KEY POINTS:
New Year is usually a time we reflect on the changes we want for ourselves and to make resolutions to follow through on those changes.
For others, it means they have aged another year, and that makes them nervous.
But it was a realisation of another kind at
the end of last year that made some people feel really uneasy.
Statistics New Zealand released the latest census results and the Asian ethnic group, up 48.9 per cent from the last count, is growing faster than any other and was predicted to overtake Maori numbers in 20 years. At 354,552, Asians make up 9.2 per cent of the population.
The figures for Auckland are even more staggering. One in four people are Asian and for the first time since the census began, Asians have outnumbered Pacific people in the Auckland region.
How many times have we talked about the changing face of New Zealand and speculated on the true numbers and ethnic makeup of the population? But faced with the stark reality of what the new face of New Zealand really looks like, some people are finding it less than palatable.
Panic was in the tone of a Herald letter writer last week. "They [the changes] are happening almost surreptitiously. Minorities usually have higher birth rates than 'native' New Zealanders, so their numbers are likely to increase rapidly even without more immigration. There are already two Asians for every three Maori."
Other letters supporting that followed, and one called for the implementation of controls over birth numbers of ethnic minorities so that Pakeha and Maori remain the predominant identities.
Another described immigrants as "indigestible lumps" within New Zealand's Western society, because their cultures, mores and religions were so different.
New Zealand's history has a track record of its people's fear of the unknown and the unfamiliar.
When the first Chinese came in 1860 at the invitation of the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce to help overcome a labour shortage in the gold fields, they became victims of protests and violence by European miners.
Two parliamentary Acts were passed in 1881 and 1896 imposing a poll tax on new Chinese immigrants to ensure they remained a minority.
In 1907, a further provision was made in the Act requiring the Chinese to pass an English language test before they were allowed to come to New Zealand.
The Government's action ensured the Chinese community was sidelined and did little to improve relations between them and the host community.
The story of how one Lionel Terry shot an elderly Chinese man, Jo Kum Yung, in Wellington's Haining St in 1905, is still widely shared among Chinese people here.
But these attitudes are in New Zealand's past, and I stand here full of hope that the future for New Zealand will be very different.
Last month, while attending the Census launch in Wellington and fresh after North & South magazine ran a cover story headlined "Asian Angst: is it time to send some back?", I wondered what the media reaction would be to the new figures.
I had expected some editor or broadcaster to come up with an "Asian invasion" type response - but to the best of my knowledge there were none.
Perhaps the media realise that the way to communal harmony is not through sensational news but through stories that can help in the removal of doubts and fears.
The Herald is running a series of stories on immigrants' homeland barbecues, which I am enjoying immensely. Not only does it make great summer reading, but such stories help to introduce one set of people to another.
Growing up in Singapore, where Chinese people formed the majority, I was oblivious to the problems ethnic minorities faced. But since becoming part of a minority community in New Zealand, I have been drawn into becoming a participant in New Zealand's struggle to integrate the many different races.
Through my work as a journalist I have met and talked with immigrants who call New Zealand home. From fleeing oppressive regimes in Africa to those running away from countries where their religions and liberties were persecuted, they have many different reasons for coming here.
Many moved here because they wanted their children to make a good life, rather than to breed uncontrollably. Census data showed Asians had similar birth rates to those of European New Zealanders (1.8 births per woman), and this is fewer than Maori (2.6) or Pacific Island women (2.9).
Also a first at last year's Census, 400,000 people identified themselves as New Zealanders. This was criticised by academics saying it had made the statistics meaningless.
Perhaps the solution is to make all 4 million Kiwis call themselves New Zealanders. Chinese-New Zealander, Indian-New Zealander, Korean-New Zealander, hyphenated identities which would still link each individual to their roots and ensure that they all had a sense of belonging and a stake in this country's future.
The Census figures confirmed New Zealand is a multicultural country, and that yellow, brown and black faces will be encountered on a daily basis.
Perhaps we could add to New Year's resolutions a commitment to try to understand other cultures besides our own.
Maybe then we could come to appreciate that other people's customs are not indigestible lumps, but what make living in New Zealand so much more enriching and interesting today.
Happy New Year.
