Chinese Migration & Medical Stories

ACMA SeminarProfessor Manying Ip ONZM, FRSNZ

3 May 2015

Outline of talk The link between migration & medical

services. My personal interest:a) The HKG medical doctors admitted into NZ in the early 1970s.b) Intriguing words of an old Mangere gardener, 1980s.c) 1990s request from haematologist on alpha thalassemia.

• Chinese migration to NZ– broad outline & characteristics

• Features of medical stories chosen

When Chinese were unwelcome

The lack of status hampered taking up of higher education, not to mention the medical profession.•1881 Anti-Chinese Act, Poll-tax introduced.•1908 Chinese barred from Citizenship

Quite unthinkable that any Chinese could become health professionals in NZ!

First Chinese Dentist 1900 Otago

William Lo Keong—first dentist

• The eldest son of Matilda and Joseph Lo Keong, the earliest Chinese couple to settle in Dunedin. They were naturalised in 1882, and therefore full citizens.

• The parents were fluent in English, and had strong ties to the Presbyterian Church.

• All six Lo-Keong (Low) children were highly educated, and graduates of Otago University.

Kathleen (Pih) Chang – Ophthalmologist 1929 • Almost 3 decades later, NZ had its first Chinese

medical graduate.• Kathleen came to NZ in 1908 at age five.• Named after Lord Plunket’s daughter, and grew

up in Dunedin as Margaret Reid’s adoptive daughter.

“I was the only Chinese, they looked down on me…everyday I took the shortest possible route to the medical school”.

First Chinese medical Graduate

Kathleen Anneui Pih-Chang, graduated Otago School of Medicine in 1929.

She taught at universities in Shanghai and Singapore, and practised in South China and Hong Kong.

Kathleen in Tauranga 1988

The moon-gate was built by her husband, Professor Francis Chang.

“ In Tauranga Francis built a Chinese garden at home, with pines, maples, and bamboos.…He told the architect to build the moon-gate, not in the genuine traditional way, but just made round on a concrete frame.”

Hurdles --taking up medicine

• The future of the Chinese in NZ not certain: no citizenship (until 1952)

• Families saw their children’s future in ‘China’, Taiwan or Hong Kong.

• Much ‘safer’, and financially secure, to be running family business, to be self-reliant.

“Anti-education, pro-financial security feelings of the post-war united families.”

Dr Roy T.S. Law

1947The first Chinese GP in NZ•The only son of Pastor F.L. Law who was baptised in NZ in 1902.•Roy Law had a successful general practice in Wellington, well-respected by patients.

Frank Kwok 1929-2014

ENT Specialist

Among the first ethnic Chinese to become a specialistConsultant in Wellington Hospital.

Hurdles to rising in a public institution.

Frank William Kwok

“When I was about 12, I met Roy Law who was doing 2nd year medicine. He told me about dissection, and what he did in the anatomy class…so smart, and I admired him…”

“For a long time, [Father] expected me to take over the shop, I suppose…It was family business.”“The medical school class had 120 places. Those years were when the returned servicemen came back in large numbers…We were told we might as well forget about it (doing medicine).”

Discrimination in the Profession Late 1940s• After a B Sc in 1948,

a letter from the Registrar of Otago declined Frank’s application.

• “…not opened to foreigners…medical education was for British subjects only”

• Frank defended his right of entering medical school by showing his birth certificate.

• After graduation and internship, he became the first ethnic Chinese to be a medical registrar in 1955 only after a struggle.

Early NZ Chinese at Otago 1946

Contemporary Medical Scene

In 2010, around 13,000 doctors and 47,000 nurses in the NZ health system.

•Among the doctors, those from overseas make up 40% of the total.•The doctors comprised 15% of the total health force.•A third are GPs, a third are specialists, and a third ‘junior doctors’.

The Chinese in the ethnic mix Pre-1987 ‘Model Minority’ Small in number,

low profile, inoffensive, making positive contributions, fluent in English

Were the Chinese considered ‘New Zealanders’?

Post-1987 ‘Asian Invasion’? An ‘alien element’ which has made everyone uncomfortable.

2013 census The browning of New Zealand, still a ‘Yellow Peril’?

Corresponding developments 1990s

• Need for Chinese-speaking GPs. ACMA founded.

• Access to equitable health services• Mental Health, Problem Gambling, and

family violence issues

• CAHRE (Centre for Asian Health Research) Centre for Asian and Ethnic Minority Health R.

Ethnic Group (Total Responses) by Birthplace Recode - NZ Born/Overseas Born and Sex

NZ Born Overseas Born Not Elsewhere Included Total

Total Total Total Total

Chinese 45213 124494 1704 171411

Japanese 3933 10059 129 14118

Korean 3294 26616 264 30171

Indian 36015 117207 1959 155178

Sri Lankan 1665 9510 96 11271

Afghani 870 2505 42 3414

Pakistani 840 2382 39 3261

Bangladeshi 372 1239 15 1623

Nepalese 210 1365 15 1590

Total South Asian 39843 134073 2166 176085

Total Asian 105729 360894 5088 471708

Chinese distribution 2013

S. E. Auckland: Botany DownsDannemora, Meadowlands.

Central: Remuera/EpsomWest: New Lynn, Roskill

North Shore

Changing Asian Age Structure

Between the 2 recent censuses 2006-2013, the changes:•Asians under 5 years old increased by 50%•Those aged 25-34 years increased by 59%•The older age group of 55-64 increased by 85%•Those aged 65+ increased by 70%

Therefore, health issues of children, young people, the elderly, and women should be the focus in the near future.

Age-sex structure total Auckland and Chinese Auckland 2013

10 largest languages in Auckland, 2006 Census

1. English

2. Samoan

3. Hindi (8th in 2001)

4. Maori (3rd in 2001)

5. Mandarin (6th in 2001)

6. Cantonese (Yue) (4th in 2001)

7. Tongan (5th in 2001)

8. Korean (9th in 2001)

9. French (7th in 2001)

10.German

Top Surnames 2003 (11668) 2013 (11760)

1 Lee Wang

2 Smith Li

3 Williams Chen

4 Brown Liu

5 Chen Smith

6 Li Zhang

7 Patel Lee

8 Zhang Patel

9 Kim Huang

10 Wang Singh

11 Jones Taylor

12 Wilson Wilson

13 Huang Jones

14 Hall Brown

15 Taylor Wu

16 Liu Yang

17 Campbell Wong

18 Walker Xu

19 King Kim

20 Lin Zhou

Top 20 Surnames Of newborns registered in Auckland

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!

Professor Manying Ip

For comments and queries please contact<my.ip@auckland.ac.nz>