Comings and Goings – 21 December 2005
Ending the Parliamentary year listening to spin-doctor Simon Walker's dissection of the British political scene was most
appropriate. Walker first shot to fame in 1976 when he upstaged Muldoon during a televised interview. When Muldoon
walked out of the studio, Walker strode into fame. He has since worked as the Communications Secretary at Buckingham
Palace, an adviser at No.10 Downing Street and is currently the Corporate Marketing and Communications Director at
Reuters.
Unfortunately, Simon was unable to talk to us in person this year and instead enlightened us by video link. I was
particularly interested in two comments he made about the development of Reuters and the new leader of the Conservative
Party in Britain. When Reuters was deciding where to base an operation in Australia or New Zealand, the company decided
to open an office in New South Wales because we didn't have enough Mandarin and Asian language speakers with appropriate
technical skills.
In general, New Zealand hasn't appreciated the value of acquiring a second language and this attitude needs to be
examined. Anecdotal evidence suggests that nowadays fewer secondary school students are studying a foreign language.
According to Simon Walker, David Cameron (the new young leader of the Conservative Party in the UK) has propelled the
party forward by 40 years due to the difference in age between him and previous leaders. One of the first visits that
Cameron made was to the Asian and black communities, which carried an extremely important message about the need for an
inclusive society as towns and cities become more diverse, and the worldwide demand for skilled migrants, international
students and tourists continues.
The message of diversity will take centre stage here next February with the opening of the Co-Existence exhibition at
the Britomart Precinct. This exhibition has toured in 22 major cities and uses powerful images to show how artists
perceive the co-existence of human beings. This show will be absolutely stunning and add to the beauty of the Auckland
waterfront.
Albert Park in Auckland will also play host to the Chinese Lantern Festival during February. This is part of Chinese New
Year celebrations and every year more than 100,000 people flock to the park to see hundreds and hundreds of lanterns
light up the night sky. Christchurch hosted its first festival last year and I am sure that Cantabrians will once again
be out in force at next year's festival.
These two events, along with Waitangi Day and the largest Pasifika festival, will make 2006 an even more vibrant and
exciting year.
Meanwhile, I have decided that it's time for What's Going wONg to say good-bye. People who appreciate that I have a
great sense of humour originally suggested this title, and it has hit the button time and time again. The reason I have
chosen to retire this title for an even more appropriate one due to the 'accent' incident in Parliament.
You maybe aware of the alleged mocking of my accent by Immigration Minister, the Hon. David Cunliffe. This happened
during a robust exchange about the differences in policy between the Government and the Foreign Affairs Minister and
what this could mean for our export education sector which is worth $2 billion a year.
While answering one of my questions, the Minister reportedly said 'wead' instead of 'read', which led to Labour's front
bench sinking down to the depths they are used to by openly laughing at Cunliffe's 'unfortunate' slip up. One of my
colleagues took a point of order at this behaviour, which resulted in Cullen declaring that my accent was the cause of
amusement.
When Cunliffe rang to claim that he didn't make the comment on purpose I accepted his assurances. However, the main
point of his phone call was to stress his concern that the Chinese community might take offence, never mind his fellow
MP!
Even more appalling were the comments made by the Deputy Prime Minister to my face. By chance I met Cullen in the
corridors of the Beehive, where he preceded to tell me that the National frontbench had also been enjoying a hearty
laugh at my expense. Whether this is true or not, the fact that Cullen seemed to think it's ok if others do disturbed
me.
As Members of Parliament we are elected to exercise our sound judgement, be responsible for our own actions and lead our
fellow New Zealanders. I don't want to be part of a pack mentality and for Cullen to hide behind his lame excuse is not
good enough!
What is even more disappointing is that the important issue I was trying to highlight went completely under the radar.
Our export education sector is facing serious problems. This $2 billion market has 1,000 fewer English language
students, and in schools there are 2000 fewer students. This downturn will place a strain on our schools in the coming
year because fees from international students contribute significantly in balancing their books.
I have decided that the way forward is to rename this newsletter as 'Pansyspeak'. I am very proud of my unique
tri-lingual ability - I speak Mandarin with a Cantonese accent and Cantonese with a Shanghai-ese accent and make no
apologies for this.
Until then, I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. See you in 2006.
ENDS