Righting the wrongs of Little Britain

Generations after the poll tax, the hurt is still apparent among some Chinese in New Zealand. But this week's apology by Helen Clark has given cause for optimism, as ALISON HORWOOD reports.

In 1925, 20-year-old bride Loo Sai Ting cradled her newborn daughter in her arms and bid her husband, Wong Ko Hing, farewell.

Tired of living under the shadow of feuding warlords in Bakshek village, Canton, Wong had decided to take the long passage by sea to New Zealand.

Despite speaking no English and having little knowledge of Western life, the 25-year-old was determined to carve out a better life for himself and his extended family in China.

But some New Zealanders believed the Chinese threatened the racial purity of the "Little Britain of the South Seas" and labelled them "Yellow Peril".

The Chinese Immigrants Act of 1881, exclusive to one race, was designed to restrict the number of Chinese arriving in New Zealand. It demanded all Chinese men, women and children entering New Zealand pay a "poll tax" of £10. By 1896, the tax had risen to £100 - a sum which in those days would have taken around 10 years to save.

Wong borrowed the poll tax money from relatives in New Zealand, but there was no more to pay for Loo and their daughter. So, like thousands of Chinese families, they were torn apart.

Because it was deemed unsound to spend £100 to bring out a wife, the Chinese community in New Zealand was largely one of bachelors, its growth stunted and incapable of establishing strong cultural roots.

Thirteen long years would pass before Loo was able to join her husband in Wellington.

For the young bride, they were years marked by loneliness and hardship.

Despite the regular money sent back by Woo, she was often forced to beg for food and medicine for her child. As an illiterate woman, she was unable to write directly to her husband, or read his letters in return.

This week, at a Government function marking the start of the Chinese New Year, Prime Minister Helen Clark formally apologised to Chinese New Zealanders for the poll tax and other discrimination borne by their ancestors.

She said the apology marked the beginning of a formal process of reconciliation with the Chinese community.

It was an acknowledgment that the 12,000-strong New Zealand Chinese Association, set up in 1937, had been working towards for more than 10 years.

Its national president, Professor Kuan Goh, said it sought no monetary compensation. Rather, Chinese people wanted an acknowledgement of past wrongs, and in the future a greater recognition from all New Zealanders of Chinese culture, heritage and language.

Helen Clark said the Government would enter into discussions with descendants of Chinese who paid the poll tax on an appropriate form of reconciliation. Suggestions had been made about a government contribution to restoring Chinese culture, which had been eroded as a result of the discrimination.

"Today we recognise the considerable hardship it imposed and the cost of it and the impact of other discriminatory immigration practices split families apart," she said.

"We also express our sorrow and regret that such practices were once considered appropriate. While the governments which passed these laws acted in a manner which was lawful at the time, their actions are seen by us today as unacceptable."

The poll tax, similar to those imposed by some Australian states at the time, greatly restricted Chinese entry. Arrivals in the port of Wellington between 1888 and 1930 numbered around 2100 people.

Before the 1900s, the Chinese were lured by the goldfields. Later it was market gardening, running laundries and fruit shops. For many, their aspiration was to supply menial labour in markets not serviced by white settlers. Many would return to China.

From 1908, Chinese were the only ethnic group identified by thumbprints on the Certificate of Registration. They were also the only group, between 1908 and 1951, deprived of the right to naturalisation.

The poll tax remained in place until 1944. The first Labour Government in 1935 had set about abolishing much of the discriminatory legislation and the outbreak of the Second World War opened New Zealand eyes to the fact that China had been bravely fighting the Japanese since 1937. Yellow Peril became brave ally.

But throughout the 1920s, Wong's life in Wellington was marred by loneliness.

He worked long hours as a fruiterer at Wong She & Co in Cuba St, Wellington, living in meagre and crowded conditions above the shop with several other Chinese men.

All his wages went back to China to support his wife, child and the aunt and uncle who had brought him up. He also had to pay back his relatives the £100 poll tax. It took him five years.

And it took five years to save enough money to return to China for his first and only visit. He stayed long enough to see the birth of his son, then returned to Wellington to work.

"They were lonely and difficult times for both my parents," says their eldest surviving son, 62-year-old retired Wellington school principal Peter Kohing. "My mother was always looking forward to money coming back. When it was short, or she needed medicine for a child, my mother had to beg and borrow from friends and neighbours."

By 1930, Wong had saved enough money to set up his own business, Wong Wai & Co, in Cuba St, which he established with a cousin. The men worked hard to support their families back in China, and would eventually be reunited with them in New Zealand.

After the arrival of Loo and her two young children in 1938, the couple went on to produce a further three sons and a daughter.

Kohing says his father never spoke of the hardship of his early years in New Zealand. Nor did he speak about the difficulties he and fellow migrants may have faced.

But he did emphasise the need for his children to get an education. Woo was instrumental in helping Chinese church leaders to settle in New Zealand, not only to preach, but to set up Chinese schools to encourage immigrant children to continue speaking their own languages.

Kohing and his siblings would finish mainstream school at 3 pm, then go to Chinese school from 4 pm to 6 pm.

He says that despite the poll tax, his father and others still wanted to come to New Zealand. Conditions were very hard in China. They still wanted to seek a better life for themselves and their families.

"We do not suffer much discrimination now, but our ancestors have worked hard to integrate into New Zealand society, and have made significant contributions. We have a lot of second, third and fourth-generation doctors, lawyers and accountants, as well as Chinese through the trades, and seldom do we create problems."

The past, he says, is not something Chinese are ashamed of, but it is a history many are not happy talking about.

Kohing hopes the apology may be the start of better things to come. The story of Chinese settlers in New Zealand and what they put up with is little-known, but it should be told.

Helen Clark's apology was welcomed, he said, but it must be followed by action, "otherwise it doesn't mean a damn thing".

"We want to focus on the future and not the past and a proper process must be gone through. If the apology is the first step, I applaud her actions."

Helen Clark said in her address this week that the Government's apology was the formal beginning to a process of reconciliation.

"The Minister of Ethnic Affairs and I have been authorised to pursue with representatives of the families of the early settlers a form of reconciliation which would be appropriate to, and of benefit to, the Chinese community. To that end we wish to meet with key representatives of the descendants to discuss the next step in this process of reconciliation."

Each year, as Minister for Arts and Culture, she organises an essay competition for secondary school students on an aspect of New Zealand history. In recognition of the Government's apology, this year the essay topic will be on the history of the Chinese in New Zealand, she said.

Kohing, who is affiliated to the Wellington Chinese Sports and Cultural Centre and the Tung Jung Association, has queried whether there was sufficient consultation among New Zealand Chinese before the apology. He said he would also be saddened if the gesture became election-year fodder to gain Chinese votes.

But Professor Goh reaffirmed that the apology was the result of more than a decade of meetings and consultation and there were no plans to seek financial compensation..

"We have no intent of seeking any form of group or individual claims. That is not our intention at all," he said.

What Chinese New Zealanders wanted was ongoing discussion and consultation with the Government with a view to a greater awareness of Chinese culture, heritage and language.

"We want to look at ways Chinese culture and language can be promoted in the Chinese community and the wider community, so there is greater understanding which will prevent anything further being done in the future," Professor Goh said.

The professor, who lectures in soil science at Lincoln University, said the association planned to hold a series of meetings with its members, and descendants of poll tax immigrants, to decide on action.

Esther Fung, president of the Wellington Chinese Association, said the poll tax and other practices stunted the growth of Chinese culture and language.

"We feel very strongly that the language and culture must be recognised as being lost for a period," she says. But the notion of financial compensation was not appropriate.

"There's a large number of the Chinese community who don't want to think in terms of money, but restitution."

Constitutional lawyer Mai Chen, whom the New Zealand Chinese Association approached for advice in 1995 with a view to an apology, says: "What was done was wrong, I don't think anyone will disagree on that."

She said the apology was important in letting people know that discrimination was not acceptable. "It is important to say, 'You are valued, you are equal, and we want you to meet your full potential'.

"We ... are a wonderfully egalitarian people ... now, but it is important to understand history so as not to repeat it."