Barrie Davis: Indiana Jones Cries Fowl

Dear Perzen Patel,

I read your piece “NZ Indians have been silent on the butter chicken row. So I’m speaking up” in the Sunday Star-Times today (here). If the Indians have not mentioned it, I can see a good reason why.

You say, “I’ve lived in New Zealand for 18 years. Yet, whenever the inevitable ‘where are you from’ question comes up, I hesitate. Am I Kiwi today or am I Indian today?”

On first acquaintance, I find the colour of a person’s skin the most interesting thing about them, and if there’s a story to go with it, all the better. The maligned “where are you from” question is more pertinent than the banal “how are you?” That’s the last thing I want to know. So, if people ask, “Where are you from?” tell them who you are in all its complexity, if you want. They did ask!

Also, forget about being a ‘Kiwi’, that is just a woke attempt at social engineering by propaganda. The fact is that New Zealand has one of the most diverse populations in the world with a wide variety of cultures. Claiming that there is a unifying ‘Kiwi’ stereotype is to ignore the reality.

What we all need to be individually doing is working within our diverse society to develop social cohesion. Your culture is your business and my curiosity, but together we need to have common objectives politically and economically. Whether we get there eating pork and potatoes or butter chicken is a separate issue. But lack of social cohesion is a present problem for New Zealand which needs addressing.

Certainly, immigration must be controlled and there is an expectation that immigrants will fit in with our way of life. That is, after all, the reason immigrants come here: The country that the British colonists built is one of the best in the world and we want it to continue that way.

I also expect that heritage New Zealanders are aware that immigrants are now doing jobs which they no longer want to do. We can see that Asians, including South Asians, are doing more than their fair share of sustaining our service industries.

Granted also, that you have a juggling act to fit your heritage into the relatively new country you now live in. But that is not really a difficult thing to do unless you make it so. If you are positive about it, you will find it an interesting challenge which provides satisfying results. Be aware that you live in the best of possible worlds, in time and in space.

Now, Shane Jones openly says he gets “cut through on debates by deploying hyperbole,” which means deliberate exaggeration, not to be taken literally. So, in this example, instead of “There is an increase in visa approvals from India due to policy settings,” he says “A butter chicken tsunami.”

Hyperbole is a recognized rhetorical tool in politics which determines how people feel about an issue before they think about it. Any possible problem gets lost in the rhetoric. Instead, Jones is deliberately using metaphorical images to get noticed and provoke a response, which is cut through. In an election year, there is only one thing worse than being talked about… But, he has moved the conversation away from technical policy and towards identity, values, and emotion.

Note, also, that the media have further exaggerated his manipulative language by repeating it in their content and selecting it for their headers. They have also added the views of politicians and community leaders who called Jones’ comments “distasteful,” “racist,” “unacceptable,” or “disrespectful”. (e.g., here and here) For the media, hyperbole is a strategy, not just a communication style.

Don’t forget that, underneath all this humbug, the vast majority of New Zealanders do not unfairly discriminate on the basis of race or culture. The racists and sexists here are few and far between. New Zealand really is an egalitarian nation.

I therefore suggest the reason why ordinary Indians, and other ordinary people, do not talk about Shane Jones is because they sense his motive. To respond is to bring attention to his rhetoric, and participate in a non-literal, meaningless discussion, including in the media, which diverts attention from any possible problem with immigration.

So, I suggest to just ignore Shane Jones, especially at the election.

Barrie Davis is a retired telecommunications engineer, holds a PhD in the psychology of Christian beliefs, and can often be found gnashing his teeth reading The Post outside Floyd’s cafe at Island Bay.