Monday, December 31, 2012
Ling-Wong. Wedding Nelson 1964
Ling-Wong. At St Andrew's Church, Kowloon, Hong Kong, Beverley, daughter of Mr and Mrs Raymond Wong:, 201 Rutherford Street, Nelson, to Graham, son of Mr and Mrs Y. H. Ling, Kowloon. No 40 March 7, 1964 http://photonews.org.nz/nelson/issue/NPN40_19640307/t1-body-d52.html
Lowe-Wong Wedding Gisborne 1956
At St. Andrew's Church, Suzanne Lowe, second daughter of Mr and Mrs Love Doon, Roebuck Road, to Leung Wong, son of Mr and Mrs C. S. Wong, Wellington. Attendants at left are Kit Ng, of Wellington, groomsman, and Frank Ng, of Wellington, best man. At right, Judy Love, Gladstone Road, cousin of the bride, Amy Love, seated, who was her sister's chief maid, and tvo cousins of the bride from Wellington, Noeline and Shirley Love. Future home: Wellington.
Lloyd Cornish No 27 September 20, 1956 http://photonews.org.nz/gisborne/issue/GPN27_19560920/t1-body-d28.html
Sang--Wong.Wedding Gisborne 1966
Sang--Wong. At St. Mary's Star of the Sea, Lei, daughter of Mr and Mrs A. W. Wong, Matawhero, to Robert, son of Mrs H. Sang, Suva, Fiji. The attendants are, from left, Mark Low, Lautoka (best man), Jennifer Wong, Gisborne, sister of the bride, Pearl Wong, Gisborne, sister of the bride, and James Fong, Navua. Future home, Gisborne. (Mayfair Studios). No 148 October 5, 1966 http://photonews.org.nz/gisborne/issue/GPN148_19661005/t1-body-d26.html
Mar-Wong Wedding Gisborne 1963
Mar-Wong: At St. Mary's Church, Gisborne, May, daughter of Mr and Mrs A. W. Wong, Matawhero, to Robert, son of Mr and Mrs Mar Charm, Suva, Fiji. The attendants, from left, are Len Sang, Fiji (best man), Jennifer Wong, Gisborne, sister of the bride (chief maid), Leigh Wong, Gisborne, sister of the bride, and Richard Wong, Cambridge, cousin of the bride. Future home......Auckland.
Lloyd Cornish No 105 March 21, 1963
http://photonews.org.nz/gisborne/issue/GPN105_19630321/t1-body-d13.html
Friday, November 23, 2012
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Kathleen Hall RGN, RM (1896 - 1970)
He Ming Qing (Kathleen Hall) Memorial Scholarship
Our scholarship in memory of this courageous NZ missionary to China.
Kathleen Hall RGN, RM (1896 - 1970)
Kathleen Hall was a New Zealand missionary nurse in China who was swept up in the war against Japan. Not only did she nurse the sick and wounded, but time and time again she smuggled medical supplies through the Japanese lines to Dr. Norman Bethune, the Canadian surgeon who was in charge of medical services for the Chinese 8th Route Army.
The He Ming Qing (Kathleen Hall) Memorial Scholarship was established by the New Zealand China Friendship Society Inc. to provide three-year scholarships for Chinese from poor rural areas enabling them to complete nursing training in order to return to their villages and work for improved health standards. This scholarship replaces the previous Kathleen Hall Centennial Memorial Scholarship, which ran for ten years.
This picture of Kathleen Hall was probably taken at Songjiazhuang, 1936.
Kathleen Hall – Biography
Kathleen Hall was born in Napier, New Zealand in 1896 and later moved to Auckland. There she trained at Auckland Public Hospital.
In 1922 she was accepted by the Anglican Society for the Propagation of the Gospel for missionary work in China. Before leaving New Zealand she successfully undertook midwifery training at St Helen’s hospital in Christchurch.
In North China at that time there was one outstanding hospital where western medicine was practised, the Peking Union Medical College (PUMC). It was a very advanced institution, funded by the American Rockefeller Foundation and operated by British and American Protestant missions.
After several years language training and professional practice there, Kathleen was appointed Sister-in-Charge of a provincial hospital at Datong, later being transferred to the same position at Hejian and Anguo in Hebei Province.
She became acquainted with the deplorable living conditions in the Hebei mountains and in 1934 she obtained the permission of her Bishop to leave the cities and set up her own cottage hospital in the mountain village of Songjiazhuang.
Kathleen Hall with four of her nurses, probably at Anguo Hospital, 1937.
In 1937 she had to return temporarily to take charge of the hospital at Anguo on the plains and she was in charge there when the Japanese invaded.
There was a great battle nearby, the Chinese were defeated and hers was the only hospital for hundreds of miles. The doctors fled and with a few Chinese nurses she was left to deal with many hundred casualties.
As the Japanese pushed southwards, she was able to return to her own hospital in the mountains, to find that it was now in “no-man’s land” between the Chinese guerilla forces and the Japanese. With her British passport she could move comparatively freely, and before long she was making long journeys to Peking to purchase medical supplies, much of which she passed on to the Chinese army, until caught by the Japanese.
Kathleen Hall’s statue at Songjiazhuang
They put her on a ship for New Zealand, but she disembarked at Hong Kong and joined the Chinese Red Cross. She made a dangerous journey through inland China to rejoin the 8th Route Army. Eventually she was struck down with beriberi, and repatriated to New Zealand.
After the war the helped to establish a model leper colony in Hong Kong, and in her final years of service she worked with the Anglican Maori Mission at Te Kuiti and Waitara.
In retirement she devoted her life to telling New Zealanders the truth about China. She worked very hard to bring the various Friendship groups in Auckland, Hamilton, Napier, Wellington and Christchurch together to form the NZ-China Friendship Society, which was inaugurated in Wellington in 1958, with Kathleen as a member of the first National Committee.
She was able to revisit China twice more, in 1960 and 1964. She died in Hamilton in 1970.
In 1993 a delegation of friends and relatives carried her ashes back to China in accordance with her wishes.
In 1996 the local people of Quyang County celebrated the centennial of her birth by creating a beautiful marble statue and setting it up in the village of Songjiazhuang where she had established her clinic.
A China Today article published in 1997 describes this moving event, and gives more details of Kathleen’s life.
In 2000, her clinic was rebuilt with a donation of $15,000 from our Society, which has been tripled by a subsidy from the N.Z. Government. The completion of the rebuilding project was celebrated in June 2000 and the clinic was officially reopened in July 2001. Click here to view pictures of both celebrations.
Notes and Quotes on Kathleen Hall from The Mind of Norman Bethune by Roderick Stewart ( Fitzhenry & Whiteside Lrd., 2002):
Early in the Sino-Japanese war, Kathleen was temporarily posted to Anguo Hospital on the coastal plain of Hebei Province, east of her base at mountainous Songjiazhuang. A terrible battle there resulted in enormous casualties for the Chinese. Kathleen had first-hand experience of the overwhelming numbers of injured that Norman Bethune encountered daily and wrote of in his reports from the 8th Route Army. More than He Mingqing, he experienced chronic shortages of both funds and medical supplies. He was critical of both the Chinese and international agencies who didn’t provide adequate equipment for his mobile medical unit in the Taihang Mountains southwest of Beijing, a shortage that would eventually cost him his own life.
Bethune’s reports 1938:
“The supply of drugs and medicines is pretty poor in most places in Central Hebei. Difficulty is being found in getting supplies from Tianjin. The missionaries are being closely watched. One lot of drugs were examined on the way by the Japanese and when told that they were going to a mission hpspital, they made a note of all bottles and packages and later checked up on the Mission. The Mission reported that the drugs had been ‘stolen’ by the partisans–to account for their non-arrival.” (p.195)
“Why oh why, are we not receiving more help from both China and abroad? Think of it! 200,000 troops, 2,500 wounded always in hospital, over 1,000 battles fought in the past year, and only 5 Chinese graduate doctors, 50 Chinese untrained ‘doctors’ and one foreigner to do all this work.” (p.196)
Bethune’s monthly report to the China Aid Council in August 1939:
“The medical supplies obtained in the past three months have chiefly been the result of the energy of Miss K. Hall of the Anglican Church Mission at Songjiazhuang. About $15,000 have been spent. This amount of supplies should see the SS through the winter. As a result of her activities, her Mission has been burnt by the Japanese. I have always felt and expressed some months ago that too much should not have been asked of these sympathetic missionaries, but more organization of an underground transport service would have prevented this attack. Again, the local press were unwise enough to print an article praising Miss Hall for her assistance. This paper is undoubtedly read by the Japanese. Of course, there are other factors such as spies and the current manufactured so-called ‘Anti-British Sentiment’ in China, which does not exist except in the minds of Japanese. There are still large amounts of supplies that have been bought in Peiping, Tianjin and Baoding that have not been brought out for the lack of Chinese organizaed transport. This work must be organized at once. Miss Hall cannot be used again. Her life is already in danger owing to her help to the Region. The same applies to other missions such as the American Board Mission in Baoding. There have been many arrests of the Chinese there, and the American Missionaries are nervous and dare do no more to help….
“I am trying to persuade Miss Hall to join the Canadian-American Unit and give up her own missionary work. Around her I propose to gather a nucleus of trained graduate nurses from the PUMC (we have two now already) and with such a staff, set up a small model hospital to be used in connection with the teaching of the Medical school. She is considering the matter. It would mean her leaving (resigning) from her mission. She is also thinking of going to New Zealand to raise more money for this Region. Between the two of us, I feel that we can raise enough for the medical educational work of the region, but it would mean that both of us would have to leave here temporarily for six to eight months.” (p.204-5)
http://nzchinasociety.org.nz/he-ming-qing-kathleen-hall-memorial-scholarship/
Farewell to Nancy Goddard (1923-2012)
Nancy Goddard
It is with deep sorrow that we note the passing of Nancy Goddard in Palmerston North on 10 September. Nancy was received at the Ngati Poneke Pipitea Marae in Wellington followed by a funeral service at Karori Cemetery. NZCFS members attended the funeral and Mary Gray spoke on behalf of the Society. Below is the eulogy given by Nancy’s brother Frank Kwok.
The Kwok ancestral village is Bak Shek (Baishi) Guangzhou in China. Mother (Chung Fung Kwai) and Father William Kwok (Kwok Kee Yee) had 10 children (9 girls and 1 boy). Born in Wellington in 1923, Nancy Wai-Lan Kwok was their 3rd eldest daughter and the first to be born in New Zealand.
Nancy was educated at Mt. Cook School, Wellington East Girls College where she was Head Prefect in her final year, and Victoria University in Wellington. She was an accomplished pianist, and often played the organ in the Chinese Church. She also had a beautiful voice and sang at many church weddings.
At Victoria University, Nancy met George Goddard, a Trade Union leader who introduced her to the modern history of China and the revolution which was under way there. George & Nancy married in 1944 and had 3 sons (Lee, Ben & Danny). They became very active in the protest movements aligned to justice and peace, anti-racism, a nuclear free New Zealand and Maori rights.
Together they helped found the New Zealand China Friendship Society in the 1950s. Nancy & George worked tirelessly for the ongoing business of the NZCFS and for many years Nancy was Secretary of both the Wellington Branch and the National Executive of the Society.
These early years were difficult for many local and recent Chinese immigrants since any sympathetic connection with socialist/trade union movements were suspected by the NZ Government to be communist fronts. Therefore membership of the NZCFS was suspected as another indication of infiltration of communism. NZ & China were allies in the Second World War but were now enemies since NZ troops were engaged in fighting Chinese soldiers who were allied to North Korea’s invasion of South Korea in 1950. During this period, few Chinese formally joined the NZCFS, particularly recent Chinese immigrants whose New Zealand immigration status would be jeopardised. However, many Chinese risked attendances at meetings, being shielded by members like Nancy & George. Older members of the Society will well remember these loyal members many of whom are still with us in our various branches today. Nancy’s efforts were finally vindicated when the NZ Government officially recognized the Peoples Republic of China in 1972.
At the same time Nancy applied her interest in education towards the development of the early childhood sector through the play centre movement. Nancy also did voluntary work at the Wellington District Court helping young people in trouble particularly Maori. This and the interest of her husband and son Danny in their Maori culture led her to join the Ngati Poneke Young Maori Club where during her involvement over 15 years, she became a Kaumatua (elder).
Over the years, Nancy has been deservedly honoured by many awards:
1987 City of Wellington Civic Award for outstanding voluntary service presented by Mayor Jim Belich.
1993 Nancy was recognized by the NZCFS for outstanding distinguished services.
1997 The Queen acting on the advice of the NZ Government made her a Companion of the NZ Order of Merit (CNZM) for community services – presented by Governor General Sir Michael Hardie Boys.
2002 Nancy Goddard was made a Life Member of the New Zealand China Friendship Society.
2003 On her 80th Birthday she was recognized by the Chinese Government with the honorary title of Friendship Ambassador for outstanding contribution to Sino-NZ friendship. This was presented at a special reception by Chen Haosu, President of the Chinese Peoples Friendship Association for Friendship with foreign countries.
Nancy was also a life member of the Ngati Poneke Young Maori Club.
Nancy is acknowledged for building support for China in New Zealand, and building a relationship with the local Maori people: a woman well ahead of her time who just kept working for what she always believed to be right. http://nzchinasociety.org.nz/11280/farewell-to-nancy-goddard-1923-2012/
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Chinese market gardens in NZ
JILL GALLOWAY
Last updated 09:46 11/10/2012
During their heyday in the 1970s, there were 600 Chinese market gardeners in New Zealand, but now there are only 157.
Many young people watched their parents work hard in the market gardens and they became lawyers and doctors, choosing not to work like their parents, said the chief executive of the Dominion Federation of New Zealand Chinese Commercial Growers, Howe Young.
He was one of the speakers at the Palmerston North launch of two books last week: Sons of the Soil and Success Through Adversity.
Sons of the Soil covers the history of Chinese market gardening through the personal stories of more than 100 ordinary people from market gardening communities around the country.
Success Through Adversity is about the Chinese Federation's history and how it has upheld the rights of market gardeners through its almost 70-year history.
Palmerston North Deputy Mayor Jim Jefferies said there were 150,000 people of Chinese descent living in New Zealand.
"They are an integral part of a multicultural New Zealand. In Manawatu, we have 100 different nationalities and we're proud of it."
President of the Manawatu Chinese Growers Association William Young said that the books told the story of the history of Chinese people, and "paid homage to all our forefathers who came to New Zealand for a better life and to give their children a better life".
Howe Young said 40 per cent of Chinese in New Zealand were market gardeners, providing 80 per cent of all green vegetables grown.
"Market gardening by Chinese used to be a family business and the federation had influence with the marketing companies. Now, it's the supermarkets that have the power."
The harder a person worked, the more money they made, he said.
"That's not the case now. You can work hard and lose money, as the cost of production can be more than the produce is worth."
William Young said the height of the Chinese growers in New Zealand was during the period spanning the late 1960s through to the late 1980s.
"These were the golden years for the Chinese growers, as many families had their grown-up children coming back on the farms to help, mechanisation was becoming more widely used and affordable, costs of production were low and returns to the growers were very good."
But things had changed, he said.
"Growers' children are going to university, getting professional jobs and not returning back to the traditional family business of growing vegetables."
At the same time, William Young said the cost of machinery had risen, the cost of production - seeds, fertilisers, sprays and fuel - had gone up markedly and there were a lot more compliance regulations.
"Our margins have been squeezed, and growers are price takers now, not price makers.
"We get given a price for our produce and we cannot set our prices to reflect the cost increases of our inputs."
Author Lily Lee said one of the best things about the six-year labour of love writing the book Sons of the Soil was that she got to talk to many older people who had since died. The book included their stories.
"Women were often the unsung heroes. The wives toiled tirelessly in the market garden."
She said the book would be great for children, because they could trace their ancestors and ancestral villages through them.
Sons of the Soil and Success Through Adversity were given to the Palmerston North City Council, the library, the city archive, Massey University, a primary school and five secondary schools. There is also a website on the role of Chinese market gardeners in New Zealand.
- © Fairfax NZ News http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/7807398/Chinese-market-gardens-in-NZ
Saturday, October 6, 2012
AUCKLAND CHINESE.
China's decision to declare war on Japan is being viewed complacently by the Chinese of It was stated this morning that a collection had been taken up in Auckland and that £2000' had been subscribed towards China's war fund, but this is officially denied by a member of the committee of the Chinese Nationalist party in. New Zealand (the Kuomintang). Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 26, 1 February 1932, Page 7
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
The Remarkable History of Kaifeng’s Jewish Community
Tuesday, October 2, 2012 | By: The Editors
You might be surprised to know that there exists a small Jewish community in Henan Province’s Kaifeng region. Even more astonishing, however, is that the community claims to have descended from the same Jewish merchants who arrived in China during the 8th century, in the late Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.).
History tells us that the prosperous trade route of the Silk Road proved irresistible to China’s sole Jewish community. Sometime after its arrival, the community united to vow adherence and loyalty to China’s laws and emperor, thus affording them the right to settle down in what was then one of the early Northern Song Dynasty’s (960-1127A.D.) most thriving business centers, Kaifeng.
A photography of two Kaifeng Jewish descendants taken in 1906.
The community held steadfast in the practice of the beliefs and traditions of their ancestors, until China came under the rule of the mid-Qing Dynasty in 1644. By the time the dynasty’s influence had passed in the year 1911, the community had undergone a significant metamorphosis, as a result of intermarriage with the Han Chinese and nearly 300 years of isolation from its place of origin.
In 1952, two Jewish representatives from Kaifeng were invited to attend National Day celebrations with state leaders of China, an occasion that would mark the peak of the community’s fortunes with the government. Largely due to assimilation, the population has dwindled to around 1,000 inrecent years, many of whom are unable to read or write in Hebrew.
The commune’s claim has been repeatedly challenged by skeptics who doubt the ancient tribe’s unique heritage, but DNA tests have shown that the blood of those within the community bears a striking resemblance to that of the ancient Jews of Iraq and Iran. Some members even sport the long beards for which those of Jewish descent are famous. But despite all this and the fact that they still consider themselves Jews in a cultural sense, Judaism has not been practiced since the early 20th century. As a result, the Jewish synagogue in Kaifeng now only exists in a few historical photographs and people’s memories.
In order to restore some of the traditions lost, several of the community’s members, led by Mr. Zhang Xingwang, have recently taken the initiative to seek outside help from experts. Their search has led them to the gates of Nanjing University, where they are now attending classes on Hebrew. In addition, the members are also making efforts to observe the Sabbath every week.
The seemingly anomalous juxtaposition of the community with China’s native population has garnered international attention, and as a result, more and more tourists are arriving each and every month. The locals have embraced this fortune, evident in one family by the name of Zhao, receiving waves of guests from abroad and other parts of China into their home every month.
Perhaps this attention will help those remaining descendants of the brave explorers, who long ago entered the borders of a far and distant land in hopes of prosperity, to further explore the realms of their profound heritage and cherish not only who they are but what they can be.
-Information provided by MKJourneys
http://www.theworldofchinese.com/2012/10/holiday-blog-1-the-remarkable-history-of-kaifengs-jewish-community/
Guide to Laws and Policies relating to the Chinese in New Zealand 1871-1997
Fleeing the People's Paradise
02/24/2012
Fleeing the People's Paradise Successful Chinese Emigrating to West in Droves
By Wieland Wagner
A graduation ceremony at Huazhong University of Science & Technology: Many successful Chinese professionals are eager to leave the country despite newfound prosperity.
Despite their country's stunning economic growth, many successful Chinese entrepreneurs are emigrating to the West. For them, the Chinese government is too arbitrary and unpredictable, and they view their children's prospects as better in the West.
Info
Though the room is already overcrowded, more listeners keep squeezing in, making it necessary to bring in additional chairs for the stragglers. Outside on the streets of Beijing, the usual Saturday afternoon shopping bustle is in full swing. But above the clamor, in the quiet of this elegant office high-rise, the audience is intent on listening to a man who can help them start a new life, one far away from China.
Li Zhaohui, 51, turns on the projector and photographs flicker across the screen behind him. Some show Li himself, head of one of China's largest agencies for emigration visas, which has more than 100 employees. Other pictures show Li's business partner in the United States. Still others show Chinese people living in an idyllic American suburb. Li has already successfully arranged for these people to leave the People's Republic of China.
Li's free and self-confident way of speaking precisely embodies the Western lifestyle that those in his audience dream of. Originally trained as a physicist, Li emigrated to Canada in 1989. In the beginning, he developed microchips in Montreal, but he says he found the job boring. Then he found his true calling: helping Chinese entrepreneurs and businesspeople escape.
Of course, Li doesn't use the term "escape." Emigration from China is legal and, with its population of 1.3 billion, the country certainly has enough people left over.
Likewise, hardly anyone in the audience is actually planning to burn every bridge with their native country. Almost everyone in the room owns companies, villas and cars in China.
Many of them, in fact, can thank China's Communist Party for their success. But along their way to the top, they've developed other needs, the kind only a person with a full stomach feels, as the Chinese saying goes. It's a type of hunger that can't be satisfied as long as the person is living under a one-party dictatorship.
These people long to live in a constitutional state that would protect them from the party's whims. And they want to enjoy their wealth in countries where it's possible to lead a healthier life than in China, which often resembles one giant factory, with the stench and dust to match.
These longings have led many people in China to pursue foreign citizenship for themselves and their families. The most popular destinations are the US and Canada, countries with a tradition of immigration. "Touzi yimin" are the magic words Li impresses tirelessly upon his listeners. Loosely translated, it means "immigration by investment."
Benefitting at Home, But Hoping to Get Out
Several months a year, Li says he travels through the US selecting suitable investment projects for his clients -- construction projects, for example, that would qualify Chinese investors and their families for long-term American visas.
Li's clients value discretion. A hyped-up sales pitch would only scare them away or push them into the arms of competitors. There are more than 800 similar agencies throughout the country, all offering their services in procuring "touzi yimin." Some simply send their advertisements as text messages.
Zhang Yongjun, 41, and his family already have one foot out the door. Zhang sits at his company's long, leather-upholstered conference table on the 31st floor of Beijing's Overseas Plaza. Outside his window, the sun's rays barely penetrate the brown smog. In just a few weeks, Zhang plans to start a new life with his wife and two daughters in Vancouver, Canada.
It took the entrepreneur four years to obtain a "Maple Leaf Card," the Canadian equivalent of the American green card. Canada's permanent resident card also offers the option of applying for citizenship after three years. To obtain it, Zhang put the equivalent of €300,000 ($400,000) in a Canadian investment fund.
"I'm taking this step for my children's sake," Zhang says. The plan is for his wife to settle permanently in Canada with the children. There, they can breathe clean air and attend schools that will teach them to be more cosmopolitan. Zhang himself will hold onto his Chinese citizenship and commute between Beijing and Vancouver since he doesn't want to lose the source of his wealth back in China.
Zhang pushes his two smartphones back and forth on the table in front of him. He brings in several million euros worth of profit each year from making software and devices for the national lottery. Although he dresses modestly, he owns property in Beijing and two other cities. His wife is a homemaker. Urban couples are legally only allowed to have one child, but for a 60,000 yuan (€7,200/$9,500) fine -- an amount it would take a migrant worker three years to earn -- Zhang bought himself the right to a second child. "The expense was worth it," he says.
In January, the family celebrated Chinese New Year abroad, as they do every year. Zhang estimates that he was on vacation for about half of the last year.
If he's doing so well, Zhang is asked, why does he even need permanent residency in far-away Canada, and why does he want to get his family citizenship there?
Zhang gazes at the ceiling of the conference room and looks as though he's already regretting having entered into a conversation on this subject. Indeed, few would-be emigrants are willing to talk publicly about their plans to move away, especially if they hope to continue earning money in China.
Traitors or the Lucky Ones?
The Global Times, a nationalist mouthpiece of the Communist Party, recently printed an online survey whose results suggest that this exodus of the wealthy sparks jealousy in many of their fellow citizens. The newspaper quoted one anonymous Internet user as saying, "Many of the people who want to emigrate are nothing more than traitors. Leave your money here if you want to emigrate."
This type of name-calling deters those thinking of getting out from talking about it publicly. Zhang, too, offers only a vague hint as to why he wants to give himself and his family this second leg to stand on in Canada. "In an environment where power determines everything, there's ultimately no clear standard, no feeling of security," he says.
In recent years, China's Communist Party has liberated hundreds of millions of people from poverty. With the slogan "one world, one dream" China celebrated not only the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, but also its rapid ascent to superpower status. Amid the muddle of the global financial crisis, some Western politicians and businesspeople went so far as to hail the supposed superiority of an authoritarian system.
In reality, though, the children of those who have prospered in China's economic revolution also dream of Western freedoms. Latent cynicism toward the party has spread well beyond the wealthy, becoming prevalent among the emerging middle class, as well.
Anxious to Get the Whole Family Out
For a 36-year-old man we will call Wang Qiang, it's the beginning of one of his last days working in Beijing. He also plans to permanently emigrate to Canada with his whole family, in this case to Quebec.
This morning, Wang once again battled his way through city traffic for an hour and an half. Now he's at work in a skyscraper belonging to a state-owned telephone company. Wang is part of the upper management, is popular among colleagues and essentially has his job for life. Yet, he and his wife think about nothing but how they can get away from here -- and as soon as possible.
It started, Wang says, when his daughter was born and he held her tiny hand for the first time. "I suddenly realized that under no circumstances did I want to raise her in China," he recalls.
Soon, Wang plans to apply for immigration at the Canadian Embassy. He's kept quiet about his intentions so far at work, but says that each day only strengthens his resolve.
Wang tells of a colleague who bragged about having sent his child to an expensive elite school. "Where's the fairness in that?" Wang asks. "Without connections, children don't have a chance in China's education system."
Wang glances around to see if any of his colleagues are nearby. For the time being, he needs to remain cautious, but he's finding it increasingly difficult to keep his dissatisfaction to himself. Each day, his life strikes him as more pointless than the day before. As an example, he mentions elections for the local People's Congress, a farce held by Beijing over the past few months in a storm of propaganda. "They let us vote," Wang explains, "but we don't know a single one of the candidates."
Wang says that several of his friends have already emigrated to Canada and that "None of them has tried to talk me out of my plan." He eventually wants to bring his parents to Canada, as well, so they can benefit from a Western welfare system.
Party Leaders and the American Dream
Li, the emigration coordinator, is finished with his seminar for investors and sitting contentedly on a red-brown leather couch in his office. "Every time the media reports something on successful emigrants, we get even more requests," he says.
Even many Communist Party functionaries send their children to study abroad. Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, for example, who is tapped to become the country's next leader and visited Washington last week, has a daughter studying at Harvard University. Another example is Bo Xilai, a prominent politician and party head for Chongqing, a major city in southwest China. Bo may drive his citizens into the city's parks in the mornings to sing revolutionary songs, but his son, Guagua, attends Harvard.
The fact that so many leading party members dream the American dream for their children has given rise to a new joke in China: It's a good thing, people say, that parents' days at elite universities such as Harvard, Yale and Princeton don't coincide with the Chinese Communist Party convention. If they did, half the seats in the Great Hall of the People would be left empty.
Translated from the German by Ella Ornstein http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/fleeing-the-people-s-paradise-successful-chinese-emigrating-to-west-in-droves-a-817092.html#ref=rss
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Growers' tales told
The Sons of the Soil book launch was held in the Pukekohe Library on Wednesday afternoon.
Authors Ruth Lam and Lily Lee addressed more than 50 people in attendance before presenting local groups with a copy of the hardcover book.
Sons of the Soil tells the stories of more than 100 Chinese men and women from market gardening communities all around New Zealand, covering the social and community history spanning more than 140 years.
Reporter Natalie Polley went along to the launch . .
Last updated 09:29 25/09/2012 http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/franklin-county-news/7723782/Growers-tales-told Waikaot Times
Pukekohe ladies, from left, Megan Fong, Stella Sue, Chee Sue, Mei Lan Young and Anna Young were at the cook launch as their families are all in the market gardening industry.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Family ties
Family ties
By Alistair Bone | Published on June 17, 2006 | Issue 3449
China's allure for the young is growing.
The Chinese paid for Anna Wong’s trip to China. The third-generation Kiwi went with a group of 18- to 25-year-olds, most of whom had never been there and didn’t speak the language. She now says, “I used to think China was kind of unapproachable to me, but I would definitely go back again.”
Her response is just another indication of China’s growing allure for the young. Overseas education used to be seen as a ticket out, but a recent survey has shown that more than 90 percent of Chinese students studying overseas now say that they would like to go home after gaining their degree. And China wants them back.
The country impressed Wong’s group during their cultural visit, although, as she says, they were wowed by deeds rather than words. “I don’t think it is a Chinese thing to talk about how good everything is or how cool you are.
“We visited a high school, and they put on a big concert. They did a lot of performance items and it was the popular children in the school who were doing these things. In my Auckland high school, it might have been laughed at or mocked. But there, everyone was really encouraging and all the children got whoops and cheers. Even when we walked into their school hall we got huge applause because we were special guests.
“It was a boarding school; they worked from 10 until seven. They are encouraged to get on academically,” she says, “and it is pretty much all maths and sciences.”
Wong’s trip was organised by the Tung Jung Association, a Wellington-based outfit that was set up by immigrants 80 years ago to unite and maintain the identity and kinship of those who claim affinity to the Chinese counties of Jung Shing and Tung Quan.
Wong is first generation on her dad’s side and visited his old home.
“I felt quite at home. I didn’t feel strange at all. You would think it would be a total shock, just to see how different it is, but it was quite humbling. The living situation was quite poor. I don’t think I could see myself there. They have one clean side of the river and one dirty side of the river, no sewerage and dirt roads.
“But I felt fine just walking around and all the people were friendly. We talked to the oldest people in the village and gave them the name of my father and my grandfather and they remembered who they were. Dad left when he was two. But 60 years on, they still remember people.”http://www.listener.co.nz/commentary/family-ties/
Moving from journalism into public relations is usually considered going to the dark side – except when it’s PR for some worthy organisation like the Human Rights Commission, in which case it’s more like moving to the beige side. And, boy, as former Metro writer Gilbert Wong (the commission’s new “communications officer”) discovered, they do things differently in the public service. He was warned there would be a welcome. He expected tea and cake. He got a full-blown powhiri, complete with kaumatua. Tena koe, Mr Wong. http://www.listener.co.nz/commentary/forking-out/
Gee Hong’s war
Gee Hong’s war
By Imogen Neale | Published on November 3, 2007 | Issue 3521
How a Chinese play helped the New Zealand war effort in Auckland, 1945.
It’s a timeless story. A young man is torn between filial responsibilities and patriotic duty. Does he stay at home and look after his aged mother and father? Or does he lace up his boots, pin his country’s flag to his breast and march off to war?
The story’s setting could be Prussia, 1756, France, 1915 or United States, 2007.
But here’s the twist. It’s 1945 in New Zealand and the story forms the backbone of a Cantonese play, written by a Canton-born immigrant for two Auckland-based Chinese groups hoping to raise money for the New Zealand Patriotic Fund. The play is performed once, in Cantonese, by local Chinese residents, to a capacity crowd at His Majesty’s Theatre, Auckland.
The national Chinese population then hovered around 5000, or 0.3 percent of New Zealand’s population. The actors are all male although there are six female parts. The audience, an eclectic mix, includes journalists, locals, prominent businessman Sir Henry Kelleher and Auckland Mayor Sir John Allum.
The next day, two local newspapers run laudatory reviews. In one, the reviewer says that that night they envied Cantonese speakers. Remarkable, really, given the level of anti-Chinese prejudice that local Chinese were living with.
The highly decorated (QSM and ONZM) Chinese New Zealander Dan Chan was there that night. He had to be: he was the play’s official “Programme Editor, Script Translator and Chinese Calligrapher”. He was also a member of the two groups that had combined to stage the performance: the Dai Tung Music Society and the Auckland branch of the NZ Chinese Association (NZCA).
After noting that, at his age, his memory isn’t as good as it used to be, Dan – who recently turned 100 – says that although the play, called Qizhuang Shanhe or Human Integrity and written by N Wai Poi, was assembled over a period of weeks, the decision to give it a public performance was spur of the moment. Indeed, in the play’s programme there is a detailed preface that notes “originally, they [members of Dai Tung Music Society] had no intention of appearing in public performances. We, therefore, hope that the audience will not pass judgement on their dramatic and artistic ability.”
Of course their dramatic and artistic ability was exactly what the reviewers focused on. But the society needn’t have worried, with one paper stating that “especially in the group scenes there was a building up of atmosphere and spontaneity rarely seen in European performances” and another commenting: “Special word of praise must be given to the five men who played the women’s parts. So good were they in their impersonation that it was only after perusing the programme that one realised that women were not in the roles.”
So, Act 1: China, July 1937. The Japanese claim that there’s been a violent Chinese-led confrontation at Beijing’s Marco Polo Bridge. They also claim that they’re missing a soldier and they’re holding the Chinese authorities responsible. The Japanese become impatient with the ensuing negotiations and bomb the bridge. The carnage that follows leads China’s Generalissimo Chiang to herald a national call to arms. He also issues a statement to the world: “China has reached her last limits of tolerance with the Japanese and must resist the Japanese aggressors to the end … We are combating Japan not for the negative purpose of putting an end to Japanese aggression, but as a means of contributing to a free world order of the future.”
Act 2: we meet Chan Gee Hong, the young man about to face the “duty to the state or duty to your parents” dilemma. At his parents’ insistence, duty to the state wins: he’s off to war. To start with, however, his father’s boisterous birthday celebrations take centre stage.
Act 3: Gee Hong is wounded and while he’s in hospital he meets Lee E-ha, a friend who has become a Red Cross nurse. Two things happen: they fall in love and Gee Hong’s mother becomes gravely ill. Once again he’s on the horns of a dilemma: to go or to stay?
One might well ask why it was decided to stage Human Integrity. Particularly as, in keeping with Chinese theatrical tradition, women couldn’t appear in public displays and thus the female roles had to be played by men. Dan Chan says it was all about raising money for the Patriotic Fund, a government-devised trust of sorts that co-ordinated the public and private sector’s contributions towards the war efforts. Human Integrity‘s programme states a slightly loftier, heartfelt raison d’être: the musicians had volunteered their services to “help alleviate the terrible sufferings of humanity in this world conflict”.
As historian James Ng highlights in an essay on early Chinese settlement in New Zealand, it’s not as though local Chinese communities weren’t already making significant financial contributions to the war effort. Indeed, since 1937, the NZCA had been systematically collecting funds to aid China’s war effort against Japan: employers were levied 10 shillings per week and employees two shillings in the pound. Even Chinese children had a levy imposed on their wages. Permitted by the government to send these funds back to China, New Zealand’s Chinese population is said to have raised, if not the highest, then the second highest sum per capita for an overseas Chinese community.
Conceivably, however, another motive underpinned the performance of Human Integrity. For, according to Ng’s research, Chinese immigrants here were intensely patriotic towards China. As he says, they believed in the inner strength of China and the Chinese people. Many felt that if only China could once again shine in the eyes of the world Chinese people everywhere could escape ethnic discrimination. Perhaps, then, the underlying intention of the performance was to demonstrate a universality of life story. Which, of course, is right there in its title.
NEXT PAGE: Gilbert Wong on the “Zengcheng New Zealanders”.http://www.listener.co.nz/culture/theatre/gee-hongs-war/
Man in a Suitcase review
Man in a Suitcase review
By Sally Blundell | Published on September 1, 2012 | Issue 3773
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Man in a Suitcase is a bleak, black, darkly funny study in dislocation, says Sally Blundell.
Helene Wong, Ji Zhou and Stan Chan star in Lynda Chanwai-Earle's 'Man in a Suitcase', directed by Joseph Graves
Helene Wong, Ji Zhou and Stan Chan, photo Sabin Holloway
It was brutal, gruesome and darkly absurd: the 2006 killing of Chinese language student Wan Biao, whose semi-decapitated body was found strangled, knifed and stuff ed in a suitcase in the Waitemata Harbour. In the subsequent trial, Justice Priestley told the jury not to let any views about Chinese students and immigration “cloud their judgment of the facts”. In Man in a Suitcase, Lynda Chanwai-Earle, a fourth-generation Chinese New Zealander, explores these views through a fictionalised account of this wildly inept extortion attempt set within the wider context of the “Asian” diaspora.
The annual intake of young language students, the so-called “little emperors” marched across the world for a double immersion in adulthood and English, is represented by doomed Chinese exchange student Wen Lin (Ji Zhou). Young and shy (and gay), he swings convincingly between teenage bravado and boyish reserve. In contrast is fourth-generation Chinese New Zealander Amy Tung (JJ Fong). Engaged to Wen Lin’s homestay “brother” Stuart (well-meaning yet culturally oblivious, as finely played by Harry McNaughton), Tung is confident, feisty, straining against her parents’ disapproval of her relationship with a “gweilo” (foreign devil). Framing the story is Myanmar refugee Kauki-paw, a would-be journalist, now a hotel cleaner. Brilliantly performed by Katlyn Wong, Kauki-paw moves from cutesy smiling “Asian” girl to appreciative refugee (“No frogs, no crickets, no guns”), exposing the deep-set insecurity behind the easy stereotypes: the cash-cow English language student, the worried but ambitious parents, the street criminals as presented here by Shi Li’s drug dealing Pete and Zhiwen Zhao’s sexually insecure Kim.
This sense of displacement is conveyed through the minimal set by Gu Minwen and the pooled lighting by Joe Hayes. Characters appear often fleetingly, disengaged, isolated on the wide stage. The use of subtitles, projected onto a plain black panel in English and Mandarin, endorses this sense of cultural isolation. After a run of certain crowdpleasers, Christchurch’s Court Theatre has pulled off an impressive coup in this collaboration with the Peking University Institute of World Theatre and Film in Beijing (three of the actors are from China). Although references to the Christchurch earthquakes are an unnecessary conceit, Man in a Suitcase, directed by Joseph Graves, artistic director of the Beijing institute, is a bleak, black, darkly funny study in dislocation.
MAN IN A SUITCASE, by Lynda Chanwai-Earle, directed by Joseph Graves, Court Theatre, Christchurch, until September 1.
http://www.listener.co.nz/culture/theatre/man-in-a-suitcase-review/
Man in a Suitcase is a China
Man in a Suitcase is a China-NZ collaboration that takes a grisly murder as its springboard
Interview - Lynda Chanwai-Earle
Lynda Chanwai-Earle
A sign the Court Theatre is making a good recovery is its programming of an uncompromising new work. The theatre had its renaissance plying its shaken public with comfort food in makeshift premises, but now it has decided to bring out the hard stuff. It seems Christchurch audiences are ready for something strong and dark. And you don’t get much darker than the subject matter of Man in a Suitcase by Lynda Chanwai-Earle, who has taken as her springboard the grisly 2006 Auckland murder involving Chinese language students and a bungled extortion attempt. In 2009, before Mother Nature intervened, the Court approached Chanwai-Earle, a fourth-generation Chinese-New Zealander, to write a work that dealt with the New Zealand-Chinese community in Christchurch. She came back with the synopsis based on the murder of Wan Biao, whose body was found floating in a suitcase in the Waitemata Harbour. “I also wanted it to reflect the refugee experience and post-refugee resettlement experience of having to live out of suitcases,” says Chanwai-Earle. “Ultimately, it’s about those stories of displacement and wanting to fit in, wanting to get on in New Zealand.”
Gambling and cybersloth rear their heads, too, plus a nasty dollop of homophobia. Relocating it to Christchurch meant Lyttelton Harbour was a lot further away to float a suitcase. “Yet convenient for these completely hapless students,” she quips. “I needed it to be as ridiculous as possible to create moments of black humour – otherwise it’d be too dark. The thing that really struck me reading about this case was the extraordinary stupidity of these kids – cold-blooded but utterly stupid. They put the murder weapons, all their DNA evidence and passports in the suitcase, and I thought this is too rich not to put in.” Keen for a China-New Zealand collaboration, the Court contacted Joseph Graves, an American director who’s been living in Beijing for the past decade. As artistic director of Peking University’s Institute of World Theatre and Film, and with vast experience directing international theatre exchanges, Graves leapt at the challenge to workshop and direct Chanwai-Earle’s play, as well as facilitate a tour to the 2012 Beijing Fringe Festival.
The story of the Chinese student who became easy prey to nefarious sorts resonated with him: “There’s this enormous number of young kids growing up in China with this dream of studying in the West and many go abroad on some half-promise, not knowing what they are getting into and not fluent enough in the English language to live and operate correctly.” He was also struck by the aspect of Chinese people living in New Zealand developing their own identities and the “often strange relationships between native Chinese people who remained in China and the Chinese people who have become first or second, and in some cases third or fourth, generations of living in another country – their experiences are vastly different. That mixing of milieus but both involving Chinese people by blood is fascinating.
“Then there are the colourful aspects of the story itself, which transcend racial differences and have to do with human beings and how we interact – all those things made it a really interesting project.” As a director, he loved the theatricality of the piece: “Even though it deals with realistic subject matter, the way it’s going to be staged will have a dreamlike quality that will be really engaging to an audience and I don’t think will be quite as courtroom, in-your-face, as a more blatantly realistic staging of something like this would be.” All was set for the play to premiere at the 2011 Christchurch Arts Festival, and then the February 22 earthquake struck … “I didn’t know if the Court was going to be able to get back on its feet,” recalls Graves. “It has been a miraculous revival. It’s astonishing what Philip [Aldridge] and Ross [Gumbley] and the others at the Court have accomplished. “I never had any thought of leaving the project, because I’d invested a lot of myself into it and become very passionate about the piece and was hoping it’d be able to be realised in New Zealand and consequently in China.”
Man in a Suitcase rehearsals
Chanwai-Earle then reworked her piece to acknowledge the traumatised city: “This is not a play about the earthquakes, but unfortunately murders are happening regardless of earthquakes. I want to honestly reflect the [aftershocks] without them being a focus so they derail the play. It’s been like walking on a tightrope.” For the Court production, Graves is bringing a Chinese set designer and three Chinese actors to join five New Zealand actors (including Katlyn Wong, Helene Wong and Harry McNaughton), before the play heads to the Beijing Fringe Festival. “The hardcore work shopping we did in January last year, a few weeks shy of the February earthquake,” says Chanwai-Earle. “I’m just so grateful to the Court Theatre. ‘Let’s do it,’ they said. ‘Let’s make it happen this year.’ To still go ahead with this is amazing.”
MAN IN A SUITCASE, by Lynda Chanwai-Earle, directed by Joseph Graves, Court Theatre, Christchurch, August 18-September 1.
http://www.listener.co.nz/culture/theatre/interview-lynda-chanwai-earle/
Friday, September 7, 2012
Celebrating Chatham cup victory
Celebrating Chatham cup victory
Saturday, September 8, 2012 6:00
Hamilton soccer legend Arthur Leong, and wife Maureen, with New Zealand's soccer Holy Grail - a Chatham Cup winner's medal.
Surviving members of the Hamilton Technical Old Boys soccer team, which won the hallowed Chatham Cup in 1962, will share laughter and memories in Hamilton tonight.
Six players will gather at Arthur Leong's Hamilton home to celebrate 50 years since they, as rank underdogs, won the cup by beating Northern, of Dunedin, 4-1.
Arthur tried to trace others, some of whom he thinks went to Australia. Some may have passed on but Mel 'Nobby' Clarke proved to be his biggest mystery.
"Nobby, a wonderful goalkeeper, sort of disappeared soon after we won the cup. No one really knows where he went, or what he did."
Former players John Dekkers, Charlie Caldwell, Tom Henderson, Paul Nevison and Trevor Jones will join Arthur and his wife Maureen.
In those days before 1970, the knockout tournament was played nationwide and the winners of the North and South Island competitions met for the final in Wellington. The Chatham Cup was presented to the then New Zealand Football Association in 1922 by the crew of HMS Chatham in appreciation for the hospitality they encountered on a visit to New Zealand.
Tech Old Boys is one of the few clubs outside of the main centres to triumph in the cup knockout tournament.
Arthur recalls the team's trip to Wellington was a great adventure. Everyone knew they were up against a class outfit, the pride of Dunedin, and holders of the 'cup'.
He says Tech Old Boys selected their playing colours - maroon with light blue sleeves - after seeing English first division club Aston Villa's strip.
"It did show the difference between us and the opposition. They came on to the field in their flash shirts while us Hamilton boys had home-made shirts sewed for us by Stella Wallace, the coach's daughter" (and mother of Margaret Wallace of city alteration workshop fame).
He remembers the early days of the club, set up in the years after World War Two. He also recalls the club being wound up in 1964 - the same year he hung up his boots after a distinguished sporting career.
Arthur Leong, fullback, inside back and centrehalf was a fixture in the New Zealand team from 1959 through to his retirement. Many other members of the national side played, at some time, with the Tech Old Boys.
Arthur, who says that representative sport was almost totally self-funded at the time, attended Hamilton Technical School and later taught at Te Awamutu College and Fairfield College.
He still has a competitive edge and plays golf up to three times a week with his mates at Horsham Down Golf Club. http://www.hamiltonnewslive.co.nz/news/celebrating-chatham-cup-victory/1534154/
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
ADOPTING WESTERN IDEAS. THE LIFE OP THE "COOLIE.
TOUCHING THE CHINESE.ADOPTING WESTERN IDEAS. THE LIFE OP THE "COOLIE." 'the periodical prominence given to "Things Chinese" would suggest" that the little men from the East are about to come into their own, that is if they have an "own.'' The average colonial knows really little or nothing of the Chinese, and can only associate him with a laundry iron or vegetable basket, but those who have been fortunate enough to have visited Shanghai, Peking, Canton, or Hongkong—the latter a British possession by the way—could almost associate the better class Chinese with any position. Politics in China have always been in a state of chaos, but all their squabbling is done amongst themselves. The world merely looks on and Jills the role of spectator. The life of the Chinese, that is the lower class, is merely an existence, but it is hardly that for those who have the misfortune to belong to the weaker sex. They are indeed faced with a hard world, their world that is. and quite in ignorance of the existence oi better things. they, to all outward appearances, go through happy and contented. Hut the conditions are awful, so awful that only those who luire been in the East can realise. We in New Zealand are much concerned about the housing problem, two persons in one room is, we contend, and very rightly, too, sufficient, but what can lie snid of the conditions where every available inch or foot of ;io,or space is occupied, so much so that it might almost be said the occupants have to "dovetail." w Zealanders have not j yet bad to resort to sleeping in the I streets, but it is an every night sight iv even Hongkong to see the Chinese coolie lying ou the footpaths of the main streets sound asleep with simply a piece |of sacking for a cover. This ia in the "inter. What the order is in the summer tbe writer cannot say. but it must lie even worse, because it is in tbe summer that most of the wet weather is experienced. With the shops opening nt daylight, the Chinaman who sleeps on the footpath gets very little chance of "sleeping in." The average New Zealander. who only sees the well-to-do Chinese merchant, the market gardener, the laundry man, and rends of a Chinese soccer team in Australia, a Chinese band in Wellington, a Chinese play staged iv Auckland by Chinese artistes, and the proposal to hold a Chinese running championship at the Laboijr Day sports might well be pardoned it he gets the impression that all is well in China, and that the lot of the Chinaman is not "too bad." Hut, what an awakening is in store for the visitor. The principal streets are thronged all day long with a shuffling mass of humanity, something similar t<> a busy Friday evening in Karangahape Road. I'edlars, with the inevitable rod and basket on each end. parade the .streets shouting their wares, or it may be correct to say. shouting their wav through the crowded thoroughfare. With one or two exceptions the shops are windowless, the food shops display their goods, most gruesome conglomerations in the opinion of the visitor. Tliere are no butchers', greengrocers', or tishe shops such as we see in New Zealand; all such goods are purchased iv a market. The stench from the market is beyond the European, who would never venture nearer than 50 yards of the buildings, and if he measured it hi,„6elf he would take long strides. The buying is done by Chinese servants, and the purchases of meat and fish arc tied on the end of a piece of (lax, and carried through the streets minus even the semblance of paper. Hut while these items interest the visitor, they do not leave the indelible impression that tbe working conditions of the masses do. It might lie said that all tbe heavy work is done by women and children. In Hongkong there is not a horse, motor truck, or machinery of any kind. Huge logs are sawn up by hand, and tbe same log would be cut 'up and stacked in the yard of a mill like the Kauri Timber Company almost as quick as the Cliiuiunnii would grease the saw. lt doesn't pay the Chinaman to get tbe Yankee habit of hustle, and "John" is shrewd enough to know it. Croat loads of bags of sugar and the like are pulled along the roads by. may be. 40 Chinese, with ropes attached to a large trolly! while little girls, mere children, are dotted here and here along the side of the roads with a 21b hammer, breaking stone. The women do the hardest work, and all day they are to be seen in hundreds, perhaps thousands, with rod nnd baskets carrying sand, bricks, etc.. to where a building is in course of election. So Chinese girls arc employed in shops as assistants; that is an avenue of employment monopolised by the boys, many 'of whom get little more than their "chow" (food), despite the working hours from perhaps daylight (ill midnight. It is true that the" lietter class of Chinese arc adoping western ideas and customs but they have a long way to go before they reach the standard of living enjoyed by iMtiopeaiis generally. Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 221, 15 September 1923, Page 13
DRUG TRAFFIC.BODIES IN RIVER FLOATING corpse mystery.
TIENTSIN. Officially no one knows why more than 300 bodies of Chinese coolies were found floating down the Haiho River here last year, or why 150 more have been found this summer in Tientsin's "floating corpse mystery." It is still classed as a mystery, most observers believe, only because it is a by-product of a great international narcotics traffic. Tientsin, thriving crossroads of Far Eastern narcotics dealings, has recently been called the narcotics capital of the world. Subjects involving this international trade are best left alone by Chinese authorities hampered by extraterritorial treaties; are rarely mentioned by the Japanese, who the Chinese say are responsible, and are seldom referred to in anything but confidential official reports by Consular and diplomatic officials of other countries. Unofficially, however, evidence has been pieced together to indicate that many of the victims were narcotic addicts who had been dumped in the river, perhaps before death, to save burial expenses.
Several Chinese coolies were arrested recently when cpught carrying the bodies of narcotic addicts toward the rher from the Japanese concession, where hundreds of small narcotic shops exist beyond the reach of Chinese authority.
Fee for Murder. In one case the victim was still alive, and was abla to gasp out the 6tory of his migration from a village in the interior in search of work, his learning to use narcotics, and his gradual cnfeeblement. As death neared he was turned over to his pallbearers to be consigned to the Haiho at a fee of 12 cents, the cheapest coffin in Tientsin costs at least 50 cents, and it is Chinese custom that the owner of the property on which a man dies must pay his funeral expenses. While this man's case may not have een typical, the sensation his storv caused was followed by a wholesale clean-up campaign by the Japanese concession authorities. While strenuously denying that Japanese had anything to do with the floating corpses, they, rounded up hundreds of Chinese beggare and narcotics addicts about Japanese and Korean dens and shunted them into the Chinese city. More than 1000 of these vagrants are now and housed by the Chinese authorities: When Chinese publicity brought ilife "floating corpse Tnyeterv" to public attention, the practice suddenly ended. No more corpses' floated to the docks. Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 210, 4 September 1937, Page 19
Sunday, July 8, 2012
CHINESE NEW YEAR (All rights reserved.)STRANGE CEREMONIES. By FREDEBICK STTJBBS, FJt.G.S.
During my residence in South China I had the somewhat uncommon experience of witnessing the ceremonies observed by the Chinese in their villages and temples at the New Year.
The reader will probably be aware that the Chinese celebrate their New Year, which is some six or seven weeks later than ours, with great ceremony and rejoicing. As this season approaches, the sale of clothes, food, candles, incensestk&s becomes very brisk. There is also a tremendous sale of red paper with inscriptions in black paint, to be paeted on lintels when New Year's Day arrives. All productive labour is stoppefl, shops and warehouses are closed for the week, ceremonial visits are paid, family gatherings take place, and if for any reason a Chinese is unable to return home at this season it is regarded as a great misfortune. Financial matters axe straightened out, it being regarded as a matter of honour that all accounts should be paid by the end of the year. or some new arrangement made. That is the reason why there is generally a change in the bank rate at the New Year. Then there is any amount of feasting and noise, and displays of flags, inscriptions, and fireworks, and—l have had personal reasons for knowing— thieves become increasingly active and daring. New clothes are worn, and if a man cannot afford to buy a new suit he frequently hires one. Shops, houses, furniture, etc, are clsaned up; lanterns and good-lnck papers renewed. It is everybody's birthday. A child born in the Old Year, say in November, is regarded as beginning his second year on New Year's Day. In the early morning parents receive tbe formal salutations and prostrations of their children, schoolmasters are greeted 'with obeisances of their pupils accompanied by such exclamations as "I respectfully wish you joy" each child receives a gift of Cash, the smallest Chinese coin, wrapped up in red paper, and tea and sweetmeats are offered in every house. Over the door freeh papere are pasted with such inscriptions as "May the five Blessings, longevity, riches, health, virtue, and a natural death, descend upon the house," or, over a shop, "May rich customers continually enter the. door." Gifts, are often made to dependents, employees and customers. The second day of the New Year is the Ladies' Day, when the women go on excursions into the country. Another day is the Feast of Tombs, when the men-folk go to the graveyards to worship and make offerings and obeisances at their family graves. It would indeed, be difficult for anyone who had not witnessed it, to realise the enthusiasm and gladness surpassing that of any season of the Christian year. suPEKsrmous obskbvances. In addition to these social and family celebrations there are many religious and superstitious observances, and it was some of these that I was specially privileged' id see, and shall now try to describe. On the occasion to which I refer, I learned that on a certain night there were to he great rejoicings and religions ceremonies at the large village of Kong Chuen. I think the villagers felt rather flattered at the idea that a foreigner could be sufficiently interested in them as to travel so vast- a distance. Our guide, an old man who had 'been operated on by my companion, led tbe way to the first temple. Again onr road lay along narrow, mnddy. elevated paths, about two feet wide, with water on either side, and in the darkness one had to be very careful of one's steps so as not to slip into the water. We found the temple a fairly large one, about 80ft In width, with wide, open entrance. Outside were boys holding lighted lanterns; inside there was- an outer court, where food, candles, etc were being sold; and children were, -playing, and fireworks were being made. Passing through this we came to a huge table which ha a heen placed in front of the Ancestral Altar, laden with the offering- of orahippera,—roast pigs, poultry, pieces of meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, ornaments, and smoking incense sticks, all brightly illuminated by scores of lamps and candles. Behind the altar' were the Ancestral Tablets, sixteen rows, one above the other, 'each tablet bearing the name of an ancestor of tbe clan and each row representing a whole generation. is here that ancestor-worship takes place, the worshipper burning incense sticks and bowing before the tablets, each of which, according to his belief, contains one of the three spirits of his forefathers, one spirit being buried with the' body, another imprisoned in the unseen world, and the third in the tablet. This Ancestor Worship is older even than Confucius, and is practised in China by all classes and faitbs, except the Christian. There is an Ancestral temple in nearly every village, and it is believed that the Ancestral spirits may return to the abodes of the living and reward or punish them for their faithfulness, or neglect, in offering tbe necessary sacrifices. On either aids of tbe central tier of tablets, described above, were hideous wooden idols, also with burning candles, incense, and offerings in front of them] and on the wails pictures describing the deeds of deceased heroes. Leaving this temple we' made our way, led' by otir guide, to a second temple. This was at the other end of the village and it was no easy thing to pick our way along the narrow paths and amongst the mud holes, heaps of rubbish, and filth of every description. In the parte illuminated by lanterns we could see the ruins of. many honees that had been destroyed by the great flood of 1915, and, here and there, great fish-ponds. These ponds are common in South China, being made by the villagere for breeding fish and are very profitable. Just before we arrived at our destination we had to pass through a narrow passage. Here we saw several large fires lighted, women tending them. These were to frighten away evil spirits and purify the paths for the idols who were jabout to traverse it. Then there was a great shouting, a blaring of month instruments, a beating of drains and gongs, and hundreds of men and boys rushing along, almost sweeping us off our feet. These constituted the advance guard of the procession. men, rushing along at their utmost speed, with loud shouts and beating of gong* and with innumerable torches and lanterns, came, at brief intervals, Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 95, 22 April 1922, Page 24
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Friday, June 22, 2012
Jackie Chan honours late parents
Last updated 09:03 10/03/2008
Hong Kong-born action film star Jackie Chan paid tribute to his late parents and his Australian roots on Sunday by funding a new science education centre at the country's top cancer research institution.
Chan and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd opened the Jackie Chan Science Centre, at the Australian National University, paid for by Chan's donations to cancer research in honour of his parents, who were long-time residents in Canberra.
Chan made an initial donation to cancer research in Australia in 2002 after the death of his mother, Lee Lee Chan, and was back in Canberra for Saturday's funeral for his father Charlie, who died on February 26, aged 93.
"My father passed away last week. So it is about time I did something for Canberra to remember my parents. I really thank you Australia and Canberra for taking care of my parents for 46 years," Chan told reporters.
Neither Chan nor the Australian National University would comment on how much Chan had donated to cancer research, although the university said the donations were "substantial".
Chan's parents settled in Canberra in the early 1970s, where his father took a job as the head chef at the United States Embassy before becoming a successful local restaurant owner.
Before his career in film, a young Chan lived in Canberra for a couple of years, attending college and working as builder's labourer, where he was given his now famous name Jackie as a nickname by fellow workers, who struggled with his Chinese name.
Rudd, who was elected to power in Australia last November, hosted a dinner at his official residence on Saturday for Chan and his family, as well as diplomats from China and the United States.
Rudd, who speaks fluent Mandarin, discussed ways Chan could
help Australia strengthen its ties with China, which is now Australia's biggest trading partner.
Chan, who is an ambassador for the Beijing Olympics, invited Rudd to attend the Olympics later this year, and said he would be available to help Rudd at any time, but he refused say how.
"There' some secret, I cannot say it," Chan said. "I've known Kevin for a few years. Whenever he calls, I'll be there.http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/308554/Jackie-Chan-honours-late-parents
Friday, May 11, 2012
WHITE NEW ZEALAND.
ITS COLOURED PROBLEM. CHINESE AND INDIANS. REVIVAL OF CONTROVERSY. There has developed a controversy on the White New Zealand question which threatens to rival that which was excited when a madman shot dead an aged Chinaman as a protest against the Asiatic influx. On this occasion there has been no shooting: the ball has been set rolling by a meeting of farmers and townsmen at peaceful Pukekohe," the 'constituency of the late Prime Minister,Mr.Massey. At this meeting it was declared that there were now Hindus and Chinese in their hundreds, where a few years ago the only dark skin to be seen was that of the native Maori race, high in the scale of civilisation. In some places the Asiatics controlled the fruit trade, and at the city markets the buyers of Pukekohe produce were largely Asiatics. The increasing hold of these people, it was pointed out was very serious, because their frugality of living made it impossible for a European to bring up his family in decency to compete with them - something could be done, and must be done. Europeans must put their minds to it Cases were instanced to prove that when Chinese entered into competition with Europeans in any line of business there was only one result—the European went out of business, especially in the laundry, fruit and market garden trades. It was urged by one speaker that landowners should invariably refuse to sell or lease land or premises to Asiatics, and that merchants should refuse to deal with them. The result of the meeting was the formation of a White New Zealand League, and the carrying of a motion that landowners and business men should refrain from dealing with Asiatics. No Definite Policy. There is in this country no policy of excluding Asiatics on the lines of the White Australian policywhich is one thing that Australia is praised for here and each year sees the number of Chinese and Indians added to. either as permanent residents or as temporary visitors, who try very hard to remain here. There are not a great many Asiatics in the South Island—probably it is too cold, or too Scotch, for them but there is abundant evidence that there is an all-sufficiency of both Chinese and Indians in the north. The fruit shops whose fine displays compel admiration, are a feature of the principal streets of Auckland. They are almost entirely run by Chinese, and there is not a suburb Ito which these men. who may be seen lin their scores bidding at the auctions in the City Markets, have not "peacefully penetrated." And at various corners we see the übiquitous Indian, popularly referred to as the '"Hindu," with his stall and his piles of polishcl fruit, paying but a scanty rental for his stand. As he competes mostly with the Chinese, there is perhaps less resentment against him on the part of the European population than might otherwise be. lin this country, but as to how long it takes a newcomer to repay it is one of those secrets which are hard to clear up. It is said that a young Chinese has to labour for ycars to clear himself of the debt. Standard of Living. It is not doubted that the Indian subsists on a food standard which would not maintain a white man ill working condition, and it is this economic advantage which gives him the pull over the European when it conies to competition in trade. As for the Chinaman, hs does not live nearly so frugally as is j generally supposed. The young Chinese of to-day is emulating European stand! ards. When he has emerged from his shell, so to speak, he dons tailor-made suits, tan shoes, silk sox, white collars and expensive hats. He may be seen thus, much multiplied, about the streets or in the marts any day. As to food, he is a gastronomic expert. He buys the fattest ducks and cockerels, the choicest pork and the best cuts of butchers' meats, and he buys plentifully. it is not in denying himself food that he saves money: he is sparing in his pleasure, as the European knows pleasure, and his entertainment costs him little. However, he is often a gambler, and the sight of a Chinaman on a racecourse is so familiar as to pass unnoticed and the luck of a Chinaman with the horses is said to be amazing. There is no more law-abiding citizen a Chinese, or a "Hindoo." for that matter. 1 rarely has to face a magistrate, excepting for the committal of some technical offence Really the matter of restricting the influx of Asiatics rests with the Minisi ter in charge of the Immigration Department. He issues the permits which allow them to land and take up their residence here, and the granting of these permits are solely at his discretion. Chinese or Indians who come out here to reside have, to pay a poll tax of £100. This tax is readily found by their compatriots who sponsor tlieir arrival. His Industry and His Pay. All around Auckland, and all along the Main Trunk Line as far south a Wellington, can be seen the market gardens of the Chinese and the trading carts of the Indian hawker. In every town are Asiatic fruit shops and Asiatic laundries. At Kohimarama Chinese are said to be paying rentals of 50 pound per acre per annum for land for vegetable-growing, a rental which would well make the white owner pause when he is asked to sell at valuation for other purposes. The industry of the Chinaman is proverbial, and here it is clearly shown. In the shops his work is limited by tlle interval between the hours of opening and closing fixed by law—which are long enough, in all conscience—but in the market gardens- no summer's day jis too long for him, and in the winter I lie works' early and late by the aid of the moon or artificial light. But the I lessee of the garden may be making I a fortune by the combined labour of his assistants working out their poll tax; a similar state of affairs may be the portion of the conductor of some of the fruit shops. The Minister in charge of Immigration has, it is stated, a pile of applications for admission, which is added to by applications from Chinese who came in under temporary permits entitling them to stay for six months, seeking permanent location. Many Chinese come here under temporary permit, and, having got the wedge in, seek to split the log this way. Their dodge, however, is rarely successful. i There have been attempts at smuggling !in detected—from Suva, the latest— but ships are now .searched prior to leaving the port of. embarkation and before, being berthed here, and it is said that for an Aiiatic to enter New Zealand unperceived is almost impossible Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 300, 19 December 1925, Page 11
Thursday, May 10, 2012
THE "NEW WOMAN IN CHINA.
a INTERVIEW WITH A CHINESE LADY. (specially written for the Press) WELLINGTON, February 19. A door opened, o little lady came in, a slight, gentle figure, robed, in a tunic of brown brocado, reaching to th© knee. A voluminous skirt flowed beneath. A jewelled hand was extended, tin? wide shvv** fell back, disclosing sky-blue silk lining. Th© oval, pallid face was suriutmnuxi by black, shining coils of hair, drawn tightly back irom tho lorelicad. A h-otivy Iriiigo -was worn, wrapped around' a support, which elevated it straight out over tho face—a lac© guarded and expressionless in repose, the face of a.
"now woman" of China, educated in th© States., yet a quiet little lady, with a thoughtful personality -behind that- express loniess mask.
The conversation proceeded in monosyllables. Then a chord was struck, and animation awoke. Tho English cam© a trillo broken, but as the t>trangcnt«M of a. foreign visitor -wore away, it flow«t fiver and luster, with hen- and ihero an American, slurring of vowels that rang sweetly. "Yes," she said, "Western learning is advancing in Chiua: It i> made cowpuWy lor children to attend school. English is the main language; but other languages aro a.i*o taught. Among the rich peoplo, the j*iris are taugnt at home. Rich Chines hove tutors foi tho children. Boys* nnd girls are taught together, girls till they are sixteen or seventeen. Then logins ilio filial preparation for marriage. There are no .spinsters in China. The women embroider a great dwil. and mako household decorations. They moke gorgeous quilts and other household l tilings. When married, they are dowered m clothes—trunks and trunks of clothes. A Chinese lady may possess «s many as four hundred suits of clothing, and, of course, jewellery- Many pairs ot braoelots, many sets of rings, bed linen, pillow shams, tables, ciuiii-s, all the necessary things for the bed. chamber will bo given a brid© by her mother. This is why iioor people find a big family of girls expensive, and) sometimes they aro sent away to foundling schools—not because they are not as dear to their parenUs' liotirts as boys. Girls aro just as loved as boys. Fathers pet the little giris greatly iv China. I havo four girls and ono boy, and my husband pefcj the girls oven more than th© boy. Everyone knows how tho Chinese, as a nation, love children. "Tho fact that a woman sat ,upon th© thron© of China did not make any difference to the position of Chinese women. 'Educated women do not think she should have reigned in place of her nephew. A nan ought to sit upon th© throne. A man is more able to govern —do you not think?—than a woman.
"A few Chines© ladies are going in for modiaino. I "know several Chinese women doctors in Pekin, and a few Chinese ladies are being trained as nurses by tho missions in various parts of China. I know some girls who are studying medicine, at present in America. Tli© rich (people do not like to part with their girls to send them away from home. That is ono reason why they do not go; also, it costs a good deal. Wo have our own doctors. They are clever; even Europeans go to them. A European lady in Melbourne I .met had been cured' by a Chinese doctor. They use herbs a great deal. Our women aro educated in household matters in their own home; they learn to cook, sew, and take caro of the house."
"Do men do washing in Ghana?" th© lady was asked.
"No. they don't"—and here came a scornful littlo laugh—"you would not get a man to do washing at homo. The women do that, and all the household tasks"—and the voice rang with pride —"the Chinese hero do it because they can moke money at it. The Chinese in New Zealand come from a commercial part; they oome from th© south of China. Wo belong to tho middle of the Empire. I 'have been away from China for eight years. I have only been hack for two months two yearn ago. Anyone brought up in China never likes to go to another country.
"Yes, foot-binding is passing away; it has been forbidden by an edict of the Emperor issued several years ago. They do not begin to bind the foot till th© girl is four or five, and then it is (bound always, day and night, or it would! expand. Tho bandages are over three feet long, and it has been vogue over three hundred years; but I know a rich lady who has just taken off th© bandages from her feet, which is painful, for tho feet are tender. I think this is the reason why the Chinese women grow so little. In China there is little loss of infant life, because there is no cows' milk to feet th© babies; each mother feeds her own baby."
Th© marriage customs ar© not changing greatly, our visitor says. In the district where her home is the majority of the people are Christian. There is an American Methodist mission, and th© marriage rites ar© the rites of their Church, and of the heathen rites sh© professes to know nothing? Asked as to the subjection of woman, it appears as if woman's power to get her own way held good- in thlo Eastern as well as in the Western world, and the assurance was given that a man in China, if ho is wise, asks his wife's opinion, just as ho does in Europe, ana probably Fails to_ take it and bears th© consequences just tho same in the East as in the West.
During the recent anti-Japanese demonstrations in Hong Kong the women wero the most determined opponents, and marched in procession carrying banners in tho streets. It was the first time such a thing had taken place in th© East, and created a profound impression in Chinese, Japanese, and European minds, as heralding a new era in the civilisation of th© Eastern world. Press, Volume LXV, Issue 13354, 20 February 1909, Page 9
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