“Sorry,” “arohamai,” “对不起,” “ma bad.” Kiwis tend to over apologise for everything – sorry for being late, sorry for moving your bag, sorry for ever so slightly scuffing your foot on the bus. But what about when ‘sorry’ really means something? The Poll Tax was a tonnage restriction and tax on all Chinese arrivals to New Zealand from 1881 to 1944. Fourteen years agoContinueContinue reading “Started from the Bottom Now We’re Here: 14 Years Since the Poll Tax Apology”
Author Archives: Kristen Ng
Chinese New Year (Chunjyeah!)
Ayi Wan Lin phoned on the weekend. Forgot to reply to that text, flicked it away for later consideration while the eternal online shopping hole of Taobao was draining my essence. Chunjie seems to creep in just as you’ve been blobbing into the festive glow of Christmas, New Year’s and a self-administered hangover period. It’s chill. Then you realise that laowai holidays didn’tContinueContinue reading “Chinese New Year (Chunjyeah!)”
Why Being a Home Tutor In China Will Lead to Obesity
Andi has just turned four-years-old. She likes Barbie, Hello Kitty and rabbits. I teach her at her home twice a week for two hours. Dinner is included. I somehow knew January would be the month I’d find a job. January has been a buzzy one, as Januarys tend to be. Bowie died. Rickman died. The dude from The EaglesContinueContinue reading “Why Being a Home Tutor In China Will Lead to Obesity”
VIDEO: Orchestra of Spheres + Lady Lazer Light | ‘Rotate’ Live in Beijing
Behold! Beijing’s bogan paradise – where no one’s body is a temple and nobody ever leaves sober. Coated with a delightful lustre of Jager, coffee shots and projectile vomit, Temple Bar is discreetly tucked away in an upstairs building off Beijing’s Gulou Dong Dajie. Following a packed out show at School Bar the night before, Beijing’s WeChat feeds were wagging about theContinueContinue reading “VIDEO: Orchestra of Spheres + Lady Lazer Light | ‘Rotate’ Live in Beijing”
Favourite Releases 2015
From Wellington stoner country to Beijing glitch hop, 2015 was packed with awesome releases from both New Zealand and China. Here are fifteen Kiwese favourites! Illustration by Ali Pang. With Knees of Honey in Goodbye Canyon by So Laid Back Country China (Wellington, NZ) So Laid Back Country China (or 很放松乡村中国) is a four-piece band fronted by Harriet Ferry andContinueContinue reading “Favourite Releases 2015”
Favourite Shows 2015
What makes a ‘good show’? The artist? The venue? The crowd? Here is a list of ten shows in chronological order that left an impression on Kiwese this year. “Music, in performance, is a type of sculpture. The air in the performance is sculpted into something.” – Frank Zappa To me, live music is a symbiotic relationshipContinueContinue reading “Favourite Shows 2015”
Jack Body in China: Interview with NZTrio and Gao Ping
To celebrate and share the works of the late, great New Zealand composer Jack Body, the NZ Consulate-General in Chengdu and long-time friend, composer and pianist Gao Ping 高平 invited the NZTrio to perform at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music this month. Kiwese attended a press conference (oooh) with Gao Ping and the lovely folk from NZTrio: Ashley Brown (cello), Justine Cormack (violin) and SarahContinueContinue reading “Jack Body in China: Interview with NZTrio and Gao Ping”
Mian Mian Says
Mian Mian 棉棉 is a writer from Shanghai. A mainstay of the 00后 Beijing-Shanghai art community, Mian Mian’s confessional blog writings published in On High In Blue Tomorrows《于忧郁的明天升上的天空》 are scattered with bands, albums, films, poems and lyrics, some of which I have collected here for you to enjoy. There is something about trawling that I like. The thrill of a bargain geneticallyContinueContinue reading “Mian Mian Says”
KIWESE 