Multi-lingualism still faces prejudice in N.Z.

Press, 16 January 1986, Page 26

Multi-lingualism still faces prejudice in N.Z.

PA Two Dutch women may have unwittingly contributed to a campaign to make New Zealanders appreciate multi-lingual people. The women walked into a Wellington shoe shop about three years ago and asked to look at shoes, the Race Relations Conciliator, Mr Hiwi Tauroa. The shop owner set out several pairs of shoes and went away. But soon after he came back, collected the shoes and refused to serve the women because they bad started speaking Dutch in hi* shop. Mr Tauroa quoted the

shop owner as having said "If you’re going to be served in my shop you’ll speak English.” Mr Tauroa said the women had complained to his office. He had visited the shop owner and said: “When you have a shop you have a licence in which you undertake to provide goods and services. You do not provide them because of a person’s race or national origin.” Mr Tauroa said the owner had assured him the exercise would not be repeated. He said he believed the shop 7owner did not know which was being spoken

but just “didn’t like the other language” and had a “non-thinking prejudice.”

The incident was unusual but not the only one of its kind, he said.

Two Samoan cleaners in Auckland had been stopped from speaking Samoan and a group of factory workers had been told not to speak their native tongue.

Mr Tauroa said the number of these incidents was not increasing but his office was, nevertheless, pushing a compaign telling people that the ability to speak more tffcm one language was a *2bd thing.