Wellington Chinese History

Felicity Wong writes: Wellington City Councillors will this week vote on green-lighting a fundraising campaign to strip the beloved Bond Store of its museum. Nestled in a 1929 page Report is the proposed decision to “relocate” the Wellington Museum to Takina. With no social licence it’s been orchestrated by Deputy Mayor McNulty, WellingtonNZ and Wheako Poneke/Experience Wellington (the Museum Trust that runs the museum). The Trust’s proposal is for a “new modern museum at Takina”. Councillors will vote on it – albeit “in principle” – this Thursday. https://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=183287

A singer-songwriter has released a song about Joe Kum Yung, a retired Chinese gold miner killed by a white supremacist in Wellington in 1905. The story caught the attention of Auckland-based Bangladeshi singer Sabreen Islam, who came across Joe's death in a sociology class. "It really touched me emotionally because I had never heard about this story before. It really broke my heart that no one knew about this history of Asian New Zealanders as a whole" https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/chinese/529562/a-poignant-tribute-to-a-chinese-gold-miner-who-was-murdered-a-century-ago

Born #OnThisDay 3 Jul 1894: Victor Lo Keong (Victor Low) New Zealand #Chinese #Anzac served with NZ Engineers Tunnelling Corps. He is celebrated for having surveyed the Bulford Kiwi at Sling Camp in 1919. He later worked for Ministry of Works in Wellington https://wellingtonchinesehistory.fandom.com/wiki/Victor_Lo_Keong_(Victor_Low)

1918 Influenza Karori Cemetery Project: Agnes Mary Ngan TONG née BECKETT. New Zealand-born Agnes married Ngan TONG in Wanganui. Her marriage to a Chinese man was a rarity in 1915 especially as she already had two children. They moved to Wellington where she died in the 1918 flu epidemic. Her death and burial details were recorded under different names: officials were inconsistent in distinguishing https://1918influenzakarori.weebly.com/agnes-tong.html

Jock Hoe, a New Zealander with Cantonese parents, made a substantial contribution with his work on The Jade Mirror of the Four Unknowns translating and giving an important commentary on this Chinese mathematical work of 1303.   Hoe was a lecturer in the Victoria University Mathematics Department from 1964-1982. https://tapuaka.wgtn.ac.nz/nodes/view/8414

Unlike other language weeks celebrated in Aotearoa, NZCLW does little to involve and empower the community it should be representing. In 2022 Chris Tse collected thoughts from those within New Zealand’s Chinese communities of their relationship to, and memories growing up with, their Chinese language, and their reflections on New Zealand Chinese Language Week. https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/30-09-2022/a-collection-of-thoughts-on-new-zealand-chinese-language-week

I often think about all of the special memories those buildings hold. Mum used to go to events at the Chinese Mission Hall, as did her parents and her grandparents, and numerous Aunties, Uncles, and cousins...

A recall alert from New Zealand Food Safety: Wu Xian Zhai brand Vegetarian Beef and Bean Curd snack products are being recalled due to the presence of undeclared allergens (egg, gluten and wheat). People with an egg, gluten or wheat allergy or intolerance should not consume these products. https://www.mpi.govt.nz/food-safety-home/food-recalls-and-complaints/recalled-food-products/wu-xian-zhai-brand-soybean-snacks-recalled-due-to-the-presence-of-undeclared-allergens-egg-gluten-and-wheat

#OnThisDay 1 July 1936 Pensions Amendment Act 1936 came into force. 'Asiatics’, including Chinese, Indian, Syrian, Singhalese and Lebanese, became eligible for Old Age Pension. https://wellingtonchinesehistory.fandom.com/wiki/CHRONOLOGY_OF_POLL_TAX_AND_OTHER_ANTI-CHINESE_MEASURES#Old_Age_Pension_Act_1898

On Kee & Co was a Fruit, vegetable and general merchandise store listed on page 1250 of the 1913 International Chinese business directory of the world in Wellington, however no location is listed https://wellingtonchinesehistory.fandom.com/wiki/On_Kee_%26_Co

@NZChineseGenealogy@mastodon.nz it was published in 1999, I believe (although no date of publication anywhere)

When New Zealand netball historians set out to learn more about the first coach of the Silver Ferns, they didn’t even know her first name. Their journey took them from the netball courts of Wellington to the Central Otago goldfields, revealing a story of immigrant labour, poverty, marginalisation, and a young woman finding her sense of self through volunteer sport. “She is very likely New Zealand’ https://interactives.stuff.co.nz/2020/11/silver-ferns-coach-history-mrs-muir/

Asian communities nationwide are marking mid-autumn celebrations in their own ways. The celebrations fall on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, a time traditionally associated with harvests and a full moon in the Northern Hemisphere. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/chinese_english/1557261/how-new-zealand-s-asian-communities-celebrate-a-mid-autumn-festival-in-spring

The kidnapping of 14-year-old Gloria Kong in June 1983 scandalised the North Otago town of Oamaru. After she escaped, attention shifted to the hunt for her captors, whose identities were a mystery. Part 2 of 2. https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360708962/you-can-help-hunt-gloria-kongs-kidnappers

@NewZealandChinese@mastodon.social I feel that it was a bit of a mistake for Nigel to allow the CLW Trust to use his essay on their website, as they still put all their money and effort on Mandarin, but can point to this page on their website and claim that they are encompassing other Chinese languages too.

The very simple Maramataka and Chinese lunar calendar conversion table - Jack Yan writes: When I first started commemorating Matariki a few years ago, I had figured out, since both ancient Māori and Chinese worked out the lunar calendar, that it was roughly five lunar months after ours. https://jackyan.com/blog/2022/06/the-very-simple-maramataka-and-chinese-lunar-calendar-conversion-table/

Chinese Fruiterer Fined - In the Magistrate’s Court at Lower Hutt Ngan Cai Chong, fruiterer, Jackson Street, Petone, was fined £2 on each of two charges of selling apples at a price one penny above that authorised by the Director of Price Control. #OnThisDay Hutt News July 6, 1949 https://wellingtonchinesehistory.fandom.com/wiki/Hutt_News_%E2%80%9CChinese_Fruiterer_Fined%E2%80%9D_July_6,_1949

Lost Lives on the Goldfields, a talk by Dr Charlotte King – hosted by the Friends of the Hocken Collections, 20 March 2024.  The discovery of gold at Tuapeka (Lawrence) in 1861 led to the rapid influx of people from across the globe to Otago. The lucky among them struck it rich, but many others succumbed to the harsh conditions of the goldfields and left few records about their lives behind them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8k35y5XBzXY

After the dramatic kidnapping, ransom and escape of Gloria Kong in 1983, Oamaru was consumed by a week-long manhunt for the perpetrators. It led to four arrests and a 42-year legacy that has scarred the collective memory of the North Otago town. Part 3 of 3. https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360707205/it-was-over-finished-long-shadow-gloria-kong-kidnapping

Lower Hutt's market gardens were once so bountiful that they supplied more than half of Wellington's vegetables. The story of New Zealand's market gardens, and the place the Chinese community had in it has been recounted in a new book, Sons of the Soil, by authors Lily Lee and Ruth Lam. The 550 page book has a chapter dedicated to the Hutt Valley featuring prominent local https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/local-papers/hutt-news/7879708/Market-gardens-story-told-in-Sons-of-the-SoilMarket

Chinese voters reconsider allegiances after Peters’ racist remarks Hundreds unite in a social media group to call on Peters to be sacked as foreign minister after verbal attack on Green MP Lawrence Xu-Nan. www.rnz.co.nz/news/chinese-english/874066/chinese-voters-reconsider-allegiances-after-peters-racist-remarks

Northern Advocate #OnThisDay 11 July 1910: Charles King & Frank Dean burst in upon three Chinese in their hut at Paraparaumu, demanded money at the end of a revolver. Chinese fled in terror. Boys left soon after without having taken anything from house https://wellingtonchinesehistory.fandom.com/wiki/Chinese_Held_Up,_Northern_Advocate,_11_July_1910

Bev Moon is also the artist behind the "Fortune" knitted yum cha exhibition https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/culture-101/audio/2018905751/a-yum-cha-feast-for-aotearoa-history

Bay of Plenty Times reported #OnThisDay 22 July 1901: Chinese immigrants. Wellington, Saturday: The Chinese Immigrants Bill passed its second reading in the House of Representatives https://wellingtonchinesehistory.fandom.com/wiki/Chinese_immigrants,_Bay_of_Plenty_Times,_22_July_1901

Moon Festival returns to Auckland with giant lanterns and a taste of Asian cultures - Falling on 25 September this year, the Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival or Reunion Festival, is one of the most important celebrations in the Chinese calendar, alongside the Spring Festival. Families traditionally gather for dinner, share mooncakes and spend time together under the full moon. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/chinese_english/1511921/moon-festival-returns-to-auckland-with-giant-lanterns-and-a-taste-of-asian-culture

Toitū Otago Settlers Museum - Chinese Pioneers in New Zealand - Facetime, Guangdong TV - 2017 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk572eCxrlY

#OnThisDay 5 July 1881 the Chinese Immigrants Act was passed, a result of New Zealand's settlement policies which aimed to create a Britain of the South Seas. Archives NZ holds some of the "Entry Butts" for Chinese immigrants arriving in New Zealand. https://www.flickr.com/photos/archivesnz/9203666115/

I’ve never talked about it, but Winston Peters also told me to go back to my own country – Raybon Kan https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/ive-never-talked-about-it-but-winston-peters-also-told-me-to-go-back-to-my-own-country-raybon-kan/JQOTKCD7HBD3RKEOHOBFGX4Q4M/

Joe Lim, located on Miro Street, Ohakune, was listed on page 257 of the 1944 Wellington Provincial Trades Directory under the category Market Gardeners. https://wellingtonchinesehistory.fandom.com/wiki/Joe_Lim

Premises in Main Street, Pahiatua, occupied by Wong Hee, a Chinese fruiterer and greengrocer, were burglariously entered some time #OnThisDay 9 July 1922 and a sum of money said to be between £50 and £60 was discovered to be missing. https://wellingtonchinesehistory.fandom.com/wiki/ROBBERY_IN_PAHIATUA,_PAHIATUA_HERALD,_10_July_1922,_Page_5

Appearing at the rear room of shop owned by a Chinese, Ah Lai, in Pirie Street, at 11.30pm on Friday, two masked men armed with revolvers demanded his money, then severely manhandled, gagged & tied him up. Star (Christchurch) #OnThisDay 18 July 1932 https://wellingtonchinesehistory.fandom.com/wiki/Chinese_Shopkeeper_Alleges_Assault

@NZChineseGenealogy@mastodon.nz I've been looking at these books at the Wellington Library, so will try to see if there's an entry for them when I go in next time https://wellingtonchinesehistory.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Stones%27_Wellington,_Hawke%27s_Bay_and_Taranaki_Directory

Pahiatua Star and Eketahuna Advertiser #OnThisDay 30 June 1893: On Wednesday morning at Greytown a Chinese storekeeper discovered a young snake in the middle of a bunch of bananas. It was paralysed with the cold, but was alive, and was soon despatched. https://wellingtonchinesehistory.fandom.com/wiki/Pahiatua_Star_and_Eketahuna_Advertiser,_30_June_1893,_Page_2

#OnThisDay 25 July 1907 Chinaman named Joe Chong Lee of Martinborough is bankrupt. Unsecured creditors represent liabilities of over £1000. Estimated deficiency is over £300. He attributes his bankruptcy mainly to unprofitable partnership with a Māori. https://wellingtonchinesehistory.fandom.com/wiki/A_BANKRUPT_CHINAMAN,_Bush_Advocate,_25_July_1907

Located on Mansfield Road, the third property from Riddiford Street, in Newtown, Wong Tann's Market Garden was listed in 1878 as one of the first market gardens in Wellington https://wellingtonchinesehistory.fandom.com/wiki/Wong_Tann_Market_Garden

#OnThisDay Wairarapa Age: 28 Sept 1922: Masterton police have rounded up a band of six local boys who are alleged to have broken and entered a Chinese fruiterer’s shop and stolen a sum of money. The lads will be brought before the Court at an early date. https://wellingtonchinesehistory.fandom.com/wiki/Local_and_General_(1922,_September_28)_Wairarapa_Age,_4

‘I'm still here, don’t remarry': Documenting the past through 'simple' remittance letters. A surprise Chinese box-office hit that has been screening in Auckland this month has documented the rich history of remittance letters that migrants once sent to their families back home. "Dear You", a low-budget film shot in the Teochew dialect of the Min Chinese language, recounts the story of how migration led to the creation of a distinctive remittance network across Southeast Asia. In New Zealand, the film introduced audiences to the history of remittance records and related documents that were sent by overseas Chinese migrants to their families. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/chinese_english/728646/i-m-still-here-don-t-remarry-documenting-the-past-through-simple-remittance-letters

Matariki Matarau is our new series following the diverse stories of non-Māori across Aotearoa united in their pursuit of te reo Māori. Hei ākuanei whakapāho ai ki MĀORI+ | Paraire 10 o Hūrae - Episode 1 - Eda Tang https://youtube.com/shorts/-UM2l9z2kuQ

Born #OnThisDay: 16 September 1895 Clarence Eric Kee. Service number: WWI 62699. New Zealand #Chinese #Anzac who served in Western Europe in World War One. Before embarkation he lived at 27 Martin Square, Wellington https://wellingtonchinesehistory.fandom.com/wiki/Clarence_Eric_Kee

One night in June 1983, masked gunmen burst into the Kong home just outside Oamaru and abducted the family’s 14-year-old daughter, Gloria. For 36 hours, her kidnapping, ransom and escape was an extraordinary secret. For 40 years since, it has scarred the collective memory of the North Otago town. Part 1 of 3. https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360530795/take-girl-kidnapping-gloria-kong

Five Wellington sites could have heritage status removed or changed. The five heritage sites are the Karori Tunnel, Kelburn Viaduct, the former General Headquarters Building at the corner of Taranaki and Buckle streets, and the Miramar oil tank. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has also announced that he will also look at the height restrictions in the Courtenay Pl heritage area. https://www.1news.co.nz/2026/08/03/five-wellington-sites-could-have-heritage-status-removed-or-changed/

A "WHITE" UPPER HUTT, Hutt Valley Independent, #OnThisDay 12 July 1919 "We feel inclined to compile a list of persons who patronise Chinese traders. Its publication would be of great interest. You don't need to buy your fruit and vegetables from a Yellow fellow – there are Beverage, Dalton, Jones and Peterson, clean, reliable and WHITE. You needn’t send your washing to a Chow – there https://wellingtonchinesehistory.fandom.com/wiki/A_%22WHITE%22_UPPER_HUTT,_Hutt_Valley_Independent,_12_July_1919

NATIONAL PROBLEM: REPATRIATION OF ASIATICS Waipukurau Press #OnThisDay 24 Sept 1932: WELLINGTON: 1457 signatures on a petition presented to Parliament today asking for the immediate repatriation of all Asiatics, especially Chinese & Indians. The petitioners give as the principal reasons for their request “In order that Asiatics may be replaced in their occupations by approximately 10000 to 12000 of our own men and boys who are at present unable to earn a living. https://wellingtonchinesehistory.fandom.com/wiki/National_Problem,_Waipukurau_Press,_24_September_1932,_Page_5

Wong Wah was listed on page 97 of the Stones' Wellington, Hawke's Bay and Taranaki Directory September 1912 to September 1913 under the category Fruiterer, located at 85 Molesworth Street, Thorndon, Wellington. https://wellingtonchinesehistory.fandom.com/wiki/Wong_Wah

Weekly Review No 69 (1942) four young people talk of Christmas & new year hopes; William Wah, the New Zealand Chinese community's first university graduate, who became English Secretary for the NZ Chinese Association & Wellington community interpreter https://youtu.be/SYqhxENSzo0

Executive summary: the contents don't achieve the stated aim on the cover. I bought it for $10 and don't think I got great value for money.

#OnThisDay 29 June 1940 SICK AND WOUNDED Evening Post: #Wellington provincial contribution to the Sick, Wounded, and Distress Fund is reported at £110,636 1s 11d. Returns include from members #Chinese community of £236 14s 6d https://wellingtonchinesehistory.fandom.com/wiki/SICK_AND_WOUNDED,_Evening_Post,_29_June_1940