Alison Wong, Granary Festival Cafe. Saturday October 16. Reviewed by Jessica Le Bas.
Last updated 13:02 19/10/2010
Award-winning novelist/poet Alison Wong opened this year's Readers and Writers section of the Nelson Arts Festival in conversation with events organiser Jacquetta Bell.
The Granary was done out like a cosy lounge, a backdrop of lamps and bookshelves and armchairs, and Independent Bookshop of the Year, Page & Blackmore.
Wong is foremost a poet. Even her debut novel, As the Earth Turns Silver, reads like fine poetry. It won the 2010 NZ Post Book Award for Fiction, and is shortlisted in the Australian Prime Minister's Literary Award.
Wong's a petite, softly spoken woman of Chinese descent. She grew up in Hawke's Bay, and initially majored in mathematics. She talked about her life and her writing, entertaining and captivating her audience.
At a family reunion in the 1990s, Wong first heard that her great-grandfather was murdered in 1914 in his Wellington fruit and vege shop on Adelaide Rd. It was a gruesome crime, and never solved. It became the catalyst for her novel.
As the Earth Turns Silver took Wong 12 years to write, with a Stout Research Fellowship.
"When you write a novel you need to know how the people live, how they eat and cook and wash."
She used the exact geography, searching out the shop's deeds and plans. The rest she created.
"It's not my family's story."
Wong's audience was spellbound by the quiet, modest way she retold experiences of early Chinese immigrants.
"You get prejudice in so many different ways in all societies.
"There's always suspicion when people are different."
Novel writing is "excruciatingly difficult" for her.
"The concentration and stamina needed doesn't fit well with a normal life."
She's working on another novel, and laughed self-deprecatingly about the long process ahead of her.
Alison Wong was a warm and congenial and intelligent guest.
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- © Fairfax NZ News http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/blogs/in-touch-with-the-festival/4248189/Audience-with-Wong-enthrals
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Kerry Wong of Masterton
Kerry Wong takes out big Hokonui prize
Relative unknown fashion designer Kerry Wong of Masterton has taken out this year's Hokonui Fashion Design Awards' Award of Excellence.
Wong's collections section entry of three men's outfits took out the supreme prize before a capacity audience of 750 in Gore last night.
It was once again a gala occasion as heartland New Zealand put on the ritz to be wowed by 200 garments, from the sophistication of the nightlife section to the outlandish, as steampunk made its debut on the catwalk.
While Wong's win was a popular one, the designer may still be oblivious to his $12,000 prize package.
Awards director Heather Paterson said Wong was in Australia and attempts to contact him over the last two days had proved unsuccessful.
However, she had spoken to a brother so was hopeful the message had got through, she said.
Wong's garments, in shades of grey and black, were predominantly made of wool. They featured incredible detail and showed outstanding workmanship, Mrs Paterson said.
A collections section entry was responsible for honours in one of the other major awards of the night, the Young Designer Award, which went to Allison Brooks of Dunedin. The Best Southland Designer went to Gore woman Andre Tamblyn.
The debut of the secondary schools section was a resounding success with the creativity of the young designers a standout. The inaugural award of excellence when to Hasting's teenager Hayley Baston.
Detailed results:
Award of excellence: Kerry Wong, of Masterton.
Young Designer: Allison Brooks, of Dunedin.
Southland Designer: Andre Johnson, of Gore.
Knitted award: Helen Marshall, of Invercargill.
Best use of fabric: Eleni Kristea, of Upper Hutt.
Garment with the most commercial potential: Kristin Leitch, Maxine Woolridge and Samara Woolridge, of Auckland.
Streetwear: Angela Ward, of Hastings; runner up, Sarah Holmes, of Southbridge.
Denim: Andre Johnson, of Gore; runner up, Kristin Leitch, Maxine Woolridge and Samara Woolridge, of Auckland.
Wool: Kristin Leitch, Maxine Woolridge and Samara Woolridge, of Auckland; runner up Amanda Donaldson, of Christchurch.
Steampunk: Amanda Hasselman and Kate Scott, of Glenorchy; runner up Jeannie Dyer, of Leeston.
Collections: Kerry Wong, of Masterton; runner up, Eleni Kristea, of Upper Hutt.
Avante Garde: Kerrie Williams, of Motueka; runner up Hannah Shand, of Waikanae.
Menswear: Sarah Odering, Christchurch; runner up, James Bush, of Wellington.
Nightlife: Roberta Davids, of Christchurch; runner up, James Bush, of Wellington.
Secondary Schools Award of Excellence: Hayley Baston, of Hastings.
Steetwear: Gabrielle Sayer, of Rotorua.
Nightlife: Hayley Baston, of Hastings.
Steampunk: Tessa Knierum.
Avante Garde: Lauren Anderson, of Lower Hutt.
- © Fairfax NZ News
http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/life-style/5366009/Kerry-Wong-takes-out-big-Hokonui-prize
SONIA GERKEN
Last updated 00:53 31/07/2011
Relative unknown fashion designer Kerry Wong of Masterton has taken out this year's Hokonui Fashion Design Awards' Award of Excellence.
Wong's collections section entry of three men's outfits took out the supreme prize before a capacity audience of 750 in Gore last night.
It was once again a gala occasion as heartland New Zealand put on the ritz to be wowed by 200 garments, from the sophistication of the nightlife section to the outlandish, as steampunk made its debut on the catwalk.
While Wong's win was a popular one, the designer may still be oblivious to his $12,000 prize package.
Awards director Heather Paterson said Wong was in Australia and attempts to contact him over the last two days had proved unsuccessful.
However, she had spoken to a brother so was hopeful the message had got through, she said.
Wong's garments, in shades of grey and black, were predominantly made of wool. They featured incredible detail and showed outstanding workmanship, Mrs Paterson said.
A collections section entry was responsible for honours in one of the other major awards of the night, the Young Designer Award, which went to Allison Brooks of Dunedin. The Best Southland Designer went to Gore woman Andre Tamblyn.
The debut of the secondary schools section was a resounding success with the creativity of the young designers a standout. The inaugural award of excellence when to Hasting's teenager Hayley Baston.
Detailed results:
Award of excellence: Kerry Wong, of Masterton.
Young Designer: Allison Brooks, of Dunedin.
Southland Designer: Andre Johnson, of Gore.
Knitted award: Helen Marshall, of Invercargill.
Best use of fabric: Eleni Kristea, of Upper Hutt.
Garment with the most commercial potential: Kristin Leitch, Maxine Woolridge and Samara Woolridge, of Auckland.
Streetwear: Angela Ward, of Hastings; runner up, Sarah Holmes, of Southbridge.
Denim: Andre Johnson, of Gore; runner up, Kristin Leitch, Maxine Woolridge and Samara Woolridge, of Auckland.
Wool: Kristin Leitch, Maxine Woolridge and Samara Woolridge, of Auckland; runner up Amanda Donaldson, of Christchurch.
Steampunk: Amanda Hasselman and Kate Scott, of Glenorchy; runner up Jeannie Dyer, of Leeston.
Collections: Kerry Wong, of Masterton; runner up, Eleni Kristea, of Upper Hutt.
Avante Garde: Kerrie Williams, of Motueka; runner up Hannah Shand, of Waikanae.
Menswear: Sarah Odering, Christchurch; runner up, James Bush, of Wellington.
Nightlife: Roberta Davids, of Christchurch; runner up, James Bush, of Wellington.
Secondary Schools Award of Excellence: Hayley Baston, of Hastings.
Steetwear: Gabrielle Sayer, of Rotorua.
Nightlife: Hayley Baston, of Hastings.
Steampunk: Tessa Knierum.
Avante Garde: Lauren Anderson, of Lower Hutt.
- © Fairfax NZ News
http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/life-style/5366009/Kerry-Wong-takes-out-big-Hokonui-prize
SONIA GERKEN
Last updated 00:53 31/07/2011
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
50,000 dumplings for Chinese New Year
Restaurant owner Chunlan Zhao has spent weeks preparing tasty treats for Chinese New Year.
Food stalls are a cutthroat business during festivities but she hopes her 50,000 dumplings will soothe people's cravings on Saturday.
It's Zhao's second year as a stallholder at the Auckland Chinese Community Centre's New Year market day at ASB Showgrounds and she is bringing back her dumplings by the dozens.
The north-east Chinese cuisine is a hit with ex-pats living in Auckland and a feature food of many Chinese celebrations.
The versatile dumplings are regarded as comfort fare in the cooler northern hemisphere winters.
They are traditionally eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
''The festival is not just about making money it's the fact that Kiwis are buying my dumplings and learning about Chinese culture that makes me really proud,'' Zhao says.
She has a team of seven staff making thousands of them each day in the lead-up to the festival.
The queen of dumplings was one of the first immigrants from China who came through the business migrant scheme.
Zhao spotted a gap in the market and has been running the Chinese King Dumpling Restaurant on New North Rd since 1999.
Her specialty dish is just one of hundreds of delicacies on show at the festival to help welcome the Year of the Dragon.
More than 200 stalls including food, arts and crafts, and community services will be offering a glimpse at all aspects of Chinese culture. Acrobatics, shadow puppet and songs, dance and music are also set to keep visitors entertained throughout the day.
The Chinese Community Centre has been running the new year celebrations for two decades and expects crowds of up to 20,000 people on Saturday.
''The dragon is an auspicious and very important symbol for Chinese, and the Year of Dragon is going to be a year that allows us to overcome challenges,'' chairman Arthur Loo says.
The Chinese New Year Festival and Market Day is a free community event at ASB Showgrounds, Greenlane, on January 21 from 9.30am to 4pm.
- © Fairfax NZ News HANNAH SPYKSMA Last updated 05:00 18/01/2012
Photos
http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/6270858/50-000-dumplings-for-Chinese-New-Year
Food stalls are a cutthroat business during festivities but she hopes her 50,000 dumplings will soothe people's cravings on Saturday.
It's Zhao's second year as a stallholder at the Auckland Chinese Community Centre's New Year market day at ASB Showgrounds and she is bringing back her dumplings by the dozens.
The north-east Chinese cuisine is a hit with ex-pats living in Auckland and a feature food of many Chinese celebrations.
The versatile dumplings are regarded as comfort fare in the cooler northern hemisphere winters.
They are traditionally eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
''The festival is not just about making money it's the fact that Kiwis are buying my dumplings and learning about Chinese culture that makes me really proud,'' Zhao says.
She has a team of seven staff making thousands of them each day in the lead-up to the festival.
The queen of dumplings was one of the first immigrants from China who came through the business migrant scheme.
Zhao spotted a gap in the market and has been running the Chinese King Dumpling Restaurant on New North Rd since 1999.
Her specialty dish is just one of hundreds of delicacies on show at the festival to help welcome the Year of the Dragon.
More than 200 stalls including food, arts and crafts, and community services will be offering a glimpse at all aspects of Chinese culture. Acrobatics, shadow puppet and songs, dance and music are also set to keep visitors entertained throughout the day.
The Chinese Community Centre has been running the new year celebrations for two decades and expects crowds of up to 20,000 people on Saturday.
''The dragon is an auspicious and very important symbol for Chinese, and the Year of Dragon is going to be a year that allows us to overcome challenges,'' chairman Arthur Loo says.
The Chinese New Year Festival and Market Day is a free community event at ASB Showgrounds, Greenlane, on January 21 from 9.30am to 4pm.
- © Fairfax NZ News HANNAH SPYKSMA Last updated 05:00 18/01/2012
Photos
http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/6270858/50-000-dumplings-for-Chinese-New-Year
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Sixth NZ Chinese leadership conference
Saturday, 7 January 2012, 4:04 pm
Press Release: NZCA
Sixth NZ Chinese leadership conference to be held in Palmerston North
New Zealand Chinese Association (NZCA) will hold its annual 5 day residential Leadership and Development Conference (LDC) from 11-15 January at the Massey University Rugby & Sport Institute in Palmerston North, challenging young people’s perceptions of what it means to be Chinese today.
Over five days, the 27 talented young Chinese between the ages of 18 and 30 will connect and discover their identity, potential, and place as Chinese in New Zealand and the world. The conference will deepen their outlook on life as they explore their relationship with culture, heritage, community and their leadership role.
“Those chosen will gain confidence, skills, and ideas that will enable them to grow and shape a future society that is strong, proud, and inclusive of their stories and communities,” says New Zealand Chinese Association President, Virginia Chong.
Designed as a storytelling event, NZCA LDC-2012 invites high-profile personalities of Chinese descent from across New Zealand to share their leadership journeys with the delegates. The programme also features a range of outdoor adventure activities, cultural immersion, group discussions, and a team leadership project.
The theme for 2012 is “Create Leaders that will shape our future”. This year’s presenters, drawn from the business, non-profit, and academic communities, include: Meng Foon (Mayor of Gisborne & NZ Rugby League board); Greg Tims (HR Guru); Dr Paul Gee (Christchurch Hospital Emergency department surgeon); Arthur Chin (Mindset Cultural Consultancy); Steven Young (ex-President NZCA & social commentator); Tony Thackery (member of Poll Tax Trust, solicitor at Opie & Dron); Rodney Wong (Stargate Investments); Sarah Yee (Opra).
Now in its sixth year, the conference is open to New Zealand born and overseas born Chinese. NZCA LDC receives support from Chinese Poll Tax Heritage Trust and the New Zealand Chinese Association. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1201/S00014/sixth-nz-chinese-leadership-conference.htm
Press Release: NZCA
Sixth NZ Chinese leadership conference to be held in Palmerston North
New Zealand Chinese Association (NZCA) will hold its annual 5 day residential Leadership and Development Conference (LDC) from 11-15 January at the Massey University Rugby & Sport Institute in Palmerston North, challenging young people’s perceptions of what it means to be Chinese today.
Over five days, the 27 talented young Chinese between the ages of 18 and 30 will connect and discover their identity, potential, and place as Chinese in New Zealand and the world. The conference will deepen their outlook on life as they explore their relationship with culture, heritage, community and their leadership role.
“Those chosen will gain confidence, skills, and ideas that will enable them to grow and shape a future society that is strong, proud, and inclusive of their stories and communities,” says New Zealand Chinese Association President, Virginia Chong.
Designed as a storytelling event, NZCA LDC-2012 invites high-profile personalities of Chinese descent from across New Zealand to share their leadership journeys with the delegates. The programme also features a range of outdoor adventure activities, cultural immersion, group discussions, and a team leadership project.
The theme for 2012 is “Create Leaders that will shape our future”. This year’s presenters, drawn from the business, non-profit, and academic communities, include: Meng Foon (Mayor of Gisborne & NZ Rugby League board); Greg Tims (HR Guru); Dr Paul Gee (Christchurch Hospital Emergency department surgeon); Arthur Chin (Mindset Cultural Consultancy); Steven Young (ex-President NZCA & social commentator); Tony Thackery (member of Poll Tax Trust, solicitor at Opie & Dron); Rodney Wong (Stargate Investments); Sarah Yee (Opra).
Now in its sixth year, the conference is open to New Zealand born and overseas born Chinese. NZCA LDC receives support from Chinese Poll Tax Heritage Trust and the New Zealand Chinese Association. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1201/S00014/sixth-nz-chinese-leadership-conference.htm
Monday, January 16, 2012
Immigrant's view: Hong Kong
Bevan Chuang, 26, PA, Auckland. From Hong Kong, 11 years here.
"Like a lot of Hong Kong Chinese, we were desperately trying to get out of the country before the handover [from British to Chinese rule]. I went to Selwyn College in Auckland. I'm more proud of being Chinese now than when I was in Hong Kong. In New Zealand, suddenly you become a minority, and you're trying to find your identity.
"In Asian countries you're expected to achieve really well. Getting good grades is extremely important whereas here I had the freedom to be myself. "Because we don't have relatives here, we don't have to do the usual Sunday family things - go to yum cha, go shopping. I can take my dogs for a walk. That's something we couldn't have in Hong Kong - it's all apartments, all concrete.
"New Zealanders probably have an assumption that Asian women are relatively submissive, but Hong Kong women are famous for being too bolshie. Women have a bigger say in Hong Kong, they're able to work in high-level jobs whereas here not many women are managers or CEOs.
"A growing number of New Zealand men want to go out with Asian women. There's an exotic feeling to it and it's more acceptable for a white male to go out with a Chinese girl than vice-versa. A lot of Chinese women are quite westernised, and probably think white men think more similarly to them than Chinese men.
"My ex is a Pakeha from a small town in Hawke's Bay. He is very Kiwi. Although he got along quite well with my mother, and even my grandmother, there was still a cultural clash in the way we think.
"I'm a workaholic, he's more laid back. He wanted to go fishing on holidays, I wanted to do something more exciting, maybe go to work. I'm expected to live with my family until I get married, and to look after my elders. Here, kids are expected to have an independent life. I've had lots of arguments with my ex when I couldn't go out with him because I had to look after my grandmother.
"Asian culture is similar to Maori culture in understanding you are part of a collective world. More Asian people need to engage with Maori. When they see the similarities it's probably easier to settle here.
"People see Hong Kong as part of China, and we really want to distinguish ourselves from Mainland China. "Sometimes I don't respond when people ask where I come from? It pisses me off because it immediately puts you into a stereotype.
"And people think if you're Chinese you came from a poor village. I come from a fairly well-off background, I grew up with luxuries around me. "European countries love our products - look at how they steal Maori words and use them in commercials. We should make the most of what is uniquely New Zealand. "I like this place because it is so different. New Zealand is a place where I can stand out and grow. We can still try new things - technology, the creative arts, the way we deal with people."
By Nicola Shepheard By Nicola Shepheard
5:00 AM Sunday May 18, 2008
"Like a lot of Hong Kong Chinese, we were desperately trying to get out of the country before the handover [from British to Chinese rule]. I went to Selwyn College in Auckland. I'm more proud of being Chinese now than when I was in Hong Kong. In New Zealand, suddenly you become a minority, and you're trying to find your identity.
"In Asian countries you're expected to achieve really well. Getting good grades is extremely important whereas here I had the freedom to be myself. "Because we don't have relatives here, we don't have to do the usual Sunday family things - go to yum cha, go shopping. I can take my dogs for a walk. That's something we couldn't have in Hong Kong - it's all apartments, all concrete.
"New Zealanders probably have an assumption that Asian women are relatively submissive, but Hong Kong women are famous for being too bolshie. Women have a bigger say in Hong Kong, they're able to work in high-level jobs whereas here not many women are managers or CEOs.
"A growing number of New Zealand men want to go out with Asian women. There's an exotic feeling to it and it's more acceptable for a white male to go out with a Chinese girl than vice-versa. A lot of Chinese women are quite westernised, and probably think white men think more similarly to them than Chinese men.
"My ex is a Pakeha from a small town in Hawke's Bay. He is very Kiwi. Although he got along quite well with my mother, and even my grandmother, there was still a cultural clash in the way we think.
"I'm a workaholic, he's more laid back. He wanted to go fishing on holidays, I wanted to do something more exciting, maybe go to work. I'm expected to live with my family until I get married, and to look after my elders. Here, kids are expected to have an independent life. I've had lots of arguments with my ex when I couldn't go out with him because I had to look after my grandmother.
"Asian culture is similar to Maori culture in understanding you are part of a collective world. More Asian people need to engage with Maori. When they see the similarities it's probably easier to settle here.
"People see Hong Kong as part of China, and we really want to distinguish ourselves from Mainland China. "Sometimes I don't respond when people ask where I come from? It pisses me off because it immediately puts you into a stereotype.
"And people think if you're Chinese you came from a poor village. I come from a fairly well-off background, I grew up with luxuries around me. "European countries love our products - look at how they steal Maori words and use them in commercials. We should make the most of what is uniquely New Zealand. "I like this place because it is so different. New Zealand is a place where I can stand out and grow. We can still try new things - technology, the creative arts, the way we deal with people."
By Nicola Shepheard By Nicola Shepheard
5:00 AM Sunday May 18, 2008
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Simple food top of the menu
A normal day for me begins before 5am so we can start preparing for what is usually a 12-hour working day.
My first task is to start up the ovens and begin making snacks like sandwiches and muffins. It's around 6am that we open the doors.
Our rush hour is lunchtime, traditionally 11.30am to 2pm, but the mornings can be very busy especially when everybody needs that all-important coffee before work.
My wife Ivy is the expert when it comes to the art of a good coffee so I'm usually in the kitchen out back preparing the meals.
The food we make is very straight-forward with eggs and bacon a popular choice with customers.
When I opened this business I tried to make the food fancy but quickly realised that people don't always want their breakfast or lunch to look extremely complicated. At the end of the day an egg is an egg no matter how you try to smarten it up.
I am originally from southern China where I worked as a chef in Chinese cuisine. I moved to New Zealand about 10 years ago to do a chef's course at AUT and worked at various restaurants.
It was about five years ago that we bought this lunch bar.
The one thing I enjoy about running a small business is getting to know people from all different walks of life; It just makes the job more enjoyable. We have our regulars – neighbours from nearby businesses and also the kids at the two schools who are always coming in for breakfast or lunch.
You really have to find a balance with business and friendship if you want to be happy in your job.
We have and it is great because you do feel part of a small community.
Around 2.30pm we begin the clean-up process and the shop is shut after 3.30pm.
We then go shopping and begin the preparation for the next day.
When we do get home I enjoy a quiet glass of red wine and spending valuable time with my son.
- © Fairfax NZ News
Last updated 12:00 12/01/2012
TUREI MACKEY
BUSY LIVES: Ivy and Vince Li operate the Get Fed lunch bar in Henderson.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/western-leader/6246178/Simple-food-top-of-the-menu
My first task is to start up the ovens and begin making snacks like sandwiches and muffins. It's around 6am that we open the doors.
Our rush hour is lunchtime, traditionally 11.30am to 2pm, but the mornings can be very busy especially when everybody needs that all-important coffee before work.
My wife Ivy is the expert when it comes to the art of a good coffee so I'm usually in the kitchen out back preparing the meals.
The food we make is very straight-forward with eggs and bacon a popular choice with customers.
When I opened this business I tried to make the food fancy but quickly realised that people don't always want their breakfast or lunch to look extremely complicated. At the end of the day an egg is an egg no matter how you try to smarten it up.
I am originally from southern China where I worked as a chef in Chinese cuisine. I moved to New Zealand about 10 years ago to do a chef's course at AUT and worked at various restaurants.
It was about five years ago that we bought this lunch bar.
The one thing I enjoy about running a small business is getting to know people from all different walks of life; It just makes the job more enjoyable. We have our regulars – neighbours from nearby businesses and also the kids at the two schools who are always coming in for breakfast or lunch.
You really have to find a balance with business and friendship if you want to be happy in your job.
We have and it is great because you do feel part of a small community.
Around 2.30pm we begin the clean-up process and the shop is shut after 3.30pm.
We then go shopping and begin the preparation for the next day.
When we do get home I enjoy a quiet glass of red wine and spending valuable time with my son.
- © Fairfax NZ News
Last updated 12:00 12/01/2012
TUREI MACKEY
BUSY LIVES: Ivy and Vince Li operate the Get Fed lunch bar in Henderson.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/western-leader/6246178/Simple-food-top-of-the-menu
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Desperately seeking dragon baby
5:30 AM Saturday Jan 14, 2012
Bevan Chuang is seeking a sperm donor to help her make a 'dragon baby' this year. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Bevan Chuang, 30, is desperate to have a "dragon baby" - and she's determined not to let the fact that she doesn't yet have a partner hinder her plans.
The Hong Kong-born Auckland Council ethnic panel board member, who has the blessings of her mother, is seeking a donor to give her a child through artificial insemination.
Many Chinese consider the Year of the Dragon to be the most auspicious year to have a child. Those born under the sign of the dragon - the fifth, and the mightiest of the 12 Chinese zodiac signs - are said to be outstanding, driven, independent and destined for success.
Miss Chuang, who is born under the rooster sign, believes a dragon child will also be "perfect match" as the two zodiac signs are said to be most compatible.
"Waiting for a full cycle, or another 12 years, is not an option because I'd be 42 by then," she said.
Others, like Malaysian-born Dawn Chong, who is three months pregnant, said she was happy to be in New Zealand to be delivering her child.
"My pregnant friends in Malaysia say it's just crazy over there," said Ms Chong, originally from Petaling Jaya.
"They are finding it hard to get pre-natal checks because even the doctors and nurses are themselves preparing to go on maternity leave to have their own dragon babies."
Chinese media reported that dragon babies are expected to set a new birth record in China, where many hospitals have been booked until August and fees for post-natal caretakers have taken a drastic rise.
Feng shui practitioner Janet Chan said no other zodiac sign could be compared to the status of the dragon, which symbolised power, strength and good luck.
She said the Emperor of China also used the dragon as a symbol of his imperial power.
"Emperors are believed to be no ordinary humans who rule the kingdom with the blessings of the dragon," Mrs Chan said. "Many parents believe that babies born in the Dragon Year will also enjoy this same stamp of royalty and blessings."
She said some would also name their children dragon, or Long in Mandarin, believing it would add "power and balance" to their lives.
People who have dragon in their names include kung fu star Bruce Lee (Li Xiao Long) and Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Mrs Chan said there would definitely be a spike in the number of Chinese mothers in New Zealand giving birth, but did not believe the numbers were large enough to affect hospitals or the health system.
As determined by the lunar calendar, the first day of the Year of the Dragon falls on January 23 and will run until February 9, 2013.
Auckland Chinese Community Centre, which has been hosting the annual Chinese New Year festival for over 20 years and saw 20,000 attend its event at the ASB Showgrounds last year, said it expected an even larger crowd next Saturday.
A highlight at the event kicking off the New Year celebrations is an acrobatic, shadow puppet and musical troupe from Gansu, China.
Dragon and lion dances, and the use of gongs, drums and cymbals, will also be a feature as it is believed the loud noise will dispel evil spirits and bring good luck.
Many Chinese believe housework could wash away good luck, and some would even avoid washing their hair on Chinese New Year.
The celebrations
(Year of the Dragon starts Monday, January 23)
Chinese New Year Festival and Market Day: ASB Showgrounds, Saturday, January 21, 9.30am to 4pm.
LunarFest 2012: TelstraClear Pacific Events Centre, Saturday, January 21, 3pm to 11pm.
Chinese and Korean New Year Festival: Northcote Central, January 27 and 28.
Auckland Lantern Festival: Albert Park, February 3 to 5, from 5pm nightly.
Dragon characteristics
Innovative, enterprising, self-assured, brave, passionate but conceited and quick-tempered.
Dragon people
Bruce Lee, Russell Crowe, Joan of Arc, John Lennon, Al Pacino, Nicolas Cage, Sandra Bullock and Shirley Temple.
Bevan Chuang is seeking a sperm donor to help her make a 'dragon baby' this year. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Bevan Chuang, 30, is desperate to have a "dragon baby" - and she's determined not to let the fact that she doesn't yet have a partner hinder her plans.
The Hong Kong-born Auckland Council ethnic panel board member, who has the blessings of her mother, is seeking a donor to give her a child through artificial insemination.
Many Chinese consider the Year of the Dragon to be the most auspicious year to have a child. Those born under the sign of the dragon - the fifth, and the mightiest of the 12 Chinese zodiac signs - are said to be outstanding, driven, independent and destined for success.
Miss Chuang, who is born under the rooster sign, believes a dragon child will also be "perfect match" as the two zodiac signs are said to be most compatible.
"Waiting for a full cycle, or another 12 years, is not an option because I'd be 42 by then," she said.
Others, like Malaysian-born Dawn Chong, who is three months pregnant, said she was happy to be in New Zealand to be delivering her child.
"My pregnant friends in Malaysia say it's just crazy over there," said Ms Chong, originally from Petaling Jaya.
"They are finding it hard to get pre-natal checks because even the doctors and nurses are themselves preparing to go on maternity leave to have their own dragon babies."
Chinese media reported that dragon babies are expected to set a new birth record in China, where many hospitals have been booked until August and fees for post-natal caretakers have taken a drastic rise.
Feng shui practitioner Janet Chan said no other zodiac sign could be compared to the status of the dragon, which symbolised power, strength and good luck.
She said the Emperor of China also used the dragon as a symbol of his imperial power.
"Emperors are believed to be no ordinary humans who rule the kingdom with the blessings of the dragon," Mrs Chan said. "Many parents believe that babies born in the Dragon Year will also enjoy this same stamp of royalty and blessings."
She said some would also name their children dragon, or Long in Mandarin, believing it would add "power and balance" to their lives.
People who have dragon in their names include kung fu star Bruce Lee (Li Xiao Long) and Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Mrs Chan said there would definitely be a spike in the number of Chinese mothers in New Zealand giving birth, but did not believe the numbers were large enough to affect hospitals or the health system.
As determined by the lunar calendar, the first day of the Year of the Dragon falls on January 23 and will run until February 9, 2013.
Auckland Chinese Community Centre, which has been hosting the annual Chinese New Year festival for over 20 years and saw 20,000 attend its event at the ASB Showgrounds last year, said it expected an even larger crowd next Saturday.
A highlight at the event kicking off the New Year celebrations is an acrobatic, shadow puppet and musical troupe from Gansu, China.
Dragon and lion dances, and the use of gongs, drums and cymbals, will also be a feature as it is believed the loud noise will dispel evil spirits and bring good luck.
Many Chinese believe housework could wash away good luck, and some would even avoid washing their hair on Chinese New Year.
The celebrations
(Year of the Dragon starts Monday, January 23)
Chinese New Year Festival and Market Day: ASB Showgrounds, Saturday, January 21, 9.30am to 4pm.
LunarFest 2012: TelstraClear Pacific Events Centre, Saturday, January 21, 3pm to 11pm.
Chinese and Korean New Year Festival: Northcote Central, January 27 and 28.
Auckland Lantern Festival: Albert Park, February 3 to 5, from 5pm nightly.
Dragon characteristics
Innovative, enterprising, self-assured, brave, passionate but conceited and quick-tempered.
Dragon people
Bruce Lee, Russell Crowe, Joan of Arc, John Lennon, Al Pacino, Nicolas Cage, Sandra Bullock and Shirley Temple.
Saturday, January 07, 2012
Tai chi master a 'living treasure'
When Loo-Chi Hu left China in 1948, he did not think it would be for ever.
However, 60 years later, 83-year-old Hu considers himself more Kiwi than Chinese.
Hu's life, which has seen him rescue stricken sailors and become a world authority on tai chi, is the subject of a documentary at this year's International Film Festival.
The Christchurch man is a reluctant film star.
"I actually I don't like it. Why should I publish myself?" said Hu at his Phillipstown home.
Hu left China in 1948 and travelled to Taiwan to work in the fishing industry. While Hu was away, Mao Zedong came to power in China and his father advised him to stay away.
It was not until 1995 that Hu was able to return.
In 1970, Hu helped rescue Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl during his crossing from Morocco to Barbados in a ship built from reeds.
"In Barbados they cannot find it. Lost," said Hu.
"So United Nations asked me to go and help them. There was nobody else. Looking for the boat lost on the ocean is very difficult. I know they came from Morocco so I know where they are from and where they end, and so I searched between them."
Hu located Heyerdahl after four days and three nightsand guided him into Bridgetown.
After settling in New Zealand in the early 1970s, Hu designed commercial equipment for the then Marine Department. As a ship master, he worked on navigation and fishing gear for the New Zealand fishing industry.
Hu's expertise in fishing was only one string to his bow.
He has been teaching tai chi in Christchurch since 1971. In 1988, his pupils established the New Zealand National Tai Chi Chuan Association.
"Tai chi is not just a physical exercise, it is a mental exercise," said Hu.
"Before I learned tai chi, I learned the hard martial art and with the hard martial art your behaviour is hot and you sometimes fight with people. My father advised me to practise tai chi, and since I have never got in a fight."
In 2003, he released a DVD teaching people how to practise the art. He still has a 6am tai chi session every day and teaches students in a shed next to his house.
The documentary, called Huloo, Hu's nickname, features interviews with Hu and people he has influenced.
Wellington-based director and co-producer Robin Greenberg is a former tai chi student of Hu's.
"I hope people will find it as interesting and amazing, as I have," said Greenberg. "His life and career have been extraordinary. I feel he is a living treasure."
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The film will screen at the New Zealand International Film Festival in Wellington and Christchurch in mid-July.
- © Fairfax NZ News Last updated 00:20 28/05/2008
However, 60 years later, 83-year-old Hu considers himself more Kiwi than Chinese.
Hu's life, which has seen him rescue stricken sailors and become a world authority on tai chi, is the subject of a documentary at this year's International Film Festival.
The Christchurch man is a reluctant film star.
"I actually I don't like it. Why should I publish myself?" said Hu at his Phillipstown home.
Hu left China in 1948 and travelled to Taiwan to work in the fishing industry. While Hu was away, Mao Zedong came to power in China and his father advised him to stay away.
It was not until 1995 that Hu was able to return.
In 1970, Hu helped rescue Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl during his crossing from Morocco to Barbados in a ship built from reeds.
"In Barbados they cannot find it. Lost," said Hu.
"So United Nations asked me to go and help them. There was nobody else. Looking for the boat lost on the ocean is very difficult. I know they came from Morocco so I know where they are from and where they end, and so I searched between them."
Hu located Heyerdahl after four days and three nightsand guided him into Bridgetown.
After settling in New Zealand in the early 1970s, Hu designed commercial equipment for the then Marine Department. As a ship master, he worked on navigation and fishing gear for the New Zealand fishing industry.
Hu's expertise in fishing was only one string to his bow.
He has been teaching tai chi in Christchurch since 1971. In 1988, his pupils established the New Zealand National Tai Chi Chuan Association.
"Tai chi is not just a physical exercise, it is a mental exercise," said Hu.
"Before I learned tai chi, I learned the hard martial art and with the hard martial art your behaviour is hot and you sometimes fight with people. My father advised me to practise tai chi, and since I have never got in a fight."
In 2003, he released a DVD teaching people how to practise the art. He still has a 6am tai chi session every day and teaches students in a shed next to his house.
The documentary, called Huloo, Hu's nickname, features interviews with Hu and people he has influenced.
Wellington-based director and co-producer Robin Greenberg is a former tai chi student of Hu's.
"I hope people will find it as interesting and amazing, as I have," said Greenberg. "His life and career have been extraordinary. I feel he is a living treasure."
Ad Feedback
The film will screen at the New Zealand International Film Festival in Wellington and Christchurch in mid-July.
- © Fairfax NZ News Last updated 00:20 28/05/2008
Renee Liang: My sister, the film maker
By Renee Liang
7:00 AM Thursday Mar 24, 2011
Renee Liang reflects on having her and her family's stories fictionalised in her sister Roseanne's debut feature, My Wedding and Other Secrets.
Top, Dr Renee Liang reflects on the very personal story and experiences of growing up that led to her sister creating My Wedding and Other Secrets. Photo / Supplied
Expand
Top, Dr Renee Liang reflects on the very personal story and experiences of growing up that led to her sister creating My Wedding and Other Secrets. Photo / Supplied
From the age of 7, I knew the power of stories. My mother (to get a break, I realise now) packed us off for a nap every afternoon. We feigned sleep. Then, when the sound of her feet had faded safely from the corridor, I began. Rhea, one year younger, and Roseanne, the baby, snuggled up as I recounted alien adventures, rescues and random battles with light sabres - all starring us, of course. Roseanne, at age 2, was remarkably sentient, though I don't remember her saying much. She was a great listener, so long as I mentioned her in the story every now and then. The one disadvantage was that she liked to suck items of clothing as we slept, and more than once Rhea and I woke up to find our socks dripping wet.
We grew up of course, and through my teenage years I more or less ignored her as a short, somewhat intrusive being in my life. (She started talking a lot.) I think I was at university when I noticed her again. She'd started drawing. Fantastical aliens with pot bellies and blobby heads appeared on bits of paper. She also pinched out dragons from polymer clay, baking them in the oven when my mother was out. They were quite good. We asked her what she wanted to be. "A doctor," she replied.
"Why?"
"Cos everyone in the family is. I won't be able to understand you when you talk."
As a second choice, she admitted that she'd thought about being an animator. "Making stories. That might be cool," she said.
Time moved on. Roseanne worked her ass off in 7th form. She was dux. She learned she'd got into medical school. We harangued her through the summer months. Our friends, who didn't know her rang up and harangued her too. "You don't want to do medicine. Trust us, we're doing it."
No doubt she saw our persuasive wisdom, for she deferred her place and started a Bachelor of Arts and Science, graduating eventually with a Master of Creative and Performing Arts. The rest, as they say, is history.
Last week my sister, Roseanne Liang, released her first feature film, My Wedding and Other Secrets. It's a highly personal film - and quite a personal story for me too.
The original story goes something like this. Girl meets boy. Girl falls for boy and vice versa. Girl keeps relationship a secret from parents because she's worried how he might be received. Girl eventually breaks up with boy. Boy dies in a freakish accident of fate.
It doesn't sound like the synopsis you've read? No. That's because that's my story. And it's portrayed in the film as well, although not exactly the way it happened. More on that later. Anyway. Roseanne's real-life story had a far happier ending. If you don't know it already, watch the film. Because although it's a fiction, it's also very much a true story.
As adults, Roseanne and I have a tight relationship. We're close as sisters, but we're also close as fellow artists. She's a filmmaker, I'm a writer. We're both still figuring out things about stories. And we both draw on one of the most powerful type of stories - those about family - as material.
Although it's about love, My Wedding and Other Secrets is not the light romantic comedy that its marketing would have you believe. It's quirky, yes, and you'll laugh. But when I went to watch the screening, I snotted all over my face just like that infamous scene in the documentary the movie was based on, Banana in a Nutshell. Bring tissues, because this one might get you.
This is what I think the film is: a love letter to my parents. Because making a film is how my sister communicates. Making a film is how she tells them she loves them.
I'm crying as I write this, because learning to communicate with my parents has been one of the hardest things I've had to learn growing up - and I still feel as if I'm at a junior level. Not communicating with my parents meant that someone I loved died without being given the chance to be accepted by my family. And communicating is the task that hungrily, drivingly, bullishly at times, my sister set out to achieve.
I know there are some in the Chinese community who feel that telling such a personal story in public is wrong. When we were growing up my mum often taught us to put our heads down and keep quiet, even if something was unfair. There was a sense that, as newcomers and readily identifiable "outsiders", we should try to stay invisible. "Keep quiet and they'll let you get on with it" seemed to be the sentiment. It was not done to "hang your dirty laundry in public", no matter what the source of the dirt. And though sentiments have indeed changed as more of us find our strident Kiwi voices (after all, we were born here), my sister has endured walkouts, anonymous emails and insults so violent she had to talk to police. When these failed to provoke a reaction, the people she loved were taunted, or hurt in other ways. We have learned the downside of telling our stories. I hasten to add that there are many others who support us and go a long way to do so.
The thing is that any story, once told, becomes the truth and that is why people are so careful about the stories they tell. One could argue (forgive the writer's bias) that we are all made up of a collection of stories. In my sister's case, the need to tell her story, to have it understood, makes her both vulnerable and strong.
Communicating is important to her. You can see it in the film as her main character Emily tries and tries again to say how much she loves her mother. She stuffs up but she tries again (there's a strong gene for stubbornness in my family). Eventually, she learns to do, not say. It turns out that's how my parents have always told us they loved us. We were just too stubborn to listen.
I admit we all had our worries about the film. Aside from the community reaction, I worried about scraping open a wound that had only recently healed (by falling in love again). I want to say here that Roseanne has always been more than respectful whenever she's touched my story. Initially I was fiercely protective. I baulked when she and her co-writer Angeline wondered if they should merge mine and Rhea's stories into a single character. ("But I can't be married to Brad!" I protested.) But as a writer, I also knew the teaching that whatever you write must serve the story.
But is that really true? Who must the storyteller ultimately answer to? Herself? The subjects of the story? The community the story comes from? The audience she aims to connect with? These things are not clearcut, and there's no right answer. My sister decided that remaining true to herself was what this film demanded, and part of my tears on watching the film came because I saw that struggle. The documentary worked because it was so raw and honest. The film, although fictional, maintains that quality.
While the film was being shot, I spent time with my "pretend family" - board games, trips to the Lantern festival, "family" dinners. We all felt the absurdity of it. We felt close, and also quite strange. No one tells you this, but when a film deals with such recent history, the dividing line between fact and fiction doesn't stay still. Halfway through the filming my sister realised Michelle Ang (who plays Emily) was taking on her mannerisms, and she was taking on Michelle's. Little slips with names betrayed the cast and crew's confusion.
In making reality fiction, often the details are betrayed. I made exactly the opposite choice that my doppelganger, "Susan", makes in the film. I found the portrayal of my ex-partner two-dimensional - he was so much more complex than that. But then, my writer's brain forgives, even as my emotional brain worries that people might think it was the real story. My writer's brain argues that it's my sister's story and we are necessarily the side characters. Everyone tells history from a different point of view.
In the small moments I spent with my fake sisters - Michelle Ang, Celeste Wong and Kat Wong - I felt we could have grown up together. When we compared stories, some were quite similar. I think the power of any family story is its universality, and I'm hoping people will go the film, not because it's a Chinese story or even a Kiwi Chinese story, but because it's the story of a daughter wanting to express her love.
My sister has taken a family story - our family story - and unfurled our hearts to the world. In doing so, she has placed us at risk. But I'm proud of her. Proud that my sister is a filmmaker, and that she makes films worth watching.
*My Wedding and Other Secrets is at cinemas now. Dr Renee Liang is a paediatrician , published poet, playwright and short-story writer.
By Renee Liang
Matt Whelan and Michelle Ang make an odd but happy couple. Photo / Supplied Movie Review: My Wedding and Other Secrets
"While Ang is typically cast in confident, sexy roles, Liang says she had noticed a nerdy persuasion which reminded her of herself."
Jacqueline Smith; My big secret Chinese wedding
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10714482
7:00 AM Thursday Mar 24, 2011
Renee Liang reflects on having her and her family's stories fictionalised in her sister Roseanne's debut feature, My Wedding and Other Secrets.
Top, Dr Renee Liang reflects on the very personal story and experiences of growing up that led to her sister creating My Wedding and Other Secrets. Photo / Supplied
Expand
Top, Dr Renee Liang reflects on the very personal story and experiences of growing up that led to her sister creating My Wedding and Other Secrets. Photo / Supplied
From the age of 7, I knew the power of stories. My mother (to get a break, I realise now) packed us off for a nap every afternoon. We feigned sleep. Then, when the sound of her feet had faded safely from the corridor, I began. Rhea, one year younger, and Roseanne, the baby, snuggled up as I recounted alien adventures, rescues and random battles with light sabres - all starring us, of course. Roseanne, at age 2, was remarkably sentient, though I don't remember her saying much. She was a great listener, so long as I mentioned her in the story every now and then. The one disadvantage was that she liked to suck items of clothing as we slept, and more than once Rhea and I woke up to find our socks dripping wet.
We grew up of course, and through my teenage years I more or less ignored her as a short, somewhat intrusive being in my life. (She started talking a lot.) I think I was at university when I noticed her again. She'd started drawing. Fantastical aliens with pot bellies and blobby heads appeared on bits of paper. She also pinched out dragons from polymer clay, baking them in the oven when my mother was out. They were quite good. We asked her what she wanted to be. "A doctor," she replied.
"Why?"
"Cos everyone in the family is. I won't be able to understand you when you talk."
As a second choice, she admitted that she'd thought about being an animator. "Making stories. That might be cool," she said.
Time moved on. Roseanne worked her ass off in 7th form. She was dux. She learned she'd got into medical school. We harangued her through the summer months. Our friends, who didn't know her rang up and harangued her too. "You don't want to do medicine. Trust us, we're doing it."
No doubt she saw our persuasive wisdom, for she deferred her place and started a Bachelor of Arts and Science, graduating eventually with a Master of Creative and Performing Arts. The rest, as they say, is history.
Last week my sister, Roseanne Liang, released her first feature film, My Wedding and Other Secrets. It's a highly personal film - and quite a personal story for me too.
The original story goes something like this. Girl meets boy. Girl falls for boy and vice versa. Girl keeps relationship a secret from parents because she's worried how he might be received. Girl eventually breaks up with boy. Boy dies in a freakish accident of fate.
It doesn't sound like the synopsis you've read? No. That's because that's my story. And it's portrayed in the film as well, although not exactly the way it happened. More on that later. Anyway. Roseanne's real-life story had a far happier ending. If you don't know it already, watch the film. Because although it's a fiction, it's also very much a true story.
As adults, Roseanne and I have a tight relationship. We're close as sisters, but we're also close as fellow artists. She's a filmmaker, I'm a writer. We're both still figuring out things about stories. And we both draw on one of the most powerful type of stories - those about family - as material.
Although it's about love, My Wedding and Other Secrets is not the light romantic comedy that its marketing would have you believe. It's quirky, yes, and you'll laugh. But when I went to watch the screening, I snotted all over my face just like that infamous scene in the documentary the movie was based on, Banana in a Nutshell. Bring tissues, because this one might get you.
This is what I think the film is: a love letter to my parents. Because making a film is how my sister communicates. Making a film is how she tells them she loves them.
I'm crying as I write this, because learning to communicate with my parents has been one of the hardest things I've had to learn growing up - and I still feel as if I'm at a junior level. Not communicating with my parents meant that someone I loved died without being given the chance to be accepted by my family. And communicating is the task that hungrily, drivingly, bullishly at times, my sister set out to achieve.
I know there are some in the Chinese community who feel that telling such a personal story in public is wrong. When we were growing up my mum often taught us to put our heads down and keep quiet, even if something was unfair. There was a sense that, as newcomers and readily identifiable "outsiders", we should try to stay invisible. "Keep quiet and they'll let you get on with it" seemed to be the sentiment. It was not done to "hang your dirty laundry in public", no matter what the source of the dirt. And though sentiments have indeed changed as more of us find our strident Kiwi voices (after all, we were born here), my sister has endured walkouts, anonymous emails and insults so violent she had to talk to police. When these failed to provoke a reaction, the people she loved were taunted, or hurt in other ways. We have learned the downside of telling our stories. I hasten to add that there are many others who support us and go a long way to do so.
The thing is that any story, once told, becomes the truth and that is why people are so careful about the stories they tell. One could argue (forgive the writer's bias) that we are all made up of a collection of stories. In my sister's case, the need to tell her story, to have it understood, makes her both vulnerable and strong.
Communicating is important to her. You can see it in the film as her main character Emily tries and tries again to say how much she loves her mother. She stuffs up but she tries again (there's a strong gene for stubbornness in my family). Eventually, she learns to do, not say. It turns out that's how my parents have always told us they loved us. We were just too stubborn to listen.
I admit we all had our worries about the film. Aside from the community reaction, I worried about scraping open a wound that had only recently healed (by falling in love again). I want to say here that Roseanne has always been more than respectful whenever she's touched my story. Initially I was fiercely protective. I baulked when she and her co-writer Angeline wondered if they should merge mine and Rhea's stories into a single character. ("But I can't be married to Brad!" I protested.) But as a writer, I also knew the teaching that whatever you write must serve the story.
But is that really true? Who must the storyteller ultimately answer to? Herself? The subjects of the story? The community the story comes from? The audience she aims to connect with? These things are not clearcut, and there's no right answer. My sister decided that remaining true to herself was what this film demanded, and part of my tears on watching the film came because I saw that struggle. The documentary worked because it was so raw and honest. The film, although fictional, maintains that quality.
While the film was being shot, I spent time with my "pretend family" - board games, trips to the Lantern festival, "family" dinners. We all felt the absurdity of it. We felt close, and also quite strange. No one tells you this, but when a film deals with such recent history, the dividing line between fact and fiction doesn't stay still. Halfway through the filming my sister realised Michelle Ang (who plays Emily) was taking on her mannerisms, and she was taking on Michelle's. Little slips with names betrayed the cast and crew's confusion.
In making reality fiction, often the details are betrayed. I made exactly the opposite choice that my doppelganger, "Susan", makes in the film. I found the portrayal of my ex-partner two-dimensional - he was so much more complex than that. But then, my writer's brain forgives, even as my emotional brain worries that people might think it was the real story. My writer's brain argues that it's my sister's story and we are necessarily the side characters. Everyone tells history from a different point of view.
In the small moments I spent with my fake sisters - Michelle Ang, Celeste Wong and Kat Wong - I felt we could have grown up together. When we compared stories, some were quite similar. I think the power of any family story is its universality, and I'm hoping people will go the film, not because it's a Chinese story or even a Kiwi Chinese story, but because it's the story of a daughter wanting to express her love.
My sister has taken a family story - our family story - and unfurled our hearts to the world. In doing so, she has placed us at risk. But I'm proud of her. Proud that my sister is a filmmaker, and that she makes films worth watching.
*My Wedding and Other Secrets is at cinemas now. Dr Renee Liang is a paediatrician , published poet, playwright and short-story writer.
By Renee Liang
Matt Whelan and Michelle Ang make an odd but happy couple. Photo / Supplied Movie Review: My Wedding and Other Secrets
"While Ang is typically cast in confident, sexy roles, Liang says she had noticed a nerdy persuasion which reminded her of herself."
Jacqueline Smith; My big secret Chinese wedding
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10714482
Chinese memories inspire award winner
Friday, 2 December 2011, 4:52 pm
Press Release: Auckland University
As a child Yumian (Dino) Chai moved around a lot. He lived in different cities in China, moved to Christchurch, and finally ended up in Auckland.
These early experiences were a catalyst for The University of Auckland Architecture student’s winning entry in this year’s AAA Cavalier Bremworth Unbuilt Architecture Awards entitled 100 Rooms of Solitude.
Dino won first place in the student section with his work that featured 100 tiny models representing 100 days of memories.
The 26-year-old Mt Eden-based masters student found inspiration while travelling from his flat to University each day.
A fence could trigger memories of a garden from his past and Chai used these longings for other places as his basis for each model. For 100 days he constructed his models using whatever he had to hand.
The judges described the work as “an intelligent, experimental, poetic, universal, endlessly inventive, delicate and sensitive project that fully expressed the potential of the award and demonstrated a maturity that stood out”.
Chai, who won $3,000 with his entry, hopes to have a long career in architecture. While he is keen to tackle any project, he’s interested in domestic buildings because he believes it is the form most people have contact with. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/ED1112/S00014/chinese-memories-inspire-award-winner.htm
Press Release: Auckland University
As a child Yumian (Dino) Chai moved around a lot. He lived in different cities in China, moved to Christchurch, and finally ended up in Auckland.
These early experiences were a catalyst for The University of Auckland Architecture student’s winning entry in this year’s AAA Cavalier Bremworth Unbuilt Architecture Awards entitled 100 Rooms of Solitude.
Dino won first place in the student section with his work that featured 100 tiny models representing 100 days of memories.
The 26-year-old Mt Eden-based masters student found inspiration while travelling from his flat to University each day.
A fence could trigger memories of a garden from his past and Chai used these longings for other places as his basis for each model. For 100 days he constructed his models using whatever he had to hand.
The judges described the work as “an intelligent, experimental, poetic, universal, endlessly inventive, delicate and sensitive project that fully expressed the potential of the award and demonstrated a maturity that stood out”.
Chai, who won $3,000 with his entry, hopes to have a long career in architecture. While he is keen to tackle any project, he’s interested in domestic buildings because he believes it is the form most people have contact with. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/ED1112/S00014/chinese-memories-inspire-award-winner.htm
Thursday, January 05, 2012
NZ-born Chinese man keeps in touch with his cultural origins
He was born in Wellington, but Robert Ting was determined not to forget his Chinese roots.
Mr Ting, 71, of Newlands, has been involved in Wellington's Chinese community for more than 50 years.
This year he received a Queen's Service Medal for his efforts.
"A group of guys nominated me, behind my back of course, and it came out of the blue. I was quite happy to accept it but there are lots of other members of the community who don't seem to get recognised."
Mr Ting is treasurer of the Tung Jung Association, founded in 1926 by immigrants from Southern China. He is the honorary auditor for both the New Zealand and Wellington Chinese associations.
His grandfather came out to New Zealand in the goldrush days. It was a time when Chinese people were discriminated against, paying a "poll tax" to the government on the basis of their nationality.
From 1881 until 1944, Chinese entering New Zealand were legally required to pay the tax – initially 10 but eventually 100. No other nationalities had to pay the tax.
Chinese were also denied the right to naturalisation for more than 40 years.
In 2002, the prime minister at the time, Helen Clark, apologised to the Chinese community for the poll tax, which she said had caused a lot of hardship.
Mr Ting said a strong Chinese community had remained in Wellington since those early days. He was determined his children would not forget their roots, and remembered many years of happy involvement with the Wellington Chinese Sports and Cultural Centre. "We used to have a lot of fundraising evenings. I wasn't too adept at cooking, but I'd go along and help with the dishes, or put some decorations up." This is a series on lesser-known recipients of New Year honours.
Last updated 05:00 03/01/2012
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/6208930/NZ-born-Chinese-man-keeps-in-touch-with-his-cultural-origins
Mr Ting, 71, of Newlands, has been involved in Wellington's Chinese community for more than 50 years.
This year he received a Queen's Service Medal for his efforts.
"A group of guys nominated me, behind my back of course, and it came out of the blue. I was quite happy to accept it but there are lots of other members of the community who don't seem to get recognised."
Mr Ting is treasurer of the Tung Jung Association, founded in 1926 by immigrants from Southern China. He is the honorary auditor for both the New Zealand and Wellington Chinese associations.
His grandfather came out to New Zealand in the goldrush days. It was a time when Chinese people were discriminated against, paying a "poll tax" to the government on the basis of their nationality.
From 1881 until 1944, Chinese entering New Zealand were legally required to pay the tax – initially 10 but eventually 100. No other nationalities had to pay the tax.
Chinese were also denied the right to naturalisation for more than 40 years.
In 2002, the prime minister at the time, Helen Clark, apologised to the Chinese community for the poll tax, which she said had caused a lot of hardship.
Mr Ting said a strong Chinese community had remained in Wellington since those early days. He was determined his children would not forget their roots, and remembered many years of happy involvement with the Wellington Chinese Sports and Cultural Centre. "We used to have a lot of fundraising evenings. I wasn't too adept at cooking, but I'd go along and help with the dishes, or put some decorations up." This is a series on lesser-known recipients of New Year honours.
Last updated 05:00 03/01/2012
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/6208930/NZ-born-Chinese-man-keeps-in-touch-with-his-cultural-origins
Monday, January 02, 2012
The kiwi and the dragon
By Simon Collins
5:30 AM Saturday Apr 9, 2011
In some ways, Chinese influence in New Zealand has grown faster and more strongly than anywhere else in the world.
In a special Herald series over the next week we look at what that means for this country.
Today, Simon Collins gives an overview of the impact of China on New Zealand's economic and cultural landscape.
Some time in the late 1990s, Tina Peters looked out of her car at an intersection and realised that almost all the other faces she could see were Asian.
Tina, a nurse, moved with her family from Papatoetoe to the fast-growing Botany area 12 years ago. Suddenly their ethnic landscape switched from the traditional Kiwi mix of European and Polynesian to include a surprising number of Chinese.
"With our children there has been that period of confusion, of bewilderment, for a little while of absolute fear thinking, 'I don't understand this'," she said at a pot-luck dinner at a Chinese neighbour's home on Neighbours Day last month.
"I didn't know how to communicate. You are missing the communication, and then there's that fear of, 'Oh my God, is my country disappearing?"'
New Zealand's ethnic Chinese population jumped more than seven-fold in the 20 years to the 2006 census, from 19,600 to 147,600.
In Auckland it rose almost 10-fold, from 10,500 to 97,400. Parts of Botany, Epsom and New Lynn are now more than 30 per cent Chinese.
Sociologist Paul Spoonley says the scale of this ethnic transformation, like the scale of New Zealand economic reforms in the same period, was unparalleled globally.
"The mix in Canada and Australia is almost identical, but they had much larger Chinese populations to start with," he says.
And of course this local ethnic change came just as the Chinese homeland burst on to the world stage. Two decades ago, even including Hong Kong, China produced only 2 per cent of global output and ranked 11th in the world. Last year, with 9 per cent of world output, it passed Japan to become the second-biggest economy on Earth.
Three years this week after signing a landmark free trade deal, China has already surpassed the US as New Zealand's biggest trading partner outside Australasia for both exports and imports, our leading source of international students, our second-biggest source of immigrants after Britain, and our fourth-biggest source of tourists.
Over the next week the Herald will report on how these dramatic shifts are transforming our economy and our society. In some respects Chinese influence has grown more strongly here than in any other country outside Asia.
Economically, our exports to China have leapt ahead through the past three years from just under $2 billion to $5 billion a year, when even Australia's exports to China only just more than doubled and China's overall imports stuttered through the global recession.
Dairy exports have quadrupled from $450 million to $1.9 billion. China is now by far our biggest dairy customer and the main driver behind recent record dairy prices.
Fonterra China managing director Philip Turner says this is only partly because of the scandal with melamine-contaminated Chinese-made milk which killed at least six babies in 2008, turning more sophisticated consumers towards imported milk.
"To a large extent this is simply demand exceeding supply," he says. Although Chinese milk production has grown exponentially from 6000 tonnes to 35,000 in the past decade, demand has grown even faster. Fonterra now supplies 5 per cent of the Chinese market.
Wood exports have quadrupled too, from $240 million to $1 billion a year since 2007. Timber Industry Federation head Brent Coffey says most of this is raw logs to feed China's property boom.
Our imports from China have grown rather less quickly because of our recession, from $5.6 billion to $6.9 billion. But the longer-term shift from costly local production to cheap Chinese imports, played out in extreme form here since import protection was largely abolished in the 1980s, has seen dramatic falls in the prices of clothing, footwear, toys and homeware.
Arguably, despite the loss of jobs in formerly protected industries, these cheap Chinese imports have made us all better off - at least in the short term.
"For 15 years up to 2007-08, the world enjoyed very stable prices and abundant capital with resulting cheap interest rates, and both of those things were very largely China's doing," says economist Srikanta Chatterjee.
"The Chinese effectively said: we'll lend you the money to buy these goods; therefore we had low interest rates. That is the very great advantage that we enjoyed."
This may not last. As China's own wages and living standards rise, its massive surpluses may diminish and it may have less surplus capital to lend.
The rest of the world will then need to either cut spending or raise output to live within our means.
China's abundant capital helped whiteware giant Haier buy a 20 per cent stake in Fisher & Paykel Appliances two years ago. Another Chinese company, Agria, is bidding for 50.01 per cent of our leading farm service firm, PGG Wrightson.
Overall Chinese investment is still minuscule at $5.6 billion or less than 2 per cent of total foreign investment. But the Chinese company Natural Dairy's failed bid for the 16 Crafar family dairy farms shows that Chinese investors are looking for opportunities in food and other natural resources.
Still a highly controlled society, China was slow to open up overseas travel. New Zealand and Australia became the first countries outside Asia to get "approved destination status"; this was only in 1999.
Total outbound travellers from China more than quintupled worldwide in the past decade to 56 million last year. The numbers going to both Australia and New Zealand almost quadrupled to 454,000 for Australia and 123,000 for New Zealand, propelling China into fourth place for visitors to both countries, behind each other, Britain and the US.
Today's launch of three weekly China Southern Airlines flights between Guangzhou (Canton) and Auckland adds capacity for an extra 25,000 visitors.
The airline already flies to Sydney and Melbourne, added Brisbane last November and plans 50 flights a week to six Australian cities by 2013.
There has also been an explosion in the numbers of Chinese students abroad. Visas for new Chinese fee-paying students here leapt from just 46 in 1998-99 to almost 20,000 in 2001-02, lifting the numbers here to a peak of 56,000 in 2003.
Anatole Bogatski, who was the Auckland Chamber of Commerce's international manager at the time and later established his own language school, says New Zealand was the first country to abandon quotas on Chinese students.
"We had a very low bar to cross and relatively easy immigration rules on converting their student visa into permanent residence," he says.
The boom collapsed almost as quickly as it occurred, when Education Minister Trevor Mallard made students prove that they could pay their future course fees and living costs.
Two language schools, Carich and Modern Age, closed in 2004 leaving students stranded.
New Chinese student visas plunged to under 2500 in 2005-06 before climbing back to a modest 4700 last year. Total Chinese fee-paying students have stabilised at around 21,000, or 22 per cent of all international students.
This reversal is purely a New Zealand story, as Chinese students studying overseas kept rising worldwide from under 300,000 in 2003 to almost 1.3 million last year. In Australia they increased from 48,000 in 2002 to 168,000 last year.
More broadly, like India, Europe and more recently New Zealand, China has long had a sizeable diaspora of citizens who have left to seek better lives elsewhere.
Apart from a handful of 19th century gold miners, New Zealand barred its doors to those migrants by denying permits to non-British citizens with few exceptions right up to 1987, when the policy changed to seek skilled people and rich "business investors" from anywhere.
The change came just as Britain was preparing to hand Hong Kong back to China in 1997. Hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong's elite sought refuge abroad - 380,000 went to Canada alone between 1980 and 2001, and 25,400 arrived in New Zealand as permanent or long-term migrants in the decade up to 1997.
A similar exodus from Taiwan brought almost 20,000 migrants to New Zealand in the same period. And then, just as many of the Hong Kong and Taiwanese migrants actually started going home again from all countries, China's 1999 relaxation of travel restrictions sparked a new outflow from China itself. Chinese permanent and long-term arrivals here jumped from 3500 in 1999 to 16,000 in 2002.
This new influx was dominated by students and their families, and fell away again as the student boom collapsed. By last year China, including Hong Kong, was back down to only our third-biggest net source of immigrants behind India and Britain.
But the net effect of the two waves of immigrants was to lift the total ethnic Chinese share of New Zealand's population to 3.7 per cent by the 2006 census, the second-highest in the OECD behind Canada (3.9 per cent) and ahead of Australia (3.2 per cent). The 1.9 per cent of our population born in mainland China is higher than for any other OECD country.
Like all modern migrants, the Chinese are mobile. A fifth of all the Chinese approved for residence in the six years to 2009, and 40 per cent of the Taiwanese, had been absent for at least six months as at last June, compared with 14 per cent of migrants from Britain.
A 2007-09 study by Asian studies professor Manying Ip found that two-thirds of ethnic Chinese NZ citizens or permanent residents still identified only with their home country, and most of the rest identified with both countries. Only four out of 78 identified solely with New Zealand.
She found that many families alternated between their homelands and New Zealand or Australia, often getting educated here, returning to China or Hong Kong to work or to care for ageing parents, then coming back to New Zealand for their own children's education.
"The new Chinese migrants are astute and wish to keep all options open," she says.
Joe and Marianne Noma, an older Chinese couple at the Neighbours Day gathering in Botany, originally migrated to Melbourne in 1985 and still have a home there as well as in Auckland. Their son works with them in their property development business here, but their daughter is in Melbourne and they may go back there.
But Lisa Chu, who came here with her parents when she was 6 in 1986, may stay here with her Malay/European/Maori fiance, engineer Shariman Saad. She wants her future children to learn Chinese, but regards herself as a "Kiwi".
Their Neighbours Day host, Pastor Samuel Chong, who brought his family here from Malaysia eight years ago, says he has committed his life to New Zealand but is also proudly Chinese. "When I received the citizenship certificate they said, in a letter, you don't have to put down your own culture," he says. "It's so kind."
Chong says their Botany street has five Chinese families, four from Korea, two from India, a Filipino and about 20 Europeans.
Twelve years on, Tina Peters has become used to the changes.
"When we moved from where we were and came up here we started being that little bit more integrated and talking to everyone and having a bit more courage - well, this is how it is, we'd better start talking to people," she says.
Her husband John, who works with Chinese colleagues as a scientist at Middlemore Hospital, says the change "has not been negative at all".
"We have learned about the food and different cultures," he says.
When their daughter graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree at Auckland University about eight years ago, almost all her fellow graduates were Chinese. She and her husband now live in Singapore and plan to teach their children both Chinese and Japanese to equip them for the modern world.
Gradually our culture is changing. Saad and Chu buy takeaways from a variety of countries and enjoy Saturday night markets at the Pakuranga shopping centre. "It's Chinatown," Saad says.
Chinese businesses have sprung up in growing suburbs such as Botany and Albany, and have revitalised older parts of Auckland such as Dominion Rd and Northcote.
Tina Peters says Hong Kong and Taiwanese investors drove up local house prices in the 1990s.
"Every time we went to buy a house we were vying with five or six Chinese families," she says.
"We would put in an offer and they would just go over the top. Then you find out they had bought three of them. Of course house prices just went whoosh."
But the migrant investors were less noticeable by the time Saad and Chu bought their house four years ago. Indeed as a developer, Joe Noma believes Chinese builders are holding down new housing costs.
"We sell [building sites] to builders. In the last two years virtually 80 to 90 per cent are bought by Chinese builders," he says.
"They work hard. They work on Sunday, they work late in the evening. There's no such thing as 9 to 5."
But Dave Brown, who represents Auckland on the Certified Builders Association board, believes Chinese builders predominate only in the Botany/Dannemora area where many of the developers are also Chinese.
"They are prepared to work hard and are pretty competitive," he says. "But I'll stick my neck out and say I don't think they are taking work off New Zealand guys."
Hard-working Chinese students are changing the culture in our schools too. In 2009, 8.7 per cent of Asians who passed level 3 NCEA achieved with excellence, compared to 5.3 per cent of Europeans, 1.5 per cent of Maori and 0.5 per cent of Pacific students.
The Rev Stuart Vogel of the Auckland Chinese Presbyterian Church recalls resentment in the early years when Chinese students started "sweeping all the prizes" at his children's school, Mt Roskill Grammar. "Then people came to realise that they do the work for it. If you want the prize you have to do the work," he says.
At Auckland University, Ip says her students now work much harder than when she started teaching there in 1982 - due to course fees and a tougher job market as well as Chinese rivals.
"It was much more relaxed at that time, students negotiated about deadlines," she says. "That would not be allowed now."
In much the same way, Chinese preferences for apartment living and for large houses on small sections have contributed, along with rising land prices, to the shrinkage of the Kiwi quarter-acre section.
"Most of us are from the city and we don't know gardening," explains Pastor Chong.
The immigrants have helped expand public transport. Asians accounted for 82 per cent of the increased use of buses and trains by Aucklanders commuting to work between the 1991 and 2006 censuses. The census does not count journeys for study, but a glance into almost any term-time bus into central Auckland shows the effect of Asian students.
Of course Asian migrants have added to road traffic too, accounting for 38 per cent of Auckland's increased commuting to work by car between 1991 and 2006. Nationally, Transport Ministry figures show Asian drivers were involved in 9 per cent of all crashes in 2009, exactly equal to their share of the population.
Although many migrants are still not working in the fields where they qualified, some are breaking into the professions. Just over 5 per cent of our medical doctors are Chinese.
Local-born Chinese writers such as 2010 NZ Post Book Awards winner Alison Wong and film-maker Roseanne Liang have won recognition in mainstream Kiwi culture, and Chinese faces are now taken for granted on the TV news and in popular shows such as Masterchef.
It has been harder going in politics, with Labour's list MP Raymond Huo the sole Chinese MP since Pansy Wong resigned last year. There are no Chinese on the new Auckland Council and only three out of 149 people on local boards: Peter Chan in Henderson-Massey, Lily Ho in Whau and Wayne Huang in Howick.
Arguably Pacific people were only really accepted as New Zealanders when rugby stars such as Michael Jones and Tana Umaga started playing for the All Blacks. The Chinese may never make the All Blacks but sport can still provide links into mainstream society, as Huang found in February when he got the Howick Local Board to sponsor a visiting Chinese martial arts group.
On the other hand, he could not get the board to write an invitation letter to an 800-strong group from a major Chinese steelmaker who wanted to visit here after a reward trip to Australia. They didn't come.
"We lose a lot of opportunities like that," he says. "They need respect. They need to feel welcome."
In Botany, Pastor Chong believes cross-cultural interaction will increase gradually.
"If we organise more lantern festivals and Chinese New Year celebrations, more Kiwis will come and join us and slowly the Kiwis will understand us," he says.
"But one thing they need to know is that the world is like a village. You can't stay by yourself - you need to accept anybody who comes to your doorstep."
By Simon Collins | Email Simon
5:30 AM Saturday Apr 9, 2011
In some ways, Chinese influence in New Zealand has grown faster and more strongly than anywhere else in the world.
In a special Herald series over the next week we look at what that means for this country.
Today, Simon Collins gives an overview of the impact of China on New Zealand's economic and cultural landscape.
Some time in the late 1990s, Tina Peters looked out of her car at an intersection and realised that almost all the other faces she could see were Asian.
Tina, a nurse, moved with her family from Papatoetoe to the fast-growing Botany area 12 years ago. Suddenly their ethnic landscape switched from the traditional Kiwi mix of European and Polynesian to include a surprising number of Chinese.
"With our children there has been that period of confusion, of bewilderment, for a little while of absolute fear thinking, 'I don't understand this'," she said at a pot-luck dinner at a Chinese neighbour's home on Neighbours Day last month.
"I didn't know how to communicate. You are missing the communication, and then there's that fear of, 'Oh my God, is my country disappearing?"'
New Zealand's ethnic Chinese population jumped more than seven-fold in the 20 years to the 2006 census, from 19,600 to 147,600.
In Auckland it rose almost 10-fold, from 10,500 to 97,400. Parts of Botany, Epsom and New Lynn are now more than 30 per cent Chinese.
Sociologist Paul Spoonley says the scale of this ethnic transformation, like the scale of New Zealand economic reforms in the same period, was unparalleled globally.
"The mix in Canada and Australia is almost identical, but they had much larger Chinese populations to start with," he says.
And of course this local ethnic change came just as the Chinese homeland burst on to the world stage. Two decades ago, even including Hong Kong, China produced only 2 per cent of global output and ranked 11th in the world. Last year, with 9 per cent of world output, it passed Japan to become the second-biggest economy on Earth.
Three years this week after signing a landmark free trade deal, China has already surpassed the US as New Zealand's biggest trading partner outside Australasia for both exports and imports, our leading source of international students, our second-biggest source of immigrants after Britain, and our fourth-biggest source of tourists.
Over the next week the Herald will report on how these dramatic shifts are transforming our economy and our society. In some respects Chinese influence has grown more strongly here than in any other country outside Asia.
Economically, our exports to China have leapt ahead through the past three years from just under $2 billion to $5 billion a year, when even Australia's exports to China only just more than doubled and China's overall imports stuttered through the global recession.
Dairy exports have quadrupled from $450 million to $1.9 billion. China is now by far our biggest dairy customer and the main driver behind recent record dairy prices.
Fonterra China managing director Philip Turner says this is only partly because of the scandal with melamine-contaminated Chinese-made milk which killed at least six babies in 2008, turning more sophisticated consumers towards imported milk.
"To a large extent this is simply demand exceeding supply," he says. Although Chinese milk production has grown exponentially from 6000 tonnes to 35,000 in the past decade, demand has grown even faster. Fonterra now supplies 5 per cent of the Chinese market.
Wood exports have quadrupled too, from $240 million to $1 billion a year since 2007. Timber Industry Federation head Brent Coffey says most of this is raw logs to feed China's property boom.
Our imports from China have grown rather less quickly because of our recession, from $5.6 billion to $6.9 billion. But the longer-term shift from costly local production to cheap Chinese imports, played out in extreme form here since import protection was largely abolished in the 1980s, has seen dramatic falls in the prices of clothing, footwear, toys and homeware.
Arguably, despite the loss of jobs in formerly protected industries, these cheap Chinese imports have made us all better off - at least in the short term.
"For 15 years up to 2007-08, the world enjoyed very stable prices and abundant capital with resulting cheap interest rates, and both of those things were very largely China's doing," says economist Srikanta Chatterjee.
"The Chinese effectively said: we'll lend you the money to buy these goods; therefore we had low interest rates. That is the very great advantage that we enjoyed."
This may not last. As China's own wages and living standards rise, its massive surpluses may diminish and it may have less surplus capital to lend.
The rest of the world will then need to either cut spending or raise output to live within our means.
China's abundant capital helped whiteware giant Haier buy a 20 per cent stake in Fisher & Paykel Appliances two years ago. Another Chinese company, Agria, is bidding for 50.01 per cent of our leading farm service firm, PGG Wrightson.
Overall Chinese investment is still minuscule at $5.6 billion or less than 2 per cent of total foreign investment. But the Chinese company Natural Dairy's failed bid for the 16 Crafar family dairy farms shows that Chinese investors are looking for opportunities in food and other natural resources.
Still a highly controlled society, China was slow to open up overseas travel. New Zealand and Australia became the first countries outside Asia to get "approved destination status"; this was only in 1999.
Total outbound travellers from China more than quintupled worldwide in the past decade to 56 million last year. The numbers going to both Australia and New Zealand almost quadrupled to 454,000 for Australia and 123,000 for New Zealand, propelling China into fourth place for visitors to both countries, behind each other, Britain and the US.
Today's launch of three weekly China Southern Airlines flights between Guangzhou (Canton) and Auckland adds capacity for an extra 25,000 visitors.
The airline already flies to Sydney and Melbourne, added Brisbane last November and plans 50 flights a week to six Australian cities by 2013.
There has also been an explosion in the numbers of Chinese students abroad. Visas for new Chinese fee-paying students here leapt from just 46 in 1998-99 to almost 20,000 in 2001-02, lifting the numbers here to a peak of 56,000 in 2003.
Anatole Bogatski, who was the Auckland Chamber of Commerce's international manager at the time and later established his own language school, says New Zealand was the first country to abandon quotas on Chinese students.
"We had a very low bar to cross and relatively easy immigration rules on converting their student visa into permanent residence," he says.
The boom collapsed almost as quickly as it occurred, when Education Minister Trevor Mallard made students prove that they could pay their future course fees and living costs.
Two language schools, Carich and Modern Age, closed in 2004 leaving students stranded.
New Chinese student visas plunged to under 2500 in 2005-06 before climbing back to a modest 4700 last year. Total Chinese fee-paying students have stabilised at around 21,000, or 22 per cent of all international students.
This reversal is purely a New Zealand story, as Chinese students studying overseas kept rising worldwide from under 300,000 in 2003 to almost 1.3 million last year. In Australia they increased from 48,000 in 2002 to 168,000 last year.
More broadly, like India, Europe and more recently New Zealand, China has long had a sizeable diaspora of citizens who have left to seek better lives elsewhere.
Apart from a handful of 19th century gold miners, New Zealand barred its doors to those migrants by denying permits to non-British citizens with few exceptions right up to 1987, when the policy changed to seek skilled people and rich "business investors" from anywhere.
The change came just as Britain was preparing to hand Hong Kong back to China in 1997. Hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong's elite sought refuge abroad - 380,000 went to Canada alone between 1980 and 2001, and 25,400 arrived in New Zealand as permanent or long-term migrants in the decade up to 1997.
A similar exodus from Taiwan brought almost 20,000 migrants to New Zealand in the same period. And then, just as many of the Hong Kong and Taiwanese migrants actually started going home again from all countries, China's 1999 relaxation of travel restrictions sparked a new outflow from China itself. Chinese permanent and long-term arrivals here jumped from 3500 in 1999 to 16,000 in 2002.
This new influx was dominated by students and their families, and fell away again as the student boom collapsed. By last year China, including Hong Kong, was back down to only our third-biggest net source of immigrants behind India and Britain.
But the net effect of the two waves of immigrants was to lift the total ethnic Chinese share of New Zealand's population to 3.7 per cent by the 2006 census, the second-highest in the OECD behind Canada (3.9 per cent) and ahead of Australia (3.2 per cent). The 1.9 per cent of our population born in mainland China is higher than for any other OECD country.
Like all modern migrants, the Chinese are mobile. A fifth of all the Chinese approved for residence in the six years to 2009, and 40 per cent of the Taiwanese, had been absent for at least six months as at last June, compared with 14 per cent of migrants from Britain.
A 2007-09 study by Asian studies professor Manying Ip found that two-thirds of ethnic Chinese NZ citizens or permanent residents still identified only with their home country, and most of the rest identified with both countries. Only four out of 78 identified solely with New Zealand.
She found that many families alternated between their homelands and New Zealand or Australia, often getting educated here, returning to China or Hong Kong to work or to care for ageing parents, then coming back to New Zealand for their own children's education.
"The new Chinese migrants are astute and wish to keep all options open," she says.
Joe and Marianne Noma, an older Chinese couple at the Neighbours Day gathering in Botany, originally migrated to Melbourne in 1985 and still have a home there as well as in Auckland. Their son works with them in their property development business here, but their daughter is in Melbourne and they may go back there.
But Lisa Chu, who came here with her parents when she was 6 in 1986, may stay here with her Malay/European/Maori fiance, engineer Shariman Saad. She wants her future children to learn Chinese, but regards herself as a "Kiwi".
Their Neighbours Day host, Pastor Samuel Chong, who brought his family here from Malaysia eight years ago, says he has committed his life to New Zealand but is also proudly Chinese. "When I received the citizenship certificate they said, in a letter, you don't have to put down your own culture," he says. "It's so kind."
Chong says their Botany street has five Chinese families, four from Korea, two from India, a Filipino and about 20 Europeans.
Twelve years on, Tina Peters has become used to the changes.
"When we moved from where we were and came up here we started being that little bit more integrated and talking to everyone and having a bit more courage - well, this is how it is, we'd better start talking to people," she says.
Her husband John, who works with Chinese colleagues as a scientist at Middlemore Hospital, says the change "has not been negative at all".
"We have learned about the food and different cultures," he says.
When their daughter graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree at Auckland University about eight years ago, almost all her fellow graduates were Chinese. She and her husband now live in Singapore and plan to teach their children both Chinese and Japanese to equip them for the modern world.
Gradually our culture is changing. Saad and Chu buy takeaways from a variety of countries and enjoy Saturday night markets at the Pakuranga shopping centre. "It's Chinatown," Saad says.
Chinese businesses have sprung up in growing suburbs such as Botany and Albany, and have revitalised older parts of Auckland such as Dominion Rd and Northcote.
Tina Peters says Hong Kong and Taiwanese investors drove up local house prices in the 1990s.
"Every time we went to buy a house we were vying with five or six Chinese families," she says.
"We would put in an offer and they would just go over the top. Then you find out they had bought three of them. Of course house prices just went whoosh."
But the migrant investors were less noticeable by the time Saad and Chu bought their house four years ago. Indeed as a developer, Joe Noma believes Chinese builders are holding down new housing costs.
"We sell [building sites] to builders. In the last two years virtually 80 to 90 per cent are bought by Chinese builders," he says.
"They work hard. They work on Sunday, they work late in the evening. There's no such thing as 9 to 5."
But Dave Brown, who represents Auckland on the Certified Builders Association board, believes Chinese builders predominate only in the Botany/Dannemora area where many of the developers are also Chinese.
"They are prepared to work hard and are pretty competitive," he says. "But I'll stick my neck out and say I don't think they are taking work off New Zealand guys."
Hard-working Chinese students are changing the culture in our schools too. In 2009, 8.7 per cent of Asians who passed level 3 NCEA achieved with excellence, compared to 5.3 per cent of Europeans, 1.5 per cent of Maori and 0.5 per cent of Pacific students.
The Rev Stuart Vogel of the Auckland Chinese Presbyterian Church recalls resentment in the early years when Chinese students started "sweeping all the prizes" at his children's school, Mt Roskill Grammar. "Then people came to realise that they do the work for it. If you want the prize you have to do the work," he says.
At Auckland University, Ip says her students now work much harder than when she started teaching there in 1982 - due to course fees and a tougher job market as well as Chinese rivals.
"It was much more relaxed at that time, students negotiated about deadlines," she says. "That would not be allowed now."
In much the same way, Chinese preferences for apartment living and for large houses on small sections have contributed, along with rising land prices, to the shrinkage of the Kiwi quarter-acre section.
"Most of us are from the city and we don't know gardening," explains Pastor Chong.
The immigrants have helped expand public transport. Asians accounted for 82 per cent of the increased use of buses and trains by Aucklanders commuting to work between the 1991 and 2006 censuses. The census does not count journeys for study, but a glance into almost any term-time bus into central Auckland shows the effect of Asian students.
Of course Asian migrants have added to road traffic too, accounting for 38 per cent of Auckland's increased commuting to work by car between 1991 and 2006. Nationally, Transport Ministry figures show Asian drivers were involved in 9 per cent of all crashes in 2009, exactly equal to their share of the population.
Although many migrants are still not working in the fields where they qualified, some are breaking into the professions. Just over 5 per cent of our medical doctors are Chinese.
Local-born Chinese writers such as 2010 NZ Post Book Awards winner Alison Wong and film-maker Roseanne Liang have won recognition in mainstream Kiwi culture, and Chinese faces are now taken for granted on the TV news and in popular shows such as Masterchef.
It has been harder going in politics, with Labour's list MP Raymond Huo the sole Chinese MP since Pansy Wong resigned last year. There are no Chinese on the new Auckland Council and only three out of 149 people on local boards: Peter Chan in Henderson-Massey, Lily Ho in Whau and Wayne Huang in Howick.
Arguably Pacific people were only really accepted as New Zealanders when rugby stars such as Michael Jones and Tana Umaga started playing for the All Blacks. The Chinese may never make the All Blacks but sport can still provide links into mainstream society, as Huang found in February when he got the Howick Local Board to sponsor a visiting Chinese martial arts group.
On the other hand, he could not get the board to write an invitation letter to an 800-strong group from a major Chinese steelmaker who wanted to visit here after a reward trip to Australia. They didn't come.
"We lose a lot of opportunities like that," he says. "They need respect. They need to feel welcome."
In Botany, Pastor Chong believes cross-cultural interaction will increase gradually.
"If we organise more lantern festivals and Chinese New Year celebrations, more Kiwis will come and join us and slowly the Kiwis will understand us," he says.
"But one thing they need to know is that the world is like a village. You can't stay by yourself - you need to accept anybody who comes to your doorstep."
By Simon Collins | Email Simon
Winning over our hearts, and stomachs
n part 2 of the Herald series 'China and us', Lincoln Tan looks at how China has influenced the eating habits of New Zealanders.
Simon Verbiest says having a Chinese fiancee has spurred his interest in Chinese culture. Photo / Greg Bowker
This Kiwi has been interested in all things Chinese for the last half a century - long before the meteoric rise of China to a global economic powerhouse or even before large numbers of people from the Middle Kingdom migrated to Middle Earth.
For 78-year-old Allan Hughes, his love for everything Chinese began more than half a century ago when a Chinese girl - the only one at the school he studied at - dropped him a note on the last day of school saying she liked him.
"I envisioned we will be spending our lives together, and began taking an interest in the Chinese culture and learned a few words so I could converse with her family," said Mr Hughes, a retired Immigration New Zealand compliance manager.
But their love was not to be, and although the pair went their separate ways after finishing Palmerston North Technical, Mr Hughes started a new love affair - with the Chinese culture - which has carried on until today.
"There is a certain depth, richness and a sense of mystery in the culture and language that just intrigues you," he said.
Some of Mr Hughes' friends call him the "Kiwi Chinaman".
He's the only Pakeha member of the Chinese band Bai Hua (100 Flowers) and his hobbies include watching Chinese DVDs and playing Chinese tunes on his ukulele.
Two large gold-framed Chinese calligraphy sets adorn the living room wall at his Lisnoe Ave home, where the flags of both China and Taiwan are also prominently displayed.
Last year, he participated in and won a Chinese radio singing contest crooning what's regarded as the most famous Chinese love song The Moon Represents My Heart by Teresa Teng.
Mr Hughes says he loves how the Dominion Rd area, close to where he lives, has been transformed into a "mini Chinatown", where Mandarin and Cantonese fill the air and the smell of roast duck and barbecue pork curls out of the many Chinese restaurants and cafes.
Like many Kiwis, not too long ago getting a takeaway dinner meant fish and chips or roast, but Mr Hughes says now it's more likely yang chow fried rice or roast duck noodle at a local Chinese cafe.
Although Mr Hughes is likely to be the exception rather than the norm, sociologist Paul Spoonley says China's growing influence will continue to touch the lives of Kiwis in many ways - but the biggest influence will be in food and how we eat.
"New Zealanders will eat less roast and potatoes and more rice and soya chicken. In fact, it's already happening," said Professor Spoonley, of Massey University.
"Our habits have changed, and instead of heading out for Sunday roast, many more Kiwis are going to Chinese restaurants for yum char."
Professor Spoonley, who heads the Integration of Immigrants Programme, said food and retail were the two most popular "business choices" for Chinese immigrants.
In 2006, 20.8 per cent of China-born migrants were involved in food and accommodation services, while 15.8 per cent were in the retail trade.
Between 2001 and 2006, the number of migrants from China doubled to 53,694, which now makes up more than half of the ethnic Chinese population of Auckland.
"Of the retail businesses they start, most also involve food or consumption, such as a grocery shop or a Chinese supermarket selling Asian food and ingredients," he said.
Chinese food retailers and restaurants have been part of New Zealand since the 1920s, but gained a foothold in the 1960s.
Since the 1990s, Chinese food and restaurants have become an "omnipresent and obvious part" of most major cities in New Zealand, especially Auckland.
Professor Spoonley said food is the "most obvious manifestation" of diversity and Chinese presence in New Zealand.
He said many of the fish and chip takeaways and coffee shops that had been taken over by Chinese operators were imbued with a "Chinese touch" - offering a Chinese menu or selling Chinese pastries on the side, and many also no longer alter the dishes "to suit Kiwi tastes".
Asian food guru Connie Clarkson says Chinese food is attractive to New Zealanders because it is "affordable and easily accessible" - and it will become even more so in these tough economic times.
"Dining at a European restaurant can burn a hole in your pocket, but you can get a decent feed for around $10 at some Chinese ones," Ms Clarkson said.
She said the Chinese influence in food also extends into meat cuts and ingredients used at Western restaurants, and even some cooking programmes on television.
"Pork belly, a Chinese favourite, is now widely used even at top end Kiwi-European restaurants, where Asian fusion dishes are becoming common," said Ms Clarkson, an ethnic Chinese originally from Singapore.
Chinese ingredients are now used in shows like MasterChef New Zealand, she said.
Most Chinese restaurants approached by the Herald said they have experienced a growth of between 20 to 50 per cent of non-Chinese customers in the last five years.
Dynasty Chinese Restaurant on Wakefield St said its non-Chinese patronage has grown from 10 per cent when it opened about 15 years ago to making up more than 50 per cent now.
"Pakeha customers used to order just things like sweet sour pork and fried rice, but now they are more adventurous and some are even asking for dishes that they have discovered during their travels in Asia," said Mui Seng Lee, who co-owns the restaurant.
Simon Verbiest, a business consultant, says eating Chinese meals has gone from "just a novelty" to becoming "a regular staple" for him.
The 24-year-old described himself as "semi-adventurous" who would eat anything except red beans, but finds eating things with bones - like chicken feet - hard work.
Mr Verbiest said having a Chinese fiancee also played a part in his interest in Chinese food and culture.
Retail assistant Janine Lawson, 26, who grew up on a Waikato farm said she started "falling in love" with Chinese food when she moved to Auckland to further her studies five years ago.
Until then, she had been eating mainly porridge and scrambled eggs for breakfast and roast meals for dinner, but now prefers eating "char shao bao" (barbecue pork bun), which she has ready stocked up in her freezer, and fried rice and chow mien for tea.
Auckland-born Chinese lawyer Arthur Loo recalls how his father had to import Chinese ingredients from Hong Kong "just so that we can have an authentic Chinese meal" 40 years ago.
"Now, we can get everything just five minutes away."
By Lincoln Tan | Email Lincoln By Lincoln Tan
5:30 AM Monday Apr 11, 2011
Simon Verbiest says having a Chinese fiancee has spurred his interest in Chinese culture. Photo / Greg Bowker
This Kiwi has been interested in all things Chinese for the last half a century - long before the meteoric rise of China to a global economic powerhouse or even before large numbers of people from the Middle Kingdom migrated to Middle Earth.
For 78-year-old Allan Hughes, his love for everything Chinese began more than half a century ago when a Chinese girl - the only one at the school he studied at - dropped him a note on the last day of school saying she liked him.
"I envisioned we will be spending our lives together, and began taking an interest in the Chinese culture and learned a few words so I could converse with her family," said Mr Hughes, a retired Immigration New Zealand compliance manager.
But their love was not to be, and although the pair went their separate ways after finishing Palmerston North Technical, Mr Hughes started a new love affair - with the Chinese culture - which has carried on until today.
"There is a certain depth, richness and a sense of mystery in the culture and language that just intrigues you," he said.
Some of Mr Hughes' friends call him the "Kiwi Chinaman".
He's the only Pakeha member of the Chinese band Bai Hua (100 Flowers) and his hobbies include watching Chinese DVDs and playing Chinese tunes on his ukulele.
Two large gold-framed Chinese calligraphy sets adorn the living room wall at his Lisnoe Ave home, where the flags of both China and Taiwan are also prominently displayed.
Last year, he participated in and won a Chinese radio singing contest crooning what's regarded as the most famous Chinese love song The Moon Represents My Heart by Teresa Teng.
Mr Hughes says he loves how the Dominion Rd area, close to where he lives, has been transformed into a "mini Chinatown", where Mandarin and Cantonese fill the air and the smell of roast duck and barbecue pork curls out of the many Chinese restaurants and cafes.
Like many Kiwis, not too long ago getting a takeaway dinner meant fish and chips or roast, but Mr Hughes says now it's more likely yang chow fried rice or roast duck noodle at a local Chinese cafe.
Although Mr Hughes is likely to be the exception rather than the norm, sociologist Paul Spoonley says China's growing influence will continue to touch the lives of Kiwis in many ways - but the biggest influence will be in food and how we eat.
"New Zealanders will eat less roast and potatoes and more rice and soya chicken. In fact, it's already happening," said Professor Spoonley, of Massey University.
"Our habits have changed, and instead of heading out for Sunday roast, many more Kiwis are going to Chinese restaurants for yum char."
Professor Spoonley, who heads the Integration of Immigrants Programme, said food and retail were the two most popular "business choices" for Chinese immigrants.
In 2006, 20.8 per cent of China-born migrants were involved in food and accommodation services, while 15.8 per cent were in the retail trade.
Between 2001 and 2006, the number of migrants from China doubled to 53,694, which now makes up more than half of the ethnic Chinese population of Auckland.
"Of the retail businesses they start, most also involve food or consumption, such as a grocery shop or a Chinese supermarket selling Asian food and ingredients," he said.
Chinese food retailers and restaurants have been part of New Zealand since the 1920s, but gained a foothold in the 1960s.
Since the 1990s, Chinese food and restaurants have become an "omnipresent and obvious part" of most major cities in New Zealand, especially Auckland.
Professor Spoonley said food is the "most obvious manifestation" of diversity and Chinese presence in New Zealand.
He said many of the fish and chip takeaways and coffee shops that had been taken over by Chinese operators were imbued with a "Chinese touch" - offering a Chinese menu or selling Chinese pastries on the side, and many also no longer alter the dishes "to suit Kiwi tastes".
Asian food guru Connie Clarkson says Chinese food is attractive to New Zealanders because it is "affordable and easily accessible" - and it will become even more so in these tough economic times.
"Dining at a European restaurant can burn a hole in your pocket, but you can get a decent feed for around $10 at some Chinese ones," Ms Clarkson said.
She said the Chinese influence in food also extends into meat cuts and ingredients used at Western restaurants, and even some cooking programmes on television.
"Pork belly, a Chinese favourite, is now widely used even at top end Kiwi-European restaurants, where Asian fusion dishes are becoming common," said Ms Clarkson, an ethnic Chinese originally from Singapore.
Chinese ingredients are now used in shows like MasterChef New Zealand, she said.
Most Chinese restaurants approached by the Herald said they have experienced a growth of between 20 to 50 per cent of non-Chinese customers in the last five years.
Dynasty Chinese Restaurant on Wakefield St said its non-Chinese patronage has grown from 10 per cent when it opened about 15 years ago to making up more than 50 per cent now.
"Pakeha customers used to order just things like sweet sour pork and fried rice, but now they are more adventurous and some are even asking for dishes that they have discovered during their travels in Asia," said Mui Seng Lee, who co-owns the restaurant.
Simon Verbiest, a business consultant, says eating Chinese meals has gone from "just a novelty" to becoming "a regular staple" for him.
The 24-year-old described himself as "semi-adventurous" who would eat anything except red beans, but finds eating things with bones - like chicken feet - hard work.
Mr Verbiest said having a Chinese fiancee also played a part in his interest in Chinese food and culture.
Retail assistant Janine Lawson, 26, who grew up on a Waikato farm said she started "falling in love" with Chinese food when she moved to Auckland to further her studies five years ago.
Until then, she had been eating mainly porridge and scrambled eggs for breakfast and roast meals for dinner, but now prefers eating "char shao bao" (barbecue pork bun), which she has ready stocked up in her freezer, and fried rice and chow mien for tea.
Auckland-born Chinese lawyer Arthur Loo recalls how his father had to import Chinese ingredients from Hong Kong "just so that we can have an authentic Chinese meal" 40 years ago.
"Now, we can get everything just five minutes away."
By Lincoln Tan | Email Lincoln By Lincoln Tan
5:30 AM Monday Apr 11, 2011
Sunday, January 01, 2012
Endless rain bad news for strawberry lovers
Strawberry fields forever? Forget it: right now they're a sodden mass of mud and rotting fruit.
The relentless rain of recent days has drowned strawberries across the country. Some growers and suppliers are losing more than 65 per cent of their crops.
Anyone thinking about serving up strawberries and champagne at the tennis in Auckland next week may have to think again. Ready- picked prices were around $9 per kg recently but had spiked to $12 last week.
At Auckland's Mangere Strawberry Farm, co-owner Grant Young pointed across his fields. "Everything should be dry out there and you should see a sea of beautiful strawberries. But what do you get? A lot of green leaves and not much fruit," he said.
The family-owned strawberry farm was losing more than half its crop each day to the rain.
The fruit needs sun to ripen, said Young. On a beautiful day they ordinarily sold 300kg; on Friday, when the Herald on Sunday visited during a downpour, they had sent their pickers home by lunchtime and were not expecting to sell more than 100kg.
That's a far cry from the week before, when customers were queuing to get in the carpark in search of strawberries.
In the wet, in Kumeu, Phil Greig was also counting his losses. "We were all geared up for a big weekend, but now it won't happen," said Greig, who sells to buyers from Whangarei to Invercargill. The rain, combined with warm weather, caused strawberries to rot, he explained.
At the gate, punnets were two for $4 and despite probable rises at supermarkets, Greig said retailers had been paying him just $1 a chip - "we're not even covering our costs on that".
By Geraldine Johns
5:30 AM Sunday Jan 1, 2012
Grant Young is concerned about how the bad weather and particularly rain damage will affect his strawberries. Photo / Janna Dixon
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10776117
The relentless rain of recent days has drowned strawberries across the country. Some growers and suppliers are losing more than 65 per cent of their crops.
Anyone thinking about serving up strawberries and champagne at the tennis in Auckland next week may have to think again. Ready- picked prices were around $9 per kg recently but had spiked to $12 last week.
At Auckland's Mangere Strawberry Farm, co-owner Grant Young pointed across his fields. "Everything should be dry out there and you should see a sea of beautiful strawberries. But what do you get? A lot of green leaves and not much fruit," he said.
The family-owned strawberry farm was losing more than half its crop each day to the rain.
The fruit needs sun to ripen, said Young. On a beautiful day they ordinarily sold 300kg; on Friday, when the Herald on Sunday visited during a downpour, they had sent their pickers home by lunchtime and were not expecting to sell more than 100kg.
That's a far cry from the week before, when customers were queuing to get in the carpark in search of strawberries.
In the wet, in Kumeu, Phil Greig was also counting his losses. "We were all geared up for a big weekend, but now it won't happen," said Greig, who sells to buyers from Whangarei to Invercargill. The rain, combined with warm weather, caused strawberries to rot, he explained.
At the gate, punnets were two for $4 and despite probable rises at supermarkets, Greig said retailers had been paying him just $1 a chip - "we're not even covering our costs on that".
By Geraldine Johns
5:30 AM Sunday Jan 1, 2012
Grant Young is concerned about how the bad weather and particularly rain damage will affect his strawberries. Photo / Janna Dixon
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10776117
Looking back to 1911 ...
The Ohakune Town Board was first elected on August 11, 1908, and had its first meeting a week later.
However, by 1911 Ohakune was growing rapidly and as such a joint committee comprising the Town Board and Chamber of Commerce worked toward the town's constitution as a borough.
Ohakune was proclaimed a borough on November 2, 1911 with the inaugural election of Ohakune's first mayor and council taking place on November 30, two days after the last meeting of the Town Board. Newspapers recount that there was a large turn-out for the elections.
Ohakune Township began as a small settlement alongside the through road from Raetihi to Taumarunui at the junction of the Mangawhero and Mangateitei streams.
The area has been settled since around the 1600s, first by the Ngati Rangi (Sky People) and Ngati Uenuku (Rainbow People) sub-tribes.
In the late 19th century, railway surveyors arrived looking for a route for the Main Trunk Line. Once the area was opened up, saw-millers arrived to take advantage of the abundance of forestry and the availability of rail transport.
Soon after, Chinese market gardeners established the first market gardens in 1925, and later farmers settled to work with the rich volcanic soil in the area. After the war years, land was converted to rehabilitation farms for returning servicemen. In 1984 the Big Carrot was unveiled, in recognition of the importance of market gardening to the local economy.
- Central District Times Last updated 12:25 26/10/2011
However, by 1911 Ohakune was growing rapidly and as such a joint committee comprising the Town Board and Chamber of Commerce worked toward the town's constitution as a borough.
Ohakune was proclaimed a borough on November 2, 1911 with the inaugural election of Ohakune's first mayor and council taking place on November 30, two days after the last meeting of the Town Board. Newspapers recount that there was a large turn-out for the elections.
Ohakune Township began as a small settlement alongside the through road from Raetihi to Taumarunui at the junction of the Mangawhero and Mangateitei streams.
The area has been settled since around the 1600s, first by the Ngati Rangi (Sky People) and Ngati Uenuku (Rainbow People) sub-tribes.
In the late 19th century, railway surveyors arrived looking for a route for the Main Trunk Line. Once the area was opened up, saw-millers arrived to take advantage of the abundance of forestry and the availability of rail transport.
Soon after, Chinese market gardeners established the first market gardens in 1925, and later farmers settled to work with the rich volcanic soil in the area. After the war years, land was converted to rehabilitation farms for returning servicemen. In 1984 the Big Carrot was unveiled, in recognition of the importance of market gardening to the local economy.
- Central District Times Last updated 12:25 26/10/2011
A proud heritage behind the 'last man weeding'
William Young is the beneficiary of a legacy created by the uncomplaining hard work of the generations before him.
His grandfather, Young Jong Loo, came to New Zealand from China in 1919 and grew vegetables on leased land in Horowhenua and Hawke's Bay before settling in Palmerston North.
Later he brought his two sons out from China and Mun Hor (he was told to choose an English name at school and picked Arthur) inherited the small business.
William is the third generation and "last man weeding" on the land. His brother, Gerald, is a doctor in Auckland, elder sister Sandy runs a company supplying shop fittings in Auckland and younger sister Jenny is head of marketing for Telstra Australia in Sydney.
For the grower of cabbages, leeks, celery, broccoflowers and maize on 28 hectares, life could have taken a similar direction. He had high marks at school and earned an accredited university entrance pass, but his love of the land won out.
In his late 40s, but looking 10 years younger, he could still be mistaken for an upwardly mobile young professional.
He is smartly dressed, even in the field, his hair is in a fashionable cut and he sports designer spectacles. He talks animatedly and a smile as wide as his 20-disc harrow is never far away.
His mother, Chue King, who came out from China in 1955 to marry his father, is a living reminder of the debt his generation owes.
At 75, bent as a staple and with fingers askew with arthritis, she refuses to stay in the warmth of her home. She joins her son in the fields, weeding, picking and sowing, hunched over on her heels, as she has always done.
Arthur, now 80, his balance robbed by a stroke, is, to evident frustration, forced to stay close to home.
William lives with his parents and marvels at what they and his grandfather had to endure. "Each generation worked for the next, to give them a better future.
The payback is that you carry on the legacy, provide a platform for the next to spring off. The torch gets passed on and you can't let them down."
It wasn't just the backbreaking hard work; they were the victims of racist policies that financially penalised them.
It was a hidden shame of New Zealand history that was recognised only in 2002 with an apology by prime minister Helen Clark.
Jong Loo had to find [PndStlg]100 (almost $10,000 today) for a poll tax at a time when the average yearly wage was [PndStlg]3 17s before he was allowed into the country.
Ad Feedback
He could not bring his wife, could not become a citizen and was barred from owning land.
The last of these restrictions was not lifted till the 1950s, but racial prejudice remained. William remembers being told of Chinese who were stopped from sitting upstairs at the movies and were refused a haircut by some barbers.
A regime of long hours of hard work permeated his childhood. "We would come home from school and go straight into the field.
Then, after tea, we would be back out there, weeding and planting, picking and packing. We worked all weekend.
There was no time off for sports and we still had to do our homework."
His brother, Gerald, was the only one brave enough to rebel and insist on playing rugby for a school team. "He was a smart cookie," William says wistfully.
In 1978, he made the decision to not go to university but stay on the farm with his parents. "I had - still have - a love for the soil and in those days, vegetable growing was a promising career. Returns were good and so was the lifestyle."
Weekly auctions could be relied on to accurately reflect the market dynamics of supply and demand and their dependability allowed him to savour the rare treat of leisure time.
Thirty years on, a lot has changed. The auctions are no longer held and he deals with wholesalers who sell to supermarket chains and independent retailers.
He has to meet a fluctuating demand seven days a week.
He misses the auctions and their ability to be a "visual barometer".
"We didn't mind a kick in the pants when there was a sea of one vegetable to be sold because on another day we would be the only one who had the celery or cabbage everyone wanted to buy. But now, who sets those prices? No-one knows."
An option is to sell at farmers' markets but it would be too restrictive.
"One year, celery was in so much demand I sold 1500 crates in one week. You can't do that at a farmers' market."
He has also seen a big rise in working expenses - fuel, fertiliser, fungicides and pesticides and local government compliance costs.
"I've got no-one to pass those on to. I'm still passionate about growing, but it would be nice to make some money along the way."
And, ironically, better fertiliser, sprays and vegetable varieties and cell transplant technology have contributed to a bigger problem - that of over-supply.
This autumn the weather has made things worse.
"It's been too nice," he says with a grin. "It's been fine and warm and yields have been high, too high, and the market has been flooded with vegetables. Added to that, when it's warm people don't eat so much."
Usually, May can be relied on for regular frosts, nature's weeder, but they didn't arrive. He shrugs his shoulders.
"It's part of farming. When you plant, you don't know what the weather will be like at harvest."
He describes the small farm as "the old one-man-band scenario", but then is quick to acknowledge the work his mother still contributes.
"She's a good team player, truly awe-inspiring. She doesn't get the recognition she deserves, but then she doesn't ask for it. She's humble - that's the Chinese way."
He could expand, use some or all of the 18ha planted in maize, but that would mean he would have to employ extra workers.
"I'm not sure I want the added hassle," he says. "I manage because the maize operation is so mechanised. I sign a contract with the chicken factory and I know what return I'm going to get."
Another option is to form a co- operative. "They seem to be making it work up north with kumara, and if we get the numbers right, it could be quite profitable," he muses.
"There's been talk, it's been bandied about, but people are hesitant." His grin returns. "So far, it's all hui and no doey."
He has not been afraid to get involved in industry politics and is chairman of Horticulture New Zealand's brassica crop advisory group.
He says it is his way of giving something back to the industry. "It's a chance to learn and participate. You get to know people, a lot of people, and they get to know you.
You are close to where the action is and where big decisions are being made. And, hopefully, you are in a place to really make a difference."
On the worst days, when it's pouring with rain and he's out in the mud battling wind and the cold, he wonders if he did the right thing all those years ago. "I do think about it, I do, but it passes. The sun comes out and I'm glad I'm not stuck in an office in a big city. We all have our niches and this is mine."
The small Chinese family vegetable businesses are disappearing as younger generations move away.
There's a tinge of regret that when his time comes, he won't have anyone to pass the farm on to. He doubts his nieces or nephews will be interested.
"The biggest shortcoming of the Chinese community is that they educate their kids too well. No-one wants to be a grower. They want to work out of the weather, have their weekends off and go on overseas trips. I don't see anyone saying, 'I don't want to be a doctor, I'll go back to growing.' " He grins again. "Like that's going to happen - yeah, right."
However, there's a pride, also, in knowing that from these many small businesses have come so many highly educated, successful professionals who make a positive contribution to New Zealand society.
But hanging over this is a dark shadow.
He is disgusted that the hard-won high reputation of the early Chinese immigrants is being undone by more recent arrivals.
"Our forefathers came here and worked in the soil on their hands and knees through all the daylight hours, seven days a week. They didn't want a handout when times got tough and were scrupulously law-abiding. They just wanted to make a better life for their children.
"Modern Asian criminals are making a mockery of that. They're giving us a bad name and European New Zealanders can't differentiate between us. It is difficult to take."
- © Fairfax NZ News
BY JON MORGAN
Last updated 20:20 10/06/2010
Growing pains: William Young in his celery field.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/business/farming/3794107/A-proud-heritage-behind-the-last-man-weeding
His grandfather, Young Jong Loo, came to New Zealand from China in 1919 and grew vegetables on leased land in Horowhenua and Hawke's Bay before settling in Palmerston North.
Later he brought his two sons out from China and Mun Hor (he was told to choose an English name at school and picked Arthur) inherited the small business.
William is the third generation and "last man weeding" on the land. His brother, Gerald, is a doctor in Auckland, elder sister Sandy runs a company supplying shop fittings in Auckland and younger sister Jenny is head of marketing for Telstra Australia in Sydney.
For the grower of cabbages, leeks, celery, broccoflowers and maize on 28 hectares, life could have taken a similar direction. He had high marks at school and earned an accredited university entrance pass, but his love of the land won out.
In his late 40s, but looking 10 years younger, he could still be mistaken for an upwardly mobile young professional.
He is smartly dressed, even in the field, his hair is in a fashionable cut and he sports designer spectacles. He talks animatedly and a smile as wide as his 20-disc harrow is never far away.
His mother, Chue King, who came out from China in 1955 to marry his father, is a living reminder of the debt his generation owes.
At 75, bent as a staple and with fingers askew with arthritis, she refuses to stay in the warmth of her home. She joins her son in the fields, weeding, picking and sowing, hunched over on her heels, as she has always done.
Arthur, now 80, his balance robbed by a stroke, is, to evident frustration, forced to stay close to home.
William lives with his parents and marvels at what they and his grandfather had to endure. "Each generation worked for the next, to give them a better future.
The payback is that you carry on the legacy, provide a platform for the next to spring off. The torch gets passed on and you can't let them down."
It wasn't just the backbreaking hard work; they were the victims of racist policies that financially penalised them.
It was a hidden shame of New Zealand history that was recognised only in 2002 with an apology by prime minister Helen Clark.
Jong Loo had to find [PndStlg]100 (almost $10,000 today) for a poll tax at a time when the average yearly wage was [PndStlg]3 17s before he was allowed into the country.
Ad Feedback
He could not bring his wife, could not become a citizen and was barred from owning land.
The last of these restrictions was not lifted till the 1950s, but racial prejudice remained. William remembers being told of Chinese who were stopped from sitting upstairs at the movies and were refused a haircut by some barbers.
A regime of long hours of hard work permeated his childhood. "We would come home from school and go straight into the field.
Then, after tea, we would be back out there, weeding and planting, picking and packing. We worked all weekend.
There was no time off for sports and we still had to do our homework."
His brother, Gerald, was the only one brave enough to rebel and insist on playing rugby for a school team. "He was a smart cookie," William says wistfully.
In 1978, he made the decision to not go to university but stay on the farm with his parents. "I had - still have - a love for the soil and in those days, vegetable growing was a promising career. Returns were good and so was the lifestyle."
Weekly auctions could be relied on to accurately reflect the market dynamics of supply and demand and their dependability allowed him to savour the rare treat of leisure time.
Thirty years on, a lot has changed. The auctions are no longer held and he deals with wholesalers who sell to supermarket chains and independent retailers.
He has to meet a fluctuating demand seven days a week.
He misses the auctions and their ability to be a "visual barometer".
"We didn't mind a kick in the pants when there was a sea of one vegetable to be sold because on another day we would be the only one who had the celery or cabbage everyone wanted to buy. But now, who sets those prices? No-one knows."
An option is to sell at farmers' markets but it would be too restrictive.
"One year, celery was in so much demand I sold 1500 crates in one week. You can't do that at a farmers' market."
He has also seen a big rise in working expenses - fuel, fertiliser, fungicides and pesticides and local government compliance costs.
"I've got no-one to pass those on to. I'm still passionate about growing, but it would be nice to make some money along the way."
And, ironically, better fertiliser, sprays and vegetable varieties and cell transplant technology have contributed to a bigger problem - that of over-supply.
This autumn the weather has made things worse.
"It's been too nice," he says with a grin. "It's been fine and warm and yields have been high, too high, and the market has been flooded with vegetables. Added to that, when it's warm people don't eat so much."
Usually, May can be relied on for regular frosts, nature's weeder, but they didn't arrive. He shrugs his shoulders.
"It's part of farming. When you plant, you don't know what the weather will be like at harvest."
He describes the small farm as "the old one-man-band scenario", but then is quick to acknowledge the work his mother still contributes.
"She's a good team player, truly awe-inspiring. She doesn't get the recognition she deserves, but then she doesn't ask for it. She's humble - that's the Chinese way."
He could expand, use some or all of the 18ha planted in maize, but that would mean he would have to employ extra workers.
"I'm not sure I want the added hassle," he says. "I manage because the maize operation is so mechanised. I sign a contract with the chicken factory and I know what return I'm going to get."
Another option is to form a co- operative. "They seem to be making it work up north with kumara, and if we get the numbers right, it could be quite profitable," he muses.
"There's been talk, it's been bandied about, but people are hesitant." His grin returns. "So far, it's all hui and no doey."
He has not been afraid to get involved in industry politics and is chairman of Horticulture New Zealand's brassica crop advisory group.
He says it is his way of giving something back to the industry. "It's a chance to learn and participate. You get to know people, a lot of people, and they get to know you.
You are close to where the action is and where big decisions are being made. And, hopefully, you are in a place to really make a difference."
On the worst days, when it's pouring with rain and he's out in the mud battling wind and the cold, he wonders if he did the right thing all those years ago. "I do think about it, I do, but it passes. The sun comes out and I'm glad I'm not stuck in an office in a big city. We all have our niches and this is mine."
The small Chinese family vegetable businesses are disappearing as younger generations move away.
There's a tinge of regret that when his time comes, he won't have anyone to pass the farm on to. He doubts his nieces or nephews will be interested.
"The biggest shortcoming of the Chinese community is that they educate their kids too well. No-one wants to be a grower. They want to work out of the weather, have their weekends off and go on overseas trips. I don't see anyone saying, 'I don't want to be a doctor, I'll go back to growing.' " He grins again. "Like that's going to happen - yeah, right."
However, there's a pride, also, in knowing that from these many small businesses have come so many highly educated, successful professionals who make a positive contribution to New Zealand society.
But hanging over this is a dark shadow.
He is disgusted that the hard-won high reputation of the early Chinese immigrants is being undone by more recent arrivals.
"Our forefathers came here and worked in the soil on their hands and knees through all the daylight hours, seven days a week. They didn't want a handout when times got tough and were scrupulously law-abiding. They just wanted to make a better life for their children.
"Modern Asian criminals are making a mockery of that. They're giving us a bad name and European New Zealanders can't differentiate between us. It is difficult to take."
- © Fairfax NZ News
BY JON MORGAN
Last updated 20:20 10/06/2010
Growing pains: William Young in his celery field.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/business/farming/3794107/A-proud-heritage-behind-the-last-man-weeding
Saturday, December 31, 2011
THE QUEEN'S SERVICES MEDAL (QSM) 2011
Audrey Bing Shum Chan, services to the community, Auckland. THE QUEEN'S SERVICES MEDAL (QSM) 2011
Kitty Shui Fung Chiu, JP, services to the community, Auckland. THE QUEEN'S SERVICES MEDAL (QSM) 2011
Arthur Loo, services to the Chinese community, Auckland. THE QUEEN'S SERVICES MEDAL (QSM) 2011
Robert Joseph Ting, services to the Chinese community, Wellington. THE QUEEN'S SERVICES MEDAL (QSM) 2011
Kitty Shui Fung Chiu, JP, services to the community, Auckland. THE QUEEN'S SERVICES MEDAL (QSM) 2011
Arthur Loo, services to the Chinese community, Auckland. THE QUEEN'S SERVICES MEDAL (QSM) 2011
Robert Joseph Ting, services to the Chinese community, Wellington. THE QUEEN'S SERVICES MEDAL (QSM) 2011
Robert Ting
New Zealand honors pillar of Chinese community
WELLINGTON, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- The New Zealand government has honored a stalwart of the country's ethnic Chinese community in its annual New Year honors list for his services to maintaining a strong Chinese culture.
Robert Ting, 71, received the Queen's Service Medal on Saturday for his 50 years of work with many of the country's leading Chinese organizations.
Ting, whose grandparents emigrated from south China's Guangdong province in the early 1900s, told Xinhua the award symbolized the growing recognition of the contributions the Chinese community had made to New Zealand.
The Wellington resident was for 17 years treasurer of the Wellington Chinese Sports and Cultural Centre and for three years treasurer of the New Zealand Chinese Association, and for the last 10 years has been treasurer of the Tung Jung Association, which was founded in 1926 by Chinese who emigrated from the Tung Qwoon ( Dongguan) and Jungsen (Zengcheng) districts of Guangdong.
"I come from a family that was quite heavily involved in the Chinese community from the early 1900s. My grandfather was the founding president of the Tung Jung Association," Ting said in a phone interview.
Originally set up to maintain kinship ties and to help fellow Chinese in trying times, the association became a focus for many of New Zealand's early Chinese immigrants and has since evolved into an education and research institution to support Chinese language and culture and to help with research into family histories.
"The Tung Jung Association maintains all the Chinese cultural occasions and we always hold dinners to celebrate Qingming and the Chinese New Year as well as other traditional festivals," said the retired accountant.
"Unfortunately I don't speak Chinese myself my mother spoke English to us all the time at home, so I never learned."
Recent immigration from China had seen a growth in the use of the Mandarin dialect in New Zealand's burgeoning Chinese community and distinctions between the established Chinese and new arrivals, he said.
"My heritage is Cantonese and it has become increasingly difficult to keep the prevalence of Cantonese."
However, interest in New Zealand's early Chinese immigrants has grown since the previous Labour Party-led government under Prime Minister Helen Clark apologized in 2002 for historic injustices against the Chinese population, in particular the infamous poll tax.
The Chinese Immigrants Act of 1881 imposed a poll tax of 10 pounds a sizeable sum at the time -- on every Chinese entering the country, and this was raised to 100 pounds in 1896.
The discriminatory levy meant many Chinese men could not afford to bring their wives and families with them to New Zealand and it left many in long-term debt.
After petitions to the government, the poll tax was waived from 1934, but it was only officially repealed 10 years after that.
In a gesture of reconciliation in 2005, the New Zealand government established the Chinese Poll Tax Heritage Trust with a grant of 5 million NZ dollars (3.88 million U.S. dollars) to promote the preservation of Chinese New Zealand history and to support Chinese New Zealand history, language and culture, particularly that of the early Chinese community.
The establishment of the fund marked a long awaited formal acknowledgement of the Chinese community's contribution to New Zealand, said Ting.
"The interest from the trust fund has been distributed to many worthy Chinese projects, such as books and other research."
Asked whether he considers himself predominantly a Chinese or a New Zealander, Ting replied: "A mixture of both I still like to keep my ties to the Chinese."
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2011-12/31/c_131337207.htm
WELLINGTON, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- The New Zealand government has honored a stalwart of the country's ethnic Chinese community in its annual New Year honors list for his services to maintaining a strong Chinese culture.
Robert Ting, 71, received the Queen's Service Medal on Saturday for his 50 years of work with many of the country's leading Chinese organizations.
Ting, whose grandparents emigrated from south China's Guangdong province in the early 1900s, told Xinhua the award symbolized the growing recognition of the contributions the Chinese community had made to New Zealand.
The Wellington resident was for 17 years treasurer of the Wellington Chinese Sports and Cultural Centre and for three years treasurer of the New Zealand Chinese Association, and for the last 10 years has been treasurer of the Tung Jung Association, which was founded in 1926 by Chinese who emigrated from the Tung Qwoon ( Dongguan) and Jungsen (Zengcheng) districts of Guangdong.
"I come from a family that was quite heavily involved in the Chinese community from the early 1900s. My grandfather was the founding president of the Tung Jung Association," Ting said in a phone interview.
Originally set up to maintain kinship ties and to help fellow Chinese in trying times, the association became a focus for many of New Zealand's early Chinese immigrants and has since evolved into an education and research institution to support Chinese language and culture and to help with research into family histories.
"The Tung Jung Association maintains all the Chinese cultural occasions and we always hold dinners to celebrate Qingming and the Chinese New Year as well as other traditional festivals," said the retired accountant.
"Unfortunately I don't speak Chinese myself my mother spoke English to us all the time at home, so I never learned."
Recent immigration from China had seen a growth in the use of the Mandarin dialect in New Zealand's burgeoning Chinese community and distinctions between the established Chinese and new arrivals, he said.
"My heritage is Cantonese and it has become increasingly difficult to keep the prevalence of Cantonese."
However, interest in New Zealand's early Chinese immigrants has grown since the previous Labour Party-led government under Prime Minister Helen Clark apologized in 2002 for historic injustices against the Chinese population, in particular the infamous poll tax.
The Chinese Immigrants Act of 1881 imposed a poll tax of 10 pounds a sizeable sum at the time -- on every Chinese entering the country, and this was raised to 100 pounds in 1896.
The discriminatory levy meant many Chinese men could not afford to bring their wives and families with them to New Zealand and it left many in long-term debt.
After petitions to the government, the poll tax was waived from 1934, but it was only officially repealed 10 years after that.
In a gesture of reconciliation in 2005, the New Zealand government established the Chinese Poll Tax Heritage Trust with a grant of 5 million NZ dollars (3.88 million U.S. dollars) to promote the preservation of Chinese New Zealand history and to support Chinese New Zealand history, language and culture, particularly that of the early Chinese community.
The establishment of the fund marked a long awaited formal acknowledgement of the Chinese community's contribution to New Zealand, said Ting.
"The interest from the trust fund has been distributed to many worthy Chinese projects, such as books and other research."
Asked whether he considers himself predominantly a Chinese or a New Zealander, Ting replied: "A mixture of both I still like to keep my ties to the Chinese."
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2011-12/31/c_131337207.htm
Chinese street name suggestions to be sought
George St, Princes St and Moray Pl, in Dunedin, could be joined by Sew Hoy Lane or Guangdong Rise.
The Dunedin City Council is to seek suggestions from the city's Chinese community on names for the city's new roads.
The move came after councillors this week voted to adopt the council's new road naming policy, which spelt out rules for new names and the aim of better reflecting the area's identity.
The draft policy was first released for consultation earlier this year, prompting three submissions from members of the public.
One, from Chinese historian and retired general practitioner Dr James Ng, of Dunedin, argued the Chinese contribution to Dunedin and Otago should be recognised in road and place names.
The Chinese had played a significant role in the region's history, from the goldfields of Central Otago to commerce and employment in Dunedin.
That included Sew Hoy and Sons, which employed "300 or more" workers in their clothing manufacturing business for more than 30 years, and the more recent arrival of the Chinese Garden, built for the city by workers from China, he said.
The city even boasted a Chinese former mayor in Peter Chin, he said.
Despite that, the city had yet to recognise its Chinese heritage in a place or street name, and that needed to change, he said.
He suggested Sew Hoy or Guangdong as examples of road or place names that could be used.
The suggestion won support from Cr Richard Thomson at this week's infrastructure services committee meeting. He asked for the suggestion to be given weight in the council's new road naming policy.
Cr Kate Wilson - one of the councillors appointed to review submissions - said the idea had been considered, but cautioned pronunciation and spelling might create problems for emergency services.
Despite that, councillors voted to create a register of approved road names available for use when new roads were created, and to ask the Chinese community for possible road names to be considered for inclusion.
A process for approving names for the register would also be prepared for a later infrastructure services committee meeting.
The new policy also confirmed existing names would only be changed if there was a "clear benefit" for the community, and council staff confirmed at Tuesday's meeting there were no plans for a clean-up of existing names.
The policy prohibited new road names that were the same or similar to existing names, and said names should reference the area in which they were located.
The policy also allowed the use of macrons when spelling new Maori road names, and allowed changes when the use of macrons was of "demonstrable importance" to mana whenua.
When a road name using macrons was approved, the spelling of it without macrons would be "discouraged, but permitted", the policy said.
Councillors would continue to have the final say on recommended road names.
chris.morris@odt.co.nz
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/188878/chinese-street-name-suggestions-be-sought
The Dunedin City Council is to seek suggestions from the city's Chinese community on names for the city's new roads.
The move came after councillors this week voted to adopt the council's new road naming policy, which spelt out rules for new names and the aim of better reflecting the area's identity.
The draft policy was first released for consultation earlier this year, prompting three submissions from members of the public.
One, from Chinese historian and retired general practitioner Dr James Ng, of Dunedin, argued the Chinese contribution to Dunedin and Otago should be recognised in road and place names.
The Chinese had played a significant role in the region's history, from the goldfields of Central Otago to commerce and employment in Dunedin.
That included Sew Hoy and Sons, which employed "300 or more" workers in their clothing manufacturing business for more than 30 years, and the more recent arrival of the Chinese Garden, built for the city by workers from China, he said.
The city even boasted a Chinese former mayor in Peter Chin, he said.
Despite that, the city had yet to recognise its Chinese heritage in a place or street name, and that needed to change, he said.
He suggested Sew Hoy or Guangdong as examples of road or place names that could be used.
The suggestion won support from Cr Richard Thomson at this week's infrastructure services committee meeting. He asked for the suggestion to be given weight in the council's new road naming policy.
Cr Kate Wilson - one of the councillors appointed to review submissions - said the idea had been considered, but cautioned pronunciation and spelling might create problems for emergency services.
Despite that, councillors voted to create a register of approved road names available for use when new roads were created, and to ask the Chinese community for possible road names to be considered for inclusion.
A process for approving names for the register would also be prepared for a later infrastructure services committee meeting.
The new policy also confirmed existing names would only be changed if there was a "clear benefit" for the community, and council staff confirmed at Tuesday's meeting there were no plans for a clean-up of existing names.
The policy prohibited new road names that were the same or similar to existing names, and said names should reference the area in which they were located.
The policy also allowed the use of macrons when spelling new Maori road names, and allowed changes when the use of macrons was of "demonstrable importance" to mana whenua.
When a road name using macrons was approved, the spelling of it without macrons would be "discouraged, but permitted", the policy said.
Councillors would continue to have the final say on recommended road names.
chris.morris@odt.co.nz
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/188878/chinese-street-name-suggestions-be-sought
Chinese community feels left out of constitutional review
A Chinese community leader and commentator says the local Chinese community feels left out of the current Constitutional review debate, and continued sidelining of the group will disadvantage New Zealand in the future.
Steven Young, the immediate past-President of the New Zealand Chinese Association, said there was a lack of response from the government to engage the Chinese in the debate which has so far been confined only to the politicians, academics and others with vested interests.
Chinese Kiwis feel under-represented on treaty issues, according to the Wellington-based consulting engineer.
While the government has advanced on treaty issues in the last 30 years it has had little time to think about the country’s relationship with those who are not directly party to the treaty – the ethnic communities, said Young, who came to New Zealand from China at a very young age.
“Visibly-different migrants usually have stronger cultural needs and aspirations which they would like to maintain, express and develop, while learning to also be loyal New Zealanders. However, they feel left out of the Constitutional debate – which is what the development of the treaty relationship is. The official view that such migrants are represented by the Crown in the treaty debate is a kind official deafness to the needs of the multicultural sector and the Chinese who make up a large proportion of that sector. This lack of an official response could disadvantage New Zealand in the longer term.”
Ethnic communities form a significant part of a multicultural New Zealand. There are close to 150,000 Chinese living here.
In the light of the coming general election, Young hopes the new government will do something and actively encourage and facilitate participation from the Chinese.
“This would include explaining and defining the current Constitutional situation and exploring alternatives. The debate should be brought down to street level. Full participation will help define what kind of society New Zealand should be in the 21st century and beyond,” said Young.
When asked to comment on the difference in approach between old Chinese politicians such as former Dunedin Mayor Peter Chin and Gisborne Mayor Meng Foon, and new Chinese immigrants standing for election, Young said Chin and Foon had been around long enough to understand local issues and to resolve local problems; they had earned the confidence of the locals.
On the other hand, Young noted Chinese immigrants entering politics were usually “shoulder-tapped by political parties looking for a token Chinese to ‘represent’ a potential constituency”.
With barely 10 years of residency in New Zealand and lacking a track record of working with the minorities, “they are parachuted into list seats without a great deal of political experience or a power base of their own.
“At best they can only act as salesmen for their parties to an ethnic sector. We would expect that such candidates once elected will advocate ethnic ‘motherhood and apple-pie’ positions for their communities,” said Young, adding that he expected the pattern to continue in future elections until such time when the Chinese community “is able to fully participate in mainstream parties over a period of years and in sufficient numbers to influence the development of policies”.
Young does not see any political party gaining a majority of Chinese votes on Nov 26.
He said the Chinese had in the past supported Labour because of “its history of looking after the underdog by word and by deed... However for both old and new migrants, their cultural history, personal drive and economic positioning has increasingly placed them somewhat more to the right on the political spectrum.
“If people vote in accordance with their beliefs and interests, then no party can expect a majority of Chinese support”.
Interview by Yuanyong Yang
Written by Kwan Kwan Lim
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/your-news/187570/chinese-community-feels-left-out-constitutional-review
A Chinese community leader and commentator says the local Chinese community feels left out of the current Constitutional review debate, and continued sidelining of the group will disadvantage New Zealand in the future.
Steven Young, the immediate past-President of the New Zealand Chinese Association, said there was a lack of response from the government to engage the Chinese in the debate which has so far been confined only to the politicians, academics and others with vested interests.
Chinese Kiwis feel under-represented on treaty issues, according to the Wellington-based consulting engineer.
While the government has advanced on treaty issues in the last 30 years it has had little time to think about the country’s relationship with those who are not directly party to the treaty – the ethnic communities, said Young, who came to New Zealand from China at a very young age.
“Visibly-different migrants usually have stronger cultural needs and aspirations which they would like to maintain, express and develop, while learning to also be loyal New Zealanders. However, they feel left out of the Constitutional debate – which is what the development of the treaty relationship is. The official view that such migrants are represented by the Crown in the treaty debate is a kind official deafness to the needs of the multicultural sector and the Chinese who make up a large proportion of that sector. This lack of an official response could disadvantage New Zealand in the longer term.”
Ethnic communities form a significant part of a multicultural New Zealand. There are close to 150,000 Chinese living here.
In the light of the coming general election, Young hopes the new government will do something and actively encourage and facilitate participation from the Chinese.
“This would include explaining and defining the current Constitutional situation and exploring alternatives. The debate should be brought down to street level. Full participation will help define what kind of society New Zealand should be in the 21st century and beyond,” said Young.
When asked to comment on the difference in approach between old Chinese politicians such as former Dunedin Mayor Peter Chin and Gisborne Mayor Meng Foon, and new Chinese immigrants standing for election, Young said Chin and Foon had been around long enough to understand local issues and to resolve local problems; they had earned the confidence of the locals.
On the other hand, Young noted Chinese immigrants entering politics were usually “shoulder-tapped by political parties looking for a token Chinese to ‘represent’ a potential constituency”.
With barely 10 years of residency in New Zealand and lacking a track record of working with the minorities, “they are parachuted into list seats without a great deal of political experience or a power base of their own.
“At best they can only act as salesmen for their parties to an ethnic sector. We would expect that such candidates once elected will advocate ethnic ‘motherhood and apple-pie’ positions for their communities,” said Young, adding that he expected the pattern to continue in future elections until such time when the Chinese community “is able to fully participate in mainstream parties over a period of years and in sufficient numbers to influence the development of policies”.
Young does not see any political party gaining a majority of Chinese votes on Nov 26.
He said the Chinese had in the past supported Labour because of “its history of looking after the underdog by word and by deed... However for both old and new migrants, their cultural history, personal drive and economic positioning has increasingly placed them somewhat more to the right on the political spectrum.
“If people vote in accordance with their beliefs and interests, then no party can expect a majority of Chinese support”.
Interview by Yuanyong Yang
Written by Kwan Kwan Lim
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/your-news/187570/chinese-community-feels-left-out-constitutional-review
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Diary from Chinese youth leaders' camp
Carolyn Ding, student | Thursday, December 22, 2011 8:29
Carolyn Ding is in Year 11, at Saint Kentigerns College. She attended the New Zealand Chinese Association (NZCA) first ever Youth Leadership Camp at Camp Adair in December 2011.
Winston Gee
Chinese students earmarked as future leaders have taken part in the first youth leadership camp run by the NZ Chinese Association. One of those chosen Carolyn Ding, is Year 11 at St Kentigerns. She kept a diary of the experience for the Aucklander. The 43 students - aged 14 to 17 - were exploring what it means to be young and Chinese in New Zealand. They were chosen because they have been earmarked as future leaders. Albert King, a personal development coach from Singapore ran the weekend which featured speeches from high-profile Kiwis of Chinese descent including film director Roseanne Liang (My Wedding and Other Secrets), Andrew Young (ex-CEO, Starship Foundation) and Meng Foon (Mayor of Gisborne).
The Aucklander asked one of future leaders who took part to keep a diary. Carolyn Ding is in Year 11, at Saint Kentigerns. This is her account.
DAY ONE
Today I caught a lift with Jess, meeting Maisy and Alice, and drove an hour to Hunua's Camp Adair. The only other camps I have attended were in primary school and last year's choir camp.
We were allocated our cabins and I soon realised others were in the same position as me - quite nervous about meeting others. The committee, including Richard Leung and David Wong, met us an introduced us to our new coach and mentor, Albert King, who had flown in from Singapore!
I was nervous this morning knowing that I would be surrounded by a new environment, strangers and tasks that may be mentally and physically challenging.
We played a few'meet and greet' activities and acknowledged what we wanted to get out of the camp. I really like the way Albert explained that the more we put into it, the more we'd get out of it. I know I've heard that so many times but just the way he challenged us, really made me think and want to give it a go. I hope I can give 110 per cent.
He also explained our comfort zone and how we have a stretch zone and also a danger zone, the stretch zone being the extension and putting ourselves to the test and the danger zone being stretching ourselves way too far and endangering ourselves such as a panic attack etc. (I don't think that'll be too likely though).
I haven't thought about this before. I hope I can actually gain a better idea of who I am by the end of the camp.
We did activities aimed at getting to know each other. There are a couple of St Kentigern College students (Meghan Koh and Nick King) who I have seen around school but haven't had the chance to talk to before. There are also a number of Diocesan girls, some from Wellington, Levin and one all the way from Queensland!
Later, we were fortunate enough to hear from the the director of My Wedding and Other Secrets, Roseanne Liang! I love that movie and have watched it so many times, so I feel as if I kind of already know her. It was an excellent talk in which she spoke about her films, endeavours and hard work getting there. It was very inspiring the way she spoke from the heart about finding herself and her Chinese identity. It's also really interesting that her Chinese ancestry has actually helped her in her success, and she knows who she is despite the confusion of her mixed culture. I wish I could be that decisive. She also shared her childhood and her parents' Chinese influence. It's funny how so much has changed and where most of us accept ourselves as Chinese New Zealanders and may not even know our Chinese roots or the language. Are we still Chinese if we can't speak the language, don't share the culture, but simply look the part?
I guess I see myself as a New Zealander even though I am Chinese. I now feel as if my culture of Chinese enhances the New Zealand. I do know how to speak a bit of Cantonese and yes, I do know the Chinese culture to a point, but my roots and ancestry are still a bit hazy. Something to research.
Roseanne accepts that life is full of learning curves and we should put in the hard yards to strive to'not be a bad person' but instead a good, moral person. When put like that, I see life in a different perspective. I just wish we could sometimes take a simpler route to our ideal image instead of going through the hard yards.
Afterwards, we watched the lion dance performed by kids aged 4-19. I've seen this previously so it was no biggie for me. We were also given the chance to give it a go.
Chill time. At dinner, I sat with some Diocesan girls. Had some classic Chinese noodles (stirfry and chicken). Yum.
Group activities were next. Got into our groups - Davina, Sian, Cammy, Wei Luok, Nick, Braden, Nathan and I. Our facilitators were Alice Chan and Winson Fong.
Made a name: Panda Power! Made a logo. Made a chant.
'We are black, we are white, we are mighty dynamite!
Was really fun working in the group, Sian is the leader of our group and Davina is the messenger.
Burma trail
It was alright, not too adrenaline rushing as we could see in the dark and everyone was talking but it was fun spending time with the group anyway whether we could see them or not.
Supper, then played cards, tin the other dorm. Also played a few truth and dares.
It's now midnight and everyone is asleep except me. I am so tired and still have to wake up at 7.30am tomorrow. Not looking forward to that part.
DAY TWO
Woke up to my friend, Jess, tapping me on the shoulder for a 6.30am wake up call. No not 7.30am. It's a Saturday and usually I'm used to waking up around 10.30am.
Today: It was the outdoor high ropes designed to push us to our limits or'stretch zone'. I am not so keen on heights. Once at the top of each course, about 10m from the ground, and faced with the task of leaping into mid air, I was far from my comfort zone.
The sight of even Winson jumping scared me. He jumped and spread out his arms and legs out like a starfish. Each bump and swing of the rope made him jerk from side to side like a rag doll. I'm pretty sure I would never do that in a million years. How on earth does anyone do that?
It was the first obstacle and I'd have to say the scariest although many others said they had loved it.
The second obstacle was fine. It was the Cargo Net where you simply had to climb up a 10m cargo net which wasn't attached to the ground. It was much, much easier for me as I'd much rather endure a small workout than facing heights!
This was also great for the team bonding because we had to work together to guide a blindfolded member of our group over the course. Also we were forced to bond by guiding the ropes attached to the climber through a mechanism, ensuring their safety. It was great fun.
The final obstacle was the Multi Vine in which we had to climb up the tree and scuttle across a tightrope wire, holding on to suspended vertical ropes every 2m. This really tested our balance, trust in ourselves as well as the trust we had in our team mates. I found this activity challenging as the further I travelled, the more it shook according to my nerves, and the more it shook, the more nervous I became. Let's just say it was very shaky up there. I was insanely scared.
As we had restricted time, we were only able to complete 3 out of the 5 courses. To be honest, I was very relieved - the next one involved heights.
Taichi was next, all about finding your inner chi and balance to your life: ying and yang. Once explained I could understand the fascination of it, although it isn't my cup of tea. Gold medallist and two time silver medallist David Wong taught us! His control and balance was amazing. When I tried it, it was surprisingly quite relaxing.
Guest speaker two: Andrew Young, Past CEO of Starship Foundation and present Global Marketing Director of Les Mills.
Andrew was also very inspiring to me, hearing about his difficulties and challenges growing up in the Chinese culture and having to work in his parents' fruit shop as a teenager instead of being able to hang out with his mates. He really rebelled against his parents. I couldn't really believe it that someone like him, now so successful, could've had so much difficulty as a teenager. He really spoke from the heart and it was an amazing talk.
We then moved on to a Chinese dance. A lot of people were put out of their immediate comfort zone but once we got going, we were fine. We have to wear cultural costumes tomorrow at the performance for the parents. Bright pink with a mandarin collar and the works. Great. I am also not a great dancer.
Then we went to calligraphy. It was surprisingly hard to write nicely. I didn't expect that. It was handy that I had attended Chinese school previously when I was young so I was familiar with most words. The calligraphy Chinese teacher was so funny!
Dinner then another speaker.
Meng Foon spoke to us. It had been a very long, full on day so we were already very tired. He spoke about his experiences working within a political setting and how if we should always use our full potential in everything we do so that we don't live with regrets. I really respect his skills and being fluent in Maori. He also sung us a Maori song. He is actually a good singer!
After supper was our group presentations answering our given question. Ours was'If you were a super hero, what super ability would you pick to have'. We chose shape shifting which ties in with our'panda' group name and created a short story based on how communication is key. Being able to shape shift into different animals and characters, we would also be able communicate with different life forms and see situations from their perspectives.
Then we sat in our groups in a dark setting to hear classical music, sharing our thoughts. It was great to see how we'd all grown a bit, and we all felt a bit wiser after only a day and a half of camp. That was one of my favourite parts of camp. Sitting around in groups by candlelight, having a deep and meaningful conversation.
It's now 2.30am and I am exhausted after chatting etc.
LAST DAY
Team building activities, everyone grouping in a circle. All I could think about the whole time while we were interacting with one another was how we were strangers only two days ago and now, we were familiar and had built strong relationships in such a short time frame. It is like Albert said,'we are all connected now'.
We went to the hall that and listened to NZCA National President, Virginia Chong, speak. She spoke about our futures and what lies ahead of us within the NZCA community. I think it was a good conclusion, focusing on the future opportunities.
Following other presentations, we had a discussion about whether we see ourselves as New Zealand Chinese or Chinese New Zealand and whether there is a difference between the two or not. It really triggered my own thoughts.
We had a small ceremony presenting envelopes from our facilitators (Alice and Winson) in which comments from our camp members had been written. I loved the atmosphere, everyone was silent and music was put on. Not one word was said yet the message was still conveyed.
We were then able to hug and whisper our acknowledgements, ending with everyone in a circle, swaying from side to the'Vitamin C Friends Forever Graduation Song'. Although it was a bit cheesy, I think it touched each one of us.
The very last thing on the agenda was the parent concert in which we had to perform our Chinese dance we had learnt in an hour yesterday. I was anxious about performing in front of the parents and especially the Chinese dance routine as it was something I had never tried before. I don't think anyone of us were too pleased about our costumes, yet alone the dance, but it was the last challenge and we all did our best.
Certificates were handed out and a slide show played showed us how much we had done in such a small space of time. Then it was an afternoon tea with all our leftover treats and Chinese dumplings.
I now have a new set of friends, a support group and many new thoughts. Despite all the nerves, fears and early wakeups, it was a great experience, and I have a lot to take away from it.
- Carolyn Ding, year 11 in 2011, Saint Kentigern College
http://www.theaucklander.co.nz/news/carolyn-ding-chinese-leadership-camp/1217276/
Carolyn Ding is in Year 11, at Saint Kentigerns College. She attended the New Zealand Chinese Association (NZCA) first ever Youth Leadership Camp at Camp Adair in December 2011.
Winston Gee
Chinese students earmarked as future leaders have taken part in the first youth leadership camp run by the NZ Chinese Association. One of those chosen Carolyn Ding, is Year 11 at St Kentigerns. She kept a diary of the experience for the Aucklander. The 43 students - aged 14 to 17 - were exploring what it means to be young and Chinese in New Zealand. They were chosen because they have been earmarked as future leaders. Albert King, a personal development coach from Singapore ran the weekend which featured speeches from high-profile Kiwis of Chinese descent including film director Roseanne Liang (My Wedding and Other Secrets), Andrew Young (ex-CEO, Starship Foundation) and Meng Foon (Mayor of Gisborne).
The Aucklander asked one of future leaders who took part to keep a diary. Carolyn Ding is in Year 11, at Saint Kentigerns. This is her account.
DAY ONE
Today I caught a lift with Jess, meeting Maisy and Alice, and drove an hour to Hunua's Camp Adair. The only other camps I have attended were in primary school and last year's choir camp.
We were allocated our cabins and I soon realised others were in the same position as me - quite nervous about meeting others. The committee, including Richard Leung and David Wong, met us an introduced us to our new coach and mentor, Albert King, who had flown in from Singapore!
I was nervous this morning knowing that I would be surrounded by a new environment, strangers and tasks that may be mentally and physically challenging.
We played a few'meet and greet' activities and acknowledged what we wanted to get out of the camp. I really like the way Albert explained that the more we put into it, the more we'd get out of it. I know I've heard that so many times but just the way he challenged us, really made me think and want to give it a go. I hope I can give 110 per cent.
He also explained our comfort zone and how we have a stretch zone and also a danger zone, the stretch zone being the extension and putting ourselves to the test and the danger zone being stretching ourselves way too far and endangering ourselves such as a panic attack etc. (I don't think that'll be too likely though).
I haven't thought about this before. I hope I can actually gain a better idea of who I am by the end of the camp.
We did activities aimed at getting to know each other. There are a couple of St Kentigern College students (Meghan Koh and Nick King) who I have seen around school but haven't had the chance to talk to before. There are also a number of Diocesan girls, some from Wellington, Levin and one all the way from Queensland!
Later, we were fortunate enough to hear from the the director of My Wedding and Other Secrets, Roseanne Liang! I love that movie and have watched it so many times, so I feel as if I kind of already know her. It was an excellent talk in which she spoke about her films, endeavours and hard work getting there. It was very inspiring the way she spoke from the heart about finding herself and her Chinese identity. It's also really interesting that her Chinese ancestry has actually helped her in her success, and she knows who she is despite the confusion of her mixed culture. I wish I could be that decisive. She also shared her childhood and her parents' Chinese influence. It's funny how so much has changed and where most of us accept ourselves as Chinese New Zealanders and may not even know our Chinese roots or the language. Are we still Chinese if we can't speak the language, don't share the culture, but simply look the part?
I guess I see myself as a New Zealander even though I am Chinese. I now feel as if my culture of Chinese enhances the New Zealand. I do know how to speak a bit of Cantonese and yes, I do know the Chinese culture to a point, but my roots and ancestry are still a bit hazy. Something to research.
Roseanne accepts that life is full of learning curves and we should put in the hard yards to strive to'not be a bad person' but instead a good, moral person. When put like that, I see life in a different perspective. I just wish we could sometimes take a simpler route to our ideal image instead of going through the hard yards.
Afterwards, we watched the lion dance performed by kids aged 4-19. I've seen this previously so it was no biggie for me. We were also given the chance to give it a go.
Chill time. At dinner, I sat with some Diocesan girls. Had some classic Chinese noodles (stirfry and chicken). Yum.
Group activities were next. Got into our groups - Davina, Sian, Cammy, Wei Luok, Nick, Braden, Nathan and I. Our facilitators were Alice Chan and Winson Fong.
Made a name: Panda Power! Made a logo. Made a chant.
'We are black, we are white, we are mighty dynamite!
Was really fun working in the group, Sian is the leader of our group and Davina is the messenger.
Burma trail
It was alright, not too adrenaline rushing as we could see in the dark and everyone was talking but it was fun spending time with the group anyway whether we could see them or not.
Supper, then played cards, tin the other dorm. Also played a few truth and dares.
It's now midnight and everyone is asleep except me. I am so tired and still have to wake up at 7.30am tomorrow. Not looking forward to that part.
DAY TWO
Woke up to my friend, Jess, tapping me on the shoulder for a 6.30am wake up call. No not 7.30am. It's a Saturday and usually I'm used to waking up around 10.30am.
Today: It was the outdoor high ropes designed to push us to our limits or'stretch zone'. I am not so keen on heights. Once at the top of each course, about 10m from the ground, and faced with the task of leaping into mid air, I was far from my comfort zone.
The sight of even Winson jumping scared me. He jumped and spread out his arms and legs out like a starfish. Each bump and swing of the rope made him jerk from side to side like a rag doll. I'm pretty sure I would never do that in a million years. How on earth does anyone do that?
It was the first obstacle and I'd have to say the scariest although many others said they had loved it.
The second obstacle was fine. It was the Cargo Net where you simply had to climb up a 10m cargo net which wasn't attached to the ground. It was much, much easier for me as I'd much rather endure a small workout than facing heights!
This was also great for the team bonding because we had to work together to guide a blindfolded member of our group over the course. Also we were forced to bond by guiding the ropes attached to the climber through a mechanism, ensuring their safety. It was great fun.
The final obstacle was the Multi Vine in which we had to climb up the tree and scuttle across a tightrope wire, holding on to suspended vertical ropes every 2m. This really tested our balance, trust in ourselves as well as the trust we had in our team mates. I found this activity challenging as the further I travelled, the more it shook according to my nerves, and the more it shook, the more nervous I became. Let's just say it was very shaky up there. I was insanely scared.
As we had restricted time, we were only able to complete 3 out of the 5 courses. To be honest, I was very relieved - the next one involved heights.
Taichi was next, all about finding your inner chi and balance to your life: ying and yang. Once explained I could understand the fascination of it, although it isn't my cup of tea. Gold medallist and two time silver medallist David Wong taught us! His control and balance was amazing. When I tried it, it was surprisingly quite relaxing.
Guest speaker two: Andrew Young, Past CEO of Starship Foundation and present Global Marketing Director of Les Mills.
Andrew was also very inspiring to me, hearing about his difficulties and challenges growing up in the Chinese culture and having to work in his parents' fruit shop as a teenager instead of being able to hang out with his mates. He really rebelled against his parents. I couldn't really believe it that someone like him, now so successful, could've had so much difficulty as a teenager. He really spoke from the heart and it was an amazing talk.
We then moved on to a Chinese dance. A lot of people were put out of their immediate comfort zone but once we got going, we were fine. We have to wear cultural costumes tomorrow at the performance for the parents. Bright pink with a mandarin collar and the works. Great. I am also not a great dancer.
Then we went to calligraphy. It was surprisingly hard to write nicely. I didn't expect that. It was handy that I had attended Chinese school previously when I was young so I was familiar with most words. The calligraphy Chinese teacher was so funny!
Dinner then another speaker.
Meng Foon spoke to us. It had been a very long, full on day so we were already very tired. He spoke about his experiences working within a political setting and how if we should always use our full potential in everything we do so that we don't live with regrets. I really respect his skills and being fluent in Maori. He also sung us a Maori song. He is actually a good singer!
After supper was our group presentations answering our given question. Ours was'If you were a super hero, what super ability would you pick to have'. We chose shape shifting which ties in with our'panda' group name and created a short story based on how communication is key. Being able to shape shift into different animals and characters, we would also be able communicate with different life forms and see situations from their perspectives.
Then we sat in our groups in a dark setting to hear classical music, sharing our thoughts. It was great to see how we'd all grown a bit, and we all felt a bit wiser after only a day and a half of camp. That was one of my favourite parts of camp. Sitting around in groups by candlelight, having a deep and meaningful conversation.
It's now 2.30am and I am exhausted after chatting etc.
LAST DAY
Team building activities, everyone grouping in a circle. All I could think about the whole time while we were interacting with one another was how we were strangers only two days ago and now, we were familiar and had built strong relationships in such a short time frame. It is like Albert said,'we are all connected now'.
We went to the hall that and listened to NZCA National President, Virginia Chong, speak. She spoke about our futures and what lies ahead of us within the NZCA community. I think it was a good conclusion, focusing on the future opportunities.
Following other presentations, we had a discussion about whether we see ourselves as New Zealand Chinese or Chinese New Zealand and whether there is a difference between the two or not. It really triggered my own thoughts.
We had a small ceremony presenting envelopes from our facilitators (Alice and Winson) in which comments from our camp members had been written. I loved the atmosphere, everyone was silent and music was put on. Not one word was said yet the message was still conveyed.
We were then able to hug and whisper our acknowledgements, ending with everyone in a circle, swaying from side to the'Vitamin C Friends Forever Graduation Song'. Although it was a bit cheesy, I think it touched each one of us.
The very last thing on the agenda was the parent concert in which we had to perform our Chinese dance we had learnt in an hour yesterday. I was anxious about performing in front of the parents and especially the Chinese dance routine as it was something I had never tried before. I don't think anyone of us were too pleased about our costumes, yet alone the dance, but it was the last challenge and we all did our best.
Certificates were handed out and a slide show played showed us how much we had done in such a small space of time. Then it was an afternoon tea with all our leftover treats and Chinese dumplings.
I now have a new set of friends, a support group and many new thoughts. Despite all the nerves, fears and early wakeups, it was a great experience, and I have a lot to take away from it.
- Carolyn Ding, year 11 in 2011, Saint Kentigern College
http://www.theaucklander.co.nz/news/carolyn-ding-chinese-leadership-camp/1217276/
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