A queer retelling of Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac, Netflix’s The Half of It highlights the messy reality of love at a time when we might need it most. An ex-boyfriend used to tell me that the Ancient Greeks had eight different ways of saying “love”. Eight different expressions to pinpoint one’s affections, longing, and … Read more
NZ Korean healthcare workers Aram Kim and Rebekah Jaung on efforts to understand the suicide problem in the Asian population. “Even one suicide in any ethnic or population group is one too many.” — Understanding deaths by suicide in the Asian population of Aotearoa New Zealand | Te whakamārama i ngā mate whakamomori i te … Read more
Burger King’s ad for its Vietnamese-inspired burger shows customers trying to eat with a pair of giant novelty chopsticks, to which Asian-New Zealanders ask ‘why’? It’s a crime against food Food crimes come in many forms: putting pineapple on pizza, pouring milk before cereal, and cutting bagels into slices like a loaf of bread. But … Read more
The casual ethnic calculations of National leader Simon Bridges and the rebel MP Jami-Lee Ross are just the latest example of the marginalisation of Kiwi Asian voices in our politics, writes Sudhvir Singh One of the many spectacular revelations from the National Party saga this week is the shameful and tokenistic way Jami-Lee Ross and … Read more
Crazy Rich Asians has been lauded for its groundbreaking representation of Asian-Americans – but how is Asian representation looking in our own country? “Why would you actively try and get into a space where no spaces exist for you?” says Alice Canton, an Auckland-based actress and theatre artist. “If I wasn’t creating my own opportunities, … Read more
Rebecca Inoue-Palmer writes about raising her daughter in a Japanese-Pākehā family, and why she and her husband are dedicated to maintaining their child’s link to her Asian heritage. Two mornings a week, my daughter carries two bags to her Wellington primary school. One is a lightweight backpack, carrying her lunchbox, drink bottle and the usual … Read more
Co-author of the children’s book Promised Land, Chaz Harris is ‘resisting with love’ by creating fairytales for all children. He shares a personal essay about why he writes the world he wishes we lived in. If you’re anything like me, the past year or so has felt like living in a terrible alternate timeline. It … Read more
Asian New Zealanders should not have to put up with ineffectual representation decided by Pākehā party bosses, writes Porirua GP and film-maker Sapna Samant. With just over a month to election day, we’re overwhelmed with voices from the left and the right, punditry and predictions. A considerable majority of it is by Pākehā, for Pākehā. … Read more
The horrific events of last weekend at the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, brought back memories for Hye Ji ‘Erica’ Lee, a Korean New Zealander who studied there six years ago. In 2011 I was a student at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, as part of an exchange programme with the University of … Read more
In order to constructively address anti-Asian sentiment, development of a proud Pākehā identity seems vital, writes K Emma Ng in this extract from her new BWB Text Old Asian, New Asian. Whiteness was for a long time the informal cornerstone of our nation building in New Zealand. Though the scientific racism of the 19th century has long … Read more
Is the mainstream video game industry kidding itself and, by extension, us? Eugenia Woo unpacks the excuses often presented as reasons to avoid diversity. This essay was originally posted online on August 25, 2016. The issue of diversity in video games is polarising. BioWare’s Manveer Heir said it best – “there is a vocal crowd in … Read more
A conversation on the byelection result, politics and Asian communities, and whether Michael Wood’s big win points to a Labour resurgence, with two longtime Mt Roskill residents who happen also to be Tze Ming Mok’s parents Tze Ming Mok was born and raised in Mt Roskill by immigrant parents from Malaysia and Singapore. Her parents, … Read more
After years of watching white faces fill his favourite television shows, Aaron Yap finally got to see his own culture represented on the small screen. Sometimes I feel like a bad Asian. The fact that I require English subtitles to watch anything in my native Chinese tongue bothers me if I think about it too … Read more