An ongoing Embroidery Exhibition in Auckland is inspiring visitors to delve into the ancient Chinese art, while bringing to the fore the talent of a modern-day artist. Needle as paintbrush The works of Hong Ying Yao are on display at the Embroidery Exhibition currently being held at the Fo Guang Yuan Art Gallery at the Buddhist Temple located at 16…
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Wellington, December 31, 2020 The New Year Honours 2021 list has been announced today, and it includes celebrated singer-songwriter Dave Dobbyn and one of the country’s leading epidemiologists, Professor Michael Baker. Dave Dobbyn, with a career spanning 40 years, has been knighted for his services to music. Baker, Gerrard, Snively and others Professor Michael Baker, who has been a leading…
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Vania Dhiru: A Champion of Gender Rights Picture by Colin McDiarmid) Vanisa Dhiru of Wellington, one of the brightest stars of our young generation has been honoured by the Queen in Her New Year Honours List announced early this morning. Ms Dhiru has been appointed Member of the New Zealand Honour of Merit (MNZM), a recognition, which she not only…
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Peter Wilson Wellington, December 30, 2020 Year 2020 was the most challenging year any New Zealand government has faced. It was the year of Covid, the year of economic recession and the beginning of recovery. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern not only led the country through it, but she also won an unprecedented election victory at the end of it. When…
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Victoria Stace and Alexandra Sims Wellington & Auckland, December 30, 2020 The last time you used a car parking building and paid for the service online, did you pause to read the terms and conditions? If not, you might be surprised to find the car park operator could have the right to remove your vehicle without having to give any…
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Beth Humberd, Deborah Salon & Scott F. Latham Boston and Arizona, USA December 30, 2020 Editor’s note: The future of the office has become an open question after the Coronavirus lockdown forced tens of millions of Americans to work from home. Will office workers flock back to their cubicles and water coolers when the pandemic ends? Or will employees want…
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Venkat Raman Auckland, December 29, 2020 The Fendalton Waimairi Community Board of the Christchurch City Council recently honoured Canterbury Indian Tamil Association President Vijaykumar Nainamalai (popularly known as Vijay) for his services to the community, demonstrating his willingness to go extra lengths to comfort grieving families. He received the Award at an event held in Christchurch on November 25, 2020.…
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Jacinda Ardern arriving at Townhall after winning the general election on October 17, 2020 (Getty Images) An end-of-year political poll appeared recently and virtually no one paid it any attention. After a year of high-stakes health, economic and electoral events, it was a sign that New Zealanders are on the other side of something. It was a reminder, too, that politics is…
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Lockdown was tough but the alternative may well have been even tougher (AAP Image by Erik Anderson) Throughout the pandemic we have seen a deluge of outright lies, conspiracy theories and pseudoscience from various peddlers of self-interest. But to a philosopher like me, more vexing than these calculated cases of disinformation has been the amount of sloppy reasoning in public discourse about Australia’s Covid epidemic.…
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People Safety (Shutterstock by Yiu Cheung) A year ago, who could have even imagined 2020 would turn out the way it did? A pandemic, closed borders, lockdowns, economic crisis, a delayed election … but here we are at the end of a year like no other. So, if New Zealand were to receive a report card for its performance in…
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