Bid for racial harmony over a cup of coffee

The organiser of the weekend's anti-racism rally in Christchurch will meet the leader of an extreme-right, anti-immigration group tomorrow for a coffee and chat.

Lincoln Tan, one of the three organisers of Christchurch's "Say no to racism, yes to harmony" march, will meet National Front director Kyle Chapman in an effort to fight racism.

Mr Chapman headed a counter-march at Saturday's rally, where he spoke out against the "masses" of immigrants "taking over" the country.

Mr Tan said the anti-racism march had been a great success, but that was not the end of the fight.

Meeting Mr Chapman and listening to his concerns was important because racism had to be addressed at all levels, he said.

"If you don't start at an individual level you'll never get anywhere. I admire him [Chapman] for continually daring to stand for his conviction and beliefs, but I also believe a lot of what he says stems from ignorance.

"I want to tell him I'm Asian and I want to fit into New Zealand. I am from the same race as him - the human race. I didn't take any jobs from him, in fact some of the projects I have been involved with created jobs for locals. I want to understand him better.

"If we can get over the ignorance and get to understand each other, life will be more pleasant."

Mr Chapman was adamant the meeting would not change his views, which he said were founded on sense and pride of "Kiwi culture", not ignorance.

"It might help him [Tan], but my views won't change until mass immigration stops. If he feels better to see that I'm not an evil Nazi, I'm more than happy to talk to him."

- NZPA