An Encounter with Mayor of Wellington

On the morning of 12 June, I went to the City Library to return/borrow books and to pick up the Home Voice newspaper. On my way home I caught the train to Upper Hutt at the Wellington Train Station at 11:05am. I boarded the middle carriage of the train and took a seat in the second row on the left side of the aisle to read my newspaper.

When a conductor turned up to check tickets, I turned my head and noticed that apart from me there was only one more passenger in the carriage, who was a middle-aged Pakeha lady sitting on the right side behind me and was reading a notebook. This lady passenger looked a bit like the well-known Mayor of Wellington.

In the eyes of Chinese people, Pakeha people all look alike, and it is said on TV that Pakeha think the same about Chinese people.

I stood up when the train approached my stop. The lady, like all other friendly New Zealanders, smiled and nodded to me. Pakeha people sometimes joke with me in English, and it doesn’t matter if I don’t understand them, because [I know] they are just being friendly. Sometimes I also joke with them in Chinese, and it doesn’t matter if they don’t understand me.

“You look like the Mayor of Wellington”, I joked with the lady passenger before the train stopped. To my surprise, she understood me and answered in Chinese, “Yes, I am Mayor of Wellington.”

I know that many Kiwi have good sense of humour, for example, they call themselves Kiwi, which is a rare bird. And it is not unacceptable for a local to joke that she is the Mayor, suggesting that she also takes ownership and loves the city, just like the Mayor.

I thought it was impossible that she was the Mayor, because she dressed in ordinary clothes and was not surrounded by entourage. [A Mayor] should always have at least a few people escorting her even if she is traveling incognito. As a result, I joked with her and said “You do look like the Mayor!”

She smiled, taking out a business card from her handbag, handed it to me and reminded me to get off the train. I quickly pressed the button and got off the train.

I searched “Wellington Mayor” as soon as I arrived home and compared [the results] with the business card. As expected, the name is the same: Celia Wade-Brown.

By that time I was moved. The Mayor took the initiative to greet an Asian elderly person who she didn’t know. This suggested her respect towards elderly people. And after finding out that I was a Chinese and that I didn’t believe that she as the Mayor, instead of being dismissive, she talked to me sincerely and gave me a business card and reminded me to get off the train. This proves that she is a really approachable and amiable mayor. She has even learnt to speak some Chinese. As a mayor she is busy, and I heard that she still takes time out to learn Chinese at the Wellington Chinese Language School as a student on Saturdays. It is so commendable!