Uncle's Restaurant - well where he works

Hong Kong Trip - Shrimps

Stewed Goose Webs

Stewed Goose Webs

Southern Fried Rice - Takes Over China

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1560449379292849948&pr=goog-sl

Olympic effort for big move ... and don't forget the rice

In just a few days a 12-metre container, full of gear, will be loaded aboard a boat to China.

Inside it will be stowed all the equipment required to help the New Zealand team realise its Olympic dreams.

Everything from printers and plasma TVs, to medicines and muesli bars are included in the inventory, which leaves Auckland on May 25.

More equipment - including uniforms - will be flown to China on June 30.

"A lot of this gear we have carted around for the past few games," says chef de mission Dave Currie, and most of it will be used to make Olympic Village life as comfortable as possible.

Games organisers have provided the New Zealanders with "a blank canvas, pretty much", on which to build a village, so a Maori gateway, and 800kg granite base with accompanying sculpture, should help brighten the place up a bit.

"NZ banners and signs" will add an Antipodean touch to village environs, as should the five outdoor umbrellas.

The Olympic list is nothing if not comprehensive, to the point of being mundane.

12 office chairs are making the trip to China, with 12 whiteboards and an extension ladder.

Sharp-eyed readers might spot an anomaly in the list: 32 drying racks, but only two irons.

That, says Currie, is because the space-age outfits to be worn by our athletes don't require anything as quaint as ironing.

"The kind of gear we have got, you wash it, you shake it, and it's damn near dry."

Six fans and two boxes of air cleaners will help the athletes breath easy.

Dispatching 300 cans of rice to China might sound as sensible as sending coal to Newcastle, but Currie says creamed rice provides a quick blast of carbohydrates to exhausted athletes at the end of their events.

Team management has "no concerns about food or dining" while in China.

The team has banked on the equipment taking a month to clear customs, and Currie is confident everything will be in place by the time the 300-strong squad arrives in China.

An advance guard is scheduled to leave New Zealand for China on July 19, with the first athletes set to touch down on July 27.

Competition begins on August 9.

Rice Rolls

2 bags Rice flour
1/2 bag cornflour
2.5 litres water

filling can be BBQ pork, vegetarian, beef, prawns, dried shrimps.

Mix ingrediaents to make a very thin mix. Oil a container - like a flan dish, ladle a spoon of mix into container.

Steam. When cooked, put a line of the filling on the cooked roll - roll into shape.

Making Rice Rolls

Chinese Settlement in Whittlesea

Chinese Settlement in Whittlesea


http://whittleseachineseassociation.blog....lesea-book.html

"Chinese Settlement in Whittlesea" Book Download
We are pleased to announce the launch of the digitized version

It is offered free to download exclusively on this website.
All you need to do is to extract files from WinZip and Adobe Acrobat Reader to read it.

"Chinese Settlement in Whittlesea: Our Chinese Community, Our Stories" (17.6MB)

Chinese Olympic Friends

Dragon's creator wants focus on NZ team

5:00AM Wednesday April 30, 2008
By Lincoln Tan

Architect Ron Sang, putting the final touches to his dragon sculpture yesterday, hoped Kiwis could forget about the controversies over the Beijing Olympics and concentrate on supporting the New Zealand team.

The sculpture, an abstract dragon with a greenstone ball, will be unveiled tonight and presented as a good luck gift to the New Zealand Olympians after the launch ceremony of their uniform.

"We don't want to get into the politics of the Olympics, but just get behind our team," said Mr Sang, a member of the New Zealand Chinese Association.

The $50,000 sculpture was designed by New Zealand Chinese artist Guy Ngan, who will be at the function tonight at Villa Maria Estate, where the team's chef de mission, Dave Currie, will be presented with the art piece by association vice-president Steven Young.

Money for the sculpture was raised mainly from the local-born Chinese community.

The dragon will be with the Kiwi Olympians until the end of the Games, when it will be presented to the hosts as New Zealand's gift to them.

"The dragon is a perfect symbol for China, but we didn't want to give them a sculpture of a real dragon because they have plenty of those," Mr Sang said.

"That is why we decided to have an modern abstract dragon, one that's uniquely New Zealand - and having the greenstone is our way of including the Maori people in our gift."

Sheet-metal engineer Wayne Blythen, who worked on the sculpture, said it took six weeks and more than 200 man hours to put it together. It is on a 1000kg black-granite base, imported from China, engraved with the words "in recognition of the enduring friendship between China and New Zealand" in English and Chinese.

The sculpture will be exhibited at the Auckland, Wellington and Dunedin airports until it goes to Beijing in July.

Fight that helped end hostilities at home

Fight that helped end hostilities at home
5:00AM Thursday April 24, 2008
By Lincoln Tan

World War II veteran Daniel Chan Lee says he will spend Anzac Day remembering those like his brother Willie who fought and died for New Zealand. Photo / Glenn Jeffrey

Attending the Anzac Day service used to be an annual routine for World War II veteran Daniel Chan Lee.

But the 93-year-old former transport soldier at 7 Royal Military Transport Unit says he is now too old for parades and will instead spend tomorrow remembering those who died fighting for New Zealand, including his brother.

Willie, his elder brother, who served as a fighter pilot in the Air Force, died when his plane crashed in Cheshire, England, in 1942.

Mr Lee, one of six boys, also had a younger brother, Harry, who served in the Royal New Zealand Air Force.

Mr Lee said New Zealand in those days had laws that discriminated against the Chinese, who were singled out as "undesirable aliens".

It had regulations such as the poll-tax, tonnage ratio, literacy test and thumb printing to limit the number of Chinese coming to New Zealand.

However, Mr Lee said many of the local-born Chinese still considered it to be an honour to be able to serve the country as soldiers, and he said the Army was a "like a different world".

"There was no racism there because we were all united with a common desire of wanting to serve our country, our home."

Mr Lee said his brother Willie is proof of how "colour blind New Zealand gets" when it comes to the Anzacs and other soldiers who died at war. Willie's name is listed on the Roll of Honour in Auckland War Memorial Museum's Hall of Memories.

"It didn't matter that he was Chinese; Willie was treated just as every other fallen soldier in the war."

Mr Lee said it had been his dream to fight overseas, but the Army said he looked too much like a Japanese.

Dr Manying Ip, an associate professor of Asian studies at the University of Auckland, wrote in her book Dinkum Aliens: Chinese New Zealanders in World War II: "In spite of their marginalised status, the hostile social climate, and their very small number (2,943 in the 1936 census), patriotic Chinese New Zealanders, mostly local-born, served in the Air Force, Army and Home Guard.

"World War II marked the crucial turning point for the Chinese community in New Zealand," Professor Ip wrote.

"The status of Chinese rose markedly, and Chinese market-gardeners [who grew produce for the troops] were classified as essential industry workers, their patriotic fundraising efforts within New Zealand and the valiant war resistance back in China were praised and acknowledged."

Mr Lee said he would not attend a service this year.

"By serving in the Army, the Chinese proved that we are just as loyal to New Zealand as anyone else, and I guess in that alone, the victory is ours."

Chinese had barred from naturalisation since 1908, but after World War II, New Zealand laws were changed to allow them to apply for citizenship.


On the web: The Auckland War Memorial Museum has a Book of Remembrance on its website for people to post messages on to remember those who served and died in war.


http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=123&objectid=10505916

Wanted - lots more Kiwi spuds to feed China

Stephen Wong says the problem will be satisfying a big market. Thrilled by the potential the free trade agreement with China brings, potato chip-maker Steven Wong is spending $2.8 million on new machinery to double his factory's production. But the chief executive of Fresher Foods is now faced with a new problem - New Zealand does not have enough potatoes to meet China's demands. "The free trade agreement opens up an almost unlimited potential," he said. "But many New Zealand companies will not be able to meet the demand of a market with 1.4 billion people." Mr Wong, 60, who was in Beijing as part of the delegation accompanying Prime Minister Helen Clark, said the new machinery at his East Tamaki chip factory to be installed this month would double weekly production to 800 tonnes. But his company would still struggle to meet Chinese orders, which are expected to skyrocket when tariffs are removed. "The lowest price I can offer for the chips at the moment is still about 5c above what the Americans and Europeans charge, but all that will change when the tariffs are eliminated," Mr Wong said. "Who knows what the demand will be like then." He said the factory already faced a shortfall of about 4000 tonnes this year. "China wants 25 tonnes of potato chips from us every week, but we can only supply them with that quantity in a month." Horticulture New Zealand's potato product group manager, Ron Gall, said the cold spring and extremely dry summer had resulted in an annual potato yield that was 15 per cent lower than the 500,000 tonnes New Zealand usually produces. Potatoes fetched about $220 a tonne and New Zealand could easily produce more if demand rose. But whether more farmers would grow the crop would depend on the price China was prepared to pay. "New Zealand has the potential to increase production of potatoes but competition for land use here is fierce," he said. "So, if the price is right, more will grow potatoes, but don't expect them to switch crops if they are going to be paid rock-bottom prices." NZ Herald 17/4/08 Lincoln Tan

Bai Sarn 6-4-08

Book examines historic Maori-Chinese bonds

Book examines historic Maori-Chinese bonds
5:00AM Tuesday March 25, 2008
By Lincoln Tan


Manying Ip says Maori-Chinese relationships are one of the least- documented pieces of New Zealand history. Photo / Martin Sykes
The Chinese men wanted the Maori women for sex, and the women went to them for the money - but it was more than a commercial arrangement, because they did have a relationship - just not the conventional husband-and-wife type.

This little-known facet of New Zealand's history is revealed in a new book by University of Auckland academic Manying Ip.

The men, who were mostly market gardeners, had wives and children in China, she says, but they never saw their families, and had children with the Maori women who worked in their gardens.

And some Maori families encouraged their daughters to be with the Chinese because they were seen as "financially secure".

Maori-Chinese relationships were complicated, and are one of the least understood and documented pieces of New Zealand history, says Dr Ip.

Her book, Being Maori-Chinese, aims to give an insight into the complexities of this cross-cultural alliance.

"Maori-Chinese are hardly featured in mainstream New Zealand history, and strangely, it is a topic that has also been largely ignored by both Maori and Chinese historians here," said Dr Ip, an associate professor of Chinese at the Auckland University, explaining why she decided to investigate the topic for her book.

But the complexities, and sensitivities surrounding it could be reasons local historians have shied away from it.

One Maori elder at the Otaki campus of Te Wananga-o-Raukawa concluded that Professor Ip would get nowhere with her research, because Maori-Chinese would be very sensitive and would not share any in-depth information.

"Are you sure you want to pursue this study on Maori-Chinese relations? I don't think people will tell you much," he said in a letter to Professor Ip.

"Actually, between the Chinese and the Maori, often there weren't marriages as such. There were relationships, yes. After all, the Chinese men lived here without their women for years and years.

"But often the Maori girls wouldn't expect marriage ... I mean, those were very hard times. The girls did as they were told. More often than not, there's no marriage, not even long-term relationships"

But having Maori-Chinese friends, whom she met through her work as a community advocate, writer and someone devoted to fostering better race relations, gained Professor Ip the much-needed acceptance among the group to enable her to conduct the in-depth research that would form the basis of her book.

Today, the younger Maori-Chinese may be confident with their multiple roots and the cultural advantages they possess, but it was a very different story in the past, she said.


"Trying to establish a positive Maori-Chinese identity when both Maori and Chinese were considered undesirable was an ongoing struggle for each one of them," said Professor Ip, who described Maori and Chinese as marginalised communities in New Zealand.

"Sharing memories of one's past is never easy, but for the interviewees it is that much harder because their stories are not just about struggles against social discrimination, but often of family disapproval."

Over five years, she worked closely with seven Maori-Chinese families, whose stories are featured in the book.

"I guess this book is not just about who they are, but it would also help us with looking at who we are and what New Zealand society will become in the future," Professor Ip said.

Manying Ip was born in Guizhou, China, and raised in Hong Kong. She came to New Zealand in 1974 and gained an MA in Chinese literature and a PhD in history at Auckland University.

She has been a long-time researcher on Chinese New Zealanders and Asian immigrants.

Her other books include Aliens at My Table: Asians As New Zealanders See Them (2005), Unfolding History, Evolving Identity: Chinese in New Zealand (2003) and Home Away From Home: Life Stories of Chinese Women in New Zealand (1990).

Being Maori-Chinese is published by Auckland University Press and will be available in bookshops next month.

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More by Lincoln Tan

Little sisters escape inferno

Little sisters escape inferno
By REBECCA PAPPRILL - Eastern Courier | Friday, 21 March 2008
SHANE WENZLICK/Eastern Courier
FAMILY TRAGEDY: Aleisha, 6, and Maia, 2, are still coming to terms with the fire.

Get down, get low and get out – that’s what six-year-old Aleisha To told her mother as they escaped from their burning home last week.

They could be the words that saved her heavily pregnant mother Linh from going back inside to try to save her 67-year-old father Hoang Chi To who later died.

Senior fire safety officer Mike McEnaney commends Aleisha for relaying safety information taught to her by firefighters at school.

"She told her mother that they had to get out and stay out. That’s a standard safety message that firefighters continually deliver to children," he says.

The family was alerted to the fire by a smoke alarm.

The fire started in the downstairs bedroom where Mrs Linh’s father, an epileptic, was sleeping.

He had recently had a hip replacement and could not walk.

Aleisha, who goes to Point View School, her two-year-old sister Maia and Mrs To were inside their Moyrus Cres home in East Tamaki when Mrs To made a frantic 111 call to the Fire Service about 6.30am.

The Fire Service communicator convinced Mrs To to stay on the telephone until the first fire engine arrived and not to go back into the burning home.

A nearby resident helped the family until firefighters arrived.

Four fire engines responded to the blaze, which badly damaged the bedroom and caused smoke damage throughout the house.

Firefighters rescued Mrs To’s father from his bedroom and gave him first aid until ambulance crews arrived. He was taken to Middlemore Hospital in a serious condition suffering from burns.

"He went into intensive care, but did not make it. He had inhaled too much smoke into his lungs," Mrs To says.

"I have never experienced anything like this in my life. I keep thinking about it – how I could have done things differently. But I had to save my children.

"Even if my husband was home he could not have saved him."

Minh To says he raced home after his wife called to find fire trucks and the ambulance there.

He ran inside the smoke-filled home looking for his wife and children.

"The fire crew said I wasn’t allowed in there and directed me to my family who were safe with the neighbours."

Mr McEnaney says it was fortunate the family had a smoke alarm.

"This is more evidence that smoke alarms do save lives."

Investigations continue into the cause of the fire.

A funeral was held on Thursday for Hoang Chi To

Tong Min Li

Tong Min Li

By EMMA KELLY - East And Bays Courier | Friday, 21 March 2008

HOT TO TROT: Tong Min Li is proud of his award-winning hot cross buns.

Tong Min Li has risen to the challenge – his Easter buns have been named Auckland’s best for the third year in a row.

Customers nominated the hot cross buns made by the owner of Manurewa’s Hill Park Bakery for the Champion Easter Bun Bake Off by text message.

Mr Li, who emigrated from China nine years ago, left his job as an electrician to start baking in New Zealand.

He now runs his own bakery with the help of his family.

"We didn’t have hot cross buns in China," says Mr Li, who began making the traditional buns after seeing them in supermarkets.

In the lead-up to Easter, Mr Li and his team of bakers rise at 12.30am to begin cooking for a 6.30am opening.

"We used to start at 2.30am but we always ran out of time."

He estimates the shop sells 1000 buns a day.

Customers have even travelled from Hamilton and Wellington just to try the winning buns.

The bakery will sell the buns for up to two months after Easter, thanks to their popularity.

Mr Li won’t reveal his secret ingredient but admits he spends hours researching recipes at the library.

"We try many things and always ask our customers for suggestions," he says.

The hardest part of making the region’s best buns was trying to impress the judges for a third time, he says.

"They want to see a better bun every year. It’s getting harder to reach perfection."

Bakeries throughout New Zealand submitted their six best buns for judging.

Goodman Fielder spokesman Mike Turlej says the judges consider the buns’ texture, flavour, fruit distribution and the symmetry of the crosses.

Although Mr Li missed out on the national prize, he says the best thing about winning the regional award is seeing the smiles on people’s faces.

"I just love to see the customer satisfied."

http://www.nzchinese.org.nz/easter/2008/index.htm

On behalf of the NZCA Easter Tournament Committee 2008, welcome to the website of the New Zealand Chinese Association Easter Sports & Cultural Tournament for 2008. The focal point of the 60th Easter Tournament will be the Trusts Stadium at Waitakere, Auckland. It抯 a magnificent stadium, one of very few that will cater for badminton, basketball, netball and volleyball all at the same time!! The touch and athletics facilities are immediately outside, indoor soccer is held in the stadium and indoor netball is held in another facility situated less than 500 metres away.

Waitakere Trust Stadium - Good Friday 21-3-08

Easter Tournament 2008

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Hong Kong-born action film star Jackie Chan paid tribute to his late parents and his Australian roots on Sunday by funding a new science education centre at the country's top cancer research institution.

Chan and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd opened the Jackie Chan Science Centre, at the Australian National University, paid for by Chan's donations to cancer research in honor of his parents, who were long-time residents in Canberra.

Chan made an initial donation to cancer research in Australia in 2002 after the death of his mother, Lee Lee Chan, and was back in Canberra for Saturday's funeral for his father Charlie, who died on February 26, aged 93.

"My father passed away last week. So it is about time I did something for Canberra to remember my parents. I really thank you Australia and Canberra for taking care of my parents for 46 years," Chan told reporters.

Neither Chan nor the Australian National University would comment on how much Chan had donated to cancer research, although the university said the donations were "substantial."

Chan's parents settled in Canberra in the early 1970s, where his father took a job as the head chef at the United States Embassy before becoming a successful local restaurant owner.

Before his career in film, a young Chan lived in Canberra for a couple of years, attending college and working as builder's laborer, where he was given his now famous name Jackie as a nickname by fellow workers, who struggled with his Chinese name.

Rudd, who was elected to power in Australia last November, hosted a dinner at his official residence on Saturday for Chan and his family, as well as diplomats from China and the United States.
Rudd, who speaks fluent Mandarin, discussed ways Chan could

help Australia strengthen its ties with China, which is now Australia's biggest trading partner.

Chan, who is an ambassador for the Beijing Olympics, invited Rudd to attend the Olympics later this year, and said he would be available to help Rudd at any time, but he refused say how.

"There' some secret, I cannot say it," Chan said. "I've known Kevin for a few years. Whenever he calls, I'll be there."

Jackie Chan buries father in Australia

12:16PM Sunday March 09, 2008
By Rob Taylor


Movie star Jackie Chan addresses the media before his father Charlie's funeral service in Canberra. Photo / Reuters
CANBERRA - Hong Kong action film star Jackie Chan returned to his Australian roots on Saturday to bury his father alongside his mother almost six years after she died in Australia's capital.

Chan's father Charlie died in a Hong Kong hospital on February 26, aged 93, after battling prostate cancer. Chan brought his body back to Canberra to be laid to rest beside Lee Lee Chan, who died in 2002.

"It's a hard day. I loved my father so much because he did so much for me when I was young. We had a very poor family and he left Hong Kong to support himself. He was just the greatest father for me," a distraught Chan told reporters.

Hundreds of mourners including the US ambassador and Chinese deputy envoy attended the funeral at a leafy winery on the outskirts of Canberra, before burial at a nearby cemetery.

Chan arrived early in a black bead-embroidered suit and dark wrap sunglasses, walking past vineyards and scores of floral wreaths lining the entrance to the DeVine winery complex.

Inside, the flower-draped casket lay in front of a photo of Charlie Chan with his favourite fishing caps and wooden pipe.

Jackie Chan, star of Hollywood films such as "Rush Hour" and "Rumble in the Bronx", arrived in Australia aged 6 after his father moved there for work in the 1960s, but was soon sent back to Hong Kong to attend the China Drama Academy.

He continued to spend lengthy periods in Canberra with his parents, briefly attending a local high school.

Living in Australia for 40 years, Charlie Chan went from head cook at the US embassy to a successful local restaurant owner, though most of his final years were spent in Hong Kong with his actor son after his wife died.

"Australia and Canberra really took care of my family for more than 40 years," Chan said, adding he would open a university medical research centre named after the family on Sunday.

Chan will shortly team with fellow action star Jet Li for the new adventure epic The Forbidden Kingdom, to be filmed in China, and is also a goodwill envoy for this year's Beijing Olympics.

He said he planned one day to move his parents' bodies back to their homeland of China. Charlie Chan came from Shandong province, close family friend David Ng told Reuters.

Friends and mourners inside the funeral said Chan was "very distressed" as he and others passed a wall of family photographs, many showing father and son hugging or fishing together.


Messages of support were read from former US vice-president Al Gore and film director Quentin Tarantino.

Chan and his son Jason led mourners from the service carrying a large photo of his father before travelling to the cemetery, where roses and fishing mementoes were placed alongside the casket in the grave.

Chan said on his website that his father died "with a smile on his face and laying in the arms of those he held dearest".

- REUTERS

88 Ways to know you're chinese

1. You look like you are 18.
2. You like to eat chicken feet.
3. You suck on fish heads and fish fins.
4. You have a Chinese knick-knack hanging on your rear view mirror.
5. You sing Karaoke.
6. Your house is covered with tile.
7. Your kitchen is covered by a sticky film of grease.
8. Your stove is covered with aluminium foil.
9. You leave the plastic covers on your remote control.
10. You've never kissed your mom or dad.
11. You've never hugged your mom or dad.
12. Your unassisted vision is worse than 20/500.
13. You wear contacts, to avoid wearing your "coke bottle glasses".
14. You've worn glasses since you were in fifth grade.
15. Your hair sticks up when you wake up.
16. You'll haggle over something that is not negotiable.
17. You love to use coupons.
18. You drive around looking for the cheapest petrol.
19. You drive around for hours looking for the best parking space.
20. You take showers at night.its the only natural time of day, your dirty from the whole day hence you must shower at night
21. You avoid the non-free snacks in hotel rooms.
22. You don't mind squeezing 20 people into one motel room.
23. Most girls have more body hair than you, if you are male.western girls that is
24. You tap the table when someone pours tea for you.
25. You say "Aiya!" and "Wah!" frequently.
26. You don't want to wear your seatbelt because it is uncomfortable.
27. You love Las Vegas, slot machines, and blackjack.
28. You unwrap Christmas gifts very carefully, so you can reuse the paper.
29. You only buy Christmas cards after Christmas, when they are 50% off.
30. You have a vinyl table cloth on your kitchen table.
31. You spit bones and other food scraps on the table. (That's why you need
the vinyl tablecloth).
32. You have stuff in the freezer since the beginning of time.
33. You use the dishwasher as a dish rack.
34. You have never used your dishwasher.
35. You keep a Thermos of hot water available at all times.
36. You eat all meals in the kitchen.
37. You save grocery bags, tin foil, and tin containers.
38. You have a piano in your living room
39. You pick your teeth at the dinner table (but you cover your mouth).
40. You twirl your pen around your fingers.
41. You hate to waste food.
42. You have Tupperware in your fridge with three bites of rice or one
leftover chicken wing.
43. You don't own any real Tupperware only a cupboard full of used but
carefully rinsed margarine tubs, takeout containers, and jam jars.

44. You also use the jam jars as drinking glasses.
45. You have a collection of miniature shampoo bottles that you take every
time you stay in a hotel.
46. You carry a stash of your own food whenever you travel (travel means any
car ride longer than 15 minutes). These snacks are always dried and include
dried plums, mango, ginger, and squid.

47. You wash your rice at least 2-3 times before cooking it.
48. Your dad thinks he can fix everything himself.
49. The dash board of your Honda is covered by hundreds of small toys.
50. You don't use measuring cups.
51. You beat eggs with chopsticks.
52. You have a teacup with a cover on it.
53. You always look phone numbers up in the phone book, since calling
information costs 50 cents .
54. You only make long distance calls after 11pm.
55. If you are male, you clap at something funny and if you are female, you
giggle whilst placing a hand over your mouth.

56. You like Chinese films in their original undubbed versions.
57. You love Chinese Martial Arts films.
58. You've learnt some form of martial arts.
59. Shaolin actually mean something to you.
60. You like congee with thousand year old eggs.
61. You prefer your shrimp with the heads and legs still attached.
62. You never call your parents just to say hi.
63. If you don't live at home, when your parents call, they ask if you've
eaten, even if it's midnight.
64. When you're sick, your parents tell you not to eat fried foods or baked
goods due to "yeet hay".
65. You know what "yeet hay" is.
66. You e-mail your Chinese friends at work, even though you only 10 feet
apart.
67. You use a face cloth.
68. You starve yourself before going to all you can eat places.
69. You know someone who can get you a good deal on jewellery or
electronics.
70. You save your old Coke bottle glasses even though you're never going to
use them again.
71. You own your own meat cleaver and sharpen it.
72. Your toothpaste tubes are all squeezed paper-thin.
73. You know what moon cakes are.
74. When there is a sale on toilet paper, you buy 100 rolls and store them
in your closet or in the bedroom of an adult child who has moved out.

75. Your parents know how to launch nasal projectiles.
76. You iron your own shirts.
77. You play a musical instrument.
78. Even if you're totally full, if someone says they're going to throw away
the leftovers on the table, you'll finish them.wastage is no good

79. You've eaten a red bean popsicle.
80. You bring oranges (or other produce) with you as a gift when you visit
people's homes.
81. You fight over who pays the dinner bill.
82. You majored in something practical like engineering, medicine or law.
83. You live with your parents and you are 30 years old (and they prefer it
that way). Or if you're married and 30 years old, you live in the apartment
next door to your parents, or at least in the same neighbourhood.

84. You don't tip more than 0% at a restaurant, and if you do, you tip
Chinese delivery guys/waiters more.
85. You have acquired a taste for bitter melon.
86. You eat every last grain of rice in your bowl, but don't eat the last
piece of food on the table.
87. You know why there are 88 reasons.
88. You see the truth in this and then send it to all your Chinese friends

Taranaki Photos

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2002518&l=f7674&id=1013362165

NZ - Chinese Business Roundtable offices

Goff:
Friday, 29 February 2008, 4:23 pm
Speech: New Zealand Government


Hon Phil Goff
Minister of Trade


29 February 2008


Speech Notes

Speech opening New Zealand Chinese Business Roundtable offices

Mr Ma Chongreng, Consul General for China in Auckland
Mr Liu Linlin, Economic and Commercial Counsellor
Pansy Wong, MP
Joan Caulfield representing P.M. Helen Clark
Mike Lee, Chair, Auckland Regional Council
Jack Chen, Founder, Chinese Business Roundtable
Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen.

Nimen Hou


Thank you for the invitation to participate today in the launch of the New Zealand Chinese Business Roundtable Council and in the opening of your new premises.

Can I thank you also for your invitation to me as Minister of Trade to be patron of the Council, I am enthusiastic about all business organisations which are working to promote New Zealand’s trade interests abroad.

Your organisation also has the worthy objective of bringing together New Zealand Chinese business people to build relationships, share experiences and to communicate your views and needs to local and central government.

It is a propitious time to establish an organisation focussed on trade between New Zealand and China.

Last December China became New Zealand’s third largest trading partner, with over $7 billion a year in two way trade.

China is the world’s fastest growing economy and New Zealand’s fastest growing export market. It has over 100 million affluent consumers and more than 300 million consumers with growing disposable incomes.

This year will mark a milestone in our trading relationship when we achieve our fourth first. We were the first country to negotiate an agreement with China for its entry into the WTO, the first to recognise it as a market economy, the first OECD or developed country to start negotiations with it for a free trade agreement and in early April we will be the first developed country to conclude and sign a free trade agreement with China.

On the 6-9 April, the Prime Minister and I will lead a business delegation to Beijing where the signing ceremony will take place in the Great Hall of People.

I don’t claim that agreement will be perfect or achieve all our trade ambitions but it will meet the tests set by Prime Minister Clark and Premier Wen of being comprehensive, high quality and of mutual benefit to the two countries.

Our export trade is estimated as a result of the agreement to grow by an extra $260 to $400 million a year each year for 20 years.

When tariff cuts are fully implemented, it will save New Zealand exporters over $100 million a year.

It gives us higher profile and an advantage over our trading competitors in the Chinese market. It provides more certainty for our goods and services exporters and for our investors there.

Without this agreement, New Zealand exporters would have suffered increasing competitive disadvantages compared to other countries entering into free trade agreements with China.

The free trade agreement will open doors for our traders into China and create opportunities but it will be up to New Zealand business to seize and benefit from those opportunities.

That means that our exporters will need to understand the markets in China, what its needs are and how to work effectively within it – understanding the laws, the culture, the language, the importance of guanxi / relationships.

This is where the New Zealand Chinese business community can help give New Zealand a head start.

You know where New Zealand’s competitive advantages are, how we can best succeed in marketing what we produce in the Chinese market. You know New Zealand, you know China.

I look forward to the constructive and positive role which the New Zealand Chinese Business Roundtable Council can and will play in this area.

Best wishes for the growth and strengthening of your Council.

It is my privilege to launch your organisation and declare this building officially open.

Albert Park

Lantern Festival - Cancelled 2008

Asians winning acceptance

5:00AM Saturday February 16, 2008
By Simon Collins

Polls by the Human Rights Commission found that the proportion of New Zealanders who see "some" or "a great deal" of discrimination against Asians has dropped from a peak of almost 80 per cent in 2003-04 to just 68 per cent at the end of last year.

But this was still the highest discrimination rate perceived against any group, followed by the overweight, welfare beneficiaries and recent immigrants (all 62 per cent), refugees (56 per cent) and gays and lesbians (54 per cent).

Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres, who will present details to the Federation of Ethnic Councils in Christchurch today, said the downward trend suggested that Asians were slowly becoming accepted in New Zealand, as Pacific Islanders and other immigrants had been before them.

"Eighteen years of Asian migration in Auckland is starting to become a fact of life," he said.

The poll of 750 people by UMR Research found that 71 per cent of Asians themselves still feel that New Zealanders discriminate against them - 26 per cent "some" and 45 per cent "a great deal".

Pacific Islanders feel more accepted. Only 4 per cent feel they are discriminated against "a great deal" and 58 per cent feel "some" discrimination.

But Maori feel even more heavily discriminated against than Asians - 24 per cent "a great deal" and 49 per cent "some".

Asked if they personally have been discriminated against, 31 per cent of Maori but only 20 per cent of non-Maori said "yes".

The number of complaints to the Human Rights Commission over "racial disharmony" jumped from 27 in 2006 to 66 last year.

More than half (35) related to a comment by Whakatane District councillor Russell Orr that "lazy, greedy, lawless and ungrateful cheats that infest the outer regions of our district [should] be made to comply with the same rules you and I abide by".

Mr de Bres said the commission decided not to prosecute Mr Orr because the comment, though "offensive", did not meet the legal test of "inciting" racial disharmony.

Mr Orr last night stood by his comments. "There are lazy, lawless, ungrateful cheats out there and I'm not going to apologise to them."

More by Simon Collins

Zengcheng Map

Lincoln Tan: Don't touch a broom today

:30AM Thursday February 07, 2008
By Lincoln Tan

Okay, so you ushered in 2008 and got drunk in the process.

Well here's another excuse to celebrate yet another New Year today. Chinese New Year.

Today marks the first day of chun jie, spring festival, which is celebrated by people of Chinese ethnicity the world over.

This is the real new year, at least for me and those who follow the lunar calendar, and one which has more drama, more tradition and, most importantly, causes far less trouble than the other one.

Even the name - the Year of the Rat - has a cool ring to it, sounding like a title of a Hollywood mafia-kung fu movie flick unlike the other one, which is identified only by digits.

According to the Chinese zodiac calendar, today marks the entry of the Earth Rat and for the feng shui believers, the elements of earth and water will be dominant this year.

Earth represents stability, so expect things to be rather smooth sailing for the first half of the year - but appearance of water in the second half, hinting at turbulence means we can expect some upheavals.


But those born in the year of the Ox, Dragon or Monkey (me!) are supposed to be in harmony with the Rat, and would possibly escape the turbulence. Phew!

Thanks to the internet and the many feng shui websites, writers on these topics no longer need to be wise to sound wise, but being Chinese does help make this pseudo-forecast sound that much more authentic.

It's great celebrating the festival in New Zealand, unlike back where I came from, where bookings for Chinese New Year dinner must be made months ahead.

You can rest assured you'll be lucky enough to find empty tables at most restaurants here.

Luck is everything during Chinese New Year. Do things right today, and your year will be filled with fortune, prosperity and money. Inauspicious? Well, you can't be - that's bad luck.

Some of the other rules: no using the broom, because that would mean sweeping your luck away, no swearing and most definitely no violence, otherwise you'll get everything back a hundredfold over the year.

I do wonder if some of these were put in place by the Chinese because they could foresee New Year parties running wild, and thought the threat of bad luck was more effective in holding the peace than the police.

But if you want to play it safe with luck, then you must wear red today.


If red is not your thing, then do what wise Chinese would do today - wear red underwear.

It is a widespread belief that red panties bring good luck to the wearer during Chinese New Year, so go for it. And if you're game on wearing it Superman-style - red underwear on the outside - then you've probably increased your chances of winning Lotto by leaps and bounds.

The Rat is the first sign of the 12-animal Chinese zodiac calendar, so this is supposed to be a year of beginnings.

If you have never celebrated Chinese New Year, then make this a new beginning and celebrate your first.

Cheers (with Chinese tea of course), and Gongxi Facai!

Drink in the collection (+ photos)

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=139&objectid=10489632

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/multimedia/image.cfm?c_id=139&objectid=10489632

Drink in the collection

Drink in the collection (+ photos)
5:00AM Friday February 01, 2008
By Cathrin Schaer


Russell Green. Photo / Babiche Martens.

View Photos
When Russell Green, owner of the richly decorated Auckland bar Shanghai Lil's, was 7, he got into a lot of trouble over some spare cash he'd been given.

"I spent the 20 cents that I was given on an old gramophone," confesses Green. "And really," he chuckles, "that was where it all began."

By "it", Green, who worked as a chef for 30 years before turning to bar ownership, means collecting.

Over the following years his passion for the unusual, the vintage and collectible has grown.

Not everything he had could be fitted into his living quarters and a lot of Green's purchases were in storage.

"So we decided it was time to put them to some use."

Green decorated Shanghai Lil's using Green's various objets d'art, furniture and other fittings.

Today the bar, near Victoria Park market and next to the Birdcage Tavern, is patronised by the rich and famous, the bohemian and art students alike.

"I like the idea that it's a place where people of different generations, backgrounds and ideas meet and then feel like they've gone away, having had a different sort of experience."
FAVOURITE THINGS

1. Chandeliers: They have made a comeback and deserve to. Mine sits on top of a Chinese cabinet in Lil's.

2. Our car, an MGTF 1500, 1954: It's designed like a real sports car should be and it's been in the family since it was brand new.

3. The Birdcage Tavern: Formerly the Rob Roy, it now houses Shanghai Lil's. It is admired worldwide and is one of the few hotels built in the mid-1880s still standing in Auckland. Before this land was reclaimed, the water actually used to come right up the door and the pub was named for a ship called the Rob Roy that sank in the harbour.

4. Auckland Museum: Architect Noel Lane has shown that older buildings can be adapted for today. We should keep an eye on the Art Gallery and the St James Theatre because I think old buildings can retain their organic flavour without losing their integrity. Buildings can be adapted as long as it's done with sensitivity.

5. 42 Below: Besides being a great vodka, the design of the packaging is superb. When I was in Shanghai recently most of the cocktails in the Glamour Bar - it's on a rooftop on the historic Bund - were made using it.

6. Our own lounge at home: It's taught me that with design, buy what you love. Every piece is as important as any other.


7. Air New Zealand Fashion Week: It has shown us there is great individual fashion design that's unique to New Zealand and up to world standards. A lot of my decorating ideas come from visiting women's fashion shops, actually - from the interiors of the shops to the fabrics used. My favourites are Yvonne Bennetti, Trelise Cooper, Karen Walker and Lucy Boshier. All have that wow factor.

8. Erte, born 1892: He was Romain de Tirtoff, a White Russian who, as a graphic artist, designed for Harper's Bazaar in the 1920s and designed dresses for Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo. I'm a great admirer and I own five of his graphics that came to New Zealand with Michael Barrymore.

9. The Sad Pianist: A fascinating book written and designed by Diana Wong. It's a photographic retrospect of local Aucklanders, many of whom went on to greatness. The artwork is by a local artist, John Holmwood. The book was also adapted into a home movie which used cast members from the book.

10. Antique Navajo, silver and turquoise jewellery: I recently inherited a collection of antique jewellery. The artisan has designed the pieces to represent snakes and other things with mystic and spiritual meaning.

Chow, Viaduct Harbour

5:00AM Friday February 01, 2008
By Ewan McDonald


Photo / Babiche Martens.
Herald rating: * * *

Address: 1 Pakenham St, Viaduct Harbour
Phone: (09) 365 2585
Web: www.chow.co.nz
Open: 7 days, noon- midnight
Cuisine: Asian plates
From the menu: Roast duck, egg noodles, shitake, bok choy in star anise and soy broth $16; Banana leaf fish with red curry, kaffir lime, honey, coriander, turmeric, coconut dipping sauce $14; Lime posset, mint and mango salsa, coconut sesame wafers $9
Vegetarian: Some dishes
Wine: ... and cocktails and beer

Chai-pas is the word. For which the world has to thank Jimmy Chung, whose chic Shanghai Lily in Toronto's Chinatown tore apart the food map of Asia in the early 2000s. Chefs blended Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese ingredients with Western accents, turned out in contemporary presentations, to create dishes to be passed around the table, shared across cocktails.

Chai-pas as in "Chinese tapas". Some might call it fusion but Chung rejected the label: "It sounds like bok choy and spaghetti." Sauteed chilli-spiked Chinese long beans with black Greek olives. Wok-fried calamari with passionfruit infusion. Chinese ravioli stuffed with sweet-potato mash and mint with a mango aioli. Battered Japanese eggplant with a minty ginger dip.

These thoughts are inspired by Chow, freshly arrived from Wellington, where it has three berths in and around the Harbour Capital. The Auckland vessel moors a couple of blocks from the water, near the Tepid Baths and another visitor from Evans Bay, Monsoon Poon.

Both share a culinary horizon: salads, rolls, noodles, skewers in a fun place to gather a crew over nibbles and cocktails, or beers and bites.

Moonson Poon casts its ladle wider, incorporating Indian flavours, and feels like your friendly neighbourhood pub. If your friendly neighbourhood is Mumbai or Newtown.

Chinese-oriented Chow is more studied in style and substances. The style is 70s light-fittings and bare-concrete breeze-blocks, dividing the one-time chandlery, later Scandinavian furniture store, into an essay in retro.

The substance "combines the flavours of Asia in a fresh new way". It has one of those so-cute menus divvied up into Bowls, Salads and Long Plates. "Have you eaten at Chow before?" asked the well-schooled waiter.

He would go on to ask everyone that, and pretty much everyone had the same answer, "No." Not surprising, because the place had opened that week, and - much as it may surprise folk at the other end of the island - not every Aucklander goes to Wellington to eat.

So we were informed that: a, the food is meant to be shared and b, a couple of Long Plates with sides is a meal. More is a feast". Jude, Sian, Guy and I did the math and figured we'd start with three or four Long Plates and a similar quantity of Hoegardens and see where we went from there.


Rice-paper rolls were a promising start, vermicelli and veggies getting a kick from coriander and a lemon chilli dipping sauce. Promising, not rip your T-shirt off. Same for prawn and pork cakes, wham generated by red curry, coriander and Vietnam-ish nam yam dipping sauce. Fresh flavours next time around: mango chicken salad, the usual cashews and (there's a theme here) kaffir lime, coriander and a coconut chilli dressing.

Time to stretch for the touted "fresh new way" with Asian flavours. Blue cheese and peanut wontons? Hmmm. With berry coulis? "Why would anyone do that?" asked Guy, a reasonable question, which might also be applied to pumpkin and cashew fritters with saffron, sea salt and ... coriander and sweet chilli dipping sauce. Sian was rather taken by her soup, or should we say Bowl, of spiced beef with rice noodles, bok choy and crispy shallots, though someone might have left out the coriander and chili dipping sauce.

We'd knocked over seven or nine Long Plates and none of us felt, as the French say, complet. Another round might do the trick. Two plates were forgettable: mussel fritters with carrot, sticky rice ... yep, coriander and sweet chilli mayo were not. They were tasteless.

Bill for four, with beers, $200.

Concentrating on all-style and not enough sustenance, dumbing-down superb cuisines into Asia-lite: if Chow and Monsoon Poon are anything to go by, these must be Wellington things.

The problem is the gap between us on the map, and the easy way to reconcile it is eat in a decent restaurant, not a cocktail party with finger food that everyone else is invited to. There's more to a good restaurant than a recycled idea and a hip website.

Oh, one last thing before I go. Shanghai Lily's fusion-tapas experiment lasted less than a year in Toronto. It's now a sushi bar.

Tea Eggs

Chinese New Year - Greenlane showgrounds

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-chinese24jan24,0,3728633.story?track=ntothtml

An emotional custody dispute over history

Advisory panel wants to rebury bones found in L.A. Chinese Americans want to study them.
By David Pierson, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
January 24, 2008
The hundreds of brittle bones were buried in a forgotten cemetery with intricate ceramics, jade jewelry and opium pipes. They were the last earthly possessions of what could be dozens of Chinese workers too poor to have been buried back in China and too little-known to merit headstones. Some more than a century old, they offer an irresistible window into a dark chapter in Los Angeles' history.

The bones and artifacts remained deep below Boyle Heights until three years ago, when workers digging the subway tunnel for the Gold Line rail extension uncovered them. The discovery thrilled Chinese American historians because it was one of the few involving the earliest generations of Chinese immigrants who came to California to help build the railroads and perform other menial tasks.

But now, the items are at the center of an emotional custody dispute.

Historians and some local elected officials say they should be carefully preserved and studied in order to build a better narrative of how early Chinese immigrants lived in America.

But a local citizens' committee established to advise the Metropolitan Transportation Authority on the find believes the most respectful thing to do is rebury the 128 sets of remains as soon as possible. The MTA's board of directors will have the final say in the coming months.

The issue has touched a nerve in the Chinese community, in part because of a desire to better understand the lives of so-called Chinese sojourners, male immigrants who in 19th century California could not vote, marry or be buried at local cemeteries and who lacked many basic rights, including the right to own property.

"It would be further dehumanizing for them to be buried without any attempt to identify them," said Judy Chu, vice chairwoman of the state Board of Equalization. "They died alone without family to comfort them and make sure their time on this Earth meant something."

Officials at the MTA defended the work of its Review Advisory Committee, formed in 1995 to handle community issues surrounding the rail line extension, and the Ad Hoc Sub Committee, formed two years ago to discuss what to do with the remains and artifacts.

Committee members want to rebury the remains at nearby Evergreen Ceremony with a memorial, saying that would amount to the dignified burial that eluded them so many years ago.

"I put myself in their situation," said Renee Chavez, chairwoman of the ad hoc panel and a member of the advisory committee. "What would my family have wanted? No. 1, they would not have wanted to be disinterred. But it happened. But we can provide the honor and respect they were denied."

Committee meetings were tense at times after some Chinese Americans, saying they believed they were poorly represented on the panels, said their concerns were ignored.

Of the 11 representatives on the ad hoc group, two were Chinese American and one, not of Chinese descent, was a board member of the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California. None of the 13 members of the advisory committee was Chinese American.

Leading the charge to have the remains identified and the artifacts housed at an academic institution is Mike Ten, a South Pasadena city councilman whose family's roots in Chinatown date to the 1900s.

"I'm really fighting for my grandparents and their generation," Ten said

He's trying to raise $100,000 to pay for Cal State Los Angeles to take samples of the remains before they undergo DNA analysis, which could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars more.

Cal State L.A. said it would donate a laboratory to curate the remains, but only if public fundraising can cover expenses.

Though Ten praised the citizens' committees for arranging for plots at Evergreen Cemetery, he said he does not believe they grasped the importance of the findings to the Chinese American community.

"They're tired of dealing with it," Ten said. "These are regular citizens dealing with a very sensitive issue. They're trying to stay away from the controversy. But an opportunity for history like this only comes every generation. This is our chance to capture it."

When the MTA announced discovery of the remains, Chinese American groups accused the agency of trying to downplay the discoveries for fear of further delaying the $898-million extension, which is scheduled to be completed in 2009. The MTA had been criticized by Eastside residents for years for not delivering the new line sooner.

Since then, an archaeology firm hired by the MTA has excavated and cataloged the remains from the site where they were discovered, at the corner of 1st and Lorena streets. Grave markers and headstones with Chinese characters believed to correspond to some of the remains were found nearby

The MTA launched an effort to find relatives last year after translating some of the grave markers and headstones and finding names of people and of towns in China. Though they received some calls from the public, no one has so far been able to claim any relationship to the people whose remains were discovered.

Chinese American leaders say the MTA will never succeed without proper DNA identification. More important, they said, they believe the discovery is a critical link to an often ignored period of L.A.'s history.

"They hit the jackpot," said ChorSwang Ngin, chair of Cal State L.A.'s anthropology department and director of the school's Asian and Asian American Studies. "We want a chance for our students to learn this history. Why the hurry? Don't bury them just yet. Let's take a close look."

Ngin said Cal State L.A. -- situated between the city's oldest Chinese community, Chinatown, and the region's robust Chinese suburbs in the San Gabriel Valley -- is an ideal place to study the discoveries.

Diana Tarango, chairwoman of the Review Advisory Committee and a member of the ad hoc group, said it was still unclear how many of the sets of remains unearthed are in fact the remains of people of Chinese descent. Because of the poor conditions in which they were found, archaeologists have determined only that 19 were Asian, 15 were of European descent, 11 were of mixed ethnicity and 83 were too damaged to tell. Members of the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California say many of the remains of unknown ethnic origin were buried with the Chinese artifacts, which they say is a sign they were probably Chinese.

Ngin said some of the remains belonged to Chinese females, a rare find because so many of the earlier Chinese communities were bachelor societies, a result of federal immigration policies. The women were most likely servants or prostitutes, Ngin said.

Historians say the site in which the remains were found was the chief burial ground for people of Chinese descent between 1877 and 1924.

Tarango said the panel's decision to rebury the bones and artifacts at Evergreen Cemetery with a memorial service reflected the desires of most in the community. She said the Cal State L.A. option was only officially presented last week and called the idea "too little too late."

"We have to put this thing to rest," Tarango said. "Every month we put a lot of time and effort into this. We did this the democratic way. I feel so strong what we're doing is right: rebury them where we found them. That would be the honorable thing to do."

david.pierson@latimes.com

5:00AM Saturday January 19, 2008
By Lincoln Tan


New Year celebrations in the old style have been maintained by Chinese communities around the world. Photo / Reuters
The organisers of a 20-year-old festival to celebrate Chinese New Year in Auckland are dismayed by the establishment of a second festival, saying it will confuse the public.

The Auckland Chinese Community Centre, organisers of the established event, and World Television, organisers of the second event, are both claiming theirs is the main event.

Prime Minister Helen Clark is scheduled to attend both.

World Television has in previous years promoted the ACCC event but this year is promoting only its own festival on its New Zealand television channels and radio stations.

"For 20 years, the ACCC has been organising the festival, so of course I'm shocked that someone else can come out and say that the one they are organising for the first time is the main show," said Kai Luey, event organiser and president of the New Zealand Chinese Association.

ACCC immediate past-president Thomas Do told the Herald that he had paid for at least five full-page advertisements in local Chinese newspapers to correct that confusion.


WTV director Henry Chan said there was no conflict because the events were taking place at different venues and at different times.

He added the Chinese community was was happy that there were more events to go to during the Chinese festive season.

The celebrations last more than a month. The Year of the Rat starts on February 7.

The ACCC festival will take place at the ASB Showgrounds today, while the WTV fair will be held in Manukau in a fortnight.

Today's highlights include lion dancing, meeting the Beijing Olympic mascots and a rare face-changing act, something Mr Luey says is rarely seen outside China.

The fanfare nowadays is a far cry from when Goh Chan Koh first moved to New Zealand 19 years ago.

Coming from Penang, Malaysia - where festivities included public concerts and fairs, blasting fire crackers and exchanging lucky red packets and mandarin oranges among friends and family - she was surprised to find Chinese New Year was not celebrated here.

Now, there is plenty of activity, said Ms Goh. "For immigrants who do not have family here, celebrations will have more meaning if they had more places to go to."

Mr Luey, a local-born Chinese, explained that until recently Chinese New Year celebrations had been family affairs.

It was because of this that the Auckland Chinese Community Centre organised the first Chinese New Year fair 20 years ago to give local Chinese a place where they could celebrate the festival together.


Celebrations

What's on:

* Today: ACCC Chinese New Year Festival. ASB Showgrounds, 9.30am to 3.30pm.

* Feb 3: Chinese New Year Multicultural Festival, Telstra Clear Events Centre, 9am.

* Feb 16: Chinese New Year Racing Carnival, Ellerslie Race Course. First race 10am.

* Feb 22-24: Auckland Lantern Festival, Albert Park. 5.30pm to 10pm.

* All events are free

Pui Ching School

Happy New Year - 2008

new-year .in

Pages from the medicine book

Pages from the medical book

Lincoln Tan: Each to his own magic

5. 00AM Monday December 24, 2007
By Lincoln Tan

Christmas Eve has always been a special day for me, even as a child growing up in a Buddhist family in Singapore.

Every Christmas evening, I always looked forward to the food trays the neighbours would bring to us full of Christmas goodies such as fruit cake, pineapple tarts and candies.

After devouring my favourites, I would happily help Mum place chocolates and biscuits on the trays and take them back to the neighbours with a note of thanks and a Christmas card.

A magical feel always seemed to follow the Christmas festivities, and with the common business practice there of paying year-end bonuses, having some extra money around always set Dad in a happier mood.

After supper, I would meet the other neighbourhood kids at the playground and we'd spend hours stargazing and enter into deep discussions about how Santa was goingto get into our flats, which had no chimneys.

We'd talk about the naughty things we did over the year, and wonder if we'd still get any presents from Santa, before retiring to our respective homes.

And no, most of us kids didn't have a clue Christmas is about the birth of Jesus Christ.

Like me, most of these kids were non-Christians - they were mainly Buddhists, Muslims and Hindus - and although we didn't celebrate Christmas in the religious sense, most of us would have had Christmas trees at our homes for presents to be placed under.

What I remember of my childhood Christmas was that it was so unlike Chinese New Year, Hari Raya or Diwali because it was the only festival the entire neighbourhood celebrated, although each would do it in his or her own way.

The annual Christmas rituals ended when we moved to a new estate when I was about 9, and everything changed when Mum registered me for tuition classes at a home-based church.

After each class, there would be a sing-along session and a short sermon by the church elder and it was during one of these sermons that I was told, for the first time, that the person I have known all along as the one who made Christmas was just an evil myth.

The elder claimed commercialism had squeezed Christ out of Christmas and said Santa must be banished from our homes. He also made us draw Christmas cards with the words: Christ is born, Santa gone. I was told that everything I liked and enjoyed about the Christmas season - the tinsels and decorations and lights in the malls, and even writing my annual wish list to Santa - had actually nothing to do with Christmas.

The real reason for Christmas is the birth of Jesus Christ, whom Christians believe is the Son of God, the elder said. Everything else was the work of the devil.

Although I understood better what this elder said when I became a Catholic in my late teens, I still cannot help feeling that in his attempt to instil his beliefs in me, he had robbed me of some Christmas magic.

I read with interest the arguments of the two Anglican priests who recently wrote in the pages of this newspaper.

Archdeacon Glynn Cardy of St Matthew-in-the-City wrote that Christmas was now about more than just Jesus and embracing universal values is the best reason for the season. He was countered by Hamilton vicar Michael Hewatt arguing that we all lose if Jesus is cut from Christmas. Hewatt wrote: "I do not like the idea that Jesus is no longer the primary reason, or reason enough for celebrating Christmas."

Christmas has become a universal celebration with a much larger secular appeal than a religious one, so whether the vicar likes it or not, how it is celebrated is now no longer the sole domain of Christianity.

Also, the changing face of New Zealand - where 45 per cent of Kiwis in the last Census professed to either possessing no religion or faiths other than Christianity - means that for many, Christmas is no longer about going to church or remembering Jesus' birth.

Maybe those fundamentalists who have long decried its commercialisation must come to terms with the fact that Christmas means different things to different people.

To many, Christmas is a time when we remember those dear to us, but as Christians give presents as a reminder of the spiritual meaning of Christmas when God gave mankind the ultimate gift - himself - non-believers should not be denied the joy of giving gifts purely to show they are thinking beyond themselves.

At this time of the year, a part of me remains forever the 8-year-old stargazing with his friends and waiting for Santa. Through my own 8-year-old son and a daughter who is 5, I get to relive some of the magic from seasons long gone.

Some things never change and Christmas will continue to be the annual highlight for children of any race.

Instead of arguing about what the right reason for the season is, maybe we should just enjoy the magic of Christmas as these children would.

Have a merry Christmas everyone - whatever your faith may be.

* lincoln@iballmedia.co.nz

Old Medical Book - pre 1900

Does anyone know anything about this?

Who knows anything about this school

Hong Woo Monthly - Cira1926

Babelfish

http://babelfish.altavista.com/

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