As a New Zealand-China movie co-production treaty nears, Patrick Crewdson looks at the opportunities it will give Kiwi film-makers.
'Bigger, better and more epic than anything you've seen before," is how Chinese movie maestro John Woo described his military masterpiece Red Cliff.
So when the respected director needed his sweeping battle scenes and carefully choreographed action sequences to look their blazing, blood-soaked best, who did he call? Miramar's Park Road Post Production.
Sir Peter Jackson's post-production house provided DI (digital intermediate) for the two-part, five-hour epic.
Given how much Wellywood's cinematic reputation owes to another set of sword-swinging epics, the Red Cliff films were a natural fit for the capital.
But they also play as a preview of coming attractions, with Kiwi film-makers who want to crack China soon to be aided by a bilateral co-production deal (see sidebar) and leading companies such as Weta Digital and Park Road Post increasingly likely to look outside Hollywood for service work.
Red Cliff: Part I went on to usurp Titanic atop China's all-time box office charts (a spot since claimed by another film with Wellington ties, Avatar). And it probably eased some introductions for Park Road Post general manager Cameron Harland when he – along with Weta Digital general manager Tom Greally – went to China last month with a Wellington business and cultural delegation.
For the film-makers, the trip to Beijing, Shanghai and Wuxi was a useful opportunity to tour movie facilities and scope out who the true players are.
"This is the second-biggest market in terms of box office in the world and is growing at 40 per cent a year, so clearly there are opportunities," says Mr Harland. "We're smart just to get in here as early as we can and try to gauge where they might come from."
The pair also made cameos at a New Zealand film night at the 1920s-era Shanghai Grand Cinema, where the newly knighted Sir Richard Taylor introduced The Lovely Bones.
Sir Richard told the invited audience that New Zealand companies were "perfectly placed" not just to deliver contract work like on Red Cliff, but also to partner on genuine co-productions.
Some film-makers have already made inroads, even if the cameras are not rolling yet.
Wellington producer Michelle Turner, who produced Stickmen and worked on Avatar, has been pushing a co-production for two years.
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She hopes Little Dragon – the story of an 11-year-old Shanghainese girl whose family move to New Zealand and take over an uncle's restaurant in "the roughest part of Wellington" – will be one of the first official co-productions.
Penned by Wellington writer Lynda Chanwai Earle, the drama would be shot in Wellington and Shanghai. The lead cast is likely to come from China, but most of the crew would be Kiwi, including director Rachel Douglas.
Her short film Shadow Over The Sun played at the Shanghai International Film Festival in 2008, where Little Dragon was also selected for a pitch and catch competition with a listed budget of US$4 million.
Kiwi connections to that festival continued this year, with Niki Caro's The Vintner's Luck, Gaylene Preston's Home By Christmas and James Napier's I'm Not Harry Jenson screening.
Wellington film and entertainment lawyer Michael Stephens was this year selected as New Zealand's international delegate for the festival. He says the "true opportunity for" Kiwi film-makers in China lies in developing joint projects suitable for international markets.
With a gross box office of US$909 million and more than 4700 cinema screens, China already boasts a huge audience. And the 450 films made there last year, including 67 official co-productions, qualify it as the world's third-biggest film producer.
But domestic income and influence are not enough. The government wants to turn the country into a cinematic titan, and sees co-productions as a way to reach global audiences. Mr Greally says New Zealand could help satisfy China's desire for higher standards.
"Our calling card is our innovation, our creativity, and the quality that brings. Their game is how they can do things quickly and at a very low cost. There's got to be a meeting somewhere of those two objectives."
The brands of Weta Digital and Park Road Post are already recognised in China, where names like Avatar, King Kong and Sir Peter Jackson carry serious weight.
Their cutting-edge reputations have attracted potential customers such as Lifeng Wang, president of animation and visual FX house Xing Xing, which worked on Twilight.
"It's just a natural match if we work with Weta and maybe do some outsourcing for them. And maybe some of the work we have, which is very technically challenging, we can use Weta's help."
Mr Wang says Chinese companies could benefit from New Zealand's creativity, technological know-how and R&D capacity.
One major advantage of co-production status is entry to Chinese cinemas. China enforces a quota of only 20 foreign films per year – "and that's everything from Kung Fu Panda to a French Cannes winner," says Ms Turner – but co-productions count as local content.
However, there's a significant tradeoff. Co-productions go under the scrutiny of Chinese censors, whose comprehensive regulations forbid content that harms the reputation of the state; inappropriately depicts ghosts, masturbation or homosexuality; corrupts social morality; or distorts Chinese history – among a laundry list of other no-go areas.
Mr Stephens also warns film-makers off thinking that China's increasing "economic muscle" means its movies are all blockbusters.
"The reality is that they only do a few at very large budget points ... the film-makers who I'm talking to that are interested in doing films with New Zealand, often their films are as low as half a million dollars or less."
Small-screen producers are also zooming in on China.
Wellington production company Gibson Group is in the script development stage of a co-production with Chinese television company Beijing Ye Chen.
The 40-episode epic drama Gold Rush Revelation, about early Chinese migrants in New Zealand and their descendants a century later, is slated to screen in China on national network CCTV and in New Zealand on Maori TV.
Managing director Dave Gibson says "the trickiest thing" is working out scripts to suit both markets.
"They could write 40 scripts, shoot in New Zealand and put it on Chinese television and that'd be fine, but because of the way we're doing it, we have to get 40 scripts that work in New Zealand and China."
Mr Gibson says even with the co-production treaty about to be signed, he sees more opportunities for television than movie work in China.
"I don't know that will lead to a flurry of films. If I look at the sort of TV work we do, I think it's compatible. If I look at the couple of films we've got on our development slate, I don't think it's that compatible."
Gold Rush is just one element of the Gibson Group's China strategy. The company has another four projects on the go, including a co-production project with Tianjin Television's Binhai Channel, and has recently appointed a Beijing-born producer, Eric Zhang, as head of Chinese projects.
Fast forward a few years, and will the Kiwi and Chinese entertainment industries be closer?
Mr Stephens at least is bullish, predicting that once the bilateral treaty is signed, New Zealand and China could "quite quickly" get to the point of making as many as half a dozen co-productions a year.
CO-PRODUCTION TREATY CLOSE
A film co-production treaty between New Zealand and China could be signed as early as this month.
It would give Kiwi film-makers a ticket to the expanding Chinese movie market, and a way around the quota system that admits just 20 foreign movies a year.
Bilateral negotiations with China began in July 2008, and by January this year New Zealand had submitted a proposed first draft to Chinese authorities. Indications are strong the deal will be inked this month.
Vivien Meek, senior policy adviser (arts) at the Culture and Heritage Ministry, the lead agency, said negotiations were in their final stages and they hoped to sign the agreement soon.
Prime Minister John Key is visiting Beijing and Shanghai this week.
New Zealand already has film co-production deals with 10 countries, including Australia, Britain and South Korea.
Such treaties tend to extend to official co-productions the funding, tax incentives and distribution arrangements available in either country, as well as making it easier to import crew and equipment.
According to Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry documents, most co-production deals take a broad view of what constitutes film, including television and animation. But Gibson Group managing director Dave Gibson says he understands the deal with China will not initially cover television.
Patrick Crewdson travelled to China courtesy of NZTE.
BusinessDay
Last updated 05:00 03/07/2010
FILM OPPORTUNITY: Kiwi film-makers who want to crack China will soon to be aided by a bilateral co-production deal.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/3881051/China-film-deal-The-great-fast-forward
Saturday, July 03, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
The Bone Feeder
http://chinglish-renee.blogspot.com/2010/03/bone-feeder-story-on-asia-downunder.html#links
Monday, March 29, 2010
The Bone Feeder - story on Asia Downunder
Monday, March 29, 2010
The Bone Feeder - story on Asia Downunder
We're in no position to lecture China on democracy
I DON'T KNOW Tibetan history chapter and verse, but I know cultural arrogance when I see it, and Russel Norman put on an interesting display of it when he pestered the visiting Chinese vice-president.
Rather than being snide about how the Chinese people wouldn't see this embarrassing scene in their news coverage, as some reporters were, we should be thankful, because he looked like such a dork.
We're deluded if we think Chinese viewers would be impressed with that graceless demonstration of freedom of speech, and rise as one to demand the novelty. They would surely have been struck, as I was, by the contrast between the composure of the leader of one of the world's great nations (theirs) compared with a sandy-haired git in a beige(!) suit (ours) mouthing off like a hysterical schoolboy somewhere in the remote Pacific. It takes a hell of a lot more intelligence and political skill to be a Xi Jinping in China than a Green MP in New Zealand – and better manners as well. That was obvious.
There's a level on which it's inherently embarrassing to see any European wagging their finger at a Chinese leader: our common history in their country is not a proud one, and is not forgotten there. I've seen colonial-era film footage of the signs in parks in China reading, "No Dogs or Chinese Allowed" – and this was less than a century ago. We knew better than the Chinese then, too, even in their own country. Perhaps it's something to do with our beigeness.
This was at a time when we still treated Chinese immigrants as a special case, when we dreaded the "yellow peril", and had recently had a prime minister, Richard Seddon, who used such racism as a political platform.
Our great-grandparents voted for him, and even erected the odd pigeon poo-bedecked statue in his memory. That Norman's display was on the steps of parliament, near where Seddon stands on a plinth in all his glory, was unpleasantly apt.
Thanks to this attitude of ours, from 1896 until 1944, Chinese immigrants had to pay a poll tax of 100 pounds – a heck of a lot of money – to be allowed to come here, and couldn't bring their families. In 1908 they were deprived of the right to be naturalised, an insult which remained legal until 1951. All in all, it's a history that's shaky ground to preach from, even if we've apologised for it, to a country with a history and civilisation going back thousands of years.
I was reminded, watching Norman's antics, of a display I saw in Shanghai a while back, showing the city's history. Our Chinese guides urged our media group on, but some of us stayed to watch it through, and saw how Europeans were depicted. Let me put it this way: a sandy-haired fellow in a beige suit would have blended in perfectly with the deadpan account of how the city was formerly divided between European powers whose venal attitude left much to be desired. By what right did we do this, and why weren't we preaching democracy then?
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I don't imagine Xi will care one way or the other about Norman's display of bad manners, and I sure don't expect he cares what you or I think about anything, least of all Tibet. He's quite busy running one of the most populous countries in the world, with its own problems and perspective on history, including how it looks on Tibet. We may disagree, but so what? We won't be changing anything.
Sure, we don't like the colonisation, as it appears to us, by the Chinese there. We have the luxury of that perspective, as heirs to the British wholesale colonisation of vast tracts of the planet, justified by confidence in our inherent cultural superiority, and the drive for trade. That's how we got here, not because Maori invited us.
As a descendant of blacksmiths, shoemakers and agricultural labourers from Europe, I'm not ungrateful.
But surely we charged into this country much as the Chinese have done into Tibet, and with as much consideration for Maori and their beliefs and practices as the Chinese show to the Tibetans.
My missionary ancestors were pretty keen to eradicate Maori religious practices, too, albeit with the most benevolent of intentions.
Time has a way of turning beliefs on their heads, of making wrongs right and rights wrong, as we, of all people, ought to know. So instead of brandishing other countries' flags and fighting other nations' battles, we might try being less smug about our own.
rosemary.mcleod@star-times.co.nz
By ROSEMARY MCLEOD - Sunday Star Times
Last updated 05:00 27/06/2010
Rather than being snide about how the Chinese people wouldn't see this embarrassing scene in their news coverage, as some reporters were, we should be thankful, because he looked like such a dork.
We're deluded if we think Chinese viewers would be impressed with that graceless demonstration of freedom of speech, and rise as one to demand the novelty. They would surely have been struck, as I was, by the contrast between the composure of the leader of one of the world's great nations (theirs) compared with a sandy-haired git in a beige(!) suit (ours) mouthing off like a hysterical schoolboy somewhere in the remote Pacific. It takes a hell of a lot more intelligence and political skill to be a Xi Jinping in China than a Green MP in New Zealand – and better manners as well. That was obvious.
There's a level on which it's inherently embarrassing to see any European wagging their finger at a Chinese leader: our common history in their country is not a proud one, and is not forgotten there. I've seen colonial-era film footage of the signs in parks in China reading, "No Dogs or Chinese Allowed" – and this was less than a century ago. We knew better than the Chinese then, too, even in their own country. Perhaps it's something to do with our beigeness.
This was at a time when we still treated Chinese immigrants as a special case, when we dreaded the "yellow peril", and had recently had a prime minister, Richard Seddon, who used such racism as a political platform.
Our great-grandparents voted for him, and even erected the odd pigeon poo-bedecked statue in his memory. That Norman's display was on the steps of parliament, near where Seddon stands on a plinth in all his glory, was unpleasantly apt.
Thanks to this attitude of ours, from 1896 until 1944, Chinese immigrants had to pay a poll tax of 100 pounds – a heck of a lot of money – to be allowed to come here, and couldn't bring their families. In 1908 they were deprived of the right to be naturalised, an insult which remained legal until 1951. All in all, it's a history that's shaky ground to preach from, even if we've apologised for it, to a country with a history and civilisation going back thousands of years.
I was reminded, watching Norman's antics, of a display I saw in Shanghai a while back, showing the city's history. Our Chinese guides urged our media group on, but some of us stayed to watch it through, and saw how Europeans were depicted. Let me put it this way: a sandy-haired fellow in a beige suit would have blended in perfectly with the deadpan account of how the city was formerly divided between European powers whose venal attitude left much to be desired. By what right did we do this, and why weren't we preaching democracy then?
Ad Feedback
I don't imagine Xi will care one way or the other about Norman's display of bad manners, and I sure don't expect he cares what you or I think about anything, least of all Tibet. He's quite busy running one of the most populous countries in the world, with its own problems and perspective on history, including how it looks on Tibet. We may disagree, but so what? We won't be changing anything.
Sure, we don't like the colonisation, as it appears to us, by the Chinese there. We have the luxury of that perspective, as heirs to the British wholesale colonisation of vast tracts of the planet, justified by confidence in our inherent cultural superiority, and the drive for trade. That's how we got here, not because Maori invited us.
As a descendant of blacksmiths, shoemakers and agricultural labourers from Europe, I'm not ungrateful.
But surely we charged into this country much as the Chinese have done into Tibet, and with as much consideration for Maori and their beliefs and practices as the Chinese show to the Tibetans.
My missionary ancestors were pretty keen to eradicate Maori religious practices, too, albeit with the most benevolent of intentions.
Time has a way of turning beliefs on their heads, of making wrongs right and rights wrong, as we, of all people, ought to know. So instead of brandishing other countries' flags and fighting other nations' battles, we might try being less smug about our own.
rosemary.mcleod@star-times.co.nz
By ROSEMARY MCLEOD - Sunday Star Times
Last updated 05:00 27/06/2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
First novel in line for award
First novel in line for award
By Rebekah White
4:00 AM Tuesday Jun 22, 2010
A first novel has been shortlisted for New Zealand's top literary honour.
As the Earth Turns Silver by Alison Wong is up against works by established writers Fiona Farrell and Owen Marshall in the fiction category of this year's New Zealand Post Book Awards.
Wong took 12 years to research and write the novel, which follows the secret relationship between a Pakeha woman and a Chinese immigrant in 1920s Wellington.
Judges' convener Stephen Stratford said it was always going to be a challenge, "but we agree that each of these three finalist books is convincing, compelling, superbly crafted and contributes distinctively to New Zealand's literature."
Sixteen finalists have been selected in the four categories of fiction, poetry, general non-fiction and illustrated non-fiction.
Stratford said illustrated non-fiction proved to be the standout category this year.
Winners will be announced on August 27. Voting for the People's Choice Award, where readers select the recipient of a $5000 prize, opens today.
By Rebekah White
By Rebekah White
4:00 AM Tuesday Jun 22, 2010
A first novel has been shortlisted for New Zealand's top literary honour.
As the Earth Turns Silver by Alison Wong is up against works by established writers Fiona Farrell and Owen Marshall in the fiction category of this year's New Zealand Post Book Awards.
Wong took 12 years to research and write the novel, which follows the secret relationship between a Pakeha woman and a Chinese immigrant in 1920s Wellington.
Judges' convener Stephen Stratford said it was always going to be a challenge, "but we agree that each of these three finalist books is convincing, compelling, superbly crafted and contributes distinctively to New Zealand's literature."
Sixteen finalists have been selected in the four categories of fiction, poetry, general non-fiction and illustrated non-fiction.
Stratford said illustrated non-fiction proved to be the standout category this year.
Winners will be announced on August 27. Voting for the People's Choice Award, where readers select the recipient of a $5000 prize, opens today.
By Rebekah White
Two homegrown writing debuts show promise
Alison Wong's first novel is modest in style, generous in tone, accomplished in structure; wide-ranging in characters. It's not surprising that overseas publishers are interested.
The Titahi Bay author, almost inevitably a graduate of Victoria University's writing school, sets her story at the start of the 20th century, when a Chinese person on a central Wellington street is an instant target for beggars and bigots, name-calling and plait-pulling.
Racism is one of the book's central motifs, in poems lip-smackingly recited by an apparently cultured lunch guest, stones thrown through a greengrocer's window, a Prime Minister quite unabashed by his membership of an anti-Asian faction.
It's not only Chinese who are targeted. Maori are apparently dying out — and a good thing too, say People In Power. There are also the situations vacant ads: "Maid required for light duties by respectable gentleman. No Irish need apply." And there's the prejudice against women, in the smug misogyny of Truby King et al. But it's "John Chinaman" who is victimised most.
Amid the bigotry, a love affair begins, between Yung the quick-minded, quick-fisted shopkeeper, ridding himself of his long rope of hair and his premises of invading thugs, and Katherine, with her caricature of a bullying husband (who has the decency to fall drunk into Wellington Harbour).
Both parties feel "an emptiness, a hungry space". Both are dissatisfied with convention or tradition, and are ready for transformation.
Alison Wong's first novel is modest in style, generous in tone, accomplished in structure; wide-ranging in characters. It's not surprising that overseas publishers are interested.
The Titahi Bay author, almost inevitably a graduate of Victoria University's writing school, sets her story at the start of the 20th century, when a Chinese person on a central Wellington street is an instant target for beggars and bigots, name-calling and plait-pulling.
Racism is one of the book's central motifs, in poems lip-smackingly recited by an apparently cultured lunch guest, stones thrown through a greengrocer's window, a Prime Minister quite unabashed by his membership of an anti-Asian faction.
It's not only Chinese who are targeted. Maori are apparently dying out — and a good thing too, say People In Power. There are also the situations vacant ads: "Maid required for light duties by respectable gentleman. No Irish need apply." And there's the prejudice against women, in the smug misogyny of Truby King et al. But it's "John Chinaman" who is victimised most.
Amid the bigotry, a love affair begins, between Yung the quick-minded, quick-fisted shopkeeper, ridding himself of his long rope of hair and his premises of invading thugs, and Katherine, with her caricature of a bullying husband (who has the decency to fall drunk into Wellington Harbour).
Both parties feel "an emptiness, a hungry space". Both are dissatisfied with convention or tradition, and are ready for transformation.
Article continues below
XXXIXXX
CCID: 36159 | adwidth=440
Things start under a cabbage tree by the Basin Reserve, and lead via delight and terror to an ending on a shop floor.
A quick shuttle of chapters keeps the plot pulsing along. Wong spreads complex nets of love and grief that catch up nearly every character. She does an impressively unshowy job of capturing the varied voices.
Period details feel just right. There's Mrs Newman the emancipist, fuming against being addressed by her husband's name and celebrating the first women in the Olympics. There's the jingoistic marching and cheering as WWI is declared. And there's a splendidly-evoked Haining Street, with "the smell of garlic and ginger", where a European shoots an Asian walking home, then defends himself with the argument that a Chinese "is not a man".
You could suggest that the ending is a bit prolonged and unremitting. You could also suggest that there's a whiff of Mills & Boon about the love affair, with its lingering glances, meaningful hand-touchings, and fireworks going off inside. But this is a striking and successful debut. Bring on Alison Wong's next one(s).
As the Earth Turns Silver $37: reviewed by David Hill
David Hill is a Taranaki writer.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10586926&pnum=0
The Titahi Bay author, almost inevitably a graduate of Victoria University's writing school, sets her story at the start of the 20th century, when a Chinese person on a central Wellington street is an instant target for beggars and bigots, name-calling and plait-pulling.
Racism is one of the book's central motifs, in poems lip-smackingly recited by an apparently cultured lunch guest, stones thrown through a greengrocer's window, a Prime Minister quite unabashed by his membership of an anti-Asian faction.
It's not only Chinese who are targeted. Maori are apparently dying out — and a good thing too, say People In Power. There are also the situations vacant ads: "Maid required for light duties by respectable gentleman. No Irish need apply." And there's the prejudice against women, in the smug misogyny of Truby King et al. But it's "John Chinaman" who is victimised most.
Amid the bigotry, a love affair begins, between Yung the quick-minded, quick-fisted shopkeeper, ridding himself of his long rope of hair and his premises of invading thugs, and Katherine, with her caricature of a bullying husband (who has the decency to fall drunk into Wellington Harbour).
Both parties feel "an emptiness, a hungry space". Both are dissatisfied with convention or tradition, and are ready for transformation.
Alison Wong's first novel is modest in style, generous in tone, accomplished in structure; wide-ranging in characters. It's not surprising that overseas publishers are interested.
The Titahi Bay author, almost inevitably a graduate of Victoria University's writing school, sets her story at the start of the 20th century, when a Chinese person on a central Wellington street is an instant target for beggars and bigots, name-calling and plait-pulling.
Racism is one of the book's central motifs, in poems lip-smackingly recited by an apparently cultured lunch guest, stones thrown through a greengrocer's window, a Prime Minister quite unabashed by his membership of an anti-Asian faction.
It's not only Chinese who are targeted. Maori are apparently dying out — and a good thing too, say People In Power. There are also the situations vacant ads: "Maid required for light duties by respectable gentleman. No Irish need apply." And there's the prejudice against women, in the smug misogyny of Truby King et al. But it's "John Chinaman" who is victimised most.
Amid the bigotry, a love affair begins, between Yung the quick-minded, quick-fisted shopkeeper, ridding himself of his long rope of hair and his premises of invading thugs, and Katherine, with her caricature of a bullying husband (who has the decency to fall drunk into Wellington Harbour).
Both parties feel "an emptiness, a hungry space". Both are dissatisfied with convention or tradition, and are ready for transformation.
Article continues below
XXXIXXX
CCID: 36159 | adwidth=440
Things start under a cabbage tree by the Basin Reserve, and lead via delight and terror to an ending on a shop floor.
A quick shuttle of chapters keeps the plot pulsing along. Wong spreads complex nets of love and grief that catch up nearly every character. She does an impressively unshowy job of capturing the varied voices.
Period details feel just right. There's Mrs Newman the emancipist, fuming against being addressed by her husband's name and celebrating the first women in the Olympics. There's the jingoistic marching and cheering as WWI is declared. And there's a splendidly-evoked Haining Street, with "the smell of garlic and ginger", where a European shoots an Asian walking home, then defends himself with the argument that a Chinese "is not a man".
You could suggest that the ending is a bit prolonged and unremitting. You could also suggest that there's a whiff of Mills & Boon about the love affair, with its lingering glances, meaningful hand-touchings, and fireworks going off inside. But this is a striking and successful debut. Bring on Alison Wong's next one(s).
As the Earth Turns Silver $37: reviewed by David Hill
David Hill is a Taranaki writer.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10586926&pnum=0
Sunday, June 13, 2010
150th anniversary discovery in New Zealand’s - gold.
The Lawrence-Tuapeka community is gearing up to celebrate the 150th anniversary of perhaps the most significant discovery in New Zealand’s history – gold.
Gold, in the payable form, was first struck by Gabriel Read near Lawrence on 25th May 1861. Read, an Australian-born prospector was initially told he was on a ‘wild goose chase’ but his discovery, in the gully that now bears his name, changed the course of history and laid a foundation for both Otago and New Zealand. By July 1861, the Tuapeka area was very much immersed in the gold rush, with the district’s population swelling to over 11,000 compared to the less than 6,000 in Dunedin at the time.
In 2011, attention will again turn to Lawrence as it celebrates 150 years since what was essentially the birth of our nation. Realising the significance of such an occasion, the Lawrence Community will be hosting a four day celebration, Gabriel’s Gully Goldrush 150th from Friday 18th to Monday 21st March 2011.
The four day celebration will feature a drama which re-enacts the Goldrush with treks and walks to take us back in time to the 1860’s. With music, historical tours and displays, visual art, drama and family games and fun, there’s something for everyone, young or old.
http://www.lawrence.co.nz/pages/98/Lawrence-2011-Gold-Celebrations
Gold, in the payable form, was first struck by Gabriel Read near Lawrence on 25th May 1861. Read, an Australian-born prospector was initially told he was on a ‘wild goose chase’ but his discovery, in the gully that now bears his name, changed the course of history and laid a foundation for both Otago and New Zealand. By July 1861, the Tuapeka area was very much immersed in the gold rush, with the district’s population swelling to over 11,000 compared to the less than 6,000 in Dunedin at the time.
In 2011, attention will again turn to Lawrence as it celebrates 150 years since what was essentially the birth of our nation. Realising the significance of such an occasion, the Lawrence Community will be hosting a four day celebration, Gabriel’s Gully Goldrush 150th from Friday 18th to Monday 21st March 2011.
The four day celebration will feature a drama which re-enacts the Goldrush with treks and walks to take us back in time to the 1860’s. With music, historical tours and displays, visual art, drama and family games and fun, there’s something for everyone, young or old.
http://www.lawrence.co.nz/pages/98/Lawrence-2011-Gold-Celebrations
Friday, June 04, 2010
Life & Style Next Article: Chill out, and enjoy your wine Shanghai Lil's back on the scene
Auckland's nightlife hasn't been the same without it. Shanghai Lil's has finally reopened in its third incarnation in Parnell
Russel Green, owner of Shanghai Lil. Photo / Babiche Martens Expand
Many hearts were broken when Shanghai Lil's, housed in the iconic Birdcage in Freemans Bay, closed its doors to revellers last year. In a city where you'll find 10 leatherette-clad, R&B-playing cafe-bars for one quirky independent establishment, Lil's managed to be instantly memorable and effortlessly cool.
All hand-carved dragons, Chinese red lanterns and 1930s art prints, entering Shanghai Lil's was like walking on to a film set - all the elegance of In The Mood For Love paired with the battiness of Grey Gardens - but regulars will tell you the most important part of the furniture has always been the double act of delightfully eccentric owner Russel Green and his resident jazz pianist - and partner of 22 years, Billy Farnell.
Clad in Chinese silk and prone to sporadic outbursts of the can-can on the dance floor, they treated regulars, newbies and the occasional Hollywood star with the same degree of warmth and attention.
But all good things must come to an end - in this case it was thanks to a wrecking ball courtesy of the Victoria Park tunnel which means the Birdcage will be dismantled and moved to a new location.
For those who missed out on it, and for those who miss it, there is good news.
Shanghai Lil's has found a new home in a colonial-style underground bar in Parnell Village.
"As soon as I peered through the dust-covered window, I knew I'd found something special," says Green, sitting proudly on a plush sofa in the den-like new venue. "In fact, 'remembered' would be a better word than 'found', because I'd worked here back in 1994 when it was Valerio's. It's got a wonderful feel to it, and I love the fact that its underground, like an opium den.
"The courtyard, with its wrought-iron spiral staircase and views of the Sky Tower sealed the deal. Plus we've got a dining room out the back, so we're finally able to include a restaurant."
The shift from bar to restaurant is a new step for Shanghai Lil's, although Green has had stints as a chef in a long hospitality career. "I've always loved the concept of 1930s supper clubs, where people can dine, enjoy post-dinner cocktails and have a turn on the dance floor, all in the same venue."
The all-new Shanghai Lil's has been open just a few weeks and has already hosted several "successful first dates", a "wonderfully celebratory" funeral wake and a dance floor takeover by a visiting dance act.
"Shanghai Lil's is all about escapism. I want to provide an extraordinary setting where people feel free to let dramas unfold in their lives - whether it's kissing in a corner, dancing to the piano or meeting a fabulous new friend over a cocktail."
So what do regulars make of the new venue? "As soon as people walk in, they say, 'Oh, it still feels like Shanghai Lil's'. Some say they prefer the low-ceiling intimacy of this place to The Birdcage."
It's certainly got the same Aladdin's Cave feel to it: no nook or cranny is left devoid of an antique porcelain vase or elaborately-carved rosewood chest.
"It's been fabulous fun delving into our collection to find pieces that fit here," says Green. The couple's art collection is legendary. Between the two of them they have 90 years worth of obsessive collecting of oriental furniture and art, Art Deco pieces and "anything whimsical and different, really". "Shanghai Lil's is essentially an extension of our living room at home. We joke that we opened the bar because we needed somewhere else to put everything."
And what of the move from Ponsonby to Parnell? Is Green worried that the hipsters, musicians and visiting thespians who made Shanghai Lil's so colourful will be lost to other venues along the way?
"Oh no," he says. "You see, we've put a sign up outside."
It's this refreshingly low-key attitude that has made Shanghai Lil's a hit with visiting luminaries including Sir Ian McKellen, Scarlett Johansson and Josh Hartnett; people who wouldn't dare show their faces at Spy Bar.
In fact, the only reason Viva knows about the new opening is because we walked past the building; there were no press releases or vodka-sponsored launch parties here.
Though Green insists he isn't in thrall to fame - "Everybody works hard and needs fun, everybody pays the same for a drink, so no so-called VIP is going to skip the door queue" - he clearly relishes Shanghai Lil's status as an underground celebrity hangout.
"When Kate Bosworth and Geoffrey Rush (filming soon-to-be-released The Warrior's Way) came to the bar last year it was just delightful. Geoffrey got stuck into the red wine and after a couple of cocktails Kate agreed to have a dance with me. She was absolutely lovely - although so skinny I was terrified I'd break her in half - and we gave a great high-kicking floor-show."
"And Scarlett! She was lovely. Although I didn't have a clue who she was, of course. This girl came in here with an American accent and a denim jacket on and mentioned that we'd been full the last time she was here and she'd been turned away at the door. It was only later that that someone told me who she was."
The star stories come thick and fast, from the time Sir Ian McKellen chatted candidly about his Kiwi former beau to the time Anna Hoffman (who scandalised 1960s society by getting caught selling marijuana) counselled Millie Holmes (who scandalised 2008 society with her own brush with drugs) about "experimenting but not getting caught".
"People call me a name-dropper, but everyone's got a name. It just happens that I like people whose names everyone knows. I admire people who've got up to do something different, whether they're a Hollywood actress or a reformed Mongrel Mob member. It's the story, not the name, that attracts me."
Still, the fact that famous faces show up in your bar can hardly hurt business, can it?
"Oh, it's never been about the money," laughs Green, as if this is the greatest joke in the world. "People assume that if you've got A-listers in your venue you're rolling in cash, but they spend the same on a glass of wine as anyone else. They just make our evenings a bit more interesting. Which is much more important anyway."
If you're searching for the secret of Green's success, this is it in a nutshell: he's clearly doing it just for fun.
"We count ourselves lucky to have a lifestyle that has us hosting a Fashion Week wrap party one week and an Aids Awareness initiative the next. The move to Parnell just means we'll have new faces, and new occasions to create. Running Shanghai Lil's keeps Billy and I in the middle of things. And that's exactly where we like to be."
* Shanghai Lil's, 311 Parnell Rd, ph (09) 358 0868, open Wed-Thurs 4.30pm-3am, Friday 12pm-3am, Sat 6pm-3am, Sun 10am-6pm.
By Anna Hart
4:00 AM Friday Jun 4, 2010
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10649240&pnum=0
Russel Green, owner of Shanghai Lil. Photo / Babiche Martens Expand
Many hearts were broken when Shanghai Lil's, housed in the iconic Birdcage in Freemans Bay, closed its doors to revellers last year. In a city where you'll find 10 leatherette-clad, R&B-playing cafe-bars for one quirky independent establishment, Lil's managed to be instantly memorable and effortlessly cool.
All hand-carved dragons, Chinese red lanterns and 1930s art prints, entering Shanghai Lil's was like walking on to a film set - all the elegance of In The Mood For Love paired with the battiness of Grey Gardens - but regulars will tell you the most important part of the furniture has always been the double act of delightfully eccentric owner Russel Green and his resident jazz pianist - and partner of 22 years, Billy Farnell.
Clad in Chinese silk and prone to sporadic outbursts of the can-can on the dance floor, they treated regulars, newbies and the occasional Hollywood star with the same degree of warmth and attention.
But all good things must come to an end - in this case it was thanks to a wrecking ball courtesy of the Victoria Park tunnel which means the Birdcage will be dismantled and moved to a new location.
For those who missed out on it, and for those who miss it, there is good news.
Shanghai Lil's has found a new home in a colonial-style underground bar in Parnell Village.
"As soon as I peered through the dust-covered window, I knew I'd found something special," says Green, sitting proudly on a plush sofa in the den-like new venue. "In fact, 'remembered' would be a better word than 'found', because I'd worked here back in 1994 when it was Valerio's. It's got a wonderful feel to it, and I love the fact that its underground, like an opium den.
"The courtyard, with its wrought-iron spiral staircase and views of the Sky Tower sealed the deal. Plus we've got a dining room out the back, so we're finally able to include a restaurant."
The shift from bar to restaurant is a new step for Shanghai Lil's, although Green has had stints as a chef in a long hospitality career. "I've always loved the concept of 1930s supper clubs, where people can dine, enjoy post-dinner cocktails and have a turn on the dance floor, all in the same venue."
The all-new Shanghai Lil's has been open just a few weeks and has already hosted several "successful first dates", a "wonderfully celebratory" funeral wake and a dance floor takeover by a visiting dance act.
"Shanghai Lil's is all about escapism. I want to provide an extraordinary setting where people feel free to let dramas unfold in their lives - whether it's kissing in a corner, dancing to the piano or meeting a fabulous new friend over a cocktail."
So what do regulars make of the new venue? "As soon as people walk in, they say, 'Oh, it still feels like Shanghai Lil's'. Some say they prefer the low-ceiling intimacy of this place to The Birdcage."
It's certainly got the same Aladdin's Cave feel to it: no nook or cranny is left devoid of an antique porcelain vase or elaborately-carved rosewood chest.
"It's been fabulous fun delving into our collection to find pieces that fit here," says Green. The couple's art collection is legendary. Between the two of them they have 90 years worth of obsessive collecting of oriental furniture and art, Art Deco pieces and "anything whimsical and different, really". "Shanghai Lil's is essentially an extension of our living room at home. We joke that we opened the bar because we needed somewhere else to put everything."
And what of the move from Ponsonby to Parnell? Is Green worried that the hipsters, musicians and visiting thespians who made Shanghai Lil's so colourful will be lost to other venues along the way?
"Oh no," he says. "You see, we've put a sign up outside."
It's this refreshingly low-key attitude that has made Shanghai Lil's a hit with visiting luminaries including Sir Ian McKellen, Scarlett Johansson and Josh Hartnett; people who wouldn't dare show their faces at Spy Bar.
In fact, the only reason Viva knows about the new opening is because we walked past the building; there were no press releases or vodka-sponsored launch parties here.
Though Green insists he isn't in thrall to fame - "Everybody works hard and needs fun, everybody pays the same for a drink, so no so-called VIP is going to skip the door queue" - he clearly relishes Shanghai Lil's status as an underground celebrity hangout.
"When Kate Bosworth and Geoffrey Rush (filming soon-to-be-released The Warrior's Way) came to the bar last year it was just delightful. Geoffrey got stuck into the red wine and after a couple of cocktails Kate agreed to have a dance with me. She was absolutely lovely - although so skinny I was terrified I'd break her in half - and we gave a great high-kicking floor-show."
"And Scarlett! She was lovely. Although I didn't have a clue who she was, of course. This girl came in here with an American accent and a denim jacket on and mentioned that we'd been full the last time she was here and she'd been turned away at the door. It was only later that that someone told me who she was."
The star stories come thick and fast, from the time Sir Ian McKellen chatted candidly about his Kiwi former beau to the time Anna Hoffman (who scandalised 1960s society by getting caught selling marijuana) counselled Millie Holmes (who scandalised 2008 society with her own brush with drugs) about "experimenting but not getting caught".
"People call me a name-dropper, but everyone's got a name. It just happens that I like people whose names everyone knows. I admire people who've got up to do something different, whether they're a Hollywood actress or a reformed Mongrel Mob member. It's the story, not the name, that attracts me."
Still, the fact that famous faces show up in your bar can hardly hurt business, can it?
"Oh, it's never been about the money," laughs Green, as if this is the greatest joke in the world. "People assume that if you've got A-listers in your venue you're rolling in cash, but they spend the same on a glass of wine as anyone else. They just make our evenings a bit more interesting. Which is much more important anyway."
If you're searching for the secret of Green's success, this is it in a nutshell: he's clearly doing it just for fun.
"We count ourselves lucky to have a lifestyle that has us hosting a Fashion Week wrap party one week and an Aids Awareness initiative the next. The move to Parnell just means we'll have new faces, and new occasions to create. Running Shanghai Lil's keeps Billy and I in the middle of things. And that's exactly where we like to be."
* Shanghai Lil's, 311 Parnell Rd, ph (09) 358 0868, open Wed-Thurs 4.30pm-3am, Friday 12pm-3am, Sat 6pm-3am, Sun 10am-6pm.
By Anna Hart
4:00 AM Friday Jun 4, 2010
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10649240&pnum=0
Gwa Leng Wongs in New Zealand
Gwa Leng Wongs in New Zealand
The Gwa Leng NZ Family History Group,
founded by Michael Wong, is delighted to
advise that the book Gwa Leng Wongs in
New Zealand is now available for purchase.
'It takes a village to raise a child', says the
proverb. Gwa Leng, in the southern province
of Guangdong, China, is a special village for
many in NZ; and some of its children -now
elders themselves in a faraway land -have
contributed to this special book to tell the
history and the stories of the village and its
people.
Authored by ex-villager Dr Edmon Wong, an
eminent former scientist, the book is
centered on his translation of the only known
copy of Gwa Leng's original genealogical
record. From material collated from disparate sources, he also writes about
origins; about places and events; and about families long ago and today. This
is a friendly elder's guide for younger generations interested in their historical
roots.
With sincerity and goodwill, and mostly in their own words and pictures, many
of these later generation NZ Gwa Leng families share their own recent day
stories with the three contributing authors in a latter part of the book.
For historical accuracy, the book uses written Chinese characters (not just
romanised transliterations) for original proper names. For readers of Chinese,
it also includes an appendix of a collection of Essays on Gwa Leng by the
former administrative head of Gwa Leng.
This unique bilingual book is a legacy that both honours those past, and
serves those present and still to come.
Paper Back: 180 pages
ISBN 978-0-473-16525-3
Book Dimensions: 189 X 268 X12 mm
Copies are available at a cost of
$30.00 plus postage and packing.
The Gwa Leng NZ Family History Group,
founded by Michael Wong, is delighted to
advise that the book Gwa Leng Wongs in
New Zealand is now available for purchase.
'It takes a village to raise a child', says the
proverb. Gwa Leng, in the southern province
of Guangdong, China, is a special village for
many in NZ; and some of its children -now
elders themselves in a faraway land -have
contributed to this special book to tell the
history and the stories of the village and its
people.
Authored by ex-villager Dr Edmon Wong, an
eminent former scientist, the book is
centered on his translation of the only known
copy of Gwa Leng's original genealogical
record. From material collated from disparate sources, he also writes about
origins; about places and events; and about families long ago and today. This
is a friendly elder's guide for younger generations interested in their historical
roots.
With sincerity and goodwill, and mostly in their own words and pictures, many
of these later generation NZ Gwa Leng families share their own recent day
stories with the three contributing authors in a latter part of the book.
For historical accuracy, the book uses written Chinese characters (not just
romanised transliterations) for original proper names. For readers of Chinese,
it also includes an appendix of a collection of Essays on Gwa Leng by the
former administrative head of Gwa Leng.
This unique bilingual book is a legacy that both honours those past, and
serves those present and still to come.
Paper Back: 180 pages
ISBN 978-0-473-16525-3
Book Dimensions: 189 X 268 X12 mm
Copies are available at a cost of
$30.00 plus postage and packing.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Buy well, advises investor
There are plenty of courses about sales, but very little education about how to buy well, a leading property investor has told a Palmerston North audience.
"We've got to learn to buy better," Ron Hoy Fong said at a Manawatu Property Investors' Association meeting.
Mr Hoy Fong, who described himself as third-generation Kiwi Chinese, had a second crack at property investing from 2003 and his wealth was now at $10 million, he said.
He advocated buying at least one property a year.
Mr Hoy Fong, from Auckland, said there were three ways to make money from property – buying "wholesale", renovating to add value, and buying before a boom.
"If you start when the boom starts, it's too late."
He expected property values to double in the next decade.
Mr Hoy Fong told his audience to be wary of sales psychology.
Buyers at an auction should not go above the limit they had determined before getting there, he said.
A house that met its reserve was probably too expensive for a property investor, he said.
It was better to be the top bidder, under the reserve price, then negotiate. Buyers should also look for motivated sellers.
y GRANT MILLER - Manawatu Standard
Last updated 00:00 10/04/2010
"We've got to learn to buy better," Ron Hoy Fong said at a Manawatu Property Investors' Association meeting.
Mr Hoy Fong, who described himself as third-generation Kiwi Chinese, had a second crack at property investing from 2003 and his wealth was now at $10 million, he said.
He advocated buying at least one property a year.
Mr Hoy Fong, from Auckland, said there were three ways to make money from property – buying "wholesale", renovating to add value, and buying before a boom.
"If you start when the boom starts, it's too late."
He expected property values to double in the next decade.
Mr Hoy Fong told his audience to be wary of sales psychology.
Buyers at an auction should not go above the limit they had determined before getting there, he said.
A house that met its reserve was probably too expensive for a property investor, he said.
It was better to be the top bidder, under the reserve price, then negotiate. Buyers should also look for motivated sellers.
y GRANT MILLER - Manawatu Standard
Last updated 00:00 10/04/2010
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Millennium Tree ends fraught journey
A $150,000 gift to Auckland plagued by numerous setbacks has found a home in the Auckland Domain.
Unveiled yesterday by Governor-General Dame Silvia Cartwright, the stainless steel Millennium Tree sculpture nearly died after trustees could not raise enough money for the project, which was first proposed in 1999 as a gift from Chinese New Zealanders to the city.
Then last October, when a site was approved in the Parnell Rose Gardens, residents formed a protest group to stop the work, citing a lack of consultation and the aesthetic clash with the gardens' Victorian and Edwardian atmosphere.
At its permanent home next to the Winter Gardens, the sculpture stands 6.5m high on a raised platform surrounded by large phoenix palms.
Wellington artist Guy Ngan's work was inspired by the wand of the Monkey King of Chinese legend - the fabled staff could dispel all obstacles.
"I'm sure he had something to do with it," Ngan said.
The artist, who has 35 other public artworks in Australia and New Zealand, was delighted with the work's final location.
XXXIXXX
CCID: 33175 | adwidth=300 | type=RM
Click here to find out more!
"It picks up all the beautiful trees. I can't think of a better place in the world.
"We started this project in the last millennium, and we have had to overcome one hurdle after another.
"It's been a very slow beginning, but we've not at any time really been disappointed. We've always had enough support to keep it alive. Finally we've got it built."
During the unveiling, Ron Sang, trustee of the Chinese New Zealanders Millennium Trust, paid tribute to the 150 sponsors who kept the project alive.
He said the Millennium Tree was not a monument to the past, but one that celebrates the contributions the Chinese have made to New Zealand since the 1860s.
Meanwhile, Auckland City is set to get another public sculpture on Thursday when the Prime Minister and Arts Minister, Helen Clark, unveils a work by Denis O'Connor, Raupo Rap, in Viaduct Harbour Ave.
- additional reporting Bernard Orsman
By Bernard Orsman and Errol Kiong | Email Bernard By Bernard Orsman and Errol Kiong
5:00 AM Wednesday Nov 2, 2005
Unveiled yesterday by Governor-General Dame Silvia Cartwright, the stainless steel Millennium Tree sculpture nearly died after trustees could not raise enough money for the project, which was first proposed in 1999 as a gift from Chinese New Zealanders to the city.
Then last October, when a site was approved in the Parnell Rose Gardens, residents formed a protest group to stop the work, citing a lack of consultation and the aesthetic clash with the gardens' Victorian and Edwardian atmosphere.
At its permanent home next to the Winter Gardens, the sculpture stands 6.5m high on a raised platform surrounded by large phoenix palms.
Wellington artist Guy Ngan's work was inspired by the wand of the Monkey King of Chinese legend - the fabled staff could dispel all obstacles.
"I'm sure he had something to do with it," Ngan said.
The artist, who has 35 other public artworks in Australia and New Zealand, was delighted with the work's final location.
XXXIXXX
CCID: 33175 | adwidth=300 | type=RM
Click here to find out more!
"It picks up all the beautiful trees. I can't think of a better place in the world.
"We started this project in the last millennium, and we have had to overcome one hurdle after another.
"It's been a very slow beginning, but we've not at any time really been disappointed. We've always had enough support to keep it alive. Finally we've got it built."
During the unveiling, Ron Sang, trustee of the Chinese New Zealanders Millennium Trust, paid tribute to the 150 sponsors who kept the project alive.
He said the Millennium Tree was not a monument to the past, but one that celebrates the contributions the Chinese have made to New Zealand since the 1860s.
Meanwhile, Auckland City is set to get another public sculpture on Thursday when the Prime Minister and Arts Minister, Helen Clark, unveils a work by Denis O'Connor, Raupo Rap, in Viaduct Harbour Ave.
- additional reporting Bernard Orsman
By Bernard Orsman and Errol Kiong | Email Bernard By Bernard Orsman and Errol Kiong
5:00 AM Wednesday Nov 2, 2005
Engineer's career reaches dizzy heights
You could say Greg Sang has reached the peak of his profession. The Kiwi is in charge of building Burj Dubai, the world's tallest building, in the frantic heart of the United Arab Emirates.
This Middle Eastern monster has already reached a breathtaking 160 levels or 650m. But still it grows terrifyingly, already twice the height of Auckland's SkyTower and four times as tall as the Vero office block in downtown Auckland. No one knows where the Burj will finish.
"The height is confidential," Sang said on the phone from Dubai this week. "At the top, you look down on everything. It's quite neat and it does feel really tall.
"It's like being in an aeroplane. Some people get scared but for the people who work there, it's run-of-the-mill."
Thousands of people are working on the US$1.1 billion ($1.4 billion) building which will be finished next year and home to one of the first hotel and spas by Giorgio Armani. The multi-use tower will be part-hotel, part-apartment block and part-offices.
"The lower zone will be a hotel designed by Mr Armani. We'll also have about 140 apartments by Mr Armani, another 900 luxury apartments and the top zone will be offices," Sang said.
Level 124 will be a public observatory, chosen because Sang said that with existing technology, this was the highest reached by an elevator in one continuous run. Viewers will be able to get to that floor in a non-stop 90-second adrenalin rush.
The Burj will have 56 lifts travelling at 40km/h and its penthouses are expected to fetch tens of millions of dollars each.
Sang is a former Aucklander who looks Asian, speaks with a Kiwi accent and has a New Zealand passport.
The great-grandfather of his mother, Joana Sang, emigrated from Canton to Auckland. Len Sang, Greg's father, had a more circuitous route here. Len's father emigrated from China for Fiji but come 1942, the family's concern about World War II and lack of schooling choice in the islands saw Len shipping to Auckland to stay with family and get a New Zealand education.
Greg's brother, Ant Sang, is a graphic artist who works on the television series bro'Town. The other brother, Richard, works in the technology sector in London. Award-winning Auckland architect Ron Sang is Len Sang's cousin. Ron is creating a dragon sculpture for the New Zealand Olympic team to sit within our village athletes' compound in Beijing.
In 1977, the Orient called the Sang family back. Len, an architect who spent many years at the Education Department, took them to Hong Kong after he got a public works job there. Greg has strong memories of the shift.
"I was 11 and it was a bit of a family adventure. I remember the heat of Hong Kong because it was summer when we arrived. I remember the excitement of staying in a hotel for the first six months while we were looking for accommodation."
Greg returned in 1984 and spent a few months at Auckland Grammar before enrolling in civil engineering at Auckland University.
But he finished in 1989, grim times for property professionals.
"I tried to work in New Zealand but the crash of '87 was still being felt."
So he worked for a short time as a building labourer and later at the then-Takapuna City Council on drains and water mains.
Len remembers worrying about Greg's career direction and encouraging him to shift to Hong Kong where he had connections and thought there were better opportunities.
So Greg moved to Hong Kong and worked for giant Japanese contractor Kumagai Gumi, for Britain's Maunsell Group and Ove Arup & Partners, eventually specialising in high-rise development. His masterpiece is Hong Kong Central's giant International Finance Centre, a HK$40 billion ($6.8 billion) 500,000sq m four-tower project which dominates the area's skyline.
The project, completed in the late 1990s, is Hong Kong's tallest office development and has a luxury shopping mall, cinemas and hotel.
"I was wrapping up the Hong Kong project when I got a call from Emaar Properties in Dubai about building the tallest building in the world. They asked if I could help because I had experience in tall buildings. So I came to have a look and after two or three months, I moved here," Sang said.
That was October 2004 and he has been working on the Burj ever since. He does not plan to return here but says life in Dubai is excruciatingly busy. Weekends are Fridays and Saturdays but international time differences mean Sang often finds himself working seven days a week, his BlackBerry phone constantly beeping.
"I find it difficult to imagine what I would do workwise if I returned to New Zealand, which is a great place to live but I like working, and I like working on big projects. I would not be able to work on projects of the same scale in New Zealand."
What he misses most is the pace of life here. Dubai is an intense and somewhat frantic city, its famously daredevil motorists forcing Sang to become a fanatically defensive driver.
One of his most loved places in the world is the wide expanse of Auckland's west coast beaches, one in particular.
"My favourite place is Piha, to be body-boarding there and eating some great hamburgers!"
In the meantime, it's Dubai for Sang and building the globe's biggest castle in the sand.
GREGORY PAUL FONG SANG
Age: 42
Position: Director, projects, Emaar Properties PJSC
Lives: Emirates Hills, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Schools: Meadowbank Primary, Remuera Intermediate, Auckland Grammar
Tertiary: University of Auckland
Qualification: Civil engineer
Family: Married to Julia
Children from first marriage: Zachary, 11, Erin and Jessica, both 9
By Anne Gibson
5:00 AM Saturday May 17, 2008
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10510671&pnum=0
This Middle Eastern monster has already reached a breathtaking 160 levels or 650m. But still it grows terrifyingly, already twice the height of Auckland's SkyTower and four times as tall as the Vero office block in downtown Auckland. No one knows where the Burj will finish.
"The height is confidential," Sang said on the phone from Dubai this week. "At the top, you look down on everything. It's quite neat and it does feel really tall.
"It's like being in an aeroplane. Some people get scared but for the people who work there, it's run-of-the-mill."
Thousands of people are working on the US$1.1 billion ($1.4 billion) building which will be finished next year and home to one of the first hotel and spas by Giorgio Armani. The multi-use tower will be part-hotel, part-apartment block and part-offices.
"The lower zone will be a hotel designed by Mr Armani. We'll also have about 140 apartments by Mr Armani, another 900 luxury apartments and the top zone will be offices," Sang said.
Level 124 will be a public observatory, chosen because Sang said that with existing technology, this was the highest reached by an elevator in one continuous run. Viewers will be able to get to that floor in a non-stop 90-second adrenalin rush.
The Burj will have 56 lifts travelling at 40km/h and its penthouses are expected to fetch tens of millions of dollars each.
Sang is a former Aucklander who looks Asian, speaks with a Kiwi accent and has a New Zealand passport.
The great-grandfather of his mother, Joana Sang, emigrated from Canton to Auckland. Len Sang, Greg's father, had a more circuitous route here. Len's father emigrated from China for Fiji but come 1942, the family's concern about World War II and lack of schooling choice in the islands saw Len shipping to Auckland to stay with family and get a New Zealand education.
Greg's brother, Ant Sang, is a graphic artist who works on the television series bro'Town. The other brother, Richard, works in the technology sector in London. Award-winning Auckland architect Ron Sang is Len Sang's cousin. Ron is creating a dragon sculpture for the New Zealand Olympic team to sit within our village athletes' compound in Beijing.
In 1977, the Orient called the Sang family back. Len, an architect who spent many years at the Education Department, took them to Hong Kong after he got a public works job there. Greg has strong memories of the shift.
"I was 11 and it was a bit of a family adventure. I remember the heat of Hong Kong because it was summer when we arrived. I remember the excitement of staying in a hotel for the first six months while we were looking for accommodation."
Greg returned in 1984 and spent a few months at Auckland Grammar before enrolling in civil engineering at Auckland University.
But he finished in 1989, grim times for property professionals.
"I tried to work in New Zealand but the crash of '87 was still being felt."
So he worked for a short time as a building labourer and later at the then-Takapuna City Council on drains and water mains.
Len remembers worrying about Greg's career direction and encouraging him to shift to Hong Kong where he had connections and thought there were better opportunities.
So Greg moved to Hong Kong and worked for giant Japanese contractor Kumagai Gumi, for Britain's Maunsell Group and Ove Arup & Partners, eventually specialising in high-rise development. His masterpiece is Hong Kong Central's giant International Finance Centre, a HK$40 billion ($6.8 billion) 500,000sq m four-tower project which dominates the area's skyline.
The project, completed in the late 1990s, is Hong Kong's tallest office development and has a luxury shopping mall, cinemas and hotel.
"I was wrapping up the Hong Kong project when I got a call from Emaar Properties in Dubai about building the tallest building in the world. They asked if I could help because I had experience in tall buildings. So I came to have a look and after two or three months, I moved here," Sang said.
That was October 2004 and he has been working on the Burj ever since. He does not plan to return here but says life in Dubai is excruciatingly busy. Weekends are Fridays and Saturdays but international time differences mean Sang often finds himself working seven days a week, his BlackBerry phone constantly beeping.
"I find it difficult to imagine what I would do workwise if I returned to New Zealand, which is a great place to live but I like working, and I like working on big projects. I would not be able to work on projects of the same scale in New Zealand."
What he misses most is the pace of life here. Dubai is an intense and somewhat frantic city, its famously daredevil motorists forcing Sang to become a fanatically defensive driver.
One of his most loved places in the world is the wide expanse of Auckland's west coast beaches, one in particular.
"My favourite place is Piha, to be body-boarding there and eating some great hamburgers!"
In the meantime, it's Dubai for Sang and building the globe's biggest castle in the sand.
GREGORY PAUL FONG SANG
Age: 42
Position: Director, projects, Emaar Properties PJSC
Lives: Emirates Hills, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Schools: Meadowbank Primary, Remuera Intermediate, Auckland Grammar
Tertiary: University of Auckland
Qualification: Civil engineer
Family: Married to Julia
Children from first marriage: Zachary, 11, Erin and Jessica, both 9
By Anne Gibson
5:00 AM Saturday May 17, 2008
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10510671&pnum=0
It is all about the pictures
Ron Sang's white shirt sleeve is splattered with drops of orange and red, surely more by design than slovenliness. The architect, collector and publisher loves colour. He sits at his dining room table drinking coffee, carefully positioned in front of a large painting by Ralph Hotere that features the same brilliant oranges and reds. It is a favourite from the painter Sang insists is "the only artist who is a living national treasure in this country."
A copy of the same painting, authorised by the artist, graces the study floor. "Ralph [Hotere] said to me, 'You own the painting, you can do what you like with it'," says Sang, gazing down at the inferno-red rug he had specially woven.
The entire house, as with all Sang-designed buildings, is built for art. Walls are white and wide without too many windows, the proportions gracious yet cosy. Carpets are pearl grey. Everything, from the massive bright blue front door, is larger than life. And then there's the art: several energetic Pat Hanlys, a massive Philippa Blair, from her Heart series, interspersed with Peter Siddell and a gleaming stainless steel dragon by Guy Ngan on the wall just outside the kitchen window.
Add in hundreds of pieces of pottery crammed into every corner and shelf - including the loo: enormous vases, some decorated, others gleaming with glaze, every variation imaginable of Len Castle's volcano series, an entire shelf of exquisite John Parker bottles - every collection complemented by enough glass to fill an art gallery.
But despite the numbers, there is a sense of grace and orderliness. Paintings are given plenty of wall space. And the impact takes your breath away.
This is only half of Sang's collection. "I love pottery," he says. "But there were so many comments saying the place looked like a junk shop we put away 50 per cent."
Now, rather than in the Parnell and Newmarket offices Sang Architects occupied for 18 years, Sang works from home in a light-filled room upstairs with spare desks for his two children who contract for the family business. He likes to invite clients back to the house so they can see a living example of his work. "It's quite, quite different from what they imagine," he says cheerfully. "A bit of a shock!"
"But don't worry about all this," adds Sang. "This is about the book!"
He is talking about the Ralph Hotere book due for release next week. It is a large, elegant publication with Hotere's unmistakable signature rolled across the frontispiece, and page after page of large, heart-stopping photos presented on thick 150g paper.
This is the latest offering from Sang's Montana award-winning publishing empire. He started Ron Sang Publications in 2002 with Len Castle Potter which won a Montana Book Award. Two years later came Michael Smither Painter which was a finalist. Now four years later - and a good 12 months behind schedule - comes Ralph Hotere.
Why Hotere? "Because he is the greatest painter in this country," says Sang. "That's not only my view, but also that of the art community. And there have been only minor books published about him."
Until now. The publishing, stresses Sang, is a part-time hobby. Which for a perfectionist who also works full-time as an architect, sounds near-impossible.
The Hotere book has taken three years to prepare. First Sang, in collaboration with Hotere, had to identify which of the artist's hundreds of paintings from a 46-year career would make the cut. In the end they chose 257, bringing together the biggest and most balanced collection ever of the artist's work. For months Sang travelled between Hotere's home and studio at Port Chalmers near Dunedin, identifying his most important works. Next came the task of tracking down the paintings. Some were in museums and galleries and reasonably accessible, the rest in private collections. Sang worked through Hotere's dealer, Sue Crockford. "She would contact the owners and ask them to call me. It took ages."
The good part, he says, was getting into houses you don't normally see - and seeing other peoples' collections. "I loved it - like getting into private galleries."
Although Sang's first two books were works of art in themselves, and had done brilliantly at the Montana Book Awards - but earned little money for either publisher or the artist involved - some owners of Hotere's paintings were wary. While most were excited at the prospect of being in the book, others asked for a fee for allowing their painting to be photographed.
Once they had permission, Sang and his photographer, Simon Harper, were reluctant to move them, making it complicated to capture the perfect image. "The black-on-black surfaces of Hotere's paintings are notoriously difficult to photograph," says Sang. "But Harper's technology and techniques have captured their textures and contrasts with a clarity of detail often not possible in reproductions."
Next came the printing. For the third time in six years Sang travelled to Everbest printers in Nan Sha, near where his parents were born in Southern China, to oversee printing. "Accuracy of colour is absolutely essential," he says. "Eighty per cent of the prints had to be adjusted and 50 per cent of those done again."
Sang and designer Kelly Farrimond worked 12-hour days, 9am to 9pm, alongside the factory workers. "It's a modern plant but it's noisy and dirty. The weather was hot, 31 degrees and 80 per cent humidity, but they give you very good service."
That service extended to lunch and dinner with the boss of the factory for the 12 days it took to perfect every print. Then they flew home and waited for the first book to arrive.
And there it is - sophisticated, impressive and, as Hotere wanted it, all about the pictures. "A picture book," says Sang. Apart from nine chapter introductions, complete with nine iconic Marti Friedlander photographs of Hotere himself, there are two essays - one by Kriselle Baker, written around Hotere's famous Godwit/Kuaka 18m mural which hung in the arrivals hall at Auckland airport from 1977, and now forms a five-page foldout in the book. The other essay, which chronicles Hotere's career, is by poet, novelist and short story writer Vincent O'Sullivan.
Both writers were nominated by Hotere himself, presumably because they understand his personal philosophy and loathing for cant. O'Sullivan puts it crisply: "His well-known distaste for `art talk', his deep reservations on highbrow theoretical chatter, is at base, a dislike for elitism," he writes. "He [Hotere] insists that what he is famous for is no more distancing between himself and non-artistic friends than any other kind of job. And that's the way it's to be."
Hotere, published by Ron Sang Publications, is released on Monday; standard edition (3000 copies) $195; limited edition with stainless steel cover, 170gm paper, rimu presentation box and signed by the author (100 copies) $1965. Available from bookshops or direct from Ron Sang Publications, ph (09) 638 6898 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (09) 638 6898 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
By Carroll du Chateau | Email Carroll
By Carroll du Chateau
4:00 AM Saturday Nov 22, 2008
A copy of the same painting, authorised by the artist, graces the study floor. "Ralph [Hotere] said to me, 'You own the painting, you can do what you like with it'," says Sang, gazing down at the inferno-red rug he had specially woven.
The entire house, as with all Sang-designed buildings, is built for art. Walls are white and wide without too many windows, the proportions gracious yet cosy. Carpets are pearl grey. Everything, from the massive bright blue front door, is larger than life. And then there's the art: several energetic Pat Hanlys, a massive Philippa Blair, from her Heart series, interspersed with Peter Siddell and a gleaming stainless steel dragon by Guy Ngan on the wall just outside the kitchen window.
Add in hundreds of pieces of pottery crammed into every corner and shelf - including the loo: enormous vases, some decorated, others gleaming with glaze, every variation imaginable of Len Castle's volcano series, an entire shelf of exquisite John Parker bottles - every collection complemented by enough glass to fill an art gallery.
But despite the numbers, there is a sense of grace and orderliness. Paintings are given plenty of wall space. And the impact takes your breath away.
This is only half of Sang's collection. "I love pottery," he says. "But there were so many comments saying the place looked like a junk shop we put away 50 per cent."
Now, rather than in the Parnell and Newmarket offices Sang Architects occupied for 18 years, Sang works from home in a light-filled room upstairs with spare desks for his two children who contract for the family business. He likes to invite clients back to the house so they can see a living example of his work. "It's quite, quite different from what they imagine," he says cheerfully. "A bit of a shock!"
"But don't worry about all this," adds Sang. "This is about the book!"
He is talking about the Ralph Hotere book due for release next week. It is a large, elegant publication with Hotere's unmistakable signature rolled across the frontispiece, and page after page of large, heart-stopping photos presented on thick 150g paper.
This is the latest offering from Sang's Montana award-winning publishing empire. He started Ron Sang Publications in 2002 with Len Castle Potter which won a Montana Book Award. Two years later came Michael Smither Painter which was a finalist. Now four years later - and a good 12 months behind schedule - comes Ralph Hotere.
Why Hotere? "Because he is the greatest painter in this country," says Sang. "That's not only my view, but also that of the art community. And there have been only minor books published about him."
Until now. The publishing, stresses Sang, is a part-time hobby. Which for a perfectionist who also works full-time as an architect, sounds near-impossible.
The Hotere book has taken three years to prepare. First Sang, in collaboration with Hotere, had to identify which of the artist's hundreds of paintings from a 46-year career would make the cut. In the end they chose 257, bringing together the biggest and most balanced collection ever of the artist's work. For months Sang travelled between Hotere's home and studio at Port Chalmers near Dunedin, identifying his most important works. Next came the task of tracking down the paintings. Some were in museums and galleries and reasonably accessible, the rest in private collections. Sang worked through Hotere's dealer, Sue Crockford. "She would contact the owners and ask them to call me. It took ages."
The good part, he says, was getting into houses you don't normally see - and seeing other peoples' collections. "I loved it - like getting into private galleries."
Although Sang's first two books were works of art in themselves, and had done brilliantly at the Montana Book Awards - but earned little money for either publisher or the artist involved - some owners of Hotere's paintings were wary. While most were excited at the prospect of being in the book, others asked for a fee for allowing their painting to be photographed.
Once they had permission, Sang and his photographer, Simon Harper, were reluctant to move them, making it complicated to capture the perfect image. "The black-on-black surfaces of Hotere's paintings are notoriously difficult to photograph," says Sang. "But Harper's technology and techniques have captured their textures and contrasts with a clarity of detail often not possible in reproductions."
Next came the printing. For the third time in six years Sang travelled to Everbest printers in Nan Sha, near where his parents were born in Southern China, to oversee printing. "Accuracy of colour is absolutely essential," he says. "Eighty per cent of the prints had to be adjusted and 50 per cent of those done again."
Sang and designer Kelly Farrimond worked 12-hour days, 9am to 9pm, alongside the factory workers. "It's a modern plant but it's noisy and dirty. The weather was hot, 31 degrees and 80 per cent humidity, but they give you very good service."
That service extended to lunch and dinner with the boss of the factory for the 12 days it took to perfect every print. Then they flew home and waited for the first book to arrive.
And there it is - sophisticated, impressive and, as Hotere wanted it, all about the pictures. "A picture book," says Sang. Apart from nine chapter introductions, complete with nine iconic Marti Friedlander photographs of Hotere himself, there are two essays - one by Kriselle Baker, written around Hotere's famous Godwit/Kuaka 18m mural which hung in the arrivals hall at Auckland airport from 1977, and now forms a five-page foldout in the book. The other essay, which chronicles Hotere's career, is by poet, novelist and short story writer Vincent O'Sullivan.
Both writers were nominated by Hotere himself, presumably because they understand his personal philosophy and loathing for cant. O'Sullivan puts it crisply: "His well-known distaste for `art talk', his deep reservations on highbrow theoretical chatter, is at base, a dislike for elitism," he writes. "He [Hotere] insists that what he is famous for is no more distancing between himself and non-artistic friends than any other kind of job. And that's the way it's to be."
Hotere, published by Ron Sang Publications, is released on Monday; standard edition (3000 copies) $195; limited edition with stainless steel cover, 170gm paper, rimu presentation box and signed by the author (100 copies) $1965. Available from bookshops or direct from Ron Sang Publications, ph (09) 638 6898 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (09) 638 6898 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
By Carroll du Chateau | Email Carroll
By Carroll du Chateau
4:00 AM Saturday Nov 22, 2008
Kiwi back to earth after tallest skyscraper completed
The New Zealander in charge of putting up the world's tallest skyscraper leaves the Dubai developer this week.
Greg Sang, director of projects at Emaar Properties PJSC, said his role had ended with the completion of Burj Khalifa, the 828m tall glittering glass and steel structure named after Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the ruler of Abu Dhabi.
"When I arrived in Dubai in October 2004, Burj Khalifa was a hole in the ground. Today the tower is open and making money so my work is done and it is time for me to move on," he said.
The controversial tower has had its share of problems.
Panic hit in February after a lift broke down and 15 people were trapped for 45 minutes until rescuers managed to pry open the doors.
Sang said the view from the tower's top was "like being in an aeroplane. Some people get scared but for the people who work there, it's run-of-the-mill". His last day is tomorrow and Sang said he was holding a small farewell event at night.
Sang's great-grandfather migrated from Canton and Greg Sang went to Auckland Grammar School before enrolling in civil engineering at Auckland University.
For a short time, he was a building labourer and later worked at Takapuna City Council on drains and water mains.
He then moved to Hong Kong and the giant Japanese contractor Kumagai Gumi. He worked for Britain's Maunsell Group and Ove Arup & Partners, eventually specialising in high-rise development.
Sang said he had enjoyed working on Burj Khalifa and it had been an exciting journey.
He is returning to Hong Kong where he said he would take a lower-profile role.
By Anne Gibson | Email Anne By Anne Gibson
4:00 AM Wednesday May 12, 2010
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/property/news/article.cfm?c_id=8&objectid=10644277
Greg Sang, director of projects at Emaar Properties PJSC, said his role had ended with the completion of Burj Khalifa, the 828m tall glittering glass and steel structure named after Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the ruler of Abu Dhabi.
"When I arrived in Dubai in October 2004, Burj Khalifa was a hole in the ground. Today the tower is open and making money so my work is done and it is time for me to move on," he said.
The controversial tower has had its share of problems.
Panic hit in February after a lift broke down and 15 people were trapped for 45 minutes until rescuers managed to pry open the doors.
Sang said the view from the tower's top was "like being in an aeroplane. Some people get scared but for the people who work there, it's run-of-the-mill". His last day is tomorrow and Sang said he was holding a small farewell event at night.
Sang's great-grandfather migrated from Canton and Greg Sang went to Auckland Grammar School before enrolling in civil engineering at Auckland University.
For a short time, he was a building labourer and later worked at Takapuna City Council on drains and water mains.
He then moved to Hong Kong and the giant Japanese contractor Kumagai Gumi. He worked for Britain's Maunsell Group and Ove Arup & Partners, eventually specialising in high-rise development.
Sang said he had enjoyed working on Burj Khalifa and it had been an exciting journey.
He is returning to Hong Kong where he said he would take a lower-profile role.
By Anne Gibson | Email Anne By Anne Gibson
4:00 AM Wednesday May 12, 2010
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/property/news/article.cfm?c_id=8&objectid=10644277
Chinese audiences treated to NZ films
A New Zealand film festival to screen in China next month is aimed at showing Chinese audiences that anyone in New Zealand can be a successful film-maker.
Boy, a box office hit directed by Taika Waititi, and Take 3, a short film by New Zealand Chinese director Roseanne Liang, will be among the films to screen at the festival - which organisers hope will encourage more Chinese investment in joint movie projects with New Zealand.
The festival will precede the signing of a film co-production agreement between the two countries in July, said Jim He, chairman of the Pacific Culture and Arts Exchange Centre.
It is understood the agreement will ease temporary immigration and importation of equipment between the two countries, to make it easier for screen production companies from China and New Zealand to work together.
New Zealand has film co-production agreements with Australia, Canada, France, Italy and Britain.
"The movies selected for the festival will show that New Zealand is more than just Peter Jackson," Mr He said.
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"We are a multicultural nation, and even non-European film producers can be successful here."
The centre has taken NZ films to China since 2002, and will this year host the festival in five Chinese cities: Beijing, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo and Hang Zhou from June 7. Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey will lead the delegation.
Other films featuring include Gaylene Preston's Home By Christmas, based on her father's World War II experiences, Simone Horrocks' After Waterfall and Adam Strange's Aphrodite's Farm.
"There will be no blood and violence, because the Chinese love family-themed movies," said Mr He. "The selection of movies will give the Chinese audience a window to the beautiful New Zealand landscape, and also the wide options for filming in New Zealand."
Mr He said the Chinese were big movie fans, watching between 10 and 16 films a year on average, and films at the festival often played in theatres that were 90 per cent full.
Prime Minister John Key, in his message for the festival, said the Chinese communities here played an important role in shaping New Zealand's future.
"We have many Chinese communities in New Zealand, all of which have an important role to play in shaping the future of our country," Mr Key said.
"The Government is committed to ensuring their voices are heard.
"This is helped by the leadership of our first Asian Cabinet minister, the Minister of Ethnic Affairs, Pansy Wong."
By Lincoln Tan | Email Lincoln By Lincoln Tan
4:00 AM Monday May 3, 2010
Boy, a box office hit directed by Taika Waititi, and Take 3, a short film by New Zealand Chinese director Roseanne Liang, will be among the films to screen at the festival - which organisers hope will encourage more Chinese investment in joint movie projects with New Zealand.
The festival will precede the signing of a film co-production agreement between the two countries in July, said Jim He, chairman of the Pacific Culture and Arts Exchange Centre.
It is understood the agreement will ease temporary immigration and importation of equipment between the two countries, to make it easier for screen production companies from China and New Zealand to work together.
New Zealand has film co-production agreements with Australia, Canada, France, Italy and Britain.
"The movies selected for the festival will show that New Zealand is more than just Peter Jackson," Mr He said.
XXXIXXX
CCID: 33175 | adwidth=300 | type=RM
Click here to find out more!
"We are a multicultural nation, and even non-European film producers can be successful here."
The centre has taken NZ films to China since 2002, and will this year host the festival in five Chinese cities: Beijing, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo and Hang Zhou from June 7. Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey will lead the delegation.
Other films featuring include Gaylene Preston's Home By Christmas, based on her father's World War II experiences, Simone Horrocks' After Waterfall and Adam Strange's Aphrodite's Farm.
"There will be no blood and violence, because the Chinese love family-themed movies," said Mr He. "The selection of movies will give the Chinese audience a window to the beautiful New Zealand landscape, and also the wide options for filming in New Zealand."
Mr He said the Chinese were big movie fans, watching between 10 and 16 films a year on average, and films at the festival often played in theatres that were 90 per cent full.
Prime Minister John Key, in his message for the festival, said the Chinese communities here played an important role in shaping New Zealand's future.
"We have many Chinese communities in New Zealand, all of which have an important role to play in shaping the future of our country," Mr Key said.
"The Government is committed to ensuring their voices are heard.
"This is helped by the leadership of our first Asian Cabinet minister, the Minister of Ethnic Affairs, Pansy Wong."
By Lincoln Tan | Email Lincoln By Lincoln Tan
4:00 AM Monday May 3, 2010
Chinese Lifeline at risk of closing
A funding crisis is threatening to shut down a popular telephone counselling service for Chinese residents on the North Shore and across Auckland.
Chinese Lifeline is a free Cantonese and Mandarin language service that is part of Lifeline Auckland. It caters for distressed members of the Chinese community and provides affordable face-to-face counselling.
Lifeline manager Sunday Tsoi says the service helps not only new migrants struggling to settle into Kiwi life but also those who have been in New Zealand for some time and unable to cope.
She says it is now in danger of being suspended because of funding problems.
"There is a real need for Chinese Lifeline and it is heart-breaking to think it may be suspended.
"The service saves lives – we have had people write in and tell us Chinese Lifeline has been their lifeboat, it has given them strength to carry on," Mrs Tsoi says.
The service is appealing for donations to continue helping migrants on the Shore.
To help raise funds, Lifeline volunteers have organised a charity screening of two top-grossing Chinese films.
The love story Hot Summer Days will be screened at the Highland Park SkyCity Cinema on Wednesday, May 12, at 6.30pm.
The action-packed Bodyguards and Assassins will screen at St Lukes SkyCity Cinema on Monday, May 17, from 6.30pm.
To book tickets or make a donation go to the Chinese Lifeline website www.chineselifeline.org. nz or call Grace on 909-8753.
BY JODEAL CADACIO - North Shore Times
Last updated 10:31 06/05/2010
Chinese Lifeline is a free Cantonese and Mandarin language service that is part of Lifeline Auckland. It caters for distressed members of the Chinese community and provides affordable face-to-face counselling.
Lifeline manager Sunday Tsoi says the service helps not only new migrants struggling to settle into Kiwi life but also those who have been in New Zealand for some time and unable to cope.
She says it is now in danger of being suspended because of funding problems.
"There is a real need for Chinese Lifeline and it is heart-breaking to think it may be suspended.
"The service saves lives – we have had people write in and tell us Chinese Lifeline has been their lifeboat, it has given them strength to carry on," Mrs Tsoi says.
The service is appealing for donations to continue helping migrants on the Shore.
To help raise funds, Lifeline volunteers have organised a charity screening of two top-grossing Chinese films.
The love story Hot Summer Days will be screened at the Highland Park SkyCity Cinema on Wednesday, May 12, at 6.30pm.
The action-packed Bodyguards and Assassins will screen at St Lukes SkyCity Cinema on Monday, May 17, from 6.30pm.
To book tickets or make a donation go to the Chinese Lifeline website www.chineselifeline.org. nz or call Grace on 909-8753.
BY JODEAL CADACIO - North Shore Times
Last updated 10:31 06/05/2010
NOT BOTHERED: Baker Maurice Piner has been working alongside what may be the ghost of a Chinese immigrant who hanged himself in 1891 on the site of
NOT BOTHERED: Baker Maurice Piner has been working alongside what may be the ghost of a Chinese immigrant who hanged himself in 1891 on the site of what is now Phil's Bakery on Gresson St, Greymouth.
The tragic tale of a Chinese thief may explain the ghostly goings-on at a West Coast bakery.
Baker Maurice Piner has been bothered by mysterious voices, creeping shadows and things going bump at Phil's Bakery in Greymouth.
"When I was working on my own in the morning, I would see shadows going around the bakery and ovens and that," Piner said.
"Sometimes you could hear banging and crashing upstairs, and sometimes you can hear whispering and talking in the bakery.
"You look around to see if there's anyone there, and you can't."
However, a Greymouth tourist operator believes he can shed some light on the mystery.
Paul Schramm, manager of Wild West Adventures, has been researching a new tourist attraction where visitors are guided around the town by an audio device that uses GPS positioning to tell stories as they enter different areas.
During his research, Schramm came across the tale of Ah Shing, a Chinese miner, who hanged himself in the boarding house that used to stand on the site of the Gresson St bakery.
On October 17, 1891, the Grey River Argus reported that Ah Shing's body was found early in the day hanging from a rafter in the boarding house.
It said Shing had earlier pawned a "silver lever watch and chain" that he stole from a friend, Bernard Gallagher.
Julia Bradshaw, author of a book on the history of the Chinese on the West Coast, said it was likely Shing was driven to the crime by debt.
"When the Chinese came out here, they would usually have a debt from the journey and sometimes run up a debt in stores or take out loans to send money home," she said.
The area around Gresson St became known as Chinatown in the 1890s because of the many Chinese living there, she said.
Bradshaw believed Shing may have been overcome by guilt after stealing from his friend.
Piner said it was interesting to have a theory to explain the whispers and shadows, but it would not put him off working alone.
By GILES BROWN - The Press
Last updated 05:00 05/05/2010
The tragic tale of a Chinese thief may explain the ghostly goings-on at a West Coast bakery.
Baker Maurice Piner has been bothered by mysterious voices, creeping shadows and things going bump at Phil's Bakery in Greymouth.
"When I was working on my own in the morning, I would see shadows going around the bakery and ovens and that," Piner said.
"Sometimes you could hear banging and crashing upstairs, and sometimes you can hear whispering and talking in the bakery.
"You look around to see if there's anyone there, and you can't."
However, a Greymouth tourist operator believes he can shed some light on the mystery.
Paul Schramm, manager of Wild West Adventures, has been researching a new tourist attraction where visitors are guided around the town by an audio device that uses GPS positioning to tell stories as they enter different areas.
During his research, Schramm came across the tale of Ah Shing, a Chinese miner, who hanged himself in the boarding house that used to stand on the site of the Gresson St bakery.
On October 17, 1891, the Grey River Argus reported that Ah Shing's body was found early in the day hanging from a rafter in the boarding house.
It said Shing had earlier pawned a "silver lever watch and chain" that he stole from a friend, Bernard Gallagher.
Julia Bradshaw, author of a book on the history of the Chinese on the West Coast, said it was likely Shing was driven to the crime by debt.
"When the Chinese came out here, they would usually have a debt from the journey and sometimes run up a debt in stores or take out loans to send money home," she said.
The area around Gresson St became known as Chinatown in the 1890s because of the many Chinese living there, she said.
Bradshaw believed Shing may have been overcome by guilt after stealing from his friend.
Piner said it was interesting to have a theory to explain the whispers and shadows, but it would not put him off working alone.
By GILES BROWN - The Press
Last updated 05:00 05/05/2010
Movie takes the Chinese out of Aussie war hero
By Kathy Marks
4:00 AM Wednesday May 12, 2010
Billy Sing, a Queenslander of Anglo-Chinese ancestry, earned himself the title of Australia's deadliest sniper during the Gallipoli campaign, killing 201 enemy soldiers.
He received the Distinguished Conduct Medal, second only to the Victoria Cross.
But now the World War I hero is at the centre of a row, centring on a mini-series about his life by an Australian director, Geoff Davis. Australians of Chinese descent are furious that Davis cast his son, Josh, in the lead role, rather than a Chinese actor.
Sing's father is played by Tony Bonner, who came to fame as the blonde helicopter pilot in the Skippy television series.
The president of the Chinese Australian Forum, Tony Pang, said: "I'm very sorry to learn that somebody is trying to whitewash a Chinese-Australian face with a white face. It's a disgrace. To see this distortion of historical fact, it's sad."
Davis has defended his choice, saying his problem was finding a 60-year-old Chinese actor to play Sing's father in The Legend of Billy Sing, which is still in production.
But Australians of Chinese descent called it a betrayal of their heritage.
"We'll now have people growing up thinking Billy Sing was white," said Bill O'Chee, a former National Party senator.
Sing, who had an English mother and a father from Shanghai, enlisted as a trooper in the 5th Light Horse Regiment. He became known as "The Assassin", and the Turks sent their champion sniper, "Abdul The Terrible" to hunt him down; however, Sing shot Abdul first.
Pang said: "The question I ask myself is, what if John Howard is being played by a Pakistani? It's ridiculous. It's just not appropriate."
- INDEPENDENT
By Kathy Marks | Email Kathy
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10644305
4:00 AM Wednesday May 12, 2010
Billy Sing, a Queenslander of Anglo-Chinese ancestry, earned himself the title of Australia's deadliest sniper during the Gallipoli campaign, killing 201 enemy soldiers.
He received the Distinguished Conduct Medal, second only to the Victoria Cross.
But now the World War I hero is at the centre of a row, centring on a mini-series about his life by an Australian director, Geoff Davis. Australians of Chinese descent are furious that Davis cast his son, Josh, in the lead role, rather than a Chinese actor.
Sing's father is played by Tony Bonner, who came to fame as the blonde helicopter pilot in the Skippy television series.
The president of the Chinese Australian Forum, Tony Pang, said: "I'm very sorry to learn that somebody is trying to whitewash a Chinese-Australian face with a white face. It's a disgrace. To see this distortion of historical fact, it's sad."
Davis has defended his choice, saying his problem was finding a 60-year-old Chinese actor to play Sing's father in The Legend of Billy Sing, which is still in production.
But Australians of Chinese descent called it a betrayal of their heritage.
"We'll now have people growing up thinking Billy Sing was white," said Bill O'Chee, a former National Party senator.
Sing, who had an English mother and a father from Shanghai, enlisted as a trooper in the 5th Light Horse Regiment. He became known as "The Assassin", and the Turks sent their champion sniper, "Abdul The Terrible" to hunt him down; however, Sing shot Abdul first.
Pang said: "The question I ask myself is, what if John Howard is being played by a Pakistani? It's ridiculous. It's just not appropriate."
- INDEPENDENT
By Kathy Marks | Email Kathy
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10644305
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
Tombstones and Takeaway
Tombstones and Takeaway
Amanda Bolch
Chinese migrant Jackie Or saw a lively business opportunity in creating Auckland's first private cemetery
PHOTO: BRUCE JACKSON/SOUTHERN STUDIOS
A migrant entrepreneur shows he can turn his hand to anything
Jackie Or is a success story in New Zealand's food industry. At shopping centres around the country, his Chinese food chains sit alongside McDonald's and KFC.
Magic Wok, Crazy Stirfry and Crazy Noodlebar are names synonymous with high quality fast food for thousands of New Zealand shoppers.
Or has a knack for finding a niche market at the right time (something he has proved a second time around with his latest venture - Auckland's first privately owned cemetery).
Or moved to New Zealand in 1982 - his knowledge of the country limited to the fact that it had lots of sheep. However, as a chef, he also believed there would be plenty of work opportunities. He spent the first two and a half years in his adopted country working at the New Orient Restaurant in downtown Auckland.
In 1985 he started out on his own. "Most of the Chinese food here was being adapted to Kiwi tastes, but I wanted to have something really Chinese, really authentic, with meals such as chicken feet, pig's trotters and salted fish."
Another restaurant later, he decided the restaurant business was "too hard and the hours too long", so opened up a takeaway in a shopping centre. "The concept was good quality food, freshly cooked in front of the customer. At that time it was a new concept and we found it was really accepted by the Kiwis."
Today he has nearly 20 shops from Auckland to Dunedin, in the south of the South Island. He employs about 40 staff, most of them ethnic Chinese. "I never dreamed it would become this big," he says.
While he believes there are still such opportunities for new business migrants, he admits it would be a lot harder for them today. "When I first stared 15 years ago, there were only a few fast food outlets. Today there are many - McDonald's, Burger Kings, KFCs and Wendys. Auckland is a very competitive market now. We have got more fast food and restaurant outlets per person than Sydney and Melbourne."
It may seem like a clich�, but it is true that many Chinese migrants - and Asians in general - set up restaurants. Or estimates there could be as many as 600 Asian food outlets in the city. "I guess the capital involved in such a venture is not that big and because some Chinese don't speak English well, which is a disadvantage for them, starting up something like a Chinese restaurant is a lot easier."
But he says one problem was that many people did not do the right research. "They come here, set up a restaurant and do not compare the turnover of their neighbour.
So they are spending NZ$400,000-$500,000 (US$164,400-$205,500) without an estimate of turnover. Many people do that and because of that, many restaurants fail."
Rental costs, which he says are higher than a lot of people think, and a shortage of skilled Chinese chefs and waiting staff are other problems to be considered.
While Or has seen much growth in the Chinese business community since he first became a part of it, he says business is not his prime reason for coming to New Zealand. "People do not come here for business reasons. They come here more for the lifestyle and their children's education. Here there is lots of space and there is fresh air and the weather is pretty good.
"Because we only have a very small population, it is very hard to make a business very profitable. But saying that, I am one of the lucky ones and there are opportunities for enterprising people." And his latest venture shows just how enterprising he is. About six years ago, a staff member was telling Or how she wanted to bury her father next to another Chinese person, but was unable to find anywhere to do that.
After getting together four partners, including the head of one of New Zealand's top clothing chains, and finding the right land - which took two years - the result is a very special cemetery. "The Oakfield Memorial Park is set on 39 acres and is the first private cemetery in Auckland. While it available to the whole community, it is also the only cemetery with a Chinese section."
What also makes the cemetery special is that it is has been designed with the right feng shui - it features a landscaped garden, with two lakes and sea views. "We have been marketing the cemetery for about 15 months now and have already sold about 150 plots, the most expensive one so far being NZ$128,000, which is a plot for an extended family"
Amanda Bolch
Chinese migrant Jackie Or saw a lively business opportunity in creating Auckland's first private cemetery
PHOTO: BRUCE JACKSON/SOUTHERN STUDIOS
A migrant entrepreneur shows he can turn his hand to anything
Jackie Or is a success story in New Zealand's food industry. At shopping centres around the country, his Chinese food chains sit alongside McDonald's and KFC.
Magic Wok, Crazy Stirfry and Crazy Noodlebar are names synonymous with high quality fast food for thousands of New Zealand shoppers.
Or has a knack for finding a niche market at the right time (something he has proved a second time around with his latest venture - Auckland's first privately owned cemetery).
Or moved to New Zealand in 1982 - his knowledge of the country limited to the fact that it had lots of sheep. However, as a chef, he also believed there would be plenty of work opportunities. He spent the first two and a half years in his adopted country working at the New Orient Restaurant in downtown Auckland.
In 1985 he started out on his own. "Most of the Chinese food here was being adapted to Kiwi tastes, but I wanted to have something really Chinese, really authentic, with meals such as chicken feet, pig's trotters and salted fish."
Another restaurant later, he decided the restaurant business was "too hard and the hours too long", so opened up a takeaway in a shopping centre. "The concept was good quality food, freshly cooked in front of the customer. At that time it was a new concept and we found it was really accepted by the Kiwis."
Today he has nearly 20 shops from Auckland to Dunedin, in the south of the South Island. He employs about 40 staff, most of them ethnic Chinese. "I never dreamed it would become this big," he says.
While he believes there are still such opportunities for new business migrants, he admits it would be a lot harder for them today. "When I first stared 15 years ago, there were only a few fast food outlets. Today there are many - McDonald's, Burger Kings, KFCs and Wendys. Auckland is a very competitive market now. We have got more fast food and restaurant outlets per person than Sydney and Melbourne."
It may seem like a clich�, but it is true that many Chinese migrants - and Asians in general - set up restaurants. Or estimates there could be as many as 600 Asian food outlets in the city. "I guess the capital involved in such a venture is not that big and because some Chinese don't speak English well, which is a disadvantage for them, starting up something like a Chinese restaurant is a lot easier."
But he says one problem was that many people did not do the right research. "They come here, set up a restaurant and do not compare the turnover of their neighbour.
So they are spending NZ$400,000-$500,000 (US$164,400-$205,500) without an estimate of turnover. Many people do that and because of that, many restaurants fail."
Rental costs, which he says are higher than a lot of people think, and a shortage of skilled Chinese chefs and waiting staff are other problems to be considered.
While Or has seen much growth in the Chinese business community since he first became a part of it, he says business is not his prime reason for coming to New Zealand. "People do not come here for business reasons. They come here more for the lifestyle and their children's education. Here there is lots of space and there is fresh air and the weather is pretty good.
"Because we only have a very small population, it is very hard to make a business very profitable. But saying that, I am one of the lucky ones and there are opportunities for enterprising people." And his latest venture shows just how enterprising he is. About six years ago, a staff member was telling Or how she wanted to bury her father next to another Chinese person, but was unable to find anywhere to do that.
After getting together four partners, including the head of one of New Zealand's top clothing chains, and finding the right land - which took two years - the result is a very special cemetery. "The Oakfield Memorial Park is set on 39 acres and is the first private cemetery in Auckland. While it available to the whole community, it is also the only cemetery with a Chinese section."
What also makes the cemetery special is that it is has been designed with the right feng shui - it features a landscaped garden, with two lakes and sea views. "We have been marketing the cemetery for about 15 months now and have already sold about 150 plots, the most expensive one so far being NZ$128,000, which is a plot for an extended family"
Asians ditch identities in hunt for jobs
Desperate job-seeking Asians are not only taking on Anglicised first names but also officially ditching their traditional surnames for European-sounding ones in the hope that will help them find work in New Zealand.
One Chinese woman even changed her name to Brenda Jones in an attempt to get a job interview in the tough economic climate.
About 21,000, or 9.2 per cent, of the Asian population are without jobs, and experts say their foreign-sounding names have contributed to their unemployment woes.
Massey University researcher Paul Spoonley says New Zealand employers, especially in small and medium-sized businesses, tend to eliminate Asian applicants very early in the process through surname discrimination.
"We have a lot of research and anecdotal evidence that New Zealand employers are reluctant to employ Asians, so changing surnames is a novel way of getting a CV read," he said.
Last year, people born in Asia formed most of the overseas-born people who sought to have their names changed with the Department of Internal Affairs.
CCID: 30518
Since March last year, 2029 immigrants have registered to change their names, with the top five countries of origin being Samoa (291), China (264), India (152), Iraq (98) and Malaysia (97).
Although Samoans topped the department's name-change register, the Weekend Herald understands many of these were to add chiefly titles rather than adopt Anglicised names.
Other countries with significant numbers include Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia and Singapore.
Asian immigrants told the Weekend Herald they changed their names in a desperate attempt to find work.
Most did not want to be identified because they thought it could jeopardise their job hunt.
The Chinese immigrant who changed her name to Brenda Jones said she did so after failing to get a single job interview when her former classmates, European New Zealanders who graduated from the same IT course, were getting employed.
"I was feeling very desperate and very small," she said. "Changing my name is not something I am proud of doing, but I really didn't know what else to do."
Another, who changed her surname from Teoh to May with an English first name, said a job interviewer at Work and Income advised her to do so.
"She told me that with an Asian surname, employers will automatically think that I cannot speak English," said Miss May, a former retail manager.
A University of Auckland School of Business survey in 2005 found anti-Asian discrimination to be significant among employers.
It found that even without immigration status consideration, having a Chinese or Indian name significantly raised chances of being considered unsuitable.
Chinese applicants with Anglicised first names were considered slightly less unsuitable than those with traditional names.
Justin Treagus, director of Omega, a programme which uses a mentoring scheme to help immigrants find employment, says the recession has aggravated discrimination.
"I think the economic recession has brought many Kiwi employers back to their old habits, and maybe even made it worse."
One Asian immigrant, who changed his surname from Wang to King, believes it has worked for him.
Lai Ming Wang, now Terence King, says it got him an interview that eventually landed him a bank job.
"I got that job interview only after submitting my CV with my new surname, and getting that interview meant I could prove that I am well versed in English and have the ability to do the job," he said.
An Internal Affairs spokesman says only those who are New Zealand citizens or permanent residents with indefinite visas can register for an official name change - but others are still free to use Anglicised names unofficially.
Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres says it is unlawful under the Human Rights Act to refuse immigrants a job or an interview because of their ethnicity or race.
"It takes away someone's chance to be judged on their merits and it goes against the idea of New Zealand as a fair society."
By Lincoln Tan | Email Lincoln 4:00 AM Saturday Apr 3, 2010
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10636001&pnum=0
One Chinese woman even changed her name to Brenda Jones in an attempt to get a job interview in the tough economic climate.
About 21,000, or 9.2 per cent, of the Asian population are without jobs, and experts say their foreign-sounding names have contributed to their unemployment woes.
Massey University researcher Paul Spoonley says New Zealand employers, especially in small and medium-sized businesses, tend to eliminate Asian applicants very early in the process through surname discrimination.
"We have a lot of research and anecdotal evidence that New Zealand employers are reluctant to employ Asians, so changing surnames is a novel way of getting a CV read," he said.
Last year, people born in Asia formed most of the overseas-born people who sought to have their names changed with the Department of Internal Affairs.
CCID: 30518
Since March last year, 2029 immigrants have registered to change their names, with the top five countries of origin being Samoa (291), China (264), India (152), Iraq (98) and Malaysia (97).
Although Samoans topped the department's name-change register, the Weekend Herald understands many of these were to add chiefly titles rather than adopt Anglicised names.
Other countries with significant numbers include Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia and Singapore.
Asian immigrants told the Weekend Herald they changed their names in a desperate attempt to find work.
Most did not want to be identified because they thought it could jeopardise their job hunt.
The Chinese immigrant who changed her name to Brenda Jones said she did so after failing to get a single job interview when her former classmates, European New Zealanders who graduated from the same IT course, were getting employed.
"I was feeling very desperate and very small," she said. "Changing my name is not something I am proud of doing, but I really didn't know what else to do."
Another, who changed her surname from Teoh to May with an English first name, said a job interviewer at Work and Income advised her to do so.
"She told me that with an Asian surname, employers will automatically think that I cannot speak English," said Miss May, a former retail manager.
A University of Auckland School of Business survey in 2005 found anti-Asian discrimination to be significant among employers.
It found that even without immigration status consideration, having a Chinese or Indian name significantly raised chances of being considered unsuitable.
Chinese applicants with Anglicised first names were considered slightly less unsuitable than those with traditional names.
Justin Treagus, director of Omega, a programme which uses a mentoring scheme to help immigrants find employment, says the recession has aggravated discrimination.
"I think the economic recession has brought many Kiwi employers back to their old habits, and maybe even made it worse."
One Asian immigrant, who changed his surname from Wang to King, believes it has worked for him.
Lai Ming Wang, now Terence King, says it got him an interview that eventually landed him a bank job.
"I got that job interview only after submitting my CV with my new surname, and getting that interview meant I could prove that I am well versed in English and have the ability to do the job," he said.
An Internal Affairs spokesman says only those who are New Zealand citizens or permanent residents with indefinite visas can register for an official name change - but others are still free to use Anglicised names unofficially.
Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres says it is unlawful under the Human Rights Act to refuse immigrants a job or an interview because of their ethnicity or race.
"It takes away someone's chance to be judged on their merits and it goes against the idea of New Zealand as a fair society."
By Lincoln Tan | Email Lincoln 4:00 AM Saturday Apr 3, 2010
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10636001&pnum=0
Changing tastes put squeeze on ethnic restaurants
Ethnic restaurants in Auckland are being forced to think beyond sweet and sour pork, fried won tons and sushi - and those which do not keep up with the times are facing the curtain.
Auckland's oldest Chinese restaurant, the New Orient, closed this month after nearly 40 years in business.
This follows the closure of the city's oldest Japanese restaurant, the Ariake Restaurant and Sushi Bar, which folded in the same week after 30 years.
Operators of the two restaurants say changing expectations from Kiwis and new migrants have largely contributed to their demise.
"It used to be enough to have sweet and sour pork and fried won tons on the menu to make it an exotic restaurant to Kiwis, but times have changed," said director David Lam, who has been involved with the New Orient since 1973.
"We have just not been able to keep up with the new restaurants, and it is sad that we have to close."
Mr Lam also blamed the tough economic times, and the lack of carparking in the central city for the closure.
He said about 70 per cent of the restaurant's clientele were Kiwis or local-born Chinese. Few patrons were recent migrants.
Retired seaman Ricky Wallace, 75, remembers the New Orient as a fixture in the Auckland dining scene. It was one of only about three Chinese restaurants in Auckland in the 1970s.
"I've lived in Malaya in my younger days and love eating Asian food. This place used to be the only place where we could get a decent rice meal, and it's eat all you want for one price with live entertainment" he said.
Mr Wallace hasn't been to New Orient in the past 10 years, preferring instead to dine at the food halls or restaurants serving more "exotic" meals set up by more recent immigrants.
"One amazing thing that has happened with immigration is the fabulous food, and Kiwis are just spoilt for choice now," he said.
With increasing migration from Asia and Kiwis more well-travelled, Chinese restaurant operators in Auckland have to think outside their noodle boxes to draw customers.
Many also include "live" fish and crayfish tanks, to emphasise the freshness of what's on the menu.
Jacky Orr, who operates the China Yum Char Restaurant on Beach Rd, this month also started Red Guard Cafe, a Chairman Mao-inspired cafe and restaurant in the city - where staff wear Chinese military outfits.
SkyCity has also renovated and rebranded its Chinese restaurant, Ming Court - now called Jade Dragon.
Ariake manager Miyuki Sakairi said the restaurant suffered because it tried to keep things too traditional.
"To survive in Auckland restaurants needed to give diners good food and new experiences," she said.
By Lincoln Tan | Email Lincoln 4:00 AM Tuesday Apr 6, 2010
Auckland's oldest Chinese restaurant, the New Orient, closed this month after nearly 40 years in business.
This follows the closure of the city's oldest Japanese restaurant, the Ariake Restaurant and Sushi Bar, which folded in the same week after 30 years.
Operators of the two restaurants say changing expectations from Kiwis and new migrants have largely contributed to their demise.
"It used to be enough to have sweet and sour pork and fried won tons on the menu to make it an exotic restaurant to Kiwis, but times have changed," said director David Lam, who has been involved with the New Orient since 1973.
"We have just not been able to keep up with the new restaurants, and it is sad that we have to close."
Mr Lam also blamed the tough economic times, and the lack of carparking in the central city for the closure.
He said about 70 per cent of the restaurant's clientele were Kiwis or local-born Chinese. Few patrons were recent migrants.
Retired seaman Ricky Wallace, 75, remembers the New Orient as a fixture in the Auckland dining scene. It was one of only about three Chinese restaurants in Auckland in the 1970s.
"I've lived in Malaya in my younger days and love eating Asian food. This place used to be the only place where we could get a decent rice meal, and it's eat all you want for one price with live entertainment" he said.
Mr Wallace hasn't been to New Orient in the past 10 years, preferring instead to dine at the food halls or restaurants serving more "exotic" meals set up by more recent immigrants.
"One amazing thing that has happened with immigration is the fabulous food, and Kiwis are just spoilt for choice now," he said.
With increasing migration from Asia and Kiwis more well-travelled, Chinese restaurant operators in Auckland have to think outside their noodle boxes to draw customers.
Many also include "live" fish and crayfish tanks, to emphasise the freshness of what's on the menu.
Jacky Orr, who operates the China Yum Char Restaurant on Beach Rd, this month also started Red Guard Cafe, a Chairman Mao-inspired cafe and restaurant in the city - where staff wear Chinese military outfits.
SkyCity has also renovated and rebranded its Chinese restaurant, Ming Court - now called Jade Dragon.
Ariake manager Miyuki Sakairi said the restaurant suffered because it tried to keep things too traditional.
"To survive in Auckland restaurants needed to give diners good food and new experiences," she said.
By Lincoln Tan | Email Lincoln 4:00 AM Tuesday Apr 6, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Jade Taniwha - Maori Chinese
Jenny Bol Jun Lee
Jade Taniwha: Maori-Chinese Identity and Schooling in Aotearoa is an insightful and often deeply personal account of Maori-Chinese identity in Aotearoa New Zealand.
At the heart of this book are the accounts of four Maori-Chinese recollecting experiences of identity through the lens of schooling.
Jenny Bol Jun Lee reveals that Maori-Chinese draw strength from their different traditions, taking pride in their unique identity while moving between the different worlds of Chinese, Maori and mainstream New Zealand.
Generously illustrated with b&w photographs
Rautaki, Auckland
2007 s/c 179 pages
Jade Taniwha: Maori-Chinese Identity and Schooling in Aotearoa is an insightful and often deeply personal account of Maori-Chinese identity in Aotearoa New Zealand.
At the heart of this book are the accounts of four Maori-Chinese recollecting experiences of identity through the lens of schooling.
Jenny Bol Jun Lee reveals that Maori-Chinese draw strength from their different traditions, taking pride in their unique identity while moving between the different worlds of Chinese, Maori and mainstream New Zealand.
Generously illustrated with b&w photographs
Rautaki, Auckland
2007 s/c 179 pages
Diggers Hatters and Whores.
Diggers Hatters and Whores. The Story of the New Zealand Gold Rushes. Stevan Eldred-Grigg. 2008 1st edition. Auckland
A very comprehensive and interesting book with masses of unusual and repros of old paintings, engravings and drawings.
Gold rushes around the world
The NZ gold rushes
Very detailed information about the diggings
Names of Maori diggers in Golden Bay
Rights of landowners. Laws governing the diggings
Women who followed the camps. Chinese diggers
Shanty towns, drinking, incidents, fights, crime, murders
Life and death on the diggings
Wonderful illustrations and repros of paintings incl: Miners in the Sierra 1851; a lynching in San Francisco 1851; Diggers at Ballarat 1851; Coromandel Diggers 1852; Dunstan diggings c1862; Skippers gold claim 1865; transalpine road to the diggings of the West Coast; Grey Valley Diggers c1867; Hokitika c1865; Queen of Beauty and Bright Smiles Mines, Thames 1874; quartz crushing battery, Thames; Karangahake goldfield 1897; Kaniere diggings 1866; Macraes Flat, Otago; digger huts Hauraki 1864-67; diggers pig hunting, West Coast 1868
Maps incl gold rush areas NZ; Otago 1866; Marlborough.
545pp; black/white and coloured photos and illustrations; maps; repros of old adverts; index; bibliography; very thick hard covered book with illustrated dust jacket; both excellent condition brand new.
A very comprehensive and interesting book with masses of unusual and repros of old paintings, engravings and drawings.
Gold rushes around the world
The NZ gold rushes
Very detailed information about the diggings
Names of Maori diggers in Golden Bay
Rights of landowners. Laws governing the diggings
Women who followed the camps. Chinese diggers
Shanty towns, drinking, incidents, fights, crime, murders
Life and death on the diggings
Wonderful illustrations and repros of paintings incl: Miners in the Sierra 1851; a lynching in San Francisco 1851; Diggers at Ballarat 1851; Coromandel Diggers 1852; Dunstan diggings c1862; Skippers gold claim 1865; transalpine road to the diggings of the West Coast; Grey Valley Diggers c1867; Hokitika c1865; Queen of Beauty and Bright Smiles Mines, Thames 1874; quartz crushing battery, Thames; Karangahake goldfield 1897; Kaniere diggings 1866; Macraes Flat, Otago; digger huts Hauraki 1864-67; diggers pig hunting, West Coast 1868
Maps incl gold rush areas NZ; Otago 1866; Marlborough.
545pp; black/white and coloured photos and illustrations; maps; repros of old adverts; index; bibliography; very thick hard covered book with illustrated dust jacket; both excellent condition brand new.
Monday, February 08, 2010
Sweet and Sour: Life in Chinese Family Restaurants
Sweet and Sour: Life in Chinese Family Restaurants
by John Jung
Sweet and Sour examines the history of Chinese family restaurants in the U. S. and Canada. Why did many Chinese immigrants enter this business around the end of the 19th century? What conditions made it possible for Chinese to open and succeed in operating restaurants after they emigrated to North America? How did Chinese restaurants manage to attract non-Chinese customers, given that they had little or no acquaintance with the Chinese style of food preparation and many had vicious hostility toward Chinese immigrants?
http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewwork.asp?AuthorID=102493
by John Jung
Sweet and Sour examines the history of Chinese family restaurants in the U. S. and Canada. Why did many Chinese immigrants enter this business around the end of the 19th century? What conditions made it possible for Chinese to open and succeed in operating restaurants after they emigrated to North America? How did Chinese restaurants manage to attract non-Chinese customers, given that they had little or no acquaintance with the Chinese style of food preparation and many had vicious hostility toward Chinese immigrants?
http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewwork.asp?AuthorID=102493
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Chinese New Year 2010
Many Chinese couples are rushing to get married before the start of the Year of the Tiger, to avoid any misfortune associated with the inauspicious year.
The Year of the Tiger begins on February 14, and many who do wed before then will wait until 2011 to have a baby.
Fortune teller Peter Chan, who is also a Waitakere City councillor, said this Tiger year was considered really bad because of the absence of spring, or Lichun.
Chinese New Year, which is based on the lunar calendar, falls after the first day of spring in China and ends on February 2 next year, which is before the next Lichun.
A year without spring is also known as a "widow year" or a "blind year".
"It is a very bad year for marriages and it is possible that the relationship of those who get married in the Tiger year to be full of turmoil and trouble," said Mr Chan, originally from Hong Kong.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10623159&pnum=0
The Year of the Tiger begins on February 14, and many who do wed before then will wait until 2011 to have a baby.
Fortune teller Peter Chan, who is also a Waitakere City councillor, said this Tiger year was considered really bad because of the absence of spring, or Lichun.
Chinese New Year, which is based on the lunar calendar, falls after the first day of spring in China and ends on February 2 next year, which is before the next Lichun.
A year without spring is also known as a "widow year" or a "blind year".
"It is a very bad year for marriages and it is possible that the relationship of those who get married in the Tiger year to be full of turmoil and trouble," said Mr Chan, originally from Hong Kong.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10623159&pnum=0
Saturday, January 16, 2010
NZ residency gives Chinese sex appeal
By Lincoln Tan
4:00 AM Saturday Jan 16, 2010
International students from China want New Zealand residency and passports not only for ease of travel, but also as a way to get into a good university back home and attract the opposite sex.
To get Kiwi passports, some are even prepared to marry New Zealand citizens who may be total strangers, several students from the Chinese mainland told the Weekend Herald.
China's top university sets higher admission standards for domestic candidates, but enrolment requirements are much lower for foreign students as many universities want more foreigners to foster an international environment on campuses, according to a Chinese news report.
"I don't want a New Zealand passport to stay here. I don't think there is a future for me here," said an 18-year-old language student from Shanghai, who spoke on condition she was not named.
"But when I get a Kiwi passport, it means I would almost certainly get into a good university back in China because of the lower standard for foreigners, and also be able to travel around the world more easily."
Last week, the Global Times in China reported that students there were paying around $40,000 to buy fake foreign passports to gain entry into these universities, but the Education Ministry is now demanding proof from foreign students that they have lived in their purported countries of origin for at least four years.
One 15-year-old Auckland high school student from China, who did not want to be named, said reading the Chinese report online had made him more determined to work towards residency.
"Of course, my first choice will be to get a New Zealand degree, but if I cannot, then at least the passport will give me a second chance to get a degree from a top China university."
Another teenager from China, Amy, 19, who is studying graphic design, said: "Hooking up with a Kiwi partner is still the easiest way to get residency, which is the first step towards getting a New Zealand passport."
A language student, Luke Liu, 18, said becoming a New Zealand resident was also a way for young Chinese males to "attract" Chinese girls.
"Let's face it, Kiwi girls don't fancy Asian guys, and Chinese girls here are spoiled for choice because Kiwi guys want to date them," said Luke. "These girls come from rich families, so money means nothing to them. But being able to offer them the chance of becoming a Kiwi is another thing."
The editor of the Mandarin Pages Chinese newspaper in Auckland, David Soh, says the practice of "marriage for convenience" is not new, nor is it exclusive to the Chinese community. "It also happens with the Russians, the Filipinos ... It is impossible to stop."
The Herald on Sunday reported in 2005 that Mandarin Pages carried an advertisement from a Chinese man with New Zealand residency advertising for a wife. When contacted, the advertiser demanded $10,000 up front, more after one year of marriage and a final $10,000 after two years when the buyer would have permanent residency in New Zealand, and the couple could divorce.
But Mr Soh says such ads no longer appear in his paper, which still carries an average of 10 personal advertisements daily from New Zealanders seeking Chinese wives.
"It would be impossible for us to say how many of these marriages are for immigration purposes."
By Lincoln Tan | Email Lincoln http://www.nzherald.co.nz/chinese-in-nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=147&objectid=10620509
4:00 AM Saturday Jan 16, 2010
International students from China want New Zealand residency and passports not only for ease of travel, but also as a way to get into a good university back home and attract the opposite sex.
To get Kiwi passports, some are even prepared to marry New Zealand citizens who may be total strangers, several students from the Chinese mainland told the Weekend Herald.
China's top university sets higher admission standards for domestic candidates, but enrolment requirements are much lower for foreign students as many universities want more foreigners to foster an international environment on campuses, according to a Chinese news report.
"I don't want a New Zealand passport to stay here. I don't think there is a future for me here," said an 18-year-old language student from Shanghai, who spoke on condition she was not named.
"But when I get a Kiwi passport, it means I would almost certainly get into a good university back in China because of the lower standard for foreigners, and also be able to travel around the world more easily."
Last week, the Global Times in China reported that students there were paying around $40,000 to buy fake foreign passports to gain entry into these universities, but the Education Ministry is now demanding proof from foreign students that they have lived in their purported countries of origin for at least four years.
One 15-year-old Auckland high school student from China, who did not want to be named, said reading the Chinese report online had made him more determined to work towards residency.
"Of course, my first choice will be to get a New Zealand degree, but if I cannot, then at least the passport will give me a second chance to get a degree from a top China university."
Another teenager from China, Amy, 19, who is studying graphic design, said: "Hooking up with a Kiwi partner is still the easiest way to get residency, which is the first step towards getting a New Zealand passport."
A language student, Luke Liu, 18, said becoming a New Zealand resident was also a way for young Chinese males to "attract" Chinese girls.
"Let's face it, Kiwi girls don't fancy Asian guys, and Chinese girls here are spoiled for choice because Kiwi guys want to date them," said Luke. "These girls come from rich families, so money means nothing to them. But being able to offer them the chance of becoming a Kiwi is another thing."
The editor of the Mandarin Pages Chinese newspaper in Auckland, David Soh, says the practice of "marriage for convenience" is not new, nor is it exclusive to the Chinese community. "It also happens with the Russians, the Filipinos ... It is impossible to stop."
The Herald on Sunday reported in 2005 that Mandarin Pages carried an advertisement from a Chinese man with New Zealand residency advertising for a wife. When contacted, the advertiser demanded $10,000 up front, more after one year of marriage and a final $10,000 after two years when the buyer would have permanent residency in New Zealand, and the couple could divorce.
But Mr Soh says such ads no longer appear in his paper, which still carries an average of 10 personal advertisements daily from New Zealanders seeking Chinese wives.
"It would be impossible for us to say how many of these marriages are for immigration purposes."
By Lincoln Tan | Email Lincoln http://www.nzherald.co.nz/chinese-in-nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=147&objectid=10620509
Monday, January 11, 2010
Scratchy start to Year of the Tiger as Chinese events clash
Failure to bring two of Auckland's biggest Chinese New Year festivals into one grand event has resulted in a spat between the organisers of the two events meant to usher in the Year of the Tiger next month.
For the first time since World Television organised its first Chinese New Year festival and concert in 2008, the event will clash with the 22-year-old Auckland Chinese Community Centre's Chinese New Year Festival and Market Day.
Both are scheduled for February 13, which is Chinese New Year's Eve.
The community centre says that WTV, by holding its event on the same day, is snatching away some of its regular market stall-holders.
"Some stallholders who had previously booked four stalls are taking just one this year," said Kai Luey, vice-president and event organiser.
"And some who had changed their minds and wanted to participate in our market day could not do so because WTV has a no-cancellation policy in its contracts.
"The folk at WTV are just hard-headed commercial people. I've suggested to them when we met at the [Chinese] consular office that we ...talk about organising a common event, but they never responded."
The community centre charges $140 a stall, but WTV charges more than $300 - and sometimes up to $50,000.
Two years ago, the centre also accused WTV of claiming its inaugural event was to replace the centre's longstanding festival. The centre felt forced to pay for print advertisements to say its festival was still running, because WTV refused to promote it.
"We were stabbed in the first year," said Mr Luey, "and now that their event is more established they are treating us like poor country cousins. That's arrogant."
The community centre holds its market festival at the ASB Showgrounds in Greenlane during the day, while the WTV event runs at the TelstraClear Pacific Events Centre in Manukau from the afternoon until late.
"While it's possible for the crowd to be part of both events, it is impossible for many of the stallholders to have the resources to do the same," Mr Luey said.
But WTV chief executive Henry Ho told the Herald it was impossible for the two groups to work together to organise a common event because "we have different directions".
"We are a commercial media organisation and any public show we put on has to be more professional than a festival that is being organised by a community group," said Mr Ho.
"We also have to make a profit or pay for the losses from our own pockets. Our event is not organised to just make every Chinese community leader happy."
Mr Ho said the clash in dates was also inevitable, because Waitangi Day falls on the weekend before Chinese New Year's Eve and it was inappropriate to hold the festival after New Year.
He says no one from the centre's leadership would be officially invited to attend WTV's festival because it was not the firm's policy to do so.
Nor would it promote the community centre's festival through its television stations, radio channels and magazine unless the centre paid for advertising.
"If the ACCC wants to pay for advertising we will be happy to put their ads on, but they cannot expect us to do it for free."
YEAR OF THE TIGER
* Begins on February 14 and ends on February 2, 2011.
* The Tiger is the third in the cycle of the Chinese Zodiac, which consists of 12 animal signs.
* It is a sign of courage, and revered as the sign that wards off the three main disasters of a household - fire, thieves and ghosts.
By Lincoln Tan | Email Lincoln
By Lincoln Tan
4:00 AM Monday Jan 11, 2010
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10619462&pnum=0
For the first time since World Television organised its first Chinese New Year festival and concert in 2008, the event will clash with the 22-year-old Auckland Chinese Community Centre's Chinese New Year Festival and Market Day.
Both are scheduled for February 13, which is Chinese New Year's Eve.
The community centre says that WTV, by holding its event on the same day, is snatching away some of its regular market stall-holders.
"Some stallholders who had previously booked four stalls are taking just one this year," said Kai Luey, vice-president and event organiser.
"And some who had changed their minds and wanted to participate in our market day could not do so because WTV has a no-cancellation policy in its contracts.
"The folk at WTV are just hard-headed commercial people. I've suggested to them when we met at the [Chinese] consular office that we ...talk about organising a common event, but they never responded."
The community centre charges $140 a stall, but WTV charges more than $300 - and sometimes up to $50,000.
Two years ago, the centre also accused WTV of claiming its inaugural event was to replace the centre's longstanding festival. The centre felt forced to pay for print advertisements to say its festival was still running, because WTV refused to promote it.
"We were stabbed in the first year," said Mr Luey, "and now that their event is more established they are treating us like poor country cousins. That's arrogant."
The community centre holds its market festival at the ASB Showgrounds in Greenlane during the day, while the WTV event runs at the TelstraClear Pacific Events Centre in Manukau from the afternoon until late.
"While it's possible for the crowd to be part of both events, it is impossible for many of the stallholders to have the resources to do the same," Mr Luey said.
But WTV chief executive Henry Ho told the Herald it was impossible for the two groups to work together to organise a common event because "we have different directions".
"We are a commercial media organisation and any public show we put on has to be more professional than a festival that is being organised by a community group," said Mr Ho.
"We also have to make a profit or pay for the losses from our own pockets. Our event is not organised to just make every Chinese community leader happy."
Mr Ho said the clash in dates was also inevitable, because Waitangi Day falls on the weekend before Chinese New Year's Eve and it was inappropriate to hold the festival after New Year.
He says no one from the centre's leadership would be officially invited to attend WTV's festival because it was not the firm's policy to do so.
Nor would it promote the community centre's festival through its television stations, radio channels and magazine unless the centre paid for advertising.
"If the ACCC wants to pay for advertising we will be happy to put their ads on, but they cannot expect us to do it for free."
YEAR OF THE TIGER
* Begins on February 14 and ends on February 2, 2011.
* The Tiger is the third in the cycle of the Chinese Zodiac, which consists of 12 animal signs.
* It is a sign of courage, and revered as the sign that wards off the three main disasters of a household - fire, thieves and ghosts.
By Lincoln Tan | Email Lincoln
By Lincoln Tan
4:00 AM Monday Jan 11, 2010
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10619462&pnum=0
Friday, January 01, 2010
Wrangle over site for Chinese garden
Councillors knock back donors' preference for Auckland Domain or Western Springs
An $8 million traditional walled Chinese garden planned for Auckland has become a political headache instead of a place of spiritual escape.
The Auckland Chinese Garden Steering Committee's preferred sites of the Domain or Western Springs have been knocked back by the Auckland City Council.
The steering committee is made up of 12 prominent Chinese representatives and is co-chaired by architect Ron Sang and community leader Kai Luey.
The council's arts, culture and recreation committee likes the idea of a central 3000sq m to 4000sq m Chinese garden on park land, just not at the duck pond area in the Domain or at Western Springs.
Gaining resource consent for the Domain, an archaeological and geological site of significance, is considered extremely problematic. Western Springs is thought to be too heavily used informally and for events such as Pasifika.
On the recommendation of open space planner Joseph Zou, the councillors have suggested a site on the 4.5ha headland park at the Tank Farm that is still 10 to 15 years away; a 2700sq m site in Cook St, bought by the council in 2008 and leased to Placemakers; or the western side of Victoria Park once the tunnel to widen the Northern Motorway bottleneck is completed by 2013.
Mr Sang said support from Auckland's 110,000-strong Chinese community for a garden had been excellent, but the council had given the steering committee something it was not happy about.
"I don't want to go to all this effort and find they give me a site that is not very good."
Mr Sang said the committee would consider the council's position and get back to it. "Anything to do with the council takes time."
The project, he said, would probably require five years of fundraising and three years of construction. A preliminary budget of $8 million includes $1 million from the Chinese community, $1 million from local government, $4 million from central Government, $1 million from community trusts and $1 million from Auckland City's sister city in China, Guangzhou, and overseas Chinese.
It is envisaged the garden would be on a similar scale to the Dunedin Chinese Garden, which opened last year to commemorate the contribution of Chinese people to the city, from the days of the Central Otago gold rush in the 1860s.
The Dunedin garden, covering 2500sq m and costing $7 million, was designed as a late Ming/early Ching scholar's garden, largely prefabricated in Shanghai and reassembled on site. It is centred on a large lake surrounded by several structures with an elaborate archway and 4m perimeter wall.
4:00 AM Wednesday Dec 23, 2009 By Bernard Orsman http://www.nzherald.co.nz/arts/news/article.cfm?c_id=544&objectid=10617126
An $8 million traditional walled Chinese garden planned for Auckland has become a political headache instead of a place of spiritual escape.
The Auckland Chinese Garden Steering Committee's preferred sites of the Domain or Western Springs have been knocked back by the Auckland City Council.
The steering committee is made up of 12 prominent Chinese representatives and is co-chaired by architect Ron Sang and community leader Kai Luey.
The council's arts, culture and recreation committee likes the idea of a central 3000sq m to 4000sq m Chinese garden on park land, just not at the duck pond area in the Domain or at Western Springs.
Gaining resource consent for the Domain, an archaeological and geological site of significance, is considered extremely problematic. Western Springs is thought to be too heavily used informally and for events such as Pasifika.
On the recommendation of open space planner Joseph Zou, the councillors have suggested a site on the 4.5ha headland park at the Tank Farm that is still 10 to 15 years away; a 2700sq m site in Cook St, bought by the council in 2008 and leased to Placemakers; or the western side of Victoria Park once the tunnel to widen the Northern Motorway bottleneck is completed by 2013.
Mr Sang said support from Auckland's 110,000-strong Chinese community for a garden had been excellent, but the council had given the steering committee something it was not happy about.
"I don't want to go to all this effort and find they give me a site that is not very good."
Mr Sang said the committee would consider the council's position and get back to it. "Anything to do with the council takes time."
The project, he said, would probably require five years of fundraising and three years of construction. A preliminary budget of $8 million includes $1 million from the Chinese community, $1 million from local government, $4 million from central Government, $1 million from community trusts and $1 million from Auckland City's sister city in China, Guangzhou, and overseas Chinese.
It is envisaged the garden would be on a similar scale to the Dunedin Chinese Garden, which opened last year to commemorate the contribution of Chinese people to the city, from the days of the Central Otago gold rush in the 1860s.
The Dunedin garden, covering 2500sq m and costing $7 million, was designed as a late Ming/early Ching scholar's garden, largely prefabricated in Shanghai and reassembled on site. It is centred on a large lake surrounded by several structures with an elaborate archway and 4m perimeter wall.
4:00 AM Wednesday Dec 23, 2009 By Bernard Orsman http://www.nzherald.co.nz/arts/news/article.cfm?c_id=544&objectid=10617126
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Dream getaway lodge open for business
Luxurious Pakiri Point Lodge, which overlooks stunning Pakiri Beach in Rodney, was the subject of a long-running planning battle.
A luxury lodge has finally opened in Pakiri after a storm of protest over its prominent position on the cliff top overlooking the iconic beach.
The house, which is understood to have cost more than $5 million to build, drew objections from the public and the Auckland Regional Council which had spent $20 million buying the surrounding land for a new park.
The ARC claimed the house would spoil iconic views of the park.
However, Rodney District Council planning commissioners disagreed, saying the house was in an approved rural-residential subdivision, was appropriately designed and that landscaping and bush planting would avoid significant adverse affects.
After five years in the making and the battle through the resource management process, the house is now finished. It has six bedrooms, covers 600 sq m and sits among 4ha of young bush.
Its chiselled limestone pillars were chosen to harmonise with the white sands of the 24km-long wilderness beach below.
The lodge is owned and operated by catering supremo Rae Ah Chee and Fruitworld director Billy Chong and his wife Evelyn.
Mr Ah Chee said yesterday that he was enthusiastic about providing "a quality experience" for up to 10 guests after 40 years of catering at huge venues including Eden Park.
He said Pakiri Point Lodge was tastefully decorated and furnished in a "fusion of quality".
It won a gold award for the Auckland region "House of the Year" - for homes over $1 million.
A finalist for the national award, it also collected regional awards in the sustainability and best kitchen categories of the Registered Master Builders' competition.
Mr Ah Chee said dozens of Rodney-based tradesmen had worked on the two-year project and he hoped that, as business grew, up to six residents would be employed running the lodge. Its location, with its commanding view over the beach and the ocean, was a point of difference to many other luxury lodges in Rodney.
"It's a 70-minute drive from Auckland and 20 minutes by helicopter over stunning water scenery," he said.
The lodge's website says ensuite rooms are priced from $550 to $650 per couple per night, including breakfast.
Mr Ah Chee said the lodge would compete for guests from overseas but he had also had inquiries from Aucklanders planning a wedding anniversary or birthday. Other luxury lodges in Rodney District have nightly rates from $300 to $695.
By Wayne Thompson | Email Wayne
4:00 AM Wednesday Nov 18, 2009 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10609938
A luxury lodge has finally opened in Pakiri after a storm of protest over its prominent position on the cliff top overlooking the iconic beach.
The house, which is understood to have cost more than $5 million to build, drew objections from the public and the Auckland Regional Council which had spent $20 million buying the surrounding land for a new park.
The ARC claimed the house would spoil iconic views of the park.
However, Rodney District Council planning commissioners disagreed, saying the house was in an approved rural-residential subdivision, was appropriately designed and that landscaping and bush planting would avoid significant adverse affects.
After five years in the making and the battle through the resource management process, the house is now finished. It has six bedrooms, covers 600 sq m and sits among 4ha of young bush.
Its chiselled limestone pillars were chosen to harmonise with the white sands of the 24km-long wilderness beach below.
The lodge is owned and operated by catering supremo Rae Ah Chee and Fruitworld director Billy Chong and his wife Evelyn.
Mr Ah Chee said yesterday that he was enthusiastic about providing "a quality experience" for up to 10 guests after 40 years of catering at huge venues including Eden Park.
He said Pakiri Point Lodge was tastefully decorated and furnished in a "fusion of quality".
It won a gold award for the Auckland region "House of the Year" - for homes over $1 million.
A finalist for the national award, it also collected regional awards in the sustainability and best kitchen categories of the Registered Master Builders' competition.
Mr Ah Chee said dozens of Rodney-based tradesmen had worked on the two-year project and he hoped that, as business grew, up to six residents would be employed running the lodge. Its location, with its commanding view over the beach and the ocean, was a point of difference to many other luxury lodges in Rodney.
"It's a 70-minute drive from Auckland and 20 minutes by helicopter over stunning water scenery," he said.
The lodge's website says ensuite rooms are priced from $550 to $650 per couple per night, including breakfast.
Mr Ah Chee said the lodge would compete for guests from overseas but he had also had inquiries from Aucklanders planning a wedding anniversary or birthday. Other luxury lodges in Rodney District have nightly rates from $300 to $695.
By Wayne Thompson | Email Wayne
4:00 AM Wednesday Nov 18, 2009 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10609938
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Pioneering spirit lives
PROUD DESCENDANTS: Grandsons of early Chinese immigrant Thomas Wong Doo, from left: Selwyn Wong Doo, Thomas Wong Doo III, and Dennis Doo.
Thomas Wong Doo
MADE A DIFFERENCE: Thomas Wong Doo helped a number of Chinese into New Zealand in the early 1900s.
The descendants of a 19th century immigrant have flocked to the North Shore 125 years after his arrival.
Up to 100 descendants of Thomas Wong Doo, some from as far as New York, celebrated their Kiwi and Chinese heritage with a reunion lunch at New Dragon World Restaurant in Birkenhead.
Thomas Wong Doo joined his brothers in the "New Gold Mountain" of New Zealand in 1884 when he was about 15.
"He came over in virtually his shirt and pants and took over the market garden," grandson Thomas Wong Doo III says.
Mr Wong Doo eventually returned to China and married, later bringing his wife Unui to New Zealand where she was one of the first female Chinese immigrants.
He loaned others £100 for the poll tax Chinese immigrants had to pay – the equivalent of a year’s wages, his grandson says.
Mr Wong Doo even sponsored a large group of people to migrate in the lead up to the closing date for Asian immigration in the early 1900s.
"He helped the Chinese when they came in, fed them, housed them, helped them look for jobs. The Chinese live in clans. Thomas looked after the Wong clan."
Even now family members still offer their help to new immigrants through the Kwong Cheu Club which Mr Wong Doo founded in 1923.
"To further the dynasty we’ve got to do good in this world, charity, not just looking after ourselves. It’s good for the whole family."
After making their fortunes and the family were established, the couple returned to China but were forced to come back after the Japanese invasion, Mr Wong Doo III says.
Their Chinese properties and land was lost in the Japanese invasion, civil war, and take over by communism in 1949.
The market gardens where Mr Wong Doo worked in Grey Lynn were named Chinaman’s Hill after him.
His son Norman Wong Doo went on to be Auckland Grammar School’s first Chinese student during the late 1920s and early 1930s, Norman’s son, North Shore resident Dennis Doo, says.
"He used to tell me he had his shirt ripped off his back because of racial discrimination."
Mr Wong Doo III says such behaviour was not uncommon.
"When you’re an immigrant in any country you’ve got to prove yourself, you’ve got to put up with all these things. This is what the Doo family have done – work hard, get integrated into society, get involved with charities."
Thomas Wong Doo
MADE A DIFFERENCE: Thomas Wong Doo helped a number of Chinese into New Zealand in the early 1900s.
The descendants of a 19th century immigrant have flocked to the North Shore 125 years after his arrival.
Up to 100 descendants of Thomas Wong Doo, some from as far as New York, celebrated their Kiwi and Chinese heritage with a reunion lunch at New Dragon World Restaurant in Birkenhead.
Thomas Wong Doo joined his brothers in the "New Gold Mountain" of New Zealand in 1884 when he was about 15.
"He came over in virtually his shirt and pants and took over the market garden," grandson Thomas Wong Doo III says.
Mr Wong Doo eventually returned to China and married, later bringing his wife Unui to New Zealand where she was one of the first female Chinese immigrants.
He loaned others £100 for the poll tax Chinese immigrants had to pay – the equivalent of a year’s wages, his grandson says.
Mr Wong Doo even sponsored a large group of people to migrate in the lead up to the closing date for Asian immigration in the early 1900s.
"He helped the Chinese when they came in, fed them, housed them, helped them look for jobs. The Chinese live in clans. Thomas looked after the Wong clan."
Even now family members still offer their help to new immigrants through the Kwong Cheu Club which Mr Wong Doo founded in 1923.
"To further the dynasty we’ve got to do good in this world, charity, not just looking after ourselves. It’s good for the whole family."
After making their fortunes and the family were established, the couple returned to China but were forced to come back after the Japanese invasion, Mr Wong Doo III says.
Their Chinese properties and land was lost in the Japanese invasion, civil war, and take over by communism in 1949.
The market gardens where Mr Wong Doo worked in Grey Lynn were named Chinaman’s Hill after him.
His son Norman Wong Doo went on to be Auckland Grammar School’s first Chinese student during the late 1920s and early 1930s, Norman’s son, North Shore resident Dennis Doo, says.
"He used to tell me he had his shirt ripped off his back because of racial discrimination."
Mr Wong Doo III says such behaviour was not uncommon.
"When you’re an immigrant in any country you’ve got to prove yourself, you’ve got to put up with all these things. This is what the Doo family have done – work hard, get integrated into society, get involved with charities."
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Asian input critical to city's future, says Huo
4:00AM Wednesday Nov 04, 2009
By Lincoln Tan
Despite being voted down in Parliament, Labour's Chinese MP Raymond Huo says he will be continuing his fight to have an Asian advisory board on Auckland's new Super City Council through a private member's bill.
"The Asian population is projected to hit 400,000 in Auckland within seven years, and the council will not be representative of the people if it did not have an input from this community," Mr Huo said.
Mr Huo's push to get an Asian advisory board included in the Super City was voted down in Parliament by 64 votes to 58.
Prime Minister John Key has ruled out the possibility of having Maori seats on the new council, but Mr Huo said he wasn't seeking an Asian seat, although the Asian population will be growing at a much faster rate than Maori because of immigration.
"We are not seeking an Asian seat, simply a statutory link to the governing body that will advise on issues that affect the Asian community."
He said Auckland is the "seventh largest city with people of Chinese origin outside China" - in percentage terms - and that will continue to accelerate because of current immigration policy.
Under the parent policy New Zealand Immigration defines a family's "centre of gravity" as "the number of their adult children lawfully and permanently in New Zealand being equal to or greater than those in any other single country", making it eligible for nearly every immigrant from China to sponsor his or her parent because of the country's one-child policy.
The Asian population in Auckland is third only to European and Maori, and is projected to grow by 51 per cent up to 2016, compared with 46 per cent for the rest of New Zealand, he said.
"Auckland absorbs a disproportionate share of this growth, with about two-thirds of all new Asian migrants settling in the region," Mr Huo said.
"Ethnic minorities have also always been under-represented on Auckland's councils, with only 4 per cent being Asian, 4 per cent Pacific, 9 per cent Maori while 84 per cent are European. We need a more balanced representation if Auckland is truly to become a Super City."
Auckland University Professor of Asian Studies Manying Ip says the move to get Asian representation was "sensible" and something "policymakers cannot ignore" because Asians made up 13 per cent of the Auckland population.
She said many born under China's one-child policy were taking advantage of New Zealand's parent policy to sponsor their parents and even grandparents here, bringing new challenges in health, housing and socio-economic issues which will be better understood by members of the Asian community.
"Everything is legal, this is the New Zealand Government's policy and people are making full use of it.
"It is an inevitable trend, and it is up to everybody to get used to it. We cannot turn the clock back," Professor Ip said.
By Lincoln Tan
Despite being voted down in Parliament, Labour's Chinese MP Raymond Huo says he will be continuing his fight to have an Asian advisory board on Auckland's new Super City Council through a private member's bill.
"The Asian population is projected to hit 400,000 in Auckland within seven years, and the council will not be representative of the people if it did not have an input from this community," Mr Huo said.
Mr Huo's push to get an Asian advisory board included in the Super City was voted down in Parliament by 64 votes to 58.
Prime Minister John Key has ruled out the possibility of having Maori seats on the new council, but Mr Huo said he wasn't seeking an Asian seat, although the Asian population will be growing at a much faster rate than Maori because of immigration.
"We are not seeking an Asian seat, simply a statutory link to the governing body that will advise on issues that affect the Asian community."
He said Auckland is the "seventh largest city with people of Chinese origin outside China" - in percentage terms - and that will continue to accelerate because of current immigration policy.
Under the parent policy New Zealand Immigration defines a family's "centre of gravity" as "the number of their adult children lawfully and permanently in New Zealand being equal to or greater than those in any other single country", making it eligible for nearly every immigrant from China to sponsor his or her parent because of the country's one-child policy.
The Asian population in Auckland is third only to European and Maori, and is projected to grow by 51 per cent up to 2016, compared with 46 per cent for the rest of New Zealand, he said.
"Auckland absorbs a disproportionate share of this growth, with about two-thirds of all new Asian migrants settling in the region," Mr Huo said.
"Ethnic minorities have also always been under-represented on Auckland's councils, with only 4 per cent being Asian, 4 per cent Pacific, 9 per cent Maori while 84 per cent are European. We need a more balanced representation if Auckland is truly to become a Super City."
Auckland University Professor of Asian Studies Manying Ip says the move to get Asian representation was "sensible" and something "policymakers cannot ignore" because Asians made up 13 per cent of the Auckland population.
She said many born under China's one-child policy were taking advantage of New Zealand's parent policy to sponsor their parents and even grandparents here, bringing new challenges in health, housing and socio-economic issues which will be better understood by members of the Asian community.
"Everything is legal, this is the New Zealand Government's policy and people are making full use of it.
"It is an inevitable trend, and it is up to everybody to get used to it. We cannot turn the clock back," Professor Ip said.
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