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For immediate release JY&A
Media
Miss Universe New Zealand pageant says haka criticism exaggerated
Pageant questions APN’s motives when pukana
photographs were published last month by Fairfax
Wellington and Auckland, July 13 (JY&A
Media) Lucire publisher Jack Yan, speaking on behalf
of the Miss Universe New Zealand pageant, says he and pageant director
Val Lott are surprised at a New Zealand Herald article over
a few haka moves performed by winner Samantha Powell at the Vietnam
finals.
‘Anyone who knows Sam will know that this was
performed with a bit of naïveté and with good intentions,
by someone proud of her country,’ he says.
Mr Yan questions the timing of the article—published
just before the final tonight—when photographs of Miss Powell
performing the pukana at the Miss Universe pageant in Nha Trong,
Vietnam were out in June, published in the Fairfax Press.
‘If you read the Herald story about the
matter, you’d think Sam had created some great cultural chasm. I
doubt that this is accurate. Tongues have certainly not been “wagging”—a
Herald headline that I think pokes fun at the pukana.
‘It sounds like another misguided tall-poppy attack
by certain parties trying to tarnish our own country’s chances,’
he says.
‘It’s a storm in a teacup. Some will see Sam’s
haka as a faux pas and others will see the national pride
behind it.
Mr Yan says it is the ‘duty’ of New Zealanders
to promote Māori culture when abroad. ‘The alternative that
I have already lived through would be to pretend New Zealand is
an old British colonial outpost. I don’t want a return to those
days. We should promote and defend Māori culture as New Zealand
citizens.
‘Sometimes, because we have not been immersed
in the culture, we err. When the one who errs is not of our own
race, we forgive and we educate,’ he says. ‘We certainly don’t pull
down our own just before the final.
‘Had the media done this to the All Blacks
a day before an international match, they would have been accused
of being unpatriotic.’
Through the Australian-listed APN News & Media
Ltd., The New Zealand Herald is part-owned by Dublin, Ireland-based
Independent News & Media.
The pageant final is on Sunday night and both
Mr Yan and Ms Lott say they wish Miss Powell every success at Miss
Universe.
Images
Images for this release may be downloaded at <http://jya.net/080712pr0.htm>.
About Lucire
Lucire, the global fashion magazine (www.lucire.com), started on the web in 1997. In October 2004, it became the first
magazine in its sector to extend its brand into a print magazine.
By May 2005, it became the first web magazine to spawn international
print editions. Lucire became the first fashion industry
partner of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP, www.unep.org).
It is headquartered in Wellington, New Zealand and published by
Lucire LLC. For print edition information, see <http://www.lucire.net>.
Notes to editors
Lucire is a registered trade mark of Jack Yan & Associates and subject to protection in certain jurisdictions. The Miss Universe
logo is a registered trade mark of Miss Universe LP, LLLP. All other
trade marks are the properties of their respective owners and are
only used in a descriptive fashion without any intention to infringe.
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