The 7-8pm hour on Sunday evenings on RNZ National features a news bulletin followed by One In Five – “a programme exploring the issues and experience of disability”. This is followed at 7:35pm with Voices – “a weekly programme that highlights Asians, Africans, indigenous Americans and more, from Iraq to India to Indonesia and East Asia, spanning Morocco to Madagascar, Belize to Brazil. These are our local-born and immigrant ethnic minority communities, New Zealanders with stories to share”. At 7:45pm there is The Week in Parliament. In this recording:
19:05 – One in Five
Trans-Tasman Tussle
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A Trans-Tasman clash comes to Christchurch as the New Zealand and Australian deaf rugby teams fight it out. Katy Gosset is on the sidelines for the hotly contested Cochlear Cup match.
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It was a brisk, wintry afternoon at Christchurch Park and the crowd was roaring. There were stirring cries of "C'mon boys" and indignant shouts of "Knock on!"
But, while the crowd may have been vocal, the team members were taking their cues from hand gestures. These were the top deaf rugby teams from New Zealand and Australia, battling it out for the Cochlear Cup. New Zealand's Deaf Blacks were defending their title but ultimately it was Australia's Silent Knights who triumphed, winning the bout 15-13.
The President of the New Zealand Deaf Rugby Football Union, Tony Kuklinsky, said the Trans-Tasman competition, which usually happens every two years, was a “pretty big event” for the sport. New Zealand Deaf Rugby players are drawn from three regions, Northern, Central and Southern following their Easter tournament each year. The sport follows the same rules as conventional rugby but referees use hand signals, including a three gesture sequence within the scrum to make it clear when the scrummaging is to begin.
The President of Deaf Rugby in Australia, Michael Conroy, said he had expected New Zealand to come out on top, as the Australian team recently lost to Samoa. "We played a test match against Samoa in 32 degree heat and then we [...] flew down to Christchurch and it was minus one [degree]." "So the contrast between there and here is huge." But, in the end, he said the Trans-Tasman match was a close contest with 50/50 contact.
The Australian triumph was a fitting farewell for the Silent Knights Captain, Paul Young, who announced his retirement at the end of the match. “It’s my last test today and it’s unbelievable.” He said the game had been hard as the Australian team had had to come together from clubs all over the country to play.
The Deaf Blacks Captain, Phillip King, said it was a thrilling game and he congratulated the Australians for their tenacity and ultimate win. “Australia didn’t give up. They were very, very determined so [I’m} very impressed by their spirit and all their hard work.” But he said he was proud of the Deaf Blacks and he was sure they would be eager to win the Cochlear Cup back in the future.
A Wonderful World
Watching the match anxiously from the side lines was Phillip King’s mother, Meg King. She said the sport had taken Phillip all over the world and she was proud of what he had achieved. Mrs King said she had long been involved in the deaf community as two of her three sons could not hear. “So this has been our world and it’s a wonderful world to be in.”
Phillip said there had been a strong turnout for the game, with plenty of family and friends and this made it a more emotional game. He said the after-match dinner would be a good opportunity to catch up with the team’s “Australian mates” and the bonding was also an important part of the contest. “Once the boots are off, we are all friends.”
The Silent Knights winners of the Cochlear Cup
The Australian Captain, Paul Young, said he was also looking forward to the social function. ”We’re all deaf and so we all have that common experience, no matter where we’re from.” “It’s been like that for the last few games and they’re good blokes”
Getting the Message Out
Several hundred people turned out to the match at Christchurch Park on Sunday 14 June. But the President of the Deaf Rugby Football Union, Tony Kuklinski, said he would still like to see better awareness of the sport. "I'd love for all New Zealand to know that there is a deaf rugby team and that hearing-impaired and deaf people can come along and play in our competition and then, in the future, become a part of New Zealand Deaf Rugby."
Mr Kuklinski said the union received some sponsorship and funding from the New Zealand Rugby Football Union but also fundraised through local community trusts.
Meanwhile Michael Conroy said the challenge for the sport in Australia was finding enough players and, for that reason, he only recently retired himself after the Samoan test. "I've been playing a long time - I turned 52 this month." Mr Conroy said Deaf Rugby received no assistance from the Australian Football Union and all the players paid their own way to New Zealand. He said small sponsorships helped but believed that, if there was more resourcing available, the team would attract more players.
Among the supporters at the match was Liz Kay who works as a New Zealand Sign Language Interpreter. Her husband, Barry, and the couple’s two children are deaf. Mrs Kay said the Cochlear Cup was a big event for the local deaf community and, while she had enjoyed socialising, it was also a unique opportunity for her children to see deaf rugby in action. She said Barry had previously played for the national team and it was likely their son would want to follow suit. “He very much loves doing everything that Dad loves to do so I’m sure that he’ll be quite keen on playing rugby.” She said her son had cochlear implants but could still manage to play rugby using headgear.
He husband, Barry, agreed the Trans-Tasman test would be a good inspiration for future players. “We’re all watching, getting into it, young and old, to encourage rugby.”
The Deaf Blacks next international fixture is in November when they will play two tests in Japan.
Topics: disability, sport
Regions: Canterbury
Tags: Cochlear Cup, deaf rugby, Deaf Blacks, Silent Knights, international test, Australia
Duration: 24'25"
19:30 – Voices
May the best speaker win
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Top students from secondary and tertiary institutions gather to compete for first place in a speech competition - in Chinese. Lynda Chanwai-Earle meets students from around the North Island to see who has the gift of the bilingual gab at the annual 2015 Wellington Regional 'Chinese Bridge' Speech Competitions.
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It takes a village to raise a child - African Proverb
Top students from secondary and tertiary institutions are gathering to compete for first place in a speech competition - in Chinese. Lynda Chanwai-Earle meets students from around the North Island to see who has the gift of the bilingual gab at the annual 2015 Wellington Regional 'Chinese Bridge' Speech Competitions.
Victoria University's Hugh MacKenzie building is buzzing with students of all ages and the word on campus is Mandarin. They're practicing their speeches for the annual 2015 Wellington Regional ‘Chinese Bridge’ Speech Competition, organised by the Confucius Institute at Victoria University.
"There was a king who commanded his troops to build The Great Wall of China ..." says 12 year old Jackie Yan from Te Aro Primary School. His speech about the legend behind the building of the Great Wall tells the tragic tale of a woman whose husband is a labourer, who loses his life there. She waits for her husband to return but he never does and her grief is so great she cries for 10 nights and the great wall began to crumble.
Jackie loves to learn Mandarin because he's a Chinese New Zealander. His 12 year old friend Ollie tells me a story about saving the Panda Bear. Yue He is their Mandarin Language Assistant and Chinese teacher. She's very proud of all five Te Aro students who have turned up.
Probably the most surprising element at this speech competition is hearing fluent Mandarin spoken by Year 11 Scotts College student Manraj S. Rahi from Wellington. Manraj is Sikh (and very tall!). In Mandarin he very eloquently describes why he thinks Chinese is an important language to learn.
Manraj thought that learning Chinese would be a good challenge and would help later in life, particularly because he sees China as a growing power in the world of business. He's been studying Chinese for four years now at his secondary school and Manraj sees much in the way of business potential there for the kind of work he would like to follow in the information and technology sector.
Proud dad Gurjit S. Rahi tells me that his multilingual son (Manraj can speak Punjabi, Mandarin and English) is also very entrepreneurial. Manraj has already set up an online "Learning Mandarin" website for newbies like me.
Mika from Wellington East Girls College is Chinese with a Japanese mother and European father. She and her younger brother were adopted from the same orphanage in China. For Mika learning Chinese is about her desire to go back to her birth place. Her whole speech is about her gratitude and love towards her adoptive parents and for people not to judge "families by their looks".
David from Rotorua Boys High School is dressed in a spectacular red and gold Chinese silk jacket. His speech is about his visit to China which made a huge impression. There's a large contingent from Rotorua Boys High School too and they are accompanied by their proud teacher Wendy Chen.
Victoria University student Edward Smith is one of four tertiary competitors. He came second for his speech about making friends with a Chinese stuntman in Beijing. Edward befriended the stuntman after he scored a role as an extra in a feature film - they stayed in contact via the Chinese AP version of wee-chat. Edward's speech in Mandarin is a cautionary tale about not losing friends because of a tenuous connection.
At just 15 Caleb Dunn is the youngest university student I've met. Most of his education takes place at Wellington College, but Caleb is advanced enough in Chinese to be studying this language at Victoria University.
His speech is about his visit to Nepal and Tibet with his mother Pamela Dunn, the former Deputy Head of Mission at the New Zealand Embassy in Beijing. Caleb essentially grew up in China while his parents worked there.
The content of Caleb's speech in Chinese is poignant; he reflects on the cultural differences between Nepal, Tibet and Beijing. He muses on these experiences; about flying over Mount Everest, seeing it rise magnificently above the clouds, about visiting the temples and villages and needing portable oxygen tanks to cope with altitude sickness. It's also about how he was shaken by the news of the recent earthquake in Nepal. Caleb is shocked because his visit, only a couple of years ago, is so fresh on his mind.
His speech ends with his heartbreak at the devastation after the earthquake. He tells the audience his thoughts are with the Nepalese people and the villagers he met.
His father Ross Dunn is proud of Caleb's achievement. Ross explains that it takes a village to raise a child, in this case Caleb has had a lot of tuition in mandarin and a head-start with all his years growing up in China, however the content of Caleb's speech is his own creation and told from the heart.
Perhaps not surprisingly Caleb won the first prize trip to China, back to his second home. Will Dad accompany him this time? "Yes," says Ross, "wouldn't miss it for the world."
Topics: life and society
Regions: Wellington Region, Northland, Bay of Plenty, Hawkes Bay, Whanganui, Taranaki, East Coast
Tags: Chinese speech, education, languages, cultural practice, Wellington, New Zealand, community, ethnicity
Duration: 12'19"
19:45 – The Week in Parliament
Questions on Housing dominate the week; Wednesday sees a short debate on Southern DHB fiasco; Estimates reviews continue; Committees conduct budget reviews of Ombudsman, Office of the Clerk & Police; Foreign Affairs Committee hears Petitions on Syrian Christian refugees & TPP trade deal; Busy week for Government Minister Michael Woodhouse; Su'a William Sio pays tribute to Jerry Collins.