The Asian Council on Reducing Crime (ACRC), Manukau City Council and NZ Police put on a great show for the local Asian community at the end of September. An estimated 3000 people attended the Asian Community Safety Expo which was held at the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Temple, in Manukau City.

One attendee, Mr Zhang, described the event as, ‘eye opening’. “My seven-year-old son shouted with joy when he saw the police helicopter arrive ... my wife learned a lot about how to protect her handbag from the ‘Choose not to be a victim’ seminar,” he said.

Police Commissioner Howard Broad visits one of the Asian community groups promoting road safety. Their slogan ‘It’s everyone’s responsibility to ensure road safety’ is written in both Chinese and English. Photo: Paul Young, ACRC

Exhibitors included police and government agencies as well as commercial safety and security businesses. The police helicopter, booze bus, mobile police station, police motorcycle, police dogs and the fire truck drew a great deal of attention.

“It was very successful. We brought in a bus-load of our members just in time to watch the opening and our booth was crowded with visitors right from the beginning,” said Barry Hung, vice-Chairman of the Pakuranga Chinese Association.

Gary Troup, Deputy Mayor of Manukau, and Commissioner Howard Broad opened the event and took part in a colourful ribbon-cutting ceremony with Counties Manukau District Commander Mike Bush, Pansy Wong M.P., Abbess Manshin and Rosa Chow (Chairperson of ACRC).

The interactive workshops “Choose not to be a Victim” presented by the police and “Personal Safety” by ACC attracted good crowds.

The presence of many other government and NGO agencies such as Civil Defence, Settlement Support, Plunket, Ministry of Fisheries, Neighbourhood Support and Botany Crime Watch Patrol was a clear demonstration of a cooperative effort to keep the community safe.

Feedback from the visitors was very positive and constructive. Suggestions for future events are more activities for children and an even wider range of safety seminars.

The organisers, Asian Council on Reducing Crime, Police and the Manukau City Council, were pleased with the day. It is hoped the Expo could become an annual event with inclusion of other ethnic groups and community organisations.