China Daily Global Edition (USA)
Shipwreck memorial honors Chinese and Maori
AUCKLAND, New Zealand — At the SS Ventnor Memorial in Far North on Saturday, a dedication ceremony was held to commemorate the sinking of the ship, illustrating the unique bond between Chinese and Maori people.
The SS Ventnor was a British ship chartered in 1902 by charity organization Cheong Sing Tong headed by Dunedin businessman Choie Sew Hoy. The ship was carrying the remains of 499 Chinese gold miners back to their homeland so that they could be buried by their families according to Chinese customs.
The ship sank near Hokianga Heads in the far north on Oct 27, 1902, leading to the deaths of 13 ship crew members, as well as the loss of the remains of nearly 500 bodies.
During the ceremony on Saturday, names of the 499 Chinese gold miners were read out for the first time in more than 100 years since the ship sank.
In 2007, descendants of the early Chinese settlers discovered that remains from SS Ventnor had drifted ashore after it sank and the local Hokianga Maori tribes had gathered and cared for those remains.
Since then, New Zealand’s Chinese community and the local Maori tribes established formal relations. The building of the memorial was brought up soon after.
The shipwreck was discovered in 2014 and it is now a national heritage site in New Zealand.
After years of dedicated hard work by the New Zealand Chinese community and the New Zealand Chinese Association with government funding support, the SS Ventnor Memorial was established at the Hokianga Harbour in December.
Richard Leung, New Zealand Chinese Association president, gave a summary of the historical background on the SS Ventnor Memorial during the ceremony. Leung says he is proud to witness the memorial being built and having both the Chinese and Maori communities together for the ceremony.
“The memorial may be about the past, but we built it for the future. This is for all New Zealanders,” Leung says. “The care, the respect and the guardianship shown are the values that we share. No matter who you are, Chinese or Maori, Pakeha or Pacific, we share these values.”
Minister for Maori Crown Relations Kelvin Davis spoke about the spiritual path when a Maori person passes away.
“Your ancestors were joined here with our ancestors’ spiritual route. They lie here with us and they are at home,” Davis says.
Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon delivered his speech in Maori language at the ceremony. He talked about how Chinese people remember their ancestors as a tradition of Qingming, or Tomb Sweeping Day. Meng says he is grateful for the joint efforts in the building of the SS Ventnor Memorial.
The dedication ceremony was also attended by representatives from the New Zealand Chinese Community — many of them descendants of the early Chinese settlers, local Maori tribes and New Zealand government ministers.