Migrant Tale – Immigrant Kid

Continuing in our very  popular series of Migrant Tales – first hand accounts of the migrant experience of New Zealand taken from places around the net.

For more Migrants Tales please click on the link in the header above, there are scores from people of all nationalities from all walks of life.

Today’s tale was first published on the forum at Expatexposed.com., the only emigration forum on the net which does not censor or moderate comments about New Zealand.

The author is a Chinese woman who emigrated from Hong Kong to New Zealand with her family when she was a child. She has a postgraduate diploma and is a journalist by profession.

I never had a choice about moving to New Zealand. I left my home country when I was 5 with my family and settled in Christchurch. Growing up here was not easy for me. I’m a bookish individual with a strong sense of identity and self and I was the kid who refused to support the All Blacks/Crusaders at school, the kid who thought ‘Brumbies’ referred to wild Australian horses, and the kid who wondered at the rationale behind forcing us to eat lunch outdoors in the rain. The teachers in my primary school loathed me and partook in the bullying by singling me out for criticism and trying to intimidate me. I was eleven.

University was probably the best experience I’ve had in New Zealand, but I found looking for holiday work impossible. I sent out hundreds of CVs. Three of them got a reply.

With the Christchurch earthquakes, I find that New Zealanders are actually very good hearted people, but I don’t like the system that’s in place here. I don’t like how everything is so localized, as if the local area is the only thing that matters, and because you live here, you should let go of wherever it was you came from and assimilate completely, as if the only good culture is New Zealand culture. It’s just not possible. People remind me I’m an outsider when they look at my skin colour and a) assume I’m illiterate or b) tell me to go home. A teacher of mine once asked my mother if she knew what algebra was. My mother is capable of teaching Year 13 calculus and that teacher had trouble with long division.

I was lucky enough to be hired as a journalist right after completing my postgrad diploma in journalism, but now I realize I really do not care about writing things that interest the New Zealand public. I find the news they want to read to be shallow, ignorant, myopic -if it’s not local, they don’t want to know. Kim Jong Il’s death decreased in importance (i.e. not top story of the day) because it did not have a Christchurch connection. Steve Jobs did because someone living in Christchurch once worked for him.

Usually, I’m bored out of my mind and if not for the internet and my ability to chat with people from halfway across the world, I’d go mad. I have more in common with people I’ve never met in real life than with people who are my neighbours.

Now I’m desperately trying to find a way to get myself out.

I keep on wishing my father had had the foresight to move to Australia instead, where there are jobs and opportunities. There are a limited number and range of jobs in New Zealand. I was speaking to an MP about the brain drain and how it was really about young people having a hard time finding work rather than the low pay. Her reply was that perhaps if people stopped trying to become lawyers and film-makers, and instead became plumbers or builders, they would find jobs easily. I was thinking why on earth would a talented young wannabe film-maker settle for being a plumber in New Zealand when they had a chance to do what they wanted overseas.

Both my brother (who wants to become a computer game developer) and I are planning on moving out of the country as soon as we can and our father is always trying to get us to say, citing the ‘beautiful scenery’ as a reason.

But why would we stay? Our parents would be one reason, but the rest of our family is overseas. There are no job opportunities for my brother here. I want to be a fashion journalist. New Zealand does not know the meaning of ‘fashion’ and does not care. It’s stifling me and it feels like it’s never going to end. I’m counting down the days until my contract ends so I can apply for work overseas.

Hundreds Paid Less Than The Minimum Wage

Following on from our Migrant Tale: Civil Engineer now cleaning ovens in New Zealand we thought this would be a good time to explore further the exploitation of migrant workers in New Zealand.

It seems that the National Distribution union has had concerns about this issue for some time and that some degree of fault may lay with the Department of Labour for not doing enough to police employment practices.

Hundreds of immigrants and some Kiwis are getting a raw deal from New Zealand employers and are being paid less than the minimum wage. According to the National Distribution union

Thirteen dollars an hour may be too little for New Zealand’s unions but there are some workers in our community who struggle to make even that.

According to National Distribution Union (NDU) secretary Robert Reid there are hundreds of vulnerable workers in New Zealand who are being left with little option other to work for less than minimum wage.

Mr Reid says those affected are mainly migrant workers who are too scared to complain about their situation.

The story was taken-up by 3 News earlier this year, Mr Reid said that some immigrants are being failed by a lack of policing of labour laws

“Just today I received a call from a migrant worker in the Auckland suburb of Northcote who stated that it was very difficult to find a job that was even paying the minimum wage,” he says.

This migrant from an Asian country contacted small shops and restaurants in Auckland which only offered between $7 and $10 per hour, says Mr Reid.

He says this is not uncommon, especially in Auckland.

“With this example they are just blatantly not paying minimum wage. “It is certainly an increasing problem, mainly for migrant workers who are very vulnerable and being exploited.”

He says the increase in cases is mainly due to the Department of Labour doing little to police it.

“The Department of Labour just doesn’t have enough inspectors left. It is now ultimately down to the Unions to police this and the unions only cover 20 percent of the work force.”

He went on to tell 3 News that many are afraid to speak out and that Asian and African workers are the most exploited

many who do not want to speak out are in fear of being sent home and that includes documented workers, who work here legally but are not permanent residents.

Overseas students are just one example of documented workers who are being exploited. Students can work up to 20 hours per week on their study visa.

“It seems to be lesser those from Europe and certainly more Asians and Africans who are being exploited,” says Mr Reid.

He says some of the migrant workers are undocumented but this is not an excuse to exploit them.

“If they are here they should not be exploited.”

Mr Reid says there is also a problem with large companies paying under minimum wage and using different allowances and bonuses to make up the difference.

“Some major New Zealand firms add shift and attendance bonuses to hourly rates below the minimum wage. They say that the Department of Labour has condoned this practice. The NDU believes the practice could be unlawful.” read the full report here

We’re always interested to hear about how migrants are treated in New Zealand, if you have a tale you’d like to tell please leave it in our comments section.

You may also be interested in: Skilled migrants asked to tell their NZ work stories

New Zealand Expo, No It Wasn’t

Continuing in our series of Migrant Tales, first had account of the migrant experience of New Zealand taken from places around the net.

Today’s tale is taken from a great blog called Movingtonewzealandblog.com and the author tells of his experience of an emigration fair held in Britain on 27 March 2011. We wish the author every success with his move to New Zealand.

His account of the event is very different to the PR releases issued to the media (see below for an example of this) which perhaps is representative of the way New Zealand is talked-up in marketing promotions.

If you’re still at the start of your emigration journey you may wish to read this before paying for a ticket to attend one of these Expos. Emphasis ours.

New Zealand Expo – umm no it wasn’t
Posted on March 28, 2011 by Moving to NZ

We went to a ‘movingto’ expo in London yesterday. It was advertised and presented as a moving to New Zealand expo with plenty of health and IT recruiters and lots of useful information. Their advertising said that as well as the NZ expo there was also a separate health jobs around the world one.

Fortunately thanks to a post on ENZ I had got complimentary tickets as if I had paid £15 per ticket I would have been asking for my money back. This was not a NZ expo, it was mostly about Australia with a couple of exhibitors from NZ and Canada thrown in and there was no separate health expo just a few health stalls. More worryingly the one company doing healthcare recruitment for NZ didn’t know what they were talking about and gave my wife factually incorrect information while failing to adequately answer any of her questions.

My advice – unless you are in the very early stages of planning a move and you are mostly interested in Australia, save your money and spend your time doing some internet research instead. Still at least it was a beautiful day and we got to go for a nice Sunday morning drive!

This comment appeared on another blog tokiwiornottokiwi

Down Under Live
We went to the Down Under live expo in London on saturday and I must say I was very disappointed. As expected it was very Australia focused, there were a few stands which covered New Zealand as well but it was mostly people trying to sell you their services – visa services, shipping, money transfer etc. We did talk to someone about recruitment in New Zealand but as we want to get the visa before looking for a job it is too soon to be doing anything other than general research.

Contrast those experiences with the press release which was issued after the event, emphasis ours.

Interest in Emigration to New Zealand Still Strong
Tuesday, 29 March 2011, 11:52 am
Press Release: Working In Ltd

Interest in Emigration to New Zealand Still Strong Despite Canterbury Quake
The Opportunities New Zealand Expo that was held in Manchester and London last weekend attracted record crowds, showing that British interest in emigration to New Zealand is still strong, despite the recent Canterbury earthquake.

The expos attracted upwards of 5,000 people eager to meet with the employers, recruiters, shipping companies, migration agents, banks and other emigration service providers that attended.

“This has been our biggest expo in recent years. We have more employers and more jobs than seen in the last two years, which tells us a few things about how the market’s picking up in New Zealand,” said Hayley Roberts, CEO of Working In Ltd and organiser of the Opportunities New Zealand Expo.

“After the Canterbury earthquake we did consider the possibility of a plateau in ticket sales, but what we actually saw was quite the opposite. Builders, engineers, tradespeople – they all see it as an opportunity to transfer their skills,” said Roberts.

Employers at the expo were looking to hire in the engineering, manufacturing, IT, trades, transport and health industries.

Grant Harsent, Human Resources Manager from Christchurch-based company Hamilton Jet, said “Our objectives were to recruit specialist skills that we could not find in New Zealand. We were looking for senior mechanical engineers, high-level technicians and senior production management. We collected about 100 CVs and are expecting 10-15 hires from our UK trip.”

He also said that most people he met at the expo were still positive about moving to New Zealand and were keen to help with the rebuild in Christchurch.

Other New Zealand employers at the expo included The New Zealand Transport Authority, Ballance Agriculture and Accent Health Recruitment.

The Opportunities New Zealand Expo is backed by Immigration New Zealand, who distributed a letter on the door reassuring people that New Zealand is still open for business and presented seminars on the skills currently needed and the visa requirements to enter New Zealand.

The Opportunities New Zealand Expo will be held again in London and Leeds in July.

This post will also appear in our Migrants Tales series. See links above.

Migrants Tales – 5 Years In NZ And Getting Bored

Continuing in our popular Migrants Tales series – first hand accounts of migrant life in New Zealand taken from locations around the net.

Today’s tale is taken from a British expats forum and is comprised of two posts – one from 2006 and the other five years later.

This is an excellent essay on what the Kiwi Lifestyle is really all about for one family in Hamilton, and an indication of what the future may hold for YOU when you emigrate to New Zealand.

2006

I don’t know, we’ve been here for just over a year and a half and are beginning to have our doubts.

The work ethic thing is true, I get customers ringing me up at 9pm on Saturday nights asking me technical questions.

I can’t believe anyone really thinks the average kiwi regularly goes abroad. Most that we speak to have maybe done the OE thing in their youth and apart from that have been to Melbourne a couple of times.

I wouldn’t say they’re all considerate neighbours….many have a “fack em” attitiude, crank up the stereo, rev their big bore jap import at 5am or burn their waste when you’ve got your washing out.

All comments about hosing here are true. If you want a decent place you’ll need to build it yourself.

Regards to money and wages. A LOT of kiwis we know make ends meet and that’s about it. I had no intention of starting a business here but it seems the only way to get a living wage [*1]. If my other half didn’t have pommie pounds to live mortgage free there’s no way we could stay here. House prices to wages are probably as bad as the UK. Please don’t confuse average with median when talking about wages and house prices. One thing is for sure though, if we can’t make it work here then there are dozens of other countries we’d try before going back to the UK.

The supermarkets end up with all the crap food…all the best stuff goes abroad. We’ve ended up buying a chest freezer and going 1/4′s on “a beast”.

As much as I think Don Brash is a pr!ck, his comments about the talent going to Australia (and further afield) are true and it seems to be a disproportionate amount of the “dregs” are left in New Zealand.

Clean and green is a complete myth. Kiwi’s are a filthy lot compared to Europe. The statistics probably don’t show this though but we regularly see farmers just digging holes for rubbish or people burning waste. The cars are dirty too. The “heating” issue also stinks…literally. Our eyes literally sting from the stinking chimneys around here on cold winter evenings.

From a crime perspective NZ has a higher violent and sexual crime rate than the UK. I think burglaries are worse too but I can’t remember that 100%

They have FAR too many politicians

The TV is abysmal.

Drink driving is a popular hobby.

They’re not animal lovers. You will be appalled when you see how the cockies and pig stickers (yes, you did read that properly) treat their dogs.

They are as tight as ducks arses with regards to money (if they don’t know you). Second hand items like cars, electronics, furniture & clothing seem to depreciate much less than they do in the UK. Hell, this USED door mat pretty much sums it up.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Home-living…n-63329298.htm

[2].

The “lifestyle” thing is great though. Kiwis aren’t quite so anal as the British about inviting you into their home. There’s less of the “keep up with the Jones or we’ll look down our noses at you’”. People generally talk to each other (try that in SE England). Generally more “freedom” to do activities (walking, cycling, horse-riding, surfing, etc) that comes with just having more space per person.

Most important point if you’re thinking of coming here:- When a Kiwi asks “Do you like New Zealand?” they’re not really asking. Your reply should be “it’s awesome/fabulous/cool/special” etc etc. The take great offence if you criticise their country.

Just my tuppenceworth

[1] I’ve noticed a LOT of “normal” employed kiwi’s have an almost non-existent part time business for the sole purpose of claiming expenses.
[2] There are few bargains on trademe (kiwi…sorry…Australian owned kiwi version of Ebay with crap facilities and poor search engine).

January 2011

Well, since my last post in 06, not a lot has changed. If anything, I feel my previous comments about poor housing, drink driving and anti-social neighbors have been backed up by more experience.

Moved a few k’s up the road and spent all our (and then some) hard earned “pommie pounds” on a “lifestyle” block. Little slice of heaven; for a couple of years until the local council shafted us, swept our objections under the carpet and put a dog pound up < 300m away. Serves me right for declining the invitation from the local freemasons. Guess I’d best save up my pennies for the double glazing (did I mention poor housing?).

I’ve noticed that the majority of my friends around here are foreigners (Dutch, Japanese, English, Scottish…some lived here for 30 years). This was not intentional, I’ve got a handful of good kiwi buddies in the area but I got sick of banging my head off a wall. I think it’s a small town thing as seemed to click much quicker with my friends in Wellington and Palmy (ongoing debate, but IMHO Hamilton is far worse than Palmy).

Cost of living seems to have skyrocketed but income has hardly increased. This is probably old news to everyone. By pretending to have assimilated, I’ve offset this somewhat by doing what the locals do (working 60 hours a week, 2nd job, paying tradesmen cash, terrible DIY jobs, bartering, maxing out credit card, maxing out other credit card, fortnightly trip to PAK N SAVE, homekills, disconnecting speedo on diesel, burning trash, driving with no rego for the odd month, drinking local home-brew and cheap alcohol although I draw the line at drinking HAAST or Ranfurly beer. I’m considering the other popular Kiwi income stream : claiming WINZ, or making a dodgy ACC claim whilst working on the side. Maybe I should just get into the burglary business as most of the rich farmers leave their places unlocked and to be honest, you’d have to murder someone twice to do gaol time here.

With fuel costs its tricky, but I have to escape the area at least once a fortnight. Two weekends on the trot and I start growling at people. I would suggest having a sport or hobby that frequently entails getting the hell out of dodge as being essential to any ex pat living in small town eNZed. With good friends in other towns, at least I’m not getting stung for motels or dossing in the car as much these days.

Money worries aside, I’m now in the situation of being BORED OUT MY SKULL. Were I 20 years older I guess I’d be like a pig in poo. Or maybe not as savings are all gone. Career opportunities out in the wop wops are rare and the job situation nationwide is dire. Wondering if it’s this town and whether moving to outskirts of Wellywood would solve many issues. Missus reckons if we’re getting jobs, restarting business, making friends, etc all from scratch again we’d be as well in OZ.

My attitude is all wrong and I’m not trying hard enough, obviously.

Home!

As part of our Migrant Tales series we have a section dedicated to tales from expats returning home after living in New Zealand.

A surprisingly high number of immigrants from western countries move on from New Zealand after a few years and it isn’t as easy pulling up sticks and going home as  you’d  think it is. But, despite the recession it is possible to get re-established in the UK and enjoy being back.

This is the story of one family’s return to Cumbria in the UK and is collated from posts made on a NZ expat forum.

June 2010

well, it’s been a while (5 weeks ackshully) – we’re home!

flights from Akl to Man were fine, though frankly, I’m never EVER undertaking such a thing with a 3 year old and an 11 week old again

upon reflection, unemigrating is a hell of a lot harder than emigrating in the first place!

no regrets, but jeez it’s been tough… improving now – we got the keys for somewhere to live at the weekend, and our container turned up yesterday – only 5 (yes FIVE) weeks after leaving Auckland!!

still no jobs for either of us, but it looks like I’ve picked up some contract work from next week… i’ve got an application in for a proper job too, so keeping fingers crossed for that! We’ve done our sums, and it looks likely that OH will be staying at home looking after the little ones for a year or two as I’ve more chance of getting a half-decent job here than he has – he prob needs to retrain, or we need to head to Manchester or London for his work, which we don’t really want to do…

we’ve been staying with various family and friends since we got back – it’s been lovely catching up with everyone, and in many ways like we never left.

The weather has been stunning (specially for cumbria ) and has mostly been sunny and warm. We’ve been out walking most days – a few days after we got back we headed out at half-past stupid (thanks to the jetlag and baby!) and walked round one of the local tarns – it’s surrounded by beech woodland and the colour of the leaves was stunning – we were back in time for the bluebells too, and the smell wafted gently on the breeze…

We really have been wondering why on earth we ever thought we might be able to improve on life somewhere else!

We had a week of euphoria on getting back, then the inevitable crash happened… what have we done? no jobs, no home, two kids aaaargh….

It will get better though – we’ve got a roof over our heads now, and hopefully soon we’ll be able to pay for it too

right, enough rambling! hope you’re all well, and it’s not too chilly down there!

will hopefully have broadband some time next week, so maybe see you again then!

January 2011

well, happy new year!

this is my goodbye – i’ve not had chance to post for such a long time – missed you, but i think i need to delete my expats bookmark now!

we’ve been home for 8 months… it really has been tough, but we’ve made absolutely the right decision… i’ve been working full time on a weekly contract since july, and this week have managed to land a full time, well paid job which will pay enough to keep us all, and we can finally stop dipping into our savings to get by on the basics (good job really, there’s barely anything left!)

our little Kiwi will turn one at the end of Feb – can’t believe that a year ago, i was the size of a house and pottering my way through a hot kiwi summer…

his big sister is now broad cumbrian, with an occasional kiwi twang, which makes us all chuckle… she’s a happy little girl again who is loving nursery and enjoying spending time with her extended family and friends, and quite often says how happy she is now we’re not in nz any more (though she does miss our best mates, and wanted to go for a bbq last weekend!!)

OH still hasn’t got work, but hopefully with my new job, he’ll be able to work out what he can retrain in… after i messed my interview up on tuesday, we really thought we were going to have to head to manchester for work for us both, so it was a HUUUUUGE relief when they called to offer me the job! (not that there’s anything wrong with manchester of course – it’s just it’s not where we want to be!)

just need to find somewhere to live, buy a car and sort out a school for september now!

phew

hope everyone’s well