January 25, 2021
Beijing’s stronger presence in Southeast Asia in recent years has seen a rise in the popularity of Mandarin.
Reuters
When Sim Tze Wei began working to raise awareness of the Hokkien language, he never expected he would be accused of trying to divide the Chinese people.
“Han Chinese nationalists everywhere are keen to equate Mandarin to [real] Chinese,” said Sim, adding that there are those who find ethnic Chinese people speaking in Chinese languages other than Mandarin “as a sign of disunity and weakness”.
The Malaysian -Chinese linguist, who is in his mid-30s, is president of the Hokkien Language Association of Penang. Through the association, Sim is campaigning for the wider use of Hokkien, and advocating that it be reinstated as a language of instruction in independent and Chinese primary schools in the northern Malaysian state, as he fears Hokkien will “continue to be eroded by Mandarin and English”.
29 locations woman with Covid-19 visited revealed Monday, January 25, 2021 RNZ
The Ministry of Health says a probable case of Covid-19 in the community is a reminder of how tricky the virus is, as it releases a list of 29 locations the woman visited.
The latest probable case is a 56-year-old woman who was released from isolation at the Pullman Hotel in Auckland after testing negative twice during her stay.
After leaving isolation on 13 January she returned to her home in Northland, where she lives with her husband. The pair then travelled around Northland, visiting Dargaville, Mangawhai, Whangarei and Helensville in Auckland.
She is understood to have four close contacts, including her husband and people she came in contact within a retail setting.
Chris McKeen/Stuff
Afiqah Ramizi, president of the New Zealand International Students Association and a medical student at Auckland University. She says universities need to recognise that international students are not immune to financial hardship caused by Covid-19.
New Zealand’s international education sector used to be a major part of the economy. The $5 billion it pumped into the country annually supported around 45,000 jobs and made it New Zealand’s fifth-largest export earner. Universities New Zealand chief executive Chris Whelan says that, pre-Covid-19, the sector expected between 21,000 and 22,000 international students in 2020. About 7000 had not made it into the country.
A top New Zealand epidemiologist warns that pre-depature testing is not enough to keep Covid-19 out of New Zealand communities.
Source:Â NZUS Council
The New Zealand United States Council today celebrated the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and congratulated them on their emphatic victory in the electoral college and popular vote in November 2020.
The 2020 Presidential election was a modern day record turnout as nearly 156 million Americans exercised their right to vote.
âPresident Bidenâs Democratic Party has majorities in the House and Senate and he has a strong mandate to address the most urgent crises and policy challenges faced by the United States and the world,â NZUS Council chair, Leon Grice said.
âMany of the Biden Administrationâs early priorities are priorities that New Zealand supports, starting with ending the COVID-19 pandemic, an immediate return to the Paris Agreement on climate change and a multilateral foreign policy, trade and security agenda.
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