As a woman of colour, my work has always been inclusive and diverse. I believe in building a three-dimensional picture of the cultural and social landscape we live in.
Untold Pacific
Untold Pacific - a five-part podcast exploring New Zealand’s involvement in legislation and leadership that led to events in Pacific History that can’t be undone. In particular the first episode ‘Waking up to the Dawn Raids,’ addresses institutionalized racism in New Zealand during the 1970s with the influx of Pacific Island migrants invited to work in Aotearoa during the post-war labour shortage.
The series was produced and written by Sonia Yee and voiced by Koro Vaka’Uta.
“As an ethnic minority, there are subtle cultural cues you understand that others can’t see.”
Beyond Face Value
‘Beyond Face Value’ for RNZ podcast, Our Changing World explored acculturation, assimilation and cultural bias in New Zealand. Professor Ronald Fischer, from the School of Psychology at Victoria University of Wellington, believes adapting to diversity is about focusing on commonalities, rather than looking for differences. And Simon Zhu conducted research into Asian identity in the workplace, as part of his MA in psychology at the University of Auckland. He looked at the impacts of what it means to be judged at face value.
Women Caught Between Two Worlds
‘Women Caught Between Two Worlds,’ - Episode Six from women’s suffrage series, Beyond Kate.
I didn’t feel I could make a series about women’s suffrage in New Zealand without looking at the stories of women who come from culturally diverse backgrounds, including Maori.
As women, our experiences and stories of marginalisation are so different. There are a multitude of other layers that come into play. So it was important to address what it means to be a woman of colour in a predominantly white society and the way in which that impacts everyday life.
Photo: Studio portrait of a Maori woman with moko. c1871. Photo: Te Papa All rights reserved.
Only Human
There are events in our lives that either transform us or tear us apart… Only Human is a podcast series of unexpected and surprising personal portraits. In this limited series for RNZ, I wanted to make sure the voices and experiences of the interviewees were diverse across the board.
The Face of Fear
In this series, The Face of Fear I explored the dynamics of the origin of fear - where it comes from, the cultural and social implications and conditioning, including how racism is a bi-product of fear, and the way advertising and horror films feed into anxiety and phobias, while political agendas target our desire to feel safe and protected.