To migrate or not?

[toddles]

Attolia:

toddles:

Hee hee, my hubby says his second nationality is Kiwi cos he LOVES the All Blacks.

My friends and I went down to the wharf to watch all the All Blacks' Rugby World Cup games on the big screen. It was awesome. I thought about buying tickets to the actual matches, but I was too cheap to. Haha.

We nearly caught a rugby match in Christchurch when we were there on honeymoon... but we didn't plan early enough, so couldn't get tickets.

The next time we go to NZ, will definitely plan to catch a match.

The All Blacks often make us wonder - if a country with a tiny population of 3m like NZ can produce international champs in a game like Rugby, why can't Sgp produce international champs in at least one sport?

[toddles]

Attolia:

Always21:

I encountered that 'hey, speaks english, you are in Australia.'

I was talking to a close friend in the bus, when the lady opposite me stared at me and said that. I don't think that was very nice of her.
That was ten years ago, that is why migrating overseas was a no no.

I think generally most people are great, but I guess sometimes people can get frustrated when they're walking down the road and can't understand a word anyone is saying. And fair enough. Some places are truly Little Asias, and you could probably play 'count the white person'. I guess in that sense it's unnerving to see your city change and many immigrants arriving in a relatively short space of time. There was an interesting article in the NZ Herald last year about 'should all signage have English words on them?' like in Asian restaurants and stuff, and the consensus was 'no, keep the ethnic writing,' but an overwhelming number of Kiwis commented that they didn't feel welcome in those establishments because there's nary an English word to be seen -- the menus are in Chinese, the restaurant's name is in Chinese, the waiters don't speak English, and I can understand how they could feel resentful about things like that.

Haha, Vancouver is like that. There are whole massive Asian malls where you don't have to speak a word of English to get around / spend a day shopping.

I'm surprised that the NZ restaurants don't have English words - I thought in the interest of business they would have English.

[toddles]

Canvas:

I think it is really sad when my DS said that he will work very hard so that he can help us leave Singapore before it is flooded by 7million people. Almost as if we are a starving 3rd world countrymen and DS tries to get the family out of poverty like that. SIGH.

Actually... after you sell your property, even if it's a HDB flat, shouldn't be hard to migrate? Can convert to a small apartment at the start, if not a large landed house.

[toddles]

Anyway, it’s quite tragic… I think they didn’t expect that the publication of the White Paper would fuel more talk of migration than anything else.


Guess the erosion of all the memories we hold dear has been an ongoing process for so long that people get numb to it. But when such drastic change looks imminent… people start making plans to leave. Fewer and fewer things to stay back for…

[toddles]

Always21:

Attolia:

[quote=\"Always21\"] I encountered that 'hey, speaks english, you are in Australia.'

I was talking to a close friend in the bus, when the lady opposite me stared at me and said that. I don't think that was very nice of her.
That was ten years ago, that is why migrating overseas was a no no.

I think generally most people are great, but I guess sometimes people can get frustrated when they're walking down the road and can't understand a word anyone is saying. And fair enough. Some places are truly Little Asias, and you could probably play 'count the white person'. I guess in that sense it's unnerving to see your city change and many immigrants arriving in a relatively short space of time. There was an interesting article in the NZ Herald last year about 'should all signage have English words on them?' like in Asian restaurants and stuff, and the consensus was 'no, keep the ethnic writing,' but an overwhelming number of Kiwis commented that they didn't feel welcome in those establishments because there's nary an English word to be seen -- the menus are in Chinese, the restaurant's name is in Chinese, the waiters don't speak English, and I can understand how they could feel resentful about things like that.

It is just that in Singapore, everyone speaks whatever they are comfortable with, you can speak dialect to your parents and turn around and speaks English or Chinese to your friends and no one will bother you. Just small things that can make you feel at home or feel like a stranger.

Yes, our country is changing and I hope our government can understand our worries and take smaller steps in inviting FT in.[/quote]
I think there will always be a small racist minority everywhere in the world... can't really avoid them... but the majority are fair-minded people... especially if you get to know them personally.

actually it's the same for us. When you get to know some PRC people personally (e.g. neighbours, colleagues) we all get along fine too...

[Just relax]

The concern that I have with migrating to AU or NZ is the eventual immigrant backlash that can happen. AU has experienced it a few times, most recently when Paula Hanson was the AU media darling similar to "what’s her name" of the US who thought she could see Russia from Alaska and that made her an expert on US foreign policy. I have never been able to get rid of the "whites only" scenario in my mind when it comes to thinking about AU. It only needs a down turn in the AU economy coupled with a racist leader (of which there are quite a few in AU) to suddenly feel that you are an intruder because of your skin colour. (i recall the recent past where a few students from India were stabbed on different ocassions in AU).

[Attolia]

toddles:

Attolia:

[quote=\"Always21\"] I encountered that 'hey, speaks english, you are in Australia.'

I was talking to a close friend in the bus, when the lady opposite me stared at me and said that. I don't think that was very nice of her.
That was ten years ago, that is why migrating overseas was a no no.

I think generally most people are great, but I guess sometimes people can get frustrated when they're walking down the road and can't understand a word anyone is saying. And fair enough. Some places are truly Little Asias, and you could probably play 'count the white person'. I guess in that sense it's unnerving to see your city change and many immigrants arriving in a relatively short space of time. There was an interesting article in the NZ Herald last year about 'should all signage have English words on them?' like in Asian restaurants and stuff, and the consensus was 'no, keep the ethnic writing,' but an overwhelming number of Kiwis commented that they didn't feel welcome in those establishments because there's nary an English word to be seen -- the menus are in Chinese, the restaurant's name is in Chinese, the waiters don't speak English, and I can understand how they could feel resentful about things like that.

Haha, Vancouver is like that. There are whole massive Asian malls where you don't have to speak a word of English to get around / spend a day shopping.

I'm surprised that the NZ restaurants don't have English words - I thought in the interest of business they would have English.[/quote]Most do, but some don't, and I guess it's just the... rudeness of it, combined with seeing whole streetfuls of predominantly Chinese signage with a few English words at the bottom, if at all, that makes your average Kiwi a bit uncomfortable and unwelcome. It might be that if they went in they might find an English menu, but a lot of people would feel a bit intimidated about going into an eatery which is obviously catered to a special demographic.

[Attolia]

Just relax:

The concern that I have with migrating to AU or NZ is the eventual immigrant backlash that can happen. AU has experienced it a few times, most recently when Paula Hanson was the AU media darling similar to \"what's her name\" of the US who thought she could see Russia from Alaska and that made her an expert on US foreign policy. I have never been able to get rid of the \"whites only\" scenario in my mind when it comes to thinking about AU. It only needs a down turn in the AU economy coupled with a racist leader (of which there are quite a few in AU) to suddenly feel that you are an intruder because of your skin colour. (i recall the recent past where a few students from India were stabbed on different ocassions in AU).

NZ First is NZ's 'racist' party - and, you're right, sometimes they become fashionable, dependng on the state of the economy. They announce a few policies about cracking down on immigration and the number of Asian immigrants in particular, and sometimes they get a surprisingly decent number of votes, but sometimes they don't. The thing is, that it's so easy to target Asian immigrants. The sheer number of them (mostly Chinese) I think has overwhelmed Auckland a little bit and changed the face of the city from predominantly white to having just a small white majority, and most people accept it and embrace the growing multiculturalism, but some resent it.
And to be honest, many PRC Chinese immigrants (and HK as well, to some extent) make themselves easy targets. I hate to generalise, but a lot of them are rich enough to come into NZ through 'investment' and once here, they don't speak English, they don't work, they keep to their own kind and don't assimilate, they don't really contribute much to the economy (cos the majority of them shop and eat in Asian eateries which probably pay their staff under minimum wage under the table and so avoid tax), they bid crazy amounts for houses in desirable school zones and thus push everyone else out, and they bring their elderly parents here, who, after a few years, claim superannuation without having ever worked. And, I mean, it's the policymakers' fault for not tightening up welfare and immigration, but all this still fuels resentment, and it's unfortunate that all Asians get tarred with the same brush, even though most are genuinely hardworking.

Having said that, I can't speak for Australia, but I do think most Kiwis are generally accepting, and if they see you make an effort to embrace their culture and try to fit in and assimilate, then you'd probably be fine.

[vinegar]

PRC hv polluted their own country…pls don’t pollute other countries.


NZ is such a scenic n beautiful country.

Does PRC hunt n eat sealion n penguin? In China,they eat everything including wild animals such as snakes

[Attolia]

vinegar:

PRC hv polluted their own country...pls don't pollute other countries.


NZ is such a scenic n beautiful country.

Does PRC hunt n eat sealion n penguin? In China,they eat everything including wild animals such as snakes

Haha, no, they don't. Those are quite protected species, so i think they're carefully monitored. But I saw frozen possums once in the Asian supermarket, which i thought was completely gross...