The Indian Weekender, 29 July 2022

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Editorial NZ border reopening will spark range of emotions When New Zealand borders finally re-open fully with the rest of the world on July 31, a range of emotions is going to be stirred. For many, it would bring a sense of jubilation about the final removal of restrictions on entry into New Zealand or possibly of euphoria for seeing the end of one of the most severe and unprecedented travel restrictions experienced by the current generation of New Zealanders. However, for many people, the day will bring back the sombre and harrowing experience of March 19, 2020, when Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern came out at a media conference and announced the dramatic closure of borders from midnight. Many then thought that it was probably the state’s biggest intrusion into individual rights as ever experienced by New Zealanders. It was only a few days later that New Zealanders found out that the state was gearing up even further to encroach upon individual freedoms by restricting the basic right of free movement - in the form of a complete lockdown. The entire country chose to rally behind the government, fully understanding the grave danger that faced the world in the form of the novel Coronavirus, barring a minuscule minority, whose initial opposition to those lockdowns was more delusional than based on any reasonable or scientific grounds. This changed, though, with successive lockdowns. The border closure left an indelible mark on the lives of a large number of people, separating families like never seen before, barring the periods of the first and second world wars. Although the government, wearing the mask of “kindness”, made small concessions in the early stages of the pandemic, allowing some New Zealanders to bring their overseas-based partners and families, most, particularly ethnic migrant minorities, remained outside the ambit of its “kindness” and experienced forced separation for significant periods due to closed borders. The subsequently closed border regime witnessed a massive retrenchment of immigration bureaucracy for want of viable work, thus making them even more emaciated and depleted with credible human resources who can see through the pain and desperation in the applications for entry into the country on compassionate grounds. It is here that temporary migrant workers experienced the maximum impact of the closed border regime, with not only losing the ability to bring their overseas-based families but also losing the ability to travel overseas for family reunions or attending important life events like birth and deaths in the family and return to the country. The last and probably the most unfortunate segment amongst temporary migrant workers were the ones who were caught almost unaware on the wrong side of the borders and were locked out of the country and slowly witnessed their valid legitimate visas not being honoured by NZ government’s new border closure directive. Their plight and the loss of tens of thousands of dollars invested in New Zealand higher studies, work and paying taxes and years of efforts in building a New Zealand life have moved many hearts and continue to raise many emotions of fellow Kiwi- Indians and ethnic migrant communities. Many key stakeholders in the community, including this publication, continue to raise their voice with those in power and demand a genuine, compassionate intervention and allow them back into the country and resurrect the Kiwi image of a fair country with a sense of fair-go at life. A petition has been presented to the New Zealand parliament as late as Wednesday this week, led by a migrant advocacy group, Migrant United Council, which complements the work of many other migrant advocacy groups within the community, requesting a compassionate reconsideration and allowing temporary migrants back into the country. Probably, the opening of borders after July 31 will move the lawmakers and the government to let bygones be bygones and let those temporary migrant workers back into the country and have a fresh go at the dream of a Kiwi life. Indeed, July 31 will trigger many emotions. Although, it is less likely to have many emotional scenes of family reunion at the airports on July 31 as previously seen when NZ first opened borders for the vaccinated Australian travellers earlier this year after keeping borders closed for four long months of Delta lockdown. Since April 12 this year, the New Zealand borders have already been opened on a staggered basis allowing a different set of travellers from different parts of the world, particularly from visa waiver countries and those on work visas. For the rest of the world, particularly the parents and new students who are keen to travel to New Zealand, July 31 only means the opening of visa processing. It will still take a couple of months, depending upon Immigration New Zealand’s ability and intent to process different types of visas, before New Zealand can expect a new set of travellers into the country. It will, though, for sure go some way in contesting, if not completely erasing, the strong world-view that New Zealand has been closed to the rest of the world right from the onset of the global pandemic. QUOTE OF THE WEEK I'm not going to continue knocking that old door that doesn't open for me. I'm going to create my own door and walk through that." — Ava DuVernay IN FOCUS : Picture of the week Haridwar:Kanwariyas gather at Har Ki Pauri ghat to collect Holy water from the Ganga river for their pilgrimage during the month of Shravan in Haridwar. This week in New Zealand’s history 31 July 1843 Foundation stone laid for NZ's first purpose-built theatre Laying the foundation stone for the Royal Victoria Theatre on Manners St, Wellington, Alderman William Lyon welcomed the new amenity – ‘a theatre [was] a necessary concomitant of an advanced state of civilization.’ It was a moraleboosting event six weeks after the Wairau Affray (see 17 June) had shocked local settlers. 4 August 1923 Rail tunnel pierces the Southern Alps The opening of the 8.5-km Ōtira tunnel completed the long-planned transalpine railway between Christchurch and Greymouth. 4 August 1965 Cook Islands achieves self-government First included within the boundaries of New Zealand in 1901, the islands were governed by a Resident Commissioner until 1946. When they achieved selfgovernment, Cook Islanders remained New Zealand citizens. 5 August 1914 New Zealand enters the First World War Following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro- Hungarian throne, and his wife Sophie in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia- Herzegovina, on 28 June 1914, Germany gave its ally Austria-Hungary a ‘blank cheque’ to take whatever action it deemed appropriate. 5 August 1988 Cartwright Report condemns cancer treatment The report was triggered by the publication in Metro magazine of ‘An Unfortunate Experiment’, an article by Sandra Coney and Phillida Bunkle which alleged that cervical cancer patients at Auckland’s National Women’s Hospital were receiving inadequate treatment. Indian Weekender : Volume 14 Issue19 Publisher: Kiwi Media Publishing Limited Editor: Dev Nadkarni | dev@indianweekender.co.nz Graphic Designer: Yashmin Chand | design@indianweekender.co.nz Multimedia Specialist: Karan Bhasin | 022 0772 156 | karan@indianweekender.co.nz Accounts and Admin.: 09-2173623 | accounts@indianweekender.co.nz Auckland Reporter: Navdeep Kaur Marwah: | 021 952 246 | navdeep@indianweekender.co.nz Waikato Reporter: Sandeep Singh | 021 952 245 | sandeep@indianweekender.co.nz Wellington Reporter: Venu Menon | 021 538 356 | venu@indianweekender.co.nz Christchurch Reporter: Mahesh Kumar | 021 952 218 | mahesh@indianweekender.co.nz Views expressed in the publication are not necessarily of the publisher and the publisher is not responsible for advertisers’ claims as appearing in the publication Views expressed in the articles are solely of the authors and do not in any way represent the views of the team at the Indian Weekender Kiwi Media Publishing Limited - 133A, Level 1, Onehunga Mall, Onehunga, Auckland. Printed at Horton Media, Auckland Copyright ® 2022. Kiwi Media Publishing Limited. All Rights Reserved. Send your suggestions and feedback to editor@indianweekender.co.nz
Read online www.iwk.co.nz Friday, July 29, 2022 FIJI 13 Fiji depends on Aust and NZ BA.5 confirmed in Fiji for human capital: Narayan Fiji has depended heavily on Australia and New Zealand for human capital to form proper educational infrastructure that could ensure students were equipped for the labour market. Monash University academic and Fiji Higher Education Commission commissioner Professor Paresh Narayan said this was the reality over the past 10 years for Fiji and Pacific countries. “Now 10 to 15 years ago, we as a country, as Fijians and as Pacific Islanders did not quite have the human capital to build this bridge between a knowledge economy and tertiary institutions,” he said. “We depended on Australia and New Zealand. “That dependency has to go because now we have got sufficient human capital, located in different places of course, but we need to depend more on Pacific islanders to shape and build this bridge.” He said the two countries also had an important role to play in equipping countries such as Fiji to retain their people who move away to work in Australia and New Zealand. Professor Paresh Narayan attends the Inaugural Higher Education Forum 2022 at the Sofitel Fiji Resort and Spa in Denarau Nadi. Picture: REINAL CHAND “This is an equally important role for Australia and New Zealand because they take away our five per cent of the cream. They obviously have a responsibility to help us shape and replace that five per cent in some ways through infrastructure and curriculum development.” Professor Narayan added that a group of local organisations were taking steps to reduce Fiji’s loss of a skilled workforce. “There is a very small sample Now 10 to 15 years ago, we as a country, as Fijians and as Pacific Islanders did not quite have the human capital to build this bridge between a knowledge economy and tertiary institutions." of leaders in Fiji who want to do research including the Fiji Higher Education Commission. “When you look at the leadership in these institutions in FCCC, Reserve Bank of Fiji, the scholarship commission and Investment Fiji, you actually have young people who have educated themselves and who want to do research and want to make greater use of the data to make more informed policy decisions which is a very positive sign. It is going to take us to this knowledge economy.” We have the BA.5 strain of Omicron in the community. Permanent Secretary for Health, Doctor James Fong says although BA.5 has the ability to evade immune protection against infection induced by prior infection or vaccination, there remains significant protection against severe disease. He says there is no evidence that BA.4 and BA.5 cause more severe disease than previous variants. The Permanent Secretary says this is demonstrated in our persistently low hospitalization data for severe diseases despite the community-wide escalation currently seen. Dr. Fong is urging everyone to stay up to date with their Covid-19 vaccination, in particular adults over the age of 50 and anyone with underlying medical conditions should get vaccinated and get their first and second booster doses when due. He says the elderly and people with underlying medical conditions are at higher risk of severe Covid-19 disease so people in this group with Covid-19 symptoms must come forward to be tested, put onto a monitored care pathway by a medical provider, and immediately brought to the hospital if severe symptoms are present. BOOK ADS IN NEWSPAPER The most widely circulated WEEKLY publication for Kiwi-Indians and the most popular news platform with a strong online, social media, and print. We deal with all major advertising: Digital, Social Media and Newspaper Print advertising. PROPERTY AUTOMOBILE EDUCATION IMMIGRATION MORTGAGE EVENTS Call us for a customised advertising solution with Indian Weekender 021 952 216 Email sales@indianweekender.co.nz / chirayu@indianweekender.co.nz www.indianweekender.co.nz
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The Indian Weekender, 29 July 2022

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