Entertainment forms, like the movie Crazy Rich Asians, are helping young New Zealanders connect with Asia. Photo / File
Entertainment forms, like the movie Crazy Rich Asians, are helping young New Zealanders connect with Asia. Photo / File
Growing up, Trezanah MacCauley, a New Zealand-born Cook Island Māori, says she knew very little about Asia.
But that changed for the 23-year-old Air New Zealand flight attendant when she went to high school and started dating her boyfriend who is of Cambodian-Lao descent.
She also developed a love for Korean pop music, and is a member of several social media groups with predominantly Asian members.
MacCauley feels she knows Asia "rather well" but says she is still very interested to learn more about the region and its people.
Like MacCauley, new research from Asia New Zealand Foundation has found that increased personal connections and travel are helping Kiwis to feel more knowledgeable about Asia.
Air New Zealand flight attendant Trezanah MacCauley says personal connections have helped her learn a lot about Asia. Photo / Supplied
The foundation's latest Perceptions of Asia report released this morning found a marked increase in New Zealanders' self-assessed knowledge of the region.
Nearly half, or 47 per cent of those aged under 30 said they knew at least a fair amount about Asia, an increase from 30 per cent in 2013.
Foundation executive director Simon Draper said the findings suggested a turning point in Kiwis' perception of Asia.
"Asia is starting to become more familiar to New Zealanders, but the knowledge and confidence they have gained are coming from a wider variety of sources than we have perhaps seen in the past," Draper said.
"The survey suggests social media and Asian entertainment forms are helping young New Zealanders connect with Asia in new ways."
Draper said demographic and cultural changes meant under-30s were learning more about Asia from their peers and the survey suggested they in turn are passing their knowledge on to older generations.
International travel also played an important role to understanding Asia, with nearly half of those surveyed having lived in Asia or travelled to the region.
Kiwis who had a personal connection with Asia, gained through relationships, language learning, cultural involvement or travel, were more likely to feel knowledgeable about the region.
Increased personal connections and travel to Asia are helping Kiwis feel more knowledgeable about Asia. Photo / File
Most New Zealanders, or 38 per cent said they knew North Asia best, followed by 31 per cent for South East Asia. Just one in five felt they knew at least a fair amount about South Asia.
China is being perceived as being less friendly towards New Zealand than a year ago, dropping 13 points while India and Russia dropped eight percentage points.
North Korea remains the biggest perceived threat to New Zealand, but is down from 56 per cent from 2017 to 31 per cent.
Respondents viewed Australia, the UK and Canada as the friendliest countries, followed by Japan and Singapore.
MacCauley said she learned the most about Asia through personal interactions and social media.
"Through my partner, I learned a lot about his culture and the South East Asian region where his family's from," she said.
"It's just fascinating, and I find the Asian cultures have a lot of similarities to Pacific cultures."
MacCauley said the Asian social media groups she belonged to also allowed her to see issues "through Asian eyes" and helped increase her understanding of the region and its cultures.
The foundation has been tracking New Zealanders' perceptions of Asia since 1997. The latest survey by Colmar Brunton surveyed 2000 New Zealanders in late 2018.
PERCEPTIONS OF ASIA REPORT
• 81 per cent: Important to develop economic and cultural ties with Asia. • 78 per cent: Learning an Asian language would benefit Kiwi children. • 46 per cent: Not enough being done to develop business links with Asia. • Mainstream media main source of information, but social media and pop culture increasing for young people. • 48 per cent: Know Japan is hosting the Rugby World Cup this year.
