All in Ethnic communities
60 years ago Hungarians started an uprising against the communist dictatorship forced on Hungary by the Russian troops who "liberated" Hungary in the 2nd World War. The freedom fighters failed in the revolt, but ever since Hungary gained back its independence in 1989 and announced the new republic on the anniversary day of October 23, we are free to celebrate the remembrance of the unsuccessful uprising and all the victims of fighting and the reprisals afterwards.
There are 363 Vietnamese residents in Christchurch (2013 census). The Vietnamese Society of Christchurch was formed with the main objective, that is promoting and fostering 1/ friendship understanding among society members and 2/ the culture and tradition of Vietnam. Minh Lengoc is elected to coordinate the society activities, which serve the above objective. This year the Society celebrated the Vietnmese mid-autumn festival on September 25th in Templin hall of Canterbury Horticultural Centre, Hagley park.
The event was organised by the Christchurch Fiji Association or CFCESSA, and was attended by over 300 people. Informing this was Jagat Singh, President of CFCESSA, who added, "We have been organising Diwali for the past 14 years. Earlier we used to get some funding but not any more. Now the community gets together and organises the event. Hopefully, the City Council will start helping us again. If it happens, maybe we will be able to organise the event on a much bigger scale the next year."
Calling Labour anti-migrants is desperation on part of the PM; Labour has no magic number for immigration; depends on circumstances; The Government has turned a blind eye to what private education institutes are doing; We will put the onus back on education institutes; Co-ethnic exploitation is an issue; More labour inspectors are needed; Crime can be prevented by having more frontline police officers from ethnic communities
The camaraderie that Nepali people and Kiwis share - which started in 1953 when Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay summited Sagarmatha (or Mt Everest as it is known outside Nepal) – was on full display the last weekend during the City's Dussehra celebrations.
Smile. Start a conversation. Make Canterbury feel like home. That is the aim of a campaign that was launched in the Ashburton District in September. The Start with a Smile campaign is being run by the Ashburton District Council and encourages locals to make the region feel like home for the many newcomers choosing to live and work in Mid Canterbury.
This can be the story of these local elections. Two young Korean siblings Linda Chen and Catherine Chu - daughters of Korean immigrants who came to New Zealand almost two decades back - winning their respective community board elections is not an everyday occurrence. Linda who gathered 3391 votes won the Harewood Ward of the Fendalton-Waimairi-Harewood Community Board. While Catherine came out as a victor in the Riccarton Ward of the Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton Community Board with 2074 votes.
Rosibel a trained Spanish-English interpreter working with Interpreting Canterbury for the past one year moved to Christchurch six years back from her native Mexico City after marrying a Kiwi. Here she shares her initial struggle, her path to becoming a trained interpreter, and the challenges and rewards her job brings everyday.
Formed soon after the 2011 February earthquakes, the Community Language Information Network Group (CLING) has been serving the culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities in Christchurch by communicating and disseminating information for the last half a decade.
For third year in a row, Homeland - the multimedia multicultural performance show organised by the Chinese Culture Association (CCA) in collaboration with the Canterbury Migrants Centre (CMC) has been hailed as a huge success.
The Canterbury Migrants Centre (CMC), earlier known as Christchurch Migrants Centre, has recently formally reviewed its operations, vision as well as the direction, and has restructured its modus operandi. George Clark, earlier the Chair of the Centre's Board and now the Managing trustee shared the reasons behind the changes.
The case in question is the last month order by the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) awarding Kapilaben Patel, a migrant worker from Gujarat, India, $31,413.19 for unpaid wages, working on public holidays, and holiday pay; and a further $11,400 as reimbursement of the money paid in contravention of 12(A) of the Wages Protection Act.
As a follow up to their July workshop, Anna Filippochkina of CLANZ (Community Languages Association of New Zealand) and Angela Bland of CANTESOL and TESOLNZ (Teachers of Speakers of Other Languages), organised a second workshop for professional development of community language teachers on September 28. The highlight of the session was a guest lecture by Una Cunningham, Associate Professor at College of Education, University of Canterbury, on "Keeping it real: authenticity, task and meaning-focused language teaching".
On September 23, Chinese Consulate General in Christchurch held the reception to celebrate the 67th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. More than 200 people attended the function, including Customs and Disability issues Minister Nicky Wagner, Members of Parliament Megan Woods, Ruth Dyson, Poto Williams and Joanna Hayes, Special Advisor and Director Christchurch for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Amb. Phillip Gibson, Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel and 6 other South Island Mayors, and friends from various circles, representatives of Chinese community, Chinese enterprises and overseas students in the consular districts.
Another testimony that Christchurch is becoming more diverse, accommodating and accepting was provided last weekend when the second Canterbury Eid Festival was organised by the Christchurch-based non-profit Nawawi Centre on September 18.
The Philippine Ambassador to New Zealand Jesus S Domingo, who has completed almost half-a-year in this country, and is known for his hands-on approach in dealing with issues, was in Christchurch recently to interact with local Filipino leaders including Delia Richards of the Philippine Culture and Sports.
Roshan Nauhria, a successful Kiwi-Indian businessman, who in the past has donated to political parties across spectrum and is also the member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, has recently launched the first political party in the country dedicated to immigrants.
The Kiwi workplace is unique. From the distinctive language and communication style through to the relaxed informality with the boss, the workplace environment in New Zealand can be very different from what many new migrants have experienced before.
Sir Paul Callaghan, a world renowned scientist and 2011 New Zealander of the Year, maintained that New Zealand should aim for an economy based on science, technology and innovation. He talked of New Zealand as a place ‘where talent wants to live’. While New Zealand has plenty of jobs in the service industry, especially in hospitality, these are low wage jobs and will not lift our economy. Sir Paul died in 2012 but the authors of this book echo his views and suggest the future economy of New Zealand would benefit from encouraging the right kind of immigrants.
The Christchurch Fiji Association – an organisation formed in 2002 to initiate, promote, support and maintain cultural, religious and educational needs of the Fiji and Pacific migrants and their children – organised it's annual Spring Dhamaka on September 10.
