Turnaround in NZ values?

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NZ has had a lot of positive news for foreign immigrants in recent times. This news includes:

1. Korean women junior golf player who won a Canadian contest

2. A Japanese-NZ couple who are winning accolades with their edgy men's and women's fashion in Christchurch. 

Immigrants have had a bad deal in NZ over the years; however there are signs that at least the media is trying to change perceptions; and they have been supported by a number of positive stories. There are of course a great many unpublicised stories; whether its your store owner who sells you Indian food or a Turkish kebab, or the Thai panel beater servicing your car. Not a bum attitude among them as far as I can see. NZ does need to appreciate it that these are the developing world's finest, who have the luxury and courage to travel overseas and set up in a new country. I personally think NZ would be a better place if NZ'ers travelled overseas for a broader perspective. I recommend:

1. Japan - if you can teach English, develop a retail biz

2. Philippines - same

3. Australia - too familiar but there are many opportunities there, and it might make more sense for some activities

Old NZ town, Arrowtown, Otago - Queenstown - has one of the most diverse communities in NZ

It takes time for attitudes to change. It is however good to see the NZ government or media taking measures to change attitudes. After all, Chinese people are changing as well. I recall the Japanese governments taking steps in the 1960s to 'civilise' their people, who had a negative perception in global markets. The Japanese government launched an education campaign to change those perceptions. Today, the Japanese have Hollywood-style romantic notions of love, civility and respect. Whilst they don't convey the deeper significance of those values; its fair to say they have grown whilst Westerners have declined. The same trend can be expected for the Chinese. I've seen news of similar programs in China. No doubt they will prosecute spitting, etc, just as they did in Singapore. Travellers to China will experience even old ladies spitting in the streets. Not the most pleasant of habits in over-populated cities. 

NZ Property Guide Philippine Real Estate Guide Japan Foreclosed Guide

Author Andrew Sheldon| Applied Critical Thinking | www.SheldonThinks.com

Tourist safety a concern in New Zealand

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Most people would expect NZ to be a safe country. We come to expect small, rural based economies to be safe. But consider the statistics and you might think otherwise. Living in NZ I have as a matter of routine come to hear about injury to tourists, whether its sexual assault, murder or a bashing. The performance of tourist operator organisations strikes me as just as pitiful. There seems to be a litany of stories about:

1. Kayakers drowning

2. Planes crashing

3. Bungy jumpers dying

It made me reflect on this recent statistic. The story is that there are currently 15,000 arrest warrants outstanding in NZ. That struck me as a very high number. So high in fact that I wondered what was typical. I could not find statistics for Australia, but I did for Britain. In Britain, a country with 12x more people, there are just 30,000 outstanding arrest warrants. So the fact that NZ has 15,000 arrest warrants is a little concerning. 

The reason this is concerning is because it suggests that 0.36% of the population is 'at large' in NZ compared with just 0.06% in Britain. The implication is that there are more threatening people around you, who are:

1. More likely to be anxious

2. More likely to be hostile

3. More likely to seize your motor vehicle & and possibly apprehend you

4. More likely to  raise the stakes and threaten your physical well-being, as well as your psychological comfort, by escaping from capture.

In a nation, where tourist campervans predominate, one might expect these people to be particularly at threat. Tourists are also appealing targets for theft and crimes against person. Asian tourists who are often perceived as submissive, are an even greater target for such people. The flipside is that tourists will stay in certain 'safe' places, whilst others will expose themselves unknowingly. It is not reason not to go to NZ; but it is a reason for risk management. Moreover its a reason for the NZ government to do more to lower this statistic. Of course there are both short term and long term threats:

1. Short term - they need to start taking more proactive steps to apprehend these people

2. Long term - They need to increase the fairness of the justice system; our legislative framework, and they need to address the grievances of those people, so they are less likely to escalate grievances to crime.

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NZ Property Guide Philippine Real Estate Guide Japan Foreclosed Guide

Author Andrew Sheldon| Applied Critical Thinking | www.SheldonThinks.com