The General Election maybe over a year away, but last Friday Phil Goff launched Indian Newslink’s official election page.

As pictured above, a number of Labour MPs were on hand for the launch, including Ross Robertson, Su’a William Sio, Carmel Sepuloni, Ashraf Choudhary, Carol Beaumont and Rajen Prasad.

I think this election page will add to Kiwis anticipation for the election.

Kiwi families are struggling under National’s recent policy and budget announcements.

GST increases and ETS mean that Kiwi families are put under further strain at a time when the world is coming out of the recession.

Kiwi families deserve better. Labour will ensure that tax-cuts are spread evenly over all wage earners and don’t just favour the rich.

After Labour worked hard to make student loans less of a burden on students with interest-free student loans, National has added an additional student loan fee of $40 per year.

This doesn’t give me any hope that National will keep the interest free student loan policy which was a legacy of the previous Labour government.

We’ll see how voters react next year.

http://www.indiannewslink.co.nz/index.php/electionlink/index.1.html

Green Party co-leader Russel Norman should be congratulated on successfully winning the game of name recognition.

When Dr Norman dangled the Tibetan flag in front of the visiting Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping, repeating the words “freedom for Tibet, freedom for the people of Tibet”, wide debate instantly raged within the Chinese community in New Zealand.

Chinese community leaders demanded an apology from the Greens co-leader. Jerry Yang, editor-in-chief of Auckland-based United Chinese Press (published in both Chinese and English) said Dr Norman should apologise for abusing his position as an MP and stretching the boundaries of freedom of expression.

Based on the take of the opinion leaders there are two approaches to help us understand the relevant issues – a selfish approach and conversely, an open approach.

For some, they care more about the living standard and well-being of ordinary New Zealanders than the Dalai Lama, who lives thousands of miles away on the other side of the world. In that regard, how much damage has been done to our relationship with China, our second largest trading partner, due to Dr Norman’s actions remains to be assessed.

For the others, the real essence of human rights and freedom of speech should be argued.

In that vein, when National MP and Minister for Ethnic Affairs Hon Pansy Wong expressed her view in the Chinese media that Dr Norman’s actions were disgraceful, it struck a chord among the Kiwi-Chinese community.

“Freedom for Tibet, freedom for the people of Tibet”.

To understand this politically-laden slogan, there are at least three intrinsic issues that need to be evaluated.

Firstly, does Dr Norman mean free Tibet from the People’s Republic of China?

China established what is now known as Tibetan Autonomous Region in the early 1950s, which put an end to the notoriously cruel system of serfdom on Tibet.

There are two versions of the Dalai Lama. For those of his followers his Holiness is a saint. For others, he is viewed as the leader who supported a system of slavery in Tibet which the Chinese authorities put an end to in the 1950s.

What Westerners do not know, or do not want to know, as argued by the other party, is what level of cruelty the Theocratic Serfdom under Dalai Lama had to offer. An exhibition in New Lynn in 2009 displayed:

• Tibetan Lamaism instruments for worship ceremony made by human parts including human skin drum and a necklace made of finger bones,

• A “gandong” (a flute made of human leg bone)

• Skin from serfs (including children) for religious purpose

• Serf’s eyes gouged out for punishment

Or when Dr Norman says ‘Free Tibet’, does he mean to say free Tibet from the Dalai Lama? The Dalai Lama was both a religious and political leader that ruled the region with great influence over its entire people – is this who the Tibetan people need freeing from?

Thirdly and closely related to the second part, free Tibet from which Dalai Lama? The Dalai Lama Dr Norman so cared about is “His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama” which means, literally, there were 13 such chief monks before the current one who all as leaders of both politics and religion were grand owners of serfs.

In fact according to statistics in the early years of the 17th century Qing Dynasty the serf owners, nobles and the upper-temple monks made up of less than 5% of the population but occupied and owned all Tibet’s farmland, pastures, forests, mountains, livestock and rivers as well as the serfs.

Wikipedia explains the origin of the title of Dalai Lama as such:

“in 1578 the Mongol ruler Alan Khan bestowed the title Dalai Lama on Sonam Gyatso. The title was later applied retrospectively to the two predecessors on his reincarnation line, Gendun Drup and Gendun Gyatso. Gendun Gyatso was also Sonam Gyato’s predecessor as abbot of Drepung monastery…”

And the relationship between Tibetans and the Han Chinese dated back as early as the Tang dynasty from the 7th to the 10th century A.D.

We don’t know how accurate the history is but the history is complicated enough for us to appreciate that the Tibetan issue is not as simple as what Dr Norman tried to chant.

The problem Dr Norman has – as argued by the Chinese community here in New Zealand – is that he wanted to teach the visiting Chinese leader a lesson but without understanding the history of the region.

Dr Norman may believe that his supporters don’t care about history. It is true that for too long many Kiwis were exposed to only one side of the story.

And sometimes it is painful to see that some of Dr Norman’s supporters have just enjoyed sticking to the one sided story and could not be bothered to look at the other side. Indeed it is sometimes difficult to even initiate a quality debate on sensitive issues such as that of Tibet.

Prejudice originated from ignorance and ignorance often enhances prejudice. In that vein Dr Norman’s action has made freedom of speech an oxymoron.

If New Zealand as a country is an open court, in the name of justice or for the sake of Buddhism – a religion Dalai Lama represents – at least we can agree that it is warranted that we hear what the other party or parties have to say on this issue.

Human rights and freedom of speech are about truth and should not be calculated for instant media exposure.

More information: www.huo.co.nz

Over the weekend, members of the Manurewa Cosmopolitan Club voted down a proposed amendment to their rules that would allow the wearing of headwear in the bar if it is worn for significant religious beliefs.

The Human Rights Commission had been asked to be involved in mediation after Karnail Singh was barred from entering the club in November for not removing his turban.

Verpal Singh, secretary of the Sikh Council of New Zealand describes the decision as “a wake up call to their community” about the need to educate the wider New Zealand society about the importance of the turban, saying the turban is one of the Sikh religion’s principal parts of its faith and that asking people to remove it “is like asking someone to strip down in public.”

I might be wrong, but I imagine that the original Cossie Club rule was put in place in the days when men wore hats and they were expected to remove them indoors.

One Cossie Club member justified their decision by saying that allowing turbans to be worn would mean they would have to let in people wearing hoodies and balaclavas.  I think that’s stretching it a bit.

The world is changing and I know it’s challenging and difficult. I hope that there can be some more dialogue between the Sikh community and the Club to get a greater understanding each other’s views – and ultimately, an acceptance that we do have differences in religion and culture in New Zealand and that is a strength, not a threat.

More than 100 community leaders braved a chilly Sunday morning to hear Phil Goff's response to the Budget in Pakuranga

You don’t have to be a historian to understand and appreciate history in this country.

That rule certainly applies to those Kiwi-Chinese who are relatively new here. What has been shared by that group of people is that New Zealand’s economy is, as correctly observed by Bruce Jesson, “once dominated by people who made things but it is now dominated by people who finance things.”

Even though they are migrant-turned new-New Zealanders, you feel how painful it is to them when hearing Finance Minister Bill English talk about possibly selling community assets such as Kiwi Bank.

The country has walked away from an economy of real entities to that of speculation. For them the Budget smells like: no substance, no plan to grow economy, no plan to create jobs and even no sign of understanding of inter-generation equity.

They like Phil Goff as a man of substance. As Trade Minister he signed the FTA with China, leading to China becoming our second largest trading partner.

In the year following the signing in 2008 our export to China reached $1billion, meaning more money in the pockets of Kiwis.

In 1989, when Phil Goff was Minister of Education he introduced and passed into law legislation which opened the door to international fee-paying students.

Now an entirely new sector called Export Education worth $2.5billion exists in New Zealand.

There are 20,000 international fee paying students in the country from China alone. This is an example of how to grow the economy and create jobs. We are a small country so we must be smarter.

Labour shows the way!

The Budget will turn our progressive tax system into regressive tax system. There is no fairness in the tax cuts, which benefit the wealthy few and throws the crumbs to the rest of the country’s wage-earners.

What was unique about Sunday’s post-Budget meeting with the Chinese community is that lots of new faces who didn’t seem to vote for Labour last time turned up and said they now feel much closer to Labour.

Also members of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce told me that the Budget seemed to have no plan to grow the economy. “Tax cuts for company rate sounds good but you will need to earn first – other than the transfer of money we can’t see where the money is coming from.”

More than 100 community leaders, small business owners, opinion leaders and a strong contingent of ethnic media braved a chilly Sunday morning to hear what Phil Goff had to say in response to the Budget.

The audience agreed with Phil Goff that Kiwis have been delivered a tax swindle and that tax cuts should have been fairer on middle and low income New Zealanders. Concern was also shared over the fact that the Budget does nothing to create jobs and the cuts to ECE and Healthcare will leave families out of pocket.

Unemployment is down for the time being, the job market is looking up and everyone is starting to feel better about the unemployment rate as we make our way out of the recession, right?

Wrong, very wrong. The Asian unemployment rate has hit a record high of 9.8 percent with 1200 Asians being forced to join the Dole queue since February.

There are currently 22,400 unemployed Asians in New Zealand and Ethnic Affairs Minister Pansy Wong does not seem concerned nor does she have any good ideas to tackle the problem.

I have asked Minister Wong what she is doing to help curb the spiralling unemployment rate amongst Asians and she has offered up the idea of business forums.

Has the government not learned from last year’s dismal Job Summit that talk-fests don’t work?

The business forums will be run by the Office of Ethnic Affairs, yet in a response to a Written Question I recently lodged she said the Office of Ethnic Affairs does not operate to create jobs.

No wonder she is so blasé, or maybe just confused. Business Forums run by an office that doesn’t help to create jobs? This sounds like an empty gesture doesn’t it?

The Asian community needs a strong leader who is going to offer up real solutions to this problem that is affecting thousands of Asian people across New Zealand.

Under her watch as Ethnic Affairs Minister since National came into power, the Asian unemployment rate has grown steadily above the national average.

The relatively low profile Chinese bonsai exhibition on Saturday attracted successfully larger crowds and bigger names than anticipated.

Held at Blockhouse Bay Community Centre in western Auckland, the exhibition of the 2000-year art of Chinese bonsai captured attention of hundreds of bonsai enthusiasts and mixed community members from both the Chinese and wider communities.

The New Zealand Chinese Bonsai Society is holding its 22nd Exhibition featuring 100 incredibly beautiful bonsai.

In addition to the “usual suspects” such as Auckland Mayor John Banks and I, those who made a firm and imposing appearance included Kiwi Party leader Larry Baldock and surprise, surprise – the Rt Hon Winston Peters of the New Zealand First!

Manukau Mayor Len Brown was understandably with his supporters at another function at the other end of the greater Auckland.

Any National Party MPs? Nope, given the positive polling performance at the moment, one Indian friend said, there is no need for its Chinese Minister to come here to speak glowingly about ethnicity, goodwill and international amity, yet.

In the meantime, Mr Baldock in his speech “hoped” that he and Mr Peters would “return to Parliament.”

Some interesting projections were released by Statistics New Zealand yesterday:

In 2026:

The European or Other population will grow from 3.21 million (2006 estimate) to 3.47 million an increase of 0.4 percent.

The Maori population will grow from 620,000 (2006 estimate) to 810,000 an increase of 1.3 percent a year

The Asian population will grow from 400,000 (2006 estimate) to 790,000 an increase of 3.4 percent a year

The Pacific population will grow from 300,000 (2006 estimate) to 480,000 an increase of 2.4 percent a year

The dramatic rise in these populations is attributed to births (Maori and Pacific) and migration (Asian).

What does this mean for New Zealand? I’m interested to here some feedback on the country’s changing demographic.

Click here to view the report from Statistics New Zealand:

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1004/S00239.htm

Asian voters are disappointed in the NACT government.

Attending a number of community meetings over the past week I have been told by a number of Asian voters that they voted National in 2008 “unashamedly for its Law and Order stance”.

Eighteen months on and crime rates are spiralling out of control.

Violent offences increased by 11.3 percent in 2009, murders are up by 25 percent and the total number of recorded offences increased by 8.8 percent in Counties-Manakau during National’s first full year in power.

National has failed every voter who was duped in by their strong Law and Order campaign during the 08 Election campaign.

One constituent told me she felt “offended” that the NACT government has not apologised for its failure to live up to its promise of tackling crime.

National and ACT have made a mockery of the Auckland Asian community who were led to believe swift action would be taken on Law and Order.

Meaghan Li with the Cyril Basset Speech Award and her English Teacher Mr Michael Green on the left and RSA Auckland President Mr Gary Walker on the right

Congratulations to my Youth MP, Meaghan Li, who won the inaugural Cyril Bassett speech competition over Easter weekend.

Meaghan, from Macleans College, won the Auckland Cyril Bassett speech competition earlier in the year and travelled to Wellington to compete against seven other regional finalists from across the country.

Her speech focussed on the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior and touched all in the audience with RSA President Robin Klitscher saying he was ‘dumbstruck’ by the speech.

Meaghan will travel to Gallipoli with a New Zealand delegation later this month for the 95th commemoration of the ANZAC landings.

Congratulations Meaghan, you will represent your school, community and New Zealand with distinction in Gallipoli.

Cyril Bassett was the only New Zealander at Gallipoli to be awarded the Victoria Cross.

As the keynote speaker at Whitireia Polytechnics Auckland Graduation ceremony on Thursday it was like looking out upon a mini United Nations assembly.

Pacific Island, Indian, Chinese, Korean and European students gathered to celebrate the occasion.

As one of the biggest and popular learning establishments in New Zealand, Whitireia has played an important role in our burgeoning billon dollar export education industry.

Attending functions like this last week and similar meetings during the weekend and again this afternoon has prompted me to think further on this subject. I cannot help but ask what can we as legislators do to help and grow this thriving industry?

What concerns the stakeholders and relevant community members confirmed what I have suspected: what the industry lacks is kind of ‘national standard’ (Hello Ms Tolley!).

To quote from an article I wrote on the subject in the New Zealand Herald on previous occasions:

The Ministry of Education has identified a number of other problems, one of which is the inefficiency of an industry populated by a large number of small providers, with varying levels of experience and expertise.

But the real problem is that New Zealand’s laws and regulations do not safeguard the standard expected by Asian customers in particular. “Ghetto education” is a term frequently used by Chinese parents to refer to ill-equipped schools operating in run-down buildings but boasting a big name.

Unregulated agents, who aggressively recruit students by “selling” those schools in return for a large commission, are another contributing factor.

The 1986 Fair Trading Act does not necessarily stop those schools from passing themselves off as “national” or “international” institutes, or “Auckland” or “New Zealand” academies.

In China, the law reserves such titles for reputable educational providers whose name matches their national or regional status. Big names and their perceived standing are, therefore, attractive to Asian students and their parents.

But upon arrival and discovery of what they really are, their hearts sink, and so does New Zealand’s reputation.

For Chinese students and their parents, this country has a credibility issue.

That is relevant because the reputation of the industry and the associated image of the country determine, to a large degree, what kind of candidates are being targeted.

Unless the Fair Trading Act is improved so that at least the names of those schools are representative.

A licensing system to regulate agents would also provide greater protection to prospective students and prevent them from being exploited by unscrupulous operators.

Some quality schools, who could not afford or are unwilling to pay a hefty commission to such agents, have complained they are less competitive than schools that are willing to do so.

Unsurprisingly, the number of international students has dropped dramatically [ ...] By contrast, international student numbers in Australia have grown, this includes sustained growth from China, India and Korea.

To protect and grow this sector, we need vision and a long-term strategy.

If the Education Minister Anne Tolley is so interested in National Standards for a sector that doesn’t want nor understand them, hopefully Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce can see that here is an industry which is badly in need of some form of national standard.