Lincoln Tan: Society shows only apathy towards Asian crimes

Why don't Asians just go back home," asked Jay Kerr in an email to me. "What have you got to say about the Chinese woman who was charged for producing fake certificates? You Asians are a disgrace, bringing your crimes here with you. Go home. We don't need more criminals to stretch our police resources further."

Kerr was referring to the report on Auckland businesswoman Rebecca Li who is accused of 51 fraud, forgery and counterfeiting charges.

But the seething question asked by some in the Asian community is why mainstream media report only negative news about Asians.

A Taiwanese immigrant believes the media deliberately focused only on bad news when doing stories on Asians, and said because of this, Asians had become victims of New Zealand society's perception of us.

Within the Chinese student communities, much finger-pointing and arrows are being fired about who is responsible for contributing to the loss of face to the community.

After the Herald report on Li's trial was put on to a Chinese website, the discussion forum ran hot about whether Li was from Hong Kong, Taiwan or China.

What good would any of this achieve, I wondered.

Crimes of fraud among immigrant communities are nothing new. The difficulty faced by many immigrants in getting mainstream employment has forced some to look within their own communities for income.

They start student services agencies, immigration consultancies, newspapers and ethnic grocery shops, and market their products and services mainly to people within their ethnic groupings.

The sad fact is that within this group, unscrupulous ones turn to criminal ways to get that money.

Their targets are almost certainly international students or new migrants, groups still unfamiliar with the New Zealand system and with ready cash.

Their criminal actions are fuelled by the perception that laws in New Zealand are lax and that even if they are caught, they will only get a slap on the wrist.

They think their chances of getting away are high if they keep their business under the radar of mainstream society.

In a Herald on Sunday report last year on acts of fraud and forgery within the Chinese community, National MP Pansy Wong echoed the same sentiments.

She said authorities believed the problem was too difficult to tackle, and unimportant because it was carried out against Asian people, and they don't see Asians as New Zealanders.

Wong claimed she had spent years complaining to officials about these scams, but nothing had been done.

About four months ago, I had a taste of the apathy Wong talked about when I was working on a story involving fake New Zealand university certificates being advertised on a local Chinese website.

The police appeared disinterested and did not respond to any of my queries.

After the story was published and a university filed a police report on the matter, I received two calls from them. One was to say they could not start their investigations because their Chinese staff were unavailable, and the second, a few weeks later, was to ask if I could provide them with any leads because the advertisement had been taken offline. If I couldn't they would have to close the files.

In a meeting with the police a few weeks after that, they explained that because of stretched resources, police had to prioritise their work, and fraud cases such as these ranked low on their list.

Last year, the Herald on Sunday reported that advertisements in a local Chinese newspaper offered fake degrees, which were complete with academic transcripts, and services arranging sham marriages and bogus job offers to aid residency applications. Authorities said they were hampered by weak legislation to root out fraud.

Lack of resources, weak legislation - what sort of message does this send to those looking to New Zealand to conduct their illegal activities?

But why should we care, when the victims are likely to be non-New Zealanders?

It would be a big mistake not to because much is at stake. I am not as concerned about the loss of face to Asians as the sort of image New Zealand would get if we continue to ignore such criminal acts.

If we waited until New Zealand gained an international reputation of having tertiary certificates that are not worth the paper they are printed on it would be far too late.

Failure to nip the problem in the bud would be an open invitation for other criminals to look to New Zealand as a place where they can have a field day.

As far as I am aware, Li is the first Asian person to face charges for crimes of such a nature in New Zealand.

This case has shown that New Zealand authorities do act, and have the resources to enforce the law if they commit to it.

I hope those found guilty will get punishments that match their crimes, and that their punishments will deter others considering doing the same.

The message we should deliver is that New Zealand cannot and will not tolerate crime, regardless of who commits them or who the victims are.