02 July 2009

Dialogue between IPC Students and Funding and Community Development Advisor Heather Tanguay

By Shirley Ghozalli. Edited by Moira Blake.

Heather Tanguay (second from the left) during the casual gathering over lunch with IPC students and staff members

On Friday, 26th June, IPC students who have come from different countries to live in Palmerston North had the privilege of expressing their opinions and concerns to a representative from the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs. The person was Heather Tanguay, who is a former Mayor of Palmerston North and now holds the position of Funding and Community Development Advisor.

The visit was part of the department's survey to collect feedback from the immigrants living in Palmerston North, including international students at IPC. Heather has been active in immigrant support assistance since the time when she was the Mayor, and has an important role in linking Palmerston North city with IPC. She was welcomed by IPC President, Prof. Wayne Edwards, and then joined 8 IPC students and 2 staff members for a small casual gathering over lunch. The students were IPCSA President, Greg Ng, and seven IPCSA Nationality Representatives from Japan, Indonesia, Taiwan, Malaysia, New Caledonia, Thailand, and New Zealand.

The conversation was mainly about the public facilities in Palmerston North, such as transportation, health services, and education services and also about job opportunities. The students also described their own experiences, some good and some not. Some students spoke about the difficulties of getting a job just because their English accents are different; others spoke about unfair treatment they received from a few people in the local community. The latter issue is quite disheartening since the community itself consists of people originating from many different countries.

For IPC students, their campus is an international village where one needs to be able to live in harmony with others who come from different cultures. The students agreed that education about other cultures is essential in order to give the local community a more in-depth knowledge about immigrants and in turn make them more tolerant.

"I could share what I think with Heather Tanguay, such as about the bus timetable, which is not really convenient for us, or how sometimes when we walk in the street some young people are rude to us. This is also a good chance for me to practice my English," commented Sheng Min (Jim) Fang, a 2008 student from Taiwan.

Heather expressed her gratitude at being able to listen to the feedback from the students and also to know the opinions of the Kiwi students who live surrounded by many different cultures every day.

This feedback will be assembled in a report and then submitted to the Department of Internal Affairs. This kind of information is also collected in other areas in New Zealand. The reports enable various government sectors to make informed decisions on issues related to immigrants.

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