PM Jacinda Ardern demonstrates the East Coast wave as an alternative to handshakes.
Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield has been in the limelight recently for his impressive efforts keeping New Zealand informed about Covid-19 — however, another hero has emerged.
New Zealand sign language (NZSL) interpreter Alan Wendt has shone once again, with one American expressing amazement that New Zealand is providing its deaf community with interpreters.
"Look at that: A sign language interpreter at the press conference!" she wrote.
"Deaf Americans have sent thousands of requests for the White House to provide interpreters and have been completely ignored."
This prompted a Kiwi to reveal that our sign language interpreters have been world-famous in New Zealand since the daily Covid-19 press conferences began, before sharing a classic moment involving Wendt.
During one press conference, Bloomfield was asked whether 5G caused the virus, and even though the Director-General's face draws a blank, Wendt's interpretation was priceless.
Our sign language interpreters are World Famous in NZ. One of the classics was when our DG of Health was asked about whether 5G caused the virus pic.twitter.com/bn2N7Ul00w
As Ardern urged Kiwis to practice the East Coast Wave, both she and Wendt showed Kiwis how it's done.
In which the PM's sign language interpreter @alanjwendt delivers the double-header version of the 'East Coast Wave' - slightly more impressive than the PM's own effort https://t.co/Bf3pY3u8sS
Wendt later explained his expertise, saying he had lived for five years in South Auckland, five years in Porirua, and he was Samoan.
Interpreters don’t usu comment in public about our work. We do our job as Deaf people expect and require, their ACCESS is paramount. But for the record, as a kid I 1) lived 5 years in South Auckland 2) then lived 5 years in Porirua. And 3) I’m Samoan #AotearoaHard#FaiFaiPea 👍🏾 https://t.co/2MnESBxEca
On Wendt's Twitter profile, he describes himself as a second-generation Samoan New Zealander and the child of immigrants.
In May he told news outlet TVNZ1 that when interpreting in sign language, "you don't want to mimic the person or ape them in any way but you do want to as much as possible transmit how they're talking and sort of some of the implications behind what they're saying".
NeedToKnow3
Recently, Ardern gave the NZSL interpreters who have been sharing important Covid-19 information to deaf people a well-deserved shoutout for their dedicated work.
"Remember their singular focus is to make sure as many New Zealanders as possible know what is going on, not just here in Parliament, but in New Zealand and around the country," she said.
"I know a few of our sign language interpreters have rightly gone viral, and I hope what will also go viral is our gratitude for the incredible role and important work that they do."
The gesture came after the Deaf Aotearoa and the Sign Language Interpreters Association of New Zealand (SLIANZ) revealed in a statement that the NZSL interpreters were facing added stress from online parody videos and memes that have been disrespectful about their work.
New Zealand Sign Language is one of New Zealand's two official languages, along with Māori.
English, while widely spoken, is not recognised as an official language in this country.
