Our Asian blind-spot must be fixed
Friday, March 15, started off much like any other at the Asia New Zealand Foundation. I talked with colleagues about upcoming events: an incoming delegation from Vietnam visiting for a dialogue, the possibility of new initiatives with Timor Leste.
In our boardroom, a group of experts on Japan were receiving media training to help them prepare for the increased attention we expect they will encounter during the Rugby World Cup. Then, in the middle of the afternoon, news started to come through of the devastating events in Christchurch.
The first sentiment that many New Zealanders had, and shared, was, ‘‘This is not us’’.
In the days since, that view has been unpicked. We’ve heard New Zealanders have different experiences in this country, and these are affected by how we look or where we were born. We’ve learnt a lot about how we see ourselves, and how that view might have been wrong.
And from the initial media coverage, we can also learn something about how New Zealand sees its place in the world. Our media dutifully reported on the condolences from United States President Donald Trump, British Prime Minister Theresa May, former US president Barack Obama, Pope Francis, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Canada’s Justin Trudeau – and of course the royal family.
But where were the voices from Asia, where more than half of the world’s Muslim population lives? The only Asian leader seen fit to merit a mention in most news coverage was Pakistan’s Imran Khan – probably because his cricket legacy makes him known to many New Zealanders.
But he wasn’t the only Asian leader who said something. Joko Widodo, president of Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim population, tweeted his condolences and condemned the violence. Footbridges in south Jakarta were lit up in the colours of the New Zealand flag every night for a week.
Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan shared his condolences in a video message on Instagram.
‘‘Jakarta stands in solidarity with Christchurch, New Zealand, and all of its residents who are known for their peace and openness to anyone from various backgrounds.’’ Indonesia lost several citizens in the attack. As did India. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s message to Ardern in the hours after the attack ‘‘underscored India’s solidarity with the friendly people of New Zealand at this difficult time’’. I could go on – the leaders of Bangladesh, China, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam and more sent messages.
But the point is that the absence of media coverage, particularly when it comes to the views of the world’s most populous Muslim countries, is just another example of how anglocentric New Zealand continues to be. This indicates a major blind-spot for us as a country. It’s just one of the blindspots we’ve become aware of since March 15.
I admit we have our own at the Asia New Zealand Foundation: we’re not always exposed to xenophobic views that may be outside our field of vision.
We don’t know everything there is to know about Asia but our staff come from different countries and represent different ethnicities. Nobody in our office views New Zealand’s diversity as an affront to their own way of life.
In that context, it’s easy to disregard the odd racist email that comes in, to view it as the rant of the ignorant.
Occasionally one of us finds ourselves outside of our comfortable networks and gets a jolt when we’re exposed to a viewpoint of suspicion and hostility towards Asian faces, to immigrants or perceived immigrants. Sometimes, we’re so taken aback we have no idea know how to respond.
Generally speaking, New Zealanders don’t like confrontation, perhaps with the exception of on social media or in the comments sections. But we have to get better at questioning and confronting prejudiced views.
This is no small issue for us as a country. The 2013 Census showed 39 per cent of Aucklanders were born overseas, and that’s just one crude measure of our diversity.
As an outward-looking organisation that works to increase New Zealanders’ understanding of Asia, the Asia New Zealand Foundation is not an agency tasked with dealing with domestic ‘‘ethnic affairs’’, diversity or immigration issues.
But nor are these things completely divorced from our work. When we send people to Asia on professional development, they often come home saying they’re more confident engaging with ‘‘different’’ communities in their own neighbourhood.
Like other organisations, we will be reflecting on our mission and our priorities in response to the terrorist attack, and we’ll be talking to others about how we can best contribute.