Issue 2, June 29, 2016

Let me tell you a story.

There was a man. There was a train. The man was sitting in the train.

What's different about it, you ask? Lots of men sit in a train!

The difference was, the man, like everyone else, had not kept his luggage in the luggage compartment.

Instead, he was carrying his luggage on his head, while sitting in the train.

When asked why was he doing that, he replied, "It's my luggage. If I don't carry it, who else will."

All of us are like that "man".

We are in the life's train together, going to the same destination, with similar stories.

But we - forgetting that - keep on carrying our life's weight over our head, thinking, "If I don't carry it, who else will."

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Everything starts with an idea. Then over time, that idea becomes a reality. In between, we have the mandatory ups and downs, the surety and doubts.

But if the idea is powerful enough, as noted by Robin Sharma in his widely acclaimed book, The monk who sold his Ferrari, "the entire universe conspires to make it a reality".

Something similar happened with The Migrant Times.

Ever since the Centre was established in 2011, it deliberated on such an initiative.

A tool to provide "A Voice for All". [which incidentally is this newspaper's motto]

A tool to bring the migrant discourse into the mainstream.

A tool to help both migrants and Kiwis understand each other a bit better.

And the response we have received clearly shows that such a tool was badly needed.

Even the draft Multicultural Strategy recently put forward by the Multicultural Working Party of the Christchurch City Council notes "negative and stereotyped representation in the media" as one of the major problems faced by migrants here.

With anti-migrant sentiments on the rise - as denoted by our front page illustration of this issue - we need some balance. Some calm!

Hopefully, this newspaper will play some role in that.

To end: On behalf of the Canterbury Migrants Centre, I want to thank all the city councils, district councils, mayors, government ministries and departments, private businesses, and above all, our readers - both migrants and kiwis - who have sent their feedback, appreciation and suggestions for improvement.

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Going back to our story.

Please always remember, The Migrant Times is your newspaper.

We, the people, are all in this together!

Gaurav