Ethnic Whispers October 2009

Foreword

Apa Khabar (Hello in Malay) and welcome to the October edition of Ethnic Whispers.

This month, I had the pleasure of hosting the Diwali function in Parliament, which was a festive affair with community representatives and leaders, foreign diplomats the Governor General and Prime Minister Hon John Key among those who turned up to celebrate.

Diwali symbolises the victory of righteousness, the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil and the renewal of life. It is the time when families light small oil lamps (diyas) and candles and place them around the home and set off fireworks.

Celebrations for Diwali have flourished throughout the country, with some using the occasion to collect donations for the Samoa tsunami disasters – a show of New Zealand’s generous spirit and our willingness to watch out for our neighbours.

The Office of Ethnic Affairs launched a new book– Interpreting in New Zealand, a pathway forward – this month at Auckland University of Technology.

This book will serve as a catalyst for the recognition of professional interpretation and translator services.

Government departments have increasingly recognised that they can improve on the process and procedure, while the wider private sector is another area where professional interpreting and translating should be recognised.

This book has been compiled and contributed to by Diana Clark, the manager of Language Line, who started it from an award she won – which is a true reflection of her dedication to promoting the importance of communication.

Language Line builds a bridge between Government agencies and our citizens who speak English as a second language and I would like to congratulate Diana Clark for her efforts in making this book available to the interpreting community.

The Wellington Community Feedback Forum was held this month and was the third one that I have attended, following forums in Christchurch and Auckland. Again, I heard some very valuable feedback from members of many of our ethnic communities about what is working and what areas still need improvement.

The Wellington Feedback Forum is one of a series that are being held throughout New Zealand to update our ethnic communities about the work of the Office of Ethnic Affairs over the past year, to outline the plans and priorities for the year ahead and to hear their views and concerns.

Office of Ethnic Affairs director Mervin Singham and staff, along with the Chief Executive of the Department of Internal Affairs, Brendan Boyle and I met with a wide range of Ethnic community representatives.

There has been a change of conversation at these forums from what Government is doing, to what ethnic communities believe is working and what is not – a healthy sign of ethnic communities voicing their needs.

Hon Pansy Wong
Minister for Ethnic Affairs

Primary health care consultation with refugee and migrant communities

PHOTO: Marian Hussein, health worker from the New Zealand Aids Foundation addresses the community audience.

September saw advisors from the Christchurch Office of Ethnic Affairs, along with Partnership Health Canterbury host 30 enthusiastic guests for a health care consultation meeting with health service providers and those from refugee and migrant backgrounds.

Community representatives, including members of the Somalia, Kenyan, Eritrean, Chinese, Korean, Indian, and Afghanistan communities met with representatives from Canterbury District Health Board, Rural Canterbury Primary Health Organisation, Pegasus Health, Mental Health Foundation and Christchurch Resettlement Services. Also in attendance were the NZ Aids Foundation, Shakti Ethnic Women’s Support plus a number of other Non Governmental Organisations and organisations in the health sector.

The meeting discussed key health issues which are increasingly creating barriers for people from refugee and migrant communities to access health care. It also became a good platform for those who either work with communities or represent different health agencies to share information, seek comments and advice on solutions to improve access to primary healthcare for refugee people.

Some community members emphasised that they need more help and support accessing public health services from a variety of health agencies and would very much like to see more health information and primary services available to their communities without language or cultural barriers. They also looked for assistance in encouraging refugee people to participate in and engage with health agencies around establishing effective health care.

Candy Wu Zhang, Ethnic Affairs Advisor from the Christchurch office thought the meeting was a “good opportunity” for gathering together health workers, experts and members of refugee and migrant communities to hear what is happening in the Canterbury region. She believed that the information and knowledge gained from the meeting could help people indicate the direction of their future work.

Ali Tausif, an Afghanistan health worker from Union Community Health Services, felt the meeting was “very successful”. “The meeting provided an excellent opportunity for refugee and migrant community members to ‘have their say’ and listen to others, discuss their own concerns, raise their needs on primary health care with key health players in Christchurch and advisors of the Office of Ethnic Affairs ”, he said.

Diwali festival lights up Parliament

PHOTO: Minister Pansy Wong with members of the New Zealand Academy of Bharata Natyam, left Kaajal Patel and right Varada Khot.

Diwali was celebrated at Parliament in October with speeches, traditional dance and delicious food.

Hon Pansy Wong, Minister for Ethnic Affairs, hosted the annual event in the Banquet Hall, with the Governor-General, Sir Anand Satyanand, addressing the two-hundred strong audience and highlighting the contributions of the Indian communities in New Zealand.

Diwali is an important festival for Hinduism, Sikhism, and Jainism and an official holiday in India. Adherents celebrate Diwali as the Festival of Lights. They light diyas - cotton string wicks inserted in small clay pots filled with oil –to signify victory over evil for an individual.

Prime Minister Hon John Key spoke of the growing relationship between India and New Zealand, particularly in the areas of tourism, education and trade.

Prime Minister Key acknowledged the strong links between India and New Zealand – we share a love of cricket, an admiration for Sir Edmund Hillary and we are both members of the Commonwealth.

Mr Key noted that this relationship is set to grow with a proposed India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement, negotiations for which will commence in the near future.

The many guests enjoyed performances by traditional dance troupes from the Wellington Indian Association, the New Zealand Academy of Bharata Natyam and the evening was capped off with a rousing Bhangra dance.

The pathway forward for interpreting

(From left): Diana Clark, Language Line Manager, Dr Ineke Crezee, Senior Lecturer in Translation and Interpreting in the School of Languages and Social Sciences at AUT, Sibylle Ferner, President of the New Zealand Society of Translators and Interpreters, and Minister for Ethnic Affairs Hon Pansy Wong.

PHOTO (From left): Diana Clark, Language Line Manager, Dr Ineke Crezee, Senior Lecturer in Translation and Interpreting in the School of Languages and Social Sciences at AUT, Sibylle Ferner, President of the New Zealand Society of Translators and Interpreters, and Minister for Ethnic Affairs Hon Pansy Wong.

In early October, for more than fifty interpreters in Auckland, Office of Ethnic Affairs’ new book for Language Line, Interpreting in New Zealand the pathway forward was a great excuse to get together. Attendees discussed issues facing the interpreting community through a panel discussion with experts, Professor Duncan Webb, New Zealand’s first Legal Complaints Review Officer, Dr Ineke Crezee, Senior Lecturer in Translation and Interpreting in the School of Languages and Social Sciences at AUT, Sibylle Ferner, President of the New Zealand Society of Translators and Interpreters, Diana Clark, Manager of Language Line and Mervin Singham, Director of the Office of Ethnic Affairs. The event was hosted by Office of Ethnic Affairs at the Auckland University of Technology (AUT).

Proceedings opened with a mihi and welcome from Sir Paul Reeves, who is Chancellor of AUT. Mervin Singham and Diana Clark then gave a joint presentation on Language Line and how they have worked to bring equity of access to government services for those who speak little or no English.

The Minister for Ethnic Affairs Hon Pansy Wong then launched the book. A migrant herself, she underlined her understanding of the issues non-English speakers face. She also spoke of the value of the book to the interpreting industry and told interpreters present that she was glad frontline staff were using the Language Line service more and more. The Minister also participated in the panel discussion during the course of the evening but it was the panel guests along with Office of Ethnic Affairs Director Mervin Singham who answered a number of questions in relation to interpreting.

Office of Ethnic Affairs hopes the book, which covers experience and expertise in interpreting from overseas, and in New Zealand will help find ways to strengthen and formalise interpreting in this country.

The book is being distributed to interpreters and those who teach and employ them, to help generate discussion on the industry in New Zealand and set out avenues for professional development.

Staff profile – meet Ashlin Chand

Ashlin has worked at Office of Ethnic Affairs since October 2008 and has been seconded to the Minister’s office as the Private Secretary for Ethnic Affairs since the beginning of this year. Speaking about her time at the Minister’s office, she says that 'it was a great opportunity to engage with a number of stakeholders, and to enhance my knowledge of New Zealand’s Ethnic communities.'

While she enjoyed her time at the Minister’s office, she’s glad to be back in the Policy Team at Office of Ethnic Affairs. When she’s not being a policy analyst, Ashlin likes to travel, cook, read and spend time with her friends and family.

All aboard the ‘Ethnic Media Bus’ in Christchurch

PHOTO: Students visting the Canterbury TV (CTV) production studio.

The ‘Ethnic Media Bus Tour’, is an innovative approach led by the Office of Ethnic Affairs and has been created to bring together ethnic media and journalism students to experience first hand how mainstream media operates in Christchurch.

Over 20 guests from a broad range of ethnic and community media backgrounds boarded the bus, including student representatives from the Chinese, Indian, Korean, Japanese, Indonesian, Swiss and South African communities.

The students are currently studying a variety of media courses, such as graphic design, photography, multi-media, journalism, animation and post-production.

They visited The Press, a busy daily broadsheet newspaper, the Christchurch Star, a free newspaper delivered twice weekly and Newstalk ZB radio station.

A lunchtime workshop was facilitated by Colin Feslier, the Strategic Communications Manager for the Department of Internal Affairs on What is news in New Zealand. The presentation provided a clear definition of media, the impact and influence generated by media and ways of dealing with media in a New Zealand context.

The tour also visited WhiteBait TV Studios, where the group had a rare and exciting glimpse behind the scenes of producing television programmes (live to air) and Canterbury TV (CTV), a regionally based privately owned company focussing on and reflecting the views and opinions of local residents.

Ho Chang Lee, Chief Editor of Korean Review, a weekly Korean newspaper, described the tour as “a unique opportunity to learn from Kiwi peers”. “The tour is a sign showing both ethnic and wider media are keen to know more about each other”. The next tour is scheduled to depart in June 2010.

Visit to Rehua Marae

In early October Ngāi Tahu, with the support of the Office of Ethnic Affairs, the Ministry of Social Development ‘Settling In’, Refugee Services - Aotearoa and Christchurch Resettlement Services hosted over 50 women at Rehua Marae. Ngāi Tahu has long-standing history of working closely with refugee and migrant communities and has a genuine interest in welcoming newcomers and actively participating in settlement-related issues.

The purpose of the hui was to provide a platform and culturally safe environment for women to discuss issues of family safety, intimate partner violence, and other health-related issues and support mechanisms for migrant and refugee women.

Those present had the opportunity to meet with local Māori and Māori service providers to discuss how women can keep themselves and their families safe. It was also an opportunity for manuhiri to meet and be officially welcomed to Christchurch by the Tangata Whenua and learn more about Māori culture and New Zealand’s obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Hamilton Community Forum

A community forum held in Hamilton by Office of Ethnic Affairs staff in late September saw an informal gathering of community leaders enjoy an afternoon at the Waikato Migrant Resource Centre.

The Director of the Office of Ethnic Affairs, Mervin Singham gave an address on behalf of the Minister. Mervin welcomed the 30-strong crowd and showcased the efforts of the team, looking back on 2009 and going forward.

Staff reported on the work delivered in 2008/09 and also outlined the work programme for the 2009/10 year. The key priorities discussed included: civic participation, law and order, ethnic media, Building Bridges - Muslim community engagement, health, employment and economic development, and visibility.

Office of Ethnic Affairs Advisor Sandra MacKenzie said that “participants thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon and they were very interested to hear from our director”.

Wellington Community Forum

Selva Ramasami Chairman of The Wellington Mutamizh Sangam Incorporation receives his certificate of achievement from Hon Pansy Wong Minister for Ethnic Affairs

PHOTO: Selva Ramasami Chairman of The Wellington Mutamizh Sangam Incorporation receives his certificate of achievement from Hon Pansy Wong Minister for Ethnic Affairs.

In October the Office of Ethnic Affairs director Mervin Singham and staff, along with the Minister for Ethnic Affairs, Hon Pansy Wong and Chief Executive of Department of Internal Affairs Brendan Boyle met with a wide range of Ethnic community representatives at the Wellington Community Forum.

Mervin Singham welcomed the 60-strong crowd and showcased the efforts of the team, looking back on key achievements in 2009 and highlighted plans for the 2010/2011 year. The priorities discussed included: civic participation, law and order, ethnic media, Building Bridges - Muslim community engagement, health, employment and economic development, and visibility. The Minister endorsed the direction of the Office and in particular its work in the economic space.

The Minister also congratulated NGO graduates of the Strengthening NGOs Programme. The graduates received certificates from the Minister for their achievements in the Governance Training and Mentoring Programme. Of the organisations that participated in the training, The Wellington Mutamizh Sangam Incorporation, The Wellington Somali Council and the Wellington Somali Sports and Cultural Trust were at the Forum to receive their certificates directly from The Minister.

Petra van den Munckhof, a tutor in ‘Not for Profit Management’ at Unitec who consulted on the programme said “The passion and commitment these people have for their communities is outstanding and their understanding of governance is high. This programme gave them the luxury of time to think together about what they were doing”.

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