Thinking about Samoan and Chinese immigrants' children and their futures (Children of migration)

 Children of migration (review)

Samoans come to New Zealand with the hope of good education and better life. Most of them come to New Zealand with their children and later have more children. Deep in their heart, they always want to go back to their home town after they get rich, for they worship their homeland for ever.

However, the lives in New Zealand are not always the same as they expected. Before they come, they dream very positively about the lives ahead, but after coming, they begin to find that they are bond to the hard work and have very little time for their children. The only time for them to be together is on Sunday, when, parents go to the church together with their children, and then enjoy a moment of peace.

In real life, Samoans respect their family life, no matter how much success they have got, they want to share with their families; no matter how far they are away from their families, they always think that their families are their soul. Samoans’ parents could do all kinds things for their children, and the children are taught to be kind towards their parents, which are very same habits like Asian.

Actually, after many years in New Zealand, the children have grown up and they slowly find New Zealand is their real hometown, and eventually, the parents could not return back to Samoa anymore, for the sake of their children. Generation after generation, Samoan become New Zealand’s kiwi, their life have been blended with the local. Only one thing has not been changed, their culture, their original culture, passing down mouth to mouth, they still keep their own customs and habits within their circles. They are half Samoans and half New Zealanders in their hearts still. This may be the results of all immigrants.

This reminds me of Chinese immigrants in New Zealand. Chinese belongs to a very small minority in New Zealand, and they have very different culture and habits with local people, so they also feel very boring and lonely in New Zealand. The motivation for their immigration to New Zealand is children’s education and future. China is developing very quickly, but its basic facilities are still needed to be improved, so, many parents want to try more advanced western education system in New Zealand. Same as Samoans’, Chinese children develop more and more Kiwi styles and choose to stay, so, their parents may have to stay in New Zealand forever, which is out of their own original perception.

I once ask some Chinese, whose grandparents immigrated to New Zealand from Old China, what did they think about China. They shake their heads and said they did not have any ideas about their roots, for no one told them anymore, their parents may remember some, but with the development of China, they totally did not know what and what, so, at last, they would not ask anymore, the only thing they could relate to China is Chinese Lantern Festival and old family photos, that is all. They are different from Chinese internally.

Time could change everything, no matter you want to accept or not, immigrants’ minds are changing. As long as they live in a peaceful country, they generally think everything is same; they live in the place, then the place belongs  to them, and they worship it as their hometown. The history of immigrants is like the history of human beings, there is no right or wrong, only recognition.

Therefore, as a country of immigration, New Zealand has great cultural diversity, and needs to face many challenges in the future. In order to have a peaceful and prosperous society, all immigrants are responsible for the acceptance of other people’s culture, so, people of different diversity could understand and respect each other. In the future, they may care about the same thing, attend the same festivals, and discuss about the same topic of the country, they are kiwi, at least they think by themselves. Just like the present Kiwi, most of them are of English offspring, but they now call them Kiwi, no one call themselves English anymore, for they have already belonged to this country, these Samoan and Chinese are the same as well.