It is exciting for me to see the prediction from Statistic New Zealand that Asian population is expected to be the fastest growing than any other ethnic groups like Maori, Pacific and European by 2026. According to the most recent Census numbers, two-third of the Asian population resides in Auckland where it is the most ethnically diverse region in New Zealand. And among the Asian population, Chinese remains the largest group.
Does this mean it will be easy for new Asian immigrants to establish a new life in Aotearoa, New Zealand? Although a lot of these new immigrants came to this country with extremely high qualifications and skills, they feel that they are being discriminated against in their searches for suitable employments in New Zealand. A study by Massey University concludes this situation might be caused by the “conservative attitudes” of Kiwis. And the solution for this – learn how to speak like a true Kiwi! This ideology contributes to the rise of “accent reduction specialists” and “speech and language therapy companies”. Now you can be the judge to the question that I raised at the beginning of this paragraph.
However, there is always encouraging news for Asian immigrants. For instance, discrimination against Asians was on a decline from its highest point of nearly 80 per cent in 2003-04 to 68 per cent at the end of 2007. The polls were carried out by the Human Rights Commission since they started tracking seven years ago.
Unfortunately, this little piece of “encouraging news” was effortlessly destroyed by the ignorant racist comment made by NZ First’s deputy leader Peter Brown against Asian immigrants. “They will create their own little China or little India and that will lead to division, friction and resentment.” This is extremely iconic since Mr Brown himself is also an immigrant to New Zealand from the United Kingdom!!! As indicated by the 2001 census, the number of British people migrating to New Zealand increased considerably. So are they intending to create their own “little Britain” in this accepting, open and multi-cultural country – Aotearoa, New Zealand?
What is your opinion on this? Feel free to leave me a comment, thanks.
