New magazine aims to bridge gap

By ALAN PERROTT

How many magazines does it take to build a bridge?

Hopefully just one, says Rajini Gautam, editor of Merge magazine, which today becomes the latest addition to the swelling selection of titles aimed at Maori, Asian and Polynesian communities.

"We don't just want to be feel-good and colourful. Merge should be a forum for debate and a place where non-Europeans can present their own stories for everyone. It will be a bridge between cultures."

Or as her publisher, Ajayshri (A.J.) Vasisht, bluntly put it: "We want to help people get a lot less ignorant. That'll get me in trouble, but we want to break down stereotypes."

He wasn't referring only to the white-brown divide, he said. There were just as many misconceptions among the dozens of ethnic groups now established in New Zealand.

Mr Vasisht was fond of one example. A young Chinese girl arrived at the magazine's Freemans Bay office looking for work and got chatting to a couple of the Indian men.

"The guys were saying 'oh, you Asian girls, we always see you guys hanging out with the Kiwis. You fit into New Zealand better than us'.

"But she shook her head and said 'oh no, you guys have much better English. We think you guys fit in better'.

"It was funny because it was the first time any of us had thought about it from the other's perspective."

With almost one in three New Zealanders now leaving the Pakeha box on their census form unticked, Mr Vasisht said the ethnic mix had reached critical mass, especially the number of second-generation immigrants.

From today, Merge will be sharing news-stands with Maori publications such as Mana, now into its 60th issue, Tu Mai and Pu Kaea, and Maori/ Polynesian magazine Spasifik. Its fifth edition also comes out today.

Then there are the 20 or so foreign language newspapers usually found around food halls and Asian shops, 11 radio stations ranging from Mai FM to Radio Tarana, as well as Maori Television and the cultural offerings available on Triangle TV.

"But too many ethnic groups are busy talking among themselves," said Mrs Gautam.

"There's too much one-to-one, either Indian-Indian or Chinese-Chinese. We would like to get people from everywhere reading each other's stories."

About 8000 copies of the first Merge will be distributed nationally this week, but the team hopes to cross the Tasman this year.