to our limits or'stretch zone'. I am not so keen on heights. Once at the top of each course, about 10m from the ground, and faced with the task of leaping into mid air, I was far from my comfort zone.

The sight of even Winson jumping scared me. He jumped and spread out his arms and legs out like a starfish. Each bump and swing of the rope made him jerk from side to side like a rag doll. I'm pretty sure I would never do that in a million years. How on earth does anyone do that?

It was the first obstacle and I'd have to say the scariest although many others said they had loved it.

The second obstacle was fine. It was the Cargo Net where you simply had to climb up a 10m cargo net which wasn't attached to the ground. It was much, much easier for me as I'd much rather endure a small workout than facing heights!

This was also great for the team bonding because we had to work together to guide a blindfolded member of our group over the course. Also we were forced to bond by guiding the ropes attached to the climber through a mechanism, ensuring their safety. It was great fun.

The final obstacle was the Multi Vine in which we had to climb up the tree and scuttle across a tightrope wire, holding on to suspended vertical ropes every 2m. This really tested our balance, trust in ourselves as well as the trust we had in our team mates. I found this activity challenging as the further I travelled, the more it shook according to my nerves, and the more it shook, the more nervous I became. Let's just say it was very shaky up there. I was insanely scared.

As we had restricted time, we were only able to complete 3 out of the 5 courses. To be honest, I was very relieved - the next one involved heights.

Taichi was next, all about finding your inner chi and balance to your life: ying and yang. Once explained I could understand the fascination of it, although it isn't my cup of tea. Gold medallist and two time silver medallist David Wong taught us! His control and balance was amazing. When I tried it, it was surprisingly quite relaxing.

Guest speaker two: Andrew Young, Past CEO of Starship Foundation and present Global Marketing Director of Les Mills.

Andrew was also very inspiring to me, hearing about his difficulties and challenges growing up in the Chinese culture and having to work in his parents' fruit shop as a teenager instead of being able to hang out with his mates. He really rebelled against his parents. I couldn't really believe it that someone like him, now so successful, could've had so much difficulty as a teenager. He really spoke from the heart and it was an amazing talk.

We then moved on to a Chinese dance. A lot of people were put out of their immediate comfort zone but once we got going, we were fine. We have to wear cultural costumes tomorrow at the performance for the parents. Bright pink with a mandarin collar and the works. Great. I am also not a great dancer.

Then we went to calligraphy. It was surprisingly hard to write nicely. I didn't expect that. It was handy that I had attended Chinese school previously when I was young so I was familiar with most words. The calligraphy Chinese teacher was so funny!

Dinner then another speaker.

Meng Foon spoke to us. It had been a very long, full on day so we were already very tired. He spoke about his experiences working within a political setting and how if we should always use our full potential in everything we do so that we don't live with regrets. I really respect his skills and being fluent in Maori. He also sung us a Maori song. He is actually a good singer!

After supper was our group presentations answering our given question. Ours was'If you were a super hero, what super ability would you pick to have'. We chose shape shifting which ties in with our'panda' group name and created a short story based on how communication is key. Being able to shape shift into different animals and characters, we would also be able communicate with different life forms and see situations from their perspectives.

Then we sat in our groups in a dark setting to hear classical music, sharing our thoughts. It was great to see how we'd all grown a bit, and we all felt a bit wiser after only a day and a half of camp. That was one of my favourite parts of camp. Sitting around in groups by candlelight, having a deep and meaningful conversation.

It's now 2.30am and I am exhausted after chatting etc.

LAST DAY
Team building activities, everyone grouping in a circle. All I could think about the whole time while we were interacting with one another was how we were strangers only two days ago and now, we were familiar and had built strong relationships in such a short time frame. It is like Albert said,'we are all connected now'.

We went to the hall that and listened to NZCA National President, Virginia Chong, speak. She spoke about our futures and what lies ahead of us within the NZCA community. I think it was a good conclusion, focusing on the future opportunities.

Following other presentations, we had a discussion about whether we see ourselves as New Zealand Chinese or Chinese New Zealand and whether there is a difference between the two or not. It really triggered my own thoughts.

We had a small ceremony presenting envelopes from our facilitators (Alice and Winson) in which comments from our camp members had been written. I loved the atmosphere, everyone was silent and music was put on. Not one word was said yet the message was still conveyed.

We were then able to hug and whisper our acknowledgements, ending with everyone in a circle, swaying from side to the'Vitamin C Friends Forever Graduation Song'. Although it was a bit cheesy, I think it touched each one of us.

The very last thing on the agenda was the parent concert in which we had to perform our Chinese dance we had learnt in an hour yesterday. I was anxious about performing in front of the parents and especially the Chinese dance routine as it was something I had never tried before. I don't think anyone of us were too pleased about our costumes, yet alone the dance, but it was the last challenge and we all did our best.

Certificates were handed out and a slide show played showed us how much we had done in such a small space of time. Then it was an afternoon tea with all our leftover treats and Chinese dumplings.

I now have a new set of friends, a support group and many new thoughts. Despite all the nerves, fears and early wakeups, it was a great experience, and I have a lot to take away from it.

- Carolyn Ding, year 11 in 2011, Saint Kentigern College

http://www.theaucklander.co.nz/news/carolyn-ding-chinese-leadership-camp/1217276/

Making the Most of Holiday Opportunities

2011-11-22T18:08:00.000+13:00

Copies of family photographs in protective sleeves. Check.

Laptop with family history data. Check.

Digital recorder for taping the family sharing memories. Check.

Interrogation lamp so we can finally get Aunt Delilah to crack and spill those family secrets. Check.

OK, maybe that last one’s going a bit too far, but when you’re the family historian, your pre-holiday checklist is probably going to be a little different than that of others. You know that family get- togethers are the best place to find answers to your family history mysteries.

Whether you are planning on conducting formal interviews or just a little discreet prying, a little pre-planning can go a long way. Here are some tips to help you make the most of your time with family.

—Make some time to review your family tree. Look at what you’ve learned this past year and what you still need to know. Is there a family member who might hold the key to that mystery you’ve been working on? Perhaps sharing a recent find will prompt a memory that gets you on the road to discovery.

—If you’re planning a formal interview, try to include some fun questions. Instead of asking what month great-grandma died, ask for memories of the funeral. Who was there? Known death dates of those in attendance, or knowing who would have been available to attend the event at that time, might help narrow down the time frame. What was the weather like? Was it summer or winter? Was it around a holiday? If the event took place at a home, where was it? This information, coupled with the facts found in directories, can help you determine what years your family lived in a residence. Go for more than just names and dates. Flesh out your family tree with childhood memories by asking questions like those on this list in the Ancestry.com Library.

—Make sure your online tree or software has the most current information and attach records. While the mere sight of a pedigree chart can send some relatives running for cover, who can resist a photograph or the passenger arrival record of your immigrant ancestor?

—Make a “Favorites List” for the kids (and the grown-ups). There’s a sample list here in the Ancestry.com Library. If you’ve done this in the past, bring out copies of past lists too. Now that they’re “all grown up,” the kids will get a kick out of seeing what their favorite songs, stars, and books were five years ago.

by Juliana Smith

Saying Sorry

2011-11-16T19:17:00.000+13:00

Chinese Women's Culture in New Zealand
YWCA Lecture
Liz Ngan, 13 October 1992
I am here today to talk about Chinese women's culture in Aotearoa. To me this means: what our lives have been like in this country, what we have retained from our cultural past and what we do to deal with the present.

I haven't always found it easy being part of a visible minority. If, for example, I was first or second generation Scots would so many people ask me if I was born here, or would kids call me names in the street? If you belong to a majority culture, you don't have to question who you are or why you are here. If you are outside that majority, others will ask those questions for you.

By telling you about some women in my family you may see how the opportunities and expectations of Chinese women have changed over time. You will also see how different women deal with the challenges of being Chinese in this country.

The Chinese in this country come not only from China but also from Malaysia, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Fiji, Canary Islands and so on. Chinese people as a race are dispersed throughout the world. Both sides of my family come from the South China province of Guangzhou. On Dad's side it was his parents who emigrated here. My Grandfather came out late last century (19th), as a teacher of English and Chinese. My Grandmother, A-Ma arrived here in the 1920s. A-Ma was a second wife. My Grandfather married her because he wanted more sons. Back then in China man could have as many wives as he could support. His first wife had had three sons, but two of them had died in adulthood. When he married A-Ma, she was about the same age as his eldest son. I don't know what A-Ma's level of education was like. I don't ever remember seeing her reading or writing. But then again, most of the books around our house were in English and she didn't speak much English.

Not long after Dad was born here my Grandfather and A-Ma took the family back to China. They considered that their prospects were better in China. Although my Grandfather was a naturalised British citizen, he was not entitled to a pension, for example.

A-Ma didn't return to New Zealand for ten years, until the Sino-Japanese war concentrated on Guangzhou. Dad and his brother had been sent back to Wellington earlier. A-Ma and her daughter travelled through China by night to escape via Hong Kong. They left Hong Kong just as the Japanese declared war on Britain, A-Ma worked hard here to support her family. She worked in fruit shops, she did odd jobs like helping in laundries. She worked hard to survive. Eventually she borrowed enough money to start a fruit shop in Mirimar. A-Ma wasn't only working for her family who had escaped the war. Two sons had been left behind in China. One was her natural son, the other was the son of the third wife. It was always her ambition to reunite the family.

Sadly, this never happened while she was alive. My memories of A-Ma are of an old woman sitting in the sun at our house knitting jerseys and cardigans for her grandchildren back in Guangzhou. That and her taking a long draw on a Matinee cigarette while waiting for the tea to cook. I wish now that I could have spoken with her in Cantonese. If the language barrier wasn't there I would know a lot more about her and I could've heard her stories first hand.

In contrast to A-Ma, I have heard a lot of stories from my Nan. Mum's mother Dolly Wong was born in Wellington in 1911 over a fruit shop in Cuba Street. Nan's father emigrated here first and when he became established in business he sent back to the village for a wife. Nan had nine surviving brothers and sisters. She is the youngest of the three daughters, but not the youngest in the family. Nan was educated at Clyde Quay School and stayed until she did her proficiency. She was12 when her father said, "Enough education, you will work in the shop from now on." The shop was Te Aro Seed Company in Courtney Place. Although her father was strict, Nan found ways around the rules that were imposed.

She loved ballet and always wanted to dance, but her father didn't think it was proper behaviour. For a whole year she went off to ballet classes without her father's knowledge. Her eldest brother, George, paid for her lessons. At the end of the year the teacher said that there would be a recital and Nan would've loved to be in it. But she realised that her father would find out that she'd been going to the lessons, so she had to give it all up. Another thing that was forbidden was for the kids to eat fish and chips in the living quarters above the shop. Nan's older sisters, Lily and Daisy, would send her out with some money to the chip shop. When she got back, they'd lower a basket out of the bedroom window and haul the goodies up.

When Nan was 16 she went to China to complete her education. She went back with her parents and some of her brothers, and they lived in Guangzhou City. "Completing her education" meant learning to read and write Chinese and to know what her homeland was like. Most of her brothers and sisters spent time in Guangzhou for the same reasons.

Nan was lonely there. She missed her home and friends. One of the things she missed most were the cream doughnuts. After three years of studying Nan asked her father if she could take a job at the library where one of her cousins worked. He said, "No, because you'll be getting married." Nan's wedding to My Goong was arranged. She didn't want to get married but there was no choice. Luckily, she had met Goong before the wedding so he wasn't a complete stranger.

Also Goong had been working in New Zealand since he was a boy. He spoke and wrote English fluently and he knew what life was like here. Nan's sisters, Daisy and Lily, chose their own husbands, meeting them through church groups. One was a Baptist, the other was an Anglican. Both of them married in New Zealand and my great-grandfather wanted at least one of his daughters to have a traditional wedding in China. So probably that decision was made for Nan long before she knew.

Nan and Goong returned to New Zealand in the 1930s. In 1938 they took over the General Store at Utiku, near Taihape. Through running the General Store and having the cream and mail runs, Nan and Goong were very involved in the local community. They had five children in all and were the only Chinese family in Utiku. Later Nan and Goong moved to Lower Hutt where they still live. Although my great-grandfather had prevented Nan from working in the library in Guangzhou, she certainly worked hard for the rest of her life.

Mum, Jean Ngan, is Nan's eldest daughter. She has two brothers and two sisters. She remembers the years in Utiku as really happy, even although it was the end of the Depression and then World War II. As country kids she thought that her parents sheltered them from the hardships. Mum, like her brothers and sisters, spoke Cantonese up until the time she started school. From then on English was spoken at home, Cantonese became the language used by Nan and Goong if they wanted to speak in private. When visiting her grandparents as a teenager, she regretted that she couldn't speak more Cantonese.

Mum stayed at school till the fourth form (Yr 10). She did elocution lessons, learnt the piano and the organ and with her sister Marina played lots of sports. (Mum and her sisters' English names are Jeanette, Marina and Helene. Their Chinese names are Zhen-Ling, (Pure Lotus), Mei-Ling (Beautiful Lotus) and Hei-Ling (Happy Lotus).) The reason Mum left school when she was 15 was to help in the General Store, as Nan was expecting Helene. Mum says that no-one asked her to leave school. She just felt, as the eldest daughter, that she should. Her one condition was that when she turned 18 she would go and do her nursing training. There was one other time when Mum put her own plans on hold to help out the family. After she finished her nuring training and staffing at Hutt Hospital in 1956, she took a year out to help Nan and Goong in their fruit shop in Nae Nae. She says she hated it but again she felt she should do it. In 1959 Mum married Dad. She said there was an expectation that she would marry a Chinese man. The places where Chinese met each other were at dances and weddings. Mum met Dad when he his brother and a cousin went round to play Mah Jong with Goong. Mum gave up nursing when my brother was born in 1960. I came along in 1964 and Mum didn't return to nursing until I was in third form (Yr 9).

Mum is still nursing, and though it's often stressful, she really enjoys it, especially meeting and helping so many people. In the practice where she is head nurse, she finds the Asian patients are more open to her because she is Chinese. Again, she wishes she could speak Cantonese as it would make her dealings with the patients easier.

As for myself, I was born in Lower Hutt and grew up in Stokes Valley. My educational opportunities were greater than Mum's or Nan's. I don't ever remember deciding to go to university. It was just considered the natural follow-on from college. There weren't many Chinese kids at any of the schools I went to. The only Chinese people I knew were my relatives.

The only place I would see a lot of Chinese people would be at weddings, 80th birthday parties, the first month parties given to children, and other family celebrations. Growing up I found it hard to accept that I was Chinese. I actively disliked being different from other kids. And I actively hated the racism and petty name-calling. When I was 14 I decided, well, there's no way I can be anything else, I might as well be proud of my heritage. Since then I have listened more carefully to the family stories.

When I got to university, I studied Mandarin Chinese language and culture as part of my Arts degree. I learnt to read and write and speak. I appreciated how hard Nan must have studied in Guangzhou, at a similar age to me. The type of job possibilities for me were limited only by my imagination. There was no family business for me to work in, no particular profession that my parents wanted me to follow. Perhaps because there were no guidelines, that's the reason it took me so long to find something I enjoyed and was challenged by! After three years of library work and learning to weave, I moved into computing.

One of the things I enjoy about my life now, as opposed to when I was growing up, is that I have lots of Chinese women friends. They are supportive and loving. I often feel I can speak more freely with them than with other friends, because we share a bond of being different.

In particular when someone has been verbally or violently racist towards me like the day a man took a swing at me with piece of roofing iron and said he wished he'd killed "us" all in the war, the support is there. There's no question that you provoked him or that the world needs less people like that.

From the stories I've told you, I hope you have gained some idea of what it can be like to be a Chinese women in this country. While holding onto the culture they were brought up with, my Grandmothers made a life for themselves and their families. My mother as second generation New Zealand born Chinese, had more choice in her personal and professional life. But she still bore in mind family obligations and expectations.

For me the choices were even greater, including the choice of accepting or denying my Chinese identity. I am glad I accepted it. I am glad also of the opportunity to tell you of the struggles and achievements of the women in my family. And to share with you the richness that comes from being a Chinese woman in Aotearoa.

Liz Ngan of Wellington has kindly given her permission to use her 1992 YWCA lecture notes in this unit.

Re: Saying Sorry

http://www.tki.org.nz/r/socialscience/curriculum/SSOL/sorry/story_e.php

2011-11-16T18:24:00.000+13:00

Party time: ``I don't have to blow out 100 candles, do I?'' said Dolly Wong, right. She and her sister-in-law Molly Ting are marking their 100th birthdays.

Hutt sister-in-law centenarians celebrate together

2011-11-16T18:21:00.000+13:00

As milestones go turning 100 is a rare occasion. It's even more special when sisters-in-law celebrate the occasion within a few days of each other.

Avalon's Shona McFarlane Retirement Home hosted the first of a double event on Friday when family and friends of Dolly Wong gathered to mark her 100th birthday. They'll be back on Thursday for the 100th birthday of her sister-in-law, Molly Ting.

Until six months ago Dolly and Molly lived next door to one another, but due to failing health Molly now lives in a different wing of the complex.

Close family ties, hard work and community service have been features of both women's lives.

The Ting and Wong families have strong ties to the Chinese community and have been long time members of the capital's Tung Jung Association of New Zealand. The group was founded in 1926 to help Chinese migrants who faced numerous prejudices socially and in business.

Dolly Wong was born in Cuba St, the eighth of 13 children. Her parents James Chin Ting and Ng Shee Ting ran the Te Aro Seed Company in Courtenay Pl for many years.

"Nan grew up above the shop on the corner of Tory St and Courtenay Pl and went to Clyde Quay School," said granddaughter Liz Ngan.

At 16 she and some of the family returned to China to learn to read and write Chinese and learn some of the classics.

She married Willie Wong, who was also raised in New Zealand, and the couple returned here in the 1930s, eventually taking over the general store at Utiku near Taihape and raising their five children there. The family moved to Lower Hutt in 1950 and ran the Rata St Fruit supply until their retirement.

A keen crafter, Dolly was skilled at embroidery, sewing, knitting and crochet. She was also an excellent pianist and "played a mean ukulele".

"Nan also loved the ballet, reading, shopping down Lambton Quay, going to dances and seeing her family grow and do well," Liz Ngan said.

Dolly said: "You never think you're going to make it this far, but I'm so pleased to be able to see my great grandchildren grow."

She was also "thrilled" to receive cards from the Queen and the Prime Minister.

"I just want to say how kind everyone is and I'm very pleased that we're here one and all to celebrate this birthday."

- Hutt News

LEE-ANNE EDWARDS
Last updated 15:39 01/11/2011

heatre

2011-11-13T08:44:00.001+13:00

Theatre Review: The Bone Feeder, Tapac Theatre

By Paul Simei-Barton
5:30 AM Saturday Nov 12, 2011

Of all the ships wrecked off the Hokianga, few can have been carrying stranger cargo than the SS Ventnor, dispatched from the Otago goldfields in 1902 with the coffins of 499 miners who had hoped to have their bones returned to their families in China.

In the hands of playwright Renee Liang, this intriguing historical incident becomes a springboard for a powerful drama in which longing for a return to the ancestral homeland is set against the immigrants' desire to put down roots in their adopted home.

While focusing on a particular community, the play explores how this continuously evolving dialectic shapes the identity of all who arrive, then find themselves staying in a new country.

The story unfolds through a clever, multi-layered structure that swings back and forward in time and encompasses the voices of both the living and the dead.

A fifth-generation Chinese New Zealander investigating the shipwreck is drawn in to a strange encounter with the ghosts of the miners who have made a home for themselves in the Hokianga after their bones were re-buried by the local iwi.

This fascinating cultural reunion is observed and facilitated by a Maori ferryman played by Rob Mokaraka, who brings a wonderfully engaging, laconic humour to the whole enterprise.

The multiple voices are neatly complemented by a rich variety of story-telling techniques and director Lauren Jackson does a superb job in seamlessly bringing together puppetry, dance, song, martial arts, shadow screens and aerial acrobatics.

On occasions, the magic realist style seems to move too easily between the world of the living and the dead but the mystery of the spiritual dimension is restored as the play abandons dialogue and communicates through finely choreographed dance sequences.

The rich visual tapestry is beautifully supported by a remarkable soundtrack that is performed live with an intricate blend of Chinese and Maori instruments.

The large cast establishes a strong physical presence with plenty of mischievous humour and the two lead roles are both well handled, with Kevin Ng capturing the awkwardness of a modern Kiwi kid who finds himself well outside of his comfort zone, while Gary Young convincingly portrays the emotional journey of a character from another time.

What: The Bone Feeder.

The lovely bones

2011-11-10T22:20:00.000+13:00

By Dionne Christian
11:16 AM Saturday Nov 5, 2011

In a Grey Lynn art gallery and studio packed with trestle tables and stacks of chairs, pots of paint, lumps of clay and half-finished drawings, an artist diligently keeps his eyes on his work rather than stepping out from behind a partition to watch the five Chinese men in the centre of the room.

They are going through a carefully choreographed series of martial arts moves, making them look graceful and ethereal. It is the final scene - an emotional and physical one - in playwright Renee Liang's The Bone Feeder.

The men look towards the high ceiling, imagining how in the theatre martial arts will be combined with high-wire flying - a proposition for Dragon Origin, New Zealand's first martial arts stunts company, and stunt choreographer and actor Willie Ying to co-ordinate.

Liang and the production team, which includes director Lauren Jackson, believe it's the first time a local professional play has combined martial arts and high-wire flying.

It's also the first time New Zealanders, particularly those of Chinese descent, have had a significant piece of their history presented to them in such a large-scale production.

Jackson says the 19-strong cast, live music, high-wire martial arts, dance, drama and comedy must complement the story rather than distract from it.

"We must make sure during rehearsals that we stop, talk and share ideas so a cohesive direction and vision run through the piece because it's telling such an important and moving story."

Far from contemporary Grey Lynn, the SS Ventnor was en route from Otago in 1902 when she sank in the Hokianga Harbour with the bones of 499 Chinese miners bound for ancestral graves in Canton on board.

It was considered important for Chinese to return to their home villages so many of the men who migrated to New Zealand to work - mainly in the gold fields - thought of themselves as temporary visitors.

They always intended to return to China once they made enough money but life was harsh and many of them never made it home.

Those who died here were buried in temporary graves but the local Chinese community, led by Choie Sew Hoy, raised by subscription the then vast sum of £4000 to charter the Ventnor and carry the exhumed bones home to China.

"It was believed that people needed to return to their home villages in order to watch over their descendants and, in return, have their graves looked after and spirits nourished," says Liang.

But the bones never made it after the Ventnor struck a rock and sank near Hokianga Harbour. The coffins and bones were lost, along with 13 crewmen.

Some of the coffins and bones were washed ashore where, local stories reveal, they were found by Maori and buried in family urupa.

The Bone Feeder gives voice to the ghosts of the Chinese men and the iwi who found their remains, taking the historical fact as the basis for a fictional exploration of family, identity, and love and loss.

It follows Ben (played by Kevin Ng), a fifth generation Chinese New Zealander, who travels to present-day Hokianga to search for the bones of his great, great grandfather.

Once there, he meets some unusual "locals" who may - or may not - be mischievous ghosts.

The play also tells the story of Kwan (played by Gary Young, last seen as Chinese Jack in Underbelly: Land of the Long Green Cloud), who migrates to New Zealand in the 1880s and must decide where he belongs.

"Historical facts are historical facts," says Young, "but what intrigued me was the emotional journey of these characters. Love, fear, loss - they all contribute to universal stories and that interests me as an actor.

"Few people have heard this story before and there's nothing like it on the theatrical landscape so it means at last those Chinese men have a voice and that's important."

While The Bone Feeder has been performed before outside Auckland, Liang describes those shows more as development seasons.

With feedback from the audiences, she has developed the script into a piece of magical realism which now includes a story about one of the first contacts between New Zealand Chinese and Maori communities.

Liang has added Maori characters, notably a ferryman played by Rob Mokoraka, and details about how Te Roroa and Te Rarawa iwi dealt with the discovery of bones and coffins when they washed up on the shoreline.

She admits to fearing she didn't have the necessary knowledge or background to include a tangata whenua element and tried to avoid doing so.

"The first draft didn't have any Maori characters or stories, but people said I needed them. At first, I tried to get away with including Maori music but I realised I needed someone to speak for the land and the people of the land.

"Local Maori found the bones and, realising they needed someone to watch over them, took guardianship of them. It is a shared history."

Mokoraka, who is of Ngapuhi ancestry and grew up in the Hokianga, had never heard the Ventnor story before and travelled home to speak to elderly relatives about it.

While they knew of other ship wrecks in the harbour, the Ventnor sinking was also news to them.

"My family lives in Panguru, down the road from where the play is set. Everyone at home was fascinated to hear the story and to know that, at one point, there had been, relatively speaking, a sizeable Chinese population up there. I just love finding out about this."

Another of the cast discovered a direct link to the Ventnor. Llanyon Eli Joe, who plays Dan the miner, had a great grandfather who opened a store on the same street and in competition with Choie Sew Hoy.

He would almost certainly have been friends with some of the men who ended up on the Ventnor.

Liang and the cast acknowledge a responsibility to present a nuanced and rounded story, which demonstrates the complex decisions many of these men faced, particularly given that The Bone Feeder is based on real-life events which still resonate for the descendants of those early Chinese migrants.

Young says he likes that Liang hasn't shied away from presenting the men's faults.

"It's great that it doesn't try to sweep away the blemishes. As an actor, you have to play it with integrity and our responsibility is to get the story out there in the best possible form."

Having worked for years on the Italian-Maori World War II story Strange Resting Places, Mokoraka says the best advice he got was not to treat historical figures like gods but human beings with flaws.

"Then you can start to tell a story warts and all because it's the grey areas that are the most interesting."

The Chinese community, representing the 499 men, as well as the descendants of Choie Sew Hoy, are in the process of thanking the appropriate iwi for their care of the bones and, in the long term, there may be a public celebration. The Chinese community is considering building a memorial at a suitable site to commemorate the lost souls of the Ventnor shipwreck.

Performance

What: The Bone Feeder

Where & When: Tapac, Western Springs, November 10-20
By Dionne Christian

Ghost investigators, from left, Vicki Wedd, 43, Andrew Farrell, 23, Jennifer Jansen, 27, and Mark Wallbank, 42, in a cemetery on Glenfield Rd. Photo / Janna Dixon Ghost hunters in for the chill

Intriguing play misses its mark

2011-11-10T21:21:00.000+13:00

The Bone Feeder
The Globe Theatre, March 30-31.
Directed by Simon Zhou.

The story of the shipwrecked SS Ventnor is a poignant one.

In 1902, a ship carrying the bones of almost 500 Chinese miners set off from New Zealand towards their final resting place in China.

They made it as far as the Hokianga harbour, before sinking.

The Bone Feeder is based on this largely untold story. It focuses on Ben, played by Auckland Boys' Grammar student Jae Woo, who has promised his dying father he will find the bones of his great-great-grandfather, lost in the wreck.

Enter Maori ferry man Melvin Wani, who knows a thing or two about ancestors and the tangata whenua. Ben meets the ghost of his great-great-grandfather, played by Benjamin Teh, and eventually discovers what it means to be part of a family.

This play is original. Ben is a fifth generation Kiwi, of Chinese ancestry. He doesn't know how to speak the language, and feels detached from his family and culture. This is a contemporary issue that should be addressed.

The music is fantastic, with a live three-piece Chinese band playing traditional instruments with haunting precision.

Teh is outstanding as the long-dead ancestor, with a stage presence that demands attention.

But this play doesn't quite hit the mark. Ben's unresolved problems with his dead father distract attention from the adaptation of Chinese settlers to New Zealand and the cultural similarities with Maori.

There were long soliloquies which relied on Woo's acting to bring them alive – a tough ask for any young actor. And the ghosts were confusing, comedic one minute and morose the next.

Some scenes are beautiful though, and the message is good. It's on tonight.

- The Manawatu Standard
BY MICHELLE DUFF
Last updated 12:00 31/03/2010

The '1.5 generation'

2011-11-10T21:20:00.001+13:00

Renee Liang's mother used to send her to school with two lunchboxes - one for her classmates to try all the "weird stuff" and one for Renee.

This scene, along with other real-life incidents, is on stage in Liang's new play First Asian A* B* - the A* B* refers to a team name they can't legally use.

Liang, who wrote The Bone Feeder and Lantern, is a New Zealand-born Asian, and is also a consultant paediatrician.

She feels it's time to tell the story of the '1.5' generation - people who are not first generation New Zealanders but who emigrated when young and grew up here.

"Coming from an inherited immigrant background, with a 'difference' which is sometimes more visible to others than to myself, I often wonder,'What defines me as Kiwi?'."

She cites veteran playwright, actor and director Oscar Kightley, responsible for Niu Sila and Fresh Off The Boat as influential in her decision to become a playwright.

Liang's younger sister Roseanne wrote and directed a movie earlier this year, My Wedding and Other Secrets, which had an autobiographical element, much like Liang's play.

First Asian A* B* came about in several ways.

"I was touring with another play which had 12 boys and we got wondering if there had actually been an Asian All Black.

"I know a lot of Asian immigrants.

- Hutt News

The '1.5 generation'
BY PRIYANKA BHONSULE

Mateship in sport:In Renee Liang's new play, Paul Fagamalo and Ben Teh play mates whose friendship is tested when an All Black spot is up for grabs.

The Bone Feeder

2011-11-09T22:34:00.001+13:00

The Bone Feeder, Auckland, 9 November 2011 – 20 November 2011

How far would you go to find your family?

In 1902 the coffins of 499 Chinese immigrants from Otago and Wellington were being repatriated to their home towns in China when their ship, the SS Ventnor, tragically sank near the Hokianga Harbour. The Bone Feeder follows the trials of a young man called Ben who seeks to find the lost bones of his great-great grandfather and to bring them home, and of Kwan, a man who emigrates to NZ in the 1800s and has to decide where he belongs.

Exploring one of the first times of contact between Maori and Chinese the play is a fictional exploration of what is for many Chinese New Zealanders a very real and significant piece of their history. Written by playwright and poet Renee Liang and directed by Lauren Jackson the play uses poetry, music, drama and comedy and features a multicultural cast who perform together with musicians playing traditional Chinese and Maori instruments. The Bone Feeder is a New Zealand play with a difference, a contemporary Western theatre piece which draws on the traditions of Asian storytelling.

2011-11-05T17:17:00.000+13:00

The lovely bones

2011-11-05T17:16:00.000+13:00

By Dionne Christian
11:16 AM Saturday Nov 5, 2011

The Bone Feeder actor Llanyon Eli Joe. Photo / APN

In a Grey Lynn art gallery and studio packed with trestle tables and stacks of chairs, pots of paint, lumps of clay and half-finished drawings, an artist diligently keeps his eyes on his work rather than stepping out from behind a partition to watch the five Chinese men in the centre of the room.

They are going through a carefully choreographed series of martial arts moves, making them look graceful and ethereal. It is the final scene - an emotional and physical one - in playwright Renee Liang's The Bone Feeder.

The men look towards the high ceiling, imagining how in the theatre martial arts will be combined with high-wire flying - a proposition for Dragon Origin, New Zealand's first martial arts stunts company, and stunt choreographer and actor Willie Ying to co-ordinate.

Liang and the production team, which includes director Lauren Jackson, believe it's the first time a local professional play has combined martial arts and high-wire flying.

It's also the first time New Zealanders, particularly those of Chinese descent, have had a significant piece of their history presented to them in such a large-scale production.

Jackson says the 19-strong cast, live music, high-wire martial arts, dance, drama and comedy must complement the story rather than distract from it.

"We must make sure during rehearsals that we stop, talk and share ideas so a cohesive direction and vision run through the piece because it's telling such an important and moving story."

Far from contemporary Grey Lynn, the SS Ventnor was en route from Otago in 1902 when she sank in the Hokianga Harbour with the bones of 499 Chinese miners bound for ancestral graves in Canton on board.

It was considered important for Chinese to return to their home villages so many of the men who migrated to New Zealand to work - mainly in the gold fields - thought of themselves as temporary visitors.

They always intended to return to China once they made enough money but life was harsh and many of them never made it home.

Those who died here were buried in temporary graves but the local Chinese community, led by Choie Sew Hoy, raised by subscription the then vast sum of £4000 to charter the Ventnor and carry the exhumed bones home to China.

"It was believed that people needed to return to their home villages in order to watch over their descendants and, in return, have their graves looked after and spirits nourished," says Liang.

But the bones never made it after the Ventnor struck a rock and sank near Hokianga Harbour. The coffins and bones were lost, along with 13 crewmen.

Some of the coffins and bones were washed ashore where, local stories reveal, they were found by Maori and buried in family urupa.

The Bone Feeder gives voice to the ghosts of the Chinese men and the iwi who found their remains, taking the historical fact as the basis for a fictional exploration of family, identity, and love and loss.

It follows Ben (played by Kevin Ng), a fifth generation Chinese New Zealander, who travels to present-day Hokianga to search for the bones of his great, great grandfather.

Once there, he meets some unusual "locals" who may - or may not - be mischievous ghosts.

The play also tells the story of Kwan (played by Gary Young, last seen as Chinese Jack in Underbelly: Land of the Long Green Cloud), who migrates to New Zealand in the 1880s and must decide where he belongs.

"Historical facts are historical facts," says Young, "but what intrigued me was the emotional journey of these characters. Love, fear, loss - they all contribute to universal stories and that interests me as an actor.

"Few people have heard this story before and there's nothing like it on the theatrical landscape so it means at last those Chinese men have a voice and that's important."

While The Bone Feeder has been performed before outside Auckland, Liang describes those shows more as development seasons.

With feedback from the audiences, she has developed the script into a piece of magical realism which now includes a story about one of the first contacts between New Zealand Chinese and Maori communities.

Liang has added Maori characters, notably a ferryman played by Rob Mokoraka, and details about how Te Roroa and Te Rarawa iwi dealt with the discovery of bones and coffins when they washed up on the shoreline.

She admits to fearing she didn't have the necessary knowledge or background to include a tangata whenua element and tried to avoid doing so.

"The first draft didn't have any Maori characters or stories, but people said I needed them. At first, I tried to get away with including Maori music but I realised I needed someone to speak for the land and the people of the land.

"Local Maori found the bones and, realising they needed someone to watch over them, took guardianship of them. It is a shared history."

Mokoraka, who is of Ngapuhi ancestry and grew up in the Hokianga, had never heard the Ventnor story before and travelled home to speak to elderly relatives about it.

While they knew of other ship wrecks in the harbour, the Ventnor sinking was also news to them.

"My family lives in Panguru, down the road from where the play is set. Everyone at home was fascinated to hear the story and to know that, at one point, there had been, relatively speaking, a sizeable Chinese population up there. I just love finding out about this."

Another of the cast discovered a direct link to the Ventnor. Llanyon Eli Joe, who plays Dan the miner, had a great grandfather who opened a store on the same street and in competition with Choie Sew Hoy.

He would almost certainly have been friends with some of the men who ended up on the Ventnor.

Liang and the cast acknowledge a responsibility to present a nuanced and rounded story, which demonstrates the complex decisions many of these men faced, particularly given that The Bone Feeder is based on real-life events which still resonate for the descendants of those early Chinese migrants.

Young says he likes that Liang hasn't shied away from presenting the men's faults.

"It's great that it doesn't try to sweep away the blemishes. As an actor, you have to play it with integrity and our responsibility is to get the story out there in the best possible form."

Having worked for years on the Italian-Maori World War II story Strange Resting Places, Mokoraka says the best advice he got was not to treat historical figures like gods but human beings with flaws.

"Then you can start to tell a story warts and all because it's the grey areas that are the most interesting."

The Chinese community, representing the 499 men, as well as the descendants of Choie Sew Hoy, are in the process of thanking the appropriate iwi for their care of the bones and, in the long term, there may be a public celebration. The Chinese community is considering building a memorial at a suitable site to commemorate the lost souls of the Ventnor shipwreck.

Performance

What: The Bone Feeder

Where & When: Tapac, Western Springs, November 10-20
By Dionne Christian

Doctor rewrites the script

2011-11-03T20:41:00.001+13:00

Doctor rewrites the script

Rebecca Blithe | Saturday, August 27, 2011 6:00

Renee Liang is a playwright, paediatrician and researcher. Shes preparing for the debut of her play The First Asian All Black - about a young immigrant wanting to get into rugby.

Renee Liang is a playwright, paediatrician and researcher. Shes preparing for the debut of her play The First Asian All Black - about a young immigrant wanting to get into rugby.
Kellie Blizard

Rebecca Blithe encounters doctor and writer Renee Liang at the Jungle Cafe in Grey Lynn to talk about how she's exploring growth as a nation.

Her Chinese name means literary blossom, Renee Liang tells me. "My mother told me halfway through med school that my grandfather had decided there were already too many doctors in the family."

But, despite that direction - or because of it - Renee is a pediatrician, a playwright and poet with a master's degree in creative writing, a researcher and an advocate for youth art.

Seated in a corner of the Jungle Cafe in Grey Lynn, Renee is a small character. Or, rather, a small person with a big character.

As we sit and talk about her work on a sharp-aired, soft-sunned morning, the veranda offering a view to the rows of open-fisted London plane trees lining the suburban streets, she flits between thoughtful, demure moments and vivacious enthusiasm.

"I'm older than I look," says the smooth-skinned 38-year-old.

"I have four degrees, I like to keep busy, I don't like to have a lot of downtime."

She pauses pensively. "I have a totally weird life," she says with a laugh as if the fact has only just occurred to her.

"I have a lot of fictional versions of myself," she says of her plays, which draw on her own experiences, and of her moviemaker sister's depiction of her in what became the hit film, My Wedding and Other Secrets.

New Zealander-born Chinese Renee has two new plays in the wings. They reflect her intrigue about the history of Chinese in New Zealand and consider what it is that makes someone "Kiwi".

The Bone Feeder explores the story of the SS Ventnor, a ship which set out in 1902 to carry the bodies of Chinese back to their families. But they never made it home. The ship sank in Hokianga Harbour. Eventually, the remains were discovered and honoured by locals.

"The guy who had been instrumental in organising the first ship died and was put on the second ship," says Renee of her play's central character, the ghost of Choie Sew Hoy. "He has something like 2000 descendants. I've been in touch with some of them. Early Chinese history [in New Zealand] is largely unknown. In some communities they were well accepted. But there was racism from both sides."

The First Asian AB - the acronym used because the words "All Blacks" are trademarked - follows a young immigrant who decides he wants to become an All Black. For this, Renee had to immerse herself in rugby culture.

"I never grew up playing sport," she says. "I never knew how to watch a rugby game. It's really interesting because Kiwi Asian theatre is at the stage of Pacific theatre 15 years ago."

In addition to her work as a playwright, she has been involved in several youth projects, including An Absolute Rush - a grassroots performing arts scheme for at-risk youth in South Auckland. "The thing about these kids was that no one had said, 'Your stories are valid'. They were so talented, the most natural singers, actors, dancers, comedians."

She was initially intimidated but was soon completely enamoured. "I ended up performing a really bad rap in front of them and their parents. They were all rolling around laughing at me."

During her time with the group she researched the benefits of art projects on youth health. At present she is completing a University of Auckland study: "Growing up in New Zealand".

Playwright and paediatrician may seem a strange combination. "I did paediatrics because I noticed how paediatricians stay young - my Dad's one. My favourite thing is watching kids develop and discover things about themselves."

But Renee, who was granted a Sir Peter Blake Leadership Award last year, says the medical and literary roles are complementary.

"I look at the stories that drive everyone. As a doctor, you're trained to look under the surface. You get a sixth sense of what people are trying to tell you. As a playwright and poet, I'm looking under my own skin and finding that story. Everyone's story can be universal. Getting to hear about them and tell them, it's a real privilege."

Fine China

The First Asian AB, Basement Studio, September 13-18, 6pm. Book at www.iticket.co.nz or ph 361 1000 or 0508 iTICKET; or at Real Groovy, 438 Queen St, or Conch Records, 115A Ponsonby Rd.

The Bone Feeder runs November 7-20 at TAPAC, Western Springs. For booking information contact roger@tapac.org.nz or ph 845 0295 ext 1.

http://www.theaucklander.co.nz/news/doctor-rewrites-the-script/1080338/

Gwa Leng Wongs In New Zealand

2011-11-03T20:36:00.000+13:00

http://www.thereadingroom.com/gwa-leng-wongs-in-new-zealand/bp/4204727

Reprinted - available in New Zealand. Email me

CANNED MILK FOR CHINA

2011-10-29T22:03:00.001+13:00

Americans who have been influenced by the Orient to the extent of taking their tea clear, without milk or sugar, will be astonished to learn that the Occident is now bent on teaching the Chinese to use milk with their concoction of tea leaves and condensed milk at that (says an American exchange). An enterprising condensed-milk company is pushing the campaign, and expects to be successful. This concern already has introduced condensed-milk ice cream to the Chinese, and they like it so well that many of the restaurants keep it always ready. Practically no fresh milk is to be had in China, although the natives seem familiar enough with the virtues of both the fresh and the condensed article. Perhaps after all the. Orientals have taken their tea clear because there was no milk to put in it, and not because they thought the addition of milk ruined the bevevage. Evening Post, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 90, 17 April 1915, Page 11

One suburb - two separate worlds

2011-10-29T19:44:00.000+13:00

By Lincoln Tan and Simon Collins
5:30 AM Friday Apr 15, 2011

Investor Murray Gleeson and his Malaysian-born partner Jeffery Yang feel society is 'more integrated now' and more outward-looking. Photo / Sarah Ivey
Expand
Investor Murray Gleeson and his Malaysian-born partner Jeffery Yang feel society is 'more integrated now' and more outward-looking. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Meadowlands, a shopping centre in one of the most Chinese parts of Auckland, tells a story of how New Zealand is still adjusting slowly to a new community in its midst.

It is now 14 years since Hong Kong migrant Kit Wong built several blocks of shops and restaurants to serve the local Chinese population.

In 2006 Chinese made up 30.7 per cent of the surrounding census area just south of Howick.

When the Herald visits, Filipino migrants Arturo and Jane Pasamba are the only non-Chinese customers around.

"We've got Chinese friends," Mrs Pasamba explains. "We are also interested in their cooking and my daughter is now learning how to speak Chinese at Rutherford College."

But just across Meadowland Drive at the older Meadowlands Shopping Plaza dominated by a Woolworths supermarket, most shoppers are Pakeha. They see the Chinese as isolated.

"They don't assimilate as readily as some of the European populations," says teacher Kiri Kirkpatrick, 35.

"I play hockey. Not many of them play hockey, although there are a few."

A retired man says only two of the 150 members of his bowling club are Chinese - "whereas when we were in Vancouver a couple of years ago, something like 40 per cent of the members there were Chinese".

We ask non-Chinese people here, "Has your life been affected by the growing number of Chinese people in New Zealand?" Only nine say yes; 14 say no. Even here, Chinese newcomers and other Kiwis still live largely in separate and parallel societies.

In broader Kiwi society, many are still wary. A poll this week on nzherald.co.nz asked, "Is the increasing Chinese influence in New Zealand a positive thing?" Of 11,000 responses, 67 per cent said no.

It's not that the Chinese are shunned. Ask the Meadowlands shoppers how much interaction they have with Chinese people in various settings, and they all have some kind of contact.

Kiri Kirkpatrick has Chinese pupils in her class and had close Chinese friends growing up in Bucklands Beach. "I went to Hong Kong with one of them," she says.

Retired couple Sue and Hank Mooy say "lots of Chinese people" are in their square dancing club, and some have taken square dancing back to China.

Investor Murray Gleeson and his Malaysian-born partner Jeffery Yang feel society is "more integrated now" and more outward-looking.

Gun dealer Clive Jordan imports 30 per cent of his guns from China and says 40 per cent of his customers and 30 per cent of the local pistol club members are Chinese.

"We were fairly insular in our culture and it's broadened our horizons," he says. "They don't all look the same any more!"

Mr Jordan and several others often attend Chinese New Year celebrations in the Howick Domain. Others were among the 250,000 Aucklanders at this year's Lantern Festival in Albert Park.

Nineteen of the shoppers feel their interactions with Chinese people are mostly "positive", against three who say they are mostly "difficult".

But ask them which ethnic groups come to mind when they think about the term "New Zealander" and many admit that Asians are still only an afterthought.

"If I'm honest I tend to think of European and Maori," says Hebie Capill, 42. "If I have to think about it more, the others would be there, probably Pacific Islanders before Chinese."

Equally, many Chinese people live in their own world. Auckland Chinese Community Centre chairman Arthur Loo says there is "no real incentive" for new migrants to learn English because they live in a parallel Mandarin-speaking society.

"We're trying to involve some of the Mandarin-speaking ones into our activities, but we've got to find some common interests first," he says. "There aren't very many of them who can hold a decent conversation with an NZ-born kiddo about rugby."

Even at Auckland University, where 35 per cent of students are Asian, Chinese Students Association president Krono Wei says most Chinese students live and study with other Chinese.

"White people play with white people, Indians play with Indians, Pacific play with Pacific," he says. "There's not much socialising across the boundaries."

Mr Wei worked part-time clipping rugby and cricket tickets at Eden Park and saw only one Chinese face in a year.

Yet out of 500 young people packed into the popular Chinese nightclub Primo, he sees only "two or three or five" Kiwis.

Even the internet is segregated. When Malaysian-born business student Linda Tay wanted to be friends with some of her China-born school mates on Facebook, she struggled to find them because Facebook is blocked in China.

Instead many Chinese use their own sites such as Renren (www.renren.com), Pengyou (pengyou.qq.com) and Kaixin (www.kaixin001.com).

Separateness can become nastiness. Law student Melody Guo, who featured in yesterday's Herald with her two Kiwi flatmates, says people have thrown rocks at her family's car when they travelled around New Zealand.

"It's quite common," she says. "It happened everywhere. It's either from another car beside you or someone just walking by."

A 2005 Asia-NZ Foundation survey of 94 Asian people in focus groups in five cities found that "the vast majority" had experienced some form of racism.

"Most common was verbal abuse and 'the finger' - often by teenagers or children.

Overt racism included damage to cars identifiable as 'Asian', bottles or stones being thrown, being laughed at because of poor pronunciation."

Statistics NZ's general social survey of 8700 people in 2008 found 23 per cent of Asians had experienced discrimination in the previous 12 months, compared with only 16 per cent of Maori, 14 per cent of Pacific people and 8 per cent of Europeans.

Many of the people in this series are trying to counteract this by bringing Kiwis and Chinese together.

Botany pastor Samuel Chong, who invited the Herald to a Neighbours Day dinner for his street, has organised a Neighbourhood Watch group.

Last year Ms Guo formed an International Social Network at Auckland University (www.auisn.co.nz) and drew more than 300 people to social events, with equal numbers of international and domestic students.

In 2008 a young professional group launched a scheme called Omega (www.omega.org.nz) which has matched 482 skilled migrants with local volunteer mentors.

In Rotorua, Waiariki Institute of Technology has signed up 100 domestic students to be "buddies" with some of its 450 international students, paying them $15 an hour to spend two hours a week with a newcomer for a term.

The 2005 Asia-NZ Foundation study recommended much wider use of mentoring for all immigrants, backed up by orientation courses. Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples has proposed powhiri for all new settlers.

Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres says that although it is natural to fear change, China will be a growing influence in the world like it or not.

"Having a proportion of our population which is engaged with and related to and knowledgeable about China is a major economic and social asset for us," he says.

"We should obviously acknowledge that the political and social and cultural climate of China is fundamentally different from the political and social and cultural climate of New Zealand. But I don't see any evidence that China wishes to destroy that in New Zealand."

He believes New Zealand's values of freedom and tolerance are expressed partly in accepting and celebrating a diverse society.

"In the end it will probably strengthen our society to have this diversity," he says. "A society that values its own diversity will also be able to engage with people throughout the world."
By Lincoln Tan and Simon Collins | Email Lincoln

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10719377

Canton Cafe Kingsland

2011-10-22T15:57:00.002+13:00

Betty Leung,

2011-10-20T20:15:00.000+13:00

Betty Leung, of New Plymouth, received the Queen's Service Medal forservices to the Chinese community. Mrs Leung has been an active member of the New Plymouth community since she arrived from Hong Kong in 1997. She has acted as a volunteer interpreter for the Chinese community and is a member of the New Plymouth District Council’s International Relations Working Party. She is President of the Taranaki Chinese Association and a member of the China Friendship Society. She is involved with the Migrant Settlement Support Programme and has been a supporter of Women’s Refuge, a trustee of Taranaki Victim Support, a member of the Positive Ageing Council of New Plymouth, and has served on the Executive Committee of the Taranaki Justices of the Peace Association. http://gg.govt.nz/node/3126

2011-10-20T19:05:00.000+13:00

Achievement highlighted in portrait

By David Loughrey on Tue, 20 Sep 2011
News: Dunedin

Former mayor Peter Chin with his portrait, which was unveiled at the Dunedin Municipal Chambers yesterday. Photo by Jane Dawber.

Dunedin's Chinese Garden provides the background to former mayor Peter Chin's portrait, a choice Broad Bay artist Simon Richardson said indicated something about Dunedin's former leader.

In discussions with Mr Chin for the portrait, it was clearly the project he was "most proud of", Mr Richardson said.

The oil painting was unveiled at a Dunedin City Council meeting yesterday.

Mr Chin chaired the Chinese Garden Trust that developed the garden, and said before last year's election he took "huge pride" in its completion.

He lost the election battle in October last year, after serving for five three-year terms on the council, the last two as mayor.

Since the 1940s, each mayor has had their likeness hung on the council walls, with Mr Chin's portrait now next to former mayors Sukhi Turner and Richard Walls.

The latest addition stands out, in that while Mr Chin wears the robes and chains of office like the others, the background depicts the rocks and roofs of the Chinese Garden and the hills of Dunedin.

Mr Richardson, who grew up in Gore and studied at the Otago School of Art.

produced an oil painting of a naked former All Black Anton Oliver, which caused something of a sensation, and sold for more than $16,000.

Yesterday's unveiling was a more sober affair, with the artwork receiving a polite clap.

Mr Richardson said it was his decision to add the background.

The portrait had been painted slowly, with sittings that took "a long time" beginning in 2008, and Mr Chin's personality in the painting slowly evolving.

"I reckon he has flattered me," Mr Chin said after the meeting.

"It has been a pleasure sleeping through the sittings," he joked.

david.loughrey@odt.co.nz

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/178521/achievement-highlighted-portrait

2011-10-20T18:44:00.001+13:00

Kong Chew "KC" Loo

2011-10-20T18:42:00.000+13:00

Kong Chew "KC" Loo's fruit shop is a Mt Eden landmark and consistently rates in the "Best of Auckland" surveys.
KC opened shop in 1949 and wife Eileen joined him in 1953 and they have not missed a day since.
KC arrived in New Zealand from China as a youngster in 1939, just after the outbreak of WWII.

He was one of the last immigrants from China to pay the notorious "poll" imposed to stem the flow of migrants.

The current site of KC Loo's fruit shop is in the prime retailing location in the Village. Its unique design marries well with the older style of the Village and adds to the Bohemian flavour of Mt Eden.

http://www.mounteden.co.nz/village_main.htm

Raymond Huo

2011-10-20T18:00:00.000+13:00

Raymond Huo _ or Highly Unique Oriental as he jokingly calls himself _ is fiercely proud of his Chinese origins.

The 44-year-old enters Parliament on the Labour list determined to use his knowledge of Chinese protocol to help bring some of that vast country's capital into our economy.

"There is a saying in China, nothing is permitted in China, but everything is possible."

And he has proved that anything is possible here, too.

At number 21 on the party list, he enters Parliament with a wealth of diverse experience.

Huo won a scholarship to study English literature and landed a Government job in Beijing.

However he then returned to his studies and completed a law degree. He emigrated to New Zealand in 1994.

Here his career changed again when he became a reporter for the New Zealand Herald.

He returned to law in Auckland and recently joined Queen City Law as a senior associate _ now he must hand in his notice.

- Anna Rushworth

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10541851

4:00 AM Sunday Nov 9, 2008

As the Earth Turns Silver

2011-10-20T17:57:00.000+13:00

Two homegrown writing debuts show promise

By Linda Herrick and Edited by Linda Herrick
4:00 AM Saturday Jul 25, 2009

Alison Wong's first novel is modest in style, generous in tone, accomplished in structure; wide-ranging in characters. It's not surprising that overseas publishers are interested.

The Titahi Bay author, almost inevitably a graduate of Victoria University's writing school, sets her story at the start of the 20th century, when a Chinese person on a central Wellington street is an instant target for beggars and bigots, name-calling and plait-pulling.

Racism is one of the book's central motifs, in poems lip-smackingly recited by an apparently cultured lunch guest, stones thrown through a greengrocer's window, a Prime Minister quite unabashed by his membership of an anti-Asian faction.

It's not only Chinese who are targeted. Maori are apparently dying out — and a good thing too, say People In Power. There are also the situations vacant ads: "Maid required for light duties by respectable gentleman. No Irish need apply." And there's the prejudice against women, in the smug misogyny of Truby King et al. But it's "John Chinaman" who is victimised most.

Amid the bigotry, a love affair begins, between Yung the quick-minded, quick-fisted shopkeeper, ridding himself of his long rope of hair and his premises of invading thugs, and Katherine, with her caricature of a bullying husband (who has the decency to fall drunk into Wellington Harbour).

Both parties feel "an emptiness, a hungry space". Both are dissatisfied with convention or tradition, and are ready for transformation.

Things start under a cabbage tree by the Basin Reserve, and lead via delight and terror to an ending on a shop floor.

A quick shuttle of chapters keeps the plot pulsing along. Wong spreads complex nets of love and grief that catch up nearly every character. She does an impressively unshowy job of capturing the varied voices.

Period details feel just right. There's Mrs Newman the emancipist, fuming against being addressed by her husband's name and celebrating the first women in the Olympics. There's the jingoistic marching and cheering as WWI is declared. And there's a splendidly-evoked Haining Street, with "the smell of garlic and ginger", where a European shoots an Asian walking home, then defends himself with the argument that a Chinese "is not a man".

You could suggest that the ending is a bit prolonged and unremitting. You could also suggest that there's a whiff of Mills & Boon about the love affair, with its lingering glances, meaningful hand-touchings, and fireworks going off inside. But this is a striking and successful debut. Bring on Alison Wong's next one(s).
As the Earth Turns Silver $37: reviewed by David Hill
David Hill is a Taranaki writer.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10586926

RENEE LIANG - PAEDIATRICIAN AND POET

2011-10-20T17:53:00.000+13:00

RENEE LIANG - PAEDIATRICIAN AND POET

If you ever call the Liang residence, here's a tip: Don't ask for Dr Liang.

The response is: "Which one?"

With three doctors in Renee Liang's family - her father is also a paediatrician and a sister is a surgeon on the Gold Coast - she has never been far from excellence.

A third sister is a film maker.

Renee Liang, 37, grew up in Auckland and is a proud old girl of St Cuthbert's College in Epsom.

She says that growing up in a family who supported her love of both medicine and the arts helped her to become a confident woman.

"I always felt encouraged and always felt mastery.

"My primary school friends tell me that they can still remember me saying that I wanted to be a pediatrician - and I was 7 years old!

"But my dad was one and I knew the word - I always looked up to him and now I'm here."

Dr Liang works as a consultant paediatrician and researcher.

She has an interest in community and child health and her research involves looking at human development.

Her second love - the arts - has also seen her become a widely published poet, playwright and short-story writer, as well as being involved in the performing arts.

She says her Chinese name, Wei Wei, was given to her by her grandfather and means "literary blossom."

"My grandfather named me that because he said there were too many doctors in the family - we need a writer or an artist!

"My mother didn't tell me that until my third year into medicine, so who knows what would have been if I had known that before."

Dr Liang plans to continue her journey in life "as sort of a surprise".

Sir Peter Blake Leadership Awards
By Vaimoana Tapaleao
4:00 AM Saturday Jun 26, 2010

2011-10-19T18:38:00.001+13:00

Obituary: Gam Lee

2011-10-19T18:36:00.000+13:00

Gam Lee, MBE. Doctor, community leader. Died aged 74.

Gam Lee said on being made an MBE for services to medicine and the community that all he was doing was repaying his "debt" to NZ.

But the 1995 award followed decades of hectic work both for medicine and the communities in which he lived. During his life he became accustomed to rushing from his medical surgery to local body or medical administration meetings and to fundraising committees.

It was a work habit he started as a schoolboy, after his family had settled in Mangere Bridge, South Auckland. They had a 2ha market garden growing seasonal vegetables. Part of the land is now the site of the Chinese Community Centre that Dr Lee had a key role in building.

Young Gam Lee's days while at Otahuhu College included helping his parents in the market garden before school and again when he came home, then finding time to do his homework.

That was the way it was in those days, for the family were war refugees from the Japanese attacks on China in which millions died.

As a young boy Dr Lee walked 100km with his mother and an uncle from their little village in the Xin Tang province in what is now Guangzhou (formerly Canton) to the safety of Hong Kong.

He made it to NZ in 1940, his family coming on a temporary visa. The Japanese attacked Hong Kong in late 1941, only hours after their attack on Pearl Harbour.

The family's visa included a £200 bond (the male New Zealand average wage was then £5 a week). And they entered on the understanding they would eventually return to China, although the policy was later changed and they stayed.

Gam Lee went to Otago University and qualified as a doctor in 1959, the same year he became a naturalised New Zealander. His family describe his approach to life as "sheer determination". He was a psychiatric registrar in Otago for a time and helped his younger brother Peter through medical school.

Dr Lee started a general practice in sparsely settled Waiheke Island in the early 1960s. In three years there he was involved in setting up a Lions Club and being a member of the Waiheke County Council. After that his practice moved first to Mangere and later to Pakuranga. Apart from orthodox general practice and obstetrics he also got involved in acupuncture, manipulation, chelation therapy and other treatments and gave time to their organisations. He spent two terms on the Manukau City Council and one on the Auckland Hospital Board.

Apart from his numerous efforts in the Chinese community he was also a Rotarian for more than 20 years and helped establish the multicultural Harbourside Rotary Club.

He believed it was important for Chinese people in New Zealand to be involved in the community. "New Zealand adopted me and gave me an excellent education," he said in 1995. "I owe this country so much that I will never be able to repay my debt."

Dr Lee is survived by Hane, his wife of 50 years, two sons and a daughter.
By Arnold Pickmere | Email Arnold Obituary: Gam Lee By Arnold Pickmere
5:00 AM Saturday Jun 23, 2007

Auckland: A new wave

2011-10-19T18:31:00.000+13:00

As Auckland merges to create a supercity, the Herald looks back at how Auckland has changed over the years.

At the beginning of the 21st century, immigration is an important
issue in New Zealand and Auckland, and much of the public and media focus relates to the increasing ethnic diversification of the population.

A century earlier, immigration had a very different meaning and impact. For more than a century after the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840,
immigration was largely about British settlement in New Zealand.

Though we tend to think of these migrants as farmers who settled the land after the Land Wars of the 1860s, there were also skilled tradespeople, white-collar workers and entrepreneurs who settled in
urban areas.

By Dr Ward Friesen
5:30 AM Saturday Aug 28, 2010

In the 19th century, Maori were sometimes called New Zealanders; by the first half of the 20th century this term tended to apply more to the Pakeha population, with the great majority of these being of English, Scottish and Irish origin.

There were some notable exceptions to British immigration before the 1950s. The gold rushes in Otago in the 1860s resulted in an influx of
Chinese workers to the goldfields.

Though some of these sojourners returned to China, or moved elsewhere after the rushes ended, many stayed in New Zealand and moved to urban centres. By the end of the 19th century, Auckland had an established Chinese community, many working in market gardening or retailing.

Another significant migrant group to arrive in the late 19th century was the Dalmatians. Initially many came to work in the gumfields to the north of Auckland, but many diversified into other activities, the vineyards to the west of Auckland being a notable legacy.

One other non-British migrant group in Auckland in the first half of the 20th century were the Indians, some of whom had moved on from the indentured labour system of Fiji and others who came as independent traders and established themselves in various economic sectors, especially green-groceries and dairies.

Of course, many of the New Zealand-born descendants of these non-British migrants have, through education and hard work, become well-represented in the professions and other highly skilled occupations.

After World War II new waves of migrants arrived in New Zealand, and in each case Auckland was an important place of settlement.

The post-war economic boom resulted in an expansion of manufacturing and demand for labour resulting in the urbanisation of Maori as well as the opportunity for migration from the Pacific nations which were still New Zealand colonies at that time - (Western) Samoa, the Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau.

Central Auckland provided many employment opportunities for these immigrants on the wharves, in factories, and in hospitals among other places.

Pacific immigration continued for decades after this, with other countries also becoming important in these movements, especially Tonga and Fiji.

Though some of these migrants settled in other parts of
New Zealand, they also dispersed to other parts of the Auckland region, and recent censuses show that about two-thirds of New Zealand's Pacific population has settled in greater Auckland.

British immigration continued to be important after World War II but another European group, the Dutch, were favoured migrants in the 1950s and 1960s.

Refugee movements have formed an important part of New Zealand and Auckland's immigration. Jewish and other displaced peoples arrived as refugees in the post-war period and into the 1950s.

New Zealand signed the UN Convention on Refugees in 1960 and each year accepts 750 "quota" refugees as well as an average of 300 asylum-seekers a year in recent years.

In the 1970s, a new wave of refugees resulted from the Vietnam War; the largest groups being Vietnamese and Cambodian. Though they were intentionally settled with sponsors in various parts of New Zealand, in
the longer term many from other parts moved on to the largest clusters in Auckland.

Refugee intakes in recent years have also been an outcome of conflicts in various parts of the world with significant numbers arriving from Chile, Somalia,Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

The most dramatic shift in immigration policy and patterns in the 20th century was a result of the Immigration Act 1987. It replaced the "favoured country" criteria for migrant selection, which had favoured European and Pacific countries, with criteria based on age, education, skills and investment potential.

Even though Great Britain remained the single most important country of origin after 1987, a significant result of this change in immigration policy was a dramatic increase in immigration from Asia.

The largest numbers have arrived from China, India, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Malaysia, but many other Asian countries are represented as well.

The greatest impact of these "new" migrations has been in Auckland, where two-thirds of all Asian migrants have settled. Whereas there were about 13,000 Asia-born residents of Auckland in 1986, 20 years later this number had multiplied by about 12 times to more than 165,000.

New Asian "ethnoscapes" have become apparent in Auckland, often with certain Asian groups predominating. Chinese shops, restaurants and temples are obvious in various parts of Auckland, with well-known examples in Sommerville and Dannemora in South Auckland, in New Lynn and along Dominion Road.

There are Indian shops, restaurants, temples, and mosques in Mt Albert and Mt Roskill as well as in parts of Manukau City. Less visible aspects of these ethnoscapes include newspapers, radio stations, and ethnic associations which serve to support new migrants in a direct sense as well as support linguistic and cultural maintenance, but also help to provide links to other ethnic groups in Auckland.

The number and variety of migrants has also increased, with people coming from the Middle East, other parts of Africa, Europe (including Eastern Europe) and the Americas.

The variety of new migrants does not only relate to those who have come as permanent residents, but also in terms of increasing numbers who have arrived since the mid-1990s as international students and, over many years, those who have come on working permits. Many of these students and workers have later applied for permanent residency, often successfully.

In the 2006 Census, many people identified themselves as "New Zealanders", some because they thought "New Zealand European" was not applicable to them, others because they had multiple ethnic backgrounds, and still others as a sign of commitment to their new country of
residence. However, underlying these statements of nationality lie a great deal of ethnic diversity, and the place where these multiple
identities are being contested, negotiated - and celebrated - is Auckland.

Dr Wardlow Friesen is a senior lecturer in geography in the School of Environment at the University of Auckland.
By Dr Ward Friesen

2011-10-19T18:28:00.000+13:00

Tom Ah Chee. Photo / Supplied

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10667621

Auckland: Flourishing society

2011-10-19T18:25:00.002+13:00

As Auckland merges to create a supercity, the Herald looks back at how Auckland has changed over the years.

The outbreak of World War II had been a major turning point for Chinese in New Zealand. Stringent immigration restrictions were temporarily relaxed in 1939 to allow the wives and children of long-time Chinese residents and itinerant workers to enter New Zealand as war refugees.

Japanese armies had overrun many of China's coastal provinces, including the home villages of the Chinese New Zealanders in Guangdong Province in the south.

Each refugee wife had to pay a £200 bond and promise to leave at the end of the war, taking all her children, including any babies who might be born in New Zealand.

A total of 249 wives and 244 children gained temporary refugee status - and this modest number transformed the Chinese community from being mainly a group of itinerant sojourners into real families.

Grey's Ave witnessed many patriotic activities. The colourful parades on "Double-Tenth" (October 10, , the National Day) were spectacular.

The Nationalist Party Headquarters was the centre of very effective fund-raising for the Chinese war effort.

The Q-Sing Times, an Auckland-based Chinese language newspaper, started in 1938 at 49 Grey's Ave. The fortnightly newspaper was a labour of love: all 30 pages were handwritten and then cyclostyled and distributed
to every Chinese household in the Auckland area.

It served to disseminate important homeland news throughout the war years and galvanise the patriotic weekly donation efforts.

The regular donation rate was 10 shillings for employers and 2 shillings for employees. Those who did not pay would be named and shamed in the newspaper.

The war years witnessed the flourishing of Auckland's Chinatown when the community took root.

Even more significantly the war in China forced a number of New Zealand-born Chinese young people, who had been sent to China for a proper Chinese education, to return hurriedly to New Zealand.

Many of these families lost their lands and property during the Japanese invasion and the subsequent Chinese Civil War.

Among them were the Ah Chee siblings. Tommy Ah Chee was only 3 when he left New Zealand, and he returned when he was 11, having totally forgotten his childhood English.

His father also lost much of the family fortune and he recalled the hardship of having to work long hours trucking apple cases for the family fruit shop.

The family made its fortune a second time through hard work and business acumen. Clement Ah Chee chose sites close to the tram stops so that customers could cart away heavy produce.

In 1958, Tommy Ah Chee launched New Zealand's first modern supermarket, Foodtown, in Onehunga, complete with roomy carparks, catering to the
new age of motor cars.

Aucklanders were so intrigued by the new experiment that cars blocked the motorway on its opening day, and special messages had to be broadcast on the radio to discourage customers from flocking in.
By Manying Ip

By Manying Ip
5:30 AM Friday Aug 27, 2010

2011-10-18T21:30:00.000+13:00

Brian Rudman: Political battles of mainland China have no place in central Auckland

The Chinese Government is hardly the first foreign country to try to stick its nose into the running of our little remote corner of the world.

The Americans haven't hesitated to try to influence the local decision-making processes on issues such as the Vietnam War and anti-nuclear-ship policies.

But the way the Chinese try to manipulate local migrant communities, and put pressure on local councillors, does seem to take this sort of interference up another notch.

In recent weeks, Auckland councillors have received a letter from Liao Juhua, the Chinese consul-general in Auckland, warning them off attending a Falun Gong-sponsored Chinese dance show at the Aotea Centre. An unknown number of parliamentarians have received a similar "stay-away" circular signed by 29 Auckland Chinese "front organisations".

The consul-general "kindly requested" Mayor Len Brown and Auckland councillors "to stay away from the event" because it was organised by "an anti-society cult banned by the Chinese Government".

He said: "The real intention of holding the event is to slander the Chinese Government and propagandise the cultic theories and heretical ideas of Falun Gong."

The letter to MPs is even more intemperate, referring to "an evil cult harboured with anti-scientific and political purposes".

It's not the first time the Chinese have tried to bring their internal battles to Auckland.

In 2002, the consul got his knickers in a twist over banners on Queen St and Karangahape Rd welcoming that peripatetic thorn in China's side, the Dalai Lama, to town.

The Queen St banner referred to him as "in exile in Auckland", while the Karangahape Rd banner demanded "China out of Tibet".

The Chinese wanted both signs to come down and the wimpish Mayor John Banks and his right-wing majority kowtowed to the demands.

The "China out of Tibet" sign clearly breached the "anti-political" sign regulations and should never have gone up. But the other was promoting a coming event and was clearly okay. But the Chinese went boo, and the city fathers ran a mile.

This time, Mayor Brown has chosen not to respond. His office has indicated he declined the invitation because of a prior engagement before the threatening note appeared.

Councillor Cathy Casey is one politician who has taken "great exception to the tone and content of the letter". Writing to the chief executive, she said: "This is New Zealand, not China. We embrace democracy and people's right to freedom of expression. I greatly resent the attempt of the Chinese consul-general to try and influence elected members against Falun Gong members in this way."

It would be naive to expect first-generation migrants, whether they be Falun Gong refugees or supporters of the Chinese Government, to immediately turn their backs on their past lives. Other waves of migrants haven't, so why should they? In 1922, for example, after a report appeared in the Herald of a rousing speech in the Auckland Town Hall during a St Patrick's Day rally, Catholic Bishop James Liston was charged with sedition for inciting disaffection against His Majesty and promoting hostility between different classes.

The New Zealand-born bishop had spoken of his parents being driven out of Ireland by "their foreign masters" - the British - and prayed for a time when Ireland would be free. A jury found him not guilty.

These days, the "rebellious" Irish are well-integrated ingredients of the Kiwi soup. History suggests the latest wave of migrants will, in time, be absorbed into the mix as well. But the process is not helped by diplomats from the old countries stirring up old battles in a new land.

As for a night out, councillors can decide for themselves what shows they want to see without advice from fake drama critics from Embassy Row.
By Brian Rudman | Email Brian By Brian Rudman
5:30 AM Friday Feb 4, 2011

Distance heals historic wrongs

2011-10-18T21:29:00.000+13:00

On July 7, 1937, the Imperial Japanese Army attacked the Marco Polo Bridge - a crucial access point to the city of Beijing, marking the beginning of the Japanese invasion of China and the start of the Second Sino-Japanese war.

The war lasted more than eight years, with 35 million Chinese casualties - four-fifths of them civilian. Ninety-five million refugees were created as the Japanese Army swept through Eastern China.

My grandmother lived in a village on the edge of the fighting, the provider for her younger siblings. When the Japanese army was sighted near her hometown, the residents fled to the mountains and so my grandmother buried her savings in silver coins beside a tree. For weeks the villagers hid, scavenging for food until the Chinese army retook the area.My grandmother still recalls arriving at her home where everything of value was either looted or broken.When she found her life savings gone she wept.

To this day she maintains "Japanese people are very wicked, very cruel", a view shared by many Chinese.

Where does that leave me, a 16-year-old born in China five decades after the end of the war, who immigrated to New Zealand aged 1? A teenager in multicultural New Zealand whose only obvious association to China is the colour of his skin? How do those long-ago events affect my life? How does my grandmother's animosity affect me?

This is my fourth year of learning Japanese at college. The songs on my playlist are a mixture of English, Chinese and Japanese.

I eat sushi at least three times a month and I have more Japanese friends than Australians. I think that speaks for itself.

That's not to say that I don't feel anger when hearing about the atrocities of the war. Some things still cause an involuntary shudder. I can empathise with those who feel resentment towards Japan, and I don't condemn them for feeling that way.

Nevertheless, I find it difficult to connect the Imperial Japanese Army of the 1930s with the courteous island nation of today. The ones responsible for the war are long gone - is it fair for their descendants to inherit our hatred? Is it appropriate for me to inherit my grandmother's?

I've chosen not to. Or perhaps "chosen" is not the right word. I'm just not inclined to.

Maybe it's the environment I've grown up in, as well as the generation gap. Could it also be the technology we have access to, where information is a mere click away and foreign people are more than nameless hostile faces?

Is it what we see and hear that determines the way we feel about these things, not any innate disposition? Could it be my grandmother's stories, and the lack of any outside influence that gave my uncle the views he has today, which stop him from eating at Japanese restaurants? Is it because I grew up in New Zealand that those same stories have had less of an impact on me, that in some ways I have inherited less?

I think in many ways, yes. I do not have all that much in common with my relatives in China. I've taken less from my grandmother's stories than they have. However, less is not the same as nothing. The way I see it, it's the value of what you've gained that matters.

When my grandmother told me about the war, I doubt her anti-Japan sentiments were what she wanted to impart. Rather, I believe there was something more important for me to grasp, something I am very glad to have inherited - a love for the nation.

More than the money she lost, I'm sure it was the loss of her home, her heritage, which underlies her ire. In all the stories I've heard about the war and life in China of old, I have always sensed a love for the country.

Whether it was in the form of anger and protectiveness when the Japanese desecrated the land, or of fondness when recounting games in the street as a child, my grandparents loved their home. They taught me to love mine.

And for me, it's not just one nation. I love both New Zealand and China. When people ask what nationality I am, it's a toss-up, so I usually stick with saying: "I was born in China but moved to New Zealand when I was 1." New Zealand is my home - the lush green landscape with its ever-changing weather and ever-present sheep.

But when I visit China, walking out of the airport into smoggy air and stifling heat, or standing on a rocky hill in the countryside, I'm overcome by a sense of nostalgia. I never miss China, not like I miss my home here when I'm overseas, but sometimes, even if it's hearing an old Chinese song, there's a feeling of belonging.

That's how I know I still recognise myself as Chinese. Even if my Chinese language skills are sub-par, even if my way of living is decidedly Westernised, I feel there is a place for me there.

At times when I find myself getting lost in the hustle and bustle of everyday life, I'll close my eyes and go back to my grandparents' home, to the hot food and even warmer hospitality. That's what it means to me to have a culture, not so much a way of doing things, or even of thinking, but a world to immerse myself in.

That's my heritage.

Andy Chen, Year 12, Macleans College
By Andy Chen By Andy Chen
12:23 PM Tuesday Aug 30, 2011

Gilbert Wong: Two heads of the dragon

2011-10-18T21:27:00.000+13:00

New Zealand has been good to the Chinese and the community would say the reverse was true as well.

To borrow a phrase from a perceptive friend, I belong to the last generation to be brought up in a tomato box.

She was referring to the long-settled New Zealand Chinese community. As children we built forts out of apple boxes in the back of greengrocer's shops or learned to drive a tractor under the big sky above the tilled fields of market gardens in places like Pukekohe and Ohakune.

Our parents and grandparents gave their working lives, not always happily, to the aspiration that their children would become educated. Within a generation a community swapped manual labour for white collar toil.

At weddings and funerals, doctors, dentists, lawyers and accountants have almost replaced the greengrocers and market gardeners. When the old people happily natter and compare the achievements of their grandchildren at these gatherings, there are many reasons to be thankful. The elders arrived in a foreign place and built a life with little except unrelenting labour.

They had the best of motivations. They never wanted their children to know the grinding ruin of poverty, insecurity and war.

The first Chinese arrived in New Zealand in the 19th century searching for gold and found instead a new home. Later more Chinese came as refugees fleeing the three-way war between the Japanese, the nascent Community party and the teetering Nationalist Government of 1940s China.

The early mining population numbered at its peak no more than 5000. By the time David Lange was prime minister, in 1986, the population had grown to about 17,000, bolstered by women and children war refugees - barely half of 1 per cent of the country's population. The Chinese community was deliberately stunted by an immigration policy that favoured those with the right skin colour over the reality of geography.

Today a white New Zealand immigration policy seems like the kind of racist artefact an apartheid South Africa might spawn, rather than the country that prides itself as the downunder laboratory of social progress and land of the fair go.

New Zealand has been good to the Chinese and the community would say the reverse was true as well.

The long-settled New Zealand Chinese worked hard, abided by the laws and endured the xenophobia encapsulated in the 19th and early 20th century poll tax and hysteric anti-Chinese rhetoric by some politicians and media. They did their best to conform and readily accepted the tag model minority when it was offered.

So it came as an unpleasant surprise to many in my community to be re-categorised as Asian, sometime in the early years of the 1990s.

As a descriptor "Asian" is about as useful as "European." Yet the way mainstream New Zealanders commonly categorise race, little distinction is made between a Korean New Zealander and a Chinese New Zealander.

The term "Asian" can be applied to more than 60 per cent of the world's 6.9 billion people. When used this way "Asian" only serves as shorthand for the amorphous insecurity felt by Western nations as Asian economies prosper.

While "Asian" is undeniably true - check out my eyes, hair and skin colour - it hardly seemed fair to be suddenly lumped in with the broad target for the odium cast by the kind of dopey headlines from the mid-90s "Asian Invasion", spawned by classic Winston Peters rhetoric to a North and South magazine cover story "Asian Angst: Time to send some back?" in 2006.

If for many generations your home was here, the cover line was a stiletto in the ribs. Chinese New Zealanders had fought and died in this country's wars, we were largely absent from the prisons and rarely signed up for social welfare.

In its defence, the media's job is to reflect society and it is hard to ignore the negative connotation the descriptor "Asian" has come to have: Asian driver, Asian money, Asian crime, Asian triad.

At community gatherings a prominent crime story involving recent migrants is discussed, heads are shaken, and a pall descends. Everyone around the table knows that each horrendous crime committed by an individual from a minority finds the whole community judged.

So it is not uncommon for the long settled New Zealand Chinese to view more recent arrivals from China with wariness. We have become a minority within a minority that has become too significant to be ignored as we were. The fear is that our voice will be lost.

The recent arrivals come from a different time, China as economic super-power rather than failed state. They arrive with contemporary culture and language intact and in numbers great enough to preserve both.

By contrast the long-settled New Zealand Chinese are a marooned colony, our dialects, if spoken with any fluency, a flashback to rural villages in southern China. Most of us are unable to read Chinese with any confidence.

So the long-settled New Zealand Chinese are sometimes viewed as objects of pity or amusement to a person recently arrived from China, a country where growing economic clout has led to a resurgent chauvinism.

There is no reason why a recent Chinese immigrant should be aware that each of us is a mixture of culture and ethnicity with culture constantly kneaded and moulded by place.

The long-settled New Zealand Chinese know what turangawaewae means. The hope must be that we will no longer need to remind others that this is our place to stand and that each person, whatever the colour of their skin, who chooses to call this wonderful country home is accepted as a New Zealander.
By Gilbert Wong

By Gilbert Wong
5:30 AM Saturday Apr 16, 2011

The History of Chinese Growers in New Zealand

2011-10-17T18:37:00.001+13:00

The Dominion Federation of NZ Chinese Commercial Growers Inc. have nearly completed a set of books about the history of New Zealand Chinese Growers from 1866-2011.

黃土子嗣

SONS OF THE SOIL
Chinese Market Gardeners in New Zealand

The book travels through each major region where there were communities of Chinese market gardeners. In the growers’ own words, the book presents their stories, their experiences and their thoughts on the life of a grower.

成功得自苦寒來

SUCCESS THROUGH ADVERSITY
A History of the Dominion Federation of New Zealand Chinese Commercial Growers

The Dominion Federation was established in 1943 and since then it has been the representative body of Chinese market gardeners throughout New Zealand. This book covers the Federation’s history including its formation, the challenges it has faced and its achievements over the years.

Both of these books will be of interest to Chinese growers and their families; those associated with the vegetable growing industry, members of the Chinese community, and the general public.

Pre-orders available now

Howe Young, 153 Union Road, R.D. 3, PUKEKOHE, 2678 New Zealand 09 2389612 , fax: 09 2388813
email:howeyoung@xtra.co.nz

Profile of Authors:

Lily Lee

Lily Lee (Ho Li Li) born in Auckland in 1940 is a second generation Chinese New Zealander. Her mother and sister arrived as war refugees. Lily grew up on a market garden in Mangere during the late 1940s to 1960s. Lily graduated in Geography from Auckland University in 1961. She taught in primary and secondary schools for a number of years before joining the Ministry of Education as a Liaison Officer in 1989. She spent 17 years working in the school sector before retiring in 2005. In 2008 to 2010 she was invited to work with Asian communities for the Ministry of Social Development. In 1963, Lily visited her parent’s village of Gum Kei, Zhong Shan and gained a better appreciation of her culture, language and heritage. Over the years she has returned a number of times to China documenting her family history.

Ruth Lam

Ruth Lam, born in 1956, is a third generation Chinese New Zealander of Jung Seng descent. She is married to Alex (Pak Hung) who for many years has been market gardening successfully at Pukekawa. Ruth often assisted in the garden while bringing up their family of four children. Ruth has also been involved with local community groups including the Plunket Society and the Pukekawa School PTA. She co-edited the 1995 Pukekawa School Centenary book. In 1998, Ruth completed a Master of Arts degree in Education, with Honours from the University of Auckland. She then worked at the University on research projects to improve children’s reading. In recent years Ruth worked for the Franklin District Library Trust as a Customer Services Manager. It was during her time at the library that Ruth developed an interest in the history of Chinese market gardening in the Pukekohe district. Through this project, Ruth has enjoyed using her research skills to contribute to the preservation of the history of Chinese New Zealanders.

Nigel Murphy

Nigel Murphy is a sixth generation New Zealander of Irish-German-English descent. He was born in 1958. He holds a Master degree in History. He has studied Chinese New Zealand history for over 25 years and has been involved in the Chinese New Zealand community as secretary of the Wellington Chinese Association and chair of the Wellington Chinese Language School. His publications include ‘The Poll Tax in New Zealand: a research report’ which was published in 1993 and 2003, and a 'Guide to Laws and Policies relating to the Chinese in New Zealand 1871-1997' which was published in 2008. He co-authored the 2005 ‘Aliens at My Table: Asians as New Zealander see them’ with Manying Ip. He also contributed chapters to 'Unfolding history, emerging identity: the Chinese in New Zealand' and 'Dragon and the Taniwha: Maori and Chinese in New Zealand' published in 2009. He was a research librarian at the Alexander Turnbull Library for 25 years. In 2002 he was seconded to the Office of Ethnic Affairs as a researcher and historian to support the Chinese poll tax apology reconciliation process. Between 2007 and 2010 he was an historian with the Waitangi Tribunal.

History of Chinese New Zealand Growers

The New Zealand Chinese Growers’ Federation
In 1867, just one year after the first group of Chinese goldminers arrived in Otago, the first Chinese market garden was established in New Zealand. Since then Chinese New Zealanders have formed the backbone of New Zealand’s vegetable-growing industry. Chinese growers were, and still are, an integral part of the market gardening industry in New Zealand. Their history provides multi-faceted insights into a range of social, political and community changes spanning 140 years.

The Gloria Kong kidnapping

2011-10-15T19:26:00.000+13:00

The Gloria Kong kidnapping One of New Zealand’s most unusual crimes occurred in Oamaru in June 1983, when 14 year-old Gloria Kong, daughter of a Chinese market gardener was kidnapped for a $120,000 ransom. Premeditated kidnapping is rare, but the high profile means police chose to conduct the investigation is unique. Police managed to obtain a total news blackout for 36 hours, with the media itself agreeing to hold off publishing or broadcasting news of the crime because police feared publicity might lead to Gloria’s execution. Outrage and jail

On 12 April 1984, in the High Court in Auckland, kidnapper Paul McFelin was sentenced to 11 years jail and his sister Karen to 6 1/2 years, for what the judge described as one of the most serious and terrible crimes. Nine months earlier, McFelin, his sister and two accomplices kidnapped Gloria Kong in a well-planned, but subsequently abortive attempt to extract a $120,000 ransom. The crime, described by defence counsel as ‘the most publicised crime in living memory’ outraged the while country and especially the small, ultra-conservative South Island town of Oamaru.

The accomplices, David Larnach, 25 and Paul George’ 35 were arrested 13 days after the kidnapping and information they supplied led to the McFelin arrests. Larnach and George leaded guilty in 1983 and were sentenced to 7 and 5 1/2 years jail respectively. Both were key Crown witnesses at the McFelin’s trial which lasted five weeks and was characterised by unjustified defence attacks on the integrity of police witnesses. Criticism was rejected by the jury and in delivering sentence, Mr Justice Hillyer complimented police saying:

"A detective arrived at Paul McFelin’s house on a routine inquiry, noticed that he seemed a bit nervous, that his hand was trembling. That was only the vaguest hint but that was the beginning of the inquiry which resulted in your arrest and conviction. What I am saying is that the certainty of detection comes first, from careful, meticulous, proper police inquiries. The second was that the whole community rallied to the support of the law enforcement agencies and assisted police with the inquiries to the fullest extent they were able. That is a factor which would-be criminals in this country should bear in mind, that the community can and does rally behind the police and assists in detection of offences. People need not believe that they can get away with this sort of offence in this country".

The community did rally behind the police, but not by accident. (Then) Detective Inspector Neville Stokes of Christchurch, the officer in charge of the investigation and his media manager, (then) Senior Sergeant Joe Franklin of Wellington, used every means at their disposal, including a co-operative news media to promote that public outcry. This was unusual for the times.

Unlike today where there are many high-profile police officers, the 1983 environment saw very few effectively utilising the media The small-town environment and its conservative character provided Stokes and Franklin with a near ideal stage to exploit the drama for the purpose of catching the kidnappers.

Mr Franklin, who was the National Media Unit Manager at Police Headquarters in Wellington, was called to Oamaru the day after the kidnapping and spent 10 days there as the operation’s media manager. He later entered the media management aspect in the Peter Cherrington Memorial Award, presented by the Public Relations Institute of NZ for the outstanding public relations campaign of the year, which is strongly contested by New Zealand’s corporate and commercial consultancies. The entry was narrowly edged out of first place and received a Highly Commended award.

The Crime

On Wednesday 29 June 1983, McFelin, Larnach and George, masked and armed, entered the rural home of Chinese market gardener Jimmy Kong and, after a gunpoint robbery, kidnapped Gloria; leaving Gloria’s parents and three other relatives bound and gagged. She spent the following 36 hours bound, blindfolded, gagged and with her ears plugged, with Karen McFelin as her jailer until she was finally dumped in a isolated haybarn during the night of 30 June. She freed herself that evening but fearfully remained hidden in the barn all night.

At 8.55am on Friday she walked to a farmhouse further along the road and phoned her father. Police sped to the house where they found Gloria shocked and distressed. She was dirty, dishevelled and wearing only the light skirt and clothing in which she had been kidnapped. She was showing signs of hypothermia including speech difficulties, skin discolouration and impaired movement. One consolation was that she had been spared sexual molestation.

The most disturbing aspect was the manner in which she was abandoned in the barn, extensively trussed up with ropes, tape and sacks and hooded, gagged and blindfolded. Her ears had been plugged and she was buried in a cave made from hay bales and loose straw had thrown about to disguise her prison. Had she not been able to free herself, her body may not have been discovered until the hay was fed out at winter’s end.

Within hours of the crime being reported, a large team of detectives which sophisticated scientific support had assembled at Oamaru and commenced a major investigation. There were no suspects or significant leads.

The media operation

Stokes and Franklin set as a priority, the need to co-opt the news media to promote as much public awareness of the crime as possible. The offenders were likely to be part of that same community and they calculated that a climate of public revulsion would flush them out. A deliberate campaign was mounted but without the luxury of time to pre-plan. The campaign had to be intense but carefully managed. Defence lawyers scan media coverage of crimes to look for loopholes in the prosecution’s case. As well, police must be mindful of confidentiality, libel, contempt of court and what is published must not jeopardise inquiries, future interviews of suspects or effect anyone’s right to a fair trial.

In short, the 10 day media liaison part of the operation was a public relations campaign with police as the client and the media manager the ‘public relations consultancy.’. The ‘product’ being marketed was the need to catch those who had committed a cruel crime. The campaign succeeded even beyond police expectations. Gloria was reunited with her parents relatively unharmed and the offenders were arrested. Mr Stokes publicly attributed the success to the Oamaru community and the news media. However, unlike any other police operation before or since, this one from its outset, had a major complication.

Unique News Embargo

Apart from the $120,00 ransom demand, the offenders warned the Kong family not to tell the police. There were genuine fears that publicity could spark an execution. Police requested a local news embargo which was agreed to on the night of the crime. The following morning Mr Stokes asked Commissioner Ken Thompson at Police National Headquarters, to secure a national news blackout.

From this point Mr Franklin became involved and on the Commissioner’s behalf, he sought and obtained a news embargo agreement through the New Zealand Press Association, Radio New Zealand, Television New Zealand and the private radio network. There were initial reservations from two editors but after further discussions all agreed.

At no other time in NZ’s history had such an embargo been sought or obtained. It was in the nature of an agreement and could not be imposed by police. Concurrence hinged on the question of Gloria’s safety. Media accord was also sustained on the basis that police guaranteed to keep them as fully briefed as possible, even if the information was not at that time published or broadcast.

Mr Franklin arrived in Oamaru shortly after midday on Thursday 30 June and took control of a large group of both local and out-of-town reporters, film crews and photographers including those from the tabloids. The embargo was difficult to sustain and as various deadlines approached, reporters became increasingly nervous, some even distrustful and a few tempers flared. Full news releases were issued as they would be in normal circumstances. This meant newspapers could set copy and be ready to publish at a moment’s notice. Radio and television could also file stories and be fully prepared when the story did break.

During the morning staff briefing on Friday 1 July, police learned Gloria had contacted her father. Within minutes a patrol crew collected her and confirmed she was safe. By 9am, just 10 minutes after the report Mr Franklin told reporters the embargo had been lifted and recounted the circumstances under which Gloria had been found. Police would have preferred an operational advantage a continued news blackout would provide because the kidnappers would not have been aware she had escaped, but with her safe, the embargo justification was gone.

As brief as it was, the embargo was useful in unnerving the offenders, but was low key enough not to have panicked them into harming Gloria. It also obviated the usual crank calls and gave police breathing space to plan media strategies. On the debit side, the embargo was difficulty to sustain, was stressful for reporters, it added more drama and promoted even greater news media interest.

Features of the media strategy included:

A deliberate plan to seek front page coverage in the Oamaru Mail each day and this was achieved for 14 consecutive days. A new angle was released daily and in some cases subtly dramatised (graphic details on how Gloria was trussed and ‘left for dead’, the fact that offenders seemed to have local knowledge so "is or was your neighbour" and the house where Gloria was being detained "might be the house next door". The scene was set early, for a mood of full public support. Townsfolk were made to feel the offenders were ‘people within their community" and "needed to be flushed out".
The investigation was packaged as a community project. A $2000 reward was promoted by the Oamaru Mail and this whipped up even more interest (This was subsequently claimed by someone who identified the house where Gloria had been initially detained).
In an attempt to arrange a drop off of the ransom money, Larnach made several phone calls. A decision was made to have a tape of the voice broadcast over Radio New Zealand and on television. Callers supplied more than 20 names and a number positively identified Larnach.

Outcome

On 11 July, the four offenders appeared before the Oamaru District court on a variety of serious charges including kidnapping, aggravated robbery, assault, unlawfully taking a car and burglary. They were subsequently tried, convicted and sentenced and between them they accumulated 30 years jail, ample time to reflect on whether or not crime pays.

Is an embargo possible today?

Soon after the Kong investigation, Mr Franklin learned a tabloid newspaper editor had decided to publish news of the kidnapping that Sunday, whether or not the embargo remained. In her view, the public’s right to know took precedence over the possibility publicity might lead to Gloria’s execution.

Since, the news media has been deregulated, there has been a significant proliferation in news outlets and we have personality-driven programmes such as the Holmes Show. Competition and the battle for ratings among the media would make a similar embargo impossible.

Footnote

Neville Stokes reached the rank of Detective Superintendent. In spite of his high profile in the Kong kidnapping he preferred to avoid the media limelight. However, he decided early in the investigation that the key to success was the public and he fronted the media as often as he thought necessary, with apparently practised aplomb. Towards the end of the media phase of the inquiry, he remarked that if he appeared once more on television, Actors Equity would insisted he joined the union!
http://www.crime.co.nz/c-files.aspx?ID=10283

ARMED HOLD-UP CHINESE THE VICTIM

2011-10-03T22:47:00.000+13:00

PA AUCKLAND, This Day. An armed hold-up took place in a Chinese fruiterer's shop at Remuera at midnight when two men, one wearing the uniform of a New Zealand soldier, robbed the proprietor after he had engaged in a desperate struggle with his assailants and had been struck on the head with the butt of a heavy automatic pistol. Altogether four men were involved in the hold-up. Two servicemen waited in a sedan car outside the shop, and when the other two men came out of the shop after robbing the Chinese the four drove off at a fast speed and escaped. The victim of the attack was Francis Wong Hop, aged 40. The Chinese opened the door in response to a knock, which he believed was from a policeman. One of the two men produced a pistol saying, "You know what we want. Hand it over." The Chinese broke away, but was finally cornered and given a hard blow on top of the head. Hop was not knocked unconscious, but was dazed. While m this condition his assailants took from his pockets a £5 note and two £1 notes. Investigations by the police are proceeding. Evening Post, Volume CXXXVI, Issue 81, 2 October 1943, Page 6

Foreign concept for new volunteers 31/08/2011 8:54:00 a.m.

2011-10-02T19:59:00.001+13:00

N his native Tianjin, China, volunteering was foreign to Cuixi Xi. It’s only in New Zealand that the 29 year old language student has had time to experience what he describes as little-known concept in his homeland. Xi is studying English at the Making Futures Happen international institute and spent a day spreading bark at Wellington zoo with his class. The project was sponsored by the Nikau Foundation on behalf of the Richard and Doreen Evans fund and organised through Volunteer Wellington.
“It’s the first time I’ve volunteered and the first time for many of the students here so it’s a special experience,” grins Xi, “Tianjin has about 10 million people and I think society is different there; I was so busy working all the time.”
He plans to work in New Zealand and volunteer again and notes the benefits to both the volunteers and the people they lend a hand to.
“It’s beneficial for everyone. We help others but also learn labour skills at the same time,” Xi explains, before politely excusing himself to continue helping his classmates, all enthusiastically ferrying buckets of bark, “They need me!” he smiles, and disappears.
Xi’s teacher, Simon Neale, says he was ecstatic that his class was keen to get involved.
“The students tend to come from wealthy families so I wondered if they’d be keen on the concept, but they were really happy to be doing something both worthwhile and interesting. I can see the want to help others is universal,” says Neale.
He has been teaching for over ten years and is always looking for new ways to help his students learn.
“I want to harness their skills in a new environment. Some can cook and others are good with children. It’s good for them to practice English while using their skills. Volunteering gets them in that new setting,” Neale explains.
Learning a language is so much more than just classroom study, he says.
“Students can find English language knowledge online. We have to offer something that can engage them and show them that what they learn in class resonates in the outside world. So we find an activity that matches,” says Neale.
He says his class will do more volunteer work in the future.
Eager volunteers can search a database of voluntary roles at www.volunteerwellington.org.nz.

The First Asian A* B*,

2011-10-02T19:55:00.000+13:00

Not about the rugby
Lynn Freeman Capital Times

28/09/2011 10:37:00 a.m.
The First Asian A* B*, Directed by Edward Peni, Bats Theatre. Reviewed by Lynn Freeman
FIRST I, George Nepia at Circa and now The First Asian A* B* at Bats – the RWC, whether it goes our way or not, deserves a big cheer for much of the art we’re seeing courtesy of the Real NZ Festival. Don’t be fooled by the title though, this is a play about friendship and understanding, not rugby.
Renee Liang has written a lot about the Asian New Zealand experience and her work always hits a nerve. She doesn’t lecture, nor does she flinch from reminding us that as a country we can still have a ‘them and us’ mentality that stops us being truly multi-cultural.
In this play, she brings a young Malaysian-Chinese lad to New Zealand and puts him in a Timaru homestay with well meaning parents. It’s hard for Willy to fit in initially. Not only is he dealing with the isolation of being a stranger in a strange land and being torn between two cultures, but his dearly loved Grandmother is seriously ill. The school bully Mook eventually comes to respect Willy and indeed they become best mates. They share a love of rugby and through hard work and determination get to within a whisker of being selected for the All Blacks.
Ben Teh (Willy) and Paul Fagamalo (Mook) work up a sweat playing a multitude of characters and they do it miraculously well. There are shades of Toa Fraser’s Bare here in the compelling storytelling and the gorgeous characters brought to life at breakneck speed under the direction of Edward Peni. Both actors have an unforced style of acting which makes them a pleasure to watch. The fact they are real life friends is reflected in their on stage chemistry.
The only criticism is that there is a bit too much packed in to this one act play. We spend so much time with the lads during their school years that the ending feels too rushed, we really need to get to know them better as adults to appreciate how their fractured friendship affected them both.

2011-10-02T13:58:00.000+13:00

A Reminder of the Past. In Wellington in years gone by Chinese carrying tvcll-laden baskets of fruit and vegetables attached to tho ends of a long bamboo pole placed across their shoulders was a fairly common sight. Tho Chinaman today is well abreast of tho times, and most of those who hawk produce from the orchards and' the gardens hav,e a motorlorry or a horse and cart. The basket method of hawking has not died out entirely, however. One Chinese lately has attracted more than passing interest with his two baskets and long pole. Ho was out in One of the suburbs yesterday, the long pole across his shoulders bending to the weight he was carrying, and his baskets swaying rhythmically to his littlo jog-trot. All that was missing to complete once familiar sight was a long pigtail down his back.

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 149, 27 June 1933, Page 6

condensed milk in tea - who remembers this?

2011-10-01T23:58:00.000+13:00

CANNED MILK FOR CHINA

Americans who have been influenced by the Orient to the extent of taking their tea clear, without milk or sugar, will be astonished to lea.m that the Occident is now bent on teaching the Chinese to use milk with their decoction of tea leaves^— and condensed milk at that (says an American exchange). An enterprising condensed-milk company is pushing the campaign, and expects to be successful. This concern already has introduced condensed-milk ice cream to the Chinese, and they like it so well that many of the restaurants keep it always ready. Practically no fresh milk is to be had in China, although the natives seem familiar enough with the virtues of both the fresh and the condensed article. Perhaps after all the. Orientals have taken their tea clear because there was no milk to put in it, and not because they thought the addition of milk ruined the bovevage. Evening Post, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 90, 17 April 1915, Page 11

2011-09-30T18:13:00.001+13:00

Jason bakes another winner

2011-09-30T18:11:00.000+13:00

Ten years ago he barely spoke a word of English and had little baking experience but patisserie owner Jason Hay is this year's Weston Milling Trainee of the Year.

Jason and Annie Hay of Richoux Patisserie in Ellerslie have previously won awards for their pies and hot cross buns.

Mr Hay was one of 10 finalists who competed in a live bake-off in Napier on August 19 and 20.

Each contestant had to make a pound cake, a savoury tart, grain bread and a sweet flan.

"There was a lot of pressure because it was open to the public," Mr Hay says.

This is the third year he has entered and Mr Hay was gunning for first place after coming third in 2009 and second last year.

"I've been training hard," he says.

"I've been trying a lot of different flavours before we picked one for the competition," he says.

Mr Hay moved to New Zealand from Cambodia in 2001 and bought Richoux Patisserie in Ellerslie in 2007 after he sold his Blockhouse Bay bakery. He got into baking thanks to a series of jobs with bakeries and food companies while studying English.

"My passion is with food," he says.Mr Hay is aiming to finish his level four qualification in plant and craft baking by the end of the year but his ambitions do not stop there. He is hoping to open another Richoux branch in the new year.

Mr Hay will be one of the judges for the 2012 competition which will be held in Auckland.

- East And Bays Courier

AMY MCGILLIVRAY
Last updated 10:14 26/08/2011

BREADWINNER: Baker Jason Hay is this year's Weston Milling Trainee of the Year. He and wife Annie Hay own Richoux Patisserie in Ellerslie.

2011-09-30T18:06:00.001+13:00

Pint-sized hero saves the day

2011-09-30T18:04:00.000+13:00

Billie An Zhang is living proof that you're never too young to save the day.

The seven-year-old Kohia Terrace School pupil helped St John Ambulance officers treat a woman who collapsed outside her classroom by acting as a translator.

Her teacher Gaylene Hewlett saw the woman collapse on to a handrail outside her classroom and immediately called an ambulance.

The victim was distressed and could only speak Cantonese but through Billie's calm and collected translating was able to get across that she felt like she was carrying a heavy weight on her chest.

''Billie was certainly a shining star when we needed her," Hewlett said.

''If she hadn't been there, it could have been a very different story."

Billie not only translated between the woman, Hewlett and the ambulance staff, she also helped reassure the injured woman when she became anxious about going to the hospital.

''The lady who fell ill subsequently spent eight days in hospital and had heart surgery,'' Hewlett said.

''Which reiterates the important part Billie played.''

Billie received a special certificate at a school assembly from St John in recognition of her help and bravery in assisting ambulance officers with the incident earlier this month.

St John staff told her they'd happily have her on staff.

Training delivery manager Carole Mudford said Billie's efforts were ''wonderful''.

''We would love to get the message out to the public about how they can help in an emergency even if they are only seven,'' Mudford said.

Getting a certificate in front of the whole school was ''pretty cool'', Billie said, but she's not sure saving lives is the job for her.

Billie is a high achiever and is fluent in both English and her native Cantonese.

She still attends Cantonese lessons after school to make sure she stays connected with her culture.

- Central Leader

MARNIE HALLAHAN
Last updated 15:21 30/09/2011

Billie An Zhang Gaylene Hewlett
BEN CAMPBELL/Fairfax NZ
PINT-SIZED HERO: St John awarded Billie An Zhang, pictured with her teacher Gaylene Hewlett, a special certificate after she helped translate for ambulance staff.

2011-08-31T18:27:00.000+12:00

107-year-old who loved KFC dies

2011-08-31T18:26:00.001+12:00

A 107-year-old Porirua man with a love of KFC has died.

Taiwung Yu Hoi recently celebrated his 107th birthday but died in the early hours of yesterday morning from natural causes.

Mr Yu Hoi's long life had been attributed to his love of Chinese herbs and daily hot water - although he had a big love of KFC as well, granddaughter Jessica Yu Hoi said.

His daughter Lole Ernst said Mr Yu-Hoi had loved spending his birthday with his family and they are now making preparations to farewell him.

Mr Yu Hoi marked his 107th birthday surrounded by a handful of his 200 descendants in Porirua East last Friday.

He was born in 1904 in Canton, southern China. He emigrated to Samoa in 1927 aged 24. There he grew cocoa plants, married a local woman and had 11 children. He moved to New Zealand in 1971 and made Porirua his home.

Mr Yu Hoi's daughter-in-law Leonie Yu Hoi attributes his longevity to the Chinese herbs he grew and ate during his long career as a gardener.

He was always passionate about gardens and instilled a strong work ethic in his children, Mrs Yu Hoi says.

Another daughter-in-law, Toto Yu Hoi, says his good health is down to a daily breakfast of hot water, porridge and toast.

Ms Yu Hoi discloses another possible elixir of youth: Mr Yu Hoi's fondness for KFC.

Family is clearly at the centre of life in Mr Yu Hoi's household, and dozens of family portraits hang on the lounge walls. About two dozen of Mr Yu Hoi's estimated 200 children, grandchildren and great- grandchildren spent his birthday with him, eating two giant birthday cakes decorated with his photo, drinking bubbly and enjoying themselves.

- Kapi-Mana News

BY ANDREA O'NEIL
Last updated 14:13 31/08/2011

BIRTHDAY PARTY: Taiwung Yu Hoi spent his 107th birthday surrounded by his family, from left: great-grandson Xavier Yu Hoi, grandson Tom Yu Hoi, great-grandson Dakhin Yu Hoi, son George Yu Hoi, daughter-in-law Leonie Yu Hoi, daughter-in-law Toto Yu Hoi, daughter Towhina Yu Hoi, granddaughter Jessica Yu Hoi and granddaughter-in-law Ursula Tokuma-Yu Hoi

Bananas and Chinese in Australia

2011-08-28T19:14:00.001+12:00

The earliest recorded appearance of bananas in Australia was in the early to mid 1800s when Chinese migrants brought plants with them from their home provinces to begin life in Australia in Carnarvon, Western Australia.

In 1828, two plants growing on the island of Mauritius were taken to Lord Cavendish who grew them in what are now Kew Gardens in England. Some plants from his garden were given to missionaries who were traveling to the South Sea Islands in about 1840.

The bananas flourished in the tropical environment and a missionary named Williams took a few plants with him to Fiji. When sugarcane growers from Queensland went looking for cane cutters in the Pacific Islands they also brought banana plants back with them. These plants were used more as ornamentals and a special treat when fruit ripened than for commercial considerations. This was around the 1870s.

In Sydney, bananas were brought in bunches by ship from Fiji to supply the market there. Bananas taken to the Coffs Harbour region by Herman Reich in 1891 saw an industry begin to develop, later expanding to Yarrahappini and Woolgoolga and ultimately to the Tweed, Richmond and Brunswick areas of New South Wales.

While fruit was generally consumed locally, some adventurers began to send by ship to major cities.

Although bananas have been grown in Australia since the 1830s they were not commercially produced until the 1880s when crops from Queensland were transported south. Chinese played a dominant role in both the growing and importation of bananas across Australia until the 1930s and continue to be active in the area today.

The quick turn over of the banana crop which could be harvested continually once it reached maturity made it an ideal crop for many sojourning Chinese.

Queensland was the main supplier of bananas in Australia. The Cairns and Cardwell (Innisfail from 1909) districts were particularly suited to banana growing. Much of the land in these areas was cleared by Chinese banana growers due to the practice of clearing new land to plant new crops rather than replanting areas that had been already cleared. The early prosperity and survival of the Cairns and Innisfail area has been directly attributed to the success of the Chinese in the banana industry. Both Chinese and non-Chinese businesses in these towns developed to provide goods and services to Chinese banana growers. Chinese merchants in particular played in important role as commission agents and assisting growers with finance.

The move into banana wholesaling and distribution appears to have been a natural extension of the dominance of Chinese growers. It was common for commission agents to negotiate between the growers and city wholesale merchants. A number of large Chinese wholesale fruit merchants formed in both Sydney and Melbourne at the beginning of the century and profited from Chinese involvement in banana growing. A number were very successful. Chinese merchants held over half of the banana trade in both Sydney and Melbourne in the 1900s and also distributed fruit to country towns. Fruit merchants replaced storekeepers and grocers as the new merchant elite within the Chinese community.

Capital from fruit merchant firms was used in the establishment of a number of the largest department stores in Hong Kong, Canton and Shanghai and in the formation of the China-Australia Mail Steamship Line.

By the 1930s Chinese dominance in both growing and wholesaling of bananas had dissipated. In Queensland, the older banana growers were returning the China and the younger Chinese in the area found sugar cane to be a more reliable crop.

In the first decade of the 20th century the wholesale of Queensland bananas had been unfavourably affected by fruit fly contamination, severe cyclones, delays due to World War I, and in particular poor transportation as the shipping fleet was used on the war effort. There was also a limit placed on the amount of land that could be leased by Chinese to grow bananas and incentives for 'white' growers to enter the industry. This provided further impetus for the industry in northern NSW to grow.

When supplies of Queensland bananas were unreliable some Chinese merchants in Melbourne and Sydney survived this through diversification into other markets and fruits. Some began importing Fijian bananas and some even established their own plantations in Fiji. However the introduction of increasing tariff duties between 1911 and 1920 on Fijian bananas eventually made them unprofitable and there have been no banana imports since this time.

During World War I a number of Chinese merchants from Sydney also began purchasing land in the Tweed River area of northern NSW for banana growing. After the war, returned soldiers also began purchasing land there with the resulting competition leading to discontent and eventually racial tensions in 1919. Chinese merchants in Sydney and the Chinese Consul-General tried to dampen the tensions. A devastating outbreak of 'bunchy top' virus severely set back the fledgling banana industry in NSW quelling racial tensions.

In Melbourne in the 1880s the majority of Chinese banana merchants established their businesses and ripening rooms in Little Bourke Street. Bananas arrived at the wharfs where they were loaded onto horse-drawn open lorries and transported to ripening rooms in Little Bourke Street. Bananas were ripened in special rooms that were heated with a mix of raw gas and ethylene. From Little Bourke Street bananas were taken to the major wholesale or retail markets for sale. Other old ripening rooms still exist on Flinders Street, in a building called ‘Banana Alley’.

In the last few decades of the 20th century banana production gravitated towards tropical areas in Queensland, from the sub-tropical growing areas in NSW.

After 1930 Chinese banana merchant firms began to diversify into fruit and vegetable merchants or close their business. In Victoria the fruit and vegetable wholesale industry became centralised at the Queen Victoria Market and banana storage and ripening rooms moved to the new market and out of Melbourne's Chinatown. This market has since moved to premises on Footscray Road in West Melbourne.

Over the years, banana growing, wholesaling and retailing has broadened to embrace people fro many different backgrounds. While all the growing areas of the old days remain, the majority of Australian bananas now come from far north Queensland, where growing conditions are ideal and reliable for year-round production. The only impediment to continuous supply is the threat of cyclones which are prevalent in the area.

The latest was Cyclone Larry In 2006 which destroyed almost the entire banana crop in the Innisfail and Tully areas of far north Queensland. So concentrated was banana growing in this area that wiping out the crop meant that around 90 per cent of Australia’s banana supply dried up and prices as a result increased to record levels as consumers chased the available supply.

Cyclone Winifred in 1986 had a similar impact on the industry and banana supplies to the market, but while growing, picking, packing and retailing systems have become more sophisticated the Australian banana has remained the wholesome, nutritious snack it has always been.

For further information and current industry statistics visit abgc.org.au. http://www.australianbananas.com.au/banana-facts/australian-history

2011-08-27T18:06:00.000+12:00

2011-08-27T18:01:00.002+12:00

Guangzhou (Chinese: 广州; Mandarin pronunciation: [ku̯ɑ̀ŋʈʂɤ́ʊ̯]), known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about 120 km (75 mi) north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port.[

2011-08-26T20:08:00.002+12:00

THE 24 CALENDAR PERIOD SEGMENTS

2011-08-21T11:11:00.000+12:00

For the purpose of "life destiny analysis", the Chinese calendar year is made up of “twenty-four period segments”, known as [jie]. Typically a segment occurs every fifteen days throughout the four seasons of the year. The segments were originally designed as a guide to farmers, the segment names or characteristics themselves indicate the weather and its relationship to agriculture. These “period segments” are considered in weather forecast. The segments are:
1 “Beginning of spring” [lichun] . Around 5th February. The start of all activities.
2. “Rain Water” [yushui] . About 20th February. The beginning of rain. At the same time snow begins to melt. If this is supplemented by rain, there would be ample water for agriculture.
3. “Awakening of insects” [jingzhe] . About 5th March. Time when hibernating reptiles, insects become active again.
4. “Mid spring” [chunfen] . About 21st March. The sun is over the Equator, with equal day and night times. Hereafter the weather gets progressively warmer.
5. “Clear and bright” [qingming] . About 5th April. Weather is warm and clear. Plants begin to sprout. This is also a festival day, the day when the Chinese visit their ancestors’ graves to pay their respects.
6. “Rain for the grains” [guyu] . About 20th April. After having sown their grains rainfall at this time is much welcome.
7 “Beginning of summer” [lixia] . About 5th May. The weather gets progressively warmer.
8. “Partially filled grains” [xiaoman] . About 21st May. Summer grains are partially filled, and could be harvested in the near future.
9 " seed sowing” [mangzhong] . About 6th June. Time to sow winter grains, especially those requiring a longer time to ripen.
10.“Summer Solstice” [xiazhi] . About 21st June. Summer Solstice, the longest day and shortest night in the Northern Hemisphere, is also the warmest day
11.“Slight Heat” [xiaozhu] . About 7th July. Weather gets warmer, though still not too warm. Grains quality will be affected if the weather is too warm at this time of the year.
12.“Great Heat” [dashu] . About 23rd July. The weather is at his hottest, the air sultry.
13.“Beginning of autumn” [liqiu] . About 7th August. Ripening of crops at this time.
14.“End of heat” [chushu] . About 23rd August. Accumulated heat in the house over the past two months would dissipate.
15. “White dew” [bailu] . About 8th September. Surface moisture forms dew, forming a white, glittering surface, while the weather gets cool.
16.“Autumn Equinox” [qiufen] . About 23rd September. Equal periods of day and night, the sun having returned to the equator. From now on night gets progressively longer.
17. “Cold dew” [hanlu] . About 8th October. Frost appears, the weather gets distinctly colder. Trees shed their leaves the migrating birds fly south to a warmer climate. Chrysanthemum blossoms.
18.“Frost descends” [shuangjiang] . About 23rd October. Frost forms, winter is approaching.
19.“Beginning of winter” [lidong] . About 7th November. Crops have been harvested and stored for the winter.
20.“Slight snow” [xiaoxue] . About 22nd November. The sky becoming grey, beginning of snow fall.
21. “Big snow” [daxue] . About 7th December. Weather getting colder, more snow.
22.“Winter solstice” [dongzhi] . About 22nd December. Longest night and shortest day, though coldest weather is yet to come. This is also a festival day when families make little glutinous rice balls in sugary soup called [tangyuan], a symbol of unity in the family.
23. “Slight cold” [xiaohan] . About 6th January. Weather getting progressively colder.
24.“Extreme cold” [dahan] . About 22nd January. This is around Chinese New Year and about the coldest day of the year. Ponds and lakes are frozen. After this day weather gets warmer and another season begins.

Liyen Chong.

2011-08-20T18:54:00.002+12:00

Liyen Chong: Of Positions and half Positions having several Marks at once
26 August – 29 October 2011 Where: Gus Fisher Gallery, 74 Shortland Street, Auckland CBD

Opening preview, Friday 26 August, 5.30pm
Guest speaker: Naomi McLeary, Chair, McCahon House Trust

Operating from between the spaces of coming and going, Liyen Chong continues her explorations of the self and consciousness through particular modes of cultural production. During her time as the McCahon House Residency Artist, Chong explored phenomenology, Eastern thought and its implications for her practice in New Zealand. She presents the results of her inquiry in this show, which includes photographic self-portraits that document private performative actions, taken with the help of a self-timer.

Having grown up in both Malaysia and China, Chong migrated to New Zealand in her mid-teens and completed her MFA in Design in Christchurch. She moved to Auckland in late 2005 and since then has exhibited widely in New Zealand and Australia. Her work is present in public collections such as the Chartwell Collection and the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra.

- Saturday 10 September, 1pm
Artist Liyen Chong discusses her exhibition and its development at McCahon House.

- Saturday 8 October, 1pm
A panel discussion exploring issues of the self and culture in a New Zealand context, particularly as it relates to new migrants from the Asian region, led by Vera Mey and Liyen Chong.

http://www.eventfinder.co.nz/2011/aug/auckland-cbd/liyen-chong-of-positions-and-half-positions

NZ Chinese Restaurant menus

2011-08-16T17:54:00.002+12:00

Does anyone have any they can email to me? helen.wong888@gmail(dot)com

I recently delved into the museum’s newly acquired menu collection. My focus was a sub-set of the collection: the Chinese menus, which span nearly three decades and come from all over the United States. I was curious to see what the menus could reveal about the history of Chinese food in America. As I perused the collection, I realized that Chinese restaurants don’t simply sell food—they also sell a cultural experience, à la carte.

Historically, many Americans first encountered Chinese cuisine while laboring in mines or on railroads, where Chinese immigrants often worked as cooks. By the late 19th century, increasing numbers of Americans were venturing into Chinatowns in both New York and San Francisco, in search of cheap, tasty meals. Others were drawn to Chinatown for different reasons: Bohemians saw Chinese dining as a sensual and exotic experience, and wealthier patrons sought high-end culinary adventures. Originally established to serve fellow expats, Chinese proprietors saw their business grow as more American customers frequented their establishments.

http://blog.americanhistory.si.edu/osaycanyousee/sweet-sour/

Chinese supermarket

2011-08-13T15:19:00.002+12:00

I go to one down the road, its noisy, smelly and divine. Although most of the products are only labelled in Chinese, I do pick up the odd thing to try. This afternoon I joked with the checkout operator that I should learn mandarin and she agreed, said I should visit China. A nice idea. At least the docket is in both languages.

jhan (103 ) 9:15 pm, Fri 12 Aug #1

you are in Auckland . You ARE in China
Quote
destiny6nz (320 ) 9:18 pm, Fri 12 Aug #2

What are the things that smell so pongy I wonder, in some of these, like the one at the top of Hobson St ? All in Chinese. Are they safe to eat?
Quote
buzzi1 (137 ) 9:22 pm, Fri 12 Aug #3

Yes, thats what it feels like. I read a book recently that was by a Chinese author, translated version called 'Old Town'. I got to like China through the book and guess I would like to visit but perhaps I should learn the language because it does seem as though its going to be useful locally.

jhan (103 ) 9:23 pm, Fri 12 Aug #4

buzzi1 wrote:

What are the things that smell so pongy I wonder, in some of these, like the one at the top of Hobson St ? All in Chinese. Are they safe to eat?

Wouldn't know really, I stick to buying things I know will cook up well.

jhan (103 ) 9:23 pm, Fri 12 Aug #5

jhan wrote:

Wouldn't know really, I stick to buying things I know will cook up well.

Like what? (just out of curiosity)

buzzi1 (137 ) 9:24 pm, Fri 12 Aug #6

buzzi1 wrote:

Like what? (just out of curiosity)

Pork and chicken, veges and noodles.
Quote
jhan (103 ) 9:25 pm, Fri 12 Aug #7

destiny6nz wrote:

you are in Auckland . You ARE in China

It's ok now as the cafe owners have learnt how to make good coffee - some of the best in town.
Quote
buzzi1 (137 ) 9:27 pm, Fri 12 Aug #8

jhan wrote:

Pork and chicken, veges and noodles.

Not all those things in packets then. Why does everyone think so much of factory farmed pork and chicken? The posh restaurants charge megabucks for these - "pork belly" etc. The poor pigs in the dark in their sow crates.
Quote
buzzi1 (137 ) 9:30 pm, Fri 12 Aug #9

destiny6nz wrote:

you are in Auckland . You ARE in China

Are you feeling threatened?. There are still more Pakeha in Auckland than Chinese.

freebodyguard (45 ) 9:30 pm, Fri 12 Aug #10

buzzi1 wrote:

Not all those things in packets then. Why does everyone think so much of factory farmed pork and chicken? The posh restaurants charge megabucks for these - "pork belly" etc. The poor pigs in the dark in their sow crates.

We can't all afford organic.
Quote
jhan (103 ) 9:32 pm, Fri 12 Aug #11

freebodyguard wrote:

Are you feeling threatened?. There are still more Pakeha in Auckland than Chinese.

yea thats it......threatened i might get attacked by a spring roll
Quote
destiny6nz (320 ) 9:33 pm, Fri 12 Aug #12

The funny, occasionally musty smells that you get in the Chinese supermarkets/stores are probably Chinese medicine/herbs and spices that are found in airtight sealed packages. They use them in soup much like Westerners use herbal teas for when they're feeling a bit run down or some other reason.

iluvstuf (232 ) 9:33 pm, Fri 12 Aug #13

chinese supermarket cheap as,
$5 for size 7 tray of eggs
Quote
toonpi (432 ) 9:35 pm, Fri 12 Aug #14

Where do they get those cheap eggs from? I got some today, the yolks are very yellow, dyes?
Quote
jhan (103 ) 9:36 pm, Fri 12 Aug #15

same as other supermarket, no different,
they can sell eggs at cost to get customer in, I heard this before

toonpi (432 ) 9:41 pm, Fri 12 Aug #16

toonpi wrote:

same as other supermarket, no different,
they can sell eggs at cost to get customer in, I heard this before

Loss leader they call it, makes sense.
Quote
jhan (103 ) 9:44 pm, Fri 12 Aug #17

I love my Asian supermarket and the staff are really helpful if you need to ask questions. I can buy a pork fillet in there for $17 kg instead of $25 kg at Countdown (they are on special this week, usually $27 according to their website).

Edited by spongeypud at 9:57 pm, Fri 12 Aug
Quote
spongeypud (12 ) 9:56 pm, Fri 12 Aug #18

I always shop at the Chinese supermarket - I don't get it when people say they can't afford veges or fruit. Big bag of apples for $2.99. So much great produce and lots of interesting herbs and spices.

spoeklet (219 ) 10:33 pm, Fri 12 Aug #19

I like my local T Mark as it sells all my fav Asian drinks and snacks. Plus the yummy Asian instant noodles are so much better than the rubbish Maggi ones!!

iluvstuf (232 ) 10:35 pm, Fri 12 Aug #20

destiny6nz wrote:

you are in Auckland . You ARE in China

Lol................. Beijing / Auckland one in the same.

pacificflower (512 ) 10:35 pm, Fri 12 Aug #21

buzzi1 wrote:

Not all those things in packets then. Why does everyone think so much of factory farmed pork and chicken? The posh restaurants charge megabucks for these - "pork belly" etc. The poor pigs in the dark in their sow crates.

It pays not to think where your food comes from unless you grow it yourself, I personally love chinese supermarkets, wonderful places, full of different sights and sounds, I was at one by the old Auckland railway. station a while ago and saw live in tanks fish that are banned at our end of the country (koi).

wynyard (298 ) 11:17 pm, Fri 12 Aug #22

Having recently been to China I can strongly recommend that you go. Absolutely amazing experience.

bowies_girl (35 ) 11:21 pm, Fri 12 Aug #23

I use a local Chinese supermarket as much as I do any other store. My rice is cheaper and there's a much better variety, herbs and spices are cheaper. I get my tofu for my Laksa. Mr. T likes his herbal teas from there. They have a huge variety of noodles too. I love shopping there.

thistle4 (430 ) 9:20 am, Sat 13 Aug #24

jhan wrote:

Where do they get those cheap eggs from? I got some today, the yolks are very yellow, dyes?

how would they dye an egg yoke ?

thornton1961 (16 ) 9:59 am, Sat 13 Aug #25

buzzi1 wrote:

What are the things that smell so pongy I wonder, in some of these, like the one at the top of Hobson St ? All in Chinese. Are they safe to eat?

I walk past that place every day some time's i just about barf with the smell certainly would not go in, it looks so grotty.

pollypanner (721 ) 10:14 am, Sat 13 Aug #26

Yep I go regularly here. Buy much better noodles, sashimi, spice chilli pastes etc. And the thai stock cubes are all I buy now. They cant be bad made by unilever a multi national company. Tofu is just so yummy i eat it more than meat now I think.

Edit Im in Rangiora near chch and most product has an english name on the labels on the shelves as well.
They are friendly and often have recipe sheets up with selected products.

Edited by phalo at 10:23 am, Sat 13 Aug

phalo (307 ) 10:22 am, Sat 13 Aug #27

buzzi1 wrote:

What are the things that smell so pongy I wonder, in some of these, like the one at the top of Hobson St ? All in Chinese. Are they safe to eat?

Is that wah lee's? Ive been there awesom shop. I used to get clove smokes off him for my shop before the govt increased the tax so much, importing them was hopeless for him.

phalo (307 ) 10:24 am, Sat 13 Aug #28

pollypanner wrote:

I walk past that place every day some time's i just about barf with the smell certainly would not go in, it looks so grotty.

beh I sorta like the grottyness, its like a whole new world

n1smo_gtir (112 ) 10:28 am, Sat 13 Aug #29

phalo wrote:

Is that wah lee's? Ive been there awesom shop. I used to get clove smokes off him for my shop before the govt increased the tax so much, importing them was hopeless for him.

Best range of fireworks too. I love the chinese sausage from there and Lim Chhour. Yummmmmy...

rikimeyer (252 ) 10:38 am, Sat 13 Aug #30

thornton1961 wrote:

how would they dye an egg yoke ?

Well, I don't know, my father-in-law used to dye his canary chicks by putting something in their feed.

jhan (103 ) 10:56 am, Sat 13 Aug #31

buzzi1 wrote:

What are the things that smell so pongy I wonder, in some of these, like the one at the top of Hobson St ? All in Chinese. Are they safe to eat?

What do these "pongy" things look like? Are you talking about those prickly durian fruit that stink to high heaven?
Quote
spongeypud (12 ) 3:09 pm, Sat 13 Aug #32

buzzi1 wrote:

What are the things that smell so pongy I wonder, in some of these, like the one at the top of Hobson St ? All in Chinese. Are they safe to eat?

can't be stinky tofu - maybe it's a durian, or salty fish,

focuson21 (25 ) 3:11 pm, Sat 13 Aug #33

jhan wrote:

Where do they get those cheap eggs from? I got some today, the yolks are very yellow, dyes?

free range - they eat grass and that makes golden yellow yolks. Have you had the duck eggs; the salted eggs,.. And now it's mooncake season. had one today

focuson21 (25 ) 3:13 pm, Sat 13 Aug #34

pacificflower wrote:

Lol................. Beijing / Auckland one in the same.

mandarin/english lol. You can get by in China without the language. Had an awesome time in Beijing - the old Peking

focuson21 (25 ) 3:15 pm, Sat 13 Aug #35

wynyard wrote:

It pays not to think where your food comes from unless you grow it yourself, I personally love chinese supermarkets, wonderful places, full of different sights and sounds, I was at one by the old Auckland railway. station a while ago and saw live in tanks fish that are banned at our end of the country (koi).

That was Tai Ping - an old establishment

focuson21 (25 ) 3:15 pm, Sat 13 Aug #36

pollypanner wrote:

I walk past that place every day some time's i just about barf with the smell certainly would not go in, it looks so grotty.

that's authenticity for you. Wah Lees ahev been around for at least 100 years - used to be in the old China town area before moving to Hobson St. Can't imagine you in HK or China then - at the wet markets. I can just picture it -

focuson21 (25 ) 3:17 pm, Sat 13 Aug #37

The Trade Me message board is moderated by the Trade Me community. If you're offended by a thread or message, you can vote to have it removed.

Jack

2011-08-11T21:22:00.002+12:00

2011-08-10T20:25:00.000+12:00

CHEATING THE DEVIL IN CHINA.

The principal part of a Chinaman's religion consists in efforts to deceive the devil. When a Chinaman dies, for instance, the friends of the deceased instantly bestir themselves to forestall the machinations of the evil one. The doors apd windows of the house are carefully closed, to preveut the devil from finding out what has occurred within, and sympathetic friends, in spreading the mournful intelligence, do so either in whispers, that the devil may not overhear, or, when speaking aloud, instead of saying that the man is dead, tell one another that he has "stuck up the pigtail," a euphemism which the devil is not supposed to understand. The funeral is a series of efforts to mislead the arch enemy of the Chinese soul and to throw him off the track In his .earnest pursuit of his prey. It Is well known that the devil cannot see through a cloud of smoke, and that he is 'distracted by noise, so, ere the cortege leaves the house, packs of crackers are fired in front of the door, and in the smoke and confusion the bearers seize the coffin and start off in a. lively trot. After they emerge from the smoke of the house door they are, however, quickly perceived by the enemy, who takes after them on a run. But the Chinese devil is very fat, consequently short of breath, and can not easily change his course, so, after trotting a short distance the pallbearers, turn a corner, at which has been stationed a friend with a supply of tire-crackers, which at the proper moment he lights, and the devil, having already run past, is confused by the noise and smoke, and some.time elapses ere he again takes up the trail. Having secured a good start at the house and at the nearest corner, the pallbearers have little difficulty in deceiving the devil during the rest of the journey to the cemetery, for the route is made us crooked as possible, and there is a lavish expenditure of' fireworks on the way. But the devil knows, that the funeral was started and where It was going, so, after a short and fruitless pursuit, he gives up the chase, goes on to the cemetery gate, where he sits down to rest, get his breath, and wait for the funeral. But the clever Chinamen are to the Inst too sharp for him; they enter the cemetery through a hole in the wall, left for the purpose, hurry through the burial service, with more fire-crackers, and before the old boy realises what is going on the dene} Chluamah is burled and beyond his reach. Undoubtedly there are educated Chinamen who regard these cerembnles as childish observations, at once superstitious and silly, but among the masses of the people they are a part of the Chinese religion, sincerely believed, and honestly practised. They are evidences of the arrest of the Chinese mental development and a proof that the Mongolian race Is yet in mental childhood. Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 144, 13 October 1900, Page 5

2011-08-10T20:14:00.001+12:00

CHINESE MOURNING.

The funeral and mourning customs of the Chinese are so strangle* that it would take a book to describe them. J There are (writes F. G. Carpenter) five degrees of mourning, each" of which has its own, regulations. There is a certain kind of mourning for parents, ' another for uncles and aunts and for dear friends. There is deep mourning and half -mourning. In the deepest, sackcloth is worn without hem or border. In the next grade, one may have blue clothes with a sackcloth belt, and in others he may wear plain clothes, such as white, grey, and black. During three years after the deaifc of a parent no silks should be worn; and the man, if an official, should retire to private life to wail. This. was required of Li Hung Chang when his mother died, but his services were euch that the Empress-Dowager begj ged him to omit the custom for the sake of the State. When a death occurs in a Chinese | family, its members put on sackcloth or white clothes, braid white into their queues, and wear white buttons on their caps. They send out juouraing cards of white paper. i At the end of six months or .so they go into half -mourning. They change their white clothes for blue ones, have I buttons on their caps, and braid blue threads into their queues. They send ! out blue cards, and on them are printed the characters which state: — "Grief not so bitter as before." This means that the members of the family are ready to (resume their relations with the world, and that their friends will be allowed to call to condole with them. Later still they drop the blue I and come out in the gorgeous silks ' and satins common to their daily life. Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LVIII, 17 January 1910, Page 3

2011-08-10T20:12:00.000+12:00

CHINESE BURIAL SERVICE

The many curious customs of the Chinese have ,'jeen a constant source of wonder and amusement to the tourist in China. By far the oddest but most impressive of their ceremonies, is the burial rites for their dead. The Chinese hold their dead in high esteem, and shower honors upon their memories by burning incense and candles daily. They also honor their relatives who have died I*—"" before. As soon as a Chir bis relatives embalm him. Dre? -v. in his richest garments, he is placed in a teakwood coffin, solid and airtight, and the coffin is closed and sealed. It is i/hen placed in front of the family altar. This altar is Irung with richly embroidered drapeiies, and decorated with flowers, vases, and josses. The period of mourning begins at once, especially among the women of the deceased's household. They start a daily ■larr.entation over their loss, and iare joined in their occupation of wailing by relatives and friends. The male members of the family are busy digging the grave, while the womenfolk, assist-ed by the professional mourners, do the wailing. The grave is half under and half above the ground, and is onclosed by a crescent-shaped wall about 2ft. high Another thing to be prepared for the dead is a miniature house, which is provided with miniature furniture. This idea is to provide the deopased with all the comforts of a home in the regions where be is ;2oing. An image of the deceased, together" with drinkables and eatables, and money, is placed on the coffin the day of the funeral. The image is not buried, but is burned in the presence of the mourners, who, during the process, shriek and make the most frightful noises. This is to drive out the evil spirit with which the dead man is supposed to be possessi-d. When tlie funeral services are over the mourning banners are taken home and used as ornaments on the bare, white-washed walls of the rooms. Th 4 mqiv the banners the greater the honor paid to the dead. The miniature house precedes the mourners to the grave. Then follows the elaborate hearse, draped with rich dark blue vehet, with silver fringes, borne by the natives. The mourners, too, arc supposed to assist in carrying it, which they do by holding on to che white cords attached to the hearse. Refreshments are served at the burial-ground, and at the end of the services tiie friends ami relatives partake of the food to show their appreciation.Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXII, 16 October 1911, Page 5

2011-08-10T19:58:00.001+12:00

A CHINESE FUNERAL.

To many, of our readers an account of a Chinese, funeral may be interesting. We therefore condense the following description! of funeral of tlie 1 ate Mr. Ping Kee, who £of many years held a prominent position among : the Chinese merchants of victoria,' from the Melbourne Telegraph, of the 7 Sfch instant:—The body, after "-being dressed in a complete ; walking suit of ' beautifully < embroidered -satin, was placed in. "a lead coffin. A, fan was placed in his right hand, and'*-a hand-' •■ kerchief in his left, and beside the body was deposited a quantity of gold and silver, the Chinese evidently., thinking,, from their keen conv_ mercial'instincts, that gold and silver.. . would only cease, to be useful when their- • friend had fairly arrived in the spirit land. Over all was thrown a heavy maroon-colored satin cover, the whole being enclosed by the coffin lid. This r leaden?coffin, was placed -inua heavy case of polished cedar, mounted heavily with solid brass. The cedar case bore the inscription, "Ping Kee, died 4th November; 1871, agod 42^ years." The procession, which consisted of nearly forty carriages, started from the house of the deceased. On the 1 front seat of the hearse was seated'a nephew of deceased, who scattered broadcast, as the procession advanced,!1 oblong sheets of yellow-colored paper. The grave was ah undergrountl brick sarcophagus, lined with cement and impervious to water, and, when the colh'n was placed in it stone slabs were placed on the top,-- also'- made- Watertight. When the procession arrived at'the ground the ceremony of'interment commenced. The eldest son was led forward, and he threw three .

handfuls of earth on the coffin, ami all the other children were led forward to imitate his example.' The grave was then closed, and those present kindled a fire, in which were thrown, joss sticks and joss 'papers. Candles of various colors and sizes were also lit and those present east into the fire their white hatbands., The Chinese wear white as a sign of rejoicing that their dead have entered into a better world, and thoso left are supposed to mourn only because they have not been chosen first. v After the closing of the grave, gifts were distributed. Little neatly constructed paper envelopes were handed to every one who had attended the funeral, and when these packets were opened they were found to contain ten shillings. Over £60 in silver was thus distributed. Cigars and candied sugar were also distributed liberally, and the ceremony concluded. Those who 'understand the feelings and customs of the Chinese will know that it is mnong them an object of the highest | import, engendered and fostered by their religious training, that their ."bodies, sliould ultimately rest in the soil of their own land. The body of Ping-' Kee was, therefore, interred with all the precautions necessary to enable it to bo lifted and carried to China eighteen months hence. Evening Post, Volume VII, Issue 247, 23 November 1871, Page 2

2011-08-10T19:55:00.000+12:00

A CHINESE FUNERAL AT DUNEDIN.

The Otago Daily Times cf Oct. 3 says : -A Cbineee fumml if not an every day occurrence here. Ihe Chininiii.fi who died suddenly on "Wednesday was buried on Thursday in th< Southern Greneral C-'mt-tery. Previous to th< funeral procession moving', tin express wac ei>nt from the residence <>f the deceased to 1-ht co-ret cry. The express contained n Chinaman, who was in charge of a stock of eatables and drinkables. Anoih r Celestial strewed pieces of flimsy pnjirr, which were punctured (stencil platn fashion) with Chinese characters, on the road to the cemetery. On the funeral reaching the cemetery, those who attended (they came in five cabs) walked to the grave. After they had drawn up near the grave, the coffin was brought from the hearse by cemetery officials and cabmen, preceded by a Chinaman bearing a board, on which were written the name and virtues of the deceased, and which afterwards served as a headstone. On the coffin being lowered, and the grave filled up, the ceremonies commenced. The basket of victuals was brought from the house in the cemetery. The basket contained a boiled fowl, three or four pounds of boiled pork, three bowls of cooked rice, a teapot containing tea, oranges, a paper of lollies, and other luxuries ; also, a bottle of grog and cigars. These things were spread out on a cloth near the foot of the grave. A fire was lighted, and a quantity of fancy paper was burned. This, we believe, represents money to aid the deceased in his pecuniary affairs beyond the grave. A Chinaman, having clasped his hands, faced the grave, and made several bows, and thereupon gave utterance to aome words — apparently a form of prayer in Chinese. Then the rice was emptied out of the three bowls on the foot of the grave ; tea was poured out of the teapot into several little cups, which were emptied ; and grog - was poured into them and emptied likewise. Then cigars were handed round and smoked, grog was offered, but none would accept of it save a European, who took the bottle full, the oranges and lollies were distributed among the little boys present, and the fowl and pork were given to the man who dug the grave. The ceremony over, a Chinaman stood at the cemetery gate anH distributed silver to those going out, and the funeral party then returned home. Star , Issue 2055, 8 October 1874, Page 4

2011-08-10T19:45:00.002+12:00

CHINESE OBSEQUIES.It may say so without appearing over anxious to advertise my Irish ancestry, the most important event in a Chinaman's life is hia funeral. A Chinese crowd is the culmination of human noise ; and the Chinese are never so noisy as at a funeral. They have hearty appetites at all times, but they never eat so much as they do at a funeral feast. When I first lived in China I used to find it almost impossible to % distinguish between a funeral procession and a marriage procession. In the centre of one the' coffined corpse is borne on the shoulders of men. In the centre of the other Bimilar men bear on their shoulders the bride, who is in an enclosed sedan chair, and she is followed by her bridesmaids. But to the casual observer the two endß of the two processions are; quite alike in every other respect. Tom-toms, red-clothed coolies carrying roasted pigs and other dainties, smaller coolies carrying cheap paper-ornaments of a Mongolian theatrical type— these are the invariable elements of both processions. THX HEATHSN CHINESE. - The Chinese are to-day the most unique, the most ancient and the most miaunderstood people on the earth, I say the moat ancient because they axe the least changed from what they were long centuries ago. The least changed They are not changed at all. The China of to-day is the China Marco Polo knew. A few of us have been in China. lam not speaking of the missionaries; I regard them as a people apart. "What have we gained in China ? A strange experience (to me a pleasant one), a pound of perfumed tea, and a bale of flowered for both of which we have paid right handsomely. We have been treated in the main politely, but sooner or later most of us are bowed out of China, if not by the Emperor, why then by the climate. The Chinese have at least three religions, Confucianism, Buddhism" and Toaism. But the -funeral rites of the three sects are identical; There are several reasons for this. The three religions are muoh alike, and are all largely founded upon Indian Buddhism. Moreover, religion is a very Second-class affair on China. The priests of two. sects often live together in the chummiest way, Filial devotion is the seal religion of China. All, China is one huge family, and the Emperor is the Great Father." (By the way, Great Father is what the North American Indians call, God. And the Chinese consider their Emperor a god. How we human atoms ring, our petty changes- on a few poor thoughts !) There ii one more reason •why; all Chinese funerals.,aie greatlyalike. China U a land of ceremonials, and the smallest details of those ceremonials are prescribed by the "Leke,^, or Book of Bites* To disobey the least role of this great national: manual is a crime and a severely punished one. In two respeots only does one Chinese funeral differ from another. The first is in the amount of . money spent, jand the .second is in the period after death at which burial takes plaCe. THB DBAD CHINKS. The first ambition of every Chinaman is to have a splendid coffin. A poor Chinaman will half starve himself -and his family forbears that he may daily hoard a few cash" towards the sum' needed fop the purchase oB the coveted casket. When the coffin is really bought it is brought home 'witfi t great ceremony. It is given the plaoe of honour in the .house, and is regarded as the most .valuable piece of furniture in the establishment. Among the' poorer daises it is customary to buy a very thick coffin. No self-respecting Chinese family — and the-Chineße are the moat selfrrespecting of all the nations— will bury a parent until they can do it with more or leas Mongolian magnificence^ Hence, in China, death by do means implies immediate. burial. When a Chinaman dies, hia neighbours come in and help the. women of the family to make the shroud. body is put in its coffin. Then the funeral ceremonies begin, if there is money enough. If there is not, the coffin is put back > in: ita place of honour until -the family finances look up. The day of the death, or the. day after, thejrelatives not living in the house, and the friends come.to pay the last duties of respect to the deceased. When the visitors arrive they are Bhown. into a room in which are all the women and children of the establishment. These latter set up a dismal howl in which the visitors join, or to which they, listen sympathetically. When the tympanum of even a Chinese ear begins to ache the guests are ushered into another apartment where the men of the house give them tea and refreshment. The refreshment varies according to the means of the family ; in the house of the rich it is a dinner. After the visitors have drunk and eaten they are bowed out by one of the kinsmen of the dead. : , The dinner of Chineae affluence, where ever, why ever it is served, consists of five course meal, very rich, thick soup; 2, salad. and meat ; 3, birds' nests j sharks' fins, and other very nourishing dishes; 4, etewe ; 5, fruits and sweetmeats. The first four courses, ase eaten with chopsticks. The last course is eaten with the. fingers— and that ia the way that I believe .fruit always shonld be eaten; Everjj&ing in ; the first four courses is seryefl superlatively hot. Unless a China. mantis starving he will npt eat cooked food unless it is bubbling hot;. I except sweetmeats. And yet he eats the most incredible quantities of ice. Wine is served with all the courses— served hot. It is , not intoxicating, and has, to my palate, a very pleasant taste. I used to dine in America with some people who were just a bit mad on the temperance question. One day they gave me unfermented wine; it was an awful moment. But the Chinese ..dinner giver knows the secret of keeping his guest free from the possible ill-effects of alcohol without making himself ridiculous. At a correct Chinese dinner, the women look on from behind a trellis-work. The Chinese hold tbatrtherseairof the4iuman understaHtl&ig is the stomach. A jtelfcconducted Chinese funeral is the,most gorgeous sight «n Asia*. Ib.my seem. to us a little tineelly, but that' is a' mere matter of taste. .! And I —who- make bold to like the Chinese— cannot claim that they have a superabundance of taste. - ; IK HABCHB IUNBBBI. At the front of the funeral procession walk the noisy musicless musicians. , Then •come men (they may be friends, they may be coolies) bearing the insigoia of the dignity of the dead, if he had any. Next walk more men, cairying figures of animals, idols, umbrellas, and blue and white streamers. After them come men carrying pans of perfume. Just before the coffin walk bonzes, Chinese . priests. Over the coffin af canopy is usually carried. The casket is borne by about a score of men. •Imaediatete^behjnjL the.. coffin walk the children oitfie" deceasedT The eldest son -comes first. He is dressed in canvas, and leans- heavily upon a stout stick. He is supposed to be too exhausted by grief and faaQng to walk without the aid of this staff. The other children and relatives follow this chief mourner. They are clothed in white linen garments— white is the mourning colour of the Danes, of the Burmese, and of the Chinese. The women are carried in chairs in the Chinese .f uaeral procespiont They sob and wail at intervals and in unison: COM2! TO DUST. When the buryirig-place is reached the bonzes begin chanting a mass for the dead, and the coffin it put into the tomb.

When the coffin is laid in its final position, a large oblong white marble table is placed before the tomb. . Ou the middle of it is set a censer and two vases and two candlesticks, all of as exquisite workmanship as possible. Then they have a paper cremation I Paper figures of men, horeea, garments, and a score of other things are burned. They are supposed to undergo a material resurrection, and to be useful to the dead in the Chinese heaven. The tomb is sealed up or closed, and an entertainment concludes the ceremony at the grave. The forms of Chinese tombs vary somewhat according to the province in which they are built, and very much according to the means of the relative who undertakes the expense. With the very poor the coffin is placed upon the ground, earth and lime are packed about it, and a rude grave is formed. With the rich a vault is built, in the form of a horßeshoe. If the dead wbb of note or position the decorations of the grave and of the coffin are very elaborate. There are a thousand interesting things to be said about Chinese mourning, about the ceremonies commemorative of the dead, and about the funerals of the Chinese Royal family ; but they cannot be put into a paragraph, or into a column, so I leave them. Star , Issue 4971, 8 June 1894, Page 1

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A CHINESE FUNERAL.

The Grey Bivef Argus gives the following account of a funeral at Greymouth, which took plac9 recently:— •" "The person interred was a poor fellow named Lung Luna Lao, aged 47 jears. He came to Grey mouth on Friday laafc, afflicted with lung disease, which terminated fatally on Sunday last at 5 a.m. Deceased was a native of Canton, and although there are nearly one thousand CHioeae in West- Saud, only five of them (those belonging to the firm of Kum Sing Tie, of thia town) contributed to his interment, Upon the arrival of the followers at the Hospital,- where ibe deceased Jay, the body was clothed in a costly suit, and shoes were also placed upon his feet, after having the leather part of the soles:., taken off; the body was then placed in the coffin, and the bands, filled with cards, sft by lin., inscribed with Chinese characters, many more of the same < description beiog placed on the body; these were passports entitling him to accommodation at the various castles in the air. After the departure of the funeral cortege from the Hospital the coffin was: literally covered with slips of paper, similar pieces being scattered on the- road to the burial ground. On the arrival the coffin was lowered. at the foot of the grave on the surface; a quantity of provisions, consisting of boiled egga, bacon and rice, preserved lemons and nuts, ' chopsticks are also provided, and, lest be become faint on his way, h bottle of Chinese brandy, and these diminutive cups will be found useful. An illumination was then made from lighted Chinese painted candles and sandalwood matches, to light him on his way and keep away the evil one; a fire was made at the foot of the grave, in which they burnt a large (quantity of golden paper, and while' this was being consumed, a final adieu was taken, by oaehof the mournera placing his two hands together, and in a stooping position lifting them to his head and letting them drop to his feet. Chinese brandy, fruit, and cakes were then, served round to the spectators, of which all partook freely. Strips of pink caiico, about 2ft 6in long, enclosing a silver coin (English money), were then distributed to the public, this latter an emblem of 'good will to all ' men by the deceased. The whole proceeding waa a great novelty to the Europeans,,, and a Maori or two who I ' kapaied' it, the latter part of the ceremoDy especially." Nelson Evening Mail, Volume X, Issue 208, 19 August 1875, Page 4