Radio week
Oh baby
by Felicity Monk
CONFUCIUS SAY: it takes three to make a good child; a good father, a good mother and the benevolent approval of heaven. Maybe so, but right now the more pressing issue in Singapore and Japan is making children at all.
Increasing economic independence for Singaporean women means that they are now likely to have fewer than 1.3 children, nowhere near enough to replenish the country’s 4.3 million population. The government offers subsidies to people to have babies in their twenties, and to look after their elderly parents. In response to Japan’s ageing population crisis, a government minister recently suggested that women who didn’t marry and have babies should miss out on the old-age pension.
These are just some of the issues that National Radio’s new BBC series The Asian Family explores. The five-part series examines the strains that Asian families are under as a result of Western influence, economic pressures and changing lifestyles and how this is affecting the traditional ways of life still prevalent in many Asian nations.
During his time in South Korea – said to be Asia’s most Confucianist state – series producer Tony Barrell met school students in Seoul who said they often didn’t get to bed until 2.00am, because they were studying for exams. He was surprised to learn that Confucius’ rules about training a mandarin elite were still taken so seriously. What’s more, the pressure is increasing, since six out of 10 graduates can’t find jobs.
Okinawa, situated in Japan’s far south, seems to have it right, though. As of this month, there are more than 500 centenarians living there, in a population of only 1.3 million. Two women – a 96- and a 101-year-old, both still working in the fields for three hours a day – told Barrell that it was a combination of diet, culture and slow pace of life that kept the women of Okinawa living longer.
What these diverse and changing Asian nations do have in common, says Barrell, is their shared belief in the importance and strength of family. As the Vietnamese say: “One drop of blood is worth more than all the water in the pond.”
The Asian Family, National Radio, Monday, 9.06pm, Tuesday-Thursday, 7.06pm (the final part will air at a date as yet undecided)
Swear by it
DAVEY HUGHES confidently guarantees that his outdoor clothing can withstand the most extreme conditions. Fair enough, too, since he tests it himself – right now he’s in Alaska, no doubt charging about in a pair of Swazi “Dry-Back Pants”.
After a downturn in the possum-trapping trade, outdoor enthusiast Hughes got creative and designed some outdoor wet- and cold-weather clothing. He then took samples to Melbourne, where they were quickly snapped up.
A decade on, Swazi Apparel employs 50 staff at its Levin factory and he has plans to expand. And it’s not just local farmers who are snaffling up Swazi gear. The company also supplies the Turangi Search and Rescue Centre and special forces units – such as our SAS – around the world.
National Radio producer Jack Perkins travelled with Hughes around the Central North Island, where customers test the clothing on the job. For example, when a recent cold snap dumped 25cm of snow over paddocks in the Ruahine foothills, farmers stayed warm and dry – a testament to the quality of the clothing.
Hughes personally markets the range overseas – and usually takes his hunting rifle. A year ago, he was with Outer Mongolian nomads. “Wolf packs were a bit of a problem,” he says, “but I enjoyed stalking elk with the descendants of Genghis Khan.”
Spectrum – The Bush and the Boardroom, National Radio, Sunday, 12.33pm
