Post by NZBC on Jun 24, 2007 20:25:02 GMT 12
www.pjreview.info/issues/docs/10_2/pjr10_2reviewsfaces.pdf
An identity storywithout end New Faces, Old Fears, directed by JohnBates and Manying Ip, DocumentaryNew Zealand, TV One.
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MEDIA OWNERSHIP AND DEMOCRACY208 PACIFIC JOURNALISM REVIEW 10 (2) 2004 The expense meant the Chinesecommunity remained largely a popu-lation of bachelors, sojourners whonever expected to stay. Little wonder then that by the 1920s the New Zea-land population was in steep decline.Paradoxically, the hysterical andwidespread vitriol prompted by fearsof the ¡®Yellow Peril¡¯ was fanned whenthe Chinese in New Zealand amountedto about 5000 people.New Zealand¡¯s official positionchanged when China became an allyin the Second World War. For hu-manitarian reasons Chinese refugees,including women and children arrivedto settle. By the time of the Commu-nist Revolution in 1949, many of the children and younger members of thecommunity regarded themselves as New Zealanders. Several fought inthe armed forces. Families had beenraised here. New Zealand had be-come home.Most of what can now be calledthe New Zealand-born community canbe traced from that influx. Nor was iteasy for them. As Stan Chun, a former air force man and greengrocer re-counts in the documentary, he had toface the threat of assault while verbalracial abuse was a constant. By the1970s historian and archivist Nigel Murphy suggests there was a ¡®social contract¡¯, namely that if the New Zea-land Chinese population kept its headssuccessive governments have failedto make much use of the human capi-tal. Among many similar stories, thedocumentary records the experienceof Nadia Chen, an experienced, well-qualified team leader in intensive carenursing who unable to find a job in thearea was forced to switch to sellingreal estate. Good on her for making ago of things, but surely New Zealandneeds ICU nurses more than real es-tate agents? The sense of waste ispalpable.As the documentary recounts, forthe newcomers there was little sup-port available for people adapting to anew country and customs. It was as ifthe bureaucrats expected the new ar-rivals to fit into New Zealand as eas-ily as earlier Chinese migrants seemedto have done. If that was what theythought, they had little grasp of theircountry¡¯s own history.The first Chinese to arrive in NewZealand came at the invitation of theDunedin Chamber of Commerce towork the gold fields in 1866. Beforethe 19th century ended the climatehad changed, anti-Asian sentimentwas simmering and the Governmentbrought in the discriminatory poll tax that limited the number of Chinesemigrants to one person for every 100tonnes of cargo and payment of a taxthat would eventually rise to 100pounds, a small fortune at the time.
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PACIFIC JOURNALISM REVIEW 10 (2) 2004 209MEDIA OWNERSHIP AND DEMOCRACYdown the rest of society would notpick on them.New Faces, Old Fearsposits thatthe immigration of the 1980s and1990s disrupted this unwritten con-tract. Suddenly mainstream New Zea-land fell back to old ways. Asianbashing became common and news-paper stories and headlines began toape what had been published morethan a century before.As the documentary finds, theadverse reaction has forced long-termChinese New Zealanders to rethinktheir own place. People like Stan Chan began to pay more heed to their cul-tural identity, to reinforce that he wasboth a Kiwi and a Chinese person.The new migrants have made strenu-ous efforts to work out how to live intheir new home, organising a multi-tude of events and festivals that aim tofoster better understanding from theannual lantern festival in Albert Parkto the Howick in the Park celebra-tions in what have come to be known as Auckland¡¯s far eastern suburbs.But the warmest story revealed inthe documentary is that of the poorstate housing area of Northcote. Aslocal community leader WallaceNgapo recounts, the influx of Chi-nese to the area brought frictions be-tween poor Maori and not much bet-ter off migrant Chinese. Matters cameto a head with the beating of an eld-erly Chinese man.With help the community haspulled together, bringing the two strands together in a series of lan-guage and culture workshops. Thelocal shopping centre is a hub of buzz-ing vitality and as Ngapo says, thediet of working class New Zealanders may have changed forever.¡®Boy,¡¯ he says, ¡®That food is great.And cheap too.¡¯This story has no end. As KirstenWong, a stalwart in the WellingtonChinese community says, the discus-sion about New Zealand identity needsto be much broader than it has been.The idea of who a New Zealander ismust take account of many morestrands of culture and identity.Producers John Bates andManying Ip have tackled hard issueswith deft interviews and uncoveredstories that have never made the head-lines. Compulsory viewing. I hope the politicians are taking heed.
An identity storywithout end New Faces, Old Fears, directed by JohnBates and Manying Ip, DocumentaryNew Zealand, TV One.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MEDIA OWNERSHIP AND DEMOCRACY208 PACIFIC JOURNALISM REVIEW 10 (2) 2004 The expense meant the Chinesecommunity remained largely a popu-lation of bachelors, sojourners whonever expected to stay. Little wonder then that by the 1920s the New Zea-land population was in steep decline.Paradoxically, the hysterical andwidespread vitriol prompted by fearsof the ¡®Yellow Peril¡¯ was fanned whenthe Chinese in New Zealand amountedto about 5000 people.New Zealand¡¯s official positionchanged when China became an allyin the Second World War. For hu-manitarian reasons Chinese refugees,including women and children arrivedto settle. By the time of the Commu-nist Revolution in 1949, many of the children and younger members of thecommunity regarded themselves as New Zealanders. Several fought inthe armed forces. Families had beenraised here. New Zealand had be-come home.Most of what can now be calledthe New Zealand-born community canbe traced from that influx. Nor was iteasy for them. As Stan Chun, a former air force man and greengrocer re-counts in the documentary, he had toface the threat of assault while verbalracial abuse was a constant. By the1970s historian and archivist Nigel Murphy suggests there was a ¡®social contract¡¯, namely that if the New Zea-land Chinese population kept its headssuccessive governments have failedto make much use of the human capi-tal. Among many similar stories, thedocumentary records the experienceof Nadia Chen, an experienced, well-qualified team leader in intensive carenursing who unable to find a job in thearea was forced to switch to sellingreal estate. Good on her for making ago of things, but surely New Zealandneeds ICU nurses more than real es-tate agents? The sense of waste ispalpable.As the documentary recounts, forthe newcomers there was little sup-port available for people adapting to anew country and customs. It was as ifthe bureaucrats expected the new ar-rivals to fit into New Zealand as eas-ily as earlier Chinese migrants seemedto have done. If that was what theythought, they had little grasp of theircountry¡¯s own history.The first Chinese to arrive in NewZealand came at the invitation of theDunedin Chamber of Commerce towork the gold fields in 1866. Beforethe 19th century ended the climatehad changed, anti-Asian sentimentwas simmering and the Governmentbrought in the discriminatory poll tax that limited the number of Chinesemigrants to one person for every 100tonnes of cargo and payment of a taxthat would eventually rise to 100pounds, a small fortune at the time.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 3
PACIFIC JOURNALISM REVIEW 10 (2) 2004 209MEDIA OWNERSHIP AND DEMOCRACYdown the rest of society would notpick on them.New Faces, Old Fearsposits thatthe immigration of the 1980s and1990s disrupted this unwritten con-tract. Suddenly mainstream New Zea-land fell back to old ways. Asianbashing became common and news-paper stories and headlines began toape what had been published morethan a century before.As the documentary finds, theadverse reaction has forced long-termChinese New Zealanders to rethinktheir own place. People like Stan Chan began to pay more heed to their cul-tural identity, to reinforce that he wasboth a Kiwi and a Chinese person.The new migrants have made strenu-ous efforts to work out how to live intheir new home, organising a multi-tude of events and festivals that aim tofoster better understanding from theannual lantern festival in Albert Parkto the Howick in the Park celebra-tions in what have come to be known as Auckland¡¯s far eastern suburbs.But the warmest story revealed inthe documentary is that of the poorstate housing area of Northcote. Aslocal community leader WallaceNgapo recounts, the influx of Chi-nese to the area brought frictions be-tween poor Maori and not much bet-ter off migrant Chinese. Matters cameto a head with the beating of an eld-erly Chinese man.With help the community haspulled together, bringing the two strands together in a series of lan-guage and culture workshops. Thelocal shopping centre is a hub of buzz-ing vitality and as Ngapo says, thediet of working class New Zealanders may have changed forever.¡®Boy,¡¯ he says, ¡®That food is great.And cheap too.¡¯This story has no end. As KirstenWong, a stalwart in the WellingtonChinese community says, the discus-sion about New Zealand identity needsto be much broader than it has been.The idea of who a New Zealander ismust take account of many morestrands of culture and identity.Producers John Bates andManying Ip have tackled hard issueswith deft interviews and uncoveredstories that have never made the head-lines. Compulsory viewing. I hope the politicians are taking heed.