Asians go home!
Yes, it must be election time again. And once again it’s time to pick on the Asians.
Why is it that it’s always Asians and Arabs that get picked on? How come no one’s calling for Pacific Islanders to be sent home? Is it because they are bigger and hence more likely to win a fist-fight?
I expect comments like those made by New Zealand First Deputy Leader Peter Brown to increase in frequency as the general election approaches. Of course migrants need to integrate. It goes without saying. Why else would they come to this faraway land and leave their friends and family behind if they had no desire whatsoever to integrate? In any case, effective settlement does not depend on immigrants adopting a new set of values and behaviours and ditching their own.
It must be a 2-way process. Most migrants are not interested in building “Asian mini-societies”. I think those who do have no choice, having been rejected by the host community. Browsing through the Herald reader responses to Peter Brown’s comments, I think I can safely say that the sad fact is a significant number of locals believe Asian migrants should drop everything they believe in and adopt “Kiwi” ways of life – whatever that means. I have come to the conclusion that when locals say you have to “be Kiwi”, in reality the message is “be like me”. One respondent said “with the influx of immigrants from different ethnic groups, our culture and values are changing. It seems, so as to not offend these newcomers, our public Christmas celebrations have been watered down!” Another: “Silly that we let so many people into this country that can speak little if any English at all”.
The fact is most migrants can speak English, and can speak it well, some even better than locals. If we measure the desire to integrate on the basis of language ability, my guess is 90% of migrants speak good enough English for most jobs. However, 90% of born-and-bred Kiwis speak only one language well, ie English. So who’s not really wanting to integrate here? Of course you would argue that this is an English-speaking country, but doesn’t the fact that most Kiwis can’t speak any other language and have little desire to do so a sad indictment?
I feel a little uncomfortable writing this, seeing I have many good friends who are of New Zealand European or Maori descent, and I can’t say that they have ever told me to be more Kiwi in a derogatory way. OK maybe sometimes, when I express my dislike for vegemite or weetbix. It would be most unfair for me to tar all Kiwis with the same brush, in the same way that those people who have responded on the Herald website have concluded about Asian migrants.
Many Asian migrants are sick and tired of all this rubbish. They don’t want to be treated in this manner anymore. Especially not in the new New Zealand, where 1 in 4 residents was born overseas.
This could explain why Asians and other immigrants are swinging to National in this election at twice the rate of any other group, according to a Herald survey. Of 38 “Asians and others” asked, 21 said they voted Labour last time, and only 8 are staying with the party this year. Whether this is fair, I don’t know.
But I’ll be Kiwi now and just call it like I see it.
Hi Friend,
I’m an asian immigrant(born in South Korea),
and very interested in New Zealand culture&values. I think that your writing makes reasonable arguments about the invisible mechanism formulated within this society. My opinion is very similar to yours. I have been in NZ for 12 years. For this long period of time, I’ve tried to know social etiquette of New Zealander and their ‘priority’. I was ready to abandon my original culture and etiqutte because foreigners in ‘Rome’ should do as ‘Romans’ do.
But I find that many of NZ europeans and Maoris want to abstain from logical communication with asian immigrants. It seems that many asians are actually stereotyped or even dehumanized in the worst case. And eventually they are viewed as cultural threat to New Zealand. Actually, many of asian immigrants(at least 60% of them) want to ‘study’ New Zealand but feel strong rejection from local Europeans and Maoris. So they find it extremely difficult to be given opportunities for learning real Kiwi values. You’ve mentioned that many of those immigrants speak good English. That’s right. But one sad fact is that they normally feel nervous when talking with Kiwis.(So their tongues get rigid.Not a joke.) Many oversea-born asians think that even a little mistake in speaking English can cause a negative reaction from kiwis.
Personally I oppose to any open policy that permits more asian immigrants, especially by two reasons:
first, we need to wait until these immigrants become culturally ‘New Zealanderised’. Unless this is done, it seems dangerous to implement the open immigration policy. For faster process, intermediate schools and high schools should introduce works of the brilliant New Zealand artists such as Colin Mccahon, Rita Angus, etc and NZ writers such as Margaret Mahy,Joy Cowley, Owen Marshall, etc, in terms of ESOL course and social education.
Apart from students, asian adults need to learn the core of New Zealand culture through public libraries or open seminars of the universities. It is not good enough to simply watch NZ pop singers or shortland street on TV. Many asians are ‘classical’. They want to see the central concept which has directed NZ culture.
Second, it seems very important to adjust the New Zealand cultural identity within Neo-European + Neo-Maori sentiment. This second part is fully of my opinion. New Zealand, in my viewpoint, has European sentiment but it is not merely european. It has something else which makes it distinct and unique. I would say it is ‘fantasy-novel’ sentiment. Lord of the Ring could support this aspect. And Maori culture is now without the strong wilderness. But rather became more beautiful and sophisticated. Well, traditional maori songs are also very beautiful.
Thank you for reading.
i am not against asians but fed up with the taking all we have while the idiotic polititians and police bow to them and actively support them and go against there own people
c nicholson, I don’t understand how the politicians and police are bowing to the Asians. can you please elaborate?
I’m asian and my original plan was to settle down here.However I’m fed up of the treatment I get here.What is it about asians that you hate so much?Is it all the money we are bringing to the economy?So to kiwis who want me to go home,you win,this place is not worth my effort anyway.I’ll go where I’m appreciated for my contributions.
For those who are considering migrating to NZ I suggest you have a look at http://www.expatexposed.com before deciding.And to all you who made my life hell, what goes around comes around.
Peters is an idot, like most politians a hypocrate ,forget him.
Asisans are beat folks and I hope they can enjoy there life in Nz
I never surport racists
I am of s Asian descent and I have lived in Nz for the last 13 years. I have met many second genetration Asians in this country and I have felt many times that even these Asians are not regarded as Kiwis …I don’t understand why is that
@U I think you would find that people inherently have prejudices. We can’t help it. For example, you would naturally be scared if you were walking down a dark street in a dodgy area, and some random guy started walking towards you and he’s covered with tattoos, wearing a hoodie, and holding a bottle of cheap whisky. This is perfectly natural because you have been taught to think in this manner or if you’ve had a bad experience in the past. Sometimes these sort of reactions are helpful.
What’s not so helpful is if people think just because someone is Asian, they can’t speak English well and can’t relate with other Kiwis. This means Asians are then systematically excluded from business and career opportunities.