Lincoln Tan: Despite the invitations to leave, I'm here for the long haul

Last week, I was asked to get out of New Zealand - not once, but three times. The first was from a reader who could not agree with what I had written in this column - that employers denying immigrants work were destroying this country bit by bit.

"If you cannot appreciate life in a First World country, then take your opinions and go back home to your Third World Singapore," said the reader, who rang me and gave his name as Dennis.

The second was in an email from Barrie, a Pakeha New Zealander who lives in Darwin. "Why hang on in a place occupied by a lot of racists who do not want you?" he wrote. "My advice is to get your New Zealand citizenship, then move to Australia, where you will never face no-Aussie experience discrimination."

A third came from Julie, a Singaporean I met two days before she and her Kiwi husband left New Zealand after spending three years of unsuccessfully trying to find work that matched her experience as a human resource manager.

Back in Singapore for two weeks now, Julie emailed to say she had already started on her new job and told me of the many opportunities for Singaporeans returning home.

Joining the hunt for global talent, the Singapore Government has set up a special unit tasked with attracting immigrants and to bring skilled Singaporeans home. "I am looking out for opportunities for you," she wrote.

My reply to her, and others who have asked me to go home, was: No, I am not leaving the shores of Aotearoa. I still believe in New Zealand, warts and all.

In my decision to stay on, I am going with my gut - but also with my eyes wide open - and a strong belief that things will get better for immigrants here. Having children who are New Zealanders, who will grow up and grow old here, also plays a part - and I am committed to the role I can play in crafting this country's future.

New Zealand is in transition - moving from a largely bi-cultural to a multicultural society - and what we are witnessing are teething problems, which will pass. I believe that the problems we face as first-generation immigrants are temporary and should improve with time.

Many of the negative attitudes shown to newcomers by some locals stem from ignorance rather than being racist. Recent efforts to increase Kiwis' knowledge of Asia and Asians will hopefully eradicate some of the ignorant and xenophobic views held by some employers and locals.

At a summit in Wellington two weeks ago, government, business, media, arts and education leaders agreed that Asia is important for New Zealand's future, and Prime Minister Helen Clark called for gaps "in our engagement with Asia" to be filled.

Education leaders said they will be pushing for a stronger focus on Asian issues to be included in the national school curriculum - and that could happen as soon as next year.

Asian studies will probably be a source of revelations to the likes of Dennis, such as that "Third World Singapore" is in fact far more advanced than New Zealand economically, technologically and in many other areas.

This, on top of the push for teaching a second language, will encourage more interaction between people of different nationalities and ethnicities - which can only be good for New Zealand.

Hopefully, with education, employers will one day see value in employing immigrants who could provide them with the vital link into Asian and international markets. Who knows, maybe in the near future, it could be an asset having "international experience" rather than just "Kiwi" experience?

Beyond the classroom, I am also encouraged by efforts to increase ethnic diversity in newsrooms, which would eventually lead to a more diverse readership of mainstream newspapers.

In a survey "Understanding the Asian Market" released by Nielsen Media Research last week, 51 per cent of Chinese and 43 per cent of other Asians said they did not read any daily newspaper.

The Journalists Training Organisation, where I am a board member, has said that it will be facilitating efforts to help to increase diversity and to arrange for exchanges with media staff in Asia.

Ethnic population projections for Auckland City suggest that by 2011, 50 per cent of its 500,000-strong population will be made up of Asian, Maori and Pacific peoples - Asians making up 30 per cent of this group.

The number making up ethnic minorities will make it hard for any media wanting to call itself mainstream to ignore.

The day will come when immigrants and locals alike can discuss and debate issues, and meet on the same page of this newspaper, and I am looking forward to it.

Singapore's Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan, who was here for a World Health Organisation meeting last week, reminded Singaporeans living here on how lucky we were.

"New Zealand is extremely safe," he said. "No Sars, and I am certain that New Zealand will also be safe from the bird flu because of its isolation. Infected birds flying here will drop dead before [they arrive]."

He also said New Zealand was a more unlikely target for terrorists, unlike Singapore.

I asked him about Singapore's tolerance level to voices of dissent, and in a roundabout way, Mr Khaw said that level was low. He said what was acceptable in New Zealand may not be in Singapore.

In my line of work as a journalist, where we listen, talk, report and critique day in and day out, I am exposed to the flaws of a country more than most immigrants and even some locals, and I would find it hard to fit into an environment where I might be barred from writing about them.

I feel that it is only in being able to freely talk and discuss issues that a person is made to feel trusted and valued in a country - something that New Zealand has allowed everyone, including newcomers, to do.

A Chinese community leader, who has been in New Zealand for almost 20 years, once told me that as Asians, we are not even considered second-class Kiwis. We have no class, and are at the bottom of the barrel.

If being right at the bottom is where we are today, then that's all the more reason why I should stay - because the only way we can move is up.