Media Newsletter
June 2005
Kia ora, namaskar, welcome to Asia:NZ’s June media newsletter. So far this month; the Crouching Tiger Hidden Banana
conference hits its mark, the storm over Schappelle Corby’s sentencing rumbles on, there’s an upcoming visit by
Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf and one by a celebrity Thai chef. We also preview an Asia:NZ business seminar
series to help exporters do their homework on Asian markets.
In this issue:
- Conference rejects racism
- Do your homework, exporters told
- Comings and goings
- New station targets Indian listeners
- Meet the press
- Campaign targets 1.5 generation
- Schapelle who? A view from Jakarta
- Corby case: What Indonesians are saying
- Getting it right in Japan
- Thai recipes for diplomacy
Conference rejects racism
Anti-Asian discrimination is still a reality for both long established Chinese families and new migrants, even over 140
years after the arrival of the first Chinese in New Zealand, according to speakers at the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Banana
conference.
The two day conference held at the Auckland University of Technology drew a mixed 200-strong crowd on each day, mainly
Chinese settlers and newer migrants.
The event delved into the historical origins of Chinese migration to New Zealand, political participation, questions of
identity, responsibilities under the Treaty, and showcased the contributions of creative and entrepreneurial Chinese New
Zealanders.
But many speakers emphasised that while the country’s economic future was tied to Asia, it was obvious New Zealand was
a long way from universal acceptance of people of Asian descent.
Professor Paul Spoonley from Massey University’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences said the 21st century would
be the century of the Chinese.
For a trading nation such as New Zealand, the relationship with China would be one of great importance, and immigration
was an essential part of this country’s future.
“You are one of the oldest communities in this country. You are also one of the newest. You have faced levels of racism
and discrimination, both public and from government, which are unacceptable in a modern liberal democracy,” Prof
Spoonley said.
“You have every right to be angry and revengeful and yet you continue to be optimistic. Racism directed at you has
re-emerged and all of us need to say, no, such views are unacceptable and are certainly not part of New Zealand in the
21st century.”
Writer Tze Ming Mok harked back to the 1996 election campaign, saying “if people who don’t speak English well aren’t
considered New Zealanders, what’s so great about being a New Zealander?”
She also reminded the predominantly Chinese audience that they were Asian as well as Chinese, and when politicians and
media used the term as “a collective slander, we shouldn’t just dissociate from other Asians”.
“Let there be a collective response, we can build the coalitions, form the networks, build that understanding of
differences between communities, and support each other where it counts”.
The editor of iBall, Lincoln Tan, said many new Asian migrants felt excluded from the debate over important issues that
affected them like immigration and employment because they came from non-English speaking backgrounds.
“The sense of belonging, culture, identity and the meaning of being a New Zealander cannot come about unless there is
inclusiveness in every aspect of life for each and every New Zealander.”
The director of Te Wananga O Raukawa, Colin Knox, urged Chinese New Zealanders to get involved in the debate over the
Treaty but warned that Maori have deep concerns that the government would use multiculturalism as a pretext to ignore
its Treaty obligations.
“Maori are not concerned that the Pakeha may not be primarily European in the future – why should they be? The presence
of other races which have also experienced cultural and physical displacement may even be helpful.”
The conference received considerable media coverage. It got good previews in the New Zealand Herald and on TV3’s
Campbell Live programme. Journalists attending the event included Errol Kiong for the NZ Herald, Keith Ng for The
Listener, Gilbert Wong for Metro, Amy Wang for Asia Downunder. Other media represented included World TV, the Mandarin
Times and the Chinese Herald.
The Crouching Tiger Hidden Banana conference ran from June 3 to 5 and was organised by the New Zealand Chinese
Association with support from the Asia New Zealand Foundation. For more information about the speakers and
presentations, go to www.goingbananas.org.nz.
Do your homework, exporters told
New Zealand businesses, working without the benefit of a global image or brand, need to use science and work smarter to
break into lucrative Asian markets.
Researchers Rolf Cremer and Bala Ramasamy say while nearly all the literature and “how to invest in China” guides appear
more appropriate for large companies like Microsoft, Coca Cola and General Motors, being small shouldn’t be a hindrance.
At a business seminar series later this month, Prof Cremer and Dr Ramasamy say they intend to highlight five key
strategies that younger and less known companies will need to follow if they are to be successful in China.
“Our strategies are based on a survey of New Zealand companies already operating in China as well as several focus group
discussions with New Zealanders based in China.”
Their presentation is just one topic up for discussion at the “Making it in the New Asia” seminar series being held in
Christchurch, Wellington, Tauranga and Auckland. The seminars are being jointly presented by Asia:NZ and Export NZ.
One of the speakers, Asia:NZ’s research director Dr Rebecca Foley, says it’s well known Asia is a region of great
opportunity for New Zealand business and one aspect of the seminars is to offer a scientific basis on how to target
potential markets.
Presentations will also include new research on forecasting large scale changes or “megatrends” in selected countries in
Asia.
Dr Foley says the megatrends research will help businesses understand how to segment Asia, select the segment with the
most potential for their product or service and understand how those segments evolve.
Two other speakers, economist Kiersten Larsen and public policy specialist Nicholas Clark, say most enterprises in New
Zealand are small and medium enterprises and they provide a very significant proportion of all employment.
The main objective of their presentation is to identify strategies, success factors and constraints of New Zealand
businesses that have been successful in Asian markets.
The seminars will be held in Christchurch on June 20 at the Copthorne Central Hotel at 4-6pm; Wellington on June 21 at
the Intercontinental Hotel at 4.30-6.30pm; Tauranga on June 22 at the Hotel On Devonport at 12.30-2.30pm; Auckland on
June 23 at the Hyatt Hotel at 7.30-10.00am.
For more information on the “Making it in the New Asia” seminar series, please contact Asia:NZ’s media adviser Charles
Mabbett at cmabbett@asianz.org.nz
Comings and goings
Three Media Travel Awards have been awarded for this year’s North Asia round.
Chris Harrington of TVNZ’s Sunday programme will receive Asia:NZ support for an assignment in Taiwan, Anna Claridge of
The Press will travel to South Korea for a series of features about international students, and Ian Llewellyn of NZPA
received support for a recent assignment in China and Japan.
The next deadlines are July 18 for South East Asia and September 15 for South Asia. Winning applicants have 80 percent
of their assignment’s cost covered by Asia:NZ. More information is available at www.asianz.org.nz.
And in case you missed it, the New Zealand media’s only full time Asia correspondent, TVNZ’s Charlotte Glennie, won the
supreme award for television journalism at this year’s Qantas Media Awards, and was also named the best senior news
reporter.
New station targets Indian listeners
The launch of Apna 990AM last month marks another milestone in the development of ethnic radio in Auckland.
The purchase of the 990AM frequency from a Chinese broadcast group now enables Apna to extend its reach and to compete
with Radio Tarana, the station which has garnered nearly five percent of the Auckland radio listening market.
General manager Babu Chatterji told Indian Newslink that the frequency cost about $3 million and was now broadcasting
using a five kilowatt transmitter with a range from Rotorua to Whangarei.
The station had been broadcasting on 101.7 FM on a low power frequency (LPFM) since March 2003 but its limited range had
been a serious obstacle to building a significant audience.
LPFM signals are available to anyone who wants to set up a radio station but only on a three kilowatt signal compared
with 5-10 kilowatts for commercial frequencies.
Apna, which was officially launched on the new frequency on May 1, is owned by the Sahil Family Trust. The new station
will provide round-the-clock music, news, features and other programmes including talkback and competitions.
Apna can also be heard on SKY Radio channel 109 Digital.
Meet the press
One of the answers to the problems faced by new migrants is good journalism, according to three young Chinese New
Zealanders at a New Zealand Herald lunchtime seminar last month.
The panellists, Tze Ming Mok, Tessie Chen and Alistair Kwun, were invited to lead the lunchtime discussion organised by
the newspaper’s cultural diversity committee.
They say lack of social support is the biggest issue facing migrants but the analysis usually gets traded away for
sensationalism – “even though real insight into people’s lives is a good story.”
“Migrants have some key problems in common. When people are not supported in a new environment, there will always be
strain and trouble and exploitation, and there’s nothing particularly Asian about this,” says Tze Ming Mok.
The trio also staked out territory which has proved a minefield for the mainstream media - it’s portrayal of Asians and
what it means by Asian.
“What is an Asian? Asia Minor, the Asian subcontinent, East Asia and Southeast Asia spans the globe from Turkey to
Tokyo, from Siberia to Sarawak. So when the media refers to Asian crime, Asian immigration, Asian youth and Asian food,
who are they talking about? We’re not sure. And we’re meant to be Asians,” Tze Ming Mok told the gathering of about 20
journalists.
“You all know it is wrong to perpetuate negative stereotypes. But you may not realise that for minorities who’s right to
be here is constantly challenged, those stereotypes strike at the very heart of our identities, and have the power to
seriously destabilise our feelings of security and belonging.”
The panellists urged journalists to seek out the real issues beneath the stereotypes and to incorporate them in their
stories.
Campaign targets 1.5 generation
A conference specifically aimed at 1.5 generation Asian New Zealanders is part of an overall campaign to get new
migrants enrolled to vote in the forthcoming election.
The event in Auckland on July 12 will feature guest speakers including political observers and media professionals who
will discuss Asian participation in civil rights, particularly voting.
The term 1.5 generation is used by immigration academics to describe adolescents who are not first generation because
they didn't choose to come to New Zealand. But they are not second generation, either – as they were born and spent part
of their childhood in their country of origin.
The conference is one part of a nationwide campaign by the Electoral Enrolment Centre to take the voting message to
Asian migrants. It takes several formats including Mandarin and Korean language workshops and advertisements on Asian
radio, television, newspaper and websites.
The Minority Vs Power conference will be held in Auckland’s Stamford Plaza Hotel from 6pm on July 12. For more
information, contact Winnie Chang on 04 471 1168 or 027 231 8102.
Schapelle who? A view from Jakarta
By John McBeth
Derryn Hinch, the Melbourne-based talk show host with whom I began my journalistic career on the Taranaki Herald in the
early 1960s, probably said it best in his well reported quote to CNN in trying to explain the uproar in Australia over
the conviction and 20-year prison sentence handed down to beautician Schapelle Corby.
It was a little unkind, but how else to understand the extraordinary media circus that these days creates a momentum of
its own in some of the most unlikely cases. Why not a similar outpouring of concern for the three
Vietnamese-Australians, one on death row in Singapore and two in Vietnam for drug offences? Surely it can’t be because
they’re Asian?
Indonesians are puzzled over what makes Corby so different from scores of other Australians caught with drugs on foreign
shores. “Why should it become a national issue,” my Indonesian wife asked me. “Why don’t they expect due process of
law.”
Sure the Indonesian legal system leaves a lot to be desired – and Indonesians know that better than most. But there
were no pay-offs in this case. At the end of the day, it was a remarkably straight-forward trial. What would Australians
have thought if there was a similar criticism in Indonesia over an Indonesian busted for drugs in Australia?
Corby may come from the class of people known as “battlers,” but you can’t expect Indonesians to sympathize on that
score either. Indonesia is full of battlers. She’s also certainly not the first convicted dope trafficker to protest her
innocence and claim to have been set up.
I recall a similar case in Bangkok in 1977 when an English nurse received a lengthy jail term for trying to smuggle
heroin out of Thailand in a radio. She claimed it had been put there without her knowledge by her Chinese boyfriend, but
an American narcotics agent told me later it was the second time she had acted as a courier on the run to Paris.
What is disquieting in this case perhaps is the way Indonesian authorities treat all drugs in a similar fashion. Corby
was never going to get the death sentence on a marijuana charge, but 20 years’ imprisonment is a tough sentence for a
plant that can be grown in the backyard.
Compare that to the 15 years an Italian defendant received last year in Bali for trying to smuggle 5 kilograms of
cocaine - or the seven-year sentence handed down to a Mexican woman who was caught with 15 kilograms of hashish in 2001.
There is a feeling, given expression in the Indonesian media, that the court reacted to the uproar by handing Corby a
heavier sentence than she otherwise would have got.
It is disturbing that Australians feel Indonesia owes them something after the 2002 Bali bombing and the assistance
Canberra provided the victims of last December’s tsunami. Upholding the law is a totally separate issue.
All this raises questions about Australian society itself. For all the Asian immigration in recent years, there is
still a substantial cross-section of people, many of them the progeny of immigrants themselves, who are both xenophobic
and racist.
It’s not unusual. I’ve found it myself all over Asia. But, given their proximity to Asia and the amount of travelling
they do, you somehow expect most Australians to have got over all that.
Amazingly, an absurd number of Australians still believe Indonesia is the biggest threat to their security. Indonesia
can hardly deal with its own problems, let alone project power. Compared to the size of the country, its military is the
smallest and least equipped in the region.
For all the uproar, there are two things about the Corby case that bothered fair-minded Indonesians. Boogie boards
aren’t very heavy, so why didn’t she notice the extra four kilograms when she took it off the carousel.
And if the marijuana had been concealed there by baggage handlers at Sydney airport, how were their accomplices going
to recover it at the other end?
Why didn’t she put locks on the side-pockets of the bag? Not a bad idea when travelling to places like Singapore and
Malaysia, in particular, where only a small amount of marijuana draws a mandatory death sentence.
Then there’s the media. I’ve been around enough newspapers in the last 43 years to know how it works. Back in the
1970s, a British tabloid asked me to interview the British nurse and describe Bangkok’s Lard Yao Women’s Prison, the
supposed “hell hole” where she was incarcerated.
Sure, there were high walls, but there were also lawns and flower gardens. The prisoner was baking cookies in a small
kitchen. I told the newspaper I couldn’t in all conscience call it a hell hole – so the story never ran. I wished it
had. I was a freelancer and I needed the money.
John McBeth is a veteran New Zealand journalist who has been based in Southeast Asia for 35 years.
Corby case: What Indonesians are saying
By Chris Holm
Siti Hotimah, who works in a small wooden street stall in central Jakarta selling groceries, thinks Corby is guilty and
is lucky not to be on death row.
“Corby is absolutely getting better treatment than most people are dealt with by our justice system,” she said.
“When Indonesians get arrested here for drugs, police often beat them up or even shoot them as punishment first. But
because she’s Australian, she has the government behind her, even if she did do the crime.”
“Why are the Australians blaming Indonesians? Do they think we put the marijuana in her bag?”
Peter Walandouw, a business journalist, believes the Australian response to the Corby verdict was uninformed and hasty.
“What the Australian people see is a lovely, young, beautiful girl, one of their own, caught smuggling marijuana into
Indonesia. But I think they are missing the biggest point for Indonesians, which is about law enforcement.
“I think, whether Corby is guilty or not, we must believe in the court verdict. People here have the right to an appeal
if they don’t agree,” he said.
“I would like to challenge the Australian people and ask them: What would happen if it was an Indonesian who was caught
with drugs at an Australian airport? How would they react if Indonesia insisted this person be sent back to Indonesia,
ignoring an Australian court verdict - would they like it?”
Tommy Suryohartomo, an accountant, believes Corby could be innocent: “but we Indonesians don’t want to release her just
because the Australian government or people say so.”
If the Australians want to free Corby, they should help the Indonesian police find the real culprits, not just
criticise the legal system.
He is candid about what he thinks of his country’s courts. “But this trial is different; the courts in Bali are likely
to be far less corrupt because there is an international focus on them.”
If she was an Indonesian with money, Corby could have paid a bribe to the judge earlier, or quietly bribed her way out
of jail later once she had been sentenced.
“In some ways, Corby is disadvantaged because she is not paying bribes and because her case is so well-known,” he said.
Chris Holm is a New Zealand journalist working for the Jakarta Post.
Getting it right in Japan
By Mike Jaspers
It wasn't a great start to Expo 2005. Temperatures were plummeting, spring was struggling to ignite the cherry blossoms.
Then a light dusting of snow fell on the New Zealand kapa haka party as it pounded out a stirring performance on opening
day.
While I shivered outside New Zealand's stylish pavilion I couldn't help but notice two old Japanese gentlemen appearing
to wrestle with a cell phone. Not at all. One of them had the very latest 3G phone and they were merely lining up a bar
code on the outside wall.
It was the very latest Japanese marketing innovation. New Zealand had adapted it to help spread the word about Godzone.
You scan the bar code with your phone camera and up comes a website with all sorts of information about New Zealand;
video clips, kiwi ring tones, even a live camera in Auckland.
Experts say this bar code marketing strategy will be everywhere in Japan within a year. We found it on a packet of
capsicums in a supermarket. The website told you how they were grown, when they were harvested and who the grower was!
The two old gentlemen epitomised the Japanese; savvy and technologically literate whatever the age. It is one of the
things that staggers you in Japan. The smartest technology is everywhere. It was surprising to hail a taxi and not find
it equipped with the very latest GPS navigator.
All this and Japan's economy is still hardly getting out of bed in the morning.
The decade long recession has taken its toll. It's not hard to find homeless haunting Tokyo's beautiful parks. They live
beneath plastic tarpaulins. They are tidy wee homes for a generation of men who lost their jobs when recession hit the
big corporations in the nineties.
Officially, Japan is growing at the kind of snail's pace New Zealand used to suffer. But this is still a giant economy.
The Tokyo area with a population of 40 million is the fourth biggest economy in the world. China could well overtake
Japan within a few decades, but talk to Kiwis in Tokyo and they are adamant Japan remains an easier market because
capitalism is well established and the rules are clear.
Primary exporters still have to deal with tariffs and like most Asian countries you have to have the right connections
and understand the business culture. But the opportunities are there.
Bay of Plenty honey products company Comvita decided it needed to be on the ground. Three years after opening an office
in Yokohama, it has turned a profit. Being in Japan may be expensive but Kiwis there say it’s the only way to build
trust among distributors, retailers and consumers in a land that is still suspicious of foreigners.
Trust is the key, especially for food and beverage exporters. Japanese consumers have been spooked by a number of food
scares like mad cow disease and avian bird flu. That's why our meat exporters are working on being able to tell their
Japanese customers where their steak has come from, not just the farm, but the individual beast.
That's why it makes sense for New Zealand to wave its flag at the Expo. The sprawling collection of pavilions from a 120
odd countries is an hour's drive from Nagoya. Our government committed late, but it should be happy with the $10 million
investment.
Some 15 thousand Japanese pour through every day. And ours is a clever exhibition - nicely tied in with the Expo's theme
of nature's wisdom or sustainable development. They can also take in a stunning triple screen cinematic journey through
New Zealand's landscapes and people.
Touch screen technology gives visitors a chance to glean more facts and then it's all over in about five minutes -
simple, effective and evocative of New Zealand. No need for a robotic kiwi or sheep. Why Australia's pavilion needed a
giant platypus as a key display I'll never know.
One News reporter Mike Jaspers reported on the opening of Expo 2005 with the assistance of Asia:NZ.
Thai recipes for diplomacy
The entertaining Thai chef who featured in Peta Mathias’ Taste Takes Off episode on Northern Thailand will be visiting
New Zealand this month to give a series of workshops on Thai cuisine.
Chef McDang is a well known television personality in Thailand. He was born into an aristocratic Thai family, educated
in England, learnt to cook in the United States and writes for a regular food column for Bangkok newspaper. He is also
the author of several books on Thai cooking.
His visit, sponsored by the Thai government, includes cooking workshops in Auckland (June 13-15), Christchurch (June
16-18) and Wellington (20-22). For more information, contact the Royal Thai Embassy in Wellington on 04 476 8616 or
email trade@thaiembassynz.org.nz.
The next Asia:NZ media newsletter will be available in July. If you want to stop receiving this newsletter, you can
unsubscribe at our website www.asianz.org.nz. The views expressed by various contributors to the newsletter do not
necessarily reflect the views of the Asia New Zealand Foundation. If you are interested in contributing to the
newsletter, please contact Asia:NZ’s media adviser Charles Mabbett.
He iwi tahi tatou – we many peoples make up a nation.
ENDS
Asia New Zealand Foundation is grateful to its key sponsors - Fonterra, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise and the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade - for their commitment to the Foundation's activities.