Euroasia: Language, Culture and Travel

OK. This has nothing to do with language or culture… but it’s a topic of importance in the age we live in.

Are you backing up your data? I’ve been using MOZY, which is a free online backup solution, for about 2 years. One of my favourite pieces of software. Could be to do with the fact that it’s completely FREE. Sign up now and get 2.5GB of free space. You can sign up here. Pretty painless process:

http://mozy.com/?ref=3D4QPG

I’m a bit paranoid with data loss, so I make sure everything is backed up remotely, not on a portable hard disk or CD that I keep next to my PC. Some people I know store their backups on the laptop, together with everything else. I guess that’s a bit better than not doing any backups.

Recently I wrote that Britons are missing out on jobs at home and abroad because of their inability to speak languages other than English. Leonard Orban, the EU commissioner for multilingualism, says that small- to medium-sized companies in the UK are increasingly turning to foreign nationals to fill jobs that call for more than one language. In previous articles, I’ve explored the reasons why people need to learn a second language.

In recessionary times, it’s even more important to keep improving and to consider learning a second language. Now is the time to be upskilling to future proof yourself. The ability to speak a second language puts your business or your job prospects one step ahead of the competition. You are also demonstrating to future employers that you have what it takes to stick to something. Employers realise that people who embark on language learning have some key characteristics that are highly valued in such times: commitment and dedication being some key ones.

The reasons people give for not learning a language include lack of time, the cost involved and the difficulty of the subject area. Part of what makes knowing a language a great skill to have is simply because it’s not that easy for someone to acquire fluency. If it was, it would quickly lose it’s value and won’t be treasured as much.

Let’s think about it this way. What if you manage to land a big business deal in Asia or Europe, or secure a great job, because you speak a second language? What if you get yourself out of a sticky situation in a foreign country because you speak the local language?  What if you find the love of your life as a result of your language learning journey?  At Euroasia, we’ve seen these things happen, and we certainly deem it a privelege for us to play a small role in ensuring the success of our clients.

The economy may be going through recessionary times, but your personal life shouldn’t. This is the time to be preparing yourself for the next boom.

There is one final opportunity to enrol for a language course in 2008. Euroasia has an intake starting 10 Nov.

In spite of the scary stories told in “Horror tales from Chinese tourists” in today’s Business Herald, we must not lose sight of the potential of the Chinese tourism market. It was reported that Tourism Holdings will decide in the next month whether to keep pursuing the Chinese market. Graeme West of Tourism Holdings says “We can’t be out there everywhere – we have to target where we think we can get the biggest bang for our buck. The market is there. But do we want the yield the market is providing?”

It makes commercial sense to target the market generating the highest returns. But I’m afraid that many tourism providers may be short-sighted in the same way that many language schools in the early 2000s were. Back then, the Chinese started to go overseas in huge numbers and many new language schools were opened here in a free-for-all. In the end, Chinese students stopped coming for a variety of reasons. One reason is the negative publicity that arose from adverse media reports. Cowboys in the market also did a lot of damage, by short-changing students. The Chinese began to be seen as a new goldmine, and scores of students had bad experiences with shoddy schools, greedy homestay parents, and unethical tourism providers. Understandably, ripped off students won’t have good things to say about the New Zealand experience.

Many schools had to close down, and we have significant excess capacity to this day. Does that mean that China is a bad market to target? No. We’re just getting punished for our short-sighted view of the market. There’s a sense of deja-vu with what’s happening in the tourism sector now. We can certainly learn from the experiences of the language school sector.

Chinese outbound departures more than doubled in the last five years, from 16.6 million people in 2002 to 40.9 million people in 2007. The number of affluent Chinese has increased dramatically, which bodes well for tourism. The China-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement and loosening visa restrictions are making it easier than ever for Chinese citizens to travel here.

The 2007 Neilsen China Outbound Travel Monitor Report indicated that Europe is the top dream destination for Chinese travellers, followed by Australia and New Zealand. Surely, at a time when the desire to visit New Zealand is so high, we need to be intensifying efforts to target this market, not cutting back. Rob Finlayson, manager at Tourism Holdings Limited (who looks after Rotorua’s Rainbow Springs, Kiwi Encounter and Hukafall Jet boating), was quoted as saying “All they do is the Agridome and Te Puia.” He says even if he cut his prices in half they still would not attract Chinese visitors because “at the end of the day they only have to include two paid attractions”.

Similar to various tourism providers, a number of domestic retailers are also responding in the same way. The word is there’s no reason to focus on the needs of Chinese clients because there aren’t many that buy. It begs the question: do you not have many Chinese/Asian clients because there aren’t many around, or simply because you’re not set up to deal with Chinese/Asian clients?

I don’t know how we manage to conveniently forget that 1 in 5 residents are of Asian descent in the Auckland region.

Why is it that Chinese visitors have the lowest satisfaction levels (according to Tourism NZ data) of all those who visit this country? We need to talk to our clients to find out. But can we realistically do that if none of us actually understand the language spoken by our clients, let alone their culture?

Understanding the target market and taking a long term view of the value of the Chinese market is critical to success. We need to interpret our observations through the eyes of the Chinese. Let’s not allow our perspectives to be so coloured by our cultural baggage that we fail to capitalise on significant opportunities.

I just received an email from an old friend who now lives in London with the subject line: “Any recommendations on who to vote for?”  This came after my sister asked me last night, “how does one decide on whether to vote for National or Labour?”

“National’s colour is green right?… oops no, that’s National Bank”

I then asked my sister what’s the first thing you think of when I say National? “John Key”

She could be the odd one out. On more than one occasion, I have been asked by migrants: “Is John Key National or Labour?” Apparently, my sister’s friends at uni like the Greens because they have cool posters. I like their billboards too, not too sure about their policies, but yeah, they have nice artwork.

It got me thinking, how do people decide who to vote for? This question is particularly relevant for immigrants who have limited experience of New Zealand politics. Even more so for migrants who don’t understand the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system. And what if you don’t have much experience with the democratic process?

In many countries, politicians do not necessarily think of themselves as the people’s representatives, forgetting that the real bosses are the people who put them there.  In any case, in more corrupt democracies (oxymoron?), election results can be rigged.  As such, perhaps many immigrants may not understand the power in their hands.

In this article, I attempt to answer the frequently-asked-question “who should I vote for?” with a 5-point checklist for migrants.

For those of you too busy to read the long version, please scroll to the bottom of this article for a 3-point shortcut version that is applicable to Europeans, Maori, Pasifika, Asians and migrants of every ethnic group.

1) Register to vote.

This is first base. If you’re not registered to vote, you can’t just turn up to vote. Last day to enrol is 7 November (election next day on 8 November).  In New Zealand, even permanent residents are entitled to vote, not just citizens. Many PRs have told me they didn’t realise that. You have to be 18 years or older and have lived in New Zealand for one year or more without leaving the country.

2) Understand the New Zealand electoral process.

Each voter has two votes …

… a party vote and an electorate vote.

Your party vote …

… helps decide how many seats each party gets in parliament. 

The government will be formed by one or more parties with the support of enough seats to win important votes in parliament.

Parliament is currently made up of 62 general and 7 Māori electorate seats, plus 51 seats allocated from party lists, giving a total of 120 seats.

Your electorate vote…

… helps decide who becomes your local MP. 

Each electorate has a different selection of candidates to choose from.

Electorate candidates can include independents and candidates from parties not contesting the party vote. 

The candidate who gets the most votes wins the seat.

(Source: Elections website)

Most migrants understand the electorate vote, but many migrants have no idea what the party vote is. The party vote is critical because every vote goes towards a pool and at the end of the day, they work out the % of votes each party obtained. This is roughly the % of seats the party will have in Parliament.

More details can be found on the elections website.

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3) Decide what is important to you

What are you most passionate about? Education? Student loans? Economy? Health etc?  

What would you like to see changed? What are you absolutely certain about?

You want to choose a candidate/ political party that fights for what you believe in. BUT you would not be able to find a single candidate or party who would agree with you 100%. This is why you have to decide on what is important, and what you can compromise on. 

There are 2 main political parties in New Zealand. The current Government is led by the Labour Party (under Helen Clark). Polls indicate that National Party has a good chance of winning. Then again, last time around, the polls said the same thing, and Labour Party still managed to form government. Look through the political party websites to see what they stand for. 

National Party: http://www.national.org.nz/About/standsfor.aspx

Labour Party: http://www.labour08.co.nz/policies/

There are many other minor political parties including New Zealand First, Maori Party, Act Party, Greens etc. You can google them.

4) Check out the candidates and parties.

Find out who is standing in your electorate. Attend political talks and debates. You can look at the political party websites to see where the next seminars are. A good source of information is your local community newspaper (eg. Central Leader), which advertises the upcoming political debates, rallies and seminars.

Keep up with the elections news. TV and newspapers are the traditional sources of information. Check out the blogs too. Google Blogs: elections NZ

One of the great things with living in this country is seeing ordinary folk walking up to MPs, complaining about footpaths being too narrow, high food and petrol prices and schools not teaching enough maths, languages etc. What’s more amazing is how attentive politicians are, even when it’s not election season. Do not be afraid to talk to politicians and ask hard questions. Don’t worry. No one will laugh at your English.

Just because you’re Asian doesn’t mean you need to vote for an Asian. In fact, the pakeha guy may be more Asian-friendly than the Asian Similarly, European New Zealanders shouldn’t be afraid of voting for Asian politicians. This relates to the previous point: What is important to you?

5) Go with your heart.

The messages voters get are really confusing. It’s very hard even for born-and-bred Kiwis to decide on who to vote for, let alone migrants. Ultimately, after having done your research, you will then need to decide on which candidate or party that is closest to your ideal.  

Perhaps one reason I get asked by migrants who to vote for is because they are trying to seek confirmation that the candidate/party they have chosen is the “right one”. The fear is that because they don’t understand the New Zealand political process, perhaps there’s the risk of choosing the wrong party (say one which is anti-immigration).

My personal view is that both the main parties are not that far apart policy-wise.  Although I have decided on who to give my party vote to, I don’t think it’s the end of the world if either of the big party forms government. 

As for my electorate vote, I’m still having a tough time deciding between Richard Worth and Rodney Hide. 

p/s: Don’t ask who I’m voting for. I’m not saying

Who to vote? The 3-point version

OK you’re here because you’re too lazy to read my 5-point checklist, let alone do the research, so the shortcut way to decide on who to vote for is to:

1) Find 5 friends/family members who share similar values with you

2) Ask them who they are voting for and why

3) If you agree with their views, go with the majority vote.

I didn’t personally find National MP Lockwood Smith’s comments about Asians having small hands offensive. Of course, one would assume that senior politicians would be a bit more guarded with public comments.  Apparently, Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia said the comments were racist and she does not think he could now be immigration minister.

I don’t know if we’re all being oversensitive here, but do other Asians mind that Lockwood Smith mentioned what is widely accepted anyway ie. Asians have smaller hands than Europeans.

But just because this was widely accepted doesn’t mean it’s right, so I googled “do asians have smaller limbs?” Voila. First on the list: Journal of Applied Physiology study to back up Lockwood Smith’s case. For those of you more scientifically inclined, feel free to download the journal article for bedtime reading.

Skeletal muscle mass in prepubertal Asian children has not been examined previously. The aims of this study were to test the hypotheses that 1) prepubertal Asians have less appendicular skeletal muscle (ASM) mass compared with African-Americans and Caucasians, and 2) ASM is less in prepubertal Asian girls compared with Asian boys.

Anyway, my point is I’m struggling to figure out what is inherently wrong with him passing a comment like that in the context of a suggestion on how to solve the labour problems growers have. We have all heard stories of fruit rotting on trees because Kiwis don’t want to be fruit pickers.

I’m sure Lockwood Smith would have learnt from his mistakes, and next time he’ll say Asians make better surgeons because they have small hands, in which case, no one would complain.

Is anyone else tired of all the PC mumbo jumbo gobbledygook or is it just me?

I just got back from a Vietnamese dinner in Otahuhu, hosted by one of my Vietnamese friends. He had a theme going, which he called a Vietnamese “show-and-tell”. Nothing sleazy I assure you. The idea is every person brings something along to share with the rest. It has to be something related to Vietnam.

I have been thinking about this for days. Today I asked my colleagues to see what they thought. Peter suggested talking about the Vietnamese hat. I’m glad I didn’t as 2 other people talked about hats.

Instead I decided to talk about something that Vietnam is famous for in South East Asia. And that is for the prowess of their football teams. Vietnamese people are really into football (OK, so’s the rest of the world outside of NZ). Considering their size and economic status, they tend to do pretty well.

As a Malaysian, I’m pretty embarassed to see the Vietnamese constantly beating Malaysia’s football team. In the most recent incident, the Vietnamese Women thrashed Malaysia 11-0 in the group stage of the Southeast Asia Women’s Football Championship in Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday. I know my Malaysian friends will say I shouldn’t be writing about this. But this is what I shared…

Perhaps a better story than the alternative, which was to talk about bean sprouts…frankly that was the first thing that came to mind when I thought about Vietnam. You know the kind you get when you order raw beef noodle soup…

We have to start organising some show and tell events at Euroasia. French show and tell, Spanish show and tell etc.

I am sure at least some of you would be keen…

It’s almost a truism that liberally-minded, progressive people of the world make an effort to understand and appreciate other people’s cultures, no matter how different they might be from our own.  We might find practices ranging from arranged marriages to initiation ceremonies among Papuan tribes people a little strange, but we would not, heaven forbid, stand up and denounce them as “wrong”.  To do this would smack of cultural arrogance, imperialist hangovers or worse.

Does this mean, then, that everything deemed to be part and parcel of any culture is acceptable?

I think we have to distinguish between cultural practices and cultures in their entirety. No, we should not dismiss any culture in its entirety as “wrong”. There may be certain aspects of the culture which we find distasteful, but that does not justify our dismissing it out of hand; anthropologists have taught us to see that people with cultures which seem quite alien to us may actually lead happier lives than we do. When it comes to cultural practices, however, I would suggest that we might take a different point of view.

Culture is not static: very few cultures in the world are exactly the same as they were 200 years ago. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, it would have seemed entirely normal to most people within our western culture that children would labour in factories, that people would be sent to the other side of the world for stealing a loaf of bread, or hanged for poaching. Our culture has moved on from that, and most of us are happy to see that it has. Closer to home, cannibalism was once part and parcel of the culture of certain Pacific nations, including New Zealand – it no longer is; the culture has moved on.

Undesirable practices can be eliminated from cultures without the culture in its entirety turning to dust. And perhaps there are today still certain cultural practices which we really should not be tolerating. The problem, though, is how we determine what is “undesirable”.

We come back to cultural arrogance. We might well denounce some “primitive” initiation ceremony, yet perhaps the practitioners of such ceremonies might well denounce certain aspects of our culture, possibly the materialism and greed which threaten the stability of the earth. Which of the two cultural phenomena represents more of a threat?

I think there are criteria which might help us to determine whether we can, and perhaps should, denounce certain cultural practices with a clean conscience. For example, if the practice clearly results in permanent physical harm, if it is inflicted upon children or anyone against their will – then I think there is a clear case for condemning it. A case in point is female genital mutilation, practised in certain African cultures. In this instance, the criteria just mentioned clearly apply, and I think we can say this practice is wrong and should be stopped. That does not mean that we condemn lock, stock and barrel the cultures espousing it, but it does mean that this one aspect of their culture should disappear.

This is fine, but what actually do we say in response if we asked to change one of our cultural practices and stop destroying the planet?

French is the second most popular language at Euroasia, after Spanish. Here are some reasons why you should consider learning French:

• Together with English and Spanish, French is one of the most international of European languages, spoken in all the continents of the world.
• French was for centuries the international language of diplomacy and culture; it’s still important in those fields.
• The French-speaking world has contributed an enormous number of great artists, writers, philosophers and scientists.
• France has a large economy with a huge international presence.
• Young Kiwis can go and work in France, Belgium or Canada for one year under a working holiday scheme.  A knowledge of French would obviously make a huge difference to anyone’s job prospects.
• France itself has an incredible variety of scenery, from the rugged Atlantic coast, to the beautiful central valleys, to the Alps, to the Mediterranean landscapes of the south.  It offers great opportunities for outdoor activities.
• French cities are active, busy places, where there is always a lot going on.  They have a unique café culture, and there are great opportunities for cinema, theatre, eating out and clubbing.
• French cuisine is world-renowned, and French is still the international language of cooking, so at least a smattering of the French language is useful for chefs and food enthusiasts.
• If France seems a long way off, New Caledonia and French Polynesia are more accessible holiday destinations.  And they are very French!  Even a limited knowledge of the French language can enrich and enliven your tropical holiday.
• Much like speakers of English, French speakers tend not to be very enthusiastic about speaking other languages, so in France, for example, there is no guarantee you will find someone prepared to speak to you in English!

Find out more about learning French with Euroasia.  Or to enrol for a French course, check out the French timetable!

Courses start week of 13 October.