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:
7:04pm - One in Five: a hell of a good time
Bridget Chamberlain has been taking part in a training programme run by Hell Pizza and IHC. The placement gives young people with intellectual disabilities the chance to gain practical skills and to experience a workplace environment. Katy Gosset ventures into hell to see Bridget at work.
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She's been in hell but Bridget Chamberlain has enjoyed every moment. The Christchurch woman has just undertaken a six-week training programme run by Hell Pizza and IHC. The scheme, Active in Hell, offers young people with intellectual disabilities a chance to develop job skills and to enjoy the camaraderie of a workplace.
For Bridget, it has proved a great opportunity. "I'm absolutely loving it. It's amazing. It's a fantastic place to be." She says part of the attraction has been learning to work quickly in a fast-paced environment. "At first it was challenging for me but now I just find it really fun."
Extracting the dough can be a sticky, tricky job
Bridget was already a keen baker with an award-winning chocolate devil's cake and a host of other goodies to her name. And she realised that the kitchen skills involved in this programme could prove useful in her baking career. But she's also enjoyed the friendliness of the staff and she says her mother has noticed a difference in her as well. "Between going to work and coming home from work I'm always on a real buzz. I'm just really super excited and super happy." And she says it’s also improved her confidence and self esteem in other areas.
The Manager of Hell Pizza in Riccarton, Chris Bullion, says he and the branch owner jumped at the chance to be involved in the scheme. He took responsibility for Bridget’s training and found her to be a quick learner. "She's picked up the techniques rather quickly and the last sessions [ ] she just been faster and faster as well so we think we've done something right."
Chris Bullion says she's has been a pleasure to work with and he would be very open to taking another Active in Hell trainee. And, whilst each placement is for a six week fixed period, he is looking into the possibility of further employment for Bridget, should shifts become available.
"Just Sitting Around"
Rawdon Wallace has been able to take it easy for the last few sessions of Bridget's training period. And he says that was both his and Bridget's goal from the start. As her support worker at Idea Services (a branch of IHC), he was initially involved in helping her adapt to the new workplace, clarifying the tasks for her and helping her to complete them. But as the placement went on, he found he was able to take a step back. "It’s got to the point now where Bridget's perfectly competent in all the roles she has and all the tasks she's given."
And Bridget feels the same way. "It’s his job to just sit around and not do anything now because I feel like I've become independent enough to be working on my own."
Rawdon Wallace runs a Learning and Life Skills service for young people with intellectual disabilities and part of that involves providing supported employment opportunities. He says Bridget's interest in baking and her inter-personal skills made her a good fit for the Hell Pizza placement. "She's very social, very chatty, which is really good in a banter-orientated workplace such as this one." And he says a performance review, halfway through the six week training period, showed everyone was happy with the process.
Left: Riccarton Branch Manager, Chris Bullion, has been responsible for training Bridget. Middle: Rawdon Wallace, Bridget's support worker from Idea Services. Right: Hell Pizza's General Manager, Ben Cumming
Mr Wallace said another positive to the placement is that it is a paid work opportunity. He says, while unpaid work experience has its place, IDEA Services require that their users get no less than minimum wage for any supported work placement. "We think it’s very, very important both for our employers to see our young people as valued employees and also for the young people to value themselves."
Rolling Out the Dough Nationwide
Active in Hell began as a pilot scheme when Hell Pizza catered for a party run by Active, a group that is part of Idea Services in Wellington. The General Manager of Hell Pizza, Ben Cumming, says the company got talking about other ways to help the organisation and the first trainees were taken on. The idea gained momentum after the company shot a series of on-line films.
He says Hell Pizza initially planned to take 64 trainees, one for each store, but he now believes it might be an ongoing project. He believes its a good way for branches to support their local communities and he's hopeful that other companies might follow their lead. "Initially people are probably quite sceptical and think, 'Well, how much time is it going to take up and how's it going to hinder the performance of my business'." "But that hasn't really been as big an issue as what we thought it would be."
Ben Cumming says that, with the support of Idea Services and their staff, Hell employees have been able to keep the quality of the training high and roll the programme out to more centres. "So I think, the more that people hear about that, the more those barriers will be broken down."
Topics: disability, business, food, life and society
Regions: Canterbury
Tags: intellectual disability, IHC, Hell Pizza, Idea Services, supported employment
Duration: 24'24"
7:30pm - Voices: turning stone into Jade
The old Chinese proverb turning stone into jade refers to the meticulous carving of a piece of stone to turn it into a ritualistic jade amulet. The metaphor itself applies to how generations of Chinese have endeavoured to transform early challenging circumstances into a better life here in New Zealand. Lynda Chanwai-Earle meets the New Zealand Chinese Association, the largest Chinese organisation in the country as they celebrate their 80 year anniversary by launching their book Turning Stone into Jade. Topics: life and society Region: Wellington, Auckland Region, Northland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, East Coast, Hawkes Bay, Manawatu, Southland, Taranaki Tags: Chinese New Zealanders, Spiritual practice, cultural practice, education, language, identity, life and society, migrants
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Turning Stone into Jade is the story of how a community founded by Chinese sojourners and migrants adapted to New Zealand, a new homeland far from their place of birth. The New Zealand Chinese Association is celebrating their special 80 year anniversary; Lynda attends this auspicious event and the launch of their publication Turning Stone into Jade to meet the community and learn more.
I think its important to document [our] history, because it's important to inform and educate people who might not know about these things. it's topical, it's part of New Zealand's heritage - Salvy Fung, grandson of author David Fung.
The first floor area at the National Library in Wellington is buzzing with people, it's standing room only. There's an auspicious book launch taking place and the title of the publication sounds like modern day alchemy; Turning Stone Into Jade.
Officially opened by the Honorable Peter Dunne MP and Mayor of Gisborne Meng Foon - the celebration is covering 80 years of New Zealand's history, specifically Chinese settler history.
Salvy Fung is at the book launch with his younger sister Sophie.Salvy is a year 11 High school student and his sister Sophie is in year 8. Their Ye-ye (paternal grandfather) is David Fung, the author of Turning Stone Into Jade. It's taken 8 years for David Fung and a team of contributors to publish this seminal history of the New Zealand Chinese Association, but 80 years of history is an even longer time for the wide spread Chinese community to make contributions to New Zealand society.
The title itself refers to the old Chinese proverb turning stone into jade refers to the meticulous carving of a piece of stone to turn it into a ritualistic jade amulet. The metaphor itself applies to how generations of Chinese have endeavoured to transform early challenging circumstances into a better life here in New Zealand. It's the story of how a community founded by Chinese sojourners and migrants adapted to New Zealand, a new homeland far from their place of birth.
Author David Fung tells me that he did not want to sanitise this history either, even if some passages may have been seen as controversial by his own community. David believes that history should be accurately reflected.
In memory of people long gone, David has acknowledged even the darkest parts of their migrant experience, events and policies such as the Poll Tax, levied against Chinese only entering the country. From 1881 until it was finally abolished by the New Zealand government in 1944, the Poll Tax journey traversed discriminatory statutes to reconciliation.
Formerly a painful and buried history this came to light in large part because of the efforts of researches and writers within the community, David and his wife Esther among them, which resulted in the Labour Government issuing a formal apology in 2002.
Subsequently a Poll Tax Heritage Trust was created from financial compensation, earning longevity in the most useful way by funding ongoing projects from within the Chinese community (such as the publication Turning Stone into Jade) that seek to preserve and promote the cultural heritage of Chinese migrants as well as educate the public.
David tells me there are many more historic events recorded in Turning Stone Into Jade that have never been revealed before, events that are finally seeing the light of day.
Chris Szekely, the Head Librarian tells me it will be a book utilised by schools and libraries across the country for research. "It's a very accessible tool available to a range of ages."
The publication itself started when we went through our history records. We came across a treasure trove.
Gerald Wong is the immediate past president of the New Zealand Chinese Association. he tells me that the association is the largest and longest running Chinese association in New Zealand. Fourteen branches (with one sub-branch) stretch from Northland to Invercargill. "In its early incarnations the NZCA offered kinship and a united voice for an often marginalized and fragile minority."
The publication tracks the Southern Chinese migrants and settlers in New Zealand but the association itself began after the Japanese invasion of China, as early as 1935. The association officially launched in 1937 and has grown in numbers through to its current day membership in 2015.
Over 1800 members across the nation put time and effort into public events that take place around the country, such as the annual Easter Sports Tournaments that may see several thousand Chinese and their families gathering to play indoor and outdoor sports like basketball, volleyball and touch rugby.
The Chinese Association takes up issues relevant to the community on local and international levels. The Poll tax is one historic issue covered in the publication alongside more current events such as museum exchanges with sister cities across China and on-going connections with diasporic Chinese communities across the globe.
I want my children and grandchildren to understand, unless its written down it might be lost.
Harvey Woo was one of the instigators, he supported David through the writing as well as and identifying people in hundreds of photographs included in the publication. For Harvey the book is also a treasure for future generations.
Virginia Chong is Chair of the book committee. She tells me that the title resonates perfectly with the way the Chinese community and the Association have evolved over the years, "The change from a small, hard working community to a large and precious one."
He's fluent in Te Reo Māori, the Mayor of Gisborne and most recently has been voted into the role of current President of the New Zealand Chinese Association. For Meng Foon the book is important because its living history that will continue to inform our next generation.
This gathering is a witness of the children and grandchildren of our forefathers that set up the association - the preservation of our culture is so important as we go forward.
NOTE: The Auckland branch of the New Zealand Chinese Association (NZCA) will hold an official presentation of its history Turning Stone into Jade: The History of the New Zealand Chinese Association to the Auckland Chinese community on Sunday 12 July at 11am in the Tasman Room, Alexandra Park, Greenlane.
Topics: spiritual practices, education, life and society, language, identity, history, books
Regions:
Tags: Chinese New Zealanders, migrants, cultural practices
Duration: 10'10"
7:45pm - The Week in Parliament
A good week for Port Chalmers Bowling Club; PM faces questions on Housing; There's also questions for John Key about NZ's UN Security Council presidency; Harmful Digital Communications Bill passes final reading, with some Green MPs crossing the floor to vote against it; Petition on Climate Change presented by Sir Alan Mark; Judicial Conduct Commissioners appointed; Motion on Nauru passed; Snap debate on CERA declined; Tributes to retiring Clerk of the House Mary Harris.