Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon to visit Whanganui

Meng Foon will be welcomed to Whanganui next month. Photo / NZ Herald

Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon will visit Whanganui in March for Race Unity Day.

Foon was appointed Race Relations Commissioner in August last year after 18 years as the mayor of Gisborne. He is fluent in English, Cantonese and te reo Māori.

"Everybody is asking me 'How did you manage it?' " Multicultural Council of Rangitīkei/Whanganui president Pushpa Prasad said.

Foon will be here for the morning on March 14, the day before the first anniversary of the Christchurch mosque shootings.

Prasad is planning a week of ethnic displays in the Whanganui UCOL atrium leading up to this visit.

Foon is to be welcomed with a pōwhiri by the Whanganui River and near the Whanganui River Markets.

After the market he will move to the UCOL atrium and be welcomed with more speeches and dances.

"There are quite a mix of students around in UCOL. It's central and open to the public. It doesn't cost us anything and they're just very happy to give us all the things we need," Prasad said.

Holding the March 9-13 events from 11.30 to 2pm will allow working people to visit at lunchtime.

March 14 will be the second Race Unity Day celebrated in Whanganui. The first was last year in Majestic Square.

Prasad is organising this one with minimal funding and the help of volunteers.

The multicultural council is also holding women's wellbeing forums, in a pilot programme funded by the J R McKenzie Trust. In them migrant women take eight hours in several sessions to fill out a questionnaire about their experiences and the best way to support them.

Information from the questionnaires will help Government decide how to support new migrants, Prasad said.

She would especially like some Islamic women for the next intake, which will be in March.

"I want more Islamic ladies, because they sometimes feel left out of all this."