Daily Lessons from Life 06 October 2010 - N.Zealand TV presenter in new race row over Indian official

"N.Zealand TV presenter in new race row over Indian official - Wed, Oct 06, 2010 AFP

WELLINGTON - A New Zealand television host suspended over allegations of racism faced fresh controversy Wednesday for ridiculing the name of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

State-owned broadcaster TVNZ suspended breakfast host Paul Henry on Tuesday for questioning whether the country's governor general, who is from an Indo-Fijian background, was a proper New Zealander.

Footage emerged Wednesday of Henry deliberately mispronouncing the name of Dikshit, one of the officials who has been overseeing India's troubled Commonwealth Games, despite being told by colleagues it was pronounced 'Dixit'.

Henry has a strong of on-air gaffes like calling British Singer Susan Boyle a 'retard', gays as 'unnatural', and accusing a Greenpeace female member as having a moustache."

Well, if not for the Commonwealth Games, we would never had known about this flawed TV host in New Zealand!! The strange thing is that, for me, the Commonwealth Games has passed it expiry, useful and relevant date! Why would anyone who had been colonised in the past want to continue to cling to this past?

Anyway, lessons for me are:

1. racial intolerance is everywhere and can be in any person - educated or otherwise! New Zealand, where I received my university education in 1978-1980 was a relatively peaceful and tolerant nation. It has its own history of racial issue with the indigenous Maori folks and I had a few racist verbal abuses hauled at my university mate and me by drunken thugs racing by in their broken up vehicles. Still, nothing serious!;

2. racism has not much place to put its foot on when the nation invaded by foreigners still have plenty of works around and people are living a relatively high quality of living. In the last 10-15 years, the Chinese and Indian migrants to NZ had supposed increased by quite a bit and in some cities the imbalance in the new immigrants and existing citizens is creating some frictions and tensions. I guessed much like in Singapore recently and in the USA and other so-called developed countries in the world where the locals were up in arms against the foreigners for taking away their jobs, depressing the wages, and soiling the environment, etc;

3. so while racism is originally born of ignorance or fear of the unknown culture and behaviors of the foreigners, it can become one that is embraced by economic reality. Unless the society, especially those urbanized and industrialized one, can create enough jobs with decent wages so that hardworking and honest people can lead a reasonable lifestyle, racism can be an excuse for some people to bring into the big picture before bringing other questionable agenda.

May the Commonwealth Games be a success and that the Henry guy gets back his senses or faces the full consequence of his 'racism'!