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Ethnic Whispers June 2010


Foreword

Hon Pansy Wong

Fo be song – Greetings in Dagaare, the language of the Dagaaba people of Ghana and Burkina Faso. Welcome to the June edition of Ethnic Whispers.

One of the Government’s goals for New Zealand’s financial sector is to establish ourselves as an Asia-Pacific financial services hub. We want to build New Zealand into a base for the back-office services of international fund management companies. It is therefore important that our financial services are strong domestically and one of the Government’s moves is to improve financial regulations. The National-led Government is committed to addressing the issue of investor confidence that arose out of the financial crisis and the failures of some finance companies.

It is important that investors can have trust in financial advisers and financial service providers. This is why we have passed the Financial Service Providers Act to create a public register for those providing financial services. To register, financial directors and managers will need to declare they have no serious criminal convictions, are not bankrupt or banned from management involvement. This Act also creates a free dispute resolution service for anyone using a registered financial service provider.

The new regime will contribute to the Government’s economic growth priorities by promoting sound and efficient delivery of financial services, and encouraging public confidence in the professionalism and integrity of financial services.

Ethnic New Zealanders have a culture of hard work, saving, establishing businesses and investing. They should therefore find this month’s Ethnic Whispers focus on the changes to the financial services environment informative and useful.

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Changes to financial services are coming

Did you know that people and businesses who provide financial services must soon register? Registration means that a financial service provider has met certain requirements and their business information is publicly available on the Financial Service Providers Register at www.fspr.govt.nz(FSPR).

Common financial services include:

There are also other types of services that involve money, investments, and assets.

Beginning in July 2010, the people and businesses who provide these financial services must apply for registration on the FSPR. The FSPR is run by the New Zealand Companies Office and will only be available online. There is already lots of information on the website about new laws, the FSPR, and how to register.

If you want to use financial services, you can check to see if your provider is registered starting in July. If you have a problem with your provider, there are new ways to get help through dispute resolution services.

If you want to offer financial services, read the registration information on the website before you apply. All existing financial services providers must be registered by 1 December 2010. The FSPR will remain open after that date for new people and businesses who want to apply to be registered.

For more information you can telephone the FSPR freephone at 0508 FSPR INFO (0508 377 746).

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Census participation – stand up and be counted

The census is the official count of population and dwellings in New Zealand, providing a ‘snapshot’ of our society at a point in time. The New Zealand census is taken every five years. The census counts everyone who was in New Zealand on census night and provides key information about the people living in our cities, towns, suburbs and rural communities. The next census is in 2011.

The census is completed by the Department of Statistics. They choose one day on which this count takes place. Everyone in New Zealand on that day is asked to fill in census forms. If we complete our stats form, we can find out:

None of this personal information is held for any other reason than the Census count.

www.stats.govt.nz

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Alliance of Civilisations

The Alliance of Civilisations is a United Nations initiative that aims to improve understanding and cooperative relations among nations and people across cultures and religions. In the process, it works to help counter the forces that fuel polarisation and extremism. It was launched by Turkey and Spain in 2005. The third forum of the AOC was held at the end of May 2010 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The forum was well attended by over 3000 participants from government, civil society, international organisations, business and academia taking part in the two-day programme.

New Zealand is a supporter of the Alliance’s objectives, and was represented at the third forum by officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Office of Ethnic Affairs. Mervin Singham, New Zealand’s Head of Delegation and Office of Ethnic Affairs’ Director, said: “The forum provided an opportunity for New Zealand to reaffirm its commitment to the Alliance’s objectives and to showcase some of the work that occurs domestically within the Alliance’s framework.”

Visit the Alliance of Civilisations’ website for more information about the outcomes of the Rio forum: www.unaoc.org.

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Ethnic Affairs believes Dancing with the Dragon a success

The Office of Ethnic Affairs held a successful Chinese Community Business forum on Wednesday June 11. There was significant engagement between the Chinese Business Community and New Zealand businesses and economic development agencies at the event.

There was a special interest in the Shanghai Expo and many of the participants used the time to liaise and network with the mainstream New Zealand entrepreneurs, academics and government organisations involved in trade in and out of New Zealand. Many felt they had learned some very valuable lessons and have taken on some practical advice from the keynote speakers.

The Right Honourable Dame Jenny Shipley said that while there were many opportunities for increasing trade with China, it is important to develop connectivity across the business community in order to seize them. She also recommended that businesses get to know their competitors, while Grahame Morton, Head of the China Unit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade suggested that New Zealand needs a better commercial profile for our companies in China.

Office of Ethnic Affairs Director Mervin Singham, says “Many of the themes that have emerged from these discussions are unique to this event. We have captured the information and discussions and this will be analysed and where necessary fed into the future work of the Office of Ethnic Affairs. We look forward to leading the way on this initiative,” he said.

Left to right, some of the speakers of the Dancing with the Dragon forum: Professor Weisen Li, Fudan University China, Stuart J Ferguson, Chair of the New Zealand China Trade Association, Professor Paul Spoonley, College of Humanities and Social Sciences Massey University, Mervin Singham, Director of the Office of Ethnic Affairs, Peter Chin, Mayor of Dunedin, Hon Pansy Wong, Minister for Ethnic Affairs, Rt Hon Dame Jenny Shipley, Director of China's Construction Bank and former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Grahame Morton, Head of China Unit, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

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Immigration – how to do it the right way:

How long will it take Immigration New Zealand to process my visa or permit application?

The time it will take for us to process your application can vary depending on:

the requirements of the immigration policy you are applying under

Processing times can also vary between offices. When immigration accept your application, we will either give you a decision, or tell you within 14 days, how long the processing time is predicted to be.

The amount of verification your application requires can affect the amount of time it takes to process your application. Applications that require the most verification; for example work permit or residence applications, typically take the longest to process.

Immigration may find that you need to provide us with further information before we can make a decision on your application, which will also add to the processing time.

For more information go to these websites:

www.iaa.govt.nz

www.immigration.govt.nz

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Training the trainers – ethnic awareness in rest homes

The Office of Ethnic Affairs is now delivering Training for Trainers sessions in Intercultural Awareness and Communication in locations across the country. This training focuses on creating more effective workplace interaction by improving how we communicate across cultural boundaries. The Training for Trainers programme is a training package which is designed to pass on the skills to trainers to provide the programme in their own organisations. Most recently healthcare staff from the Humes Haines rest home group received training and is currently planning how to roll out the training for the rest of their staff.

The Humes Haines rest home group is keen to ensure that it is providing the best and most culturally appropriate care for clients and managing dynamics well amongst its culturally diverse staff and according to management reports, staff received the programme enthusiastically.

Donna Jemmett, Clinical Manager from Admatha and Avonlea Dementia Care Ltd said “We are very keen to ensure our facilities are places where residents and staff, alike, feel culturally safe. Managing dynamics amongst our culturally diverse staff is a major step to achieving this goal. Those chosen to be trainers have embraced the programme with enthusiasm. We look forward to reaping the rewards of having this training made available to all our staff.”

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Focus on community member - Constable Phillip Pithyou – Police Officer

Constable Phillip Pithyou - Police Officer

Where is your family from?

We are Assyrian Christians from the north of Iraq and from Turkey.

Read more.

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Professor of Ethnic Studies speaks about post 9/11 issues

The Office of Ethnic Affairs, Wellington, last week hosted Jaideep Singh, Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies at California State University, East Bay, and author on racial and diversity issues. Professor Singh talked to invited guests about issues of multiple identities, learning from the US migrant experience and discussing if things are any different in the USA.

Professor Singh’s more recent work has examined how open Islamophobia by the United States media, politicians, and Christian fundamentalist leaders post-9/11 has affected followers of Islam, and those mistaken for them.

Dr. Singh’s current research interests include the historical and contemporary development of the Sikh and South Asian American diaspora, contemporary race relations in the U.S., representations of race and gender in U.S. popular culture, radicalised politics, and the intersections of religious and racial bigotry in the contemporary United States.

Professor Jaideep Singh Professor Singh is an Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies at California State University, East Bay, and holder of the Ranjit Singh Sabharwal Chair in Sikh and Punjabi Studies. back to top