1 Captions by Tom Pedlar. Edited by June Yeow. www.able.co.nz Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2016 UPBEAT MUSIC Morningside is a postage stamp-sized Auckland suburb sandwiched somewhere between Eden Park and a mighty big shopping mall, with a railway track running through the middle. But don't think that this place doesn't have heart. After all, this neighbourhood was immortalised by the animated TV series bro'Town, and it's home to a mixed bag of over several thousand people, including me. When I was a kid, everyone thought I was Chinese. When I reached high school, they thought I was Indian. Now, depending if I have a mo or not, they either think I'm Mexican or Samoan. In fact, I'm actually Filipino. But being a cultural chameleon like myself, I feel very at home in a community as diverse and accepting as this one. In this episode of Neighbourhood, we'll get invited inside a treasured venue built by the first Polish refugees to NZ. (SPEAKS POLISH) (SPEAKS POLISH) It's a joy to get together because we didn't have our own personal families. We count one another as brothers and sisters. And if anyone is in trouble, we're there. A Baptist minister shares his vision for the Morningside of the future. Places that people who follow Jesus live in, they should get better. They should become more full of grace and peace and love and truth. And so part of our thing is how do we` how do we out-work this faith we have in a real context, not just in a` in a faith community context. We'll listen to a local DJ demonstrate his love of Indian folk music. (SINGS IN HINDI) At the end of the day, if you can leave a mark in someone's heart by saying something, by singing something that makes a difference in the other person's life, that is the most important factor. And we'll enjoy the kind of family feast that keeps homesickness at bay. There is a debate between Greece and Turkey about baklava. Turkey is saying that it's their dessert. Greece is saying it's our dessert, you know? My name is David Correos, and this is my neighbourhood. RELAXED MUSIC My parents moved to Christchurch in the '80s, and it wasn't very diverse back then. I remember when I was in primary school, I called the N-word for the first time when I was 8 years old, which didn't really make sense, cos I clearly look Asian and not African-American. It was like they had some kind of racial random-abuse-generator built into them. It's weird, eh? RELAXED MUSIC But it's pretty cool because I've been able to turn those experiences into a career in comedy for me. I think my biggest claim to fame so far is, uh, is this stupid Miley Cyrus costume tutorial video. It's gotten just under a million views. But I promise, most of my material is about the culture clash that I had as a Filipino growing up in NZ. It's pretty crazy, the things you take from your culture as a child and how they apply later on in your life, from your choice of career to the love of music you have, and for this local DJ at a Hindi radio station, it's pretty much the same thing. My name is Dev Sachindra Prasad. I was born in, uh, Fiji, Suva. I came to NZ first in 2011. Uh, I came here because my mum, younger brother and sister live here. I came with my entire family, and I started working here for, uh, Humm 106.2FM, and I've been here since then. 106.2FM. Your hottest Auckland's only Hindi FM radio. (SPEAKS HINDI) 'My on air persona would be a very flirtatious and a very cheeky boy 'who does all this leg-pulling stuff.' In a relationship, no matter what the guy does for the girl, she will never be happy. Uh, you know, (SPEAKS HINDI). Who is it your dating? Some girls from Mars or where? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. So, listeners, come on, you have to back me up. RADIO: Top six at 6, playing the top six songs of the day. I think, um, a lot of listeners are actually surprised because I'm going to take part in a bhajan competition. Listeners go, 'Whoa.' It's like, you know, 'This cheeky boy has another side to him.' So, yeah, basically, I sing tambura bhajans, uh, which, uh, in very simple terms would be, um, folk or religious folk songs. TABLET: (SINGS IN HINDI) Bhajans ` tambura bhajans ` are performed in prayer ceremonies. Uh, it is also performed in places where there's funerals, there are certain days of rituals. And, uh, it is also done in a larger scale where, uh, there are competitions held. TABLET: (SINGS IN HINDI) So, uh, this is, uh, when I performed the bhajan competition in Hamilton. TABLET: (SINGS IN HINDI) This is the trophy, actually, um, when I took part in, um, Hamilton, this was given to me with a certificate and, uh, this was, um, given to me when I took part in the bhajan competition against Fiji's number one. I come, uh, from a very religious background. I think everyone back in Fiji, or even back in India, have their, uh, religious and cultural values, and I think we all, uh, have that. So, um, today we having practise over here, and, you know, the set up is very much like and actual bhajan competition. Um, me and my friend, just to give me a feel of how there's an opponent sitting there and how I would react and how, uh, things would be. HINDI-FIJIAN RELIGIOUS MUSIC PLAYS (SINGS IN HINDI) So, a tambura bhajan competition, or a bhajan competition, is, uh, like a debate. (SINGS IN HINDI) It is all about putting your point across and standing your ground and supporting your argument. (SINGS IN HINDI) So' basically, I'm talking about` I have a very strong point of view about 'God lies within every living being. 'And I'm going to go with the theme, and I'm going to state my case that this is what it is all about.' (SINGS IN HINDI) The competition will be amongst the two artists, the way they sing, the theme they are talking about or the topics they have taken, and how good they are in, uh` in delivering the message. (SINGS IN HINDI) Bhajan competitions actually go for five hours, or even more than that. Of course, back in Fiji, it is on a very large scale. Uh, up to 5000, 6000 people would come there. MELLOW MUSIC I know, probably, 20 to 30 bhajans. And I'm still learning, uh, that's not enough. I think that's enough for, uh, a couple of bhajan competitions. But it's not about competitions, even. It's, uh` It's about what you believe, what you stand for. At the end of the day, if you can leave a mark in someone's heart by saying something, by singing something, that makes a difference in, uh, the other person's life, that is the most important factor. So, I think that is` That is what I go for. ALL APPLAUD MELLOW MUSIC Did you know that Lorde recorded the Grammy award-winning song 'Royals' right here in this studio? In Morningside. You know she's 19 and killing it on the world stage? I'm so jealous. MELLOW MUSIC My dad met my mum at my mum's late husband's funeral. Cos my dad obviously thought, 'Well, she's gotta be single.' Now, I know that's not the best start, but they are actually both massive inspirations to me. Especially my mum. MELLOW MUSIC My mum was a midwife in the Philippines, and she ended up getting caught in a war between the Filipino government and the New People's Army. She was suspected of being a commander in the area, and she was actually held in the barracks for three days without anyone knowing. Hearing stories like that from my parents makes me really appreciate how awesome and safe Morningside is. It's a place that's getting a little bit more heart every day. Morningside ` it's been a place that, kind of, didn't exist apart from bro'Town, where there was this 'Morningside for life' slogan. Um, outside of that, it was` it was like, 'What is Morningside?' There was a train station, and people knew that. But there was no, kind of, heart to it, um, outside of it. And so it seemed to be a neighbourhood where people, they slept in beds in the neighbourhood, but they would live in other neighbourhoods. And so part of our thing was how do we try and` and help people to live in this place, you know, and to feel like they belong, to feel like they are locals, uh, and they're engaged, and they have some pride in it. I'm Nigel Cottle, and I live in Morningside. I live with, uh, my family ` my wife, Cathie, and my daughters Anais, Portia and Trelise. And next door to us, in the same building, we have the Bradleys. And, so, our two families bought this building about nine years ago and, um, moved into the neighbourhood. We just wanted to create, um, a sense of belonging in the area. We've wanted to love an area and, um` and, so, we moved into this community to do that, to just, uh, random acts of kindness continuously and try and make this neighbourhood a better place to live. So I run Crave Cafe. The Crave Cafe is set up by a collective, and its primary purpose is make the neighbourhood a better place to live. Um, I'm registered, a Baptist pastor in the Baptist Union of NZ. Yeah, so I` I spent 10 years before moving in here as a youth pastor in two different Baptist churches. And so part of this is` is my attempt to live out my faith in a practical, meaningful, um, expressive way. Hey, guys. ALL: Hey. Sweet, how's biz? < Good, man. Yeah? What are you guys up to today? Chilling. Hanging out with that guy. We don't have a lot of churchy staff or things like that, and it's` cos it's not about that, you know? Um, the point is not come to the cafe and we're going to try and convert you into something. So, that's not` Um, we just wanna make this neighbourhood better, you know? Oh, these places that people who follow Jesus live in, they should get better. They should become more full of grace and peace and love and` and truth. And so part of our thing is like, how do we` how do we out-work this faith we have in a real context, not just in a` in a faith community context? So, the cafe works that we give all of our profits away. And so we have a, kind of, ratio that 80% go back into the neighbourhood and 20% go into the global poverty stuff. Everyone that works in the business gets paid. But people can volunteer. And so, yeah, if people wanna, kind of, get some work experience or` We have a relationship with the drug courts, and so we'll take some people who have, you know, been making some bad decisions but are trying to make good decisions now. We run a suspended coffee system. You buy a coffee for someone in need. And essentially what we've done is we've partnered with a few different organisations that administer to the poor and needy or the less fortunate in the neighbourhood. Our little problem right now is we probably have a few too many suspended coffees bought than we can distribute, which is an awesome problem to have. We're` Like, it fills me with great pride, um, to have a neighbourhood that is so generous to` to those that are less fortunate. MELLOW MUSIC So we try and bookend summer, um, with street parties. So we'll have one at the start of December and one at the end of March-ish. The idea with the street party is just to get neighbours, you know, out of their houses and sitting together around, you know, some food, some fun ` bouncy castles, that kind of thing. And` And just engaging. We want the neighbourhood that you live in to be the best neighbourhood in Auckland, which just happens to be one of the best cities in the world, right? And the only that we're going to do that is by building the neighbourhood that we want to live in together, OK? We actually started the street parties before Crave even started. Uh, it was just` We just wanted to talk to the neighbours you know, and` and get everyone connecting. Yeah, so, we` The first one was a pig on a spit out on the road. We weren't quite legal in terms of how we closed it, but, you know, yeah, it was good. I found Julian, and, uh, you know, we` we live in the same street ` just over the hill here and we didn't know that, so` That's right. Uh, it's a lovely thing to meet Julian and, um, make this special acquaintance today. Exactly. Yeah. Living in a city can` can make it a little bit harder if you're not prepared to get out there and chat to people, I guess. Everyone's kind of transient, in and out of their different places and going to work during the day and that type of thing, but I think the big thing is just be prepared to` to get up, chat to your neighbours, hang out, make yourself available. And if you can do that, I think people are keen to meet. There's not objective data that you can use to say, you know, how're you going with connections in the neighbourhood? No one measures that. So it comes out of the stories, and we're just seeing more and more stories of connection. And there's different communities that exist and there's online communities, but there's something about your geographical neighbour community that is something special, you know? And it is a` It's a treat to walk around your neighbourhood and feel like you belong and feel like you're a local and` and this is your place. I know I don't look like an athlete, but I actually used to be an Olympic weightlifter. I almost made it to the Commonwealth Games, but in my last competition, I actually broke my ankle. But that's all good, though, because at least I can call myself NZ's strongest comedian, which is a pretty good combination, especially when you have a bad gig. My parents always told me that I got my confidence from my granddad. When he was young man, he bluffed his way on to a ship as a chef, and then left as an engineer. That's not too bad for a kid that left school in the third grade. Us Filipinos love our elders. We respect their wisdom. But we're not the only ones around here that honour the older generation. (SPEAKS POLISH) (SPEAKS POLISH) (SPEAKS POLISH) (SPEAKS POLISH) (SPEAKS POLISH) This is our beautiful Polish house. And we are so proud of it. So proud. This is the place where we can meet together, enjoy one another, and relax a little bit. (SPEAKS POLISH) It is a joy to meet up with some of the orphans from Pahiatua. (SPEAKS POLISH) Oh, we hug one another. We kiss one another. We never stop talking. We` We act like a family. Members of the family. I tell you the story about our deportation during the war. That war broke out between Germany and Poland. Only 17 days after the war broke out, the Russians walked in and took half of Poland. During the night they came up and break in and we had to get dressed and go. My brother was the eldest, my sister, and I was the baby. I was only 16 months old when they deported us from Poland to Russia. They put the Polish people into hard labour camps. That was our fate ` living in these camps under guard, never able to leave the camp, and extremely harsh climate and very hard work and very little to eat. When we were taken to Siberia, the camp commandant used to say, 'This is where you're going to die! This is where you're going to die!' That's what he was telling us all the time. And another thing that he used to say, '(SPEAKS POLISH)' ` 'who doesn't work doesn't eat.' Dad dug his own grave, hole. And by the end of it, he got shot after when they finished work. Turned around, and he was shot in the head. And collap` you know, died then. My sister, my brother and myself, we were left as the orphans. 733 Polish children arrived in Wellington on the 1st of November 1944. And from there we went to Pahiatua camp. We were coming on the train to Pahiatua, but the train stopped at just about every stop, and the schoolchildren used to meet us with the ice cream, lollies, and they were, oh, absolutely wonderful. We've never so many children ` NZ children. It was most exciting. We were so elated, we could say, 'Thank you, thank you, thank you.' That was all that we could do. We had everything we wished for. Good home, school, food and care. Here, as you see, a group of children. I am among them. The very last one on the left. For us it's a joy to get together because we didn't have our own personal families. We count one another as brothers and sisters, and if anyone is in trouble, we're there. (SPEAKS POLISH) There are lot of Polish children, um` well, they've grown up now ` they haven't` they don't even imagine how their mothers and fathers looked, cos they were very very small. We used to meet in Victoria St, a building that belonged to the Catholic Church. Oh, had afternoon tea and talking and gossiping on everything, just to be together. We decided that we need, uh, something for ourselves. A house. The first idea was that those who can will give one week's wages. And we'll have a little bit of money that way, and on the strength of that, we might be able to get a loan from the bank. So we bought the house and then took it apart and put this one up. ALL SING IN POLISH NZ has done everything for me because my parents couldn't. So, to me, the Polish house is a home. ALL SING IN POLISH My children used to say, 'Mum, why don't I build you accommodation? 'You'll be living here, because you're spending more time in the Polish house than you are at home.' That's true. My heart and body and soul belong to this house. We are grateful to NZ for accepting us. And we thank the Lord that we are still alive. If it were not for God, we would not be here. I am old, but I'm still alive. (LAUGHS) For how long? I don't know. (LAUGHS) RELAXED MUSIC Are you glad that I don't get naked at shows any more? Oh, so much. (LAUGHS) You don't embarrass me any more. So embarrassed when you start taking off your clothes in your show, Dave. I used to be a pretty naughty kid, eh, Ma? Yes, you are. I got a problem with you. Well, what about that time with the vase, Tita Ninang? Yeah, when I told you not to touch my vase and, uh, the next thing I know, you put your head inside the vase. ALL LAUGH Yeah, I was` I was weird, and I was always full of energy and I remember I actually used to get bullied by all the other Filipino kids in the community. And it wasn't actually until I became a teenager till I started making real friends, and by that point I realised they were all Kiwis. I used to actually change my accent just so I could fit in more. Meanwhile, back at home, it was full on Filipino immersion, like, for instance, sometimes we eat with our hands, which is a very Filipino thing to do. Obviously don't do that at a restaurant, cos they'll think you're weird, especially if you're eating soup. But what really amazes me is how much of what we think of as our culture is immersed in the food that we eat... and the people that we share it with. Look at this, Elena. (CHUCKLES) That's Dad. This is me. Yia-Yia Maria, look. Mm-hm. She was young, eh? Mm-hm. My name is Emily Tsaliagou, and I was born in Greece, Athens. Do I look like you? I think I do, Elena. Sort of. (GIGGLES) Sort of? This is my wedding photo. (LAUGHS) Not really liking the hair. I left my parents' place when I got married with my husband, Donald Montes. He's half Greek, half Kiwi. We never thought that we were going to move here. After we had our children, we thought that it's the best place to raise children. So we thought we'll give it a try. Well, today we're at, uh, the Greek community at Morningside for our daughters Elena and Marianna so they can, uh, learn how to read and write, uh, Greek. We obviously talk Greek in our house, but, I mean, they need to learn how to read and write it. (SPEAKS GREEK) (SPEAKS GREEK) ALL LAUGH (SPEAKS GREEK) (SPEAKS GREEK) (SPEAKS GREEK) Well, for me, it's really important for my girls to keep the Greek, um, language, first of all, the Greek traditions. Of course I'm showing them a lot ` for the Greek cuisine, mostly, because it's a very big part of our tradition. Today I'm going to cook baklava. Uh, have to grate the walnuts first. I'm going to make baklava because it's my younger daughter's 8th birthday party. It's a good opportunity to make it, I think. (LAUGHS) I learned how to make dessert through my auntie back in Greece. They own a bakery and she was always making it. Mostly Christmas time. They way I'm going to make it today is a bit different. Put some of that mixture on top. I'm not making it with layers of the filo pastry, but I'm making it as a roll. Back in Greece we call it 'saragli'. That's the name we call that kind of baklava. But it's a baklava ` the same ingredients. There is a debate between Greece and Turkey about baklava. Turkey is saying that it's their dessert. Greece is saying it's our dessert, you know? I don't really think that it's one country's dessert only; it's both country's dessert. When you're making the baklava the other way, with layers, it's much more difficult because you have to butter each filo. I'm going to make the syrup for the baklava. Greek people always want to` to make our food on our own. Yeah, we prefer that than buy ready-made ones. We prefer to make our own. My girls love the baklava. They love it. (LAUGHS) So, whenever there is an opportunity to make it, I'm making it. We're OK, I think. It smells really nice, isn't it? Cinnamon and cloves, I think. (CHUCKLES) RELAXED MUSIC CHILDREN PLAY You know, in Greece, you don't need to have a reason to celebrate. I remember at my parents' place, we were always having a party. Always. A lot of food, a lot of wine, and, um, a lot of, uh, laugh. It was nice. ALL SING IN GREEK One thing that helped me a lot after we moved here was the extended family. Cos my husband has family here, and I can't live without having family around me, you know? Our Greek traditions are really important to us. That's good. That's good. Is it? Are you sure? This is who we are. And I want my children to learn that. MELLOW MUSIC It kind of saddens me that some NZers have to wait to hear a Kiwi accent before they'll give any respect to an Asian Kiwi. And it's horrible to think that if someone's had a bad experience with someone that shares my culture, they'll automatically think badly of me. Trust me, race is irrelevant when it comes to being a dickhead. They're everywhere. It's a global thing. And to quote bro'Town, 'We're honkies, Asians, horis and curry-munchers.' Morningside for life! TRAIN HORN BLASTS RELAXED MUSIC Captions by Tom Pedlar. Edited by June Yeow. www.able.co.nz Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2016