NiuZila: Land of full fat milk and welfare money

My wife and I have recently returned back from a trip to Los Angeles, USA and Mexico.  We definitely aren’t high rollers or anything.  We don’t travel long distances too often (trips to Samoa and Australia or not included, because it’s all in the same back yard!) namely because we can’t afford it.  But those occasions when your savings allow us to, we try make the most of it - coz when’s the next time we’re gonna be in Mexico or London or Bangkok?

Anyway we were in LA to board a boat cruise that went along the Pacific coastline of Mexico and back… and it was awesome!  I reckon that’s the way to travel. 

Firstly, if you’re gonna fly for 12 hours in a plane to your holiday destination, why not travel by water where you wake up every morning in a new port?

Secondly, as a Samoan, I loved the idea that all meals are paid for, and that the cruise ship had 24 hour buffet food outlets, six restaurants and international menus!  My wife mocked me that I would need to declare the extra baggage I had gained around the stomach area when flying back to Niu Sila.

Lastly, these cruise ships are getting bigger and bigger.  They ain’t ships, they’re massive floating hotels.  Within the 12 floors there was a casino, 3 pools, 6 spa pools, 4 night clubs, all the restaurants, an auditorium etc.  I swear, there were times where we’d only left our room for 15mins and come back and all our bedding and towels had been replaced.

There were 3,500 guests on board catered to by 1,200 crew members!  A moving city!

Mexico was amazing!  The cruise stopped at the touristy ports.  But like I said, we don’t have the kaching to do much shopping or the hard out adventurous tours ashore, so we were limited in what we could experience. 

However, we did have enough pennies to do a tour at one of the ports that took us inland to a city that was 160 years old.  Driving away from the city centre it reminded me of Samoa in many ways - the tropical vegetation, the brown skinned locals, the pot holes in the road, the bbq stalls along those pot holed roads etc. 

We were constantly being mistaken for Mexicans - “¿Habla usted español?”  Although I do know a little Spanish, I always responded in English, for the fear they would launch into a full conversation, and I wouldn’t be able to keep up with the translation in my head ha!  I would think in my head when trying to bargain with stall holders: “what’s eight again? Seis, siete, ocho… Ocho!”  And man, they sure love to bargain in Mexico. 

Our first two items we bought, we probably got ripped off - totally our own fault.  But by the end of the trip, some of the stall holders were visibly frustrated at our pushiness in bringing the price down.  And if ever there was a time I appreciated the fact my wife and I speak Samoan, is when we’re bargaining in foreign countries.  The stall holders know English, and follow the conversations tourists would have with each other on whether they should buy a product off the stall holder or not.  However, my wife and I would have spitfire conversations in Samoan to each other from one side of the market at the other - “Fai aku sefulu kala”  “Laikiki kele, ae a le sefulu lua?”  “Leai, fesili aku pe e lava le sefulu kala.”

To the intrigue of some Mexicans, they would ask what language we were speaking.  “Samoan.”  “Oh, where is that from?”  “Samoa, near New Zealand.”  “Where’s that?”  At that point I laugh and I feel like saying - What?  You don’t know where New Zealand is?  New Zealand?  Aotearoa?  The land of the long white cloud?  The land of Lord of the Rings?  Once were Warriors?  Jake and Beth?  You know the All Blacks?  Man, we are an obscure little nation tucked away at the bottom corner of the globe.  I had no hope of explaining where Samoa was if people hadn’t heard of New Zealand hehehe.

Every now and then we had random people say to us random things as we walked passed.  We’ve had a few people say “Mahalo” or “Aloha”.  Close, but not quite.  A coupleof people said “Kia ora”, with one Mexican adding on “Tena Koe? Haere mai.” gesturing we enter his stall.  I was pretty impressed with that guy, unfortunately we were in a rush and couldn’t stop.  An African American man, thought we were “Tong-gan”.  Man, he was almost dead right… so near and yet so far.  Then one day, out of the blue an old palagi lady on the cruise turned around said, “Samoa?  Are you guys from Samoa?”  Amazed at her accuracy, we grinned widely and say “Yes, we are Samoans, although we live in New Zealand.” 

She replied “You’re a long way from home.”  Shortly after that conversation my wife and I sat down to have lunch trying to figure out how the little old lady knew we were Samoan.  My wife stared at me, then suddenly whacked my over the head and said “Look at your t-shirt!”  I forgot I was wearing my ‘Samoa mo Samoa’ tee that day hehehe.

A lot of people did stare at us, I guess because they haven’t weren’t familiar with the beautiful Polynesian physique haha!  We were brown - but not Hispanic.  We were a lot bigger in size than others, but my wife and I are not obese.  We weren’t bothered - just means on this massive ship we’re unique!  I guess the inquisitive look we received are the same looks us islanders give the new Somalian families that have moved into our neighbourhoods.

By the tenth day on our holiday, we began to feel homesick.  We missed seeing familiar faces, not only our friends and family, but missed seeing our own people.  As we disembarked from the cruise I was saddened we hadn’t spent and wouldn’t spend more time in LA.  I was also surprised we hadn’t met any Samoans our whole trip, although we were staying in a hotel in Long Beach.

However on our last day, my wife and I decided to go to a mall in Willow to have lunch before going to LAX.  We walked passed an L & L Hawaiian BBQ shop, and thought we’d try it out, and see if it was similar to the L & L in Otahuhu, Aukilani/Auckland.  As I busily looked at the menu, licking my lips, and I asked my wife pretty loudly “Auoi, ou ke fia ai.  E lava ka kupe?” (Man, I am hungry.  Do we have enough money?)  After a week of speaking Samoan to each other without worrying about people eavesdropping into our conversation, my wife looked embarrassed and whispered something back to me.  As we had entered the shop my wife had immediately noticed people who she thought could be Samoans.  And sure enough, as I turned around I saw that a young Samoan guy had heard me and giggled with his sister.  Man I was shamed hehe.

Another Samoan lady greeted us and asked if we were from “out of state”.  She welcomed us, after telling her we were from Niu Sila - yip definitely from way out of state!  That whole lunch meal we sat eating and talking, smiling.  Because at the same time we could hear a couple of lo’omatutua (elderly women) talking in Samoan about this person and that person at church; a few minutes later one of the younger Samoan boys walks to the door to greet some other Samoan boys “Malo uce!” 

Yip - not only did the food taste the similar as back in Otahuhu, but there were familiar people in L & L’s too, albeit with an American twang added in.  I felt like I was back home already.

Have you ever noticed how there are people who on one hand are willing to pour their hearts out when confronted with images of poor starving third world children, yet on the other hand curse and damn the poor in their own town or city?

Charity may begin at home, but aslong as it is out of sight, out of mind…

The current National Government won last years general election on the promise of tax cuts.  These tax cuts are to come in on 1 April.  However, those who are going to benefit the most from the tax cuts are the rich.  Economic commentators have already pointed out that if the tax cuts were to act as an economic stimulus then it should be given to those likely to spend it.  The rich are generally inclined to save the tax cuts, where as the less fortunate would spend it just to help cover living expenses.

Realising the folly of the April tax cuts, Prime Minister John Key has asked the rich to give their tax cuts to charities.  Of course the better solution would’ve been to redirect the tax cuts straight to the poor rather than hoping the rich will donate it.  National realise that option would’ve been a political nightmare, because tax cuts is what they campaigned on, after criticising the previous Labour Government.

But the Prime Minister has included his Public Relations spin to it saying he wants to create a culture of giving like the one he experienced in his time in Amelika / America.  But the American culture of giving is based on the fact that the State does not provide a safety net or public welfare, as the Niu Sila / New Zealand Government does.  The health care system in the US is appalling, education favours the rich and the gap between rich and poor is enormous.

Furthermore, the American givers receive larger tax rebates than here in Niu Sila, pointing not a culture of “giving”, but a culture of “giving because you get some back”.  That’s not the type of culture of giving many New Zealanders would agree with.

So pulling back PM John Key’s spin, we are still left with his plea for the rich to give to the poor.  The PM is a millionaire after making his money as a merchant banker, so he can rightly point to the large amounts he donates to charities.  But even his actions can be critiqued.

The PM is also a Member of Parliament for the largely rural electorate of Hobsonville.  The previous Government had earmarked a 167ha site in Hobsonville, which was previously used as an Airforce Airbase, for housing development to ease the land pressures in the growing Aukilani metropolitan city.  It was intended to be an intense housing development with a mixture of housing catering to high and low income earners, including 500 State houses.  It was one of the most well-planned comprehensive developments in Niu Sila history.

But PM John Key promised before the election that no State houses would be built in his back yard.  And today, reports came out confirming that the Hobsonville development has no plans for State houses, at all.  Not only does this smack of elitism and arrogance, it goes against his PR spun image of being a centrist, a pragmatic person who goes against ideologies and picks what works.  Here was a prime opportunity to create a neighbourhood that has learnt from the planning mistakes of the past, and forms a cohesive society with a mixture of all peoples of all incomes and all ethnicities.  Now it’s just another rich man’s suburb.

So while he urges the rich like himself to give to the poor, it’s as long as they aren’t his neighbours. 

Out of sight, out of mind…