The experience of the Chinese diaspora over the last several hundred years teaches us that if Chinese are to avoid discrimination and exclusion, their participation in politics is essential.

Stirred by the recent wave of anti-Asian sentiment in New Zealand, one person has shouldered the Herculean task of forming a new political party, while another has chosen the less rocky road of standing as a candidate for an existing party. . . .

During the recent wave of anti-Asian sentiment in New Zealand, Chinese people's old habit of suffering in silence-which they had always considered a virtue-came to be seen as hopelessly outdated, and calls for participation in politics rang through the Chinese community.

"Don't take the polite attitude of a guest who accepts whatever the host says whether you like it or not," says Manying Ip, encouraging everyone to speak out against things they feel are unfair. "We weren't born here, but choice is even more important. If we like this place, then we must make sure that we act as if we are at home here."

What must Chinese do to secure their legitimate interests?

Malaysian-born Robert Hum chose the most extreme course of action: to organize his own political party. He joined with 280 other members of minorities to form the Ethnic Minority Party, which intends to compete in this year's general elections.

Small parties tread a large stage

Hum estimates that based on New Zealand's two-million-strong electorate and past election turnouts of 60%, 1.2 million votes will be cast nationwide. New Zealand's non-indigenous ethnic minorities, including Polynesians, Chinese, Indians and others, number half a million, but "we only need 60,000 votes to clear the 5% barrier and get MPs into Parliament." In Robert Hum's view the new "mixed member" proportional representation system, whereby each voter will have one vote for a party list and one for an individual candidate, gives scope for the existence of small parties. Therefore he and his comrades are very hopeful: "It doesn't matter who you give your candidate vote to, so long as you give your party vote to us."

Hum believes that organizing political parties is the only way for ethnic minorities to protect their interests. He observes that in June of this year a Polynesian student suffered a heart attack, but when he was taken to hospital he was not given emergency treatment but merely placed on the waiting list. As a result he died. "If he had been white, would this have happened?"

In another incident, a year ago a Chinese bank employee who embezzled public funds was sentenced to six months' imprisonment, whereas recently a white bank worker involved in a similar case did not go to prison. Eighteen months ago, because 60% of the students at the University of Auckland's Faculty of Medicine and Health Science were of Asian descent, the faculty changed its entrance requirements and demanded that as well as having good academic performance, students should show sporting prowess, be good communicators, and have leadership ability. "These requirements are completely tailored to white students. What do they have to do with being a good doctor? So we stood up to protest at this racial discrimination, to force them to change their approach."

Making targets of themselves?

Robert Hum received an English-lan-guage education from childhood, and migrated to New Zealand 10 years ago. With his background of university education in the United Kingdom, and as managing director of his own management consultancy business in New Zealand, he did not hesitate to turn his dissatisfaction about minorities' political status into practical action. Hum is disappointed that the members of the Ethnic Minority Party only include one or two immigrants from Taiwan. "People from Taiwan seem only to care about earning money and their children's education," he says. Currently many of the party's members are from mainland China, while others include Malaysian Chinese, Hong Kongers and Singaporeans. "They have all had bitter experiences of discrimination or lack of political freedom in their own countries, so they are more interested in politics." Hum quips that if the New Zealand First Party wins the coming general election, then a lot of Taiwanese will join his party.

The reason for founding a political party on ethnic lines is to fight for the rights of the ethnic community, but might it not be counterproductive by making minorities a target which can be more easily attacked? Robert Hum is not worried by this concern. He says: "We are pursuing our interests legally within a democratic system."

But Manying Ip, an influential member of the Chinese community, believes that although the high-profile approach of organizing a party to fight for one's own right to be heard appears very positive in the short term, a party based mainly on ethnicity has a narrow platform, and she fears that it will not last in the long term.

"I'm in favor of going with the side that's winning. That's the side that can get things done." Bruce Yang, whose background is in medicine, is afraid that setting up one's own party at this juncture is likely to have little more effect than a dog barking at the moon, and such a group is likely to be labelled and attacked as "a party of newcomers."

The side thats winning

Pansy Wong was born in Shanghai, grew up in Hong Kong, and moved to New Zealand 22 years ago. Today she is standing for election on the National Party's non-con-stituency list, on a platform of being a "voice for Asian people." She hopes to get into Parliament with the support of Asian community groups.

Pansy Wong has made her career in the commercial world as a chartered accountant. She holds directorships in a bank, the New Zealand Tourism Board, and a health care enterprise, and has rich experience of community involvement. Last year she decided to stand for election, because she felt she had sufficient experience, and saw a need for Asians to have their own voice in Parliament in order to be able to protest promptly against future instances of unfair treatment and not let things get out of hand. At present she is ranked 26th on the National Party's list of 76 non-constituency candidates. "That's not a bad position, but it doesn't assure me of being elected, so I still have to work hard to win votes," she says.

Pansy Wong believes the wave of opposition in New Zealand society to Asian immigrants has actually had a positive effect in encouraging Chinese to get involved in politics. Firstly, New Zealanders have begun to wake up and ask themselves how such things could happen in a country which puts a high value on human rights. To change the situation, they then actively support Asians' involvement in politics. Secondly, people in the Chinese community, who formerly saw politics as something far removed and irrelevant to their lives, now suddenly feel the need to stick together. When she recently toured Chinese communities, whether giving speeches or being interviewed on TV or radio, she always received an enthusiastic response from Chinese members of the electorate.

A wave of sentiment to tap into

Chinese people really have begun to feel a sense of crisis. Shih Chieng-kuei, chairman of the Hwa Hsia Society of New Zealand, acknowledges that "in the past Chinese were not too bothered about elections, but now that they've been singled out they want to show their solidarity." "Now there's a wave of sentiment one can really tap into," says Rod Peng, secretary of the Hakka Society of New Zealand.

The Hwa Hsia Society has decided to encourage everyone to enrol on the electoral register, and on 25 August plans to bring together all New Zealand's Chinese civic organizations to stage a large information event entitled "The 1996 Election Seminar for Concerned Chinese New Zealanders." Representatives of seven political parties will be invited to attend to explain their parties' policies on education, immigration, the economy, infrastructure development and other matters close to Chinese residents' hearts.

"We Chinese are a minority, and we can't afford to offend anyone, so we can only display Chinese solidarity and our power at the ballot box. We can't stress support for any particular party. Privately, individuals can vote for whichever party they prefer, but as an organization we maintain neutrality." Rod Peng, who is responsible for organizing the seminar, believes this long-term approach of not offending any political party can make the parties take notice of the strength of the Chinese. "In future we'll see if politicians still think we're easy to push around."

However, this rather begs the question. In the past the Chinese have always been accused of having a complete lack of solidarity, and the Chinese in New Zealand come from as far apart as mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. Is it possible for them to show solidarity in the way they vote? On this score, Pansy Wong is actually very confident. She feels that Chinese also have many things in common, such as the importance they attach to economic development and their children's education. If they can communicate linguistically, then they can come together on the big issues.

Looking for the basis of solidarity

In the field of education, Chinese in New Zealand really have won a battle by sticking together, and the experience provides an excellent example for Chinese participation in politics: starting from the grassroots and getting involved in community policy decisions.

It all started with the Epsom Normal Primary School's "English rule."

According to statistics compiled in February of this year by Auckland's Epsom Normal Primary School, it had 168 pupils of Chinese descent, who at 28% formed the school's second largest ethnic group, behind its 290 pupils of European descent. Because there were so many Asian pupils with poor English skills, the school announced that it had no funds to provide extra English tuition for these children, and could no longer accept new pupils who failed an English test.

Bruce Yang believed: "If the school has problems, we should help it, not stand on the sidelines throwing brickbats and telling it to change." This prompted him and another Chinese parent to make the effort to get themselves onto the school board, which had previously not included any Chinese, and apply to the Ministry of Education for a subsidy. Thanks to this the board voted to abandon the English test requirement.

To supplement the school's inadequate funds, Chinese parents put on a charity sale, to which Bruce Yang donated several dozen heat resistant table mats which he made himself out of cypress wood. The sale raised over NZ$30,000, which enable the parents not only to subsidize English classes to the tune of NZ$10,000, but also to lay on Chinese classes. This year when Bruce Yang canvassed Chinese parents for contributions, he phoned every household, and with their vigorous support collected over NZ$6000.

If it can be done in education, will it work in politics? That still remains to be seen. But however it may be, the dynamism of the new Chinese immigrants makes us look forward to a new chapter in their history.

Photo

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Robert Hum, founder of the Ethnic Minority Party, is a Malaysian-born Chinese.

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To raise money for English classes at the Epsom Primary School, Dr. Bruce Yang contributed the products of his carpentry skills to the fundraising sale.