Por Por’s Cookbook

Por Por’s Cookbook From Asian Report From Asian Report 29 October 2013 Lynda Chanwai-Earle travels to Ashburton to check out Por Por’s Cookbook, which explores the lives and recipes of 15 Chinese-New Zealand grandmothers http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/asianreport/galleries/por-pors-cookbook

NZCA Youth Leadership Camp

NZCA Youth Leadership Camp – 12 to 15 December 2013 PDF Print Following the successful inaugural Youth Leadership Camp in 2011 – NZCA Auckland is hosting a second camp on 12-15 December 2013 at Camp Adair, Hunua. The camp offers a comprehensive leadership, cultural and team building experience for over 40 college aged NZ Chinese/Asian students from across our community. In 2011 the participants came from Auckland, Wellington, Foxton, Levin, Waikato and even the Gold Coast Australia. The energy and enthusiasm of Albert King (Inspiration and Leadership Motivation Consultant), our key facilitator from Singapore, will again be present at the 2013 camp. Camp Adair is an ideal venue and the key note speakers are a great cross section of leaders across our community. An alumnus of young support facilitators will help drive a versatile outdoor and cultural programme. The activities, including confidence courses, Chinese calligraphy and Chinese traditional dance will ensure an intensive and fulfilling programme. The benefits will translate into the participants becoming more confident and capable young leaders within our community. The camp provides a stepping stone to our other NZCA leadership initiatives being the Leadership and Development Conference (for ages 18 -30) and the social business networking forum – Future Dragonz (http://www.futuredragonz.org.nz/index.html ). As part of the programme we will again have a presentation from the versatile Mayor of Gisborne, Meng Foon, as a keynote speaker. Meng is a talented NZ born Chinese leader who has grown up from a market garden background, speaks fluent Maori and Cantonese and provides a great mentoring perspective to the young attendees. Please spread the word to your family, friends, sons, daughters and wider network – and send in your expression of interest to attend to nzca.ylc.2013@gmail.com. In the interim please go to our Facebook page for some insights. http://www.facebook.com/nzcaylc Registration Form

Por Pors Cookbook by Carolyn King

Home cooking through the generations since Chinese Women Settled in New Zealand over the last 100 years This book contains over 140 recipes and 15 Chinese women’s life stories. Reviewed by: Margaret Agnew, Journalist, Past editor of The Christchurch Press, Weekend Supplement. “ Food is one of the strongest ties to our culture and this unique cookbook is an important link to the culinary past and present of our multi-generational New Zealand-Chinese community. The women (and men) have been cooking up a taste of home since they arrived from mainland China in the early 1900s. Modern Kiwis of Chinese descent will find this book especially fascinating for a taste of our Porpor’s past. A poignant and piquant slice of culinary history.” Kuan Meng Goh (ONZM, JP, Ph D, FRSNZ), Emeritus Professor, Lincoln University; Canterbury Branch President and Past National President, New Zealand Chinese Association “It is widely known that few other cultures are as food oriented as the Chinese. According to the famous Chinese scholar and archaeologist, K.C. Chang, “Chinese people are especially occupied with food and food is at the centre of, or at least it accompanies or symbolizes, many social interactions.” Traditionally, in Chinese culture, there is always an important relationship between food and health. This book adds a new dimension to the relationship by linking the experiences of Chinese grandmothers to their recipes. The recipes as presented are not only home-proven to succeed but are also authentic and achievable. Most people enjoy Chinese food and the recipes provide the opportunity to cook these delicious dishes. “ Meilin Chong, NZCA, Auckland Branch Committee Member. “This is a beautiful, well presented and illustrated Chinese cook book which is informative combined with family stories. It brings back fond memories of childhood days and the foods that our mothers and grandmothers cooked for us.” Home cooking through the generations since Chinese Women settled in New Zealand over the last 100 years Synopsis Through the generations the recipes have been passed down by SHOW and TELL We learnt by observation not by recipe. My aim was to record these home cooked recipes that we all love to eat. When the Chinese first settled in NZ, they used whatever fresh produce was available to them and added their own flavourings and seasonings. Aim of Cook Book;--Within the recipes sections; 1. to record the Por por’s recipes as well as my own recipes. 2. to record recipes for my daughter, and generation X & Y who now live all over the world and with their busy careers eat out more than they cook BUT yearn for the meals that they were brought up on. 3. to present and record Home Chinese cooking in NZ over the last 90-100 years. 4. to provide recipes using a base of healthy food ingredients for all New Zealanders who are interested in Chinese cooking . --With 15 Biographies of Chinese women to record 1. Life stories of grandmothers of varying ages the oldest 88yrs to the youngest of 65 years. 2. Their ancestral roots as related to first arrival to NZ. 3. Interests and achievements, contributions to their community. 4. 2-3 of their family recipes and any significant events or customs of the past. Market Potential---------This book should appeal to All Foodies who love to cook. Book lovers of biographies and cooking. New Zealanders and Australians who have had contact with Chinese families in their community. New Zealanders, young and old of Chinese descent, many now reside all over the world. Internationally, those who have roots from Southern China. Anyone interested in Chinese cooking. Background Information; In the 1901 NZ census, it showed that there were 78 Chinese women to 2, 885 Chinese men. The men folk had left their villages in Southern China due to poverty caused by famines, floods, attacks from bandits and civil wars. Upon hearing of gold in NZ in the 19th century and the chance of making their fortunes, they left their wives and families and came to New Zealand. They had planned to stay a few years and return to their families and live in comfort. Unfortunately this was not so. In the 1921 census there were 2993 men and 273 women. Chinese men worked wherever they could get a job, lived frugally and when they saved enough money, set up small businesses such as market gardens, fruit and vegetable shops and laundries. As Chinese women, either born in NZ or had come to live here as the government immigration laws permitted, the families lived off the bare necessities, raised their families and worked long hours with their husbands. It was not easy as they faced verbal abuse and racial prejudice. Many New Zealanders may not have understood what hardships the Chinese endured in the earlier years up to the 1960s. I received a small monetary grant from the NZ Chinese Poll Tax Heritage Trust which enabled me to commence this book. My Por Pors Cookbook meets the obligations of the trust as it records the lives of Chinese women, and recipes. I hope that this book will be a fine tribute to all these great women for their fine contribution to the New Zealand Society. September 25, 2013. Carolyn King. 5 Hefford Place, Ashburton. 7700. Ph. 03 3087022 email; carolynking@clear.net.nz Downloads POR PORS Cookbook synopsis Order form Cookbook Flyer Book Launch Auckland - 1 New North Road 9 November 2013 - at 2pm

Janet McAlister: Balance, harmony and breathing space

By Janet McAllister 10:50 AM Saturday Oct 19, 2013 Thanks to Art Week I had a crash course in appreciating Chinese-style scroll painting, trotting along to Parnell's Artreal Gallery for a painting demonstration by Wei Lun Ha. I was already intrigued by Ha's kauri forests, shown at Lopdell House - it's not every day that Aotearoa is represented in a non-Maori, non-European artform. (Ha says the most nightmarish thing about switching landscapes was working out how to paint the ponga, fern tendril by fern tendril.) Nor is it every day that overt politics are shown in traditional Chinese art. But for this year's Wallace Awards, Ha painted a startling blood-red protest against shark-fin soup. Sea fauna are a current concern: in another work the traditional art subject of koi carp become snapper, as a comment on the quota debate, while a steep, stylised Rangitoto rises from fierce waves (a parody/homage of Japanese painter Hokusai's 1832 masterpiece, The Great Wave, showing Mt Fuji). Ha turns out to be a smiling, sociable 25-year-old, an art teacher happy to explain. Unlike many in New Zealand's small traditional Chinese art community he's young and not from mainland China, instead identifying firmly as Kiwi, as he has been here since he was 2. The family's ancestral roots are in China but his parents are from Cambodia and Vietnam. Ha's work is inspired by the Lingnan school, which he says uses broader brushstrokes and brighter colours than most Chinese art. Ha is happy to chat while he's working. "I'm used to kids breathing down my neck," he says cheerfully, having sketched quickfire requests at the Lantern Festival. "They shout out whatever: shipwreck, tree, Pokemon." But today Ha is interested in creating balance, harmony and movement in a depiction, about 3m long, of the Milford Sound. "Clouds and trees work with wind to create the landscape," he says, the direction of the leaves and branches being very important. A mountain sits slightly "off to the side" as the focal point. Symmetry is not the same as balance, he says. Instead, the aim is to guide the viewer's eyes smoothly through the work in a figure-eight, yin-yang movement, "like qi that never dissipates". The long scrolls - Ha's record thus far is 100m - are used because "a square space is hard to move around". Leaving white "breathing" space is important, too. Below the mountain is a vast absence of paint - a lake. It doesn't contain any reflections because he's trying to give "the feeling of something being full rather than trying to fill it up". Less is more - and more mysterious. Most of his art students are young Pakeha. Ha says that "New Zealand Chinese think they don't need to have anything to do with China." He disagrees. "China is going to be big; I see the future moving that way. If we don't learn this, how are we going to communicate?" He's not necessarily talking about learning painting itself, but the ethos that underlies many Chinese expression forms, including tai chi: balance, harmony and movement. By Janet McAllister Email Janet http://www.nzherald.co.nz/arts-literature/news/article.cfm?c_id=18&objectid=11142833

Peter Calder: Around the world in eighty stalls

At the entrance to the car park at Westfield Glenfield, they are handing out tiny pamphlets with a silver fern and the words "THE TEST" on the front. But it's not about the footy. "There's a free chocolate if you complete a small survey inside," says the woman who presses one into my hand. As someone who has always understood the phrase "we're doing a survey" to mean "I have an ulterior motive", I'm instantly suspicious. Not without reason. The survey inside invites me to tick boxes to indicate which of the five commandments they've listed I have broken. I get a perfect five. Later, I will walk past the stall where they're giving out the chocolate. People are sitting at desks deep in conversation, and I decide to pass on the treat. My mother taught me not to take sweets from strangers. The other stalls that fill the crowded covered car park don't try to dissemble about what they're selling. In any case, you can smell it before you see it. This is the Sunday night market, an event that, I suspect, I'm the last person in Auckland to become aware of. It's a riot of aromas, and it's crammed with customers. The fruit-and-vegetable stalls are few, as are the tables of cheap cellphone cases and the like, though there's everything from watch repair to wellness evaluation. Along one wall there's a tarot card reader and henna tattooist, the cultural descendants, perhaps, of the ones who plied their trade in Cook St in the 1960s. A guitarist works one end of the room and a magician busks amid the mayhem. But mostly it's a food hall on steroids. Dozens of national cuisines are represented by stalls that sell various nations' street-food staples. Before I've moved 50m, I've salivated at the sight of the extruded doughnuts the Spanish call churros and succumbed to the lure of a couple of glistening beef siu mai, those dumplings that are a yum cha standard. This is multicultural Auckland in all its gastronomic finery. Signs proclaim everything from Indo-Fijian and Thai to southern barbecue and burgers. In a stall called Falafel Bro's, Assa Kohavy keeps up a rapid-fire patter as he accumulates a stack of orders in his head ("I can multitask, sir," he says when I hesitate to add mine). Kohavy and offsider David Salama, both from the Israeli port city of Haifa, sell Israeli falafel and kofta sandwiches, much spicier than the Turkish standards thanks to a Yemeni hot pepper sauce called zhug. But interestingly, the people behind the counters often attest to a widespread cultural omnivorousness: Portuguese pastel de nata is made by Bulgarians in a stall with an Italian name; the man in charge of the churros, Damir Klun, is from the former Yugoslavia. When I ask the latter what he is doing cooking Spanish food he smiles: "It's a good business," he says, with a "what can I say?" shrug. "People like what we sell and we always have a very big queue." Next to him Fusae Kudo runs a stall selling Japanese crepes which are described as harajuku-style, after the hip Tokyo fashion district. This is not traditional Japanese food, she admits; crepes are French, but in the 1970s the Japanese filled them with fresh fruit, rolled them up and made them into food you could eat while walking. The manager of Auckland Night Market, Paul de Jonge, tells me that he and his Chinese-born wife Victoria ("the brains behind the operation") run four markets across the city: in Onehunga on Thursday, Papatoetoe on Friday and Pakuranga (the original) on Saturday as well as the Sunday Glenfield one. He was inspired by the thriving markets in Taiwan - and the long queues at food stalls in an antique market here. Each has a slightly different flavour, he explains, according to the area's demography and the night of the week: "Papatoetoe on a Friday night, a lot of people are buying their groceries; here on a Sunday night, people are out relaxing. Families often don't have a place to go that everyone likes." Marissa Bell has come from Te Atatu Peninsula with her husband Kieran and their 2-year-old son Cohen, "because I didn't feel like cooking". We normally go out south," says Kieran. "This is the first time we have come here. There's a lot of different cultures and you can try a bit of everything. It's good to do something on a Sunday night." For more information: www.aucklandnightmarket.co.nz By Peter Calder 12:02 PM Wednesday Oct 16, 2013 The Sunday night market at Glenfield, one of four across Auckland, is a riot of aromas and customers.

Former mistress Bevan Chuang known for courting publicity

Auckland Mayor Len Brown has just arrived at Government House, his first proper engagement since he confirmed he had a two-year affair with a former colleague. Mr Brown has so far refused to resign from the city's top job, following the scandal that broke just more than 24 hours ago. He refused to offer any further insight into his long-term extra-marital affair with former council colleague Bevan Chuang. Ms Chuang is known for courting publicity. "I think he should resign and I think he should put himself up for re-election to regain a mandate by the people of Auckland," says former Mana Party mayor candidate John Minto. That's echoed by voters in Mr Brown's town, south Auckland. "I think he has to step down because nobody respects him anymore," says one voter 3 News spoke to. "I've love that job with a passion," Mr Brown told Campbell Live last night. "I love this city and I want to stay in that job. So, yes, it is my intention to stay as the Mayor." His 32-year-old former mistress faces an uncertain future. She's well known in the Chinese community and chairs different boards. But it's a largely conservative community and most aren't impressed. "I'm a bit shocked and disappointed because she had a lot going for her, in terms of what she's achieving and the profile she's getting, and this is a real setback," says Chinese Community Centre chairman Kai Luey. "She will not be remembered by the good work she does but for this whole episode." Two weeks ago she tweeted a 3 News reporter about the US shutdown, saying: "Last time Monica Lewinsky overshadowed the shutdown. What's in store for 2013? Very Naughty." Ms Lewinsky had an affair with US President Bill Clinton. This morning Ms Chuang shut down her twitter account. "I'm not looking for a guy who makes a lot of money or who is really good looking," she told a Maori TV programme earlier this month. She has long courted publicity, openly talking about her love life – or lack of it – on television and radio. But since the story broke yesterday afternoon, she's laid low. She gave all her evidence to Cameron Slater's Whale Oil blog. Mr Slater's dad was the campaign manager for John Palino, Len Brown's political rival. He insists that had nothing to do with him publishing the story. "It's actually irrelevant who my father is," said Mr Slater. "I've put up with this my entire life. Frankly it's boring now." 3 News Read more: http://www.3news.co.nz/Former-mistress-Bevan-Chuang-known-for-courting-publicity/tabid/1607/articleID/317495/Default.aspx#ixzz2hrXrfRED

Calvin Sang

My name’s Calvin Sang. I make movies with friends, for clients and for YouTube. Contrary to my name, I’m a terrible singer. But I’m an alright filmmaker and you can have a look at my subtly positioned awards list below. Yeah, it’s just down there. At the bottom. Sweet. I grew up in Auckland, New Zealand, and I’ve been making films ever since I found our old VHS camera when I was nine. Today, I make everything from films to commercials to cakes. http://www.calvinsang.com/

Calvin Sang

Calvin Sang is 19 and lives in Auckland. The short film was filmed in the sleepy suburb of Ellerslie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyY8kqPl5Jc Published on Apr 20, 2012 The full length zombie-comedy-action-drama movie. Made with a budget of around $100, between school and during holidays. Tweet this video! http://clicktotweet.com/2A6Th Subscribe for more http://bit.ly/S3QCuw Check out http://calvinsang.com for more! Directed by Calvin Sang Starring Reuben Bray Jeremy Tant Philippa Stephens Technical stuff for the filmies: Shot on the Canon 60D using 50mm 1.8 and 18-135mm lenses. Edited on Final Cut Express, After Effects. Dir: Calvin Sang Starring: Reuben Bray, Jeremy Tant, Philippa Stevens Available: www.calvinsang.com / YouTube A Kiwi curveball that fuses a rock ‘n’ roll aesthetic with a distinctly dry sense of humour, Holdout’s impressive prosthetics, swift action sequences and budget-belying slayings all make for a satisfying snack of zombiedom. Ultimately though, it’s the sweet tale of companionship around which the carnage is crafted that makes it so commendable. Director Calvin Sang is something of an indie scene grafter: having started making films at the age of nine, even he can’t recall how many he’s produced. With such a prolific resume, he was bound to stumble into the genre sooner or later. “After I had seen Shaun Of The Dead and Zombieland, I thought ‘what the hell’ and just went for it. I have friends that are good at makeup and blood and all that so there was really no excuse not to.” The minimal funding (approximately $100) proved the biggest challenge in getting the film made. “Being the longest – and most ambitious – film that we had done, it wasn’t something we could film over a weekend like we normally did. We had to do it in the school holidays, chunks at a time, over the span of a year. One time we had to delay filming for a few weeks because one of the leads cut his hair really short. That’s the limitation of a zero/low budget film.” The convincing special effects, however, look anything but cash-starved; so just how was such a high quality achieved on such a low budget? Explains Sang: “Computers and software are so powerful nowadays – it’s kind of amazing what you can find people doing online, just in their spare time. I have some films that rely heavily on effects, like some action films on my YouTube channel. And I have character driven films that don’t have any effects at all. Holdout was a marriage of the two I guess. At the heart of it, it’s about friends and isolation. But it’s also a zombie movie, so it needs to have that kinetic, gory aspect to it as well.”

Por Por's Cook book

Por Por's Cook book - Book launch soon - Home cooking through the generations since Chinese Women Settled in New Zealand over the last 100 years This book contains over 140 recipes and 15 Chinese women’s life stories. Reviewed by: Margaret Agnew, Journalist, Past editor of The Christchurch Press, Weekend Supplement. “ Food is one of the strongest ties to our culture and this unique cookbook is an important link to the culinary past and present of our multi-generational New Zealand-Chinese community. The women (and men) have been cooking up a taste of home since they arrived from mainland China in the early 1900s. Modern Kiwis of Chinese descent will find this book especially fascinating for a taste of our Porpor’s past. A poignant and piquant slice of culinary history.” Kuan Meng Goh (ONZM, JP, Ph D, FRSNZ), Emeritus Professor, Lincoln University; Dave Canterbury (Pathfinder)Branch President and Past National President, New Zealand Chinese Association “It is widely known that few other cultures are as food oriented as the Chinese. According to the famous Chinese scholar and archaeologist, K.C. Chang, “Chinese people are especially occupied with food and food is at the centre of, or at least it accompanies or symbolizes, many social interactions.” Traditionally, in Chinese culture, there is always an important relationship between food and health. This book adds a new dimension to the relationship by linking the experiences of Chinese grandmothers to their recipes. The recipes as presented are not only home-proven to succeed but are also authentic and achievable. Most people enjoy Chinese food and the recipes provide the opportunity to cook these delicious dishes. “ Meilin Chong, NZCA, Auckland Branch Committee Member. “This is a beautiful, well presented and illustrated Chinese cook book which is informative combined with family stories. It brings back fond memories of childhood days and the foods that our mothers and grandmothers cooked for us.” Home cooking through the generations since Chinese Women settled in New Zealand over the last 100 years POR PORs COOKBOOK Carolyn King Order enquiries Email: carolynking@clear.net.nz

Anthony Hoy Fong

Small Business: Restaurateurs - Anthony Hoy Fong

Small Business: Restaurateurs - Anthony Hoy Fong By Gill South 3:30 PM Friday Sep 27, 2013 Chef Anthony Hoy Fong is Auckland-born and educated, learning about food from his family's Mt Roskill fruit shop. Now a New York based chef, he has cooked for the US President, appeared on Oprah and cooking shows across America. Hoy Fong was in Auckland last week for the launch of new Wattie's Creations Cooking Sauces with Food in a Minute. The former IBM IT consultant has set up Top Chef University, an online culinary school that was designed for aspiring home chefs, foodies or anyone who wants to learn how to cook better. It offers people a culinary school program experience in a convenient and entertaining format. The online video-based training is taught by real professional chefs in a curriculum that mirrors a traditional culinary school. The business started three years ago and now the original online product has evolved into line extensions of an iPad app with over 150,000 active users from over 16 different countries ; a box-set DVD retail line in Target and Costco stores across America and next month the chef is launching Top Chef University Lite - an abbreviated iPhone version of the app - his first foray into an ad and brand sponsored content model. Do you think that chefs can make good business owners? Article continues below Absolutely. Chefs in general are passionate, creative and hard working. Good chefs are always supremely organized and focused too which are all key components to being a good business operator. The restaurant business is a tough industry with so many variables so any chef that has opened or operated and sustained a restaurant business successfully has to be a good business person, not just a good chef. Is it true that most chefs don't make any real money unless they have their own restaurant? It's a hard slog being a chef. When I started out in my first gig in New York, I was making $7.50 an hour working 6 days a week, 10 till closing which in NY can be as late as two in the morning. It is tough when you're starting out, like any industry, the hours are long and the pay is not good. So, yes, of course you can make more money when you own your own business just like any job. But of course that comes with greater risk and greater burden but if all goes well then yes, there can be a greater return. It's not the first year a restaurant opens, but the second and third years which are the hardest. Do you agree? In the first year, there's always that buzz about a new opening, it's exciting and there's always a lot of curiosity and attention around a new restaurant, so you're always going to get that foot traffic in the first year. The key to longevity is consistency in quality, while also keeping things fresh and new to sustain interest - listen to your diners and listen to what's going on in your neighbourhood to stay abreast. How can restaurant owners work with social media to help create a buzz about their business? The industry's constantly changing and dining and food as a culture and interest is so popular now. People used not to care about who the chef was or where their salad greens on their plate came from or how the beef was raised and what it was fed. Now people want the full experience and the story only adds to an incredible and enjoyable dining experience which is fantastic. Social media provides a vehicle in which chefs, restaurants and brands can communicate with their customers directly further breaking down that wall between chef and diner. Who doesn't want to see a tweet or photo posted to them of the chickens being roasted that day on the menu tonight, or the chef picking up the greens from the market? What sorts of approaches do you see to running restaurants in New York that we could learn from here - in terms of getting the word out about a new restaurant? The dining scene in general, and especially in New York, is a noisy environment. Diners there have so many choices, so in order to influence a diner to make that choice to dine at your restaurant, you have to have a presence in the dining publications or blogs - whether it be sites like OpenTable, Yelp, Zagat, TastingTable or simply good press - it definitely helps to get the word out. On the other hand, some chefs like those in the West Village simply have developed a cult following so every time they open a new place their crowd flocks to it. How do you create the niche of a good neighbourhood local? Keep it simple and in line with the neighbourhood. Like any restaurant location/concept, you have to listen to your customers in the locale and give them what they want. In Brooklyn, New York, there's a really laid back but hipster scene that's taken hold. All the young, hot chefs are doing small, interesting plates with innovative combinations that tease the palate. Dining is super casual but very cutting edge and hip. It's caught the attention of locals - and they can't get enough of it. NZ has chefs who create good profiles for themselves on TV and then open restaurants or new food businesses off the back of that. Does this happen a lot in the States? Yes. In general the US is quite a celebrity driven culture - endorsements help marketing and reach. I can't stress enough what a noisy business environment it is there especially in the food scene so anything you can do to get a competitive advantage or have your business/product be heard, helps. TV and profile all help. Of course, it's important that what you do matches with your values and beliefs. I'm currently working with Wattie's which to me feels like a great fit. Wattie's are a Kiwi icon - I grew up with their products in the cupboards and spaghetti or beans on toast were a weekend staple before playing sports. And I guess, coming from a background in produce, for me Wattie's commitment to using locally grown produce is really important. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/restaurants/news/article.cfm?c_id=304&objectid=11129255

The changing face of architecture

Phoenix Wang, The stereotypes - all egos, round spectacles and black turtlenecks - reflect the statistics: while equal number of male and female grads leave architecture school, only 18 per cent of registered architects are women. And yet, this is slowly changing, in part from groups like non-profit Architecture+Women NZ, which aims to raise the visibility of women in architecture. What does this new face of New Zealand architecture look like? Three women at various stages of their architecture careers, working across commercial architecture, housing and interiors in full-time and part-time roles, show a new direction for the design industry. Phoenix Wang's projects include the Comvita and Glassons shop designs Phoenix Wang's projects include the Comvita and Glassons shop designs Architect Phoenix Wang works at Studio Gascoigne - an award-winning architecture firm specialising in retail and commercial interiors. You used to work on high-end houses, now you work on commercial and retail interiors. Has that been a big switch, or do the same design principles still apply? It has been a switch, they're two different mind-sets on the way you design and the time frame that you're given. When I worked on high-end residential I worked very closely with my clients. That way I was given an insight into the way they live and what their interests are. It's was very personal journey. With retail and commercial design, I'm often designing to create an impact, and a response from the end user. Do you have a favourite project? I think one of my favourite jobs so far would have to be a small interior villa alteration project I worked on a few years ago. The client gave us a simple brief and pretty much let us have free rein on the design front. They fully trusted us to create a design that is suitable for the house. It's a very freeing feeling and privileged position to be. Most of the time, clients can question and doubt what you've designed for them, and the end result can be a watered-down version of your original idea. What do people not understand about architecture that you wish they would? Architecture is a response to the surrounding environment and has a permanent impact to the context it is within. Each design decision we make and each detail we draw interlinks closely on how it affects the rest of the building, so when clients ask us to just quickly draw a few sketches, or make a small change, it requires a whole thought-process of weighing up the pros and cons, and will take more than just a couple of minutes to do. People can assume interiors are easier than architecture. Is this the case? I think people see interior design as more of a surface decoration that is added into the base building, and it is not as complex in terms of its design process as designing a building. I find interiors both interesting and challenging in the way so much of it is to do with human behaviour. Through carefully crafted spaces you can attract people to enter a space, you can influence what they will interact with, and what their attention will fall upon. By Nicola Stock 7:30 AM Thursday Sep 12, 2013 It's really fascinating. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/viva-magazine/news/article.cfm?c_id=533&objectid=11122401

TE HA O TE WHENUA THE BREATH OF THE LAND Simon Kaan 13 September – 20 October Opening: Thursday 12 September, 6pm Artist talk: Saturday 14 September, 10.30am In this current series of new work, artist Simon Kaan references whenua (land) issues. Through multiple art disciplines the exhibition investigates the connection of land with water, to consider the responsibility of belonging to a place. Set in Kaan’s landscapes are visual motifs inherited from his Kai Tahu and Chinese ancestry. MRS CHRYSANTHEMUM PATIENTLY WAITS… Kim Lowe 13 September – 20 October Opening: Thursday 12 September, 6pm Artist talk: Saturday 14 September, 10.30am Kim Lowe is an artist and printmaker of New Zealand Chinese and Pakeha descent. Lowe’s latest exhibition features new works that allude to a fabricated family narrative based loosely on historical events and snippets of her family's mixed history. KIM LOWE + SIMON KAAN | 2 ARTIST TALKS Saturday 14 September, 10.30am - 12pm Join Dunedin-based artist, Simon Kaan and Christchurch-based artist Kim Lowe as they discuss the relationship that being culture-hybrid has on their art. Lowe will also speak about how the 22/2/2011 Christchurch earthquake led to her involvement in the Sendai-Christchurch Art Exchange BEAUTY THROUGH THE FOUR HANDS Sang Sool Shim & Keum Sun Lee 13 September – 20 October Opening: Thursday 12 September, 6pm Sang Sool Shim and Keum Sun Lee are self-taught potters. Together they collaborate on large and small scale ceramic works. Hand thrown by Shim and intricately decorated by Lee, they work with both traditional Korean and contemporary ceramic techniques. Their works are influenced by their cultural heritage and a life set in Waitakere Ranges. http://www.ceac.org.nz/exhibitions/current_exhibitions.aspx

The emerging Chinese middle class

Chinese dream: As people pour into the cities, they bring with them millions of dollars worth of growth – and issues such as pollution and overpriced housing. china Lucy Wu, who moved to Shanghai from New Zealand, says she sees in her friends the stress that comes from wanting to succeed. Asia A 500 metre tower is growing out of the park where Lucy Wu, 28, used to catch the ferry across Shanghai's Huangpu River to play on the green grass with her father. When she moved with her family to New Zealand 20 years ago the Pudong area was underdeveloped agriculture land. It is now the heart of Shanghai's financial district and the city's most exclusive neighbourhood. China was once the world's most powerful economy. As late as 1820 China produced a third of the world's GDP. But when it failed to harness the industrial revolution, the West rose and China sank. By 1979 China's share of global economy was around 5 per cent and income per capita was just $260. So Wu's family moved to New Zealand to find more freedom and opportunity. "Twenty years ago, China was a very communist country, it was like North Korea," said Wu with an obvious Kiwi accent. But soon after her family migrated things began to change fast. When China opened to foreign trade and economic reform at the end of the 1970s, a 30-year period of remarkable growth lifted China to the world's second largest economy by 2010. This economic miracle was built on exports. Now, the growth will be fed by domestic consumption as millions of Chinese are lifted out of poverty and thrust into middle class with disposable incomes and aspirations for a happier, healthier life. China is still poor. More than 900 million, mostly rural, people still live on less than $5 a day, according to the World Bank's latest statistics. But for every peasant who moves to the city, there is an immediate injection of around $2000 to the domestic GDP. And with 10 million people moving to cities every year, urbanisation alone adds $2m of growth. China's President Xi Jingping calls this the Chinese Dream. His vision is as hazy as Beijing's sky, but the mission of a moderately prosperous nation by 2020 has captured the imagination of the Chinese people. A demographic whose parents were condemned to poverty can now see a China with stable jobs, good education for their children and a chance to live a more enjoyable life. A T A grubby supermarket half an hour from the bling of central Shanghai you can see the Chinese Dream. On the ground floor, Fonterra saleswomen scan the bone health of customers, customers who are much more likely to suffer from bone disease than their western counterparts. Up the escalator posters of Bond Girl Michelle Yeoh line the walls, selling Anlene, Fonterra's high calcium milk that can help prevent osteoporosis, to people who could never afford dairy in the past. The milk is sold in gift packs, which young, newly affluent, urban Chinese take home to their parents as presents on Chinese New Year. Bakeries are popping up around Chinese cities, the reciprocal version of Asian takeaways stores in the West. "They are all getting wealthier, not just in money sense but in world sense," said Kelvin Wickham, Fonterra China's managing director. Ad Feedback Wu moved back to the pace of Shanghai three years ago to work as business analyst for Fonterra China. "Things I experienced in the first six months here work wise, it would have taken me two years in New Zealand," she said. Her parents' life was regimented and restricted. Now China is open and free, far beyond Western perceptions, she said. Last year she went to a J Lo concert where the crowd knew every word. In May, the Backstreet Boys played took their comeback tour to Shanghai. But in such a rapidly moving mass, Wu sees pressure on her friends to succeed. Especially when the one-child policy means you are the sole output of your parents. If you are successful it is a sign they were successful. Her parents' friends in China call them in New Zealand asking why Wu hasn't got married. "When I first came to China I was 25. I felt fine in New Zealand. There were no pressures, we were all single girls having fun. I came to China, and all of a sudden I was old," she said. A CHILD IS also a significant investment. Education is expensive. And with the privatisation of the health sector and insurance sectors a wealthy child is the most secure retirement plan. Sitting with a double espresso in Beijing's Flat White Cafe, Jingyang Li is happily in the middle of the middle class. He is one of its lucky members. At 32 he is married, he has a newborn son, runs his own Mandarin Language school with 20 employees. His family has two homes in Beijing. One bought with a bank loan he will spend the next 20 years paying back, one gifted to his wife by her grandparents. They live in a good neighbourhood with good schools. "My life is better than my parents, and I think my son's will be better than mine," he said. But he sees many people struggling to make a new life in urban China. His sister moved to Beijing for greater opportunity, but her son does not have a Beijing ID card. This means education and health services are harder to get and more expensive. Li seems guilty his son has a local registration. As urbanisation increases, house prices in the cities - especially in areas with good schools - have become unaffordable. Government intervention in Shanghai and Beijing, including limiting married couples to owning one property, increasing minimum deposits for loans and a 20 per cent capital gains tax, have failed to relieve the property market. The cities are crowded and the pollution is real. The Beijing sky glows purple behind the smog and China's air pollution was linked to 1.2 million premature deaths in 2010, by the Global Burden of Disease Study. Food crises seem to crop up in the news each week. The people have growing power to get want they want in China. The middle classes appear happy to wait for political rights, but they want clean air now. They will pay a premium for safe traceable food and beverage. A savvy and active online community build and break brands' reputations. Launched on Friday, the NZ Pure Shop is an e-commerce platform selling New Zealand-made food and drink directly to China through its most popular online retailer, Tmall.com. The online store will reach more than 500 million registered users, selling Marlborough King Salmon, Sanitarium and Nelson Honey, in the hard to reach corners of China. China is becoming more and more aware of New Zealand's brand story of reliability and quality, said Aldo Miccio, chairman of NZ Inc Shop. "I think it is pretty cool that people are in China having Weet-Bix and New Zealand milk for breakfast," Miccio said. The middle class in China is still relatively small. "Mainstream consumers", those earning between $22,000 and $46,000 a year, made up just 6 per cent of the population in 2010, according to management consultants McKinsey & Co. This is still 80 million people. But if growth continues at its current rate, the current lower middle class will change the world. Within 12 years the world's middle class will double based on China's growth alone, according to John Ross, senior fellow at Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies. In China hundreds of millions of people will own a car, domestic and international tourism will become high priorities and life expectancy will increase as access to a good diet becomes universal. "If you look at the point of view of sheer numbers, the effect is going to be incredible. By then you will have a middle class of hundreds of millions," said Ross. China's growth still amazes Lucy Wu every day. "Look at how fast that Shanghai Tower is built. Every time I go across there it seems bigger," she said. Due to be completed in 2014, The Shanghai Tower will be 632 metres high, the world's second highest building. By 2030, and probably even earlier, the emerging middle class will again make China the world's largest economy. This is the third in a series of stories by Simon Day, who is in China to report on the growing relationship with our No 1 trading partner. Simon Day travelled courtesy of the New Zealand China Friendship Society. SIMON DAY Last updated 05:00 09/06/2013 http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/asia/8768722/The-emerging-Chinese-middle-class

Diamond chips are real gems

You could say takeaway shop owner Norman Num is a chip off the old block. Mr Num’s mother originally owned the fish-and-chip shop that is now Diamond Takeaways in Epsom. He bought into the business with his sisters 35 years ago, and turned it into a Chinese takeaway, which also does traditional Kiwi fish and chips. It was recently named Auckland’s best chip shop in the That’s Life Best Chip Shop competition. "We are very proud and privileged to have an award like this, because we are not a specialty fish and chip shop," Mr Num says. The chip king’s mother has now retired but his wife and children have become involved in the Great South Rd business. He says the award is a tribute to the effort the family has put into achieving high standards. The shop has picked up other awards in the past, including Metro magazine’s best Chinese takeaways and a radio station’s best take-away as voted by listeners. Mr Num says the staff members who are not family are from the same area of China as himself, Tai Shan county in the Guangdong province. It was formerly known as Canton and the food at Diamond Takeaways is based on Cantonese cooking. But chips are definitely an integral part of the business, he says. "A lot of things go hand in hand with chips. We always try to go for the best quality." The family started out peeling and pre-cooking their potatoes but now the chips are bought in and fried in top quality vegetable oil. "We have very discerning customers." Heart Foundation registered nutritionist Judith Morley-John was involved with setting criteria for the competition. Diamond Takeaways had to meet strict standards for the fat content, colour, crispness and cut of its fries. The chips were bought by a mystery shopper and analysed in a laboratory. This year’s six winning shops’ chips had an average fat content of 7.1 percent, down from 7.6 percent last year. "We’re just really impressed with what the takeaway shops are doing," Ms Morley-John says. The national winner was So Fine Seafoods in Wellington. - © Fairfax NZ News Last updated 11:49 27/11/2008 http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/central-leader/737144/Diamond-chips-are-real-gems

Ethnic dining in Christchurch

Christchurch is spoilt for choice of international cuisines, but are we making the most of what's on offer? A culinary journey I suspect I'm not alone when I associate the words "eating Chinese" with takeaways and plastic containers of chicken chow mein, steak fried rice or sweet and sour pork. While a plastic pack of Chinese cheerfully fills a Friday night gap in the supermarket shopping for us, it hardly qualifies as expert advice on where to go for the very best Chinese food in Christchurch. For help, I turned to someone much better informed than me. Grant Torrie, marketing manager at The Press, lived in China for two and a half years and is married to Jessie Wang, whose "home town" is the bustling city of Harbin (population: six million and rising). Of the numerous Chinese eateries in Christchurch, this couple have a clear favourite - Daphne's Restaurant at Church Corner. Curious to know why this one is special, and to get a feel for the real deal, I joined Grant and Jessie for dinner there. Over green tea, they told me Daphne's menu scores top marks for its authentic array of regional food, including hot and spicy Sichuan dishes from the southwest - popular throughout China - and also salty, pickled delicacies that echo the cuisine of Jessie's home province of Heilongjiang in northeast China. Harbin has a very cold winter so the local people preserve a lot of their food, using plenty of salt. Wheat is a more prominent part of their diet than rice, and is used in dumplings and pancakes. "Just wait until you bite into a Sichuan peppercorn - it'll make your lips go numb!" Grant said as we sipped our tea. He was right, of course. It was to be a night of spicy discovery. Starting with soup is not a northern tradition; Jessie prefers to kick things off with cold dishes. Tripe, beloved in the north, was on the menu, but instead we began with servings of pickled vegetables - cubes of salted turnip, dribbled with chilli oil - and sliced beef with chilli pepper dressing. The latter has a kind of fierce delayed heat to it, but is regarded by Jessie and Grant as merely "averagely spicy". I found it helped to have the green tea at hand to cool the mouth. Our third entrée roughly translated as "saliva chicken" - so tasty, one's mouth waters in anticipation of the next mouthful. In Harbin, it is also customary to begin with a bowl of roasted peanuts in the centre of the table. "You know you've been in China for a long time if you prefer to eat your peanuts with chopsticks," observes Grant, (although I was personally relieved not to face that challenge). Hot spicy flavours dominated the main course selections of Sichuan-style poached sliced beef in hot chilli oil, along with another fiery southern dish popular in Chongqing, griddle-cooked spicy chicken in a hot pot. Also on the table was a serving of a Daphne's house dish of deep-fried tofu on a sizzling plate with sweet chilli sauce. With a soft scrambled-egg consistency inside, these tofu bites were mercifully milder than the rest. Ad Feedback In short, it was Chinese food, but unlike anything from the corner Chinese takeaway - hot, full of chilli and not a noodle in sight. Dining at Daphne's reminds Grant and Jessie of memorable nights out on Beijing's celebrated "Ghost Street" or Gui Jie, home to more than 200 restaurants and some of the best specialty food in China. Daphne's is well-priced, too, with our three entrees, three mains and tea costing just $70 in total. For diners who don't like it hot, Daphne's does offer less challenging options. "Our goal is to bring real Chinese food to the local market, but if we have a group of Kiwis coming in, we do remind them that we can make it less hot and adjust the flavour if they wish," says Daphne Kiriaev, who owns and manages the restaurant. Daphne hails from mainland China, near Shanghai and her husband is Russian/Chinese. Other Chinese restaurants rated highly by Grant and Jessie include The Big Chef Kitchen in Burnside, specialising in dry, hot and spicy food from China's south-central province of Hunan, and the Shanxi Noodle House in Addington. Just like the plastic tub of Chinese takeaways, some of what passes for Indian food in Christchurch bears little resemblance to the original dishes, according to Bombay-born Aaron Sanchis, who has lived here for a decade. It can be difficult, for example, finding a good authentic butter chicken in Christchurch. Too much butter, cream and off-the-shelf tomato puree invariably spoils the flavour, he says. "Kiwis say they like the cream and butter, but the result is not butter chicken; it's more like a curry that is quite sweet and fatty." For a true Indian-style butter chicken, he suggests a visit to Corianders Restaurant in Edgeware, his favourite destination for "a taste of home". "It's pretty much authentic and the ingredients are fresh." Corianders also serves up two other "must-haves", namely delicious Bombay chicken (diced chicken fillet with freshly ground spices and herbs) and murg kadai (chicken cooked in thick gravy with crushed tomatoes, cream and fresh coriander). If seeking a hotter dish, he will sometimes order lamb rogan josh, (lamb chunks cooked in whole spices with onion, ginger and garlic, finished with a touch of coriander). "It's quite peppery and if you chew on the meat, you get the full flavour of the curry inside it." Aaron says no Indian restaurant worthy of the name ought to be serving up naan flat bread, tandoori chicken or chicken tikka not prepared over charcoal in a tandoor oven. "If your naan has not come from a tandoor oven, don't order it - and herbs like coriander should be fresh, not from a packet." He says New Zealanders also tend to think of "hot and spicy" as one and the same, where a lot of Indian food might be "hot or spicy". It is a mistake to think Indian food consists only of hot curry flavours. Other favourite dining destinations for Aaron are Two Fat Indians in Merivale - "again, it's beautiful food" - and Bombay Butler on Colombo St, which has "butler's venison" flavoured with Indian whole spices and herbs, along with a tasty chicken biryani and a good selection of vegetarian curries. He also recommends the Maharaja on Papanui Rd, Indian Sumner and the Indian Ocean in Ferrymead. Japanese-born Koji Miyazaki, owner of Form Gallery @ 468 Colombo St, has lived in New Zealand for more than 20 years, but still enjoys the flavours with which he grew up. His leading tip for finding a good Japanese restaurant is to simply ask where the chef is from. If they're from Japan, chances are they'll know how it's done. His top pick is Riccarton's Cookai, which brings "a little twist" to traditional Japanese food. "I like the way they present their food, the sushi and tempura," says Koji, who enjoys starting with sashimi. "It is simple fresh food - really nice." His recommendations from the a la carte menu include crispy tempura chicken with lemon soy sauce, and ginger pork. Donburi rice dishes - beef or chicken and egg - also feature on his list of favourites. For something a little more traditional, Koji suggests dining at Kinji Japanese Restaurant on Greers Rd, while a good lunch spot is the Samurai Bowl on Colombo St. "Try the beef gyudon for something a bit different." For tips on the best Thai restaurants in Christchurch, we went to Khunita Khemarangsan (Kang), 27, who is from Thailand and has lived in New Zealand for 12 years. She and her husband, Boris Kang, dine out for lunch most days and for dinner twice a week. One of their regular destinations is Thai fusion restaurant Spice Paragon, owned by Khunita's brother, Titi Khemarangsan. Spice Paragon mixes up the flavours of Thai cuisine with influences from this country's modern cooking style and is popular with both Kiwi and Thai diners. "There's a bit of Kiwi food in there, too, so, for example, the menu might include lamb shank mussaman curry and mashed potato, as well as fish green curry and rice," Khunita says. "My favourite starter would be the miang spinach leaf, which is topped with prawn or crispy belly pork or smoked salmon. We order that every time we go there. For the main, we always order the mussaman curry of slow-braised lamb shank on Asian sweet potato mash or the pad thai in egg net with free-range chicken, tamarind sauce, peanuts and lime." For a real taste of authentic Thai flavours, Khunita also loves dining at Hammersley's Thai restaurant (Shirley Rd). "They can make it pretty hot if you like lots of chilli! For Thai people, the food there is really spicy, though they usually tone it down for Kiwi clientele. It tastes a lot like the food I'd eat back in Thailand, so I'd recommend it if you're looking for that genuine taste of Thailand." Her "must-try" recommendation from Hammersley's is the tom yum chicken noodle soup. Sema's Thai Cuisine in Richmond is another favourite. "It's another fusion restaurant where a lot of Kiwi and Thai people go. It's really popular and the prices are very reasonable." She suggests trying the pad thai (stir-fry rice noodles) from any of these restaurants. For insight on the finer points of Italian food, I headed to Massimiliano Capocaccia's architecture studio in Sumner. Massimiliano, also known as Max, was born in Rome and has lived in Sumner for five years. He eats out several times a week, but finds many restaurants claiming to be Italian lack the authentic touch. He says Italian food sold here is frequently "over-complicated", weighed down with too many ingredients and flavours. Pizza is a big problem, Max says. "Take the margherita pizza. It should just have tomato and mozzarella, but instead I often find the topping is quite overwhelming and has lots of ingredients - and, unfortunately, the base is usually more like pie than pizza!" Similarly, too much sauce tends to be served with pasta and the sauce itself is often overloaded with too many ingredients and flavours. Max says Italians love to keep it "quite simple" with the four essentials: garlic, olive oil, chilli and tomato. For a true taste of Italy, Max heads to Tutto Bene in Merivale. "There I can speak Italian with the waiters and the owners and taste some real Italian food." His favourites include best-ever lasagne (with Tuscan rich meat sauce, vegetable and cheese sauce); mixed gnocchi (served with Napoli sauce or rich meat sauce); and bistecca florentina, (grilled T-bone steak served with rosemary and garlic vino rosso sauce or mushroom sauce). "It even looks very Italian there and they often play Italian music." Freemans Dining Room in Lyttelton gets rated highly, too, even though it is not a specialty Italian restaurant. "I've tried both their cannelloni and ravioli - delicious." I asked Max if he had a favourite dish from his days in Rome. He had to spell it out for me - salti in bocca alla romana - which is veal with ham and sage tied together with a toothpick. The name of the dish apparently translates as "jump in the mouth". And so ends my international food journey. All that remains is to decide which of these recommended dishes will "jump into your mouth" on your next dinner date. A guide to the city's international cuisine KIM NEWTH Last updated 08:40 29/11/2012 http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/christchurch-life/avenues/features/8008570/Ethnic-dining-in-Christchurch

On the cheap - Dumpling House

Sometimes it's good to target a place for a cheap eat where you can enjoy a meal and catch up with friends for minimal cost, or maybe buy decent, reasonably priced takeaways for everyone to tuck into at home. The Dumpling House in Claudelands village has helped out for these purposes since it opened about a year ago, and various dishes have been ferried back to our place since then. The generous servings of steamed dumplings are good for a crowd. Depending on what flavours you order, you get 20 plump dumplings for $10 to $12. The premises aren't flash for eating in - plastic chairs and metal-topped tables - and it's unlicensed, but the food is good and there are dishes not seen on the average Chinese takeaway menu, such as hotpot of snapper head and tofu, oxtails and vegetable hotpot, braised beef tendon, pig's intestine hotpot and pork and seaweed. A few ready-to-eat dishes are available in the warming cabinet, but most are ordered from the whiteboard menu. It seems to me that this menu has (thankfully) not been reinvented for Western tastes. The family who run the Dumpling House are from northern China and last Friday night when my friend Nicola and I called in for dinner, we were greeted warmly, even though it looked as if they were getting ready to close. Yes, they said, we could have a sit-down dinner, no problem. Steamed dumplings are a must here, so we shared an order of my favourites with lamb and carrot filling. Nicola chose another of my favourites for her solo dish, dumplings in hot and spicy chicken soup, and I had meatball and vegetable hotpot. Our dumplings were delicious, the wrappers silky and tender, the lamb and carrot filling delicate and delicious, and there were sides of chilli sauce and garlic and soy sauce to pep things up. The dumplings, which I guess we'd envisaged as a starter, arrived after our other dishes, so we just skipped between everything. My beef meatballs had a lovely hit of ginger, the broth was laden with glass noodles, neatly chopped carrots and Chinese cabbage. Nicola was similarly pleased with her spicy, fragrant soup, rich with dumplings, vegetables and flavour. Both dishes were piping hot and generous. We enjoyed a happy hour of food and conversation, split the bill of $30, and departed with a package of leftover dumplings that we couldn't make room for. You can't do better than that for a cheap eat. THE WRAP What: Dumpling House, 698 Grey St, Claudelands, Hamilton, ph 07 855 8968. Open Tuesday to Sunday, 11am to 8pm or thereabouts. Closed Mondays. Food: Chinese dumplings, stews, noodle soups, hotpots and more. Most dishes $10 to $12. Service: Friendly. Sometimes a few language difficulties, but there always seems to be someone who sorts things out. Bonus: Home cooking from China. - © Fairfax NZ News DENISE IRVINE Last updated 14:14 21/05/2012 http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/life-style/food/6959436/On-the-cheap-Dumpling-House

Sense of belonging'

A second generation Asian-Kiwi is inviting New Zealand First leader Winston Peters to visit the unofficial Chinatown segment of Dominion Rd after debate around ethnic signs. The findings of a Massey University study out last week say the proliferation of Asian signs around Auckland create a sense of belonging for new migrants. They estimate the city's Asian population is expected to make up a quarter of Auckland's 1.3 million people in five years time. The need to understand the city's "linguisitic landscapes" is critical, study co-author associate Robin Peace says. But Mr Peters says migrants should acknowledge they live in an English-speaking country. He says the study shows that migrant business attitudes must change. "Migrants who come to New Zealand are supposed to arrive with an understanding of the English language but many are failing to use it to integrate into this country." Mr Peters says the study found areas of New Zealand have become "ethnic precincts" where migrant businesses use foreign language to advertise – often alienating themselves from the wider community. He agrees with Auckland Chinese Community Centre chairman Arthur Loo who says it "would be nice" if migrant businesses made the effort to translate signs into English. Auckland resident Steve Chung says it's fair to call for some translation of ethnic signage but thinks it's only natural for cultural hubs to emerge. But a visit to the Balmoral shops on Dominion Rd around Wiremu St proves it is hard to find a sign that does not have some form of English translation already. Mr Chung would like Mr Peters to see the streetscape for himself. He says the community sees the signage as "acceptable". However Mr Peters responds: "There is English translation on some hoardings or advertisements but a number do not have it. That's really my point." Mr Chung says his generation has "Kiwi-ised". "My father came across in the 1940s. My mum was born here. The generation of my youth grew up with fruit shops and dairies." Mr Chung says his generation has had the privilege of going to university within New Zealand. He says Balmoral migrant business owners "are still establishing themselves". "They are a new generation of migrants. They have to earn a living. A lot of them came over here with limited English and so if they can sell things to their fellow immigrants then what's wrong with that?" Ad Feedback Albert-Eden Local Board chairman Peter Haynes wrote about the debate on his Facebook page. "Personally, I enjoy the cosmopolitan feel of Dominion Rd and never feel ill-at-ease when dining in any of the Chinese, Thai, Japanese or Indian establishments. "As my mother grew up on Dominion Rd, many of my earliest childhood memories are of visiting my grandparents there, so I've given the changing face of the road much thought." The Albert-Eden Local Board is hosting an exhibition of photographs which profile Dominion Rd. The images were taken by AUT University senior lecturer King Tong Ho to depict the changing face of the road. The exhibition runs until June 17 and is open weekdays from 8.30am to 5pm at 135 Dominion Rd, Mt Eden. - © Fairfax NZ News RHIANNON HORRELL Last updated 08:40 23/05/2012

Stationers a constant in changing Island Bay

Right in the heart of Island Bay's ever-changing central shopping area is one business that has stood the test of time. Island Bay Stationers, at 151 The Parade, has been operating since the early 1970s. The building itself is more than 100 years old. It was the first in a series of commercial buildings established around the intersection of The Parade and Medway St by the building firm J Odlin and Co from the early 1900s until the late 1920s. Previously used as a confectionery store and beauty salon, the premises has changed ownership several times. But since the 1970s it has remained a news agency and stationers under the ownership of Bill and Fay Far. Mr Far, who is of Chinese descent, came to New Zealand with his family in 1939. He helped his father operate a fruit market in Courtenay Place, before settling in Island Bay in 1951. He and his wife bought the business in 1973 and, according to Mrs Far, the business has remained virtually the same since. "We used to sell toys and gifts, but have always generally been a news agency," she said. "When I started I had a lot of children's books and still do." Although the customer base included people of all ages, there was no disputing the bestselling books. "Children's books are the most popular and they are my favourite. "The Robert Muchamore series has been a big seller. "The Enid Blyton books are older, but they are still very good sellers." Mrs Far said she had noticed significant changes in the nature of Island Bay shops. "Business is definitely less local now the supermarket has taken over. We used to have five greengrocer shops in this little area, four or five dairies, a butcher, an electrician, a boot shop and three draper shops. "We had everything," she said. Mrs Far said she had thought of selling the business, but said it was "never the right time because we have too much stock". She knows what she and her husband would like to do next. "At our age we wouldn't do anything. "We'd retire. We will - one day." - The Wellingtonian ONATHAN BASILE Last updated 10:04 08/04/2013 http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/local-papers/the-wellingtonian/8506900/Stationers-a-constant-in-changing-Island-Bay

Methodist link to Moxham Ave

Residents of Hataitai's main street, Moxham Ave, may not know there could be an underground river running through their back yards. In colonial times, the Waipapa Stream flowed through the suburb - from where the bus tunnel is now, down between Moxham Ave and parallel street Ruahine St, to the beach at Evans Bay. Today, it is a one-metre wide culvert under back yards in Moxham Ave. Despite a marine chart from 1826 that marked the stream outlet as "Good Water", by the beginning of the 20th century, residents wanted the council to declare it a public drain. In 1909 a petition was sent to the city council, asking it to cover in the Waipapa stream. Residents said it had been polluted by people emptying "slops" in it, creating a "menace to the health of the district". The debate between council and residents about whether to culvert the stream raged for two decades. Residents complained of flooding on their properties, and ponds or "cesspools" attached to the river filled with rotten matter emitting strong stenches. By the early 1920s, council had taken heed and covered the stream. But the problems had not been fixed. Residents complained of "very nasty smells" coming out of the mouth of the drains, and flooding continued on some of the properties until the 1950s. One group of early settlers made good use of Waipapa Stream. Chinese have lived in Hataitai since the early 1880s. when they grew vegetables in gardens watered by the Waipapa stream. By the 1920s there were several fruit and vegetable shops run by Chinese in Moxham Ave. The street was initially named Charles St, after wealthy land- owner Charles Crawford. However, the name was soon changed to Moxham Ave, after William Moxham, who arrived in Wellington in 1858 on the ship Montmorency. Mr Moxham was an early farmer of Upland Farm, which is now the Botanic Gardens in Kelburn. Although there is no evidence he had interests in the Hataitai area, it is likely there was a religious connection. He was heavily involved with early Methodism in New Zealand - a choirmaster, organ player, superintendent of the Sunday school and church trustee for the Manners Street Wesley Church. In 1895 the Methodist Church built a wooden church, Kilbirnie Wesleyan Church, at what is now 111 Moxham Ave. About a decade after it was built, the street got its name. By 1913 the Methodist Church had been transported on rollers to a more centrally located site in Waitoa Rd. Significant development, shop openings and the increasing population of the suburb, centred around the Waitoa Rd/Moxham Ave intersection, continued into the 1950s. Today, a small shopping centre is centred in Moxham Ave. In 2011 the city council added Hataitai Village shops to its heritage buildings. - The Wellingtonian MARY BAINES Last updated 09:17 11/01/2013 http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/local-papers/the-wellingtonian/features/8161284/Methodist-link-to-Moxham-Ave