Immigration

The short story <The Unfinished Fence> make me feel sad. I think there are two main weapons kills Jimi in this story, one is Jimi canoot fit himself into this New Zealand European-dominated society, one is the stereotype of islanders by some white people. In the story, Jimi is always missing his home country Fiji, the letter from his wife is his "only consolation in an unfriendly country". I am also an immigrant as Jimi, he is from Fiji, I am from China, but I think I can understand his feelings very well. Missing the homecoutry is a hopeless feeling, my Chinese friend used to describe the feeling about missing China as "as if been drowned". It sounds very sharp, but I actually quite agree. Living in European-dominated country, I always feel I am an outsider, and I have no where to escape. I have to accept the fact that I am an outsider and I am marginalised. This sort of feeling does not always come to me, but when it comes, it can totally destroy my mood.

As we learnt in class about the Pacific immigration mainly come to New Zealand for a better education and better career, I think to persue a better education and career would be one main reasons for all the immigration in the world. Jimi's feeling of loneliness in New Zealand can reflect a theme that can apply to the world setting about immigrations find hard to fit into the new country. I have some Chinese friends go to study in Singapore, America, they all tell me they miss China very much. I also have Iran, Japanese friends who are studying in New Zealand, they tell that they miss their home coutry.  Feeling lonely, feeling marginalised, it is one of the reason causing Jimi's suicide. Because under this loneliness, Jimi became very sensitive, so he choose to end his life after been insulted.

I researched about the 1970s dawn raid we learnt in class, and I find it miserable. Pacific overstayers are caught in those sudden raid, and been prosecuted. This is serious racism and deep insult to Pacific people. Economic downturn is not a good reason for government to do this, I don't understand why there is not an alternative to solve the overstay problems. Jimi is a Pacific descedant, so he should know this part of sad history. When he is insulted by the two white policemen, he does not protest, does not forgive either, but chooses to end his life. I think Jimi is feeling that racism has never stopped against Pacific people, he cannot see any hope, therefore he chooses death to avoid this unfair world. I feel so sorry for Jimi, this is a very sad story.

Kidnapped

The poem ‘Kidnapped’ was written in 1974 by Ruperake Petaia. He was born on April 11 in 1951 and he is a poet and writer from Samoa who studied at the University of the South Pacific. Western Samoa had been a German and a New Zealand colony before they gained their independence in 1962. Eastern Samoa was colonized by the Americans and is still an American territory.

The poem is written in ordinary plainspoken English, a vernacular voiced poem. It is written from the point of view of a boy, we can assume is from the pacific and probably Petaia himself, which is taking a western education. The poem explores themes about the effects of colonialism and Western influences on Samoan culture and society, it voices the perspective of the colonized and rejects the ideologies of Western imperialism. The text is very satirical and it includes many metaphors. The title “Kidnapped” is a metaphor for when the boy started school, implying that the western teachers (colonists) stole him from his home and family. The ”threats” his parents received and the “ransom fees” they paid are metaphors for letters with bills and school tuition fee. The satire is used to criticize the western education system. He felt like he was forced to take an expensive western education that took him away from his culture. Petaia uses phrases like “Mama and Papa grew poorer and poorer” and “I grew whiter and whiter”. It expresses his frustration over learning from the colonizers at the cost of the loss of traditional Samoan knowledge.

He makes references to politicians like Churchill, Garibaldi, Hitler and Mao. I get the impression that he doesn’t feel that learning about them is relevant to his life. But when he refers to Guevara he says “Guevara pointed a revolution at my brains”. It could be an indication that he felt like revolutionizing against the colonists in his own country.

In the last paragraph of the poem he talks satirical about his “release fifteen years after” from school to “applause from fellow victims”, referring to the other students, with “a piece of paper certifying my release”. It sounds like he is bitter and angry for having spent so much time in the schools and that all he gained from it was a diploma.

The poem explores themes about the effects of colonialism and Western influences on Samoan culture and society, it voices the perspective of the colonized and rejects the ideologies of Western imperialism. One can argue that another theme is psychological colonization. The boy was pressured to take a western education, his parents had to pay for it and the things he learned there probably didn’t reflect his Samoan culture and traditions. A young boy born in the pacific is pushed towards the same mindset as the people from the west that has colonized his home, when he really wants to learn traditional Samoan knowledge. That is a good example of psychological colonization and marginalization of his culture.

            At last I want to mention that Petaia only focuses on the negatives of western education, and not the positives. Although he didn’t want the education and he feels like it took him away from his own culture, it can help him get a good job and it provides knowledge he wouldn’t have learned without taking western education.

The unfinished fence and a long story behind it

Migration is no longer a new term nowadays as many people move to another country and they don’t move for the same reasons. Some people move because they have gotten better jobs, some want to change their lifestyles or some want to reunite with their families. For whatever reason, living in a country with total different cultural background and a foreign language is definitely not an easy thing to adapt to. Moreover, those migrants also face many problems in dealing with new life, new people and new environment. New Zealand is one of the countries with high migration rates and there are so many stories told by people in New Zealand, which is based on their own immigration experience and they remind us that all New Zealanders have a migration story somewhere in thepast. 

***

The unfinished fence
The story is about a Fijian man named Jimi, who came to New Zealand to work even though he was on his three-month tourist visa. The first impression about this man is that he was a devoted family man, who tried to work hard and earn money to send back home. Moreover, he was also a loving husband and a good father as he always thought of his wife and his two children, "he replied to every latter she wrote, always mentioning how much he missed her and how much he longed to return. His wife's letter were his only consolation in an unfriendly country". His sentiment about the new place was possibly based on his dull work schedule ("began at eight o'clock and ended at five, Mondays to Fridays"), his loneliness because he had no close friends or family here but this is a typical things that happens a lot to immigrants, who move to a foreign country where everything is so strange and unfamiliar to them.

The main purpose for them to come here is to work and get the money to send back home, where the living condition is not as good as it in the new place and they think that they can overcome any difficulties to reach the goals they set but sometimes, it’s extremely hard to live by themselves in a new place, surrounded with “strange and indifferent people”, as Jimi had wondered “What if he died while walking on the street! Would someone pick him up? The people all seemed so impersonal to him…” Immigrants like Jimi, especially people who do not have any relatives or family being by their sides in a strange place, always worry about things like that. They worry about getting sick with no one taking care of them and most of all, they worry about getting accidents and dying alone. It's so scary just thinking about it because as a human being, we always want to spend our last moments of our lives in a familiar place with our beloved people around us. No one would ever want to die alone, unless they have to.
Everything here is just so different to Jimi. He felt sorry for Mrs Davidson, the old lady who lived alone on her own and she was also Jimi's employer. While "money she had lots of", she "lived alone in her huge and lonely mansion" because her husband died in the Navy and her children "preferred to live miles away" and "satisfied by sending her money every two weeks". To a man with strong relationship with his wife and children and who has a close-knit family like Jimi, it's obviously hard to understand how people have money but still be lonely. It may be called the culture shock when someone comes to a country with total different cultural background and they find it hard to adapt to it quickly. It may be the way people here they do for a very long time but to Jimi, leaving a mother living alone on her own is something that seems hard to accept. And Jimi somehow was a person who made Mrs. Davidson felt less lonely as he talked to her, had morning tea as "she found a sympathetic ear in Jimi and they often talked for hours". We can see Jimi as a kind man with a good heart as he did things for Mrs. Davidson not only for getting paid but also for making the old lady feel good. Part of his job was to collect the old lady's mail but "Jimi enjoyed doing this because he loved to watch the expression on Mrs. Davidson's face, and he loved to think that he was partly responsible for the happiness of this old lady". This is the excerpt I like the most in the story as it brings the warm affection to the readers seeing the bond between two people from two different countries, two different cultures but they take care of and help each other out.

***

Jimi's story and thoughts remind me of the stories of my fellas, who used to overstay in a foreign country. They told me about their constant worries of getting caught by the police, of being deported and they live every day in the fear of being found out by the authorities and finally being sent back to their home country. Homesickness and the loneliness are not the only things they have to face.They could never be able to truly enjoy their time, mainly because they are always haunted by the fears. They do not harm anybody, but well, at the end, overstaying is illegal and no one is going to protect them if they are found out so they always have to live in the shadow, which is never easy. They have no healthcare. They are underpaid at work. They have to be careful every time someone asks them for their ID. I was thinking to myself "What kind of life is that? When you always have to live in fears and never have your real freedom?" But then I realized, not everyone is as lucky as I am, to be a legal resident in a foreign country. Feeling free to reveal who they are is a luxurious thing that sometimes they have to get with a high price.
And that was what happened to Jimi.
"Jimi stumbled up his steps. He got the key from his pocket, pushed the door and slammed it hard. He leaned on the door, panting.His knees shook; he slumped on a chair". 
At that time...
"He felt a strong urge to relieve himself" and "His mind, his senses seemed to have come alive". This was the moment for him to make a decision. "Jimi jumped".
We never find out about the end of the story to see whether Jimi was caught by those three men or he can escape from their chase but apparently, Jimi will face many difficulties in both situations. If he got caught, he would definitely be deported back to the place he had come from. If he escaped successfully then his days ahead will be buried in fears and insecurities as he knew the police was always searching for him.

***

Even though it's quite a short story with not so many details but it does say a lot about a man's thoughts, feelings and things happened to him when he newly migrated in a country where everything seemed so unfamiliar and everybody was indifferent to him. The story makes me think about many people out there, who are living in a strange country with no family and relatives, who are struggling every single day to make ends meet with the dream that they somehow could help their family out or bring their children a better life.
And I truly hope that one day, all the men like Jimi will find the way to be legally accepted by the country then they can work and never need to worry about hiding or running away from police and the authorities.

New Hebrides / Niuhebridis

Albert Leomala

Immediately we can see how English has influenced the language developed and used by Albert Leomala in this poem. Both the indigenous and the English versions of the poem start with the line “niuhebridis niuhebridis”, which is an indigenous term from Vanuatu. When looking at the second line in the first stanza the author says “you drink wine”, “yu tring waen” and then “and you drink whisky”, “mo yu tring wiski”. The similarities between both versions of the text are undeniable; however this English influence is evident in some words more than others. For example “who’s gonna eat them” and “hu bambae i kakae frok”, it almost impossible to distinguish any English within the indigenous terms.

Albert uses a great deal of imagery in this poem and I think it works well with the language to reference some of the influences of colonisation, such as alcohol. In the first stanza Albert states “you drink wine and you drink whisky but you hate kava” and following this in the second stanza “for they want to plant kava on your land and they want you to drink it”. It seems as though Albert is countering the use of the term ‘whisky’ by mentioning the local and culturally important drink of choice ‘kava’. The way in which he references the term kava within each stanza gives us the impression that the drink has so much more significance to both him and the people of the pacific beyond its intoxicating abilities.

Communicated throughout the poem is a sense of loss. “you have plenty of children but you hate them”, to me this is an extremely powerful, but also very sad line. It contrasts well with the line “because of all your black children ... drink it”, as for me it implies that there is this feeling among the indigenous people that there is a loss or a wanting to go back to something that they are missing that was before. In the third stanza Albert states “i wasn’t born in rhine but in kolo”. This line conveys that Albert is unable to relate to the colonial culture and that the pacific and its people are grieving. “come back to the black child he’s patiently waiting for you” waiting in a sense that these people will always be there. 

Identity

I am born in a British hospital

To a Kiwi mum

To a British dad

I rely

I cry

I want

The only identity I have is gender

I am just a baby like all the rest

I am born as a blank canvas

Five years later I am living in a West Auckland suburb

A ‘westie’ as they say

I have changed

I have hair

Blue eyes

I still need

Or do I just want?

I can read

I can talk

I have begun to become myself

My culture is still the same

When I am ten

I am nasty

At ten I am rude

My identity is trying to come through

It does not care if I am Kiwi

It does not care if I am British

All it wants is me

At fifteen I change

My body

My mind

My intentions

Everything changes

I struggled with my character

Who I am

Who I am to become

At twenty my identity is my existence today

It does not care about tomorrow

It does not care what defines my character

My smile

My sneer

My laugh

It does not care what defines my knowledge

My fears

My hopes

My Birthplace

My canvas is no longer blank

I still have a long way to go

Five years from now

Who will I be?

What will I be?

Because I still don’t know 

Identity

                                              Identity
      
In the poem "Looking thru Those Eyeholes", I think the author is trying express the view that
one's identity is a thing that will not change, it is one's origin, it is the "reality". In this poem, the young artist left his village at very early age, and he finally find his identity at his village within his culture rather than in the big world he had been to in the past.

I can understand the process of trying to find one's identity. Just as I learnt in class, identity is consist of many aspect. For example, I am a Chinese, so my identity is not just about that I have black hair and yellow skin. Identity is more about the value of one society, how people of one race think in terms of different issues in the world. For example, in China, we believe that lovers are organised by one god because we have this ancient myth about one god living in the moon who beings girls and boys together to be lovers. There is a social context behind our ways of thinking.I am sure the author of this poem also has his culture, and has a context behind his ways of thinking. It is through these thinkings, people form their identity. Therefore if one day I want to define my self properly, I will go to seek myself in my Chinese culture, not the New Zealand culture. Just as this artist in the poem, the author make his find his identity at his village.

Family is an important notion in the sense of identity, family is a place that an identity is passed on. So in this funeral setting in the poem, the identity has been passed from the dead father to the young artist. The mask made of half of the father's skull is a metaphor that the artist finds his own identity and take his identity with him in his life.








                                      















                      
                   
                      

Identity

"I'm a theorizing PI
I'm a strategising PI
I'm a published in a peer reviewed journal PI"

But at the same time

"I'm a slot machine PI
I'm a lotto queen PI
I'm tote-ticket church bingo TAB PI"

Does it make sense? It doesn't seem logical but it's the way how things work, the way how Selina Tusitala Marsh sees herself and her own identity.

I was deeply impressed by her poem "Fast talkin' PI", in which she expresses her own feelings and tells people about who she is. To me, Selina has been successfully identified herself, not just in one but in different aspects and she's totally proud of it.

"I'm an independent PI
I'm a flag-raisin' PI
I'm a fa'alavelave lovin' givin' livin' PI"

And

"I'm a lazy PI
I'm a p-crazy PI
I'm a hard drinkin' hard speakin' where my eggs? PI"

Selina considers herself lazy, p-crazy, hard drinking but then she's also independent and a caring living person. That's the thing I love about the poem. It's straight and honest. There's no metaphor in it but still, I can see an imperfect yet loving person and that's what Selina wanted to show people about who she is. The phrase "I am", which is repeatedly used at the beginning of every sentence throughout the poem, emphasizes her confidence about revealing her real personality, her real self-reflection.

She identifies herself by the way she looks

"I'm a red-lipsticked PI
I'm a big-haired PI
a multi-coloured, stilhouetted fafafine PI"

The way she acts

" I'm a dub dub dub PI
I'm a bebo PI
I'm a good lookin', face bookin' hookin' up PI"

The way she expresses her feelings

"I'm a crying PI
I'm a laugh too loud PI
I'm a my jandal your mouf derek-wannabe PI"

She also sees herself "a lover PI", "a mama PI", "a breast-feed till they tell you I'm done now! PI".
However, the poem is not only about Selina. She's a woman. She's a human. And she's also a representative for her country, her peoples. That's why:

"I'm a BA PI
I'm a MA PI
I'm a PhD, BCOM, LLB, MD PI

I'm a bi PI
I'm a gay PI
I'm a cross-gendered, soul-blended, mascara'd PI"

Selina is speaking for everybody, every single person in her community. She understands her background and she's proud to be one of them, to be a PI.
Identity, to me, is no only about the features on your face. It's also about how you see yourself among people. It's about how you feel about the place where you come from, about the environment you was brought up in and about the culture you was initially exposed to. And Selina has conveyed the message about her identity powerfully her writing.
"I know how to be in this world
I know how to feed in its water
I know how to read the stars and sea-birds
I know how to live off poetry
I know how to give it away"
And she does give it away, with all her emotions, her feelings and her love for her culture. And that's Selina - a fast talkin' PI.

My poem

It seemed so unfamiliar to me

Getting to know all the colonialism concepts

And how Europeans people came to carry out their civilizing mission

I found it hard

To understand

To feel

To sympathize

With the people who lived in their own countries

But cannot keep their cultures, their ways of living to pass to their grandchildren

…

And I read the poems

“The Bush Kanaka Speaks”

“Kidnapped”

“A book and a pen”

I recalled stories that my Grandma once told me

About the time when she was my age now

And my country was invaded and became a French colony

Yes, I’m a girl who comes from a small country in the Indochina

That’s how those French colonists called our land

They called us yellow

They called us uncivilized 

They made my people work hard till they died

They were just like the ol les man

In Kumalau’s poem

Sitting on a soft chair and doing nothing

They taught French at school

They built houses with French architecture

They brought to my country their French food that they thought one of the best foods in the world

…

And I was woken up

I realized how different my life would be if those white people never came to my country

I would perhaps be wearing different clothes

Maybe our beautiful traditional costumes

I rarely wear them

Only because I think modern dresses are cool and more convenient

I never realized how beautiful my Grandma looked when she was my age and she had her charming traditional dresses on

I would perhaps go to different schools

Where they teach me the old writing script

A book and a pen

People gave me

I may get a piece of paper called a BA

And another piece of paper called an MA

But I would never get to know well

About my country’s literature hundred years ago

…

I realized

That I had missed a lot

That I should have known more about our own culture

That I should have learnt more about our history

That I should have been more proud of our country, our people

I realized

That I’d never want to be a person with no home

No root

No place to come back

I realized

That how much I love my home land

And how much I want to come back

To see all the endless green rice fields

To feel the spring air

To touch my soil

And to find my soul

At last…

Week1-2 reading

The post-colonial Oceanic literature touches me in its own, unique ways. Through those poem, there are colonial history behind it, and the deeply hurt hearts behind it. That is why lots of these poems have anger in them, these pacific writers are mourning about their culture which is being damaged by Europeans. Just as Wendt mentions in his article that the most outstanding feature defining a literature is post-colonial is that there are thoughts in this literature of wanting to be independent, against stereotyping in the colonial literature. Those Pacific writers are trying to explaining their own culture to their own people, to later generations of Pacific nations.

I feel sad about all these. I can feel the deep love towards their Pacific land behind the angry voices in those poems. In the poem <The Bush Kanaka Speaks>, the author mentioned their normal daily way of living, those ways are laughed by the Europeans but loved by the author. The author wants to shout, to tell all the pacific people that pacific way of living is the thing to be proud of, pacific culture is independent and precious.