702 thoughts on ““New Zealand Is Turning Into A Really Racist Country” – updated 26 Aug 2015: Skin Heads and Hate Crimes.”

1. The STUPID NATIONAL govt WANTS your money! They are incapable of doing anything that does not have money at it’s key (“JOHN KEY”…Always shaken and often stirred but more frequently forgetful!) ask Sky City!

   • New Zealand had many of these problems before, and it was misleading migrants before as well. Just because Key isn’t waving a magic wand doesn’t mean he’s at fault for any of this.

     • I beg to differ. Though he may not have caused ALL our problems he has added to existing ones and tacked on several on of his own.

       • I personally feel as a migrant that New Zealand is and has always been very intolerant of immigrants. I’m an Indian male and I’ve lived in New Zealand since the age of 11. I immigrated with my mom 12 years ago and to this day, despite being a “kiwi” on paper and having a “kiwi” passport, I feel that I am still made to feel like I am “fresh off the boat” or more commonly a FOB by the majority of the NZ population. I don’t talk with a funny accent and my parents don’t own a dairy or drive taxis. My mother is actually married to a 3rd generation European New Zealander who is very much against racism and openly admits his own people are rednecks. In our first year of living in New Zealand I was constantly taunted about the colour of my skin, the food that I ate and the way I smelt. I would constantly hear words such as Curry Muncher, F***ng Indian or the N***er, Darkie, Stinky Paki etc directed to me personally. I actually find the term curry muncher quite ironic, especially considering the fact that many Kiwis love Indian food! My mother even experienced this herself personally in the business community, I which I find absolutely appalling. At the same time the World Trade Centre was supposedly attacked by Al Qaeda, so it just seemed natural that when I went to school the next day, I would be labelled everything under the sun relating to terrorism, which is just despicable.
         Over the years I have noticed that the number direct ethnic slurs has decreased, but I’m noticing more and more that racism towards immigrants still exists in a very indirect manner. The hostility that is felt when talking with local Kiwis is so obvious, it makes me wonder as to why they just don’t speak their mind. The funniest thing is though that most of the racism directed to me is from European New Zealanders, not from Pasifika or Maori. In fact, I have actually heard a lot of complaints from Pasifika and Maori about racism directed towards them from European New Zealanders, regardless of how long they have lived here.
         As a young Indian male I have found that it has been extremely difficult for me to develop relationships with kiwi women, more specifically white kiwi women. The only women I seem to attract are Indian or of various other ethnicities, but not European New Zealand women. I have asked this question to several people and the notion I get is that apparently Indian men are sleazy and chauvinistic hence the reason why women area not attracted to them. I was not let into a club in downtown Auckland due to the fact that they were sick of the complaints from women regarding sleazy Indian men. Now I personally feel that this is another form of racial stereotyping but others tend to think this claim is based on experience and fact, so I’ll leave that for you to decide yourself. I also find this quite fascinating as I seem to notice a lot of Kiwi European men in intimate relationships with women who are Asian, Indian, Pasifika, Maori and in some cases African just to name a few. I have many immigrant friends and they have all said the same thing, which is that they have been misled. A lot of immigrants come to NZ with the notion that Kiwis are warm friendly people. Unfortunately the reality is quite different. I have met other European immigrants who feel that local New Zealanders are uncouth, uncivilised, and just downright intolerable towards the majority of foreigners. Now I originally immigrated from a third world country which had its issues hence the reason for moving, but I can honestly say that for a so called first world country the general attitude and mentality of local Kiwis is very much third world. Ask any foreigner who has travelled further than Australia and they will say the same thing.
         Thank you
         Have a nice day 

         • The relationship scene in NZ is extremely nasty for most ethnic guys. I managed to be on the receiving end of some abrupt behaviour from someone who was a dux.
           Maybe they’ll change their mind about xenophobia once they’ve been through a cycle of either pregnancy, disease or abuse.
           Of course, the choice of whether you accept them then is yours to make.
           As someone said in the stuff website, “If there is a bowl of dip and other people take samples of it, can you still ask full price for it when it’s obviously not in pristine condition?”

         • Bro, let me tell you I am an Indian from India and the 3rd world country concept is created by the western media. We are no more a 3rd world country so to say. We have population that’s beyond Newzealands imagination. As far as European NZ women are concerned, they are entitled to their opinion and choice of men they want to date. You should be proud of your ethnicity and the nation you chose to live in. You are no less an Indian and global citizen than any of the so called people from the developed nations.

2. A very interesting article on the same topic:
   http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10866445
   Takeaway quote:
   “So a migrant who brings in stocks and goods for retail to the tune of the required amount (NZD500,000) must hold on to them for two years before being able to sell them. That’s just nonsensical, absurd and wrong,” said Mr Delamere.

   Summary:
   Entrepreneur Plus

   What’s required:
   *$500,000 investment
   *3 fulltime jobs
   *2 years that the investment must be retained

   (Introduced in Nov 2009 to fast track residency of entrepreneur migrants)

   Do you think immigrants exceeding that amount in liquid cash will put their money in banks which give interest rates that are barely (if not) meet inflation rates? So they put it into property … and get told they are pricing locals out of the market. Seems more of the same, we want the money, we DON’T WANT YOU.

   • Migrants who enter the country under that scheme should be informed explicitly of the currently accepted interpretation of the requirements. If the scheme is not working (and in this specific case, the article gives the impression that it is not), perhaps the scheme should be done away with, or the requirements modified.

     I think that this scheme’s requirements make it quite clear that it is intended to be about investment and commerce, not getting one more immigrant to New Zealand.

   • And can you understand why locals wish you just put your money in the bank?

   • They are asked to bring in the money so that the Kiwi banks and other institutions can use it. They lend it out and use it in other ways to cover their needs before allowing the migrant to liquidate the sum.

3. What can I say to this????

   I am not a racist. I have never felt any racist thoughts toward ANY group of people.BUT I am also NOT an employer! I am subjected to the same whims of the workplace as you are!

   My son is a NZ’er, born of a NZ mum and a British father. He is a Uni-graduate and he can’t find a job!

   Perhaps we need to look at the govt more harshly.

   • You mean he can’t find a job … in New Zealand.
     Has he tried the UK yet? After all, he can claim dual citizenship –
     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_nationality_law#Dual_citizenship

     and I believe as a citizen, he may be entitled to the benefit.

     There are many advantages you get … that new immigrants don’t or are ineligible for.
     If you’re playing Oppression Olympics, you’re in for a tough race.

     • You seem to miss her point, that in spite of being New Zealand born, he is unable to get a job (e.g. not only foreign students cannot get jobs).

       Is it oppression for the government not to put as much money into non-citizens as into citizens? It is, as far as I am aware, global practice to do so, so if you disagree with this practice, and you actually want it changed, you have a long road ahead of you.

       Of course, there are also Asian citizens of New Zealand who are entitled to the same benefit as him. In other words, New Zealand Asian citizens also have an advantage over Asian non-citizens of New Zealand, in New Zealand. This is wrong?

       If we had wanted to play Oppression Olympics, I should have tried to move to one of various countries in Asia or Africa already. I have no desire to be oppressed, but if I decided I wanted to move country, I would make sure that I was aware of any relevant oppression in that country, and that I thought I could bear such oppression, if necessary. If I thought I could not bear said oppression, I think I would only go if I had little choice.

       • In other words, New Zealand Asian citizens also have an advantage over Asian non-citizens of New Zealand, in New Zealand.
         Could we have a breakdown of people on the benefit by race in New Zealand? Thanks in advance 🙂

       • Is it oppression for the government not to put as much money into non-citizens as into citizens?
         Now where did I put the dollar I got from the NZ government?
         Oh that’s right … I never got it.
         Way to use red herrings.

       • If we had wanted to play Oppression Olympics, I should have tried to move to one of various countries in Asia or Africa already.
         I know, right? Those countries have white people in chains and sold as slaves.
         Oh wait …

     • Well he doesn’t want to leave New Zealand, even with a British passport.

       I totally agree with you on advantages new immigrants are not entitled to.

       I was not even vaguely looking for a game of “Oppression Olympics”. I totally agree that immigrants DO NOT get an easy ride in ANY form.

       I was just saying the ride is not always smooth to those born and bred either.

       This is a fairly crap country….Over the years we have tried to pull from socialism, PURE capitalism and a variety of weird combinations.

       Only the public are left worse off…..well immigrants are left off worst!

4. Gosh this is a confronting read.

   I live in an of area of Auckland with a very large Asian presence (mostly Chinese), I live in the same house my Grandmother lived in 35 years ago. My local shopping centre/community was once an entirely Pakeha area. Twenty years ago a vibrant Pacific Island community arrived.

   In the last 10 (maybe 15 yrs) another ethnic move happened. A shopping centre of about 30 shops, now has two shops that are not Chinese or Korean and one of them is Countdown.
   This is not a good thing BUT a GREAT thing! There is barely an ingredient for any recipe that I want to cook that I can’t find less than five minutes drive from my house!

   Yes New Zealanders CAN be racist. Living with multiculturalism is very familiar to some but new and scary to older people. My own mother frequently says “Why don’t Chinese people know how car parks work!!”….and there IS a little truth to that statement. In the local shopping centre car park I frequently have to slam the brakes on as (usually) elderly Chinese people saunter in front of my car. Backing out of a car park is also hazardous. as someone speeds past BUT if you come from a city the size of Beijing it is easy to see why you GO when the moment arrives!

   I’m a pre-school teacher (in another part of Auckland) and my centre has a fairly high immigrant population. This population includes Indian, South African, European, British, Korean but mostly Chinese. .

   The reason we have a substantial number of immigrant children in our centre is because other families recommend us. They recommend us because we are totally inclusive. We are told this everyday. We are thanked by immigrant families for helping them negotiate Kiwi ways that they don’t instantly understand but want to adopt.

   After living overseas for many years myself (Yes I am a white NZer and I lived in Britain BUT it WAS a foreign country in sooooo many ways! I also lived in Greece, Egypt and Israel) I can relate to that ‘fish out of water” feeling.

   Please don’t automatically believe all Kiwi’s are racist……YES we have A-holes like EVERY country but I do not believe they represent the majority!

   • We are thanked by immigrant families for helping them negotiate Kiwi ways that they don’t instantly understand but want to adopt.
     Well, you may not be very good at helping those kids remember their lessons, if they don’t get jobs in NZ.
     Or maybe those kids went to the wrong universities, have unusual religions or support the wrong political parties or are the wrong genders or are too old or “are not the correct fit” or are “overqualified” or have the wrong skin colour?
     Whoops, I guess I listed down all the reasons that are illegal to discriminate against someone for a job … but happens because employers don’t list down why they do so.

     There’s a lot more to racism than fitting in at kindergarten.
     Usually … it’s to do with not being able to earn a living in the country you grew up in, despite having taken the path of others who do so, that succeeded despite doing even less than you did.

     • P Ray, just because employment is a big issue, it does not mean we should poo-poo people teaching at exceptionally diverse kindergartens and schools. But perhaps *you* do so anyway.

       There’s a lot more to racism than unemployment.

       But tell me: Would you employ someone who could not understand you, and who you could not understand? Most people wouldn’t and don’t.

       Yes, actual racism is an issue amongst employers. But I think a lot of what might seem to be racist employer practices, is not racism. I know Asians who have a good understanding of the language and the culture, and it seems that they have no more difficulty than a NZ European in finding employment (that is not to say that they have no difficulty finding employment).

       • Would you employ someone who could not understand you, and who you could not understand? Most people wouldn’t and don’t.

         You’re clearly not in touch with reality if you think the foreign students looking for employment who are university graduates, cannot communicate or write properly.
         Remember: your country considered them (and their grasp of English) good enough to let them in to either begin, complete or extend their studies.
         And if not, they were told to take the IELTS qualification (I’ve gone much further than that).
         Don’t turn around and play “I don’t know what’s going on”.
         I pooh-pooh teaching qualifications (not lecturer qualifications).
         The reason is simple: I’ve actually seen the syllabus.
         And when people say NCEA is an eyewash, who are the people promulgating that syllabus? You guessed it: the teachers coming out … who chose teaching because it was an easy degree.
         There are of course specialist subjects, e.g. physics, mathematics, science, geography, biology.
         But how many of your teachers do that?

         • Okay, so, presumably most foreign students speak decent English. But I am pretty sure most foreigners (however one is to define them) in New Zealand are not students, and it is clear from what I said, that I was not talking only about foreign students. I was also not questioning that racism might be a factor. I was saying that much that one might accusingly call racism, is not.

           Governing authorities in my country may have deemed their English good enough, but I have met (a small few) immigrants in New Zealand who can almost speak no English; and I have met many who cannot communicate fluently in English, and many more who have little understanding of the mainstream culture(s). Maybe further tightening the standards for immigrants coming into the country would do something to improve that situation…? Maybe we should stop encouraging immigrants to come here in the first place…? Maybe we should focus on post-arrival assimilation into society…? Maybe we should keep complaining about racism…?

           Okay, so, there are issues with NCEA, and some teachers push NCEA, and others object to it (and are pushed into it anyway). But it is clear that you were not pooh-poohing teaching qualifications. You were belittling her teaching at a racially diverse school where immigrant families thanked the school for helping them fit in.

           I myself don’t believe I know a single person who went for teaching qualifications because they thought it would be easy (and I know a fair few people who have recently finished training to be a teachers). The main reason amongst the people I know is a passion for helping and teaching children. But perhaps (probably) my social group is not representative of society as a whole.

           I don’t know exactly how many teachers do the subjects you mentioned; but one guy I know is going into teaching mathematics; and he said that there is a demand for mathematics teachers, because not so many people train to teach it, because they often train to teach things that they are passionate about, like art. He was able to find a job easily enough (because of the demand for mathematics teachers).

         • Teaching is an easy degree? Possibly the degree is easier than physics, maths etc but those degrees do no not include the most challenging part of a teaching degree….CHILDREN!
           So many people believe teaching is easy. Those people have never met a classroom of children,

           You dismiss teachers in the way that you hate being dismissed. Prejudice is fairly widespread.

         • @Kelly: when all shall have medals, and people are bumped up grades without having learnt … then I’d say teaching becomes easy … and those who stand up get smacked down.
           Doing things right … always puts you at odds with those who enjoy doing things wrong.
           http://www.hawkesbaytoday.co.nz/news/sacked-teacher-claims-bullying/1533928/
           A teacher claims she was bullied and unfairly dismissed from a prestigious Hawke’s Bay private school over alleged instructions to lie to parents about their children’s achievement.

         • “@Kelly: when all shall have medals, and people are bumped up grades without having learnt … then I’d say teaching becomes easy … and those who stand up get smacked down.”

           Try it for a day,,,one day and then proclaim it is easy.

           Also bear in mind the fact that teachers have NO control over what they are prescribed to teach. Good teachers just find an effective way to teach what is prescribed,

           New Zealand teachers are very good because they don’t rely on rote learning or “teaching to the test”> John Key will erode this though.

         • because they don’t rely on rote learning or “teaching to the test”
           That’s true, because if they did teach to the test … more domestic students would be going to university. ZING!
           It’s considered that primary and secondary education is primarily for socialisation … with the critical thinking usually happening at university.
           Like the saying “Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care”.
           Man, caring people who can’t do their job …gotta have them around, eh?
           Which explains why you can meet many people who got their jobs because of who they know … not what they know … and proceed to muck things up, or underperform.
           Think about what could happen … if competent people got on with the job and were hired predictably.
           Then again, disruptive people know how to get around obstacles and unseat monopolies.

         • P. Ray, here is where you are mistaken. New Zealand lets them into English programs and trains them, passes them, hands them a slip of paper saying their English or some other skill is good because NZ makes money in so doing. Not because the courses are actually producing good English speakers or people with some other marketable skill. If the courses are like any of the other schools in New Zealand, in fact, they are doing a poor job. These NZ education factories are degree mills. They churn out degreed individuals, but the degrees may have no practical value in the NZ economy. So over and above the prejudice these people have to overcome by simply being non-Kiwis, they have often paid big bucks for useless degrees..

         • Whew. Good thing I didn’t go to a polytechnic then, eh?
           On the flip side, you know you’re onto something good when over 90% of the people who enrol … fail to gain the qualification.
           World class standards … DEMAND world class levels of failure … because that’s the only way you know who the best are 🙂

   • Completely agree to that. I have an Indian friend living in Christchruch and she is all praise for nezealand except for the pay packages that are relatively smaller than even India. However, if newzealand wants to grow and become a better place, they need to accept multi culturalism and welcome immigrants. It’s an old primitive notion of the western countries that immigrants especially Asians are out there to snatch jobs and screw up their nations. On the contrary let me be honest, Asians are one of the richest people in the world and can be the biggest investors in the country. World is fast becoming one nation and one who accepts and goes beyond race and gender would grow,adapt and survive. Newzealand lawmakers should think about that.

5. HYPOCRITES. Hypocrites IF all these people who distill their hatred and envy against New Zealand. Truly feel sorry, embarrassed laughter and the Chinese are exploited, abused and slaughtered by their own government’s infamous RED Politburo
   Slaughter Cultural Revolution Tiananmen Remember that? , large parts of China is polluted, air, land, destroyed the environment to achieve its development”” the Chinese are not free in their country, are slaves of totalitarian Communist government practiced capitalism paradoxically wildest and inhuman, Chinese settlers are known in Southeast Asia as cruel exploiters-greedy and greedy and very racist and ethnocentric = generations living in those countries Vietnam.-Thailand-Philippines have not been assimilated, they still believe Chinese, ”” foreign students come with that label to stay in the host country (Autralia-New Zealand-US-Canada) and achieve social benefits, is an unethical tactic. So do not come to give moral lessons, which have no EQUAL Koreans, a few years ago there was a case in Guam an entrepreneur” Korean” and his minions who tricked = propaganda, women’s groups bilked Vietnamese and Filipino, which forced them to work long overtime without recognizing the wages, were exploited labor, sexually harassed and humiliated, beaten and even a bully Korean Vietnamese killed one worker, speaking of massacres and violations made ​​by South Korean soldiers in Vietnam, contempt and arrogance of these Koreans and Chinese toward the native inhabitants of Southeast Asia, now looking to expand to other regions of the world and that causes rejection, and the victims are now ha ha haha, go elsewhere with their lies, the Western world does not need BYE.

   • Awkward…

     Okay, so Asia had and has issues, and some Asian countries more issues than other Asian countries, and some Asian countries have arguably more issues than New Zealand.

     The point of this site is that New Zealand also has issues (which are often not widely publicized – that is, some people come to New Zealand with unrealistic expectations (because they are not always given a realistic description of New Zealand), and are let down).

     Now, wouldn’t it be good if people coming to New Zealand had realistic expectations so that when they face difficulties, at least they were forewarned (and maybe better prepared because of the forewarning), as opposed to fairy-skipping into the place (and maybe in the process ridding themselves of their life savings) and being hit by the ten-ton weight of reality? I think being forewarned would be good.

     Kia ora.

     • Now, wouldn’t it be good if people coming to New Zealand had realistic expectations so that when they face difficulties, at least they were forewarned (and maybe better prepared because of the forewarning), as opposed to fairy-skipping into the place (and maybe in the process ridding themselves of their life savings) and being hit by the ten-ton weight of reality? I think being forewarned would be good.
       New Zealand doesn’t let “regular” as opposed to “refugee” immigrants in unless they show proof of savings enough to tide them over for some time.
       The problem happens when people have to leave their jobs in the home country to get one in the new one … then discover that they can’t.
       It’s usually an “all or nothing” situation when many people invest their savings and effort to going overseas and getting a job.
       Then they have been out of work in their home country for some years … and if particularly unlucky have gained citizenship in the new one … without having employment – making prospects for being hired in their old country, disappear … as they are no longer citizens.
       Plus all the while they’re in the new country, they are paying full fare for all products and services and maybe 4x the university fees of locals, until they become permanent residents/citizens.
       There’s a good reason things continue the way they do.

6. For those justifying racism because they have this belief that immigrants refuse integration into NZ culture are delusional. Whatever helps you sleep at night.

   This same excuse was used to justify why a friend of mine deserved racial abuse. I admit, her English was mediocre. What people didn’t realise was she volunteered a lot of her free time. She volunteered at the RSPCA, the museum and helped run community and fundraising projects. However, she has been insulted on many occasions for not integrating and not being “beneficial” to NZ.

   I have integrated into NZ society. My entire family has and so have the families of our friends. Please explain to me why I, my family and friends are the subjects of racial abuse. Why I do hear these phrases yelled at me?

   Ching chong
   Go home
   Get out of NZ

   Twenty five years I have been in NZ. I, nor anyone in my family has ever been on a benefit of any kind. My siblings and I didn’t even receive student allowances. None of us have criminal histories. We didn’t come to NZ rich. We live comfortably now due to years of hard work. My siblings and I had our first jobs at ages, twelve and thirteen. Can all “pure” Kiwis say the same thing?

   The most recent incident was when two children threw racial remarks at me. What astonished me more was the fact that their mother was with them and instead of reprimanding them for their behaviour, she laughed. Fifty years from now we will still be discussing these same issues.

   • Indeed, justifying racism by failure/seeming failure of an individual to integrate is not commendable, although using it as part of an explanation for racism or a racist reaction to certain happenings (happenings like the arrival of noticeably many immigrants), is another matter altogether, I think. An explanation not necessarily being the same as a justification… By your description of your friend, I would say that she seems to actively participate in New Zealand culture more than many New Zealanders do.

     I would suggest that you are subject to racial abuse because there are racists (in this case, in New Zealand), who are presumably racist because they are on some level dysfunctional, or for whatever reason do not perceive the truth clearly (because other people taught them to be racist by indoctrination, perhaps?), or simply consciously choose to be hateful and hurtful and racist. Though I’ve never actually met a person who I’ve known to be the latter of those.

     It’s awesome to hear that you’re contributing so much to New Zealand society – more than many New Zealand-born people, I would say. I sincerely wish that New Zealand society do as much for you, as you do for it. (What purpose does society have if it does not benefit its members?) I think many “pure” Kiwis can’t say the same things you have said.

     I remember as a child learning racial behaviour from other children, and there was certainly a mentality of particularly East and South-East Asians being “different” and “strange”. I’m thankful to say I’ve grown out of it. Having good Asian friends certainly helped.

     I dearly hope we’re not discussing the same issues in fifty years time. We aren’t right now discussing all the same things we were fifty years ago. Who knows?

7. yea old post etc as a Ngāpuhi and always open for a battle, racist’s yea it’s real, kiwi sense of humour does mask a bit of it.. our albino cuzzie’s etc.I’ve had enuff but some thing’s don’t change.

8. E2NZ :
   Sorry that you were bullied there and had to move countries twice. But what if most of the time people were only jesting?
   Please don’t denigrate the experiences of others by suggesting they have a sense of humour failure that you yourself suffer from.
   However unpleasant these things are to accept there’s no getting away from the fact that New Zealand has a bullying problem. It has a problem with domestic violence and a culture of brutality.
   Accepting that is the first step to eradicating it.

   Sounds like a recent troll on a certain forum.

9. Don’t worry kiwis . We are breeding at a very fast rate than you think . Before you know it kiwis you are going to be a minority in your own country .Tough luck chappies

   • There is just one flaw in your plan.
     Who will your children marry?
     And even before that, will they be paid and recognised commensurate with their ability … or will there be an increase in taxi drivers with degrees?
     As I said … the population from overseas that discovers things lacking in New Zealand … build their subsequent careers elsewhere.
     So it doesn’t change much.
     What will change things … is when immigrants leave BEFORE they get stuck too deep … or after they have had an education at the fee rate of domestic students.
     It’s certainly very interesting that a lot of immigrants from overseas who don’t fit the “mind’s-eye-racial-attribution” of what makes a kiwi …
     are either not married … or don’t meet their partner in New Zealand.

     • What does “mind’s-eye-racial-attribution” mean? (Another term of “mentality”, but especially in respect to how mentality might be connected to culture?)

       If that is what you mean, then I would say that I am not at all surprised that people with significantly different cultural mentalities don’t tend to marry each other. I consider that to be not at all evil, in and of itself.

       • I am not at all surprised that people with significantly different cultural mentalities don’t tend to marry each other. I consider that to be not at all evil, in and of itself.
         Would you happen to be one of those colourblind people who can only dismiss what a person of a different race goes through because you enjoy the perks of “white privilege”?
         For your information, a basic global culture already exists, e.g. Money as a form of success, relationships as a form of success, job you have as a form of success.
         But for some people the starting point of achievement is other peoples’ perceptions of you … regardless of what you have actually done.

         • Is that a question seeking my answer, or a rhetorical question?

           If the first, I’d say no. I am very much aware that some people are mistreated/treated in a specific way because of their race/ethnicity; and I do not think that that is the way that it should be. I think all this “in spite of” my being “white”.

           If it is a rhetorical question, then I reject what it suggests (that is, that I dismiss the way some others are treated because of their race, because of my race and the way I am treated by some because of my race).

           You do know that in the context of racism, “colourblind” is usually used in a positive sense? “Colourblind” is usually used to mean “non-racist”.

           Also, I personally for myself do not accept what you have mentioned as globally accepted measurements of success (or at least, not beyond the point of having enough to live a healthy lifestyle, or in the specific circumstances of one’s specific desires being fulfilled; e.g. “you want lots of money+you get lots of money=fulfilment of that specific desire/success”), although I realize that they are commonly accepted as measurements of success. As far as I am concerned, those measurements of success are utterly shallow.

           I am aware that some people will not begin to achieve much until some people’s perception of them changes. That is sad, in my books. It is something I desire to be changed.

           But I am interested to know: Do you actually think that people with significantly different cultural mentalities having a tendency not to marry is actually an evil/problem in society? And do you think that it is not worth making a distinction between the %100 normal (in my opinion) difficulty that many people of significantly different cultures have in interacting with each other, and actual “you are an Asian and I am a European (and that is an important distinction to make)”-type racism?

           I am of the opinion that who a person marries is ideally an inter-personal issue; and the fact that many people tend to avoid marrying others of significantly different cultural mentality, is the last thing that I would cite as evidence of racism in society. I would, however, cite people’s tendencies to avoid marrying others of a different race, but of the same/a very similar cultural mentality, as evidence of racism (and by racism, I here mean “counting race as a significant factor”).

           That is to say, if you don’t marry someone because of perceived irreconcilable differences in cultural mentality, I have no problem with that, in general, at all. If you don’t marry someone because of their race, then I still think that is your own personal decision (and it’s probably a good thing that racists tend not to marry the people they’re racist against); but it shows a certain lack of clarity of perception and maturity, as far as I am concerned. It may also cause/be connected to other problems in society.

           For myself, I would not even try to marry someone of a significantly different cultural mentality. That is to say, if I desperately enough wanted to marry someone of a significantly different cultural mentality, then I would change my own cultural mentality to be more in line with theirs (I have no problem with culture/cultural mentality compromise, in general – actually, I think it is often necessary to make various kinds of relationships/inter-personal interactions work well). That having been said, I also do not object to people who think they can work through cultural mentality differences, marrying (as I said before, I have no problem with culture/cultural mentality compromise; and in my personal experience, every single successful/happily enduring intercultural marriage I have seen has involved compromise; actually, the same goes for every single successful marriage I have seen, as far as I can remember). It’s their decision, not mine. And I definitely have no problem at all with marrying someone of a different race.

           Sorry for lengthy response.

         • You do know that in the context of racism, “colourblind” is usually used in a positive sense? “Colourblind” is usually used to mean “non-racist”.
           To debunk your patronising notion (the world has moved on, you know)
           Examples of Racial Microaggressions:
           Theme:
           Color blindness
           Statements which indicate that a White person does not want to acknowledge race

           Microaggression:
           A therapist says “I think you are being too paranoid. We should emphasize similarities, not people’s differences” when a client of color attempts to discuss her feelings about being the only person of color at her job and feeling alienated and dismissed by her co-workers.
           A client of color expresses concern in discussing racial issues with her therapist. Her therapist replies with, “When I see you, I don’t see color.”

           Message:
           Race and culture are not important variables that affect
           people’s lives.
           Your racial experiences are not valid.

         • I was not aware that I was helping to spread a notion that the world has moved on, although it seems obvious to me that some people in the world have (moved on); and it also seems equally obvious to me that some people haven’t (moved on).

           Thank you for the example. It has helped clarify to me what you meant by “colourblind”. My impression is that you mean something like “discounting race as a (significant) factor”. Please correct me if I’m wrong in that impression.

           Would you agree with me that in the context, for example, of hiring an employee, it is actually good to discount race (as opposed to personality, the ability to communicate clearly, work ethic, character, etc.) as a factor in the decision to hire or not hire the possible future employee? (And if you do not agree with me, why not?)

           However, in the context of having a serious discussion with your therapist, or anyone else (myself included), about race/culture issues (in this example, in the client’s workplace), I definitely think(/agree with you?) that poo-pooing race and/or culture as an insignificant factor, is not at all helpful.

           But out of interest: What, of all the things I said, caused you to come to suspect that I was spreading the notion that racism was no longer an issue/”the world has moved on you know” (in your own words)? It would be good to know, to avoid repeating the same mistake (assuming I made a mistake – not all misunderstandings are the speaker’s fault, nor necessarily the hearer’s), because that it is not an impression I seek to give.

           Also, do you read my lengthy replies?

         • By “the world has moved on”, I mean that the old ways of mollifying people by treating them like children who are alien to your ways of thinking, is frankly getting old and people are getting sick of it.
           It’s interesting that you assume that I’m a “she” (based on the example above).
           What, of all the things I said, caused you to come to suspect that I was spreading the notion that racism was no longer an issue
           When people mention colourblindness, I check their race.
           No surprise they happen to be white.
           Now … it’s interesting that those considered “top of the heap” on the racial totem pole of expectation of good treatment (and who get it) are the ones saying they are “colourblind”.
           I get the feeling the more I speak on this,
           the smarter I make racists … so they learn how to be covertly so, and not overtly racist.

         • P Ray:

           (Please read my whole answer, to avoid further confusion.)

           Ah, I thought you were saying *I* had said that “the world has moved on you know”. I thought people (well, adults, at least) were *always* sick of being treated like children.

           By the way, what do you here mean by “…treating them like children…”?

           I had absolutely no idea that the example you gave was about you personally. I assumed that the client in the example was a “she” because you used the pronoun “her” referring to her (or you, if indeed you are saying that client was you). For example, “Her therapist…” (you said it, not me). I would say that was a reasonable assumption based on the word you used.

           Sorry, and who mentioned colourblindness first?

           Do you realize it is racially stereotyping to assume that someone who mentions the word “colourblind” is white? I would ask you not to do this – I did not assume you were white when you first mentioned the word (and you mentioned it before me).

           A person is only be considered “top of the heap” if *someone* does the considering. I say that that someone is not me.

           Also, please do answer my question: Do you actually read my lengthy answers?

           It seems to me by your answers that you do not.

           And please clarify what you mean by the words “racist” and “racism” and “colourblind”, to avoid further confusion on my behalf. Many things you have said have confused me very, very much.

           Thank you for having read the entire post (assuming you have).

         • P Ray:

           (Please read the entire post.)

           Actually, to bring some clarity to the situation, I will re-state everything I have (tried) to communicate in this discussion so far, as clearly as I can:

           *I am not surprised people of incompatibly different cultural mentalities don’t tend to marry each other

           *I don’t think that people of incompatibly different cultural mentalities tending not to marry each other (mutually), by itself, is at all bad

           *Marriage is ideally an inter-personal issue (as opposed to a race issue)

           *I do not condemn inter-cultural marriage

           *The successful inter-cultural marriages I have seen have involved compromise (so that the cultural mentalities involved are no longer incompatibly different

           *I am aware that there is racial discrimination, and I do not think it should happen

           *Race should not be counted as a factor in the context, for example, of hiring or not hiring an employee

           *Race and culture issues should not be taboo to discus

           *I am aware that there are commonly accepted (materialistic and/or consumerist) measurements for success

           *I personally do think that these (materialistic and/or consumerist) measurements for success are very good

           *I have expressed doubt that you are actually reading my entire posts

           *I have stated that many of the things you say confuse me very, very much

           Do you take serious issue (that is, serious enough to make an issue of it) with anything in this list (barring the last item – that is not up for discussion, because I doubt you can disprove that I have been confused by what you have said)? If so, please explain.

           (Thank you for having read the entire post, assuming you have. Please make sure you also read my entire previous post, before you reply. Thank you for your time.)

         • ^ I like that post of yours.
           Straight talk. Far different than meandering through the fields of semantics like a bee buzzing about.
           As you have probably guessed, I do not give much truck to what people “say” about being “colourblind”.
           I have much greater satisfaction … watching how they act.

         • P Ray:

           Fair enough.

10. I find that the real racism comes from the foreigners…
    As a matter of fact racism is a 1000 times worse in Asian countries.

    • Elmo, you are a prime example of racism in New Zealand and you don’t even realise it. Don’t you feel any embarrassment at all for what you’ve written, not even the slightest glimmer of realisation that a country populated by people like you may not be a very pleasant place to love?

11. I am from Iran and came to NZ in 1988. Only purpose my family and I left Iran was because of the Iran-Iraq war and we never had NZ in our destination, it simply came as accidental that at that time NZ was taking people abroad.
    I grew up here, and yes not all people are bad but overall I view the mindset of white people here as disturbing.
    Reality is New Zealand is a small farming country at the bottom of the planet, it really has not much to show except for sheep and lamb and on the world stage it has a small presence.
    Whether kiwi’s like it or not that the reality.
    Even people from overseas, Europe and Americans whom I met in NZ say that NZ other than nature has nothing else and these people have often laughed about it.
    All kiwi’s have to say is that they are white or from European decent, which is funny because Europeans that I spoke to dont want to relate to NZ in any way.
    In terms of NZ economy, it has little in manufacturing and lot of its trade is from Asia, and even then NZ is in deep debt. Without Asian trade NZ would be shot back into the 70’s.
    I met an American guy some years back who was a nice man, he told me he came to NZ for holiday and he found the talking manner of people in NZ amusing.
    He told me that he was in a conversation to a kiwi and this kiwi was rambling on about NZ and the American man told this kiwi guy, do you know how small you are on the world stage?
    And after that the kiwi guy was silent. lol…
    And speaking of first world country, in reality NZ isnt a first world country as its economy and GDP is equal to Spain and housing quality and standard of living is very average except for the few rich.
    Actually many things in NZ are old, cars on average are 12 years old and most things are expensive as 90% of goods are imported.
    All you have to do is go across to Australia to see the massive gap between wealth in NZ to Australia.
    My cousin who is a German came to NZ some years ago and he said all he hears from kiwi’s is oh this place is pretty or there is a nice beach there…why would you take credit for god’s creation, something that was here before you ever settled here, lol..
    These are facts of NZ and because kiwi’s have little to do or show for, when they dont have much all they can do is become racist to few asians or middle easterns that have immigrated to NZ. If anyone wants to challenge this, please come forward..lol

12. NZ government have to do business with foreigners as the majority of NZ income comes from the main industry of the country which is tourism & international students, beside the horticultural & agricultural. Then the big amount of money that NZ earns from foriengners feeding Kiwi people and NZ country. Your government propaganda seem to welcome Asians when NZ knows that we’re money resources for Kiwis, eventually native people in NZ pits us off at the end. Well . . . What go round will come round, Kiwis will need to aware of what you have done to us now because it can be impact your reputation and credit across countries.

13. I will study in NZ for two years. I’m a chinese indonesian (with dutch descent), should I be worried about this racism issue? it’s not that apparent right?

    • New Zealand has the same problems with racism as any other country, plus there is a distinct anti-Asian sentiment in the country.

      Even its polictians rabble-rouse and hunt votes on the “asian invasion” ticket http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/backgroundbriefing/whose-country-is-it-anyway/3563866

      
      Also see

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5L8KjgF8R8

      http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/4988983/Stop-the-Asian-Invasion-row-in-city

      • woah that’s shocking. and here from what I read, racism is not big issue in the NZ. I will study in palmy though, hopefully I wont encounter one. thanks for the arning.

        • Before you commit yourself why not find a Facebook group for students in Palmerston North and ask them what they think?

        • from what I read, racism is not big issue in the NZ. I will study in palmy though, hopefully I wont encounter one. thanks for the arning.
          You will not encounter much overt racism.
          You will encounter a lot of covert racism.
          e.g. Software study supplies that you were not informed about, contacts and lab resources that you didn’t know existed ,,, and you may probably also be told a pack of lies by students in your cohort about what they are studying or where they apply for jobs or inadequate/ineffectual Career Centre guidance for resume improvement or work applications.
          But everyone lives their own life and has to experience things themselves.
          Remember that over the period of time that you lodge an expression of interest or your work permit … you CANNOT work until it comes back in the affirmative.
          Of course, you can still work the hours as specified in your passport based on your study in NZ when you are still a student.

    • if i were you..dont take a risk..you can study in other countries while not experiencing racism… i work at a call center in an asian country..and our customers are NZers!… on the phone..they keep at shouting at you..onset of the call..they were angry at you and say bad things about you and the way you speak when in fact..your just doing a customer service job for them… we are experiencing racism over the phone ..what more if we go to NZ… that’s why i never dream to go there even if its the only beautiful country left..but with that kind of people..well..never mind

      • I dont really mind it though since I receive scholarship from NZ government. also being chinese indonesian, we are tough ones since we have experienced open racism for decades in indonesia. I’m sure I could endure any possible racism in NZ, again. hopefully I will encounter none though!

14. Hi,

    I am reading all along here as I was searching for info about living in NZ. Let me give everyone here some background of myself. I am from HK, a Chinese, got plans to further my master degree studies in NZ coming academic year. Wish to seek for job opportunities in NZ as well.

    I will need some insights from all on whether I should give NZ a try or say in my own city.

    I have been to New Zealand earlier this year, as a tourist, people were nice, with close-to-nature environment, definitely fascinating for city people. I understand tourists see all good things of a country, but what I read here looks far worse than what I can imagine.

    As HKer, I know how frustrating it is to have emigrants from mainland all around. Flat and store prices are now sky high; vacancies in hospital for labouring, schools so occupied that we have far less opportunities, our welfare are abused by them. But there are some emigrants we respect as they stand on their own feet, hardworking and nice.

    So basically how far racism goes and what problem I may face as a Chinese female in NZ is what I want to know. Thanks.

    • Not being a Chinese person myself, I can’t say exactly what kind of racism you might experience.

      Racist jokes are not uncommon in New Zealand (usually targeted at Australians, Maori, Irish, Pacific Islanders, or Asians), albeit I believe they are usually not malicious, and are intended to be funny. But there is a certain amount of actual hostility/dislike towards Asian immigrants, from some people.

      Asians are definitely considered by some to be particularly foreign (as opposed, for example, to a European British person being “less foreign”).

      I don’t remember having witnessed anyone racially abusing someone to their face in NZ, but I don’t doubt that it might happen.

      I myself do know some people who are disgruntled with the number of Asians in New Zealand. Most of the racism is in attitudes – some New Zealanders feel like they might be made foreigners in their home, or are overwhelmed by the number of Asian immigrants in recent years (sometimes called “the Asian Invasion”). There are sizable Chinese and Asian communities especially throughout Auckland, but also elsewhere in NZ.

      For many people in New Zealand, China has a reputation for producing lots of cut-corner, poor-quality products. But I haven’t found this reputation being applied to Chinese people, ever.

      If you speak English with an “accent”, you may find it difficult to make friends with people who only speak English (the majority of New Zealanders only speak English). If you speak English noticeably less well than a native speaker, you will definitely be avoided by some people.

      If you did come, I would strongly recommend making sure you found a group of people you could socialize with. Actually though, many students in university in NZ are from overseas, so maybe that might not be a problem.

      • Deleted

        • What is a fair contribution towards a person being entitled towards a pension?
          Provide those numbers, otherwise all those statements are just thinly disguised racism.
          P.S. The benefit, given to those that do not work – are they entitled to it, especially if they’ve never worked?
          P.P.S. Was the foreign child, who now provides for their parents, overcharged for all the courses, qualifications and certifications compared to a local person doing the same?
          So why not the parents recoup the contribution of the child?

          Looking forward to your entertaining and (hopefully) carefully thought out response.
          Yes, I’m aware that anyone can claim to be any ethnicity on the Internet. 🙂

      • I am amazed how people would think they would receive Hermes’ quality with a dime. You may ask any person who works in fabric industry about craftsmanship of China. Many of those cut-cornered stuff you see are the products of foreign company, which indicates that the decision of using inferior material and craftsmanship is permitted by the company rather than workshop itself. Only tools would pay for goods that dose not meet the standard. So why did you blame on Chinese workers? And also, it’s not hard to find quality clothes made by Chinese, if you just spend a little bit more – You get what you pay for. Notice that Chinese also produce luxury goods and those would be sent to Italy to sew on one or two buttons on then it would become Made in Italy, it is not even a news in industry, luxury company always try to convince you that your pricey stuff is made by an old Italian man who lives next to the river who has been making leather goods for 30 years and yes because people buy into that.

15. Sorry that you were bullied there and had to move countries twice. But what if most of the time people were only jesting?

    Please don’t denigrate the experiences of others by suggesting they have a sense of humour failure that you yourself suffer from.

    However unpleasant these things are to accept there’s no getting away from the fact that New Zealand has a bullying problem. It has a problem with domestic violence and a culture of brutality.

    Accepting that is the first step to eradicating it.

16. New Zealand is full of rednecks, the accents are awful, and they think their country is special because it’s mostly full of boring flora and fauna, and because they have a supreme rugby team. Most New Zealanders are ignorant as they haven’t even set foot outside of the country and don’t know shit about the beauties of the world other than their small, isolated island. They’re mostly racist and highly sensitive about their culture as well since they’re jingoistic, nationalist morons, therefore if you don’t like crappy homegrown Kiwi music or you ridicule something about them, they’ll scorn you with the old redneck phrase “well if you don’t like it you can get aouut!”. There are many good things about New Zealand, but unless you’re coming here to retire or for a holiday, get out as soon as you can, I’m finishing uni here soon and I can’t wait to leave.

    • Hi, Thanks, May I ask how are you leaving this small minded pathetic over hyped racist country? Did you find a job or something…what country and what did you study in Uni. I ask because I have a small savings, uni drop out and in a similar situation.

17. I agree, one day they will. Ideally, those days should not come, thoguth…better world by that time. 🙂

    Here’s my other observations.

    I haven’ really been paying attention to media report. How they report things related with Asia…

    I’ve looked some articles by stuff.co.nz and learned that this is the same network with Dominion (Wellington base). There some differences between stuff.co.nz vs. NZ herald (Auckland base) with the same incident.

    Don brash affair with Diane Foreman – Stuff seems to be very favorable of Diane Foreman. NZ herald reported her more in detail (not a good side as well).

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/new-year-honours-2011/6203520/Diane-Foreman-becomes-companion-NZOM

    Unfortunately, I couldn’t find again the article that I read from stuff about how Don Brash met his singaporean separated wife (implying affair – and it seemed it was an affair). – since I couldn’t find the article anymore, I can’t insist that it was from Stuff…

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10401572

    Here, I learned how Diane Foreman met his wealthy husband. (also it seems to me an affair or at least there was something going on…) Stuff does not mention the details of details that they revealed about Don Brash’s wife, but just praises how Diane Foreman woman is doing great as if she had achieved from the scratch. In my view, this woman seems to be a family wrecker (see. her relationship with Paul Henley also I’m guessing from the article how much she might have caused pain to the dying wife of Bill Foreman.) Stuff seems just love her.

    Stuff’s reports on the golfer David Smail seems also biased.

    David Smail

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/golf/4092418/David-Smails-former-lover-A-woman-scorned

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/golf/4092254/Jilted-lover-haunts-top-golfer-David-Smail

    My view is that he got into this extra marital relationship, too. But, there was no criticism about him, but ridicules this Japanese woman and even published her photo. It ridicules her accent/speaking as well. How many Kiwis can speak Japanese language?

    Lately, there was Samsung vs Apple court decision over copyright.

    Stuff didn’t updated of the latest court decision and left it with previous one whereas this was one of the top news of BBC on the day. And NZ herald reported this, but not on Stuff or Dominion post. – Obviously, this was not a big news for the editor of Stuff. I may be wrong, I wonder whether they reported somewhere very small print that I couldn’t find?

    I typed Samsung vs apple on Stuff search site.

    The first one that comes up is this.

    Apple triumphs over Samsung in US court

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/gadgets/7547438/Apple-triumphs-over-Samsung-in-US-court
    And on the third,

    Samsung wins court case against Apple

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/gadgets/7250648/Samsung-wins-court-case-against-Apple

    NZ Herald
    Apple told to apologise for Samsung statement
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10844572

    BBC
    Apple ordered to re-write ‘inaccurate’ Samsung statement

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20165664

    My view about NZ media also has been changed since yesterday after having found these articles and it has been confirmed that my effort of trying to see NZ society/media to be fair/or try to be fair towards Asian.

18. For a long time, about 15years, my assumption that New Zealanders are very friendly and there is no/hardly any racism in this country made me not see the reality of daily racism that I encounter these days when I go for shopping. Previously, I simply was blinded and did not see it.

    I started to notice how New Zealand shop assistance/manager, check out counter simply ignore Asian customers. They do not greet Asians while greeting all other customers, try hard not to serve Asians by letting other staff deal with Asians. I mean not all, but many people do.

    Since I noticed this, I started feel like a 2nd citizen in this society.

    However, this simple racism seems not recognised easily even among Asians. Like how I did not noticed it previously, I’ve noticed that even my Asian friends have never noticed it and treated me as if i was ‘too sensitive’. After some time, one of them told me that similar incident happened to her and she started to open up her eyes. It leaves only ‘hurt’ though. I was happier when I didn’t notice the discrimination.

    – I went into a shoe shop that was well known in this city for a family business over 50years. I’ve been there several times, but noticed that I was never greeted while seeing all other customers were greeted when they came in. On this day, I tried a couple of boots that I was interested in. No one served me so I left the booths holder(inside the boots thing) next to the boots after trying them out, I put the boots back, but didn’t put the inside things back into the boots. Soon, one of the shop assistant passed by me and said (without looking at me) quietly, “You should put the things in.” (Not exact words, but this meaning is implied). Then, I got really cross and said also quietly, “I think this is your JOB to do, isn’t it?” And then I started to complain to her of their service. She said, do you want to talk to my manager?” So, I did. The manager who is one of the family members of this small shoe shop said literally , “Are you mad?” (against my racism remark). The manager accepted (not apology) that her staff definitely did wrong, but she still didn’t accept that it is part of racism. And she insisted that they hire Asian worker as well. So, they are not racist. In the end the nervous shop assistant who went away came back to us and apologized to me and told her boss that what she said was true. But, the manager insisted that there was not racism in the context and she said, “Maybe you are invisible!” – I hope the shop lasts another 50years.( You know I’m joking. ;-)).

    I asked the hop assistant if she would have ever said the same thing to a white customer. She couldn’t say anything.

    There are many simple invisible racism/discrimination that I can see now. I don’t know how to deal with this without getting hurt too much. Maybe one slowly starts to just accept the reality…that I am 2nd citizen in this society.

    • I’ve noticed that even my Asian friends have never noticed it and treated me as if i was ‘too sensitive’
      Your Asian friends are trying to “buy good” of people who are racist towards them.
      (I was told by a female Asian Residential Assistant at university, that racism was just “people playing the fool”)
      Not to worry, let them finish their education …
      when the time comes for the job market,
      or even to interact for the purposes of building families,
      … their eyes will be opened wide enough to see that you were right.

19. My wife (Chinese) and I lived in Taiwan and other countries in Asia for years. After experiencing lots of racism – no ability to get a passport, vote, credit card, protection of the law, discrimination against us and our children etc. we came to NZ. Yes, there is racism, but at least we can both have citizenship, as can our children, we can have bank accounts, our kids can go to public schools, we are protected under the law, and we can have any job we wish if we are good enough. And we have good jobs here. Our kids can be what they want. Racism is no good anywhere. It happens everywhere and it is not good. Stop racism everywhere.

    • Hello Chen_New, please can you clarify where you are when you say “here” as it appears that your profile is placing you in T’ai-pei, Taiwan.

    • no ability to get a passport, vote, credit card
      Passport and vote are tied to your CITIZENSHIP.
      Whether you get a credit card is tied to whether you have a steady INCOME (I do believe they ask for payslips – and there is a minimum amount).
      Hey, I didn’t get a credit card in NZ – DISCRIMINATION!
      You didn’t mention anything about being permanent residents – which is the first step to getting citizenship – it isn’t handed to you on a platter, you know, and takes time.

      I would like to know, besides NZ … where a permanent resident can vote,
      and where in the world you can get a credit card – when you don’t have a job?

      we can have bank accounts
      I’d definitely like to know more about this place/places, where you can’t have bank accounts. The investment profile must be rather … dismal.

      There are 52 countries in Asia, in which ones were you treated so badly?

      • Its a shame that people limit their life options to whether they get citizenship or bank accounts or credit cards or even jobs..Racism in true sense means that someone does not have any respect for you due to your origin of birth. While you may consider it a previlage to have these after being denied in other countries (unsure why someone would deny you a bank account).

        There are many who come to countries like NZ not so that they can get all these things, but so that they can have quality of life. When you are insulted and treated with hostility every day of your life, having PR or ability to vote or bank accounts seems much meagre. However, the country thrives on all those who consider it to be a previlage to have these things.

        In short, apart from the natural beauty- the country does not have anything to offer at this stage. It is only good for people who feel ‘grateful’ and do any jobs and live in misery just for the so-called PR or citizenship.

20. Ever heard of an anti-racism campaign that targeted any group other than people of European descent as “racists?”
     
    All anti-Whites ever do is make excuse after excuse to turn every White country into a non-White country. 

    All anti-Whites ever do is rationalize and justify White children living as minorities in every country their ancestors built. 

    All anti-Whites ever do is justify genocide of White children, and only White children.
     
    Anti-racism is a codeword for anti-White. 

    whiterabbitradio.net

    • See
      http://www.nzherald.co.nz/julie-middleton/news/article.cfm?a_id=100&objectid=10118242
      Foreign workers face battle to win jobs
      By Julie Middleton
      …
      “Maori raters imposed ethnic penalties as did Pakeha. However, Asian raters judged Asian and Pakeha applicants similarly.”

      So, don’t worry, it’s not just “people of European descent” in NZ that are racist – as usual,
      it is “racists in NZ, that are racist”.
      P.S. If for some reason your birth rates are below replacement level, you might perhaps want to take it up with the women of your country, and ask them why they are choosing to not have babies, to live up to David Lane’s Aryan supremacy 14 words: “We must secure the existance of our people and a future for white children.”
      Bonus points to you if you can get it without the cooperation of the rest of the world … that isn’t European.

21. I don’t give a sh** if some local idiot shows racism towards me…i just think he is a fool and because of too many fools like him his country need talented people like us from overseas. at least thinking that way makes me do my work better and i actually feel more superior than him. There is no doubt my new country (nz) has some racist idiots but there is no shortage of good and welcoming ppl over here!!! So if one idiot tells you to go back to your own country, just think he is just one idiot who is good for nothing and is jealous of you. Anyways he has no power to kick you out from this country so his stupid comments has no weight… the country needs you and thats why you have been granted a citizenship:) There is no doubt nz will have lots of overseas population in future and thats a fact. The modern nz will be a mix of asian ( inc indian , arabic, chinese), european, maori and pacific culture, not just maori and pakeha culture- its a fact and we must respect each other.

    • You will either have to:
      1. “go back to your own country” if you cannot find a job in your field as an immigrant that is on the skills shortage list to get your longer stay approved, or
      2. “become an illegal immigrant” if you decide to become an overstayer.
      3. have the funds to survive without a job for some years including the costs of the expression of interest and hope it works out, then worry more about the future.

      They don’t need “power to kick you out”.
      They just need to ignore, downplay or exclude your achievements in NZ when your resume lands on their desk.
      The bodies of government then get involved when your time is up or you decide to move on.
      It’s really quite simple.

22. Hey just sharing my experiences from living here all my life. I am asian and i was born here in NZ. I have been alive here for around 20 years and i can tell you i have had experiences that i consider now a normal part of my life. School life was hell, i would be racially abused atleast once a month but never physically, I made good friends. The thing is all this abuse has made me mentally ill, i find it so difficult to look or speak to a white person because i am so afraid of the racial abuse i might recieve. My teacher would always tell us that life gets better, Hell no if you look different and below average in their eyes, your fked. I got my first job at a supermarket, my god the customers are ****ing disgusting. Alot of these ***holes think i cant speak or understand english so they think they have the right to say abusive things and get away with it. Luckily i am a person who just ignores it and walks away. I am now studying in higher tertiary and i dont think i want to work in this place when i graduate. in my opinion the adults are far worse than highschool. However not everyone is so narrowminded. I have made many white friends and still hang out with them. These adults are mostly uneducated average ****head citizens. I wish i was never born here and i wish i had the money to leave. The lifestyle here is really good compared to countries such as china and india. However there are times i just feel like i would rather work 1$ a day in a factory then deal with alot of ***holes.

    • I think its more about them finding any excuse to bully! There is an absolute culture of bullies in NZ. Maybe the only discipline applied to kids is bullying and mind games by parents in the absence of corporal punishment! Very little direct honest communication but lots of bullying and manipulation as a relationship style. Lets face it, with one of the highest suicide rates in the world, they not exactly sane and happy folk are they?

      • I think you’re probably right. There is a heck of a lot of bullying that goes on (in New Zealand, but also elsewhere – think Amanda Todd) racism is one facade for it. There are a ton of others (whether you have enough money or too much, whether you are uneducated or too educated, whether or not you use a bicycle to get around, what sports you play, how large your nose is, what swearwords your name rhymes with, what neighbourhood you live in, etc.)

        Note: I have not experienced most of these facades for bullying, but I am aware of all of them.

        Sadly, I think a lot of NZers school life is hell. Kids can kill, really.

        • Thank you for mentioning Amanda Todd, this problem is as prevalent in New Zealand as elsewhere in the world. We refer our readers to http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/7841362/Teen-questioned-over-international-cyber-bullying for further information.

23. Hello all, I happened to listen to the Newstalk ZB radio on 9 October 2012 at 1235 am and was surprised that the DJ made a racist comment when a female listener called Sue called up and told him about the costs of living these days as compared to paying only $10 a week in rent in earlier times.
    Then, Sue said she cooked rice and ate the rice with some vegetables for 2 or 3 days to be thrifty. And guess what the DJ said….`’You will be getting slanted eyes soon’. If we have a public figure who makes such derogatory comments on the Asians I assume, the racist ball gets thrown around….’ I have heard of this stereotyped remark made to Asians as rice is their staple….Someone might want to make an official complaint but I won’t waste my time…they might delete that part of the recording.

24. I (a multi-generational European-ancestry-only NZer) volunteered at a ESL class a while back. Loved it. Sure, most of them spoke poor English. But they were trying (and gradually succeeding), and they were friendly and hard-working.

    Sadly, it can cause friction when a person from another culture does something absolutely out of place in our own culture. It does tend to cause disruption, but patience and general benevolence goes a long way to battle the ill-will it can cause.

    I myself am quite multi-lingual (I speak German, Spanish, and Old English to a decent degree of fluency, and I am learning also Mandarin Chinese, Maori, Dutch, and Quechua). I am learning Maori to show respect for the tangata whenua, and because it’s one thing maybe I can do to ease race relations.

    It is miserable that so many people (of all kinds of ethnic backgrounds – I certainly don’t feel the love from a certain portion of Maoridom) have racial hatered for/prejudice against others. It’s definately not just New Zealand, and I don’t think New Zealand is even especially bad. China (look up Lou Jing), USA, Australia, Europe, Africa, etc., all have supply enough of racist-minded people. Believe it.

    I would like it if more Maori acknowledged their non-Maori ancestors. It annoys me when I hear something along the lines of “…your ancestors (raped the land)…” when the ancestors in question are, in fact, shared ancestors.

    Some popular-enough myths (like that the Moriori lived on mainland NZ before the Maori and were slaughtered by Maori – that latter part was true, but they didn’t live on the mainland) probably don’t help Maori-with-non-Maori race relations.

    Off topic, but have any other cyclists experienced abusive drivers (e.g. the ones who go out of their way to roll down their window and swear at you and tell you to get off the road)? Apart from the little racism I’ve experienced from afar in NZ, that kind of experience has helped understand what suffering racist hatered feels like… Ugh.

    I think maybe the name of this page should have been “New Zealand is still a really racist country”.

    To a less racist future!

25. Every person of every nationality has, at some point, been treated in some form of racist manner or other.
    I’ve lived in NZ for 30 years, I was a kid when we emigrated from the UK.
    I lived and went to school in Mt Wellington, Auck in the early 80’s and lived on a street where the Samoan, Tongan, Cook Island, and Maori families fought amongst themselves almost constantly.
    My Indian next door neighbour was beaten up by the local ‘Maori boys’ for being a ‘wog’
    I was spit on, had my hair pulled, pushed into the street, and chased home from school by the Maori girl across the street…her mother chased me from the park next to her house brandishing a machete while calling me a ‘little white bitch’ because the swing was squeaking too loudly!
    As a teenager I had a school desk thrown at me by a Tongan girl because I ‘looked’ at her boyfriend, I was pushed into the school pool and held under the water in a case of mistaken identity by a Maori girl who thought I was the ‘Pakeha slut’ who screwed her boyfriend!
    When I did have a Maori boyfriend, I received constant abuse from other Maori, not other Pakeha!!
    I’ve now married into a family that considers themselves to be white (they are mostly 1/8th and 1/16th Maori) but my brother-in-laws wife is a Maori girl who is constantly having digs, and sneering at my kids when they speak maori, do kapa haka, wear their pounamu. She tells me and them that we are diluting her culture and bringing shame to her people…are you fricken kidding me?!?!

    I take pride in the fact that I AM A KIWI
    I ALWAYS try to use Maori language correctly and appropriately, and I treat EVERYBODY with a level of respect that I haven’t always received in return and yet I, the immigrant, the Pakeha, am the one who is racist?!?!!

    This country WAS NOT built by one race alone…and some ‘minorities’ need to remember that!!!

    • ^ Can identify with that effort of “making attempts to get along” and being treated with contempt.
      Then, you’re racist if you point out the bad treatment. Wassupwiddat?

26. yeah. i came back to Korea 4 yrs ago and i still miss N.Z somehow but wat da writer said is so true.
    i did undergraduate degree in Vic in Welly and while m studying i was furious and dissapointed with attitudes some kiwis n maoris showed.
    they cursed on me when i walk on da street with ma fds n we were doing nth but walkin.
    like “f***ing Asian just go bk to ur country”. some threw da cans, eggs, even bottles. sometimes dey threaten me n ma fds by chasing us. even kids followed me n ma Asian fds n said sth bad. i dnt no y. i hv done nth bad or illegal.

    becuz of da tuition fee we pay(which is at least 4 times expensive dan domestic Ss), dey
    get free or cheaper education, n becuz of da money we spent on their country, dey can grow their economy. wen i stayed in dere, ma family often came n bought so many things, n me either. other asians also contribute N.Z economy.
    dey do not consider dat fact but just blame Asians to tk over their country.

    • LOL…

27. New Zealand is a great country, and that’s a fact. But like every country there are something’s that they all struggle with, and I do agree with you. Racism is one of them. 7 years ago I was adopted by my aunty and her white partner. At the age of ten it like a dream come true to come into a new country and start a new life, but nothing prepared me for the cruelty I greeted with when I started school. I am a PI (Samoan) and my mum now is Samoan too, but she and her husband prefer the white culture predominantly. I was brought up speaking properly, and went to an all-white school and still am. In intermediate I was not accepted at all, everyday young kids around my age would walk up to me and say “go back to your own country you brown buga” to my face. Every day was hard I was either greeted with a inappropriate statements or sworn to with my own language. However I never thought that these experiences I was having as a ten year old would ever last up till now. I understand the feeling of not being accepted just because of your race, or your colour but the funny thing is now I am a seventeen year old I don’t get racist comments from the white community I get them from my own. Growing up in a predominantly white family has really changed me. I don’t have an islander accent, and I hold myself differently from how many other island kids do. The white no longer laugh at me instead it’s the brown saying things like “you wana be white!” the truth is racism is present everywhere and sadly in New Zealand as well.

28. This is the white person dream: Immigrants who work hard for them, get paid a lot less but pay a lot more tax, don’t mind getting beaten up or abused, stay to themselves as much as possible (segregation is the best solution) and NEVER inter-marry with them.

    That would make them the most happy. Actually no, the happiest they’d be is if we went back to slavery, except we didn’t complain about it. Whip us, kills us, lynch us.

    What kind of animals are you? Get over yourselves.

    • That is not this white person’s dream. That is not the dream of many white people.

      I would find it incredibly horrible, miserable, and disturbing to witness, let alone inflict, the damage you stereotype me (according to my race) as wanting to do.

      And I have no problem with inter-race marriage. Many of my friends or acquaintances are in inter-race marriages.

      I’m not an animal, and neither are you. Some would say we are animals. I don’t.

      It’s a good idea to think before you type, or even while you type, eh?

29. Any immigrant reading this true life judgement would have to think twice about migrating to NZ….

    Editorial: Judge leaves himself wide open to criticism
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10830934

    White offender + white judge versus Korean immigrant

    The perception is that immigrants will get no suppport there with the Kiwis telling them `Get out of my way`’ and you will be treated like an ant to be trodden upon and limping your life away there.
    Does’t the banker at his level know about priorities and postponing a music recording appointment?
    Poor Mr Kim who has been badly hurt, separated from his family and yet has to continue struggling….

    • If mind has got a form then these kiwi minds look exactly like a kiwi bird.. Very small means narrow minded, looking down means ignorant! They don’t want to look around.. adding to that they are stressed, intolerant and incompetent… Its one of the nature’s weird creations, no race in the world will have these much of negative qualities…!!

30. Its not turning into a racist country, its always been a racist country, try growing up Maori in the 70’s and 80’s

31. John says: “I work in a company in NZ that has a large proportion of Indian and Chinese workers, not one of them would have experienced an ounce of racism or been abused/groped etc in the way that the above refers to.”

    Perhaps the employees don’t want to burden their employers with any of their personal troubles, want to get their job done and move on.

    From what I’m reading, I think it’s completely plausible that New Zealand is an awful place to work for talented Asians (I have no idea why they wouldn’t opt for the US like the Bay Area). I’ve heard similar things about places in Australia from my family living there. I believe it was Nouriel Roubini, the economist, who is predicting Europe to be the playground for Chinese and Indian investors. In the scheme of things, New Zealand is a tiny island compared to the value that Europe brings. I suspect New Zealand will be bought and made civilized by rich investors in the not too distant future. Probably last in the list of priorities though. Perhaps your bank AZN sees the same future.

    • I have no idea why they wouldn’t opt for the US like the Bay Area
      Apparently what some companies do for foreign talent to gain the H1B visa, is to have them sign over 90% of their wages in exchange for placement.
      Or fraudulently represent the talents, based on racial stereotypes, e.g. “All Asians are good at math”.So-called “Positive racism” is also a problem.

32. New Zealand is an atheist country, so why are people surprised that it’s so racist? Just like how Sweden, Denmark, and every other atheist country is extremely racist.

    To all the racists in NZ don’t worry, you have lots of atheists their to protect you from being criticized for being racist so you’re free to be as racist as you want!

    • I dunno, I didn’t see a lot of faces with different shades at the churches.
      They were either almost completely ethnic – or almost completely NZ-er.
      Nothing in between.
      For an “atheist country” as you say, they sure have a lot of religious holidays, e.g. Saint Patrick’s Day, Christmas break …
      I think at some level some people living there still believe that the “coloreds shouldn’t mix with their betters”.
      It’s reflected in the gender skew in interracial marriages.

      • I saw this atheist group at the University I attend, everyone there was White, the place was like a White supremacy organization.

        Sweden, Denmark, and New Zealand are all atheist countries and they are the most racist countries in the entire world.

        The racism in these countries is directly caused by the atheist population.

        What the atheist population specifically causes is a lack of opposition and criticism towards racism.

        Since there’s no criticism or opposition towards racism people are free to be as racist as they want.

        The atheist community has remained silent in opposition towards racism so we know where they stand on the racism issue.

        I mean we know where atheists stand on things like gay rights, abortion, and Intelligent Design.

        • That’s funny, ’cause I saw religious people behave in very patronising ways towards people not of their race, while in New Zealand.
          Being religious no more makes you good, like being in a parking spot makes you a car.

        • One sample of what passes for religious flyers in NZ:
          http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10835898
          “The crudely written flyers have shown up across the small Bay of Plenty town. It appeared the material had been downloaded from fanatical creationist websites.

          “Are you a racist? You are if you believe in evolution!” the letter states.

          “Kids are taught in school that man evolved (changed) from a chimp. So I ask you who changed the most from a black chimp with black hair and brown eyes? A black man with black hair and brown eyes? Or a white man with blond hair and blue eyes?”

33. Act only got 1% of the vote. Unfortunately the Conservative party have popped up. Swapped one racist bunch of clowns for another…

    Don’t worry though, I think most New Zealanders dislike this minority of idiots.

34. The lesson above and beyond all arguments is simple, TREAT OTHERS THE WAY YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE TREATED….

    So if pakeha or white kiwis display an overwhelming amount of racism, then perhaps all of the immigrants should seriously consider pulling themselves out of the NZ economy, in other words all the small businesses (and there are a hell of a lot of them owned by migrants) should close (I wonder what that would do to tax revenue and socio economics in NZ?), they should all cash up and pull their money out of the banks and take it to some other place, all the students who come to study should also find an alternative and yank their respective dollars out of the economy when this happens the chain effect will be that there’ll be no people to rent or buy the property or cars or anything else, thereby creating a domino economic effect,

    NZ could go broke within weeks (not saying that it already isn’t but it would be worse) since if you pull the migrants and their respective value out of the economy there is not a lot left.. As a result of this some of our largest trading partners who are India and China could cut Free trade agreements which would royally screw over a large % of the export market that NZ is so dependant on…

    As a result what would be left here in NZ if all of these actions were to take place? “Some say oh that scenario will never happen” sure so its the extreme end of possibilities BUT the point is this, if indeed migrants and this is not exclusive to any particular group of migrants but any and all who have chosen NZ as their home were to hypothetically be erased from New Zealand, this country would be far poorer than what it is currently, and at a political level due to the sheer lack of revenue the Govt. would receive, spending on social and state services such as welfare and health would probably get axed, the parity between the middle class / elite wealthy pakeha and the poorer kiwis and Maori would become even more abundant and would most likely result in significant civil unrest causing more trouble….

    So to all the so called kiwis who have happily adopted the attitudes of racism, consider that you, your country and everything in it could be completely screwed if there were no migrants, if you ethnically cleansed migrants tomorrow you would just bitch and fight between yourselves until there would be very little left but a degenerate isolated population…

35. I am a Caucasian Kiwi who works in a call centre for a bank.

    It is a very diverse workplace.

    The first thing I hear from many of our customers is “Oh it’s so good to speak to somebody who can speak English. I’ve just hung up on the last representative I was talking to and called back in because I couldn’t understand a word he was saying – he sounded Asian or something.”

    If I look at the notes from the previous rep, often he’s a guy with a masterate level qualification doing the same job for the same pay as myself (a high school dropout).

    It’s also fairly typical that the Mongoloid on the phone has no source of income bar the benefit, (which flies out of the account in a typically depressing round of KFC, TAB and King Dicks) and can barely articulate themselves due to the effects of endemic foetal alcohol
    syndrome, inbreeding and a culturally mandated lack of imagination.

    I find conversation with the migrant folks I work with is frequently much more satisfying than the banal groundhog day babble of rugby, beer and hows-the-weather you get from a large number of kiwis.

    They’re simply smarter.

    If I was a well qualified migrant engaged in any job which involved dealing with the New Zealand public, I would certainly resent my situation in life.

36. Ever since primary school I’ve openly experienced racism because I’m of Chinese ethnicity, rest assured it only grew worse in high school.

    Do you know how bad it is to not feel welcomed in your own country. Even if I wanted to learn Chinese and live in China, I’d always be a foreigner there also. So yeah, I don’t have a place where I can really feel accepted.

    If I feel this way, I only worry about vulnerable Muslims who may be exploited by radical clerics. But maybe it’ll take something drastic for the bigoted population to ponder their ways.

    Hate is so much baggage – American History X, you lot should watch it. I plan to move to LA one day where there is less hate for an Asian like me.

    • If you have a New Zealand passport you become much more desirable to girls overseas from non-Western countries. Hang on to it!
      Quite a lot of love nowadays, is a transaction between a man and a woman. Things have certainly modernised.

    • I am sorry to hear about your experiences in New Zealand. Even though I am white, I have faced a lot of bigotry, bullying and sheer nastiness at work (with a government agency) because I am a ‘migrant’. I have travelled and lived in several different countries but have never felt so lonely or isolated as I do in NZ and I can’t wait to leave. Now I am saving all I can to get away as soon as possible. I think that’s just how kiwis are, they hate anyone different from them. Your idea to leave NZ is probably the best way forward. America may not be ideal though. I looked at working in America and found that they have no statutory entitlement to annual leave. Also, there is no such thing as paid maternity leave. Canada is a bit better, with 10 days entitlement to annual leave and maternity leave. My father lives in Vancouver and is married to a lady from Hong Kong and, as far as I have heard from them, they haven’t encountered the kind of racism people get here in NZ. Maybe you should look at Canada as well. Anyway, the best of luck with everything.

37. from my experience YES….. Its horrible and getting worst…I feel that Ive have had to defend my maori culture all my life mainly at school and even in the workforce. It use to be sarcasim but now its just hateful, redneck racism. It is so bad these days that I have stopped reading the newpaper because Maori are always singled out in a negative way. Alot of us feel very isolated and worried about pakeha attitudes toward our culture..they are now saying that our hakas are embarrasing and stupid and our language is not worth speaking!!. They are also racist to our asian, indian and pacific island friends thats why these cultures may stick to their own too..makes sense really… they are intolerant, ignorant and believe all the anti maori crap that is feed to them everyday through the papers, tvs and certain politicians…

    I dont understand why they are like this. Maori culture is awesome, its has art (carvings, ta mokos), language (Te Reo), Music & performance (Waiatas and Hakas, ta mokos) modern cuisine using maori herbs, kai moana etc…mythology, traditions and protocols … it truly is a cool and worthwhile culture and Im so proud of this…but they dont want to know, they dont care…they are not sensitive to other cultures….they expect maori to give this all up ,,for what,,,they have no culture,,, nothing unique to offer, no history, no language (just english woopty doo…if you are in NZ studying or on holiday, dont take shit and be proud of your culture and watch them squirm…they are just jealous cos they have none..

    Now sorry, this is not all pakeha just the majority!!

    • Hi aotea (you seem to be channelling that half-Scottish Maori academic, Margaret Mutu, along with her weird ideas): (Permit me a ramble – oh wait, it’s not your blog, JK 🙂 )

      It seems there’s always someone who says a solution is “Get Whitey(and everyone else who pays honest taxes)” when things go wrong – and it’s even funnier when it’s the same people who have previously got concessions from said “Whitey(and everyone else who pays honest taxes)” … who say they want to get along with Africans, Asians, Europeans Hispanics, Semites
      but …
      are the people who keep saying New Zealand is “bicultural” (i.e. “Pakeha” (in quotes since Caucasians, and me, find that offensive) and Maori – wait, are there any full-blooded ones?)
      – Maori means “normal/natural/ordinary”. Yes, I have some Te Reo background.
      – why do they want solidarity with the people they previously consciously excluded (Africans, Asians, Europeans, Hispanics, Semites)?

      If you keep calling NZ “bicultural”, don’t be surprised if everybody else thinks they are not welcome and do their darndest to use it as a stepping stone.

      What I even find more amazing is that those who are given every opportunity to succeed – CUP courses where marks are given for attendance! – preferential hiring despite past criminal records (I’m fully aware that everyone in prison is innocent 🙂 ) – apparent preference for jobs regardless of educational background (http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2010/04/a_racist_ad_by_candle.html) – lowered entry requirements for Med school (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10813483 : the golden takeaway gem comes from Ranginui Walker: “It only takes an IQ of 100 to succeed in medicine. It’s not rocket science.” hahaha 🙂 ) – can either mess up so so so badly, or think they don’t have to lift a finger to succeed or need to fairly compete against anyone else.

      How many Maoris marched with the 10,000 Asians against crime and snatch theft, or any foreign visitor who had their things stolen?

      How many kaumatua tell their tamariki that saying “Whiwhia he mahi tuuturu?” How many say that crime is shameful? Yes, there is a lot of mamae in my ngakau.

      I’ve been to the boonies in NZ, and had a chance to look at posters saying, as an example “Men who smoke are weak weak weak” … the problem with that the present-day culture based completely around physicality is that it emphasises returns for the short term … and not the long. “Jake the Muss”/”being staunch” is a “result” that sustainable civilisation cannot bear in large numbers.

      So you’ll perhaps excuse this statement, but I don’t think people who keep on emphasising how “bicultural” NZ is, and how “because of past oppression of my people, I can be criminal or apathetic towards those in the present who didn’t perpetrate that original crime” … can claim solidarity with people who try to build lives of legitimacy and purpose while those previous people are doing their utmost to secure an unfair advantage based on sentiment.
      To paraphrase Anonymous, (Immigrants are)”Not your private army”.

      I hope I don’t hear that tired nonsense “We must raise our standards and values” …
      remember: A world-class level of education – comes with a world class number of failures. Raising the standards is going to mean more of that. Not to mention, without opportunity – your best and brightest will be going overseas, while immigrants try to build a life on a lower pay scale – and the people who fail because of the raised standards will start saying that “we can upskill to the level of these immigrants easily (who had to meet university academic prerequisites, and study for years), jobs for kiwis (How realistically sustainable is that?)”.
      Every stable society … can only continue to exist if reciprocation is apparent.
      Remove that, and you are going to be paying more to a growing class of unproductive, criminal elements who ask to be paid off via “protection money”.
      Sounds like Mafia to me…

      The other funny thing is of course, the relations-between-sexes bit.
      Some NZers are not comfortable with the idea they may have to share their women and men with outsiders.
      Problem: when ethnics are “unofficially banned” via social ostracism (how often do you see photos of non-“Pakeha”/non-Maori in nightspots? or having fun with others?) and relational aggression from legitimately mixing with their NZ counterparts via marriage (seems hookups are okay) – they form ghettoes of their own.

      Problem: when ethnics can mix with their NZ counterparts, they get flak from obvious racists … some of whom may be their own parents, like in the UK: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2184351/David-Frances-Champion-Parents-jailed-battering-daughter-just-black-boyfriend.html

      P.S. These attitudes, have been predicted by New Scientist in 2007 … to leave 30% of all NZ/Australian women born since 1975 – without a partner, EVER.

      These problems will exist, and will persist, so long as some people in NZ think they can or should stop immigrants from putting down roots in NZ.

      What I’ve seen: it’s not a “Pakeha”/Maori problem – it’s an NZ problem, PERIOD. Don’t hit me with the jade patu or hardwood taiaha – it’s true, and I’m only the messenger. I’m pretty sure “Bic” Runga’s experience growing up (she’s Maori-Chinese, had such an interesting time of “racial harmony” in NZ that she left) … bears out my point.
      Oh yeah, in b4 Godwin’s Law, Hitler, Nazi, etc. etc.
      What solutions do you have, aotea?

      • An example of preferential hiring despite a criminal record (this guy is allegedly a paedophile)
        http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/7545601/Turangis-firebomb-fury
        …
        Darren Simon Kihi released to Turangi, where he’d been on work release for two years, and had guaranteed employment.

        anecdotally, I was told by domestic students … that prisoners lived better than them … mmm, heated floors, lovely meals, guaranteed job. Anyone see the problem here?

      • I do apologize, but there seemed to be little structure or coherence in your post so I’ll admit I’m a little confused by your comment. I hope you are able to offer some clarification.
        I take it from your response to Aotea, you are not to sympathetic to Maori.
        What I would like to ask you to clarify is why you believe it is acceptable to advocate on a forum which is opposed to racism whilst engaging in said behavior?
        Please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong and I’m paraphrasing, but I believe you inferred that; Maori are unsuccessful in academics and believe they do not have to “lift a finger to succeed or need to fairly compete against anyone else”.
        You believe Maori do not sympathize with the 10,000 Asians who marched against crime. As a Maori I was very concerned about fellow kiwis who were affected by these crimes. But why bother asking when you have already passed judgement on Maori?
        Whiwhia he magi tuuturu? What exactly are you implying? I come from a large extended family and everyone is employed in meaningful jobs, attending University and Polytechnic.
        I ask of you honestly, do not Maori strive to build a legitimate life with purpose for themselves and their family? If not, why? Because of the colour of our skin, the minute 0.0002% difference in DNA? Class distinctions? Give me a logical reason why these racist beliefs should apply to ALL Maori, yet you feel it is unacceptable for kiwis to impose the same behavior and mentality on immigrants?
        Also, regarding hook ups and marriages, wtf are you on about?!
        I have 26 first cousins, every single one of them is married to a NON-Maori immigrant from Europe, Asia, USA & the Pacific. Where do you get these ‘facts’ from?
        Your notions are quaint and idealistic, please move into the 21st century with the rest of us.
        To be succinct; you may camouflage your prejudice in ambiguous and rambling paragraphs, but a rose by any other name would still reek of covert racism.

        • @Liss: I think I understand what you’re saying.
          To put it in a line, you are saying:
          People who speak out against racism, are racist.
          But please, carry on with your twisted rationalisations.
          After all, consequences are the only thing that will teach some people.
          P.S. Tolerance isn’t acceptance.

          • Yes, in my extended family I also have people married to those of other ethnicities. Male AND female.
            Your notion that people should not stand up for equitable treatment in a country that prides itself on being classless and accepting of immigrants, is the quaint one.
            Please join us in the 21st Century, where the people who didn’t wrong you … don’t take the blame for what other people did!
            And realise that when a “rare privilege” becomes an “statutory obligation” … you can expect that without careful monitoring and adherence to standards – across the board – that all will suffer from a reduction in competence AND higher fees from those who are.
            If you care about the future of NZ … you’d certainly think it wise not to alienate the people who’ve given up a chunk of their life savings to invest in your country to the best of their ability and to get by without affirmative action.

        • This was in reply to “Lisylis” (is that you, Liss?), on the page http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/columnists/sean-plunket/7839270/Treaty-mars-efforts-to-make-Waitangi-special

          tbird22 hours ago
          …
          People need to learn what racism is. Racism is NOT having a personal opinion about someone else’s culture. Racism is NOT describing your attacker to police. Racism is not reading out facts.

          Racism is forcing races to be segregated, different water fountains, different movie theatres, back of the bus type thing. Racism is saying white people and Asians need 89% GPA to do Medicine at uni, but reserving seats for a special race. Racism is saying that white people and Asians need to pay full fees for their counselling for depression, while letting a special race have it for free. Racism is making everyone pay money to a particular race.

          An worst of all… in our parliament, in the place they make the laws we must all follow… In a country with 6th gen Kiwis, Chinese, Samoan, Indian, Tongan, English, Korean, Dutch, Niuean, South African, Filipino, and hundreds of other “ethnicities” – we have parliamentary seats reserved for a few over-paid, lazy, Maori elite.

          That, Lisylis, is racism.

    • Isn’t it a big racist to say that Europeans have “nothing unique to offer, no history, no language?” THat is as ignorant and racist statement as those that have been made about your culture. Europe has a rich and diverse history and culture, and is really a melting pot. Think the Romans, Etruscans, Greeks, Turkish civilisation, the Celts, and all the leaps and bounds we have made. THe English language shows our history through the amount of languages that make it up.It is downright ignorant to say that Europeans have no culture, and shows your racism. All cultures, Maori, Pacifika, European, African, Chines, Japanese, ALL are worthwile. ALL have unique things to offer. I absolutely love studying foreign languages and cultures as I I said, they all have unique histories and perspectives to offer.

38. Advice for ASIANS going to NZ: Avoid NZ at all cost…small country…haters of asians….no respect for you as an asian……They treat ASIANS as PIGS and treat you worse…
    GO to US of A or better UK..at least they implement anti-HATE crimes

39. After reading all the comments above I cant help but feel the people creating this board and the subsequent comments are racist against New Zealanders. I work in a company in NZ that has a large proportion of Indian and Chinese workers, not one of them would have experienced an ounce of racism or been abused/groped etc in the way that the above refers to. In fact just in my team 2 chinese guys got jobs before NZers and were very happy to have them in the team, one was a student who graduated from Auckland Uni and doesnt have anything bad to say about it.

    Auckland is approximately 23% Asian – after reading this board you’re saying every one ot these people has been abused in some way??? Give me a break I cannot believe that. Maybe you had a bad experience, Ive travelled the world and have had just as bad/worse experiences in Indonesia (knife pulled on me and assaulted), Thailand (gear stolen), Turkey (Gun pointed at me), UAE (verbally abused, theft from a hotel), Holland (assaulted) and India (gear stolen), none in France, Singapore, Hong Kong, Germany, Canada, Belgium, UK or the US – I wouldnt be small minded enough to think those entire countries, where something happened, are racist/or theiving scumbags just because of a couple bad apples… I would be justified though, and should be able to speak my mind about it as this board has demonstrated – maybe Ill set up my own hate board for these countries just as you all have.

    We have our problems – all countries do. But really its up to each and every individual to make themselves better or make the place a better place … Did any of you above try to change anything whilst in NZ – apply to do charity work, help out people in any way etc More than likely not. I would think you came for your own benefit, and more than likely other people noticed.

    To be honest we dont need people that moan and b*tch, its a good thing your gone!

    • Thank you John, we see from your IP address that you are located at the ANZ National Bank.

      We’d like to hear from anyone who works for a bank in New Zealand who’s endured racism at work – either from colleagues or customers, or from anyone who’s been discriminated against by a NZ bank because of their race.

    • Are those Indian and Chinese workers – former international students, or New Zealanders?
      Because here’s one New Zealander … who can’t find work. Oh, and he’s Asian:
      http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/6633785/Year-of-the-Dragon-white-or-wong

      Auckland is approximately 23% Asian – after reading this board you’re saying every one ot these people has been abused in some way???
      NZ is more than just Auckland.

      Did any of you above try to change anything whilst in NZ – apply to do charity work, help out people in any way etc More than likely not.
      Yeah, I did – unfortunately it’s kind of hard to help for the long term when the job that gives you a sense of purpose, that you’re pretty good at, with helping other people – only lasts 6 months in a year, and is not on the Skills Shortage List
      P.S. I gained a STEM qualification …. completely in NZ … and was told by recruitment agencies that “we don’t hire or place people on the graduate visa, and we only hire permanent residents”.
      Other people that I knew who were in the “help people” professions, who came from overseas … were told to “go home” despite pleas from their employers that they could not find a replacement, or that the ones they found – could not be relied on to help and care for the aged.

    • In fact just in my team 2 chinese guys got jobs before NZers and were very happy to have them in the team, one was a student who graduated from Auckland Uni and doesnt have anything bad to say about it.
      You can hire 10,000 immigrants if you want – but I doubt you are in charge of HR.
      How many of them will be around after the 90 day probationary period?
      P.S. How long have YOU been in your job. And do you think you will stay? 🙂

40. The fact is us New Zealanders, especially in Auckland dont want immigrants. They cant speak english properly and dont fit into the culture. Many real Kiwi’s dont say much but privately amoungst themselves immigrants are not liked nor wanted. I find white NZers and Maoris have the same opinion on this. Live with this fact.

    • That’s okay … you’re being bought over by … Europeans.
      Have fun being racist … to people who look just like you:
      http://www.avalonsguide.com/anab/2012/02/stop-selling-new-zealand-to-liechtenstein/
      Sold to Liechtensteinians 2144 Hectares. (More than 9 times what the Chinese have bought)
      As Nelson in the Simpsons says … “ha ha!”

    • I am NZ born but grew up in and worked in melanesia (pacific islands,png). heres another fact, europeans ,when they live in another country , dont even bother to learn the local language, and completley isolate themselves from the local culture. I know what its like to immigrate,it is a hard thing to do,but western europeans are the worst when it comes to assimilating into a foriegn culture.

41. Thanks for all the posts… It has enlightened me… I am being offered New Zealand as my next assignment but after reading all this stuff, I think I will go to Jakarta… I have been staying at Sofitel for more than a year now, I have a Suite… I was supposed to transfer to Wellington but will advise my bosses of Jakarta. I am an Asian engineer so NZ might not be good for me and my family…

    • Sometimes people are transferred just before a company decides to fire them, and especially in a place where they will encounter a lot of hardship – make sure you are up on your employment law and know who else is interested in your skill set.
      Not every promotion or assignment is actually a vote of confidence in your abilities.

    • “Good luck on that one – I had a knife pulled out on me there and was assaulted… Indonesias a great place!!!” – I was being sarcastic – for all you people that dont understand sarcasm… I wouldnt let my fathers pigs loose in that place They end up dead from the filth on the streets and the smell of raw sewerage.

42. I disagree with your comments that Europeans comprise the majority of rasists, I am European and I am discriminated on the basis of ethnicity by both New Zealand Europeans and New Zealand Maori.

    I agree this truly shocking.

    Before coming to New Zealand I believed that it’s a new home for all nations on Earth: things like that were said to me years ago when I was a tourist to Australia and New Zealand.

    However once you immigrate these words turn into only words. Sadly – quite too often!

    Not many kiwis are rasist or have prejudices against foreigners, but believe me – there is enough of them to make your life if not bitter, then quite sour and cause you a decent amount of grief and economic disadvantage – because they own apartments and businesses and take control positions.

    In my opinion there is an equal ammount of both NZ European and NZ Polynesian “rasism” in New Zealand.

    Of course if you can call it “honest rasism”!

    Because the truth is New Zealanders are STRIVING to get married and partnered to foreigners, however foreigners are not ready to accept some very unpleasant aspects of New Zealand local culture.

    Such as – “I am a kiwi, I am always right!”, “If we have an argument, I’ll shout over you no matter what, even if I am wrong, because I am a kiwi and you are not”, local drug and alcohol habits, local personal abuse habits (verbal and emotional abuse, intrusion of privacy, etc, etc.).

    I have lived in New Zealand for a long time and it is clear to me today that for some kiwis (usually poor-educated ones, that did not invest into their education and now are struggling economically), TO ATTAIN a greater self-assurance, THEY ALMOST REQUIRE a decent amount of “FOREIGNER FIGURES” to reside in the country, whom they can mob, accuse of stealing jobs, abuse, swear at, in other words PREVAIL over them emotionally, to be successful themselves.

    Because the truth is – New Zealand is getting depopulated at an increasing rate and is in economic recession.

    Kiwis need help from outside but are too proud to admit they are in economic and political trouble.

    This even applies to everyone who is a foreigner BUT HAS BEEN naturalised in New Zealand, because even after you receive your KIWI PASSPORT and swear your allegiance to their Queen (or, Hey, kiwis can I call QEII “my monarch” now????), kiwis themselves will be still asking you about your ethnicity and your place of birth and may take decisions about you, such as employment based on your answers and their likes-dislike of what you said.

    These questions aren’t always meant to express their honest interest in foreign cultures, but quite often – their desire to find someone from abroad to prevail over economically.

    And yes, I agree this is disgusting and I believe New Zealand government needs to seriously address the issues of racial and ethnic harmony in our communities.

    My best advise to you – if you feel you are being unfairly disadvantaged because of your ethnic origin in New Zealand – COMPLAIN to New Zealand Human Rights commission!

    If they don’t reply – don’t just leave it, call them again and again until they attend to your complaint, and if mediation with the Human Rights Commission is unsucessful – there is a Human Rights Tribunal to proceed further, and if that fails – there is UN Human Rights Council and courts, such as European Human Rights Tribunal.

    Resist ethnic discrimination as much as you can, because you’ve got nothing to loose but your “ethnic chains” that make you a second class citizen/resident of New Zealand.

    WE ALL NEED TO PUT A DECENT EFFORT TO MAKE OUR COUNTRY FREE OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION, so that it PRACTICALLY ABIDES BY ALL INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS IT HAS SIGNED.

43. I disagree with your comments that Europeans comprise the majority of rasists, I am European and I am discriminated on the basis of ethnicity by both New Zealand Europeans and New Zealand Maori.

    I agree this truly shocking.

    Before coming to New Zealand I believed that it’s a new home for all nations on Earth: things like that were said to me years ago when I was a tourist to Australia and New Zealand.

    However once you immigrate these words turn into only words. Sadly – quite too often!

    Not many kiwis are rasist or have prejudices against foreigners, but believe me – there is enough of them to make your life if not bitter, then quite sour and cause you a decent amount of grief and economic disadvantage – because they own apartments and businesses and take control positions.

    In my opinion there is an equal ammount of both NZ European and NZ Polynesian “rasism” in New Zealand.

    Of course if you can call it “honest rasism”!

    Because the truth is New Zealanders are STRIVING to get married and partnered to foreigners, however foreigners are not ready to accept some very unpleasant aspects of New Zealand local culture.

    Such as – “I am a kiwi, I am always right!”, “If we have an argument, I’ll shout over you no matter what, even if I am wrong, because I am a kiwi and you are not”, local drug and alcohol habits, local personal abuse habits (verbal and emotional abuse, intrusion of privacy, etc, etc.).

    I have lived in New Zealand for a long time and it is clear to me today that for some kiwis (usually poor-educated ones, that did not invest into their education and now are struggling economically), TO ATTAIN a greater self-assurance, THEY ALMOST REQUIRE a decent amount of “FOREIGNER FIGURES” to reside in the country, whom they can mob, accuse of stealing jobs, abuse, swear at, in other words PREVAIL over them emotionally, to be successful themselves.

    Because the truth is – New Zealand is getting depopulated at an increasing rate and is in economic recession.

    Kiwis need help from outside but are too proud to admit they are in economic and political trouble.

    This even applies to everyone who is a foreigner BUT HAS BEEN naturalised in New Zealand, because even after you receive your KIWI PASSPORT and swear your allegiance to their Queen (or, Hey, kiwis can I call QEII “my monarch” now????), kiwis themselves will be still asking you about your ethnicity and your place of birth and may take decisions about you, such as employment based on your answers and their likes-dislike of what you said.

    These questions aren’t always meant to express their honest interest in foreign cultures, but quite often – their desire to find someone from abroad to prevail over economically.

    And yes, I agree this is disgusting and I believe New Zealand government needs to seriously address the issues of racial and ethnic harmony in our communities.

    My best advise to you – if you feel you are being unfairly disadvantaged because of your ethnic origin in New Zealand – COMPLAIN to New Zealand Human Rights commission!

    If they don’t reply – don’t just leave it, call them again and again until they attend to your complaint, and if mediation with the Human Rghts Commission is unsucessful – there is a Human Rights Tribunal to proceed further. Resist ethnic discrimination as much as you can, because you’ve got nothing to loose but your “ethnic chains” that make you a second class citizen/resident of New Zealand.

    WE ALL NEED TO PUT A DECENT EFFORT TO MAKE OUR COUNTRY FREE OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION, so that it PRACTICALLY ABIDES BY ALL INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS IT HAS SIGNED.

44. Recent examples from NZ news:

    Fraud

    “An Auckland couple have been charged with one of the biggest internal frauds in Work and Income history after allegedly stealing $210,000 of taxpayer money by paying benefits to family members.

    The fraud was allegedly carried out over seven years before being discovered by the Social Development Ministry’s fraud team. A 42-year-old Winz case manager and his wife were arrested as a result.

    It is allegedly the second largest fraud in Winz history…”

    Racism

    “A self-described “little old Chinese lady” has waded into the racism debate, saying she has suffered decades of racial abuse.

    Victoria Beck, 70, said she has been abused in the street, told to go back to Asia, and even been hit by passers-by, despite calling New Zealand home for most of her life. And the situation was worsening, she said.

    “As a little old Chinese lady, I am the target of much more physical, verbal and emotional abuse today.”

    Her complaint came after Blues coach Pat Lam suffered racist attacks on internet message boards and talkback radio because of his team’s failings…”

    Poverty is NZ’s biggest growth industry

    “New Zealand’s biggest growth industry isn’t agriculture or manufacturing – it’s poverty, a Waikato University professor says.

    Social scientist, Professor Darrin Hodgetts, said New Zealand was “growing poverty”.

    “It’s our growth industry and it’s growing at three times the OECD average,” Prof Hodgetts said.

    According to the OECD at least one in five New Zealand children live in severe or significant hardship, while at least one in four children lived below the semi-official poverty line…”

    Overcrowding

    “The rental housing shortage in Christchurch is at breaking point, agencies say.

    Tenants hunting rental properties in the earthquake-hit city are fighting soaring demand, rising rent and a plummeting supply.

    Landlords are fielding a 42% increase in inquiries, tenants face a 15% rent rise and rental listings have dived 40% compared with last year, new Trade Me figures show.

    Some of the hardest-hit people sleep in garages and have moved into damaged red-zoned homes, while others face homelessness.

    Tenants Protection Association manager Helen Gatonyi…works with some of the worst-affected residents. She had seen unlawful overcrowding, people who had been forced to sleep in sheds, tents, garages and cars, and some who had no choice but to turn to the streets.

    “Many people are facing absolute uncertainty. Children are unsettled, parents are becoming unwell and the elderly are losing themselves with worry and fear. God forbid what is going to happen when winter hits,” she said.

    “It is time somebody steps up…”

    Enjoy the Kool Aid 😉

45. Hi there people, as a New Zealander I have found reading this blog disturbing. It seems to me that there is a lot of negitivity here. I think that the people who have something bad to say are being motivated to write comments and the people who have something good to say arent bothering. It is sometimes said that if you a bad experience you will tell ten people but if you have a good experience you might tell one.

    I think that New Zealand is a diverse country and we get along pretty well, we are not at war. It is always hard to live in a culture that is not your own, and there will always be people who you don’t get along with. But don’t bag NZ too much, yes we have our problems but there are much worse places to live. Out of all the places that I have visited NZ would still be my choice of places to live, and travelling has brought home to me how lucky I am to call New Zealand home.

    Tell me, can those of you who call other places home, can you really say that there is no racisim in your own country. Beware throwing bricks he who lives in a glass house.

    Remember the kind acts and good things that you have experienced in NZ. Bad news sells but the world might be a better place if we took more notice of the good in this world and gave thanks for our blessings.

    • Thank you for your comment.

      Tell me, can those of you who call other places home, can you really say that there is no racisim in your own country.

      That’s exactly the point we’re trying to make – New Zealand has similar problems to the very countries that migrants used to call home.
      Please take time to read our Welcome page and familiarize yourself with the aims of this blog, one of which is to debunk some of the *propaganda and myth that has been built up around the country. Whilst you may prefer the taste of Kool-Aid there are many who don’t 🙂

      * an example from the New Zealand Now government website. We note that crime has been recently deleted from the list of ‘don’t haves’ for New Zealand.
      Quality of life

      In many ways, it’s not what New Zealand has that’s important to quality of life here; it’s what we don’t have.
      •We don’t have abject poverty or hunger, largely because of a commitment to social welfare dating back to the 1930s.
      •Corruption is virtually unheard of. New Zealand was ranked the 2nd least corrupt country in the world in the 2008 Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International.
      •We don’t have the pollution, congestion, health issues and cramped city living that is often the case elsewhere.

      What we do have is equal opportunity where people are not judged on their gender, how they sound, what colour they are, how they vote, or where – if – they go to church.

      It all adds up to a fresh, healthy lifestyle in one of the most beautiful countries in the world.

      You may then wish to read our blogs tagged poverty, racism , housing and health, pollution and fraud to get the other side of the story.

      Lastly read our facts and stats pages.

46. @Marie, Thank you for being honest about NZ and its racism issues… I must say though that you are wrong when it comes to 2 countries i have knowledge of… this would be South Africa and England….

    I am indian and was born and raised in South Africa and i have never experienced racism in my 28 years…to the extent i have experienced it here in NZ in the past 5 months.

    South Africa is a country with a history of apartheid and would be excused if that is what is still happening today…but racists are few and far between and you must remember that NZ is small in population…… I come from a city called Durban and we have close to 4 million people there now… which is almost double the whole population of NZ….

    So if racism is in South Africa it would be an issue yes and it would be drowned out by the majority….

    As for the UK…. I have stayed there for 2 years, my brother has his citizenship and has lived there for 11 years and both of us have not experienced racism there until the terrorist attacks where a few idiots thought it was their time to shine…. since then… there has never been anything racist happen to us….

    So as far as i am concerned NZ tops the charts when it comes to racism…… just because you do not see it, does not mean it is there…

    As for violence due to racism, i suggest you do more research on the net!! you will find that those kinds of incidents are rampant in NZ and reasons for violence in South Africa and the UK are far from racist…but rather caused by other factors…..

    If Crime and Corruption were reduced in South Africa… honestly!! I would go back and live happily….

    I find the attitude of alot of kiwis very unfriendly, alot racist, and not welcoming… very close minded people with no sense of the bigger world outside of their small country… and the truth is…this country is small yet people here believe they are living in countries such as America or the UK where the population is massive..

    They need to wake up before they get left behind..the world is moving fast and they are still stuck in the dark ages with their beliefs and their attitude…

    If they are more open they will find that immigrants and people of colour bring something good to this country..

    As for Maori people…. well this is their country and they are native to this country….they have more of a right to be here than any white kiwi…..sadly though alot of people here dont even know their history or respect it.

47. @Marie..Thank you for being honest and admitting that NZ is a racist country and that people here dont really understand what racism is and so believe they are innocent in calling people names….
    I will say though that you are wrong regarding the 2 countries i DO know about…this being South Africa and England…

    I was born and have lived in South Africa for 28 years and in that time i have barely experienced any racism there!! We may come from a history of apartheid but we have come a very long way!! My parents lived through the worst periods where they couldnt take buses or go to the same toilets as a white south africans.

    I have never experienced such racism as what i have encountered in NZ over the past 5 months that i have been here… it is absolutely appalling and disgraceful that a country such as this is filled with such ignorance and disregard and hate for those that are different…

    As for England, i lived there for 2 years and my brother has gained citizenship there with his family, in the time i have been there i barely had anyone say anything to me…until the terrorist attacks when idiots thought they had a voice… and he also never experienced anything till then and since then… he has lived there for over 11 years…

    So i would say in my experience so far…NZ is one of the worst when it comes to racism and its disgusting that the government is doing nothing to protect the immigrants they so desperately need here to support its economy!!

    I am indian and so sadly i realize that most people who say they have never seen or experienced it here are always white…. well go figure!! why do you think that is?!! LOL

    Ive been told by many people here that they have never heard of such a thing…. WHY?!! Simple i would say…if i tell you ive experienced it and you are busy trying to act like it doesnt exist and prove me wrong… then you will never see it!!

    So Marie, before you make statements about another country….. get more facts.please!! If South Africa had no crime and less corruption, i would gladly go back there!!
    …NZ tops the charts when it comes to racism.

    • South africa is still very much racist….. Except that now it has been reversed and it is now the whites who are railed against. Jobs will go to underqualified black South Africans over very well qualified white south africans purely because of their race. My cousin, an extremely bright, practically straight A student, was turned down for a certain qualification because “the racial quota had been filled”. Not the exact quote, but something like that. Now I can’t remember exact figures, but it’s something like if you are black, to pass a paper you need to get a certain percentage, but if you are white, to pass that same paper, you have to score at least 10-30% higher! How is that not racist?
      The government has no problems kicking white people off their farms, murdering them. If a white man is mugged by a black man (as most of my family have been) there’s no point even bothering to report it, as the police are so corrupt, they will always go against the white man.
      Now, I’m not saying that the PEOPLE as a whole are racist. However, the government and instutions very much are and condone racism. Often it’s to pay back what was done to them under Apartheid (which was terrible)! However, unlike the wonderful Mandela, who wanted freedom and equality for ALL, the new government only wants black South Africans. It’s fast becoming like Zimbabwe.
      I have absolutely nothing against the black people, I love their generally positive outlook, their kind nature and wonderful culture. I was partially raised by a wonderful Zulu woman. However as usual, the minority have ruined the majority.
      So everyone saying that NZ is a Nazi-ish country….I really don’t think you can say that until you have properly studied the levels of outright racism in other countries. And I have been attacked based on my nationality, both by white and Moari New Zealanders. However, it is not as bad as some places. I have friends from China, Taiwan, India, Sri Lanka and the Pacific Islands, and I have never heard any of them ever complain about racism to such an extent.
      Maybe you have had bad experiences (such as I have), but you can’t condemn the entire country. Of course there is racism. Racism is everywhere and inescapable. Which doesn’t make it right of course.BUt it is certainly not so bad as other places. (for example, in France and ITaly, they wont even speak to you if they think you might be British or American, and will ignore you if you are standing in line, and go to the person standing behin you and serve them instead.)

      • oh yes Kelsey. very true indeed !!!…i have just experienced this in Rome. I thought the French was the worst(people in Lourdes were lovely but Parisians are just baddddd).LOL. they can’t drive and can’t park either…and this comment is coming from an Asian…hahahaaaa…

        Anyway I was queueing to buy an icecream by the Trevi fountain, there was a chinese couple standing next to me and they were there ahead of me and must have been waiting there for sometime(I knew they were chinese because they were mumbling chinese and i understood a bit).

        But the italian shopkeepers refused to even acknowledge them and kept looking the other way while lifting ice boxes and doing some other type of work(or pretended to) as if these 2 chinese were invisible. No eye contact, no effort to communicate whatsoever. So anyway after waiting for about 2 minutes i was beginning to lose my patience, I saw nothing happened, so i braced myself with my very limited Italian and asked politely for a scoop of Rum and Raisin icecream and they were shocked to see an Asian speaking Italian and i got served immediately !!!…hahaha…

        i wish my Italian were better so i could help the chinese couple but unfortunately my italian was limited(sigh).

        my point is…if you are different or look different i should say…try learning the language, try mix and mingle, try as hard as u can…there will be rejections (name calling, abuse, discrimination, ignorance etc…)..but if u persevere there will be other nice and kind human beings…no matter where u are…Dunedin, Auckland, Christchurch, Queenstown, Paris, Rome, London…all over the world…

        I got name called (Fucking Asian, Asian Invasion) on my 1st year in Dunedin and i was walking with a mixed bunch (White Kiwis, Vanuatuans, Fijians, my good mate was NZ born Indian) in Dunedin (Winston Peters was yelling on the radio…we are not welcoming u foreigners sending your children here to study blah2 back in 1995)…but then there were really nice and kind Dunners too…

        I was lucky enough to stay with a South African friend and her family during my flight transit in Christchurch which was supposed to be for 1 night but got dragged into 4 nights due a bad fog in Sydney but Qantas refused to fund my accommodation and this very kind SA family has offered me their shelter for free…how could i ever repay their kindness..but then working at where i work now i also saw a certain division between the so call “coloured” SA and the “white” ones…they hardly go for lunches together…the coloured will hang out and have lunch with the Kiwis and the white SA will stick together…they still communicate in Afrikaans of course for work purpose…but i dont see them becoming good close mates though…no judgement from me just an observation…:-)

        i have good SA mates here who i know are coming to NZ for a better life…free from fear of being raped if travelling after dark (the women ones)…and the ones with the family farm who fear of being shot and killed like their boora friends in Zimbabwe so i totally understand where they are coming from…as i also experienced a so called ethnic cleansing in Indonesia back in 1982 and 1998 where they were attacking the chinese in Indonesia (raping, looting and killing).

        The Indo government is still denying these events actually happened to avoid compensations to the victims..It’s only in the last few years that Chinese New Year was acknowledged in Indonesia and made into a public holiday even though the chinese has been there for generations…we were not allowed to keep our name, my Dad had to change his name to get into schools and universities…without qualifications u cannot get a job and earn a living…

        same as NZ i suppose…the Chinese miners were not allowed to apply for NZ citizenships until 1952 (
        see article http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/citizenship/page-1)
        …my point is if u look different, your life might get harder but if u wanna live u have to persevere…

        we as migrants have to assimilate hard…sometimes it pays off sometimes it doesn’t but u have to try…or if it gets too much then move elsewhere where u feel u belong to…when you’re being prejudiced/discriminated, dont always assume everyone is…u will encounter the good ones and when these good people give u opportunities…make the most of it…

        i still think i am blessed so far to have a life in NZ…Racism in NZ is bad..but not as bad as some other places(such as Indonesia hehe)…or maybe i have just been lucky enough to avoid the wrong place at the wrong time (but i have experienced it though) …God knows…

        racism exists everywhere…there are racist people and there are non-racist people…:-)

        i used to be told that Australians are racists (Pauline Hanson, attacks on Indians etc)…but the aussies that i came across are some of the nicest, loveliest, generous bunch that i know (met some during my Contiki trip in Europe and having been to Melbourne and Sydney)…
        i still get shit for being the only one with the Kiwi accent(naturalised) in the trip LOL…but i just gave it back (call them wanker-Shane Warne when they call me sheep-shagger haha and we all had a laugh)…

        when Aussie economy has bounced back…a bit slow at the moment due to slowness in mining…and there are more good IT jobs that pays well in Melbourne…i won’t mind coming back to Melbourne 🙂 …

        if u have skills and experience and the right attitude, and the demand is there maybe it’s your luck, then the world is your oyster…if they dont welcome you here in NZ, go where u feel welcome…

        so brace yourself peeps…when life gives u lemons make lemonades

48. I’ve found New Zealand to be racist, but not as much as other countries, here it is found in the humor and slang. “bloody maori” “coconuts” etc. Yet when i asked some people about this they said it was their humor and it wasn’t racist because it was humor, which i thought was rubbish, and when i told them so i got the “you wouldn’t understand you’re not from here” response from them. Which got me looking around to find this thread, no doubt i found New Zealand racist, I’m an English white, female. So i fit in quite well and am very lucky, i would hate to be the maori, islanders or asians here. It’s not as racist as South Africa, England, America however, most of those countries admit they are racist and racism lives there. They also understand that racism isn’t pure hate, it’s making judgment based on race. Which the Kiwis i’ve met seem to be unable to grasp the concept that they don’t have to hate a race and attack them to be racist. So i do believe that New Zealand is quite racist, it’s there and people need to see that. But it’s not as violent as other countries i don’t believe.

49. Anyone notice that Reece is quiet? Wonder Why?!! So glad im not the only one having these bad experiences and that everyone is making their voices heard!! Well done!! :o)

50. These immigrants may or may not have the skills we lack, and may or may not necessarily be interested in working in any of those fields. Instead, they want to come to New Zealand for the social benefits such as health, air and a higher standard of living that they will never get in Asia.

    Obviously they are desperate to work in their respective fields. And Asians as a group, are the least burden, proportionally, of all ethnic groups when it comes to using health services and social welfare services. And their crime rate is about 1/4 that of the non-Asian crime rate.

    Percentage wise Asians commit far fewer crimes than NZ Europeans.

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