Asian immigration into New Zealand as an aspect of globalization

Introduction

Immigration can be described as an area of important national and regional importance which has attracted well-known interest and concern (Appadurai, 1996). Treaty of Waitangi contributed much to the number of Europeans migration to the country therefore paving way for other people especially Americans and Asians.  In the New Zealand history the debate about the number of migrants has been well politicized since the issue is of global interest. Asians started arriving since 1990 and as a result of this opposition has been experienced in the country. The parliament of New Zealand regulated that no more Asians were to migrate to the country but the law was later abolished. For example research on the number of immigrants have been ignored thus there is no specific data or records for the number of immigrants in the country. The paper will describe Asian immigration into New Zealand and various criticisms as a result of this as well as impact the immigration has on globalization and culture of New Zealand.

According to Appadurai, there are various results of globalization such of exchange of culture, ideas and information spreads well due to involvement of the media. Appadurai has named out five scapes that comes with globalization which are related to the issue of immigration in New Zealand according to this paper (Appadurai, 1996). The first scape is named as ethnoscapes which can be described as peoples’ movement with easiness or availability of adequate transport to their destination. This can be depicted in New Zealand since the Asian immigrants are transported in bulk numbers. The Chinese are the highest in numbers and skilled since New Zealand advocates for the skilled immigrants who will be of great significance to the country in terms of economical gain. The Asians use public means of transport in New Zealand especially the buses which are major forms of public transport. Public transport is used mostly in Asia, china especially because of its highest population rates and thus New Zealand adopted use of public transportation which is more economical (Johnson, 2006). This clearly shows that Asian migration has had positive influence in New Zealand in terms of economic development and cultural changes. This scape therefore shows that easiness of transportation is one way of promoting globalization and in turn ensure development both culture and economic wise. Most of the migrants are skilled people therefore indicating that they contribute positive ideas towards development of New Zealand which many New Zealanders fail to see. Most New Zealanders view Asians as less significant people who just increase their population and fail to see the developments that come with this skillful people from Asia.

Mediascapes is the other scape of globalization which is described as movement and involvement of the media globally therefore spreading information and showing various cultures of different nations (Appadurai, 1996). It shows different cultures of nations globally as one way of promoting globalization. For instance, in New Zealand the media has been involved in the issue of Asian migrants where it views them in a negative manner. The media spreads information all over that the migrants have not contributed towards development in the country but instead they come to buy property in New Zealand which would have benefited the indigenous people. The media shows that Asians only come to buy land in the country which would have been used for other purposes of development. Thus the people are against the Asians since they see them as threats because they are interfering in their property and land. The media therefore plays a major role in the perception people have on the Asian migrants. The media fails to give positive information on the migrants therefore triggering people to discriminate them and view them as threats of development which is not the case. The migrants are skilled people who have migrated to New Zealand since the population in their countries is overwhelming and thus given the chance they can impact positively on the economy of New Zealand (Hunter & Tan, 2010). The media argues out that Asians only stick to their own way of life instead of adapting to the culture of New Zealand which makes most New Zealanders feel uncomfortable. The Asians choose not to speak English which is the language used by other people including migrants from other countries. This makes people view them as arrogant people who have only come to New Zealand mainly to benefit themselves and change the culture of the people. People are not comfortable with the increasing numbers of Asian migrants and thus the media supports people through showing the negatives that come with the government allowing the migrants (Hunter & Tan, 2010).

Technoscapes is the other scape used when discussing globalization and can be described as movement or flow of information and technology from one country to another. It involves involvement of many countries towards technology development which in turn promotes globalization (Appadurai, 1996). For instance Asian migration to New Zealand has promoted technological developments since Asia is a developed continent especially China and Japan and many more countries in the Asian continent. Asian migration into the New Zealand has been of great positive influence towards development in the country since the migrants are skilled people with technological advancements (Hunter & Tan, 2010). These people if well supported can advance New Zealand and ensure it remains development. The Asian continent is well known since it is rich in natural resources such as oil and thus if New Zealand fully supports the migrants massive development can take place. Thus the government feels that the Asian continent is of great help to New Zealand but the people because of being influenced by the media are against the government’s decision to bring in more Asian migrants since they feel that they are even competing for opportunities with them such as employment. The media needs to show positive influences of the migrants towards technological developments in the country since in the past years it has only shown the negatives of the migrants therefore causing fewer chances of the Kiwis to integrate with the migrants (Hunter & Tan, 2010). The media fails to show the positive influences that Asian migrants have on New Zealand especially technological advancements especially in the education and transport sector.

Financescapes is the second last scape that influences globalization and can be described as movement of finances or money from one nation to another. This movement has been widely politicized globally since most nations want to promote economic developments in their countries (Appadurai, 1996). Asian migrants have positively impacted on the economic developments in New Zealand which the media fails to see. The government however supports the migrants and ensures they integrate well with the people since they value the Asian continent since they benefit from it in terms of economic and technological developments. The Asians achieve more in terms of education even while in New Zealand and thus are important people in uplifting both cultural and economic developments which will in turn uplift the living standards of the country (Carr, 2004). The media therefore need to support the migrants by showing how positively they have impacted on the economy New Zealand instead of describing them in negative manner all the time. The Kiwis are just influenced by the media and therefore fear that the Asians will take their place which is not the case. The Asians are there to promote economic development which they do through purchasing land and property which was not being used and rather using in for business purposes which in turn impact positively on the economy of New Zealand (Hunter & Tan, 2010). Thus this immigration has promoted positive developments in New Zealand in terms of globalization since the country’s living standards have improved. New Zealand has also created business ties with most of the Asian countries which is a positive economic development.

Ideoscapes is the last scape which has an influence on globalization and is described as the exchange of political ideas from one country to the other or else one area to another (Appadurai, 1996). Most of the countries in the Asian continent are not politically stable and thus the media is scared that this might affect the stability of New Zealand. Thus the media does not support Asians migration into New Zealand since instability may result. The Asian continent however does not involve itself in matters affecting the stability of New Zealand since Asians migrants follow the rules and regulations in the country. Asians contribute positive ideas towards development in all sectors especially economic development and promotion of education which in return contribute to stability in the country (Glowsky, 2004). By abiding to the rules and regulation they find in New Zealand, Asians promote political stability since they have to adapt to new rules they were not entitled to in their former countries. This shows that Asians promote globalization by spreading positive aspects of their culture to the Kiwis and ensuring they do not interfere with the culture of the people. The migrants try to integrate themselves with the local people even though the people do not support them. They continue with their process of ensuring development takes place in the country and therefore maintaining and promoting political stability.

Conclusion

From the above discussion it is clear to conclude that immigration in to New Zealand by the Asians has contributed or rather promoted globalization. Immigration has promoted spread of ideas and culture as well as promoting political stability in New Zealand. The media has made people believe that Asian migrants are a threat to the local people which is not true since Asians have promoted economic development in the country. Education and transport sector have also benefited since the migrants are skilled people with different skills and they ensure development takes place in New Zealand. The migrants learn to adapt to the rules and regulations in New Zealand as one way of showing that they respect the culture of the local people. This shows and implies that Asians have promoted development in all sectors and thus spread ideas and trade from New Zealand to the Asian continent thereby promoting globalization.

References

Hunter, M. G., & Tan, F. B. (2010). Technological advancement in developed and developing      countries: Discoveries in global information management. Hershey, PA: Information             Science Reference.

Johnson, H. M. (2006). Asia in the making of New Zealand. Auckland: Auckland Univ. Press.

Appadurai, A. (1996). Modernity at large: Cultural dimensions of globalization. New Delhi:        Oxford Univ. Press.

Carr, S. C. (2004). Globalization and culture at work: Exploring their combined glocality.           Boston ; Dordrecht [u.a.: Kluwer Acad. Pu

Glowsky, D. (2004). The academic discourse about new Asian immigrants in New Zealand.         Munich: GRIN Verlag GmbH.