Reflections of being New Zealand's first Asian Cabinet Minister

Good evening, it is a privilege to be here addressing you all as the first Cabinet Minister of Asian descent.

I would like to start by extending warm greetings to you all, in particular university vice chancellor Derek McCormack, international relations and development director Chris Hawley, international director Li Rongyu, associate dean  professor Ray Markey,  AUT Chinese Centre manager Marlene Lu and the community leaders gathered here today, Kai Luey, Soo Young (Sarah) Lee and Manish Tanna.

Thank you for the opportunity to do a stock take of my life as the first Asian Cabinet Minister in New Zealand, it has given me a chance to sit down and reflect on the rollercoaster ride that has come with taking office in November last year.

It has become impossible to squeeze out time to reflect unless it happens to be for an official engagement so thank you in particular to Chris Hawley for the chance conversation we had that led me to being here sharing my story with you all today.

Unlike our popular Prime Minister Hon. John Key, who knew he wanted to be Prime Minister when he was 10, the thought of being a politician never entered my dreams as a child.

But one thing the Prime Minister and I perhaps do share is a background of growing up in a childhood that was poor in material terms but rich in the values instilled by our parents.

I grew up in a small room in a shared apartment block in Hong Kong. My mum, two brothers and I lived in the one small room and shared the kitchen, toilet and bathroom with seven other families.

My dad was a seaman and was away from home for most of the year. But despite our situation and our surroundings, my parents were extremely proud and were committed to providing an education and a better life for their children.

Thinking back, at the time I felt misery for my mother having to cope with the crowded environment, but as a child, I saw it as being lots of fun having so many playmates around. There were constant noises and happenings which was unbearable for the adults but lots of fun for us children.

I felt safe growing up in that environment because I knew that my parents were there for me, I had the security of knowing that I had a family that cared for me - something that is very important to any child.

My parents worked hard and persevered and after six years had saved enough money to move us away from the chaos of sharing a place with 40 others and into an apartment of our own.

Their determination that I become well educated along with the system of values they instilled in me gave me the keys for success.

Although, unlike the Prime Minister, I was not dreaming of being a politician when I was a small child, these values of hard work, pride and honour given to me by my parents helped me along my path to becoming New Zealand's first MP of Asian descent and gave me the dream of aiming to become a cabinet minister back in 2002.

After attending hundreds of functions and addressing the concerns of New Zealanders saw me constantly on the move throughout the country and I quickly found myself popular and in huge demand for events and speaking engagements.

Yet the reality is that Asian New Zealanders are largely self-sufficient and I remember telling the Ombudsmen forum that Asian New Zealanders were dealing with limited a number of government departments not out of choice, but because they had to -  the IRD, Police, Customs and Immigration.

There is not much they can't do by themselves without interacting with Government.

I came to have the growing realisation that I could make a real difference by proving that ethnic minorities can be confident, equal and proud citizens.

Not having a dream at the age of 10 leaves room for you to make one up as time travels, so with that realisation I had a dream back in 2002 to become a Cabinet minister as a constituent MP and not as a list MP as I was at the time.

I knew deep down that there was a difference of how one is perceived as list or constituent MP, with the latter carrying more mandate and Mana because you are perceived to have defeated the other candidates.

I felt that by becoming an elected Member of Parliament I could put to rest the label given to me by an infamous past politician as being a "token Asian MP". I knew that if I worked hard I could set the record straight.

So, in 2002 I decided to move to Auckland and stand for the traditionally strong Labour Party seat of Auckland Central. It was a move that would reduce my time spent travelling between Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland during my weekly routine as well.

Running in Auckland Central, designated as a Labour safe seat, showed both guts and determination and saw me doing lots of things outside my comfort zone including jumping off the Sky Tower and campaigning in the streets with a loud speaker, which turned the Auckland central contest into a fun and lively race and somewhat changed the image of Asian candidates.

However, after the 2002 election I found that my Party was not exactly thrilled with my efforts as my high profile campaign had seen my candidate votes double that of the party votes and the National Party came third in Auckland Central - a mistake that I was determined not to repeat.

I ran again in 2005 and this time narrowed the gap but still returned to Parliament on the National Party list as an opposition MP. In the meantime, various political parties had started to lift their game by targeting Asian candidates to attract party votes in largely Asian communities.

The Asian communities responded to this by claiming to support all Asian candidates by and large.

However, at the 2008 election, Chinese voters were confronted with the difficult task of having to make a choice from many Chinese candidates.

Before the 2008 elections, I decided to stand for the newly-established Botany seat and during the National Party's Botany electorate candidate election process I was surprised to learn that three out of the four contestants were Asian!

Interestingly, as the only sitting MP, I seemed to be the keenest candidate and had previously learned first hand that the party vote was very important  so I started door knocking in October 2007 to ensure I would secure the party vote.

The Botany battle ground truly heated up after I won the National Party selection for Botany.

First there was one Chinese candidate, before long the second one appeared, then three and finally there were hoardings carrying the names and faces of four candidates of Chinese New Zealanders appearing in Botany, where only 33 percent of residents identified themselves as Asian.

The Botany electoral race caused the Chinese media to start an unprecedented campaign raising the interest of politics among Asian New Zealanders to an all time high.

The popular campaign strategy of my opponents was to spread the message that I did not need constituent or party votes in Botany because I would return to Parliament as a list MP and that by voting for others, Botany could have three Asian MPs in the Parliament.

But unfortunately for the other aspiring politicians, my game plan was to show that the electorate contest should be won on individual efforts and party values beyond ethnicity and my team knocked on more than 10,000 doors in the electorate to secure votes.

I was determined to shore up my chances of being Cabinet Minister by winning Botany and winning it well.

While my uncompromising stand during the election period has caused debates within Chinese communities - especially the new Chinese migrant communities - it is a necessary process of integrating into the democratic process.

I wanted to prove that Asian New Zealanders are accepted by all New Zealanders, that they had the ability to become equal, confident and proud citizens.

Acceptance is important and it is crucial that Asian New Zealanders feel accepted in our country and that they are confident and proud enough to achieve at the highest level.

Asians are sensitive to reading the signs that they are welcome in this country - like the high interest in immigration policies and the Chinese Poll Tax apology.

Throughout history, Chinese New Zealanders have worked hard in getting acceptance in this country.

Yet how many people here know that while living in Taranaki, Chinese New Zealander Chew Chong pioneered the iconic one pound butter and refrigeration technique that has made it possible to export butter?

I remember telling this to Dr Don Brash when he was the leader of the National Party and Dr Brash - who is well read and knowledgeable - refused to believe me until I forwarded him all the information, which included the fact that Chew Chong was one of two Chinese New Zealanders who had been inducted into the Business Hall of Fame like himself.

After that, Chew Chong appeared in every one of his speeches concerning Asian New Zealanders.

The other Chinese entrepreneur who was inducted into the Hall of Fame is Tommy Ah Chee, who pioneered the supermarket concept in New Zealand in the shape of Foodtown.

In 2007, Tommy Ah Chee's grandfather's market garden was discovered during the redevelopment of Carlaw Park and research showed the Ah Chee family had leased the land back in 1882 to build the market gardens. 

I reflected at the time that the discovery was proof that not all Chinese were poor in the early settlement days, Tommy Ah Chee's grandfather was in charge of a large operation in downtown Auckland.

Recently I got a letter from a descendant of Appo Hocton, New Zealand's earliest migrant. His great granddaughter wrote to inform me of the fact that Chinese first arrived here in 1842 not in the 1860's as was previously believed.

Appo Hocton arrived in New Zealand on board the Thomas Harrison on October 25, 1842.  He was the first Asian to become a naturalised New Zealander in 1852 and went on to become an instrumental part of the building of Nelson's network of streets.

Our first migrant has a colourful past, which I am not sure that established Chinese community elders would want to be widely publicised!

Sometimes the problem of Asian stories making the media is that the collective term of Chinese or Asian will be used, meaning controversial stories often paint all Chinese or Asians in a bad light rather than the individual.

Stories like this often put the feeling of acceptance back a long way for many in the Asian community as they feel they are being tarred with the same brush as any Chinese or Asian who misbehaves.

The feeling is like that of an adopted child, that one is loved only if one behaves. But the fact is that all New Zealanders are migrants and no one should have to live up to standards as a group, but rather as individuals.

Every time there is a negative story about Chinese or Asian crime in the paper, I will receive mail from a range of people telling me to accept responsibility and to do something about it, even though I often don't know the people involved in the story.

In the 1970's when I started to become actively involved in Christchurch Chinese community, it dawned on me how proudly the community wore the label of model citizens. They were law abiding, didn't complain, wouldn't use welfare and were high academic achievers and successful business people.

This is the collective image of Asian New Zealanders, but it was secured at the expense of individuality.

The journey of my ride through politics is therefore a delicate act of balancing the good reputation of Asian New Zealanders as a whole and paving the way for individual Asians and ethnic New Zealanders to feel confident to break out from the pack and be themselves to fulfil their dreams.

People often ask me how I came to achieve so highly in the New Zealand political landscape, and the answer is always the same; my political career started unbeknownst to me when I started networking as an accountant in Christchurch many years ago.

It started when I said yes to going out to Friday night work drinks, which would later see me appointed to the executive committee, and later chair, of the Canterbury branch of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, elected onto the Regional Council and then catapulted into Parliament.

A network is the most powerful tool in a business person or politician's toolbox because it is a spider web of hard work, diligence and patience that has come together to create a strong environment that can capture anything.

One of the strongest networks that we have as a country at the moment is Free Trade Agreements but our Government also realises that there are networks within New Zealand that can assist in international trade.

It was pointed out during the Chinese Economic Dinner Forum that there was no Chinese New Zealander representation at the negotiation phase leading up to the signing of the China Free Trade Agreement.

But the National-led Government realises the importance of utilising our ethnic communities and that is why half of Hon Tim Grosser's recent delegation to India to kick start the recent Free Trade Agreement negotiations were Indian New Zealanders.

Well, to be fair, there were only two others that went with him, but he ensured that one was Vijaya Vaidyanath, the CEO of Waitakere City Council and a very respected Indian business woman.

Last Friday I attended the inaugural graduation of Chinese speaking tour guides, who have been taught to ensure Chinese tourists gain a real Kiwi experience when they come here rather than just coming over to do some  shopping.

The fact that New Zealand is increasingly realising that Asia can provide many opportunities means that we also need to make efforts as a Government to engage with our Asian communities when negotiating with trade organisations to foster those trade links.

With a new government has come a new policy of engagement in substance with our ethnic communities. It is no longer a case of politicians speaking and Chinese people listening. It is about two-way conversations that can work towards bettering our great nation.

Take the current economic situation as an example, our government is interested in Chinese and Ethnic business people becoming involved in developing policy and solutions.

We understand that many within the Chinese community have valuable connections overseas and many have investments overseas, especially in China, that could help lift our country out of the recession.

Asia and particularly China is very important to New Zealand. Not only is China New Zealand's fourth biggest tourism market, it also provides many opportunities in terms of trade.

But working with our Chinese community is not just about trade, it is about the branding of New Zealand through cultural and people exchanges, which makes this country a true melting pot of ethnicities.

As New Zealand's first MP and first Cabinet Member of Asian descent, I have attracted a lot of coverage from media around the world and I always get asked about how it feels to have made New Zealand political history.

But while it is very humbling and a great honour to have made these exciting political milestones, I am more excited about having opened a door in Parliament that now remains open for members of all ethnic communities to walk through.

And now that our Parliament has six MPs of Asian ethnicity, that door has become permanently wedged open.

My political career continues to attract plenty of international media interest and I was recently voted as one of the top 10 overseas Chinese newsmakers in a recent poll of more than 100 overseas Chinese media organisations. It was a shock to see my name appearing at number eight on the list, alongside members of President Barack Obama's staff and Nobel Prize winners.

I plan to use my high-international profile to New Zealand's advantage by marketing us as a country of equal opportunity for all. Like I said, there is now a door open and any one of you can walk through it.

We all have the ability to become equal, confident and proud citizens.

Before I finish, I would like to take a moment to compliment AUT on being proactive in previously organising successful seminars on doing business in China and India. Seminars like these will help our country to reap the benefits of securing Free Trade Agreements with our Asian neighbours.

Thank you.