Signs of a struggle in 'little Asia'

By MATTHEW TORBIT AND MATHEW DEARNALEY

The changing face of Northcote is reflected in its shop fronts, many of which have adopted Asian language signs.

But not everybody in the suburb feels comfortable with the new look.

"I just wish all the shops didn't have so much foreign signage," retired Northcote resident Valerie Aitken-Smith said yesterday.

"We laughingly call it little Asia."

The suburb has become an overnight symbol of strained race relations with new Asian immigrants in Auckland, after a group of elderly Chinese revealed a spate of racially motivated attacks against them in yesterday's Herald.

Ms Aitken-Smith said she was not aware of any racial tension in the area. But she did say that "young louts" were possibly targeting members of the Chinese community.

Other opinions around the shopping centre were mixed.

Retired Northcote resident Rose Shewan, 74, said: "I have been here 46 years and have never come across any racial disharmony."

Johnny Li, a 36-year-old computer programmer from Northcote, echoed the sentiment.

"In my experience Northcote is generally very peaceful."

But Takapuna housewife Jen Chou, 45, said she had heard Northcote was not safe.

"Older members of the Asian community are easy targets for crime.

"I do not feel safe here."

Twenty-one-year-old student Lin-Hu Yang, from Northcote, whose home was burgled last year, believed criminals targeted Chinese.

"They think we have just come from overseas and have a lot of money.

"They broke in because we were Chinese."

Mr Yang also said more and more Chinese were having their cars stolen.

Northcote community leaders will discuss the rash of suspected racial attacks on elderly Chinese residents at the inaugural meeting tomorrow of the Northcote Central Development Group Trust.

Trust spokesman Francis Rawiri said he was surprised and concerned by the Herald report of 14 alleged cases of abuse recorded by the Chinese Association of North Shore City.

These included complaints from an elderly couple that teenage girls hurled eggs at them, while hissing "Chinese, Chinese", and from a 69-year-old man too scared to leave his home since a youth hit him with a road cone.

Mr Rawiri, who also chairs the Hato Petera College whanau trust, said that he had always considered Northcote a racially tolerant community and was concerned by any allegation of assault.

He believed his concern would be shared by the rest of the development trust - a partnership between the local community, North Shore City Council and Housing New Zealand.

"I can assure you this will be one of the main topics," he said.

Mr Rawiri said he hoped the recent recruitment of a community constable would help to deter further attacks.

Human Rights Commission spokesman Mervin Singham said recent research by the agency showed that Asians were seen as the ethnic group most likely to be discriminated against in New Zealand because of language barriers or for cultural reasons.

The Auckland Ethnic Council was yesterday trying to contact the North Shore Chinese Association to offer support.

Council secretary Gul Zaman said elderly immigrants were especially vulnerable to racism.

They were often isolated at home with limited English language skills.

Younger family members had greater chances of making contacts needed to adjust to life in a new land.

A New Zealand-born Chinese council member, David Wong, said elderly Chinese who had immigrated to support family members tended to enjoy this country as a whole but expressed "bewilderment" at the behaviour of teenagers here.

New Zealand-China Friendship Society stalwart Tom Newnham said he had heard of no similar attacks against elderly Chinese in central Auckland, where locals joined immigrants in Potters Park, Balmoral, and a nearby school each weekend for English language exchanges.

This followed a public meeting attended by hundreds of people seven years ago to support new settlers after criticism by New Zealand First leader Winston Peters.