? Lighting up the night with Carol services
Sister city customs foreign for visiting councillor
In Japan a city councillor earns around NZ$200,000 per year and 50 year-old politicians are considered young bucks. Obviously, on a recent trip to the sister-cities of Minoh and Sakai 23 year-old Northern Ward Councillor Hayley Wain stuck out like a sore thumb. Despite protocol and century-old traditions she found the politicians were receptive to her presence. ?They put that to one side because they really wanted to know how I had got involved in politics at such a young age,? says Cr Wain. Intent on scouting Japanese local government systems she travelled for a week through the cities, jointly funded by Hutt Minoh House Friendship Trust and the Wellington City Council. Comments from laypeople there indicated a desire to evolve the political system. ?The feedback I got was they wished Japanese politics were more forward thinking. ?Meeting [city mayors] was ... intimidating is not the word, it?s just very different. People were surprised and shocked that I was such a young politician. ?They were very interested to know, from a New Zealand perspective, how our democracy works.? Cr Wain is the only Hutt Minoh House trustee who had not travelled to Japan and by visiting the Wellington sister-city of Sakai, which neighbours Minoh, she could advance relations with both centres. ?The Minoh house in Normandale is full of Japanese culture and promotions, so rather than duplicate that in Wellington we want to share resources,? she says. Hutt City Visitor manager David Hancock says the fact Cr Wain, a Wellington Councillor, visited a Hutt sister-city is a positive for building international relations for the entire region. ?When the WCC had a recent spring festival of a group musicians [from Sakai] performing they brought them over to the Hutt to see the sights. ?Without these relations we would not have such reciprocal events,? says Mr Hancock. Last week Mr Hancock sent out hundreds of emails to cities around the world in a bid to improve international artistic relations. ?There were around 23 cities in Japan alone. ?We want to increase the exchange of art works and artists, we are talking to them about that and hopefully about setting up artists in residence,? he says. The Learning Connexion will be heavily involved in the sister-city artistic exchanges, and hopefully will benefit from visiting exhibitions and artists. The Hutt visitor centre has seen a drop in international visitor numbers, but a rise in domestic visitors, a trend replicated throughout the country. Nishio in Japan, Porirua City's Sister City. A Nishio citizens? group visits Porirua annually, participating in homestays and engaging in leisure activities.? From these visits numerous friendships have developed, and many Porirua residents have paid return visits to Nishio to enjoy the fine hospitality of the Japanese people.? Sporting exchanges, artwork exhibitions and performing arts tours have also taken place and continue to be scheduled.
