We're a multicultural nation

At present, 28 percent of us identify as coming from a non-European migrant background Narayanan says.

A 2021 MNZ initiative has already seen Multicultural Councils across the country celebrating a Te Tiriti-based National Multicultural Day on the last Friday of August, he says.

On that day MNZ encourages migrants to make their heritage visible by wearing cultural clothing, sharing traditional food with friends and colleagues, and speaking their native language.

A specific day off to visibly celebrate our different cultures would allow us to "thank our ancestors" Narayanan says.

He also suggests a second paid day off could be considered so New Zealanders could celebrate an event that is culturally significant to them.

This could - for example - be taken on a religious holiday that is not otherwise celebrated as a public holiday in New Zealand.

Rather than a set day, people would be able to choose when to take this day off and have it written into their contracts for work.

"New Zealand would be the richer for it" and "ethnic communities will flourish" he says.

Taking the suggestion to Parliament

Rather than celebrate this year's Te Tiriti-based National Multicultural Day last Friday, MNZ decided to celebrate it at Parliament last Monday so he could introduce his proposal to our politicians.

Minister for Ethnic Communities Melissa Lee joined the celebrations saying she is proud of New Zealand's diversity which continues to develop and expand.

"There is immense value in the many cultural celebrations that are already being held around New Zealand throughout the year" she says.

Cultural celebrations "help to grow social cohesion in New Zealand" which is "already very multicultural, with more than 160 ethnicities represented".

Lee is encouraging MNZ to make a petition to Parliament about its proposal, where democratic processes would debate and decide the outcome.

Just what that outcome will be is open to speculation.

It's likely though that the ACT Party will hesitate because of the cost to business.

It could involve sacrificing a current paid public holiday.

As it is, ACT wants to get rid of the 2 January holiday to allow for Matariki, which was introduced as a new holiday in 2022.

Source

• 1News

The Religious Communities Advisory Council will advise on and address safety and security concerns around churches and mosques, and engage with multi-faith communities.

The Council and other initiatives like government language services and community cultural events will share the $30 million or so which will be set aside in this month's NSW budget for the purpose.

"One of the key takeaways from the pandemic is the critical role of multicultural and faith communities in ensuring we are all connected, engaged and supported," said NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet.

"We are now acting on those learnings and investing in areas that will enable a stronger and brighter future for multicultural communities across the state."

Almost 150 religions are recognised and more than 215 languages spoken in NSW.

Multiculturalism Minister Mark Coure said multicultural and religious leaders were crucial in helping the government connect with communities during the pandemic.

"These leaders were the first to roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated and they did all they could to keep their respective communities informed and safe," he said.

"We want to maintain that strong connection with these communities and their leaders, which is why we're investing further in our multicultural, multilingual and multi-faith society."

"This is investing in the state's greatest asset, its people. We want to respect cultural diversity while at the same time celebrating the values we all share," Kean said.

Much of Sydney's multicultural west and south-west was subject to more intense lockdown restrictions during the 2021 Delta wave. Sometimes the government struggled to communicate with some members of the community.

The State is home to 33 percent of Australia's overseas-born population. Over 20 percent are from a non-English-speaking background.

Coure said much of the funding would be invested in translation services.

He expects the investment will ensure "vital information is accessible to everyone no matter the language they speak."

Source

• Sydney Morning Herald

I laughed, and turned to Adil Rashid: "Allah's with us, isn't he?"

Rash agreed he was.

Later, at the end of a crazy day, I mentioned that comment in the post-match press conference, because it seemed to sum up the kind of team we had become: a team of different backgrounds, races and religions, a team which derived strength from diversity, and represented the best of our country.

That's right: our country.

I've lived in London longer than in Ireland.

It's my home, and has been for a long time - longer than many realise.

And the fact that I've experienced so many cultures here makes me feel as if England's World Cup winners stand for us all.

Last summer, that feeling mattered as much as ever.

Until the 2016 EU referendum, most of us probably thought life in the UK was pretty harmonious.

Since then, it's become completely divided, which is sad.

But sport, I think, generally gets it right, because it is driven by a common goal.

Most of the time, people are committed to that, and so they have to be honest with each other.

In sport, you can't get away with lies - at least not for long.

It's more important than it's ever been that the national side epitomise the culture we live in.

In that final, Jason Roy (born in South Africa), Ben Stokes (New Zealand), Jofra Archer (Barbados) and I all started life somewhere else.

Rash is Muslim, and so is Moeen Ali, who didn't play at Lord's but was an important part of the squad.

Let's be honest: the England team have never really been made up of 11 white Christians, anyway; these days more people seem comfortable about that.

Attitudes have changed even during my time.

When I first played for England in 2009, I remember being told by someone that, with all the money that goes into the county academies, the cost of producing a home-grown player like Stuart Broad, who has gone through the system, was about £6m - that's the rough figure you reach, in other words, if you divide the money that goes into the academies by the number of England players the system produces.

The implication was that the figure was higher than it would have been had the national side been made up of 11 born-and-bred Englishmen.

For a while, there was a stigma about being born abroad and playing cricket for England, especially when there was an influx of South African guys coming here to make a living.

When I started out, we had Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott, as well as players who were born in South Africa but bred in England, like Andrew Strauss and Matt Prior.

English cricket didn't fully embrace the influx - and that was the biggest mistake it could have made.

That kind of attitude just creates a bigger divide between the players and their public.

I was struck during the World Cup by the different ethnicities who turned up to cheer us on.

I never thought, for example, that we'd have so many England-based Indian fans supporting us but, when you look at the footage from the tournament, you can see how many were wearing England shirts.

It was amazing, and a change for the better. Continue reading

Justin Lester is suggesting the Maori New Year could replace the Queen's Birthday holiday, which was not meaningful for many who saw it as just a day off.

Last year Wellington City Council cancelled its 2018 Guy Fawkes Sky Show, moving the fireworks display to Matariki on July 7.

This year Wellington is putting Matariki at the heart of a new month-long winter festival, with $250,000 allocated for the celebrations, which started on June 15.

Lester is being supported by Rongotai MP Paul Eagle who wants to "reignite the debate"' and is seeking advice on putting up a Member's Bill.

A Member's Bill was put up by the Maori Party in 2009 and was supported by Labour but didn't get past the first reading, losing 63 to 59, Eagle said.

"It's a very different time now. Back then people were only getting used to the concept of a Maori New Year but now it's part of the fabric of New Zealand.

I think people are more ready for it now," he says.

He said the debate would not have to be about replacing Queen's Birthday, it could even be an additional holiday.

Forget the propagated myths about "multiculturalism", because New Zealand is monocultural says Stuff columnist Glen McConnell.

"We celebrate Christian holidays and we get days off when we pay respects to the Queen."

McConnell says New Zealanders have failed to properly recognise Maori holidays or moments of significance.

Waitangi Day is the only holiday which realises people who aren't Pakeha also live in New Zealand he says.

The celebration of Matariki is marked each year by the appearance of the Matariki (or Pleiades) cluster of stars around late May to early June.

Once the new moon arrives after the appearance of the star cluster, celebrations begin, lasting for up to three days.

Source

• thewanakasun.co.nz
• www.stuff.co.nz
• stuff.co.nz
• Image: wellington.govt.nz

In her opening remarks, International Union of Superiors General (UISG), President Sr. Carmen Sammut spoke about how Religious congregations are changing.

Communities in Europe, America and Australia are shrinking, with more younger members coming from Africa and Asia. Cultural differences with resultant misunderstandings often arise, she said.

At the meeting, a series of speakers addressed some of the issues that these changes are giving rise to.

Some of the key points discussed

• Respecting differences.
• Communicating clearly.
• Adjusting formation programmes to create connection among novices and postulants from various cultures.
• Extending such awareness training to older members of the community.
• Remembering that Christianity and the Catholic Church are rooted theologically in international mission.

Fr Anthony Pernia, the dean of studies at the Divine Word Institute of Mission Studies, said the goal is to move from being multicultural — people of different cultures in the same group — to intercultural, so the various communities enrich each other.

A panel of four young sisters shared their experiences living in multicultural communities in the Philippines.

Sr Eden Panganiban, who has held several leadership positions with the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit, gave an overview of the cultural changes within the congregation and an acculturation process that the Philippines North Province community uses in welcoming sisters from other countries.

Panganiban said there are four distinct parts to the process:

• The first two steps provide basic information about the community and sensitivity training to appreciate cultural differences through formal sessions or informal exchanges.
• A third step is guided immersion, or "learning by doing," which helps foster a sense of belonging and addresses culture shock.
• The final step is gaining proficiency in the local language, which facilitates adjustment and enhances social skills.

Source

• Global Sisters Report. A Project of the National Catholic Reporter
• Image: Global Sisters Report Gail DeGeorge

Community worker Pravin Patel said there were now 17 Hindu temples across Auckland.

The city's Hindu adherents increased by more than any other religion between the 2006 and 2013 censuses, from 45,324 to 61,458, and are now 4.3 per cent of all Aucklanders.

Two priests and their families have been recruited from India and will live in a house next to the temple.

Shri Ram Mandir, a $5 million structure claims to be Australasia's biggest temple devoted to the Lord Rama.

The marble domes, deities, elephants, doors and 12 wall panels depicting scenes from Hindu scriptures have been imported from India, along with skilled workers who installed them.

Shri Ram Mandir trustee Shiu Charan said the new temple would cater for up to 500 people in the upstairs main temple and 400 in a ground-floor community centre, which will be open to Hindus and non-Hindus.

The Trusts Charitable Trust, Lottery Grants Board and Foundation North (formerly ASB Community Trust) contributed small amounts adding up to less than 5 per cent of the project's total cost, or about $200,000.

The rest of the $5 million has been raised from the local Hindu community, including a donor who gave $1 million to buy the land.

Charan, a retired general secretary of Fiji's National Federation Party, said the temple's charitable trust planned to run youth programmes, religious education and cultural events.

"We would like to supplement and augment the work of other voluntary organisations and government organisations dealing with community-based programmes and social problems that we have in our society ... ," he said.

Source

• nzherald.co.nz
• Image: alltravels.com

"Most Fijians share a sense of excitement and goodwill about Diwali, no doubt looking forward to a feast of splendid lights, and of course to those delicious sweets," he said.

"But let us not lose sight of the deeper meaning of Diwali."

"Diwali marks the triumph of good over evil, light over darkness, happiness over sorrow, knowledge over ignorance, health over sickness."

He said Fiji had the unique cultural feature of celebrating significant Hindu, Muslim and Christian events with public holidays.

Source

• The Fiji Times
• Image: Screenshot YouTube

In the survey of over 2,000 households in New Zealand, conducted 89 per cent agreed with the statement "It is a good thing for any society to be made up of different races, religions and cultures".

The findings of this study suggest that in some ways, New Zealand can be considered a psychologically multicultural society, but in others, it cannot.

• New Zealanders appreciate cultural diversity and believe that it is good for society, but reject equitable resource distribution aimed to reduce social inequalities
• New Zealanders do not typically experience race-based rejection, but Asian and Pacific peoples are the most likely to experience this type of rejection
• Ethnic groups typically have warm intergroup feelings, but they have warmer feelings towards members of their own ethnic group. If one ethnic group likes another ethnic group, the feelings tend to be reciprocated
• Perceptions of economic competition tended to be low, but Asian New Zealanders were generally seen as the most threatening
• All ethnic groups displayed strong levels of patriotism.

When she was interviewed by Mervin Singham at the Ethnica Conference in Christchurch last year Professor Colleen Ward, referring to the survey said.

"In terms of the principle I think we're starting on firm ground in New Zealand. I think that diversity is appreciated here."

"But it's no good to say in principle 'I appreciate diversity, it's great to have it' on one hand, and then on the other hand, 'As long as it doesn't mean I have to do anything to respond to it."

"If you say 'Diversity is great but I don't want a synagogue, mosque or temple in my neighbourhood', what does that mean?"

'"All groups have to be able to accommodate difference in a reasonable fashion."

"If I value it, I have to accommodate to a certain extent."

This interview has been referred to in a recently posted blog on American Thinker which discusses the question "Can Muslims be multiculturalist?" i

The writer, a conservative American academic, Robert Klein Engler states "At its core, Islam does not allow for freedom of religion, yet this freedom would be considered one of the core principles of the multiculturalism we hear professed."

Engler challenged the opinion expressed by Ward that "...multiculturalism hasn't failed in France, Germany and the UK. They've never had it. It's never been tested."

Source

• VictoriaUniversity
• Victoria University
• Americanthinker

Image: southaucklandblogger

His father had migrated to New Zealand from China in the late 30s and ran a fruit shop with Barry's grandfather. He brought his wife and an infant Barry over from Hong Kong in the 1950s.

They rejected Sue out of fear for their grandchildren. What would Asian-Jewish-European children look like? And where would they fit in?

Sue's Jewish grandfather had fled Europe before World War II to the corner of earth farthest from Hitler's Germany. She understood what it meant to be different.

She liked all the things that made Barry Chinese: the language, the food and the culture.

"I had awareness of difference, so it was shocking to be road-blocked with our relationship like that. It was about cultural difference," Sue said.

Then, one day, before the couple left for their OE, Barry's mother told him that when they returned they would accept Sue into the family.

But with more than 10 per cent of New Zealand identifying with more than one ethnic group, the grandparents were right. Sue and Barry's children have had to negotiate difficult issues of identity growing up in New Zealand.

Their eldest daughter, Nicky, who is "very obviously Eurasian", has struggled with her ethnic identity.

"She has never managed to not be Chinese. She has wanted to be white, but she can't get away from looking and feeling Chinese," said Barry.

Nicky is engaged to the son of Taiwanese migrants.

Sue and Barry's youngest son, Richard, has taken a very traditional Chinese girlfriend - a real surprise to his parents.

"It speaks of the era that a 21-year-old grew up in and what was his playing field at primary school and his immersion with other cultures," Sue said. Continue reading

Sources

• Simon Day in The Dominion Post
• Image: Stuff

Simon Day is a reporter for Fairfax NZ

The Stations of the Cross represent 14 different communities: Maori, Samoan, Rwandan, Goan, Croatian, Cook Island, Irish, Scottish, Filipino, Hungarian, Tokelauan, Polish, Kerala and Tongan.

Each of these communities donated fabric and has a story, and it is intended to capture these and publish them in a brochure so that they are not lost. The next part of the project is to install a plaque with an explanation of each Station in the country's language.

Parishioner Maria Rodgers came up with the idea of having a visual representation of the cultural richness of the parish community, as there was nothing in the church to represent this. "We decided to incorporate representations of the cultures into what was already there - we in effect ‘reframed' the existing Stations of the Cross." she said

Source

• Paenga Hihiko
• Image: Paenga Hihiko

The eminent neurosurgeon, Charlie Teo was then hassled for talking straight about racism in his Australia Day address, while a few days later our PM was bustled out of the Lobby restaurant during a protest by Indigenous and non-Indigenous supporters of the tent embassy.

All this and January hadn't even finished. It's no wonder then that on Harmony Day (March 21) this year, many Australians could be forgiven for asking how much harmony there is to go around.

Moments like those mentioned are not unlike lightning strikes at night. They illuminate, albeit briefly, the often hidden tensions, fears, struggles and anger in our multicultural society. However, despite the deluge of commentary such moments provoke, when the media cycle moves on, it's questionable whether the underlying issues have been addressed.

In my mind this is part of the problem. Rarely do we have the space to sit with these issues, to look into their complexity and seek genuine solutions. The real solutions take time. They require not just well-argued ideas or sound policy, but the space for strong relationships to be formed across our diverse citizenry. You just can't do that in a 30-second sound bite.

This became evident to me as I worked for two years as the Social Justice Co-ordinator for the Parramatta Diocese. It was a rewarding role that nevertheless revealed the many challenges of multiculturalism.

To illustrate, let me briefly explore a few of the challenges facing one community that I worked with - the Sudanese community. Now even before I start I'm tripping over myself. Sudan has hundreds of ethnic and tribal divisions and language groups. This means talk of ‘the Sudanese community' (as if they are one bloc) is somewhat simplistic. Indeed, Sudan as a single country no longer exists.

Many from this diverse community will bring with them the trauma of a long-running civil war, dispossession and life in refugee camps. Formal education, along with so much else, will have been disrupted. They will then be flung into a society radically different from their own, often with key family members left behind, where the old order of strong family and community networks no longer seems to hold. Read more

Sources

• Evan Ellis in The Good Oil
• Image: Herald Sun

Among the 22 new cardinals receiving a biretta on February 18 from Pope Benedict XVI, 10 hold positions in the Roman Curia. Italians comprise seven of the 22, making them the largest group. Only three are from outside Europe or North America. So this consistory hardly reflects the recent demographic shifts in the Church, or the increasingly important part played by the developing world.

This has prompted the leading Indian theologian, Michael Amaladoss SJ, to reflect on the Church's attitude to multiculturalism in general.

This report first appeared in the Indian Jesuit magazine Jivan.

One of the major concerns about globalization is that, through market forces and media bombardment, one single consumer culture could come to be enforced upon the rest of the world; a culture that emanates from the USA.

It insinuates itself via mass media, technology, communications and the way people dress and feed themselves. It does not concern itself so much with deeper cultural elements such as language, philosophy, literature and ways of living, thinking and relating.

Thankfully, this is still a multicultural world. I was surprised to hear that stated recently by the French Bishops' Conference, as the French are usually exceptionally fierce on matters of national culture. However, a statement from them last October spoke of the end of the West's traditional, distinctive identity, due to waves of immigration.

The desire to impose one culture upon another remains a constant temptation, locally as well as globally. In India there is a dominant culture that seeks to make all others subordinate, which has an impact especially on the Dalits and indigenous peoples. Indeed, some would say that the unity of a nation depends on the unity of its culture; some would like to see total religious homogeneity.

So the defense of multiculturalism and religious pluralism is a necessary and constant duty, and we are pleased that they both receive protection from the Constitution of India, with special measures for the protection of minorities. Read more

Sources

• UCA News
• Image: The Boston Globe