Post by Kiwi Frontline on Sept 15, 2018 7:29:11 GMT 12
MAORI LANGUAGE WEEK OR WEAK
I’m not sure who or what group of individuals decide things that we are encouraged to reflect on or think about. There seems to be a week, day or month for every social cause you can poke a stick at. Some attract quite a bit of support while others are there to draw attention to a purpose that few are either aware of or care about. Take this week for instance…its maori language week. Generally, I avoid engaging on these types of artificially cheered promotions because you can either take them or leave them. Its up to you. But the newspapers have jumped on board with a range of inducing propaganda to get us to think we might be missing out if we don’t fully embrace te reo and all that it offers us. One editorial – the Press – encapsulated this sentiment with the headline, ‘te reo maori is who we are’. Is it? Really? Does anyone feel less of a kiwi because they don’t speak a language that only 21.3% of maori speak? Do you feel any less of a New Zealander because you don’t play rugby? What makes us who we are isn’t a dead language compulsorily indoctrinated into our school-children – which is what the powers that be would like to do. For a start it’s a denial of freedom of choice to adopt the cultural traditions of who we are.
The editorial goes on to falsely assert that without the maori language we would be deprived of the richness of such concepts as mana or taonga. The simple fact is that many cultures have those concepts fully embedded in their way of life. Certainly, most of the pacific islands do, the native American Indians, the Hawaiian culture to name just a few.
There was also the main story on the front page celebrating a woman whose only link to maori is through her husband for whom the language is important. So, she learnt te reo – and good for her. Most husbands and wives volunteer to learn more about their partners, their culture, thinking and so on. That’s what partnerships are all about. But here’s the thing… she ‘chose’ to learn something of value to her. It just happened to be te reo. For other people it might be scuba diving, golf or a different language. The point is we are free to choose what we want to learn depending on the value we see coming from the acquired skill or knowledge.
Laws are there to ensure that our freedoms are not compromised, and government is charged with the responsibility to maintain that freedom. It isn’t up to government to shape our culture according to their will. In fact, it’s the exact opposite. The government is our servant not master and most of the time they need reminding of that. They will bleat on that we need to resurrect te reo…that it is our obligation to resuscitate a part of our tribal past. The problem is, for most people, it simply isn’t relevant.
Here’s an idea: why don’t the people who want te reo so much go out and learn it? Nobody is stopping them. Let those that believe te reo is a ‘key element of our national identity’ go speak it. But if those same people want to shove their language down the throats of kiwis who have other priorities in life, then we will have lost a much greater element of our national identity...... FREEDOM OF CHOICE.
By Marc Alexander
I’m not sure who or what group of individuals decide things that we are encouraged to reflect on or think about. There seems to be a week, day or month for every social cause you can poke a stick at. Some attract quite a bit of support while others are there to draw attention to a purpose that few are either aware of or care about. Take this week for instance…its maori language week. Generally, I avoid engaging on these types of artificially cheered promotions because you can either take them or leave them. Its up to you. But the newspapers have jumped on board with a range of inducing propaganda to get us to think we might be missing out if we don’t fully embrace te reo and all that it offers us. One editorial – the Press – encapsulated this sentiment with the headline, ‘te reo maori is who we are’. Is it? Really? Does anyone feel less of a kiwi because they don’t speak a language that only 21.3% of maori speak? Do you feel any less of a New Zealander because you don’t play rugby? What makes us who we are isn’t a dead language compulsorily indoctrinated into our school-children – which is what the powers that be would like to do. For a start it’s a denial of freedom of choice to adopt the cultural traditions of who we are.
The editorial goes on to falsely assert that without the maori language we would be deprived of the richness of such concepts as mana or taonga. The simple fact is that many cultures have those concepts fully embedded in their way of life. Certainly, most of the pacific islands do, the native American Indians, the Hawaiian culture to name just a few.
There was also the main story on the front page celebrating a woman whose only link to maori is through her husband for whom the language is important. So, she learnt te reo – and good for her. Most husbands and wives volunteer to learn more about their partners, their culture, thinking and so on. That’s what partnerships are all about. But here’s the thing… she ‘chose’ to learn something of value to her. It just happened to be te reo. For other people it might be scuba diving, golf or a different language. The point is we are free to choose what we want to learn depending on the value we see coming from the acquired skill or knowledge.
Laws are there to ensure that our freedoms are not compromised, and government is charged with the responsibility to maintain that freedom. It isn’t up to government to shape our culture according to their will. In fact, it’s the exact opposite. The government is our servant not master and most of the time they need reminding of that. They will bleat on that we need to resurrect te reo…that it is our obligation to resuscitate a part of our tribal past. The problem is, for most people, it simply isn’t relevant.
Here’s an idea: why don’t the people who want te reo so much go out and learn it? Nobody is stopping them. Let those that believe te reo is a ‘key element of our national identity’ go speak it. But if those same people want to shove their language down the throats of kiwis who have other priorities in life, then we will have lost a much greater element of our national identity...... FREEDOM OF CHOICE.
By Marc Alexander