Editorial
This is the time of the year when hope overrides despair, merriment takes over the ills at home and everywhere else. Christmas and New Year are always occasions for people to draw closer to each other and celebrate the birth of a new era, if not that of Jesus Christ.
New Year always brings with it the joy of the morrow, the hope of the future and the expectation of something better and more prosperous. The lucky few travel to new places, meeting new people, the less fortunate ones stay at home and enjoy the sunlit beach; or at least catch up on some television.
But concern for safety would reign supreme as the world edges towards war on all fronts. The continuing terrorist attacks in various parts of the world, the reportedly rising number of young men and women from both sides of the Tasman joining the terrorists ruling the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and the rising incidence of family violence are issues of concern to us as a community, society and country.
While we hope to contain these threats through concerted action, there is yet another threat that is increasingly becoming a menace. That is the abuse of social media. Facebook and Twitter for instance have brought the world together enabling people to communicate with each instantly and share information freely and openly.
However, the increasing tendency of some to abuse these platforms to spread hatred and launch personal attacks should be discouraged and action taken against perpetrators. For, their actions stand the risk of increasing community disharmony.
We will address this and other related issues in due course.
As we had mentioned at the same time last year, we would like to predict that 2016 would be a year of recovery, reconciliation, reconsolidation and rehabilitation. The world economy would get on to the path of recovery, contrary to the theories of skeptics and those who believe that we are in for a long spell of disasters.
In our own little world, we would do better as manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, retailers, education providers and so on. We will continue to attract foreign investors, students, migrants and tourists. We will also continue the reversed trend of brain drain and attract more people from the other side of the Tasman and across the world for better economic and social prospects.
We will retain political stability and sanity but continue to debate and disagree on a number of issues and continue to hear a majority of the mainstream media supporting the National Government, failing to keep their balance.
Community engagement
We will continue to speak about celebrating our cultural plurality, social partnership and community engagement.
We will do all of the above because talking is better than not saying anything.
Most important of all, we will remain as good New Zealanders, as we have always been – with passion, compassion, respect, self-respect, the will to work and the will to succeed.
The current year has been different for different people.
To some it was as good as the best years of the past, while for others it was as bad as the end-of-the-world theory.
Much of the world remained under economic and financial stress.
The US economy continued to struggle, worsening the plight of ordinary Americans; more companies collapsed and more people lost their jobs.
The economies of India and China performed far below expectations.
New Zealand had its share of troubles, with more companies and people going offshore and more organisations going under foreign ownership or going bust.
Stagnant Pact
Our negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement with India remained stagnant, with no progress, despite the rhetoric in public domain.
As an official mentioned, “New Zealanders were talking more about it than Indians did in India.”
Despite despair, we continued to smile, because we are a nation of doers and optimists, with a strong will to succeed.
It is the ‘can and will do’ attitude that has kept us in good stead, despite suffering many disasters, the worst of which occurred in Christchurch and in Pike River last year. We mourned the loss of life and property of our brothers, sisters, friends and families but demonstrated to the world that we are a country of resilient people, not surrendering our ambitions to destiny.
Just as every raindrop holds a flower, every moment of the New Year should spell peace, harmony and happiness.
