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New Zealanders are coming into increasingly close and frequent contact with Asia and its people, through short-term visitors (tourists, students and business people), and longer term through immigration from the region to New Zealand. Already, there is a growing Asian flavour to New Zealand’s identity: New Zealand residents of Asian ethnicity increased by 50 per cent from 2001 to 2006, to make up nine per cent of our total population. In Auckland, our largest city, 19 per cent of residents identified themselves as Asian.
One factor that will shape perceptions of New Zealand in the Asian region is how New Zealand as a whole reacts to its growing Asian population. According to an Asia New Zealand Foundation study, contact between people of Asian descent and non-Asian New Zealanders is largely positive, but there is always room for improvement. We could do with more New Zealanders who are confident in their dealings with Asia and Asian societies, and that will only come through greater familiarity and knowledge of the region and its peoples.
Developing our national identity is one of the Government’s key priorities. Our Asian
communities can contribute towards this effort. New Zealand’s growing diversity brings
with it a cultural richness, but can also test traditional values and beliefs. There are
several inter-agency projects underway to ensure that new New Zealanders feel
included, are assisted in their efforts to understand our New Zealand way of life, and
have opportunities to offer something in return.
The programmes include:
The endeavours of local government, the Asia New Zealand Foundation and many others across the private sector, academia, science, arts and cultural organisations, and NGOs have ensured that our non-offi cial contacts with Asia have grown rapidly, which in turn supports greater internationalisation.
Christchurch and Kurashiki, Japan, have New Zealand’s longest-standing sister city relationship (which arose initially from a shared interest in civic gardens). It has now expanded beyond education and cultural exchanges into research, technology, services and possible business linkages. Known as a “digital city”, Kurashiki is a Japanese testbed for advanced information and communications technology. Supported by the Government’s Leveraging Aichi Project and the development of New Zealand’s own “KAREN” advanced network, Christchurch is aiming to link into Kurashiki’s electronic “super-highway” advanced network that connects local government, emergency services, communities and schools with the rest of Japan and beyond. Canterbury Development Corporation hopes to set up an advanced network connection to Kurashiki via Seattle (also a sister city), which would enable Christchurch also to become a testbed for next-generation internet technologies and applications from Japan.
The Asia New Zealand Foundation was established in 1994 to improve New Zealanders’
awareness and understanding of Asia. More recently, it has focused on identifying the
skills that New Zealand will need to engage on a new level with Asia and on working
actively with key sectors in New Zealand to implement its strategies. The Foundation’s
commitment to the relationship with Asia is highly complementary to that of
the Government. top of page
We need to understand more about Asia and its diverse peoples and cultures. Current levels of knowledge about Asia vary a great deal between individuals. The challenge we face as a country is to ensure New Zealanders have the chance to gain sufficient knowledge about Asia to take up the opportunities the region offers, and to enable New Zealand to remain competitive in a global economy.
Asian skills, not only in languages, are in short supply among non-Asian New Zealanders, particularly so in conjunction with business. To succeed in an increasingly globalised environment, we need access to overseas networks, and linguistic and intercultural skills in ways that we have never needed them before.
Developing and utilising our capability in Asian languages must become a priority as we accelerate the tempo of relations with Asia. It will be necessary to extend the limited range of Asian languages currently offered for study in New Zealand schools and tertiary institutions, and to better link them to needs in areas such as business, law and IT. (For a comprehensive discussion, refer to the New Zealand Asian Studies Society’s Knowing Asia: The Challenge for New Zealand’s Tertiary Education Sector, September 2004.)
Our education institutions have an important role to play in teaching knowledge about Asia as well as language skills. The new national curriculum gives greater priority to language learning than in the past, including Asian languages, in New Zealand schools. To follow up this, the Government is now working on a draft languages strategy. Greater flexibility provided with the curriculum will also make it possible for teachers to enhance knowledge about Asia by bringing learning about Asian nations and cultures into existing subjects such as art history, social studies and geography. More broadly, the revised curriculum will help equip New Zealanders to thrive in an inter-connected world.
Equally significant has been the contribution made by our universities and other
education providers in forging their own links with the region, including through
their scholarships, research collaboration and joint degrees. They are making good
use of alumni networks to build on existing connections and to advance new
education links. Asian students returning to their home countries with positive firsthand
experiences of New Zealand play an important role in promoting New Zealand, as well as forming a valuable pool of potential employees for New Zealand
companies. On the fl ip side, the forthcoming Tertiary Education Strategy will
encourage New Zealand students to take up opportunities for international
experience, including in Asia, as they complete their qualifi cations.top of page
The University of Auckland’s student population is 38 per cent ethnically Asian (the majority of whom are domestic students). The University’s strong international focus has helped it evolve into a world-class centre of learning. It hosts the New Zealand Asia Institute and New Zealand’s largest academic Chinese language and China Studies programme.
The University has a long history of links with China, with bilateral and multilateral partnerships with top-tier Chinese universities, such as Beijing University and Fudan University, and it has one of the highest enrolments of students from China of any research university internationally. Its research collaboration with China, which ranges from bioengineering and public health to advanced materials and the social sciences, can benefit both countries in terms of innovation and lifting global competitiveness.
The Confucius Institute was established in 2007 jointly by the Office of Chinese Language Council International and the University of Auckland, along with partner Fudan University. The aim of the Institute is to promote Chinese language and cultural skills as well as to connect New Zealand and China. The Confucius Institute offers business Chinese courses and consultancy and translation services.
Sponsored by the Japanese government, the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme promotes grass-roots international exchange and intercultural understanding with other countries. More than 2,000 New Zealanders have participated in the programme from its inception in 1987 as assistant language teachers, international relations co- ordinators at local government level, and sports education advisers. These experiences have created many lasting friendships between participants and their local colleagues, with a number of New Zealanders returning to work, do business or study in Japan following the completion of their JET contracts. Their efforts contribute to a positive view of New Zealand in the eyes of Japan’s government and citizens.
Cultural diplomacy has a valuable role in building New Zealand’s image and brand offshore in support of our wider objectives. Presenting ourselves as a diverse, talented and creative nation, as we are, influences the way in which we are perceived in other areas, such as business, education and the sciences. The Government’s Cultural Diplomacy International Programme’s focus on Asia is helping to form useful links, through such vehicles as exhibitions and performances, film festivals, and New Zealand documentaries designed for broadcast in China. Creative New Zealand has international artist residencies in the region, as does the Asia New Zealand Foundation which is also funding exchanges of art managers. The Government has been active in developing screen co-production agreements and co-operation arrangements in Asia, with such agreements reached already with Singapore, Korea and China.
New Zealand and Korea share an international reputation for excellent and innovative film-making, and are increasingly collaborating on feature films and TV dramas. Several Korean films have been partially made or post-produced here, including Silmido (the second highest box-offi ce success in Korea), Old Boy (winner, Cannes Film Festival 2004) and Antarctic Journal. There are several major Korean TV and fi lm productions shooting or in development in New Zealand.
Black Sheep is a New Zealand film made with New Zealand and Korean funding, the latter from Daesung Group, which has a business alliance with Park Road Post. Weta Workshop provided the special effects for this film, and Weta’s Richard Taylor also conducted workshops and exhibited studio props in Korea at the Pucheon International Fantastic Film Festival. The year 2005 was pivotal for the bilateral film relationship: an audiovisual co-operation arrangement was signed, and a fi lm festival toured five Korean cities, making it the largest cultural diplomacy event ever mounted by New Zealand in Korea. The well-attended Korean Film Festival took place in New Zealand in 2006, having previously been held in 2004.
Maori culture is a unique aspect of New Zealand and sets us apart in a crowded market. It resonates most strongly in an Asian context when incorporated in programmes managed on a “New Zealand Inc” basis which seek to provide a broad understanding of New Zealand.
New Zealand’s Asian communities are making a growing contribution to cultural life in New Zealand. So the emergence of gifted young artists and performers of Asian descent, many of whom are exploring their identity as Asian New Zealanders, is a welcome trend. Local communities and councils have been active in recognising our diverse heritage, and events such as the Chinese Lantern festival and the Indian Diwali festival have become very popular. Close to 10 per cent of Auckland’s population, for example, attended the Diwali celebrations in 2006.
New Zealanders also deserve opportunities to learn about the changing face of Asian
culture. In many Asian countries there is a vibrant and contemporary cultural scene.
Knowing what is of interest to Asian audiences can hone our dealings with the
region beyond the cultural sector. There is already willingness in the cultural
community to engage with Asian audiences. The challenges are in knowing how to
go about doing this most effectively, how to develop the appropriate networks and
how to build Asia expertise. Work is underway to create networks with New Zealand’s
Asian communities.top of page
The media has a role to play in providing timely and relevant information about Asia to New Zealanders. We need that information on trends and changes occurring in the region for a variety of reasons – policy-making, targeting consumer markets, risk analysis and so on. More in-depth reporting from Asia by the mainstream media would lift New Zealand’s understanding of the complex global business environment. International cable news channels – while they can be highly informative – do not necessarily serve our needs. The internet offers an alternative supply of information but it can also be overwhelming for businesses and other users. In addition to these existing resources, we require news on Asia which is concise, timely, relevant to New Zealand and able to offer a New Zealand perspective on what is happening.
Students at Auckland University of Technology and Massey University journalism schools have the opportunity to apply for internships in China, Indonesia and Cambodia and, more recently, India. Complementing media scholarships offered by the Asia New Zealand Foundation, this will help address the need for more New Zealand journalists with Asia exposure.
In-depth coverage of Asian matters in our mainstream media has increased in recent years, particularly in business journalism which has long recognised the importance of Asia. Asia New Zealand Foundation media exchanges have given journalists the opportunity to experience Asia first-hand, while the Seriously Asia Fund has brought Asian journalists to New Zealand. There is now a small but growing number of journalists of ethnic Asian descent working in the New Zealand mainstream media.
Media coverage of the region overall still tends to be intermittent. The lack of a regular news feed or New Zealand-employed correspondents based anywhere in Asia is a big gap. We do not expect this to be resolved in the foreseeable future, given the resource commitment it would require from New Zealand news organisations.
Nor is it solely a resource issue: in today’s competitive media marketplace, stories must carry strong New Zealand angles. So the challenge is to find new ways of turning this around. New Zealand media could make greater use of good-quality contributors and columnists (the use of ethnic Asian writers and bloggers in this context has been a welcome move). There is potential for greater partnering between public and private sectors in identifying media stories, as well as exploring the possibilities of dedicated website links to Asian media (see Asia Society’s Website [external link]) and setting up targeted subscriber lists.
The launch of Air New Zealand’s direct service between Auckland and Shanghai in 2006 demonstrated how the Government and private sector can work with the media. Air New Zealand flew 19 journalists on the inaugural flight to Shanghai, while New Zealand Government agencies in China assisted with identifying possible themes and putting the journalists in touch with contacts. In addition, Air New Zealand arranged media familiarisation visits to China during 2006 that involved 20 print and TV journalists. The outcome was a series of articles and interviews in the New Zealand media across a wide range of areas including politics, business, human interest and travel.
...New Zealand needs Asian migrants with trade, investment and technology skills and other international connections to support the efforts underway to transform the economy...
In looking to increase our Asia knowledge and skills we should recognise that
migrants from Asia are a resource within New Zealand which already possesses that
expertise. Tapping into the networks and skills of New Zealand nationals and
residents of Asian descent makes good sense. Those migrants who possess business
networks and entrepreneurial skills are usually keen to give something back to their
new homeland. Indeed, ever since Chinese gold miners arrived in New Zealand in the
1860s, settlers from Asia have been making important contributions. Chew Chong,
for instance, was a key fi gure in the development of New Zealand’s dairy export
industry, and was responsible for giving us the pound of butter. Early New Zealand
life, however, was not easy for people from Asia, something which has been
acknowledged through the Government’s process of reconciliation.top of page
FIANZ is doing its part to help shape our image abroad. Regarded as a credible interlocutor by Muslim countries, it has been able to explain New Zealand’s stance on issues of importance to the Islamic world, for example, New Zealand’s position on Iraq and the Danish cartoon controversy in 2006. FIANZ enjoys a close relationship with embassies of Muslim countries, which enables it to promote New Zealand as a fair, open and tolerant society, something which it also does with visiting Muslim leaders from Asia. FIANZ president Javed Khan is playing a key role in New Zealand’s interfaith dialogue process. FIANZ has also been helping facilitate access for our meat exports in markets in Asian Muslim countries.
Immigration from Asia makes an important contribution to New Zealand’s economy and society. Asian migrants already constitute a significant part of the migrant flow into New Zealand. With their families, the people who come here to work and live help build and sustain our future. The world in which our immigration system operates and in which we work is changing rapidly – people are more mobile than ever before, a global labour market is increasingly becoming a reality and the competition for skilled people is becoming intense. New Zealand needs Asian migrants with trade, investment and technology skills and other international connections to support the efforts underway to transform the New Zealand economy.
A sustainable, well-managed and balanced immigration programme is one of the keys to New Zealand’s economic transformation. The Government is embarking on the most significant overhaul of immigration legislation in 20 years that will also encompass changes in policy and service delivery. This will lead to improvements in service and timeliness, more targeted marketing and enhanced student processes – all of which will help New Zealand to attract the skilled migrants it wants and needs from Asia.
Working holiday schemes, which encourage young people from Asia to work in New Zealand for a limited time – and vice versa – are of growing importance to businesses and to people links. They can lead to permanent migration in the future. New Zealand’s first working holiday scheme was with Japan, and this proved very successful. There are now some 25 schemes in place, including with Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand.
...A sustainable, well-managed and balanced immigration programme is one of the keys to New Zealand’s economic transformation...
Just as international experience and research collaborations are regarded as invaluable
for New Zealand scientists, skilled researchers from Asia are an important part of our
science workforce. Thirty per cent of university-qualifi ed people in New Zealand in
2001 were born overseas and, of this, 20 per cent identifi ed as Asian. New Zealand
receives a large proportion of its science and technology workforce from Asian
countries and has done so since 1979. top of page
Some new migrants from Asia find it difficult to settle here. Employment has been a problem in the past, with new migrants generally the last to be hired – although our very low unemployment and extensive skills shortages have helped change that. Through the revised settlement strategy, initiatives are underway involving central government agencies, local government, chambers of commerce and NGOs to assist migrants into supportive work environments that can provide socialisation and an opportunity to pick up cultural and communication skills.
The Wellington Regional Chamber of Commerce and Victoria University’s Centre for Applied Cross-Cultural Research have been working together on a study to examine the issue of cultural diversity in the workplace. The study showed that employers were reluctant to employ migrants because of their lack of English language fluency, but once a migrant had actually been employed then this ceased to be a factor. Businesses employing migrants reported high rates of satisfaction. Some of the benefits gained included migrants’ positive attitudes and commitment towards their jobs, their ability to bring new ideas and knowledge, and international experience and contacts.
Glidepath is a world-leading New Zealand company designing and developing airport baggage handling systems. Offering a fully integrated product that includes check-in systems, high-level software, scanning and sortation technology, 10 per cent of Glidepath’s New Zealand-based employees are Asian New Zealanders. They have been hired for their technical skills, such as engineering, but with the company focusing increasingly on the China market these employees are also called upon for their language and cultural skills.
Healtheries of New Zealand is a sophisticated national and international marketer of branded consumer health foods and mussel extract and colostrum products, achieving NZ$21.5 million in export sales in 2006. Just under 10 per cent of Healtheries employees are Asian New Zealanders, ranging from laboratory technicians to night-shift workers. Staff are employed on the basis of being the best candidate for the job, and the company runs a literacy programme for non-fl uent English speakers. Employees of Asian origin can bring the requisite language skills, plus the ability to set up networks in the Asian region, that are strengthened as they gain more understanding of New Zealand and the company.
Augen was the first New Zealand IT company to set up a business in Viet Nam. Both the Auckland and Ho Chi Minh City offices are run along integrated lines, and staff are encouraged to become comfortable in both settings. Director and co-founder, Vietnamese-born Mitchell Pham, arrived in New Zealand as a young refugee and says that establishing a presence in Viet Nam would have been a lot more diffi cult if he did not have the language or ability to establish contacts quickly. He acknowledges that there are lots of barriers to operating in Asia, but that there are ways to get around those. Using its strong New Zealand-Asia links, Augen has recently developed a business model designed to help New Zealand software companies export to Asian markets.
Helping new Asian New Zealanders become “New Zealand literate” will allow them to become involved fully as New Zealanders and to enjoy life in this country. Our Asian communities, both new and old, give us a significant advantage in the wider world. Despite the challenges of uprooting from one home to another, New Zealanders of recent Asian descent are already playing a valuable role in our country and contributing to New Zealand’s reputation for being open and multicultural.
...Diversity enriches our social and cultural environment, helps create a sustainable national identity and increases our global awareness...
A leading lawyer, judge and ombudsman, Anand Satyanand became the first New Zealand Governor-General of Asian descent when he was appointed in 2006. Born and raised in Auckland, the Governor-General’s family is of ethnic Indian background, migrating to Fiji in 1911 before moving to New Zealand.
Shanghai born and Hong Kong raised, Pansy Wong emigrated to New Zealand in 1974 and became our first New Zealand Asian MP in 1996. She attracts considerable interest whenever she visits the Asian region, and speaks Mandarin, Cantonese and Shanghainese. Dr Ashraf Choudhary, a leading international scientist and community leader, became New Zealand’s first Muslim MP in 2002. Dr Choudhary was born in Pakistan and has lived in New Zealand since 1976.
Sukhinder (Sukhi) Turner, who has links with India, was elected Mayor of Dunedin in 1995 and re-elected in 1998 and again in 2001. Dunedin then elected Peter Chin, a lawyer and opera singer of Chinese descent, as Mayor in 2004. His Chinese background adds another dimension to Dunedin’s sister city relationship with Shanghai, China’s main commercial centre. The Maori-speaking Mayor of Gisborne, Meng Foon, elected in 2001 is also of Chinese descent.
New Zealand recognises and respects diversity of views and values. It is important that our diverse communities are joined by a shared commitment to the future of our country. Recent unrest in some European cities has underlined how important it is to address the needs of new New Zealanders and their children, and to create a sense of belonging. This is a matter of striking a successful balance between finding elements that link us while allowing New Zealanders of all backgrounds to maintain and share their diverse cultures and beliefs. Diversity enriches our social and cultural environment, helps create a sustainable national identity which is in keeping with our global context, and increases our global awareness.
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