It has been an upsetting week. Expectations got turned upside down, uncertainty about the future now abounds and (in the opinion of most New Zealanders at least) what was right and reasonable lost out to what most appealed to the great unwashed, no matter how plausible or truthful. Donald Trump is now the president-elect of Read more
A friend who divides her time between New Zealand and the European country of her birth, says New Zealand is the most caring country in the world. “People look out for each other,” she says. “If someone falls in the street, people run to help them.” Her opinion may be fashioned by her own compassionate Read more
My wife, Nay, fled the Khmer Rouge 35 years ago when she was a little girl. Her father had already been killed by the murderous regime there, and her young mother managed to escape with two young children in tow through the Cambodian jungle. They cheated death with every step as they avoided landmines and Read more
About twelve years ago, I was at an Auckland Literary Festival, with a talk on ‘The Influences that Have Made a Writer.’ The greatest influence in my life, my faith, I left until last, aware that some people were allergic to talk about religion. I said if anyone wanted to leave at that point, I Read more
The last time I protested was during university days. That’s, shall we say quite a while ago! But recently I have felt a stirring within me to bring my faith into the public forum in a visible way. There is a growing brittleness in our world. Russia’s bullying of Ukraine, atrocities in the Middle East, Read more
Kiwi Christmas traditions such as putting up a real pine tree and sending festive cards via post are becoming ghosts of Christmas past, a survey says. The Colmar Bruton research found that while 93 per cent of New Zealanders celebrated Christmas, many of the traditions associated with the festive season were disappearing. Two out of Read more
It should go without saying (but often doesn’t): the fact that 2030 New Zealand will be much more ethnically diverse is by no means a bad thing. But it’s also necessary. As the baby boomers age, our population will become disproportionately elderly, with a dependency ratio of about 2.6 people aged between 15 and 64 Read more
As a country we’ve been slowly becoming more Americanised over the years – it’s aways been something of a cultural bogeyman that threatens the Kiwi way of life, right from the time American TV shows first started airing here. Some of these changes are small and understandable – we are becoming a much smaller world, Read more
Moslem leaders have expressed disappointment about the backlash they are experiencing as a result of the activity of Moslem extremists. While they are disheartened by this they say the situation is not as bad in New Zealand as it is in other places. The constant association with radicals is disheartening, says the President of the Read more
Katherine Collier a student visitor from Loyola University New Orleans says she was struck by the lack of religion in every day life. “The biggest shock I encountered while studying abroad was the lack of religion in every day life.” “Although New Zealand natives, or ‘Kiwis’, do celebrate holidays like Christmas and Easter, emphasis is Read more