Apparently not many people can sing our national anthem in more than one of our official languages and some-one is trying to raise an outcry. Oh the shame!
The anthem is now often sung first in Maori and then English at major events, and increasingly, not being able to sing in Maori is considered 'not PC'.
I think knowing or not knowing the anthem in two languages should not be used as an excuse to generate division, and to make issues where none need exist.
It continues to frame the debate in "us versus them", and it becomes elitist to demand entry to the club of real New Zealanders requires fluency in Te Reo.
This kind of discussion also ignores our third official language. Perhaps it is time we all learn to sign the national anthem? Let complaints fall on deaf ears, and more positive messages be a sign of the times.
BTW, Here's the Maori version of our anthem (in English).
O Lord, God,
Of all people
Listen to us,
Cherish us
May good flourish,
May your blessings flow
Defend Aotearoa
Let all people,
Red skin, white skin
Mäori, Päkehä
Gather before you
May all our wrongs, we pray,
Be forgiven
So that we might say long live
Aotearoa
May it be forever prestigious,
May it go from strength to strength,
May its fame spread far and wide,
Let not strife
Nor dissension ensue,
May it ever be great
Aotearoa
Let its territory
Be ever enlightened
Throughout the land
Let envy and dissension
Be dispelled,
Let peace reign
Over Aotearoa
Let its good features endure,
Let righteousness and honesty prevail
Among the people of God
Let it never be ashamed,
But rather, let its name be known
Thereby becoming the model to emulate
Aotearoa
The anthem is now often sung first in Maori and then English at major events, and increasingly, not being able to sing in Maori is considered 'not PC'.
I think knowing or not knowing the anthem in two languages should not be used as an excuse to generate division, and to make issues where none need exist.
It continues to frame the debate in "us versus them", and it becomes elitist to demand entry to the club of real New Zealanders requires fluency in Te Reo.
This kind of discussion also ignores our third official language. Perhaps it is time we all learn to sign the national anthem? Let complaints fall on deaf ears, and more positive messages be a sign of the times.
BTW, Here's the Maori version of our anthem (in English).
O Lord, God,
Of all people
Listen to us,
Cherish us
May good flourish,
May your blessings flow
Defend Aotearoa
Let all people,
Red skin, white skin
Mäori, Päkehä
Gather before you
May all our wrongs, we pray,
Be forgiven
So that we might say long live
Aotearoa
May it be forever prestigious,
May it go from strength to strength,
May its fame spread far and wide,
Let not strife
Nor dissension ensue,
May it ever be great
Aotearoa
Let its territory
Be ever enlightened
Throughout the land
Let envy and dissension
Be dispelled,
Let peace reign
Over Aotearoa
Let its good features endure,
Let righteousness and honesty prevail
Among the people of God
Let it never be ashamed,
But rather, let its name be known
Thereby becoming the model to emulate
Aotearoa