In an exclusive chat with this newspaper, Angus McKay, Mayor of Ashburton District Council, says he was told by the Philippines Ambassador recently that New Zealand authorities are issuing more and more two-year work-visas these days, so that migrant workers can benefit from access to subsidised healthcare. This has been one of the major demands of the Canterbury Mayoral Forum, in which McKay looks after the migrant affairs.
In this photo-essay, we go to Vietnam, Lan Le-Ngoc's country till he left it in 1978. He graciously shared his life story with us for The Long Read [pg 12 & 13] for this issue.
The Immigration Advisers Complaints and Disciplinary Tribunal in a recent judgement had found that Lindsay Charles Sparks, an immigration adviser with Business Immigration Limited (BIL), had engaged in "dishonest and misleading behaviour" in dealing with Edwin Balatbat, a Filipino migrant worker. While the case is “no hold” till the appeal process is completed, The Migrant Times caught up with Ruth Burgess, Solicitor at Lexington Legal – the law firm fighting Edwin's case pro-bono – for her views on why access to justice is important for migrants well-being, as well as for the international reputation of New Zealand.
The minister was speaking at a protest organised and attended by around 150 taxi drivers in the City against the company, Uber
A huge loss to the community, Dame Grace Shellie Hollander, passed away peacefully on June 27, in the presence of her family in Palmerston North Hospital. She was 94.
South Island is changing. Even the so-called "whitest regions" are beginning to realise the fruits of immigration. This newspaper caught up with Hurunui Mayor Winton Dalley to guage his thoughts on the changing demographics of his district.
The ten-day-long Lyttelton Harbour Festival of Lights, which started on June 18, concluded this past Monday, with highlight being the Street Party on June 24.
Yogyakarta is the hub of Javanese culture in Indonesia, which has seamlessly integrated cultural traits of Hinduism and Buddhism, with Islam. Even though, the people of Java are mainly Muslims, they are very proud of their links with other cultures and religions. On top of it, the most striking feature of the city is the omnipresence of graffiti on almost every wall around the city, presenting a very liberal face of Indonesia. To quote the Lonely Planet, "Yogyakarta is where the Javanese language is at its purest, arts at their brightest and its traditions at their most visible."
The Bishnois - India's 'original conservationist's – would be so proud of Michael Tavares spending four-days on a 500-year-old Kauri tree in Titirangi, West Auckland.
Immigration New Zealand in collaboration with the Language in the Workplace Team, School of Linguistics & Applied Language Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, has developed a web tool to help workplace communication challenges and improve communication between NZ employers, managers and their new migrant employees from other cultures.
Canterbury is getting diverse. A testimony to this is the growing number of community organisations finding their space here. We present an indicative list below. For a more exhaustive list, please visit:
Capturing the Diversity Dividend of Aotearoa/New Zealand (CaDDANZ, pronounced 'cadence') is a research programme led by teams from the University of Waikato and Massey University. The team also includes staff from Motu Economic and Public Policy Research in Wellington. It is funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
The Dante Alighieri Society of Christchurch in collaboration with the Italian Embassy organised the Italian National Day in Christchurch on June 8. The guests were entertained to a violin and piano concert by two international artists, violinist Francesco D’Orazio and pianist Giampaolo Nuti, who presented compositions by Marco Betta, Igor Stravinsky, Nino Rota and Ferruccio Busoni.
A new campaign called “OWDSocks”, seeking to raise awareness and eliminate all forms of discrimination in New Zealand - including but not limited to culture, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and disability - was launched on June 25, 2016, at the Multicultural New Zealand’s annual general meeting in Auckland.
The message came out on the second International Day of Yoga celebrations in Christchurch
As the Canterbury Migrants Centre Trust launches the first-ever migrant newspaper in the South Island, The Migrant Times editor Gaurav caught up with Christchurch's City Mayor Lianne Dalziel for a quick chat on her thoughts about the prevailing migrant issues in the city, and whether Christchurch is ready to accept, as well as culturally, socially and economically integrate migrants of different ethnicities within its folds.
A multidimensional public art exhibition in the small rural town of Ashburton has detailed experiences of 22 [one anonymous] migrants of “integrating into a new community and creating a sense of belonging while negotiating their own identities in different communities”
After Labour's ill-conceived Chinese surname saga, Finance Minister Bill English gave a hint about potential backlash (though, not in so much words) from the Chinese Government after returning from that country recently. But if Singapore example is anything to go by, protecting one's national interests (read - selling milk to China) without upsetting the Chinese Government (read - enforcing a stamp duty on foreigners buying property in Auckland) is certainly feasible.
Ever since the country started marking the Maori Language Week forty years ago, the cultural and historical argument to preserve the language has held its ground. It's time to introduce the economic element into it as well.
Every year Te Matatini National Kapa Haka Festival, which started in 1972, focusses attention on the contributions made by the tradition-al Maori warrior dance to social cohesion, health and education outcomes. As the country celebrates Matariki, we also make a case for what the organisers of Te Matatini call "“underrating of the true values that kapa haka brings to the New Zealand society”.
