Meng Foon draws on his life experiences with racism as a person of Chinese descent in New Zealand to offer simple guidance to address our present race issues. Through Awareness, Affirmation and Action, each of us can contribute to a more harmonious Aotearoa for the future.
Meng Foon was born in Tairāwhiti, New Zealand to working class migrant parents and he found himself immersed in a community that didn’t look or sound like him. His family’s early toil as market gardeners was profitable in a business sense but more importantly it brought social benefits with the Foon’s connecting with people across the region and from all backgrounds. This grounding and interest in Te Ao Māori (the Māori world view), evolved into a talent of building relationships within and between varied and diverse communities. Meng’s talent led to 18 years as Gisborne Mayor and is now benefiting all of NZ with Meng’s appointment as New Zealand’s Race Relations Commissioner in 2019.
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Made in China - born in Gisborne - working for Aotearoa
Meng Foon was born in Tairāwhiti to working class migrant parents but soon immersed himself in a community that didn’t look or sound like him. His family’s early toil as market gardeners was profitable in a business sense but more importantly it brought its social benefits- with the Foon’s connecting with people across the region and from all backgrounds. This grounding, and interest in Te Ao Māori, evolved into a talent of building relationships within and between varied and diverse communities. It is this talent which was showcased in 18 years as Gisborne Mayor but has taken on even greater with Meng’s appointment as Race Relations Commissioner in 2019. Meng draws on his past experiences to highlight how some of our present race issues can be resolved to create a more harmonious Aotearoa for the future. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx