Lantern is all about reflection, human nature and family, regardless of race or culture.
Set in present day Auckland, the play which kicks off on Monday follows the fictional Chen family.
But what gives this play its lustre, is that as the story unfolds whole audiences recognise not just facets of themselves, but also snippets of their own stories played out on stage.
Lantern’s writer is Remuera-based Renee Liang, who is a poet, a playwright, and – surprisingly – a paediatrician. She is also working on her first novel.
While medicine is her calling, writing is her passion.
She is one of the organisers of Poetry Live, Auckland’s long-running weekly poetry gig and admits that she is always trying to get more people to write and read poetry.
A member of the Guerilla poets – who etch words in chalk on Auckland pavements – she’s done everything from random poetry readings at bus stops to chairing the poetry session at the Auckland Writers and Readers Festival.
Nor does she shy away from real things, and this trait contributes to her work’s fearless honesty and insights.
"I gave 18 years of my life solely to medicine, and then something happened. My partner died. I was in shock and couldn’t do anything for two days.
"What I eventually did though, was pick up a pen – and write a poem for him.
"And it was like that unleashed the floodgates. I wrote for about a year, poems to him," she says.
"Then one day, I was writing about other things. And then came the first love poem I wrote, that wasn’t for him, but was for my current partner.
"I believe very much that one thing leads to another, and with writing in particular that is the case. I’m still exploring fields, genres, formats – all the ways there are to express feelings, thoughts, ideas," she says.
She says her training in medicine has taught her to look at what’s beneath the surface, and that’s what she does in her writing.
"I’m curious about people and I let that show, and in their response to me, they give me insights into what’s really there, under all the surface stuff.
"What is really interesting is the disconnection that so many people feel, which has nothing to do with race or culture.
"Sometimes our isolation is what we actually share," she says.
Miss Liang has immersed herself in all aspects of play writing, a wide range of genres of artistic expression and collaborations and involvement in a dizzying variety of artistic groups from fringe festivals to Read Raw to Flip the Script, Smack Bang and other private collaborations.
Ad Feedback
She says Lantern is at its heart, a play about family.
It involves two actors who play 10 characters over 85 minutes.
The actors are two of New Zealand’s best-known Chinese actors, Shortland Street’s Li-Ming Hu and Andy Wong from Ride with the Devil and No 2.
Audience members are invited to add their own poetry to a lantern installation in the foyer.
Lantern runs from Monday to June 13 at The Basement, lower Greys Ave, Auckland.
For ticket information go to www.the-edge.co.nz or call 357-3355.
Paediatrician's play all about the family
By KAREN KOTZE - East And Bays Courier
Last updated 05:00 05/06/2009
Sunday, September 27, 2009
BUDDING SCIENTIST: Palmerston North student Jenny Wong
t 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.
By CAITLIN MADDEN - Manawatu Standard
Last updated 12:00 11/08/2009
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.
By CAITLIN MADDEN - Manawatu Standard
Last updated 12:00 11/08/2009
Tony Wong-Kam. Fishing king lands more excitement
Fishing is far from peaceful for champion angler Tony Wong-Kam.
The newly crowned King of the Coromandel has often been in the headlines.
And he claims shots have been fired at him in the past by jealous rivals.
Even his latest success was marred by an incident which could have cost lives, he says.
"On the drive home from the Coromandel I had to stop six or seven times.
"The rig carrying my boat didn’t feel right, it weaved when I turned."
He says he found four bolts on his towbar were loose.
"On the motorway, that’s a life and death situation," he says.
Wong-Kam, 48, of Torbay says checks were carried out on his vehicle before the journey and he suspects that the fastenings were undone deliberately.
"A complaint has been made with the police," he says.
"I have a history with things like this, I’m a target."
With Mike Hiskens the pair dominated the annual King of the Coromandel competition bagging thousands of dollars in prizes in the process.
"Fish we caught on the first two days won first, second and third overall," says Wong-Kam.
"We didn’t go out on the third day to give someone else a chance."
Wong-Kam estimates a total prize haul, which included a new car, to be worth at least $30,000.
"We brought home two of the top three kingfish we caught. But the biggest one was stolen from the ice bins."
Excitement is never far from Wong-Kam. In December 2006 his face was slashed by a stingray while diving off Great Barrier Island and in March 2008 he claimed to be the first person to catch a manta ray in New Zealand waters.
Wong-Kam says he does not understand the negative attention and will remain undeterred from fishing
http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/north-shore-times/2382820/Fishing-king-lands-more-excitement
By SIMON PLUMB - North Shore Times
Last updated 05:00 05/05/2009
The newly crowned King of the Coromandel has often been in the headlines.
And he claims shots have been fired at him in the past by jealous rivals.
Even his latest success was marred by an incident which could have cost lives, he says.
"On the drive home from the Coromandel I had to stop six or seven times.
"The rig carrying my boat didn’t feel right, it weaved when I turned."
He says he found four bolts on his towbar were loose.
"On the motorway, that’s a life and death situation," he says.
Wong-Kam, 48, of Torbay says checks were carried out on his vehicle before the journey and he suspects that the fastenings were undone deliberately.
"A complaint has been made with the police," he says.
"I have a history with things like this, I’m a target."
With Mike Hiskens the pair dominated the annual King of the Coromandel competition bagging thousands of dollars in prizes in the process.
"Fish we caught on the first two days won first, second and third overall," says Wong-Kam.
"We didn’t go out on the third day to give someone else a chance."
Wong-Kam estimates a total prize haul, which included a new car, to be worth at least $30,000.
"We brought home two of the top three kingfish we caught. But the biggest one was stolen from the ice bins."
Excitement is never far from Wong-Kam. In December 2006 his face was slashed by a stingray while diving off Great Barrier Island and in March 2008 he claimed to be the first person to catch a manta ray in New Zealand waters.
Wong-Kam says he does not understand the negative attention and will remain undeterred from fishing
http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/north-shore-times/2382820/Fishing-king-lands-more-excitement
By SIMON PLUMB - North Shore Times
Last updated 05:00 05/05/2009
Raymond Wong Tong: Green grocer had a twinkle in his eye
Raymond Wong Tong had a passion for China, but always returned to Wellington, and will be remembered for his fondness for a chat.
Raymond Wong Tong was always sociable. He loved flirting with the ladies who came into the family fruit and vegetable shop in Cuba St and even after his retirement he readily chatted with people he met on his walks or bike rides around Miramar.
Always cheerful, polite, considerate and well dressed, he was able to converse fluently in English, Cantonese and the Mandarin he continued to study in his later years.
Mr Wong Tong was born at 259 Cuba St above the shop set up by his father who had come out to New Zealand in the 1800s to work the Otago goldfields.
The oldest of seven - six sisters and a brother - he went to Mt Cook School and Wellington Technical College. He attended the Anglican Chinese Mission Church in Frederick St and learnt to play the violin.
When he was 16 the family returned to China to ensure the children had a Chinese education.
Mr Wong Tong signed on as a radio telegrapher with the British- owned China Navigation Company and sailed on the company freighters which plied the coast, up the Yangtze River and as far south as Singapore.
During this time he was introduced to and fell in love with Betty Chang, a New Zealand-born girl who had been raised in China since the age of three.
"I fell in love with her lovely dimples immediately and when she smiled at me, I knew I had to have her," Mr Wong Tong once recounted, remembering courting her on the cosmopolitan pre-war Shanghai waterfront.
They married in 1935, and their honeymoon was their voyage back to New Zealand on the Union Company Ship Taniwha.
Back in Wellington he rejoined the family at their second shop - Wong Tong and Sons - at 168 Cuba St (this is still a greengrocer but was sold by the family more than 50 years ago).
The extended family lived on the second and third floor above the shop and everybody contributed to the business.
During the war, Mr Wong Tong served in the home guard and every Sunday would get dressed in his army uniform and head out for training at Lyall Bay, but fortunately his appalling marksmanship never had to be put to the test.
For a time during the war, when Japanese invasion was feared, the women and children were sent over to Carterton while the men manned the shop.
As the children grew up they helped out in the shop if they weren't at school, attending Chinese classes or taking music lessons.
Ad Feedback
Mr Wong Tong and his brother Ivan would go to the markets in Allen St each weekday morning where he would concentrate on vegetables while Ivan's specialty was fruit and flowers.
The shop's supplies were supplemented by spring onions and radishes grown on a small family plot in Nairn St and later from the large garden behind the home Mr Wong Tong bought in Puriri St, Miramar.
When his father sold the business in 1953, Mr Wong Tong moved the family to Nelson and opened another fruit and vegetable shop in Trafalgar St.
He and his wife sold the shop in 1966 after all the children left home and began what was to be their retirement with a two-year overseas holiday taking in Hong Kong and the United States, before returning and settling again in Miramar.
But Mr Wong Tong was just 55 and started working again - an office job with Philips Electrical in Lyall Bay, where he stayed on for about 10 years before finally retiring after suffering a mild heart attack. In 1983 he travelled back to China for the first time in nearly 50 years.
Mr Wong Tong - who was brought up to support the Chinese nationalists - later accepted that his homeland had become a communist state and he accepted invitations to functions put on by the Taiwanese as well as the Chinese diplomatic representatives in Wellington.
He was a stalwart of the Fung Tung Association which his father had helped found, and the Chinese Anglican Mission.
His only extravagance was the odd flutter on the horses and mahjong with his pensioner friends where losing $5 was a big deal.
Mrs Wong Tong died in 2006 and he spent his last few years in a rest home. He is survived by his four children, eight grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren.
Raymond Wong Tong, green grocer: born Wellington, March 6, 1911; married Betty Chang 1935, 2 sons and 2 daughters; died Wellington, July 21, 2009, aged 98.
Sources. Ronald, Beverley, Mervyn and Fiona Wong.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/national/obituaries/2732503/Raymond-Wong-Tong-Green-grocer-had-a-twinkle-in-his-eye
Raymond Wong Tong was always sociable. He loved flirting with the ladies who came into the family fruit and vegetable shop in Cuba St and even after his retirement he readily chatted with people he met on his walks or bike rides around Miramar.
Always cheerful, polite, considerate and well dressed, he was able to converse fluently in English, Cantonese and the Mandarin he continued to study in his later years.
Mr Wong Tong was born at 259 Cuba St above the shop set up by his father who had come out to New Zealand in the 1800s to work the Otago goldfields.
The oldest of seven - six sisters and a brother - he went to Mt Cook School and Wellington Technical College. He attended the Anglican Chinese Mission Church in Frederick St and learnt to play the violin.
When he was 16 the family returned to China to ensure the children had a Chinese education.
Mr Wong Tong signed on as a radio telegrapher with the British- owned China Navigation Company and sailed on the company freighters which plied the coast, up the Yangtze River and as far south as Singapore.
During this time he was introduced to and fell in love with Betty Chang, a New Zealand-born girl who had been raised in China since the age of three.
"I fell in love with her lovely dimples immediately and when she smiled at me, I knew I had to have her," Mr Wong Tong once recounted, remembering courting her on the cosmopolitan pre-war Shanghai waterfront.
They married in 1935, and their honeymoon was their voyage back to New Zealand on the Union Company Ship Taniwha.
Back in Wellington he rejoined the family at their second shop - Wong Tong and Sons - at 168 Cuba St (this is still a greengrocer but was sold by the family more than 50 years ago).
The extended family lived on the second and third floor above the shop and everybody contributed to the business.
During the war, Mr Wong Tong served in the home guard and every Sunday would get dressed in his army uniform and head out for training at Lyall Bay, but fortunately his appalling marksmanship never had to be put to the test.
For a time during the war, when Japanese invasion was feared, the women and children were sent over to Carterton while the men manned the shop.
As the children grew up they helped out in the shop if they weren't at school, attending Chinese classes or taking music lessons.
Ad Feedback
Mr Wong Tong and his brother Ivan would go to the markets in Allen St each weekday morning where he would concentrate on vegetables while Ivan's specialty was fruit and flowers.
The shop's supplies were supplemented by spring onions and radishes grown on a small family plot in Nairn St and later from the large garden behind the home Mr Wong Tong bought in Puriri St, Miramar.
When his father sold the business in 1953, Mr Wong Tong moved the family to Nelson and opened another fruit and vegetable shop in Trafalgar St.
He and his wife sold the shop in 1966 after all the children left home and began what was to be their retirement with a two-year overseas holiday taking in Hong Kong and the United States, before returning and settling again in Miramar.
But Mr Wong Tong was just 55 and started working again - an office job with Philips Electrical in Lyall Bay, where he stayed on for about 10 years before finally retiring after suffering a mild heart attack. In 1983 he travelled back to China for the first time in nearly 50 years.
Mr Wong Tong - who was brought up to support the Chinese nationalists - later accepted that his homeland had become a communist state and he accepted invitations to functions put on by the Taiwanese as well as the Chinese diplomatic representatives in Wellington.
He was a stalwart of the Fung Tung Association which his father had helped found, and the Chinese Anglican Mission.
His only extravagance was the odd flutter on the horses and mahjong with his pensioner friends where losing $5 was a big deal.
Mrs Wong Tong died in 2006 and he spent his last few years in a rest home. He is survived by his four children, eight grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren.
Raymond Wong Tong, green grocer: born Wellington, March 6, 1911; married Betty Chang 1935, 2 sons and 2 daughters; died Wellington, July 21, 2009, aged 98.
Sources. Ronald, Beverley, Mervyn and Fiona Wong.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/national/obituaries/2732503/Raymond-Wong-Tong-Green-grocer-had-a-twinkle-in-his-eye
Festival light shines on patriarch
Percy Chew Lee has never shied away from a challenge.
The 96-year-old arrived with his family from China to an unfriendly welcome in New Zealand 88 years ago.
All Chinese arriving in the country then were subject to a hefty poll tax.
The 100 tax (the equivalent of nearly $8000 today) reflected the discriminatory attitude against Chinese arrivals, but Lee did not let it slow him down.
Yesterday, the Christchurch resident was checking preparations for this weekend's Chinese New Year lantern festival to welcome in the Year of the Rat, an event which reflects how far his adopted country has come.
"Ninety years ago the Europeans looked down on the Chinese," Lee said. "In those days you had to learn to fight for yourself to prove you could do as much as anyone."
Lee's colourful life certainly proves his point.
After becoming the first Chinese student in a European school in Christchurch, his list of achievements included becoming a South Island 80km cycling champion after training nearly 100km every day before breakfast.
He was the first Chinese person to take up competitive wrestling and became a South Island runner-up.
He also took up training racehorses, and won the Westport Cup two years running.
In the 1930s he was the first Chinese man to fly an aeroplane in Christchurch, although his father would not let him gain his licence.
But perhaps his proudest achievement was designing and building the large pagoda-style house where he lives with family in Cashmere.
From there he continues to sell vegetables from the family market garden. He gave up riding the tractor just last year.
Lee has nine children, 21 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
This year his services to the Chinese community were recognised with a Queen's Service Medal in the New Year Honours, and he is looking forward to going to Wellington -- where he arrived as an eight-year-old -- to collect the award.
Lee put his longevity down to no smoking or drinking, working hard and never saying he could not do it. "The main thing in life is you have to prove things for yourself, just like me. I had to learn," he said.
LANTERN FESTIVAL
Hundreds of lanterns will light up Victoria Square this weekend in celebration of the Year of the Rat. Thousands of people are expected to enjoy the evening entertainment with special performers from China and ethnic food stalls. The event starts at 4pm today and tomorrow, but dusk is the optimum time for lantern viewing.
The 96-year-old arrived with his family from China to an unfriendly welcome in New Zealand 88 years ago.
All Chinese arriving in the country then were subject to a hefty poll tax.
The 100 tax (the equivalent of nearly $8000 today) reflected the discriminatory attitude against Chinese arrivals, but Lee did not let it slow him down.
Yesterday, the Christchurch resident was checking preparations for this weekend's Chinese New Year lantern festival to welcome in the Year of the Rat, an event which reflects how far his adopted country has come.
"Ninety years ago the Europeans looked down on the Chinese," Lee said. "In those days you had to learn to fight for yourself to prove you could do as much as anyone."
Lee's colourful life certainly proves his point.
After becoming the first Chinese student in a European school in Christchurch, his list of achievements included becoming a South Island 80km cycling champion after training nearly 100km every day before breakfast.
He was the first Chinese person to take up competitive wrestling and became a South Island runner-up.
He also took up training racehorses, and won the Westport Cup two years running.
In the 1930s he was the first Chinese man to fly an aeroplane in Christchurch, although his father would not let him gain his licence.
But perhaps his proudest achievement was designing and building the large pagoda-style house where he lives with family in Cashmere.
From there he continues to sell vegetables from the family market garden. He gave up riding the tractor just last year.
Lee has nine children, 21 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
This year his services to the Chinese community were recognised with a Queen's Service Medal in the New Year Honours, and he is looking forward to going to Wellington -- where he arrived as an eight-year-old -- to collect the award.
Lee put his longevity down to no smoking or drinking, working hard and never saying he could not do it. "The main thing in life is you have to prove things for yourself, just like me. I had to learn," he said.
LANTERN FESTIVAL
Hundreds of lanterns will light up Victoria Square this weekend in celebration of the Year of the Rat. Thousands of people are expected to enjoy the evening entertainment with special performers from China and ethnic food stalls. The event starts at 4pm today and tomorrow, but dusk is the optimum time for lantern viewing.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Chinese Moon festival
Chinese Moon festival: 3 October
The Chinese Moon Festival, also known as the mid-autumn Festival, is one of the most important traditional events for the Chinese. It is celebated in 2009 on 3 October. It is also celebrated by the Vietnamese, though they celebrate it differently.
There are many variations on the legendary stories around the moon festival. Legend says that Chang Er flew to the moon, where she has lived ever since. You might see her dancing on the moon during the Moon Festival. The Moon Festival is also an occasion for family reunions.
Moon cakes are often eaten at the festival. The Chinese eat the moon cake at night with the full moon in the sky. Lovers spend such a romatic night together tasting the delicious moon cake with some wine while watching the full moon. Even for a couple who can't be together, they can still enjoy the night by watching the moon at the same time so it seems that they are together at that hour.
The Chinese Moon Festival, also known as the mid-autumn Festival, is one of the most important traditional events for the Chinese. It is celebated in 2009 on 3 October. It is also celebrated by the Vietnamese, though they celebrate it differently.
There are many variations on the legendary stories around the moon festival. Legend says that Chang Er flew to the moon, where she has lived ever since. You might see her dancing on the moon during the Moon Festival. The Moon Festival is also an occasion for family reunions.
Moon cakes are often eaten at the festival. The Chinese eat the moon cake at night with the full moon in the sky. Lovers spend such a romatic night together tasting the delicious moon cake with some wine while watching the full moon. Even for a couple who can't be together, they can still enjoy the night by watching the moon at the same time so it seems that they are together at that hour.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Supermarket change marks end of an era
4:00AM Tuesday Sep 22, 2009
By Beck Vass
The first Foodtown supermarket was opened by Tom Ah Chee in Great South Road, Otahuhu, in 1958. Photo / Supplied
* Grocer marks 50 years of ringing tills
The legacy of Foodtown - the small South Auckland supermarket that energised the grocery trade in Australasia - is set to become lost in a rebranding exercise that will see all Foodtown and Woolworths stores renamed as "new generation" Countdowns.
The first Foodtown, opened in Otahuhu by Tom Ah Chee on June 28, 1958, was the first American-style supermarket in New Zealand.
Mr Ah Chee's widow, Molly Ah Chee, could not be reached for comment yesterday but a family member said the rebranding marked the "end of an era".
The original Foodtown, owned by Mr Ah Chee and his friends Norman Kent, John Brown and Brian Picot, opened to so much excitement that traffic blocked the main road and the street was shut off. Radio announcers appealed to would-be customers to come back the next day, but that only attracted more interest.
The store, which also had the first automatic doors and air-conditioning, proved so popular that a second one was opened nearby in Takanini in 1961.
supermarket change marks end era retailing consumer information shopping history progressive enterprises legacy foodtown small south auckland energised grocery trade australasia set lost rebranding exercise see woolworths stores renamed generation
By last year, 50 years later, New Zealand had more than 30 Foodtowns.
When Foodtown first opened, supermarket trolleys were a new concept. Specials included a 6lb (2.7kg) bag of Chelsea sugar for the equivalent of 49c, an 11oz bottle of Watties tomato sauce for 27c and toilet rolls for 14c.
A large package of Weet-Bix was 31c, a 26oz can of spaghetti was 20c and Choysa teabags (8oz) were 33c.
Eggs came in paper bags and boys took customers' shopping to their cars.
By Beck Vass
The first Foodtown supermarket was opened by Tom Ah Chee in Great South Road, Otahuhu, in 1958. Photo / Supplied
* Grocer marks 50 years of ringing tills
The legacy of Foodtown - the small South Auckland supermarket that energised the grocery trade in Australasia - is set to become lost in a rebranding exercise that will see all Foodtown and Woolworths stores renamed as "new generation" Countdowns.
The first Foodtown, opened in Otahuhu by Tom Ah Chee on June 28, 1958, was the first American-style supermarket in New Zealand.
Mr Ah Chee's widow, Molly Ah Chee, could not be reached for comment yesterday but a family member said the rebranding marked the "end of an era".
The original Foodtown, owned by Mr Ah Chee and his friends Norman Kent, John Brown and Brian Picot, opened to so much excitement that traffic blocked the main road and the street was shut off. Radio announcers appealed to would-be customers to come back the next day, but that only attracted more interest.
The store, which also had the first automatic doors and air-conditioning, proved so popular that a second one was opened nearby in Takanini in 1961.
supermarket change marks end era retailing consumer information shopping history progressive enterprises legacy foodtown small south auckland energised grocery trade australasia set lost rebranding exercise see woolworths stores renamed generation
By last year, 50 years later, New Zealand had more than 30 Foodtowns.
When Foodtown first opened, supermarket trolleys were a new concept. Specials included a 6lb (2.7kg) bag of Chelsea sugar for the equivalent of 49c, an 11oz bottle of Watties tomato sauce for 27c and toilet rolls for 14c.
A large package of Weet-Bix was 31c, a 26oz can of spaghetti was 20c and Choysa teabags (8oz) were 33c.
Eggs came in paper bags and boys took customers' shopping to their cars.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Chinese reflect on colonial roots
Chinese reflect on colonial roots
4:00AM Friday Sep 18, 2009
By Bernard Orsman
David Wong (left) with Barry Wah Lee, whose grandfather opened a store around 1900. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Most Aucklanders associate the Wah Lee general store in Hobson St with fireworks for Guy Fawkes. What they probably don't realise is that the store is owned by one of the four founding Chinese families in Auckland.
Barry Wah Lee's grandfather opened the store in about 1900 at the old Chinatown in Grey's Ave, or Grey St as it was then known.
The area became home to boarding houses, opium dens and gambling houses.
Auckland's first and only Chinatown was replaced by multi-storey flats and later the Auckland City Council Civic Building, and Wah Lee's moved to Hobson St in 1966.
The history of the Chinese community in colonial Auckland is the subject of a talk tomorrow by a member of the Chinese community, David Wong, as part of the Auckland Heritage Festival.
The festival, the sixth held by the Auckland City Council, starts tonight with a display of historical images projected on to Shed 10 at Queens Wharf.
There will be a public viewing from behind the "Red Gates" on Quay St from 6.30pm.
The theme of this year's festival is living heritage and features more than 100 diverse and interactive events. They include an Auckland Heritage pub quiz night, cruises on the historic William C Daldy steam tug and a concert celebrating the 40th anniversary of the liberation by university students of Albert Park in 1969.
Mr Wong said the first Chinese arrived in Auckland from the Otago goldfields in the 1860s. Among them was Thomas Quoi who had a stall in the city markets behind where the Civic Theatre was later built.
Early Chinese settlers turned their hand to market gardening, among them Mr Wong's great-grandfather who named his area at Carlaw Park "the garden of prosperity".
The Chinese also opened laundry and fruit shops.
Mr Wong said the Chinese population throughout New Zealand in 1900 was about 3000, of which there were only eight or 10 women. Auckland's Chinese population was between 112 and 120.
Today, there are more than 130,000 Chinese in Auckland, of which about 25,000 were born in New Zealand.
Mr Wong will be giving two talks at the Auckland Art Gallery tomorrow - at 1pm in English and 3pm in Mandarin. Bookings can be made on 307-7700.
For more details on the festival, which runs until October 4, go to: www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/events
4:00AM Friday Sep 18, 2009
By Bernard Orsman
David Wong (left) with Barry Wah Lee, whose grandfather opened a store around 1900. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Most Aucklanders associate the Wah Lee general store in Hobson St with fireworks for Guy Fawkes. What they probably don't realise is that the store is owned by one of the four founding Chinese families in Auckland.
Barry Wah Lee's grandfather opened the store in about 1900 at the old Chinatown in Grey's Ave, or Grey St as it was then known.
The area became home to boarding houses, opium dens and gambling houses.
Auckland's first and only Chinatown was replaced by multi-storey flats and later the Auckland City Council Civic Building, and Wah Lee's moved to Hobson St in 1966.
The history of the Chinese community in colonial Auckland is the subject of a talk tomorrow by a member of the Chinese community, David Wong, as part of the Auckland Heritage Festival.
The festival, the sixth held by the Auckland City Council, starts tonight with a display of historical images projected on to Shed 10 at Queens Wharf.
There will be a public viewing from behind the "Red Gates" on Quay St from 6.30pm.
The theme of this year's festival is living heritage and features more than 100 diverse and interactive events. They include an Auckland Heritage pub quiz night, cruises on the historic William C Daldy steam tug and a concert celebrating the 40th anniversary of the liberation by university students of Albert Park in 1969.
Mr Wong said the first Chinese arrived in Auckland from the Otago goldfields in the 1860s. Among them was Thomas Quoi who had a stall in the city markets behind where the Civic Theatre was later built.
Early Chinese settlers turned their hand to market gardening, among them Mr Wong's great-grandfather who named his area at Carlaw Park "the garden of prosperity".
The Chinese also opened laundry and fruit shops.
Mr Wong said the Chinese population throughout New Zealand in 1900 was about 3000, of which there were only eight or 10 women. Auckland's Chinese population was between 112 and 120.
Today, there are more than 130,000 Chinese in Auckland, of which about 25,000 were born in New Zealand.
Mr Wong will be giving two talks at the Auckland Art Gallery tomorrow - at 1pm in English and 3pm in Mandarin. Bookings can be made on 307-7700.
For more details on the festival, which runs until October 4, go to: www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/events
Sunday, August 30, 2009
20 November 1908
20 November 1908 - Ten Chinese were charged at the Auckland Police Court "that on Sunday, October 18, at Avondale, they did work at their trade of market gardening." The men were not doing ordinary gardening, but pulling carrots for supplying a ship next morning. They admitted that there had been a technical breach. Sergeant Hendry, who appeared for the prosecution, said that at Avondale there were European as well as Chinese gardeners, and the former were in the habit of working six days per week and the latter seven days per week. The Chinese had previously been cautioned, and he submitted that the Court should "show these aliens that they must comply with the laws of the Dominion." The Bench fined each defendant £1, and costs 13s - "Papers Past Hawera & Normanby Star"
Saturday, August 15, 2009
More on Chinese Winemakers in NZ
More on Chinese Winemakers in NZ
Received an email from Raymond Chan, a New Zealand-born Chinese and wine judge, wine retailer and wine palate extraordinaire. Raymond has been juding wines in New Zealand since 1989.
"We have a family story when we first started getting interested in wine in the late 1970s. Then, Totara SYC was of course highly respected for its white wines – Riesling Sylvaner and Chenin Blanc especially sought after, being medal winners. My Dad said that one of the Thames family came to our family living in Dunedin, asking if he could board with us while studying at university, our family names being the same, and that our families came from the same area of China. Dad, and our family not having the room turned him away. So our vinous journey could have possibly had an earlier start!"
Raymond also said, "Don’t forget Albert Chan". Albert Chan was the younger son of Stanley Young Chan and sometime after his primary and high school education in Thames he went to Australia to study at Roseworthy. He became Chief Winemaker at Lindemans in 1983 and went on to become one of Australia's most respected white wine winemakers. Albert met an early and tragic death, but his memory lives on with the Albert Chan Memorial Trophy for Best White Wine of the Show, presented at the Sydney Royal Show each year.
Received an email from Raymond Chan, a New Zealand-born Chinese and wine judge, wine retailer and wine palate extraordinaire. Raymond has been juding wines in New Zealand since 1989.
"We have a family story when we first started getting interested in wine in the late 1970s. Then, Totara SYC was of course highly respected for its white wines – Riesling Sylvaner and Chenin Blanc especially sought after, being medal winners. My Dad said that one of the Thames family came to our family living in Dunedin, asking if he could board with us while studying at university, our family names being the same, and that our families came from the same area of China. Dad, and our family not having the room turned him away. So our vinous journey could have possibly had an earlier start!"
Raymond also said, "Don’t forget Albert Chan". Albert Chan was the younger son of Stanley Young Chan and sometime after his primary and high school education in Thames he went to Australia to study at Roseworthy. He became Chief Winemaker at Lindemans in 1983 and went on to become one of Australia's most respected white wine winemakers. Albert met an early and tragic death, but his memory lives on with the Albert Chan Memorial Trophy for Best White Wine of the Show, presented at the Sydney Royal Show each year.
Who was really NZ's first Chinese winemaker?
Who was really NZ's first Chinese winemaker?
Followed a newslink today that took me to an article about New Zealand's first Chinese winemaker. According to the article at the Indian Wine Portal, his name is Johnny Leung - and he is alive and kicking and working at Twilight Vineyard* in Clevedon.
"New Zealand's first Chinese winemaker - that ain't right," I thought. "There have been Chinese winemakers in New Zealand before him".
One who had a lot of media attention is CP Lin - not so much because he is Chinese, but because he is blind. For a long time CP was winemaker at Mountford in Waipara but he is now making wine in the Hunter Valley in Australia.
There is also Johnny's name sake, Edward Leung, whose wines bear the label, Ma Maison.
But the one that immediately sprang to mind is Stanley Young Chan. His initials were part of the name of his winery, Totara Vineyards SYC, at Totara, between Kopu and Thames (click for map) in the Waikato. We called into the winery many times on summer holiday trips to the Coromandel Peninsula, not only for wine but for his famous Totara Kiwifruit Liquer. The winery buildings, winery shop and vineyard are still there. Cuisine magazine lists Gilbert Chan as the current winemaker.
But a quick search tells me that Stanley wasn't the first either. That honour goes to Joe Ah Chan (Chan Hock Joe), who, according to the Dictionary of New Zealand Bibliography, was not only the first Chinese winemaker in New Zealand to make wine, but quite probably the first in the Southern Hemisphere.
Joe (1882 - 1959) arrived in New Zealand around 1905, working in Wellington selling fruit and vegetables. He returned to China for a short time in 1916 but came back to in New Zealand in 1917 to settle in Matamata. In 1925 Chan began to grow grapes at Totara near Thames, the first Chinese New Zealander to do so, and in 1929 he produced his first batch of wine. He was reputed to be the first Chinese wine-maker in the Southern Hemisphere. In 1950 the vineyard was sold to a distant cousin, Stanley Young Chan, who changed the name to Totara Vineyards SYC.
The Encyclopedia of New Zealand records the first man from China arriving in Nelson in 1842. By the late 1860's Chinese were working the Otago goldfields. There have waves of Chinese immigration ever since. Many new Chinese immigrants arrived from 1987 onwards but there are also Chinese New Zealanders who parents and possibly grandparents were born here. So if you know any other Chinese winemakers in New Zealand, please email me.
*Actually the Twilight Vineyards website doesn't make the claim that Johnny is the first Chinese winemaker in NZ. Perhaps an over-exuberant reporter simply got the facts wrong.
http://www.wineoftheweek.com/blog/blog200906.htm#20090629
Followed a newslink today that took me to an article about New Zealand's first Chinese winemaker. According to the article at the Indian Wine Portal, his name is Johnny Leung - and he is alive and kicking and working at Twilight Vineyard* in Clevedon.
"New Zealand's first Chinese winemaker - that ain't right," I thought. "There have been Chinese winemakers in New Zealand before him".
One who had a lot of media attention is CP Lin - not so much because he is Chinese, but because he is blind. For a long time CP was winemaker at Mountford in Waipara but he is now making wine in the Hunter Valley in Australia.
There is also Johnny's name sake, Edward Leung, whose wines bear the label, Ma Maison.
But the one that immediately sprang to mind is Stanley Young Chan. His initials were part of the name of his winery, Totara Vineyards SYC, at Totara, between Kopu and Thames (click for map) in the Waikato. We called into the winery many times on summer holiday trips to the Coromandel Peninsula, not only for wine but for his famous Totara Kiwifruit Liquer. The winery buildings, winery shop and vineyard are still there. Cuisine magazine lists Gilbert Chan as the current winemaker.
But a quick search tells me that Stanley wasn't the first either. That honour goes to Joe Ah Chan (Chan Hock Joe), who, according to the Dictionary of New Zealand Bibliography, was not only the first Chinese winemaker in New Zealand to make wine, but quite probably the first in the Southern Hemisphere.
Joe (1882 - 1959) arrived in New Zealand around 1905, working in Wellington selling fruit and vegetables. He returned to China for a short time in 1916 but came back to in New Zealand in 1917 to settle in Matamata. In 1925 Chan began to grow grapes at Totara near Thames, the first Chinese New Zealander to do so, and in 1929 he produced his first batch of wine. He was reputed to be the first Chinese wine-maker in the Southern Hemisphere. In 1950 the vineyard was sold to a distant cousin, Stanley Young Chan, who changed the name to Totara Vineyards SYC.
The Encyclopedia of New Zealand records the first man from China arriving in Nelson in 1842. By the late 1860's Chinese were working the Otago goldfields. There have waves of Chinese immigration ever since. Many new Chinese immigrants arrived from 1987 onwards but there are also Chinese New Zealanders who parents and possibly grandparents were born here. So if you know any other Chinese winemakers in New Zealand, please email me.
*Actually the Twilight Vineyards website doesn't make the claim that Johnny is the first Chinese winemaker in NZ. Perhaps an over-exuberant reporter simply got the facts wrong.
http://www.wineoftheweek.com/blog/blog200906.htm#20090629
Saturday, August 08, 2009
Dragons rose and bananas soared at conference
Dragons rose and bananas soared at a conference celebrating the past, present and future of Chinese in New Zealand and overseas.
The fourth Going Bananas conference, entitled Rising Dragons, Soaring Bananas (www.goingbananas.org.nz), was held over the weekend of Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 July and saw scholars and artists from around the country and as far afield as Russia, Hong Kong, and the US discussing the role of the Chinese throughout the globe.
Vote Yes for Children in the 2009 referendum
3.60% p.a. On-Call: Apply Online
New Zealand Chinese Association Auckland Inc chairman Kai Luey was sure the last conference in 2007 would be the final one but a strong demand proved otherwise.
The conference itself has come a long way since its humble beginnings in 2005. From one room at AUT to three at the University of Auckland’s Business School with over 40 international speakers and, as always, a host of local stories from a New Zealand perspective.
Stories from high-flying bananas such as real estate mogul Don Ha, commercial entrepreneur Rodney Wong and former kiwi Olympian Robyn Wong inspired and amused an audience happy to witness success within the Chinese community.
The conference no doubt celebrated the Chinese, but also raised questions about the difficulties of being Chinese in New Zealand today.
Questions about whether to teach your child their native tongue in a time when China is becoming increasingly important within New Zealand and on the global stage and the growing economic importance of Chinese business were prominent throughout the weekend.
The latter question was answered in a presentation by Professor Paul Spoonley on the back of a recent Asia NZ Foundation report about Chinese businesses in Auckland.
Among the findings, the report found a lack of attention given to this area of Auckland’s economy in the Royal Commission’s report on Auckland governance.
These businesses are becoming a major source of interest as Chinese immigrant communities play an important role in business innovation, entrepreneurial activities and international trade.
Once again the conference challenged perceptions of what it means to be Chinese and, according to Professor Manying Ip, was an opportunity for the community to reflect on “where we’re positioned in society, in politics and in history”.
As for the next conference, Mr Luey was reluctant to repeat history saying another one may not be ruled out.
Scoop was a media sponsor of the Rising Dragons, Soaring Bananas International Conference. Friday, 31 July 2009, 9:59 am
Press Release: Simon Wong
28/07/09
By Simon Wong
The fourth Going Bananas conference, entitled Rising Dragons, Soaring Bananas (www.goingbananas.org.nz), was held over the weekend of Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 July and saw scholars and artists from around the country and as far afield as Russia, Hong Kong, and the US discussing the role of the Chinese throughout the globe.
Vote Yes for Children in the 2009 referendum
3.60% p.a. On-Call: Apply Online
New Zealand Chinese Association Auckland Inc chairman Kai Luey was sure the last conference in 2007 would be the final one but a strong demand proved otherwise.
The conference itself has come a long way since its humble beginnings in 2005. From one room at AUT to three at the University of Auckland’s Business School with over 40 international speakers and, as always, a host of local stories from a New Zealand perspective.
Stories from high-flying bananas such as real estate mogul Don Ha, commercial entrepreneur Rodney Wong and former kiwi Olympian Robyn Wong inspired and amused an audience happy to witness success within the Chinese community.
The conference no doubt celebrated the Chinese, but also raised questions about the difficulties of being Chinese in New Zealand today.
Questions about whether to teach your child their native tongue in a time when China is becoming increasingly important within New Zealand and on the global stage and the growing economic importance of Chinese business were prominent throughout the weekend.
The latter question was answered in a presentation by Professor Paul Spoonley on the back of a recent Asia NZ Foundation report about Chinese businesses in Auckland.
Among the findings, the report found a lack of attention given to this area of Auckland’s economy in the Royal Commission’s report on Auckland governance.
These businesses are becoming a major source of interest as Chinese immigrant communities play an important role in business innovation, entrepreneurial activities and international trade.
Once again the conference challenged perceptions of what it means to be Chinese and, according to Professor Manying Ip, was an opportunity for the community to reflect on “where we’re positioned in society, in politics and in history”.
As for the next conference, Mr Luey was reluctant to repeat history saying another one may not be ruled out.
Scoop was a media sponsor of the Rising Dragons, Soaring Bananas International Conference. Friday, 31 July 2009, 9:59 am
Press Release: Simon Wong
28/07/09
By Simon Wong
Rising Dragons, Soaring Bananas
I was intrigued by the soaring bananas but quite afraid to ask.
Since when could a banana even think about getting airborne?
One of the first speakers at the Rising Dragons, Soaring Bananas conference soon answered the question in my head.
The aforementioned fruit was a derogatory term for someone who was 'yellow' on the outside, but 'white' on the inside, often applied to Chinese by people both within and outside the community.
Hence the clever title of the conference - surely the best way to defuse a potential insult is to embrace it?
As a forum it aimed to "celebrate the journeys, stories and identities of leading local and overseas born Chinese personalities".
Across the weekend there was a huge variety of sessions to attend from the standard "Yellow Peril - Early Chinese In New Zealand" and "Cracking The Glass Ceiling" to the unexpected like "The Unique History Of Chinese In Cuba" and "Chinese Immigrants In Equatorial Guinea".
Advertisement
There was even the slightly bizarre "Chinese Culture And Dental Behaviour In Wellington" and "Manipulating Loyalty - Chinese Americans And Taiwan's Canned Mushroom Export".
There was plenty of inspiration to be had over the weekend, but it was always accompanied by a fair degree of sadness.
On the periphery
A fifth generation Chinese New Zealander told of a tough childhood where she always felt an outsider, completely on the periphery of all things 'Kiwi'.
At the age of 23 she visited China for the first time and felt an immense sense of pride in her ancestral home and culture.
But the feeling of social dislocation and isolation remained, as she couldn't speak Mandarin and struggled to relate to her relatives.
This appeared to be a common thread that ran through the entire conference.
People who felt too Asian to be a 'real' Kiwi and far too European to ever feel accepted as a local in China.
But such dissonance, confusion and isolation can produce remarkable drive and resilience as was epitomised in some of the tales.
Prominent public lawyer Mai Chen told of arriving in 1970's Christchurch along with her three other sisters.
The marching quartet caused a car crash on the very first day, so astounded was the male driver at the novel sight of these Asian faces.
Years of struggle
Chen spoke of years of struggle, desperate to fit in despite knowing she probably never would.
It was only when she stopped trying to be like everybody else, and started to see her ethnicity as a potential strength that she began an incredible journey that now has her as one of the most well-known legal faces in New Zealand.
This was a story with a happy ending, but Chen was quick to dispense lavish doses of realism into her presentation.
She reminded the audience that their ethnicity will continue to be a disadvantage in New Zealand and they will have to work harder, be better and more persistent than everybody else if they want to succeed.
Real estate mogul Don Ha shared his classic rags to riches tale, delivered with an engaging personal style.
He came to New Zealand (from Vietnam, via China) as a 12-year-old in 1980 and spent the first few months in a Refugee camp.
The young Don had an amazing work ethic and a real entrepreneurial streak.
Noticing a local liking for Watercress he collected it from a nearby creek and sold it by the bunch to a nearby New World. When the Council cleaned out his supply he began a lawn mowing round, later taught Karate (elevating 35 people to Black belt level) before going to work in the family bakery.
Tiring of the 72-hour weeks, he got a start in Real Estate and was soon the top salesperson at the branch, before opening his own company which quickly began to dominate the local market and now employs 100 agents.
Ha seems to constantly be looking for new challenges - recently he bought a $2 million racehorse "to see what it felt like" - while also being aware there would be a major publicity payoff.
He is constantly striving to improve and sees potential in everybody to be better, happier and more successful.
To sign off he broke a roof tile with his bare hands which certainly added some real punch to his 'nothing is impossible' message.
Self-awareness
Across the weekend the level of self-awareness, and willingness for self-analysis by the various delegates was quite pronounced.
The speakers told of constantly questioning who they are, who they should be and who they would be.
It is a fight that the vast majority of Kiwis never have to contemplate but one wonders if we are poorer for not having embarked on such a crusade.
There was a sense, through the pain, confusion and struggle, that the Chinese are richer for the journey.
There is no doubt that as a race they have developed an incredible resilience and an ability to thrive, to survive and to flourish in communities in every corner of the globe.
While it is common to reflect on your culture and national values when living overseas it is hard to envisage Anglo-Saxon Kiwis anywhere managing this level of introspective honesty and self awareness - at least without the help of alcohol!
At one point it was seriously debated as to whether Chinese in New Zealand should be doing more to gain an understanding of Te Reo Maori - as well as English and Chinese.
Surely this is not a realistic question until somewhere close to the majority of Maori and Pakeha exhibit a propensity to learn Maori.
But the willingness to think outside the square, to question and to challenge accepted wisdom was an overriding theme of this conference where Dragons roared and Bananas definitely soared.
Published: 6:31PM Thursday August 06, 2009 by tvnz.co.nz's Michael Burgess
Source: ONE News http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/rising-dragons-soaring-bananas-2891142#
Since when could a banana even think about getting airborne?
One of the first speakers at the Rising Dragons, Soaring Bananas conference soon answered the question in my head.
The aforementioned fruit was a derogatory term for someone who was 'yellow' on the outside, but 'white' on the inside, often applied to Chinese by people both within and outside the community.
Hence the clever title of the conference - surely the best way to defuse a potential insult is to embrace it?
As a forum it aimed to "celebrate the journeys, stories and identities of leading local and overseas born Chinese personalities".
Across the weekend there was a huge variety of sessions to attend from the standard "Yellow Peril - Early Chinese In New Zealand" and "Cracking The Glass Ceiling" to the unexpected like "The Unique History Of Chinese In Cuba" and "Chinese Immigrants In Equatorial Guinea".
Advertisement
There was even the slightly bizarre "Chinese Culture And Dental Behaviour In Wellington" and "Manipulating Loyalty - Chinese Americans And Taiwan's Canned Mushroom Export".
There was plenty of inspiration to be had over the weekend, but it was always accompanied by a fair degree of sadness.
On the periphery
A fifth generation Chinese New Zealander told of a tough childhood where she always felt an outsider, completely on the periphery of all things 'Kiwi'.
At the age of 23 she visited China for the first time and felt an immense sense of pride in her ancestral home and culture.
But the feeling of social dislocation and isolation remained, as she couldn't speak Mandarin and struggled to relate to her relatives.
This appeared to be a common thread that ran through the entire conference.
People who felt too Asian to be a 'real' Kiwi and far too European to ever feel accepted as a local in China.
But such dissonance, confusion and isolation can produce remarkable drive and resilience as was epitomised in some of the tales.
Prominent public lawyer Mai Chen told of arriving in 1970's Christchurch along with her three other sisters.
The marching quartet caused a car crash on the very first day, so astounded was the male driver at the novel sight of these Asian faces.
Years of struggle
Chen spoke of years of struggle, desperate to fit in despite knowing she probably never would.
It was only when she stopped trying to be like everybody else, and started to see her ethnicity as a potential strength that she began an incredible journey that now has her as one of the most well-known legal faces in New Zealand.
This was a story with a happy ending, but Chen was quick to dispense lavish doses of realism into her presentation.
She reminded the audience that their ethnicity will continue to be a disadvantage in New Zealand and they will have to work harder, be better and more persistent than everybody else if they want to succeed.
Real estate mogul Don Ha shared his classic rags to riches tale, delivered with an engaging personal style.
He came to New Zealand (from Vietnam, via China) as a 12-year-old in 1980 and spent the first few months in a Refugee camp.
The young Don had an amazing work ethic and a real entrepreneurial streak.
Noticing a local liking for Watercress he collected it from a nearby creek and sold it by the bunch to a nearby New World. When the Council cleaned out his supply he began a lawn mowing round, later taught Karate (elevating 35 people to Black belt level) before going to work in the family bakery.
Tiring of the 72-hour weeks, he got a start in Real Estate and was soon the top salesperson at the branch, before opening his own company which quickly began to dominate the local market and now employs 100 agents.
Ha seems to constantly be looking for new challenges - recently he bought a $2 million racehorse "to see what it felt like" - while also being aware there would be a major publicity payoff.
He is constantly striving to improve and sees potential in everybody to be better, happier and more successful.
To sign off he broke a roof tile with his bare hands which certainly added some real punch to his 'nothing is impossible' message.
Self-awareness
Across the weekend the level of self-awareness, and willingness for self-analysis by the various delegates was quite pronounced.
The speakers told of constantly questioning who they are, who they should be and who they would be.
It is a fight that the vast majority of Kiwis never have to contemplate but one wonders if we are poorer for not having embarked on such a crusade.
There was a sense, through the pain, confusion and struggle, that the Chinese are richer for the journey.
There is no doubt that as a race they have developed an incredible resilience and an ability to thrive, to survive and to flourish in communities in every corner of the globe.
While it is common to reflect on your culture and national values when living overseas it is hard to envisage Anglo-Saxon Kiwis anywhere managing this level of introspective honesty and self awareness - at least without the help of alcohol!
At one point it was seriously debated as to whether Chinese in New Zealand should be doing more to gain an understanding of Te Reo Maori - as well as English and Chinese.
Surely this is not a realistic question until somewhere close to the majority of Maori and Pakeha exhibit a propensity to learn Maori.
But the willingness to think outside the square, to question and to challenge accepted wisdom was an overriding theme of this conference where Dragons roared and Bananas definitely soared.
Published: 6:31PM Thursday August 06, 2009 by tvnz.co.nz's Michael Burgess
Source: ONE News http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/rising-dragons-soaring-bananas-2891142#
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
Ching Ming April 5 2009 - Wellington Tung Jung Assn
A picture of the Tung Jung Memorial at Karori Cemetery in Wellington where we congregate for the Ching Ming and Chung Yeung festivals. In the 1950's, the Tung Jung Association bought about 50 grave sites near this memorial for the use of their members. This memorial was erected in their honour in 1965 as it was far more practical to congregate in one place to pay homage than to go from grave to grave!
I have all the names of the TJ members who are buried near here but all
names are only in English spelling.
The Makara location has been in use since the 1980's as Karori is fully
occupied!!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
"Ellis Island" reopens February 15, 2009
Our "Ellis Island" reopens February 15, 2009, after more than three years of restoration and preservation work.
You might find their website of great interest and might be moved to donate to help further restore the site.
On this page of their website are three YouTube interviews of men who were detained on Angel Island when they first came to America many years ago.
http://www.aiisf.org/?option=com_content&view=article&id=85:detainee-stories&catid=64:about-articles&Itemid=85
You might find their website of great interest and might be moved to donate to help further restore the site.
On this page of their website are three YouTube interviews of men who were detained on Angel Island when they first came to America many years ago.
http://www.aiisf.org/?option=com_content&view=article&id=85:detainee-stories&catid=64:about-articles&Itemid=85
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Year of Ox welcomed
East And Bays Courier | Wednesday, 14 January 2009
The Auckland Chinese Community Centre is holding its Chinese New Year Festival and Market Day to welcome in the Year of the Ox.
The event is on Saturday from 9.30am to 3.30pm in halls one and two at the ASB Showgrounds, 217 Greenlane West.
Prime Minister John Key will open the annual celebration at 10am.
There will be special acts by a troupe of folk art performers, traditional Chinese dances and songs.
A modern Chinese pop band will perform and there will be demonstrations of martial arts, tai chi, lion dances, hip hop dance and diabolo tricks.
More than 200 stalls will be selling traditional and exotic Chinese hot delicacies.
Arts and crafts will be for sale and there will be free games and rides for children.
No admission charge.
The Auckland Chinese Community Centre is holding its Chinese New Year Festival and Market Day to welcome in the Year of the Ox.
The event is on Saturday from 9.30am to 3.30pm in halls one and two at the ASB Showgrounds, 217 Greenlane West.
Prime Minister John Key will open the annual celebration at 10am.
There will be special acts by a troupe of folk art performers, traditional Chinese dances and songs.
A modern Chinese pop band will perform and there will be demonstrations of martial arts, tai chi, lion dances, hip hop dance and diabolo tricks.
More than 200 stalls will be selling traditional and exotic Chinese hot delicacies.
Arts and crafts will be for sale and there will be free games and rides for children.
No admission charge.
Handwriting more than a work of art
Years of hard work and skill are behind every brush stroke made by Chinese calligrapher Jingzhi Zhu.
Ms Zhu, who also goes by the name Julie, will be demonstrating her art at the Chinese New Year Festival in Greenlane tomorrow.
The city-based artist started doing calligraphy in China when she was seven years old with her father’s encouragement.
"My father was my very first teacher, he loved it very much."
He taught her for a year, before sending her to a professional calligraphy class.
From there, she studied under several famous calligraphy artists in China.
"I made huge progress and entered many national and international competitions and won many gold and silver medals."
Her work has been exhibited overseas and she is about to have her first solo show at the Corban Estate Arts Centre in west Auckland, which opens on Thursday and runs until March 1.
Ms Zhu moved to New Zealand two years ago to study a master’s programme at Auckland University, where she also teaches Chinese language and hopes in the future to also teach English.
At first it was hard to integrate her love of calligraphy with her new life because many people don’t know what Chinese calligraphy is.
"These days, many young people don’t like it. They think it is really boring because you have to practise every day and many have lost interest.
"Luckily I found the New Zealand Chinese Calligraphers Association and joined."
Members meet once a month and exchange ideas about the way they practise calligraphy.
Ms Zhu’s work has been shown at the Aotea Centre as part of a group exhibition and last year she was offered the chance to demonstrate her art at the Chinese New Year Festival.
She translated people’s names into Chinese and wrote them in calligraphy or wrote blessing words like "longevity" and "lucky" on special red paper.
Her art was so popular, she ran out of red paper and her friends had to dash out and buy more.
This year she is stocking up on paper before tomorrow’s festival.
For the new year, she writes special couplets for people to hang on their doors, welcoming the year and the good luck it brings.
Ms Zhu is going to visit her family in China next week to write their couplets.
The festival also includes a dragon dance, a troupe of performers from Hebei in China, Chinese pop group Lulu and the Puppets, and demonstrations of various martial arts.
Organiser Kai Luey says up to 20,000 people are expected to attend the event, which has attractions for all ages.
The free festival will be held tomorrow at the ASB Showgrounds from 9.30am to 3.30pm
By JANIE SMITH - Central Leader | Friday, 16 January 2009.
Ms Zhu, who also goes by the name Julie, will be demonstrating her art at the Chinese New Year Festival in Greenlane tomorrow.
The city-based artist started doing calligraphy in China when she was seven years old with her father’s encouragement.
"My father was my very first teacher, he loved it very much."
He taught her for a year, before sending her to a professional calligraphy class.
From there, she studied under several famous calligraphy artists in China.
"I made huge progress and entered many national and international competitions and won many gold and silver medals."
Her work has been exhibited overseas and she is about to have her first solo show at the Corban Estate Arts Centre in west Auckland, which opens on Thursday and runs until March 1.
Ms Zhu moved to New Zealand two years ago to study a master’s programme at Auckland University, where she also teaches Chinese language and hopes in the future to also teach English.
At first it was hard to integrate her love of calligraphy with her new life because many people don’t know what Chinese calligraphy is.
"These days, many young people don’t like it. They think it is really boring because you have to practise every day and many have lost interest.
"Luckily I found the New Zealand Chinese Calligraphers Association and joined."
Members meet once a month and exchange ideas about the way they practise calligraphy.
Ms Zhu’s work has been shown at the Aotea Centre as part of a group exhibition and last year she was offered the chance to demonstrate her art at the Chinese New Year Festival.
She translated people’s names into Chinese and wrote them in calligraphy or wrote blessing words like "longevity" and "lucky" on special red paper.
Her art was so popular, she ran out of red paper and her friends had to dash out and buy more.
This year she is stocking up on paper before tomorrow’s festival.
For the new year, she writes special couplets for people to hang on their doors, welcoming the year and the good luck it brings.
Ms Zhu is going to visit her family in China next week to write their couplets.
The festival also includes a dragon dance, a troupe of performers from Hebei in China, Chinese pop group Lulu and the Puppets, and demonstrations of various martial arts.
Organiser Kai Luey says up to 20,000 people are expected to attend the event, which has attractions for all ages.
The free festival will be held tomorrow at the ASB Showgrounds from 9.30am to 3.30pm
By JANIE SMITH - Central Leader | Friday, 16 January 2009.
Gung Hay Fat Choy!
The Lunar New Year dates from 2600 BC, when the Emperor Huang Ti introduced the first cycle of the Chinese zodiac.
Because of cyclical lunar dating, the first day of the year can fall anywhere between late January and the middle of February. On the Chinese calendar, 2009 is Lunar Year 4706-4707.
On the Western calendar, the start of the New Year falls on Monday, January 26, 2009 — The Year of the Ox. If you were born in 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985 or 1997 - you were born under the sign of the ox.
Because of cyclical lunar dating, the first day of the year can fall anywhere between late January and the middle of February. On the Chinese calendar, 2009 is Lunar Year 4706-4707.
On the Western calendar, the start of the New Year falls on Monday, January 26, 2009 — The Year of the Ox. If you were born in 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985 or 1997 - you were born under the sign of the ox.
2009 - The Year of the Ox. HAPPY NEW YEAR
The second animal who arrived was the serious, enduring and hard-working Ox.The coming 2009 year of the earth Ox also called 2009 year of the Bull or Buffalo is around the corner. It looks like we've got honest, candid and open natured year ahead. As you might guess, coming 2009 year of the earth Ox is dependable, calm and modest.
The ox person is not extravagant, and the thought of living off credit cards or being in debt makes him/her nervous. The possibility of taking a serious risk could cause the ox person many sleepless nights. These people are truthful and sincere, and the idea of wheeling and dealing in a competitive world is distasteful to them. It would be right to mention that people born in the ox years are rarely driven by the prospect of financial gain. These people are always welcome because of their honesty and patience. They have many friends, who appreciate the fact that the ox people are rather introverted and wary of new trends, although every now and then they can be encouraged to try something new. It is important to remember that the ox people are sociable and relaxed when they feel secure, but occasionally a dark cloud looms over such person and he/she takes on the worries of the world and tries to find solutions.
The ox person is not extravagant, and the thought of living off credit cards or being in debt makes him/her nervous. The possibility of taking a serious risk could cause the ox person many sleepless nights. These people are truthful and sincere, and the idea of wheeling and dealing in a competitive world is distasteful to them. It would be right to mention that people born in the ox years are rarely driven by the prospect of financial gain. These people are always welcome because of their honesty and patience. They have many friends, who appreciate the fact that the ox people are rather introverted and wary of new trends, although every now and then they can be encouraged to try something new. It is important to remember that the ox people are sociable and relaxed when they feel secure, but occasionally a dark cloud looms over such person and he/she takes on the worries of the world and tries to find solutions.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Sandwiches, Taiwanese style
4:00AM Wednesday Dec 31, 2008
By Lincoln Tan
Raymond Njoto says rice rolls are a cross between sushi and a Subway roll. Photo / Martin Sykes
You can do with rice what you do with bread, says Raymond Njoto, who holds the master franchise of Taiwanese rice roll chain QQ Rice for Australia and New Zealand.
"When people think about making a sandwich, they always think of bread, but you can actually make a rice sandwich as well," Mr Njoto says.
He describes the rice rolls as a cross between the Japanese sushi and the Subway sandwich, but says it is a traditional Taiwanese meal.
The rice rolls - which seem to be uniquely Taiwanese - could have been inspired by the sushi during the time when Taiwan was a Japanese colony between 1895 and 1945.
"Just picture Subway, but instead of bread, think of it as having rice as a base," says Mr Njoto.
So instead of different types of bread, you can choose from white, purple, red, brown, wheat-germ or wild rice, and fillings such as smoked salmon, spicy radish, barbecued pork and teriyaki chicken.
These are then rolled into a rice ball and, depending on your choice of grains and filling, it could well be a very healthy meal.
Taiwanese immigrant Jessie Chiang says the rice roll is a popular "picnic food" there, because it can be eaten hassle-free without the need for fork or chopsticks.
"To prepare, all we need is a plastic bag."
Rice is lined at the base of the plastic bag, the filling such as braised minced pork is added, and then it is all squeezed into a compact rice ball.
* Where to try
QQ Rice, 15-31 Wellesley St West. Rice rolls are priced from $5.20.
* Make your own
Ingredients: Steamed or boiled rice, fillings and sauces of your choice.
Method: Spread rice over a plastic wrap, add fillings and cover it with rice. Roll it tightly with the plastic wrap or plastic bag into a ball, and it's ready to be eaten. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10550083
By Lincoln Tan
Raymond Njoto says rice rolls are a cross between sushi and a Subway roll. Photo / Martin Sykes
You can do with rice what you do with bread, says Raymond Njoto, who holds the master franchise of Taiwanese rice roll chain QQ Rice for Australia and New Zealand.
"When people think about making a sandwich, they always think of bread, but you can actually make a rice sandwich as well," Mr Njoto says.
He describes the rice rolls as a cross between the Japanese sushi and the Subway sandwich, but says it is a traditional Taiwanese meal.
The rice rolls - which seem to be uniquely Taiwanese - could have been inspired by the sushi during the time when Taiwan was a Japanese colony between 1895 and 1945.
"Just picture Subway, but instead of bread, think of it as having rice as a base," says Mr Njoto.
So instead of different types of bread, you can choose from white, purple, red, brown, wheat-germ or wild rice, and fillings such as smoked salmon, spicy radish, barbecued pork and teriyaki chicken.
These are then rolled into a rice ball and, depending on your choice of grains and filling, it could well be a very healthy meal.
Taiwanese immigrant Jessie Chiang says the rice roll is a popular "picnic food" there, because it can be eaten hassle-free without the need for fork or chopsticks.
"To prepare, all we need is a plastic bag."
Rice is lined at the base of the plastic bag, the filling such as braised minced pork is added, and then it is all squeezed into a compact rice ball.
* Where to try
QQ Rice, 15-31 Wellesley St West. Rice rolls are priced from $5.20.
* Make your own
Ingredients: Steamed or boiled rice, fillings and sauces of your choice.
Method: Spread rice over a plastic wrap, add fillings and cover it with rice. Roll it tightly with the plastic wrap or plastic bag into a ball, and it's ready to be eaten. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10550083
Monday, December 22, 2008
Weijun Collins.
:00AM Monday Dec 22, 2008
By Alanah May Eriksen
Weijun Collins.
* Our lost children: Child abuse and the charities campaigning to end it
Weijun Collins has experienced abuse first hand - she was a slave for 10 years during China's Cultural Revolution.
So after reading the Herald's Our Lost Children series, the 64-year-old felt compelled to donate $1000 to a charity working to combat child abuse.
Mrs Collins, who studied early childhood education at the Auckland University of Technology in 1997, also wants to donate her time helping new parents in their homes.
Her donation will go to Barnardos, which runs a programme called Footsteps to Feeling Safe teaching children how to escape abusive situations.
Northern region spokeswoman Jenny Corry said of Mrs Collins' donation: "I think that's fantastic. It's so generous.
"We want her to know we will certainly put the money to good use. It will go directly to the children.
"If she's interested in working with us I'm sure we can use her in some capacity."
Mrs Collins was born in China into a prominent and well-educated family. When she was 10, her father, once a high-ranking official, was condemned as an enemy of the Communist Party and banished to a labour camp where he was tortured and starved to death.
Mrs Collins struggled to continue her education but her father's crime eventually rebounded on her and she was sent to the Gobi Desert in north-west China for 10 years farming wheat, maize and opium.
Forced to live in a cave with little food and minimal clothing, she laboured in sub-zero temperatures under heavy guard.
"I was humiliated, outcast," Mrs Collins said.
"No one would talk to me because of my father. I was given the heaviest work to do.
"No one wanted to be my friend. They would hold meetings just to criticise me."
But she managed to find an English textbook which she used to teach herself the language in secret. The only books allowed during that time were books written by Communist Party chairman Mao Zedong.
When she felt she was able to speak English well enough, she biked eight hours into the closest city to look for a job as a teacher, telling soldiers she had back pain and needed to see a doctor.
She was eventually offered a job teaching English as a second language in a small village and, after a battle with her minders, was permitted to work there.
She came to New Zealand in 1986 to study English after a Kiwi tourist, whom she had taken in in China, paid for her tickets.
She returned to China after a year working at a university teaching English before settling back in New Zealand in 1995.
She has since written an autobiography - Desert Rose - and married an English professor working in the engineering school at Auckland University.
She is currently writing a book on parenting skills.
The two daughters she had with her first husband also live in New Zealand and are married.
As a result of Our Lost Children, a research project into minimising brain damage to children on life support has received a $50,000 donation from Mercury Energy.
And an Auckland couple are sponsoring two families associated with Grandparents Raising Grandchildren, which has also had offers of food and clothing.
Presbyterian Support has also received donations.
By Alanah May Eriksen
Weijun Collins.
* Our lost children: Child abuse and the charities campaigning to end it
Weijun Collins has experienced abuse first hand - she was a slave for 10 years during China's Cultural Revolution.
So after reading the Herald's Our Lost Children series, the 64-year-old felt compelled to donate $1000 to a charity working to combat child abuse.
Mrs Collins, who studied early childhood education at the Auckland University of Technology in 1997, also wants to donate her time helping new parents in their homes.
Her donation will go to Barnardos, which runs a programme called Footsteps to Feeling Safe teaching children how to escape abusive situations.
Northern region spokeswoman Jenny Corry said of Mrs Collins' donation: "I think that's fantastic. It's so generous.
"We want her to know we will certainly put the money to good use. It will go directly to the children.
"If she's interested in working with us I'm sure we can use her in some capacity."
Mrs Collins was born in China into a prominent and well-educated family. When she was 10, her father, once a high-ranking official, was condemned as an enemy of the Communist Party and banished to a labour camp where he was tortured and starved to death.
Mrs Collins struggled to continue her education but her father's crime eventually rebounded on her and she was sent to the Gobi Desert in north-west China for 10 years farming wheat, maize and opium.
Forced to live in a cave with little food and minimal clothing, she laboured in sub-zero temperatures under heavy guard.
"I was humiliated, outcast," Mrs Collins said.
"No one would talk to me because of my father. I was given the heaviest work to do.
"No one wanted to be my friend. They would hold meetings just to criticise me."
But she managed to find an English textbook which she used to teach herself the language in secret. The only books allowed during that time were books written by Communist Party chairman Mao Zedong.
When she felt she was able to speak English well enough, she biked eight hours into the closest city to look for a job as a teacher, telling soldiers she had back pain and needed to see a doctor.
She was eventually offered a job teaching English as a second language in a small village and, after a battle with her minders, was permitted to work there.
She came to New Zealand in 1986 to study English after a Kiwi tourist, whom she had taken in in China, paid for her tickets.
She returned to China after a year working at a university teaching English before settling back in New Zealand in 1995.
She has since written an autobiography - Desert Rose - and married an English professor working in the engineering school at Auckland University.
She is currently writing a book on parenting skills.
The two daughters she had with her first husband also live in New Zealand and are married.
As a result of Our Lost Children, a research project into minimising brain damage to children on life support has received a $50,000 donation from Mercury Energy.
And an Auckland couple are sponsoring two families associated with Grandparents Raising Grandchildren, which has also had offers of food and clothing.
Presbyterian Support has also received donations.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
New Zealand Chinese Association (Akld Br.) Inc.
2008 Winter Newsletter
P.O.BOX 4 8 4
Gwa Leng (Gualing) Family Publication
.
Following the successful launch in 2006 of the Tung Jung Association of NZ publication, Zengcheng NZ’s, which profiled
the various Jungseng villages and families that originated from there, a number of Gwa Leng family profiles were not
able to be included due to the limitations on content on the book.
Consequently the Gwa Leng New Zealand Family History Group was established with the following aims:
to produce a contemporary historical record of Chinese New Zealanders tracing their roots back to Gwa Leng
to promote and encourage families to develop their own family histories and family trees as a record for future
generations.
A number of family profiles and family trees have already been submitted and this is a request to target those families
from Gwa Leng that we are not aware of and have not been contacted.
If you have family roots from Gwa Leng, have an interest in your genealogy, have a story to tell and are comfortable to
have it published along with other Gwa Leng families, please urgently contact Mike Wong 06 8775085.
This project is supported by the Chinese Poll Tax Heritage
2008 Winter Newsletter
P.O.BOX 4 8 4
Gwa Leng (Gualing) Family Publication
.
Following the successful launch in 2006 of the Tung Jung Association of NZ publication, Zengcheng NZ’s, which profiled
the various Jungseng villages and families that originated from there, a number of Gwa Leng family profiles were not
able to be included due to the limitations on content on the book.
Consequently the Gwa Leng New Zealand Family History Group was established with the following aims:
to produce a contemporary historical record of Chinese New Zealanders tracing their roots back to Gwa Leng
to promote and encourage families to develop their own family histories and family trees as a record for future
generations.
A number of family profiles and family trees have already been submitted and this is a request to target those families
from Gwa Leng that we are not aware of and have not been contacted.
If you have family roots from Gwa Leng, have an interest in your genealogy, have a story to tell and are comfortable to
have it published along with other Gwa Leng families, please urgently contact Mike Wong 06 8775085.
This project is supported by the Chinese Poll Tax Heritage
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Chopsticks in the Land of Cotton
The story of how Chinese immigrants found their way to the Mississippi River Delta in the late 1800s and earned their living operating small family grocery stores in neighborhoods where mostly black cotton plantation workers lived. What was their status in the segregated black and white world of that region? How did this small group maintain their culture and ethnic identity? What has happened to these merchants and their families over the years?
http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/12302.Chopsticks_in_the_Land_of_Cotton
http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/12302.Chopsticks_in_the_Land_of_Cotton
Monday, November 17, 2008
Wong becomes NZ's first Asian minister
3:47PM Monday Nov 17, 2008
Pansy Wong says her ministerial appointment sends a message to the world New Zealand is a country where anyone can be accepted and succeed. Photo / Paul Estcourt
Pansy Wong says her ministerial appointment sends a message to the world New Zealand is a country where anyone can be accepted and succeed. Photo / Paul Estcourt
Pansy Wong says her appointment as the country's first Asian Cabinet minister shows New Zealand is an open and tolerant country.
The 53-year-old ethnic Chinese MP was appointed Minister for Ethnic Affairs and Minister of Women's Affairs in the new-look Cabinet today.
Mrs Wong said she had always battled to be treated like any other New Zealander and her electorate win in Botany and her appointment as a minister sent a message to the world.
"It shows that New Zealand is a tolerant country where anyone can be accepted and succeed," she told NZPA.
She hoped her achievements would show other minorities they could succeed within mainstream parties and politics and encourage them to get involved.
Mrs Wong credited education, hard work and determination - a system of values instilled by her poor uneducated parents - as the keys to her success.
Born in Shanghai, her family moved to Hong Kong when she was five.
Her father was a seaman who was away for six months of the year and she, her mother, and two brothers lived in a small room in a shared apartment block floor populated by seven families.
"That was about 40 people. We shared one kitchen area and one toilet and one bathroom. So I experienced poverty."
Despite their surroundings, her parents were extremely proud and committed to providing an education and better life for their children.
"She held on to the dream that one day, because the living environment was so depressing, that she wanted to own her own apartment. That dream was fulfilled after six years."
In Hong Kong it was popular to take an English name. Born Yu Fong, which meant "fragrance of flowers", she chose Pansy as her English name.
"I liked it. Pansies are tough but they are also happy and kind of vivacious. It was only afterwards that I found out they don't have any fragrance."
In 1974, when she was 19, her family emigrated to New Zealand after her father, who had docked here on his travels, decided it was good place to raise a family.
Mrs Wong studied at Canterbury University, helping out in her family's St Albans fish and chip shop and Bealey Ave hamburger joint in her spare time.
"Even now I can still flip a mean burger."
It was at university that she met her Malaysian Chinese husband Sammy.
She went on to complete a Masters of Commerce degree with honours, initially working at what is now Ernst and Young as an accountant before joining Christchurch firm Smiths City where she eventually became chief financial controller.
In 1989 she was approached to enter local politics and was elected to Canterbury Regional Council, where she became known as the "$6 million dollar woman" for carving that figure off the budget.
As MMP neared Fendalton MP Philip Burdon approached her to stand for National and she agreed, in 1996 becoming New Zealand's first Asian MP by virtue of National's list.
It was during that election that she first locked horns with New Zealand First leader Winston Peters who was campaigning on an anti-immigration platform and described her as a "token" MP.
After the election she threatened to quit National if the incoming government adopted NZ First's immigration policy.
Mrs Wong said being described as token did not overly worry her because she was used to such treatment.
"Even today some people mock my accent and the way I speak."
She said if anything the barbs helped her motivation.
But she did not like NZ First's denigration of immigrants, knowing first hand how hard it was to resettle in a foreign country.
Mrs Wong said since she was elected to Parliament she has tried to represent Asian communities, but she does not see herself as a spokeswoman for all Asians, as there is a diverse range of interests and views within such a wide group.
"I think it's really important for people to see Asians as individuals rather than just a group."
- NZPA
Pansy Wong says her ministerial appointment sends a message to the world New Zealand is a country where anyone can be accepted and succeed. Photo / Paul Estcourt
Pansy Wong says her ministerial appointment sends a message to the world New Zealand is a country where anyone can be accepted and succeed. Photo / Paul Estcourt
Pansy Wong says her appointment as the country's first Asian Cabinet minister shows New Zealand is an open and tolerant country.
The 53-year-old ethnic Chinese MP was appointed Minister for Ethnic Affairs and Minister of Women's Affairs in the new-look Cabinet today.
Mrs Wong said she had always battled to be treated like any other New Zealander and her electorate win in Botany and her appointment as a minister sent a message to the world.
"It shows that New Zealand is a tolerant country where anyone can be accepted and succeed," she told NZPA.
She hoped her achievements would show other minorities they could succeed within mainstream parties and politics and encourage them to get involved.
Mrs Wong credited education, hard work and determination - a system of values instilled by her poor uneducated parents - as the keys to her success.
Born in Shanghai, her family moved to Hong Kong when she was five.
Her father was a seaman who was away for six months of the year and she, her mother, and two brothers lived in a small room in a shared apartment block floor populated by seven families.
"That was about 40 people. We shared one kitchen area and one toilet and one bathroom. So I experienced poverty."
Despite their surroundings, her parents were extremely proud and committed to providing an education and better life for their children.
"She held on to the dream that one day, because the living environment was so depressing, that she wanted to own her own apartment. That dream was fulfilled after six years."
In Hong Kong it was popular to take an English name. Born Yu Fong, which meant "fragrance of flowers", she chose Pansy as her English name.
"I liked it. Pansies are tough but they are also happy and kind of vivacious. It was only afterwards that I found out they don't have any fragrance."
In 1974, when she was 19, her family emigrated to New Zealand after her father, who had docked here on his travels, decided it was good place to raise a family.
Mrs Wong studied at Canterbury University, helping out in her family's St Albans fish and chip shop and Bealey Ave hamburger joint in her spare time.
"Even now I can still flip a mean burger."
It was at university that she met her Malaysian Chinese husband Sammy.
She went on to complete a Masters of Commerce degree with honours, initially working at what is now Ernst and Young as an accountant before joining Christchurch firm Smiths City where she eventually became chief financial controller.
In 1989 she was approached to enter local politics and was elected to Canterbury Regional Council, where she became known as the "$6 million dollar woman" for carving that figure off the budget.
As MMP neared Fendalton MP Philip Burdon approached her to stand for National and she agreed, in 1996 becoming New Zealand's first Asian MP by virtue of National's list.
It was during that election that she first locked horns with New Zealand First leader Winston Peters who was campaigning on an anti-immigration platform and described her as a "token" MP.
After the election she threatened to quit National if the incoming government adopted NZ First's immigration policy.
Mrs Wong said being described as token did not overly worry her because she was used to such treatment.
"Even today some people mock my accent and the way I speak."
She said if anything the barbs helped her motivation.
But she did not like NZ First's denigration of immigrants, knowing first hand how hard it was to resettle in a foreign country.
Mrs Wong said since she was elected to Parliament she has tried to represent Asian communities, but she does not see herself as a spokeswoman for all Asians, as there is a diverse range of interests and views within such a wide group.
"I think it's really important for people to see Asians as individuals rather than just a group."
- NZPA
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Mid-Autumn Festival - Moon Cake Recipe
Dough:
4 cups Plain flour
3/4 cup Powdered milk
1/2 tablespoon Baking powder
1 cup Sugar
4 Eggs
Filling
4 cups Red, green or lotus seed paste
20 Yolks from salted eggs
1 Egg yolk
3/4 cup Melted butter
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
To make Filling:
1. Put the 20 salted egg yolks on a baking sheet and bake for 10 mins.
2. Divide bean paste into 20 portions and press a salted egg yolk into each of these.
3. Roll these up into a ball with the egg yolk hidden in the centre.
To make Dough:
1. Sift flour, powdered milk and baking powder together.
2. Beat sugar and eggs together until creamy and white, about 10 minutes.
3. Mix in the melted butter.
4. Then lightly fold in the dry ingredients.
5. Divide this mixture into 20 portions.
To make the mooncakes:
1. Increase the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Roll out dough to 4 inch circles.
3. Place a portion of filling each in the centre and bring up the sides to encase it completely. Pinch cracks to seal and roll between your hands to make a ball.
4. Lightly flour the mould and press the dough ball into it, flattening it with the palm of your hand. Shake to tip out.
5. Place them on a baking sheet, brush tops with egg yolk, and bake for 30 mins.
6. Serve warm or cold.
4 cups Plain flour
3/4 cup Powdered milk
1/2 tablespoon Baking powder
1 cup Sugar
4 Eggs
Filling
4 cups Red, green or lotus seed paste
20 Yolks from salted eggs
1 Egg yolk
3/4 cup Melted butter
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
To make Filling:
1. Put the 20 salted egg yolks on a baking sheet and bake for 10 mins.
2. Divide bean paste into 20 portions and press a salted egg yolk into each of these.
3. Roll these up into a ball with the egg yolk hidden in the centre.
To make Dough:
1. Sift flour, powdered milk and baking powder together.
2. Beat sugar and eggs together until creamy and white, about 10 minutes.
3. Mix in the melted butter.
4. Then lightly fold in the dry ingredients.
5. Divide this mixture into 20 portions.
To make the mooncakes:
1. Increase the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Roll out dough to 4 inch circles.
3. Place a portion of filling each in the centre and bring up the sides to encase it completely. Pinch cracks to seal and roll between your hands to make a ball.
4. Lightly flour the mould and press the dough ball into it, flattening it with the palm of your hand. Shake to tip out.
5. Place them on a baking sheet, brush tops with egg yolk, and bake for 30 mins.
6. Serve warm or cold.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Fire safety in Chinese
Fire safety in Chinese
By JUDITH LACY - Tribune | Sunday, 24 August 2008
It wasn't quite the lucky 08-08-08, but the launch date of a Chinese language booklet in Palmerston North had enough eights, plus a fire safety-significant one.
The liberally illustrated 10-page booklet covers fire safety tips for around the home and has already been translated into Maori and French.
Launched on 18-08-08, the Chinese booklet is a joint initiative by the Palmerston North Fire Service and the Manawatu branch of the New Zealand Chinese Association.
Last year a group of older Chinese visited the Palmerston North fire station to learn about fire safety and co-ordinator May Needham identified a need for a Chinese language booklet.
Soon after taking up her position, Mrs Needham found older Chinese were not accessing information available to "mainstream" New Zealanders.
Manawatu Chinese Association vice president Tony Thackery told the launch the booklet would be of vital importance to many new Chinese migrants. If it assisted in saving one life or someone from serious injury, the venture had been worthwhile.
Firefighter Mitch Ormsby, who worked with Mrs Needham on the project, hoped the relationship would continue and more fire safety tools could be developed.
The booklet's development was funded by the Chinese Poll Tax Heritage Trust and COGS, with printing costs met by the Fire Service.
Representatives from the Department of Internal Affairs, Age Concern, St John and Settlement Support also attended the launch.
Settlement Support co- ordinator Shelley Davenport said getting official material in languages accessible to migrants was an ongoing challenge.
The fire safety booklet had a strong lifesaving message and was "just brilliant", she said.
By JUDITH LACY - Tribune | Sunday, 24 August 2008
It wasn't quite the lucky 08-08-08, but the launch date of a Chinese language booklet in Palmerston North had enough eights, plus a fire safety-significant one.
The liberally illustrated 10-page booklet covers fire safety tips for around the home and has already been translated into Maori and French.
Launched on 18-08-08, the Chinese booklet is a joint initiative by the Palmerston North Fire Service and the Manawatu branch of the New Zealand Chinese Association.
Last year a group of older Chinese visited the Palmerston North fire station to learn about fire safety and co-ordinator May Needham identified a need for a Chinese language booklet.
Soon after taking up her position, Mrs Needham found older Chinese were not accessing information available to "mainstream" New Zealanders.
Manawatu Chinese Association vice president Tony Thackery told the launch the booklet would be of vital importance to many new Chinese migrants. If it assisted in saving one life or someone from serious injury, the venture had been worthwhile.
Firefighter Mitch Ormsby, who worked with Mrs Needham on the project, hoped the relationship would continue and more fire safety tools could be developed.
The booklet's development was funded by the Chinese Poll Tax Heritage Trust and COGS, with printing costs met by the Fire Service.
Representatives from the Department of Internal Affairs, Age Concern, St John and Settlement Support also attended the launch.
Settlement Support co- ordinator Shelley Davenport said getting official material in languages accessible to migrants was an ongoing challenge.
The fire safety booklet had a strong lifesaving message and was "just brilliant", she said.
Poll tax kept out Chinese
Poll tax kept out Chinese
By JUDITH LACY - Tribune | Sunday, 14 September 2008
WIDE AWAKE: Jessica Wong, 11, plays with lion Hoi Gong at its awakening ceremony at Te Manawa on Monday. Inside the lion are Teh Gyu Kim (head) and Qi-Wern Lim (tail). Aluminium-framed, Hoi Gong is a lot lighter than its bamboo and rattan predecessor, which has been retired.
Hoi Gong waits patiently, sparkling in the gloom.
Manawatu is spelt out in yellow letters around its neck.
Palmerston North Deputy Mayor John Hornblow, clad in a burgundy jacket he was presented with during a visit to Palmerston North's friendship city Kunshan, approaches.
Ceremonial brush in hand, he begins dotting a red liquid on the golden lion in a series of specified steps, starting with the eyes, moving to the toes, and ending with the forehead.
So begins the awakening ceremony of the Manawatu Chinese Association's new lion, an event which last happened 18 years ago.
Monday's ceremony in Te Manawa's courtyard marked the opening of two exhibitions at the Palmerston North museum, A Barbarous Measure: The Poll Tax and Chinese New Zealanders, and one celebrating the association's 70th anniversary.
A Barbarous Measure includes photos, newspaper clippings, cartoons and poll tax associated items.
The [PndStlg]10 tax on every Chinese migrant was introduced in 1881 to make it difficult for Chinese to settle in New Zealand.
Anti-Chinese feeling is evident in a poem published in the Press in 1899, which begins:
"Heap up the Chow Man's burden
Don't let his misery cease".
A White NZ League cartoon from 1931 exhorts consumers to buy from their own race and keep New Zealand white, loosening the "Asiatic stronghold" on market gardening.
Exhibition curator Nigel Murphy told the opening crowd the aim of the poll tax was not to harm Chinese, but to exclude them from New Zealand and being New Zealanders. Unlike Britain, class was not important here; instead race was everything.
In 1896, the tax was increased to [PndStlg]100, roughly equivalent to 10 years' earnings.
In 1934 payment of the tax was waived and the legislation behind it repealed in 1944.
About 4500 Chinese paid a total of [PndStlg]308,080 between 1882 and 1934.
Mr Murphy asked, in 2008, who is a New Zealander? Does white still mean New Zealander? What is our national identity? How much of the attitude behind the poll tax still exists?
New Zealand Chinese Association president Steven Young said it was the fifth time the poll tax exhibition had been mounted in New Zealand.
Sixteen years ago the association commissioned Mr Murphy to research the tax. Until then, little was known about it and the legislative framework that gave rise to it, Mr Young said.
The tax virtually stopped the migration of Chinese women, for 40 years shaping the New Zealand Chinese community into one of "married bachelors". This had a huge negative social and cultural impact, he said.
In 2002 Prime Minister Helen Clark apologised to Chinese who'd paid the poll tax and suffered other discrimination, and to their descendants. Palmerston North MP Steve Maharey said the apology wasn't about dragging up painful memories. Instead it was so people could move on.
Mr Hornblow announced Palmerston North was the first New Zealand local authority to join the China and New Zealand Business Council, formed in 2006.
Palmerston North City Council is also working towards creating a bonsai garden at Victoria Esplanade.
* A Barbarous Measure runs until October 12. Free admission.
By JUDITH LACY - Tribune | Sunday, 14 September 2008
WIDE AWAKE: Jessica Wong, 11, plays with lion Hoi Gong at its awakening ceremony at Te Manawa on Monday. Inside the lion are Teh Gyu Kim (head) and Qi-Wern Lim (tail). Aluminium-framed, Hoi Gong is a lot lighter than its bamboo and rattan predecessor, which has been retired.
Hoi Gong waits patiently, sparkling in the gloom.
Manawatu is spelt out in yellow letters around its neck.
Palmerston North Deputy Mayor John Hornblow, clad in a burgundy jacket he was presented with during a visit to Palmerston North's friendship city Kunshan, approaches.
Ceremonial brush in hand, he begins dotting a red liquid on the golden lion in a series of specified steps, starting with the eyes, moving to the toes, and ending with the forehead.
So begins the awakening ceremony of the Manawatu Chinese Association's new lion, an event which last happened 18 years ago.
Monday's ceremony in Te Manawa's courtyard marked the opening of two exhibitions at the Palmerston North museum, A Barbarous Measure: The Poll Tax and Chinese New Zealanders, and one celebrating the association's 70th anniversary.
A Barbarous Measure includes photos, newspaper clippings, cartoons and poll tax associated items.
The [PndStlg]10 tax on every Chinese migrant was introduced in 1881 to make it difficult for Chinese to settle in New Zealand.
Anti-Chinese feeling is evident in a poem published in the Press in 1899, which begins:
"Heap up the Chow Man's burden
Don't let his misery cease".
A White NZ League cartoon from 1931 exhorts consumers to buy from their own race and keep New Zealand white, loosening the "Asiatic stronghold" on market gardening.
Exhibition curator Nigel Murphy told the opening crowd the aim of the poll tax was not to harm Chinese, but to exclude them from New Zealand and being New Zealanders. Unlike Britain, class was not important here; instead race was everything.
In 1896, the tax was increased to [PndStlg]100, roughly equivalent to 10 years' earnings.
In 1934 payment of the tax was waived and the legislation behind it repealed in 1944.
About 4500 Chinese paid a total of [PndStlg]308,080 between 1882 and 1934.
Mr Murphy asked, in 2008, who is a New Zealander? Does white still mean New Zealander? What is our national identity? How much of the attitude behind the poll tax still exists?
New Zealand Chinese Association president Steven Young said it was the fifth time the poll tax exhibition had been mounted in New Zealand.
Sixteen years ago the association commissioned Mr Murphy to research the tax. Until then, little was known about it and the legislative framework that gave rise to it, Mr Young said.
The tax virtually stopped the migration of Chinese women, for 40 years shaping the New Zealand Chinese community into one of "married bachelors". This had a huge negative social and cultural impact, he said.
In 2002 Prime Minister Helen Clark apologised to Chinese who'd paid the poll tax and suffered other discrimination, and to their descendants. Palmerston North MP Steve Maharey said the apology wasn't about dragging up painful memories. Instead it was so people could move on.
Mr Hornblow announced Palmerston North was the first New Zealand local authority to join the China and New Zealand Business Council, formed in 2006.
Palmerston North City Council is also working towards creating a bonsai garden at Victoria Esplanade.
* A Barbarous Measure runs until October 12. Free admission.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Metro's Best Asian Restaurants 2008
In association with Asia Downunder
The September issue of Metro, on sale August 25, contains our inaugural comprehensive guide to Auckland's top 50 Asian restaurants, selected after several months of exhaustive judging.
As part of the process we selected winners across 10 categories, including the popular vote for best food hall.
Congratulations to the winners who are...
SUPREME WINNER; BEST JAPANESE
SOTO
13 St Marys Rd, Ponsonby.
Ph 360-0021.
www.sotorestaurant.mobi
BEST CHINESE
PEARL GARDEN
1 Teed St, Newmarket.
Ph 523-3696.
BEST INDIAN
SATYA
17 Great North Rd, Newton.
Ph 361-3612.
BEST INDOCHINESE
SOPHEARA
136 Chapel Rd, Flat Bush, Manukau.
Ph 272-4749.
BEST KOREAN
MAPO
22a Torrens Ave, East Tamaki.
Ph 265-1700.
BEST MALAYSIAN
MALAYSIAN NONYA
87D Picton St, Howick.
Ph 537-168.
BEST THAI
THAI FRIENDS
311 Parnell Rd, Parnell.
Ph 373-247.
wwwthaifriends.co.nz
BEST ASIAN FUSION
CHOW
1 Pakenham St East, Viaduct.
Ph 365-2585.
www.chow.co.nz
BEST YUM CHAR
SUNSHINE
39 Market Pl, Viaduct.
Ph 302-3322.
BEST FOOD HALL
FOOD ALLEY
22 Albert St, City.
Ph 373-4917.
The September issue of Metro, on sale August 25, contains our inaugural comprehensive guide to Auckland's top 50 Asian restaurants, selected after several months of exhaustive judging.
As part of the process we selected winners across 10 categories, including the popular vote for best food hall.
Congratulations to the winners who are...
SUPREME WINNER; BEST JAPANESE
SOTO
13 St Marys Rd, Ponsonby.
Ph 360-0021.
www.sotorestaurant.mobi
BEST CHINESE
PEARL GARDEN
1 Teed St, Newmarket.
Ph 523-3696.
BEST INDIAN
SATYA
17 Great North Rd, Newton.
Ph 361-3612.
BEST INDOCHINESE
SOPHEARA
136 Chapel Rd, Flat Bush, Manukau.
Ph 272-4749.
BEST KOREAN
MAPO
22a Torrens Ave, East Tamaki.
Ph 265-1700.
BEST MALAYSIAN
MALAYSIAN NONYA
87D Picton St, Howick.
Ph 537-168.
BEST THAI
THAI FRIENDS
311 Parnell Rd, Parnell.
Ph 373-247.
wwwthaifriends.co.nz
BEST ASIAN FUSION
CHOW
1 Pakenham St East, Viaduct.
Ph 365-2585.
www.chow.co.nz
BEST YUM CHAR
SUNSHINE
39 Market Pl, Viaduct.
Ph 302-3322.
BEST FOOD HALL
FOOD ALLEY
22 Albert St, City.
Ph 373-4917.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Ahead of the Bananas NZ Going Global International Conference in August, RENEE LIANG spoke to guest speaker Alison Wong about writing, her Montana shortlisted poetry collection Cup, and growing up Chinese in New Zealand.
THE FIRST thing that strikes me about Alison Wong is her laugh. It’s frequent, loud and suddenly throws its arms about you like some long-lost cousin. She has one of those familiar-looking faces and I catch myself wondering if we are related somehow. It’s unlikely, though it would be good if we were. Then perhaps I could lay claim to some of those writer’s genes which make Wong one of our country’s emerging stars.
Meeting her just ahead of a conference for Chinese New Zealanders fondly nicknamed The Banana Conference, the first observation that pops into my unguarded mouth is that she is a New Zealander of Chinese descent. This is not the way she prefers people to approach her writing, she tells me smiling: “you write out of your own experience, but your experience isn’t just from your ethnic background, it is informed by everything in your life.” She goes on to add that most of her poems come with no ethnic flavouring. But in terms of experience, Wong has certainly had a rich life so far.
Growing up in urban, Middle New Zealand Hawke’s Bay, Wong was often isolated from Chinese culture. The Chinese community in Hawke’s Bay was small, unlike the bigger Chinese communities of Auckland and Wellington, and Wong was not aware that she was supposed be different from her Pakeha friends. But however much she downplays the cultural influences on her work, her Chinese upbringing continues to influence what she chooses to write about.
When Wong was a baby, her parents decided to stop speaking in Chinese to their children, to avoid problems with an employee who was paranoid they were talking about her behind her back. As a result Wong can’t speak much Cantonese, something that prevented her from getting to know her grandmother and importantly, many of her own family stories.
As an adult, Wong unravels her Chinese background through her writing. Stories she came across while finding out about her own community have been jumping-off points for some of her fiction. But although she does meticulous research to ensure her work is historically accurate, in the end, what she writes is fiction. “All (my) major characters and their relationships are completely fictional.”
Writing came naturally to Wong. She speaks of a sense of “otherness” common to many artists, but says that she would have become a writer anyway. As a schoolgirl, Wong did not relate to the stories of Sargeson and Mansfield, both of whom referenced spheres of New Zealand experience alien to her, and in the case of Mansfield featured characters that Wong found denigrating to her race. But she identified with the imagination and otherworldliness of Owls do Cry by Janet Frame. With further encouragement and permission from teachers, including one who allowed her to write an assignment on India in the form of poems, her urge to write was unlocked.
Members of her family – her mother, her father, her siblings and her half-Chinese son – wander through Wong’s poems, often becoming conduits to express her musings on love, relationships, memory and loss. Wong has also been working for some years on a historical novel about the Chinese community in New Zealand at the turn of last century. This, she concedes, has spilled over into her other writing – “it’s just coincidental that (I) happen to be Chinese and some of that feeds in as well... I’ve had to do so much research into Chinese things for my novel (that poems) have fallen out of that.”
On sampling her first collection of poetry Cup – a finalist for this year’s Montana Best First Book for Poetry Award – I find that Wong’s verse is spare and elegant, possibly with oriental notes, but balanced by a healthy whiff of Kiwi earthiness. One minute you sigh over the restrained longing of Landscape, the next you are gently slapped in the face with the sly punnery of Kilmog Hill. One gets the impression that Wong is quite happy to step quietly into the background and let the reader absorb the feelings and intent by themselves.
For example, in her poem Tessellation: “the man loves her/deeply//a stone in cool water//milk-drunk/reminiscent...”, Wong demonstrates her understanding of the importance of the white spaces between the words, the things left unsaid and therefore all the more powerful.
There is a subtle sensuality in her writing. Lovers feature in her poetry as often as her parents do – and she is touchingly vulnerable in her expression of her feelings: “as I lie/draped over you with nothing/not a molecule/between us/I feel like a soft wet leaf/a piece of news/paper wet with the love of you – “ (After).
It is probably fair to say that Wong has had her share of bad luck with men. Going over to China in her early twenties driven by “a calling”, she met and married a Chinese man and brought him back to New Zealand with her. However, in the end the marriage didn’t work out.
Wong found that being divorced was freeing: “I’d spent all those years supporting my husband and doing what I needed to do to earn a living and not doing what I really wanted to do. So when I didn’t need to support him any more, I could think about what I wanted to do for me and that’s when I started taking my writing really seriously... I realised – I’m a writer, I don’t need to earn any money, I can be poor, I can just do what I want to do.”
And what she wanted to do was write poetry and fiction, lashings of it, doing the Creative Writing paper at Victoria University at the same time as she enrolled in the Creative Writing course at Whitireia Polytechnic. This change of discipline – Wong’s previous degree had been in Mathematics and she had worked in IT for many years – might have seemed sudden, but Wong was happy.
Typically for a Kiwi, she downplays the subsequent success she had, earning among other honours an appointment as the Robert Burns Fellow at Otago University, the Reader’s Digest-New Zealand Society of Authors Stout Research Centre Fellowship (to write her first novel), and inclusion in Best New Zealand Poems 2006. She says that these honours focussed the spotlight at times, and her ethnicity came up for analysis repeatedly: “I just think you’ve got to carry on doing your own thing regardless of what anyone else thinks or expects – otherwise it can cripple you.”
Wong became involved with fellow Wellingtonian poet Lindsay Forbes, and they had a son they named Jackson. Jackson has been both a source of literary inspiration – the middle section of Wong’s book, subtitled Wishing Spiders, is about him – and of literary disruption. Wong laughs when I ask how her novel is getting on. “I try to write when Jackson is at school or otherwise occupied but it’s not easy! There are limited times you can write and it’s totally, totally different with a novel compared to say, a poem. With a novel, unless you make yourself sit down and write whether you feel like it or not, you’ll never write it.”
Although Wong and Forbes’ relationship did not last, one other result of their union, the Porirua Poetry Café, did. The live poetry performance venue has now hosted many local and international poetic talents. Wong does not see herself as a performance poet – “I can’t put on voices or (put on) a particular persona” – but she does enjoy reading.
And later when I have the opportunity to see her read, I can see this. She lets her words speak for themselves, almost absenting herself from the podium. Her voice is quiet, but with an inner steel which I can’t help feeling has defined Wong’s approach to life so far and comes through in her writing. A quiet, familiar strength. Quiet except for that loud, generous laugh of hers.
See also:
» Cup, By Alison Wong
Alison Wong’s poetry collection, "Cup" (Steele Roberts, 2006), is shortlisted for the 2007 Montana NZ Book Awards NZ Society Authors Best First Book for Poetry. Her poetry and fiction have appeared in Best NZ Poems 2006, Dear To Me: 100 New Zealanders Write About Their Favourite Poems, and various other journals and anthologies. She was the 2002 Robert Burns Fellow at Otago University and a founder of Porirua’s Poetry Café. She lives in Titahi Bay, Porirua, where she is completing a novel.
» 14.09.07 / Arts Feature
THE FIRST thing that strikes me about Alison Wong is her laugh. It’s frequent, loud and suddenly throws its arms about you like some long-lost cousin. She has one of those familiar-looking faces and I catch myself wondering if we are related somehow. It’s unlikely, though it would be good if we were. Then perhaps I could lay claim to some of those writer’s genes which make Wong one of our country’s emerging stars.
Meeting her just ahead of a conference for Chinese New Zealanders fondly nicknamed The Banana Conference, the first observation that pops into my unguarded mouth is that she is a New Zealander of Chinese descent. This is not the way she prefers people to approach her writing, she tells me smiling: “you write out of your own experience, but your experience isn’t just from your ethnic background, it is informed by everything in your life.” She goes on to add that most of her poems come with no ethnic flavouring. But in terms of experience, Wong has certainly had a rich life so far.
Growing up in urban, Middle New Zealand Hawke’s Bay, Wong was often isolated from Chinese culture. The Chinese community in Hawke’s Bay was small, unlike the bigger Chinese communities of Auckland and Wellington, and Wong was not aware that she was supposed be different from her Pakeha friends. But however much she downplays the cultural influences on her work, her Chinese upbringing continues to influence what she chooses to write about.
When Wong was a baby, her parents decided to stop speaking in Chinese to their children, to avoid problems with an employee who was paranoid they were talking about her behind her back. As a result Wong can’t speak much Cantonese, something that prevented her from getting to know her grandmother and importantly, many of her own family stories.
As an adult, Wong unravels her Chinese background through her writing. Stories she came across while finding out about her own community have been jumping-off points for some of her fiction. But although she does meticulous research to ensure her work is historically accurate, in the end, what she writes is fiction. “All (my) major characters and their relationships are completely fictional.”
Writing came naturally to Wong. She speaks of a sense of “otherness” common to many artists, but says that she would have become a writer anyway. As a schoolgirl, Wong did not relate to the stories of Sargeson and Mansfield, both of whom referenced spheres of New Zealand experience alien to her, and in the case of Mansfield featured characters that Wong found denigrating to her race. But she identified with the imagination and otherworldliness of Owls do Cry by Janet Frame. With further encouragement and permission from teachers, including one who allowed her to write an assignment on India in the form of poems, her urge to write was unlocked.
Members of her family – her mother, her father, her siblings and her half-Chinese son – wander through Wong’s poems, often becoming conduits to express her musings on love, relationships, memory and loss. Wong has also been working for some years on a historical novel about the Chinese community in New Zealand at the turn of last century. This, she concedes, has spilled over into her other writing – “it’s just coincidental that (I) happen to be Chinese and some of that feeds in as well... I’ve had to do so much research into Chinese things for my novel (that poems) have fallen out of that.”
On sampling her first collection of poetry Cup – a finalist for this year’s Montana Best First Book for Poetry Award – I find that Wong’s verse is spare and elegant, possibly with oriental notes, but balanced by a healthy whiff of Kiwi earthiness. One minute you sigh over the restrained longing of Landscape, the next you are gently slapped in the face with the sly punnery of Kilmog Hill. One gets the impression that Wong is quite happy to step quietly into the background and let the reader absorb the feelings and intent by themselves.
For example, in her poem Tessellation: “the man loves her/deeply//a stone in cool water//milk-drunk/reminiscent...”, Wong demonstrates her understanding of the importance of the white spaces between the words, the things left unsaid and therefore all the more powerful.
There is a subtle sensuality in her writing. Lovers feature in her poetry as often as her parents do – and she is touchingly vulnerable in her expression of her feelings: “as I lie/draped over you with nothing/not a molecule/between us/I feel like a soft wet leaf/a piece of news/paper wet with the love of you – “ (After).
It is probably fair to say that Wong has had her share of bad luck with men. Going over to China in her early twenties driven by “a calling”, she met and married a Chinese man and brought him back to New Zealand with her. However, in the end the marriage didn’t work out.
Wong found that being divorced was freeing: “I’d spent all those years supporting my husband and doing what I needed to do to earn a living and not doing what I really wanted to do. So when I didn’t need to support him any more, I could think about what I wanted to do for me and that’s when I started taking my writing really seriously... I realised – I’m a writer, I don’t need to earn any money, I can be poor, I can just do what I want to do.”
And what she wanted to do was write poetry and fiction, lashings of it, doing the Creative Writing paper at Victoria University at the same time as she enrolled in the Creative Writing course at Whitireia Polytechnic. This change of discipline – Wong’s previous degree had been in Mathematics and she had worked in IT for many years – might have seemed sudden, but Wong was happy.
Typically for a Kiwi, she downplays the subsequent success she had, earning among other honours an appointment as the Robert Burns Fellow at Otago University, the Reader’s Digest-New Zealand Society of Authors Stout Research Centre Fellowship (to write her first novel), and inclusion in Best New Zealand Poems 2006. She says that these honours focussed the spotlight at times, and her ethnicity came up for analysis repeatedly: “I just think you’ve got to carry on doing your own thing regardless of what anyone else thinks or expects – otherwise it can cripple you.”
Wong became involved with fellow Wellingtonian poet Lindsay Forbes, and they had a son they named Jackson. Jackson has been both a source of literary inspiration – the middle section of Wong’s book, subtitled Wishing Spiders, is about him – and of literary disruption. Wong laughs when I ask how her novel is getting on. “I try to write when Jackson is at school or otherwise occupied but it’s not easy! There are limited times you can write and it’s totally, totally different with a novel compared to say, a poem. With a novel, unless you make yourself sit down and write whether you feel like it or not, you’ll never write it.”
Although Wong and Forbes’ relationship did not last, one other result of their union, the Porirua Poetry Café, did. The live poetry performance venue has now hosted many local and international poetic talents. Wong does not see herself as a performance poet – “I can’t put on voices or (put on) a particular persona” – but she does enjoy reading.
And later when I have the opportunity to see her read, I can see this. She lets her words speak for themselves, almost absenting herself from the podium. Her voice is quiet, but with an inner steel which I can’t help feeling has defined Wong’s approach to life so far and comes through in her writing. A quiet, familiar strength. Quiet except for that loud, generous laugh of hers.
See also:
» Cup, By Alison Wong
Alison Wong’s poetry collection, "Cup" (Steele Roberts, 2006), is shortlisted for the 2007 Montana NZ Book Awards NZ Society Authors Best First Book for Poetry. Her poetry and fiction have appeared in Best NZ Poems 2006, Dear To Me: 100 New Zealanders Write About Their Favourite Poems, and various other journals and anthologies. She was the 2002 Robert Burns Fellow at Otago University and a founder of Porirua’s Poetry Café. She lives in Titahi Bay, Porirua, where she is completing a novel.
» 14.09.07 / Arts Feature
Friday, August 22, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
http://www.asianz.org.nz/culture/inthelimelight/goldenslumbers
Golden Slumbers - Kah Bee Chow's One Day Sculpture
“Once regarded as the most notorious slum area in New Zealand,” Wellington historian Lynette Shum notes, “Haining Street today is an industrial area that bears little indication of its sensationalist past.”*
As the centre of Wellington’s Chinatown from the late 1800s-1940s, the street also bore witness to one of the most violent episodes in Chinese New Zealand history, when Englishman Lionel Terry shot dead Joe Kum Yung opposite 10 Haining Street in 1905 as a protest against Chinese immigration into the country.
Kah Bee Chow’s One Day Sculpture project, located at that site and entitled Golden Slumbers, is partly conceived as an imagined narrative of Joe Kum Yung’s afterlife. Chow says: “Joe was a miner, destitute, alone at the time of his death with long-abandoned dreams of the elusive ‘Sum Gum Saan’, a new gold mountain, the faded promise of the Otago goldfields.” The artist is creating both a fanciful wish-fulfilment and antidote to Joe’s invisibility as his biography was eclipsed by his murderer Terry’s folk-hero notoriety.
Chow draws a common aspirational connection between herself and Joe Kum Yung. “We are separated by 100 years but Joe and I, as first-generation immigrants to New Zealand, perhaps shared in common the impossible spectacular projected fantasies onto this land that drew us here.”
Chow immigrated to New Zealand at age 12 and her delusions were less gilded but not less imagined, and age-appropriate. “I held onto the prepubescent persistence that New Zealand would equate to my Southern Hemisphere Sweet Valley, as appropriated from sugar-coated American teen fiction.”
This memory of things that never existed in New Zealand links Chow to the strangeness and tragedy of the delusions of grandeur that initially tied her, along with Joe Kum Yung and Lionel Terry, to this place.
Project curator Paula Booker notes, “Kah Bee Chow’s One Day Sculpture imagines and re-creates the gold miner’s Sum Gum Saan but she also spatially and socially engages with the memory and disappearance of the things that actually did exist.”
Wellington’s Chinatown has disappeared, due to a range of circumstances including urban development and changing views towards immigrants that led to greater acceptance of Chinese migration to the suburbs. Golden Slumbers is built upon conversations with the present Haining Street community, the people who have an investment in its history and the Chinese community.
This is not an exercise of inserting history into a site that no longer remembers its past, but an attempt to study the perseverance of spatial and cultural memory in lieu of, or as a compensation for, its physical disappearance.
Sunday 31 August 2008 9am to 9pm
Backyard, 10 Haining Street
Central Wellington
One Day Sculpture
a Massey University College of Creative Arts, School of Fine Arts, Litmus Research Initiative.
www.onedaysculpture.org.nz
Curated by Paula Booker
Commissioned by Enjoy Public Art Gallery
147 Cuba St
Wellington
www.enjoy.org.nz
Kah Bee Chow's One Day Sculpture is made possible with support from the Asia New Zealand Foundation and the Wellington City Council's Public Art Fund.
image: 10 Haining Street, June 2008. Photo by Maia McDonald
*Lynette Shum, “Remembering Haining Street: With Both Eyes Open” in http://www.stevenyoung.
Golden Slumbers - Kah Bee Chow's One Day Sculpture
“Once regarded as the most notorious slum area in New Zealand,” Wellington historian Lynette Shum notes, “Haining Street today is an industrial area that bears little indication of its sensationalist past.”*
As the centre of Wellington’s Chinatown from the late 1800s-1940s, the street also bore witness to one of the most violent episodes in Chinese New Zealand history, when Englishman Lionel Terry shot dead Joe Kum Yung opposite 10 Haining Street in 1905 as a protest against Chinese immigration into the country.
Kah Bee Chow’s One Day Sculpture project, located at that site and entitled Golden Slumbers, is partly conceived as an imagined narrative of Joe Kum Yung’s afterlife. Chow says: “Joe was a miner, destitute, alone at the time of his death with long-abandoned dreams of the elusive ‘Sum Gum Saan’, a new gold mountain, the faded promise of the Otago goldfields.” The artist is creating both a fanciful wish-fulfilment and antidote to Joe’s invisibility as his biography was eclipsed by his murderer Terry’s folk-hero notoriety.
Chow draws a common aspirational connection between herself and Joe Kum Yung. “We are separated by 100 years but Joe and I, as first-generation immigrants to New Zealand, perhaps shared in common the impossible spectacular projected fantasies onto this land that drew us here.”
Chow immigrated to New Zealand at age 12 and her delusions were less gilded but not less imagined, and age-appropriate. “I held onto the prepubescent persistence that New Zealand would equate to my Southern Hemisphere Sweet Valley, as appropriated from sugar-coated American teen fiction.”
This memory of things that never existed in New Zealand links Chow to the strangeness and tragedy of the delusions of grandeur that initially tied her, along with Joe Kum Yung and Lionel Terry, to this place.
Project curator Paula Booker notes, “Kah Bee Chow’s One Day Sculpture imagines and re-creates the gold miner’s Sum Gum Saan but she also spatially and socially engages with the memory and disappearance of the things that actually did exist.”
Wellington’s Chinatown has disappeared, due to a range of circumstances including urban development and changing views towards immigrants that led to greater acceptance of Chinese migration to the suburbs. Golden Slumbers is built upon conversations with the present Haining Street community, the people who have an investment in its history and the Chinese community.
This is not an exercise of inserting history into a site that no longer remembers its past, but an attempt to study the perseverance of spatial and cultural memory in lieu of, or as a compensation for, its physical disappearance.
Sunday 31 August 2008 9am to 9pm
Backyard, 10 Haining Street
Central Wellington
One Day Sculpture
a Massey University College of Creative Arts, School of Fine Arts, Litmus Research Initiative.
www.onedaysculpture.org.nz
Curated by Paula Booker
Commissioned by Enjoy Public Art Gallery
147 Cuba St
Wellington
www.enjoy.org.nz
Kah Bee Chow's One Day Sculpture is made possible with support from the Asia New Zealand Foundation and the Wellington City Council's Public Art Fund.
image: 10 Haining Street, June 2008. Photo by Maia McDonald
*Lynette Shum, “Remembering Haining Street: With Both Eyes Open” in http://www.stevenyoung.
Harm Soi Gok
Harm Soi Gok (Chinese fried pork and vegetable dumplings)
1. Boil 2 potatoes, reserve water from cooking the potatoes. Mash potatoes while still hot.
2. Mix 3 Cups of flour with boiling water in a large bowl.
3. Mix in 1 pkt. of glutinous rice flour (454gms.)
4. Knead into a firm dough - add a little hot water if too dry, add more flour if too wet. Dough should not be sticky.
5. Pull off small pieces of dough and roll into balls.
6. Press each ball into flat circles.
Filling
1. Chop barbeque pork, or use cooked minced pork.
2. Pan fry other ingredients of your choice e.g. Chinese chives, spring onions, preserved turnips, dried shrimps, etc.
3. Add a little salt and sugar and thicken with cornflour.
4. Cool filling so that it will be easier to work with before wrapping in pastry.
5. Spoon a small amount of filling onto the prepared pastry circles.
6. Fold and seal the edges with water, then twist to form frilly edge.
7. Dip both sides of dumplings into sesame seeds.
8. Deep fry in oil over medium heat.
Dumplings can be frozen. Re- fry while still frozen. They are crunchier on re-frying.
Kumaras may be used as a substitute for potatoes.
and another from Margaret Wong
1. Boil 2 potatoes, reserve water from cooking the potatoes. Mash potatoes while still hot.
2. Mix 3 Cups of flour with boiling water in a large bowl.
3. Mix in 1 pkt. of glutinous rice flour (454gms.)
4. Knead into a firm dough - add a little hot water if too dry, add more flour if too wet. Dough should not be sticky.
5. Pull off small pieces of dough and roll into balls.
6. Press each ball into flat circles.
Filling
1. Chop barbeque pork, or use cooked minced pork.
2. Pan fry other ingredients of your choice e.g. Chinese chives, spring onions, preserved turnips, dried shrimps, etc.
3. Add a little salt and sugar and thicken with cornflour.
4. Cool filling so that it will be easier to work with before wrapping in pastry.
5. Spoon a small amount of filling onto the prepared pastry circles.
6. Fold and seal the edges with water, then twist to form frilly edge.
7. Dip both sides of dumplings into sesame seeds.
8. Deep fry in oil over medium heat.
Dumplings can be frozen. Re- fry while still frozen. They are crunchier on re-frying.
Kumaras may be used as a substitute for potatoes.
and another from Margaret Wong
Chinese Sponge Cakes
Chinese Sponge Cakes
¾ C Sugar
¾ C High Grade Flour
3 Eggs
1. Beat eggs and sugar until thick and pale.
2. Carefully fold in sifted flour.
3. Grease (brush with oil, using pastry brush) individual Chinese sponge cake tins or muffin tins.
4. Spoon mixture into tins until ¾ full only.
5. Bake at 150C for 15-20mins.
This recipe makes only 12 cakes, so you may wish to double or triple the recipe.
No baking powder required.
courtesey Margaret Wong
¾ C Sugar
¾ C High Grade Flour
3 Eggs
1. Beat eggs and sugar until thick and pale.
2. Carefully fold in sifted flour.
3. Grease (brush with oil, using pastry brush) individual Chinese sponge cake tins or muffin tins.
4. Spoon mixture into tins until ¾ full only.
5. Bake at 150C for 15-20mins.
This recipe makes only 12 cakes, so you may wish to double or triple the recipe.
No baking powder required.
courtesey Margaret Wong
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Kissing a goodbye to luck, say NZ's guidelines
:00AM Saturday August 09, 2008
By Lincoln Tan
Do not embrace or kiss Chinese people and do not share a pear with others, because it is considered bad luck.
These and other pointers are intended to give New Zealand Olympic athletes the social edge while they are competing in Beijing.
A handbook prepared in New Zealand by the University of Auckland's Confucius Institute advises against "exposing inappropriate body parts of the body" and to "be very cautious in political discussions".
It has also suggested not to give clocks as gifts to the Chinese because it sounds like the "end of life" in Mandarin.
"[The book] is to give the Kiwis an advantage to better understand and appreciate the Chinese culture at the Games," said Nora Yao, director of the Confucius Institute.
"As we understand, the New Zealanders are the only team in the world to have the guidebook."
It also gives an introduction to China and a guide on how to pronounce common Chinese words, greetings and introductory phrases such as "hello", "thank you" and "I am a New Zealander".
The guidelines, which Ms Yao said had been posted on the New Zealand Olympic website, follow China's attempts to tell its own citizens about appropriate behaviour.
DOs AND DON'Ts
* Do give a brief handshake and smile when you first meet someone. Do not embrace or kiss Chinese people, and there is no need to bow.
* Do behave and wear appropriate clothes in public, but do not show strong emotions or feelings or expose inappropriate parts of your body.
* When someone pours you tea, say thanks by tapping the table about three times with your second and/or middle finger, but not too loud as it might mean you are angry with the waiter.
* Do remember to bring some tissue or toilet paper when you go out, because there won't be any in most public toilets.
* Do build good networks and relationships or "guanxi" with the Chinese, but do not intentionally criticise others because once "guanxi" is broken, it takes a long time to mend.
By Lincoln Tan
Do not embrace or kiss Chinese people and do not share a pear with others, because it is considered bad luck.
These and other pointers are intended to give New Zealand Olympic athletes the social edge while they are competing in Beijing.
A handbook prepared in New Zealand by the University of Auckland's Confucius Institute advises against "exposing inappropriate body parts of the body" and to "be very cautious in political discussions".
It has also suggested not to give clocks as gifts to the Chinese because it sounds like the "end of life" in Mandarin.
"[The book] is to give the Kiwis an advantage to better understand and appreciate the Chinese culture at the Games," said Nora Yao, director of the Confucius Institute.
"As we understand, the New Zealanders are the only team in the world to have the guidebook."
It also gives an introduction to China and a guide on how to pronounce common Chinese words, greetings and introductory phrases such as "hello", "thank you" and "I am a New Zealander".
The guidelines, which Ms Yao said had been posted on the New Zealand Olympic website, follow China's attempts to tell its own citizens about appropriate behaviour.
DOs AND DON'Ts
* Do give a brief handshake and smile when you first meet someone. Do not embrace or kiss Chinese people, and there is no need to bow.
* Do behave and wear appropriate clothes in public, but do not show strong emotions or feelings or expose inappropriate parts of your body.
* When someone pours you tea, say thanks by tapping the table about three times with your second and/or middle finger, but not too loud as it might mean you are angry with the waiter.
* Do remember to bring some tissue or toilet paper when you go out, because there won't be any in most public toilets.
* Do build good networks and relationships or "guanxi" with the Chinese, but do not intentionally criticise others because once "guanxi" is broken, it takes a long time to mend.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Pop art blends cultures
JIM CHIPP - The Wellingtonian | Wednesday, 30 July 2008
HOME MADE: The book of Wellington fanzine artist Kerry Ann Lee's exhibition is literally all her own work. The artwork, designs and writing are all her own, and she will personally print and bind every single copy before signing it for buyers. As a third-generation Chinese Wellingtonian she did much of her growing up in her parents' cafes and restaurants.
Milk shakes with fried rice are an unusual combo but to a young Kerry Ann Lee it constituted balance. The Chinese Kiwi artist grew up the child of Wellington cafŽ owners and restaurateurs.
"To me it was a balance of western food; milk shakes with fried rice." Her parents operated the Gold Coin Cafe, the Favourite Milk Bar and the Cantonese Cafe.
Lee is an underground artist, arts lecturer and freelance designer best-known for her underground punk fanzine work.
As part of her work towards a Master of Design degree at Massey University, Lee has tried to make sense of what it is to be a third-generation Chinese Wellingtonian in her Home Made exhibition at Toi Poneke Gallery. She has also presented the works in a limited edition, self-published book that is likely to be a popular artwork in itself.
It forms the exhibition centre-piece.
"Everyone's understanding of the cultural history is different" she says. "This is my kind of interpretation."
Growing up as an English-speaking Chinese New Zealander, Lee says she is perceived differently by different people, some consider her to be Kiwi and others, Chinese. Sometimes people will slow their speech to her and ask where she is from. For the record, she's from Newtown; three generations removed from her Cantonese forebears.
"I grew up with Wellington being very diverse and multi-cultural, and I really appreciate that."
Her work is a playful mix of collages, paper-cuttings, and dioramas constituted from found materials. Kiwiana is depicted in traditional Chinese forms. A close look at a Chinese dish reveals a 1960s state house that could be from Naenae or Strathmore.
"A lot of the things I do are between cultures," she says.
"Art descriptions, design descriptions, the local history, my own personal private moments growing up - all those elements have that kind of push-pull tension."
She was pleased to able to incorporate some oral history from her own family and friends.
There is no tension between her underground art and Chinese tradition; they make a comfortable fit, she says.
"It is, by the nature of the work, very much a self-published effort, very much underground," she says.
"The big thing about Chinese culture is giving gifts, including people and sharing food. The whole thing about underground culture is sharing thoughts on paper. In a way it goes with the personal being political."
The gorgeous book is divided into sections: Chinese proverbs traditions and mythology, first arrivals - the Chinese gold miners and their immigration and finally personal stories of Chinese migrants in Aotearoa.
"People will engage with the work in the exhibition through [the] aesthetic first. It's an elegant piece of work."
Looking back at her Chinese heritage has been a growth exercise for her, she says.
"It's very much something that I want to keep up with, and keep with me. I'm in a constant state of discovery."
Her unique perspective on her discoveries are on show from Thursday (July 24) evening in Home Made: Picturing Chinese Settlement in New Zealand until August 22 at Toi Poneke Gallery, 61-63 Abel Smith Street. A limited number of copies of her book will be available
JIM CHIPP - The Wellingtonian | Wednesday, 30 July 2008
HOME MADE: The book of Wellington fanzine artist Kerry Ann Lee's exhibition is literally all her own work. The artwork, designs and writing are all her own, and she will personally print and bind every single copy before signing it for buyers. As a third-generation Chinese Wellingtonian she did much of her growing up in her parents' cafes and restaurants.
Milk shakes with fried rice are an unusual combo but to a young Kerry Ann Lee it constituted balance. The Chinese Kiwi artist grew up the child of Wellington cafŽ owners and restaurateurs.
"To me it was a balance of western food; milk shakes with fried rice." Her parents operated the Gold Coin Cafe, the Favourite Milk Bar and the Cantonese Cafe.
Lee is an underground artist, arts lecturer and freelance designer best-known for her underground punk fanzine work.
As part of her work towards a Master of Design degree at Massey University, Lee has tried to make sense of what it is to be a third-generation Chinese Wellingtonian in her Home Made exhibition at Toi Poneke Gallery. She has also presented the works in a limited edition, self-published book that is likely to be a popular artwork in itself.
It forms the exhibition centre-piece.
"Everyone's understanding of the cultural history is different" she says. "This is my kind of interpretation."
Growing up as an English-speaking Chinese New Zealander, Lee says she is perceived differently by different people, some consider her to be Kiwi and others, Chinese. Sometimes people will slow their speech to her and ask where she is from. For the record, she's from Newtown; three generations removed from her Cantonese forebears.
"I grew up with Wellington being very diverse and multi-cultural, and I really appreciate that."
Her work is a playful mix of collages, paper-cuttings, and dioramas constituted from found materials. Kiwiana is depicted in traditional Chinese forms. A close look at a Chinese dish reveals a 1960s state house that could be from Naenae or Strathmore.
"A lot of the things I do are between cultures," she says.
"Art descriptions, design descriptions, the local history, my own personal private moments growing up - all those elements have that kind of push-pull tension."
She was pleased to able to incorporate some oral history from her own family and friends.
There is no tension between her underground art and Chinese tradition; they make a comfortable fit, she says.
"It is, by the nature of the work, very much a self-published effort, very much underground," she says.
"The big thing about Chinese culture is giving gifts, including people and sharing food. The whole thing about underground culture is sharing thoughts on paper. In a way it goes with the personal being political."
The gorgeous book is divided into sections: Chinese proverbs traditions and mythology, first arrivals - the Chinese gold miners and their immigration and finally personal stories of Chinese migrants in Aotearoa.
"People will engage with the work in the exhibition through [the] aesthetic first. It's an elegant piece of work."
Looking back at her Chinese heritage has been a growth exercise for her, she says.
"It's very much something that I want to keep up with, and keep with me. I'm in a constant state of discovery."
Her unique perspective on her discoveries are on show from Thursday (July 24) evening in Home Made: Picturing Chinese Settlement in New Zealand until August 22 at Toi Poneke Gallery, 61-63 Abel Smith Street. A limited number of copies of her book will be available
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Tung Jung China Trip 2009
Expressions of interest are being taken for a proposed tour of China in late March/April 2009.The proposed dates, though subject to change depending on flights available, are leaving on 28 March 2009 from Auckland and arrive back in Auckland 20 April 2009.
This tour is different to the normal tourist trips and includes approximately a week in Guangzhou and Xintang to enable members to visit their ancestral villages and taking the opportunity to do their family history. The tour of China will include a cruise on the Yangtze River, visiting cities like Chongqing, Shanghai, Beijing (see the Olympic venues), Nanjing, Qingdao, Weifang, Qufu (visit Confucius Temple),Taishan Mountains and the Three Gorges Dam.
The Tour package price based on the above itinerary is $6900.00 per person twin shared
plus applicable departure & security taxesof approximately $523.00 if ticketed today.
The cost includes airfares from Auckland to Auckland and all China domestic flights, transportation, 4 star accommodation, western breakfast, lunches and dinners and entrance fees to sightseeing as per itinerary.
Everything is taken care of for you except your own personal expenses.
This price is based on a minimum of 20 persons travelling together in a group.
Due to the floating NZ dollar, prices are subject to change up until full payment has been received.
Confirmation by mid October is required for bookings to be made.
For further information, contact Tung Jung website
This tour is different to the normal tourist trips and includes approximately a week in Guangzhou and Xintang to enable members to visit their ancestral villages and taking the opportunity to do their family history. The tour of China will include a cruise on the Yangtze River, visiting cities like Chongqing, Shanghai, Beijing (see the Olympic venues), Nanjing, Qingdao, Weifang, Qufu (visit Confucius Temple),Taishan Mountains and the Three Gorges Dam.
The Tour package price based on the above itinerary is $6900.00 per person twin shared
plus applicable departure & security taxesof approximately $523.00 if ticketed today.
The cost includes airfares from Auckland to Auckland and all China domestic flights, transportation, 4 star accommodation, western breakfast, lunches and dinners and entrance fees to sightseeing as per itinerary.
Everything is taken care of for you except your own personal expenses.
This price is based on a minimum of 20 persons travelling together in a group.
Due to the floating NZ dollar, prices are subject to change up until full payment has been received.
Confirmation by mid October is required for bookings to be made.
For further information, contact Tung Jung website
Henry Chan's life story
I have found Henry Chan's life story - part of a book - the link is below. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
http://books.google.co.nz/books?id=ti8359SiPXwC&pg=PA111&lpg=PA111&dq=henry+chan+australia&source=web&ots=jBL7ni7nu_&sig=MpvWbXw9tYjyd8K2F6qMKd4bvdQ&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=10&ct=re sult
Also a newspaper article published recently
http://www.smh.com.au/news/obituaries/hi....l?page=fullpage
http://books.google.co.nz/books?id=ti8359SiPXwC&pg=PA111&lpg=PA111&dq=henry+chan+australia&source=web&ots=jBL7ni7nu_&sig=MpvWbXw9tYjyd8K2F6qMKd4bvdQ&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=10&ct=re sult
Also a newspaper article published recently
http://www.smh.com.au/news/obituaries/hi....l?page=fullpage
Maps of Zengcheng City
maps - some of the bigger areas are named
-- Zengcheng City
http://wikimapia.org/#lat=23.3000092&lon=113.820076&z=13&l=0&m=a&v=2
have found Xingtang, and the railway line
http://wikimapia.org/#lat=23.1214166&lon=113.5905647&z=13&l=0&m=a&v=2
-- Zengcheng City
http://wikimapia.org/#lat=23.3000092&lon=113.820076&z=13&l=0&m=a&v=2
have found Xingtang, and the railway line
http://wikimapia.org/#lat=23.1214166&lon=113.5905647&z=13&l=0&m=a&v=2
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Chinese community pitches in with $40,000
Chinese community pitches in with $40,000 for victims of quake
5:00AM Wednesday July 30, 2008
By Lincoln Tan
A $40,000 cheque towards relief efforts for victims of China's devastating May earthquake from Auckland's local-born Chinese community has come as a welcome surprise to the Red Cross after donations to the cause had reduced to a trickle.
"China's earthquake seems a long time ago with the Olympics hogging the headlines," said Kelly Mitchell, spokeswoman for the New Zealand Red Cross.
"But the need is still great, and the recovery for victims will take longer than most people's memories. It will take years for most to rebuild their lives."
New Zealanders donated $270,000 in the first three weeks after the earthquake, but Ms Mitchell said the donations had since stopped.
The earthquake in China's Sichuan province killed nearly 70,000 people and many thousands are still missing, presumed dead.
More than 30 million people lost most of their assets and millions of farm animals died after the quake, and survivors have also lost their means to make a living.
A United Nations report last month estimated the damage at US$6 billion ($8 billion) to the region's agriculture sector alone.
Kai Luey, national president of the New Zealand Chinese Association, said the $40,000 was raised from groups "representing the long-term Chinese residents in Auckland" at a dinner last month.
Mr Luey said: "We, the older Chinese community still care about the devastating effect that the disaster caused our compatriots in Sichuan, and we hope the donation would be a meaningful contribution to the relief funds."
The cheque will be presented to Kaye Jensen, Auckland's Red Cross manager, tomorrow.
Ms Mitchell said the donation from Auckland's Chinese community was timely.
5:00AM Wednesday July 30, 2008
By Lincoln Tan
A $40,000 cheque towards relief efforts for victims of China's devastating May earthquake from Auckland's local-born Chinese community has come as a welcome surprise to the Red Cross after donations to the cause had reduced to a trickle.
"China's earthquake seems a long time ago with the Olympics hogging the headlines," said Kelly Mitchell, spokeswoman for the New Zealand Red Cross.
"But the need is still great, and the recovery for victims will take longer than most people's memories. It will take years for most to rebuild their lives."
New Zealanders donated $270,000 in the first three weeks after the earthquake, but Ms Mitchell said the donations had since stopped.
The earthquake in China's Sichuan province killed nearly 70,000 people and many thousands are still missing, presumed dead.
More than 30 million people lost most of their assets and millions of farm animals died after the quake, and survivors have also lost their means to make a living.
A United Nations report last month estimated the damage at US$6 billion ($8 billion) to the region's agriculture sector alone.
Kai Luey, national president of the New Zealand Chinese Association, said the $40,000 was raised from groups "representing the long-term Chinese residents in Auckland" at a dinner last month.
Mr Luey said: "We, the older Chinese community still care about the devastating effect that the disaster caused our compatriots in Sichuan, and we hope the donation would be a meaningful contribution to the relief funds."
The cheque will be presented to Kaye Jensen, Auckland's Red Cross manager, tomorrow.
Ms Mitchell said the donation from Auckland's Chinese community was timely.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)