KEY POINTS:
Time and again, Asian migrants prove they are greenhorns when it comes to facing up to New Zealand's great outdoors.
Masters of urban living they may be - probably because most come from cities and need no prompting when it comes to shopping and spotting the best restaurants - but they become quite the opposite when they leave the urban jungle to get into the real woods.
The scenic beauty of New Zealand often masks the many dangers that lurk beneath, where the unfamiliar and unprepared can fall victim. The great outdoors often becomes somewhat of a danger zone to people who are more familiar with shopping than tramping.
Two weeks ago, a group of international students learned just how merciless New Zealand's winter weather can be when their car crashed into Lake Wanaka. The car, driven by Nur Haryani Mohd Hatta, a 24-year-old Singaporean student, skidded off the road and plunged into the lake, killing her 20-year-old Malaysian classmate, Veronica Tan.
Both were students at Otago University, and it was reportedly Nur's first time driving in such wintry conditions. Reports said black ice may have led to the car skidding out of control.
Was the Singaporean woman even aware of such a thing as black ice or had anyone told her that the weather there could go from sunshine to heavy snow in half an hour? Could the accident have been avoided had they been more prepared?
The relationship between Asians and nature gets worse when it comes to swimming and the sea. Drowning of people of Asian ethnicities increased from 7 to 12 per cent between 1995 and 2002. WaterSafe Auckland says most of those drownings could have been prevented.
One such incident is the drowning of Chinese migrant Wen Hai Wei reported in today's issue of iBall. The 37-year-old went to Muriwai to fish off the rocks with his buddy Alex Chu, 41, a migrant from Malaysia. The weather took a sudden change, but both failed to recognise it as a sign to stop fishing and get out.
A huge swell came and dragged Hai into the sea. Alex tried in vain to save him, but he was no match for the massive waves, which he said looked like the inside of a washing machine. Hai drowned, and his body was found five days later at the same spot where he went missing .
In the old days, the superstitious would say that the way these lives were lost was fated but, now, we know better than to believe that.
Mother Nature does not demand human sacrifices and yes, it is humanly possible to put an end to such tragedies. We can do it by increasing awareness about water and outdoor safety among migrant communities and for them to commit to taking extra precautions.
WaterSafe Auckland has shown initiative by producing a DVD promoting safety in pools, boats, beaches and when rock fishing, recorded in English, Chinese, Korean and Cantonese and distributed free to all organisations working with migrants.
Perhaps the next step could be for the Immigration Department to start a mandatory workshop for all new migrants to introduce them to the many aspects of New Zealand's outdoor environment.
Migrants, especially those from Asia, have grown up in environments completely different, and often do not understand many things that Kiwis take for granted.
I remember the first time I went canoeing here. It was at the estuary in Waiwera and, having been a Sea Scout who had canoed around islands in Singapore, I thought I knew everything there was to know about canoeing. But when I capsized, I was unprepared for the fast-flowing undercurrent of the outgoing tide.
Had it not been for a Kiwi friend who came for me with his canoe, I probably would not be here today writing this column. Unfamiliarity makes newcomers underestimate dangers and overestimate their abilities.
On what was Auckland's coldest day of the year last week, I was talking with a Malaysian tourist at Sky City. We talked about the weather and she said she could not understand what the fuss was about temperatures dipping to two degrees that day.
"It's free air-con, what!" said the woman, who had arrived from the sweltering, 35-degree heat of Kuala Lumpur. She was wearing a long-sleeved polo shirt and did not have a jacket and intended to walk from Sky City to her motel in Parnell.
I advised her against it, but she insisted it was no problem because she always slept with air-con on full blast at home. I wished her luck. She needed it, at the casino and on the long, freezing cold walk to Parnell.
Maybe the workshop on New Zealand's outdoors should be mandatory for Asian tourists as well.
* lincoln@iballmedia.co.nz
