The Ant, Bird & Hunter (Day - 1)
Dear Neighbors,
I’ve come across something I truly believe can make a positive impact, and I’m excited to share it with you! Over the next 54 days, I will be sharing a series of 54 moral stories (one a day) that encourage children to think deeply and adopt valuable life lessons. These stories are designed to instill ethics, values, and morals that will help shape a better future for our kids.
I’d love to hear your feedback along the way so we can evaluate the outcomes together and make sure this effort benefits our community in the best possible way.
Please note, this is a non-religious, non-cultural initiative. If any names (People, places etc...) in the stories seem tied to a particular belief system, feel free to adjust them to better align with your own, as the core focus is on values and positive character-building.
Looking forward to your thoughts and feedback!
The Ant, Bird & Hunter
There was an ant which fell into a river accidentally and the river was flowing rapidly.The ant would have died after getting drowned in the river, but luckily for the ant there was a bird sitting on a tree above that saw the ant. The bird plucked out a leaf from the tree, flew a short distance, and put it into the river just in time for the ant to climb onto the leaf. The ant floated on the leaf for a while and finally when the river was calm it reached land.
After it reached land, the ant dismounted the leaf, felt thankful that its life had been saved by the bird and headed off to thank the bird which saved its life. In a few hours, it reached the place where the bird was seated on the tree. The ant was about to climb the tree to thank the bird but it observed a hunter was about to shoot down the bird on the tree. The bird had not noticed the hunter.
The ant decided to take action immediately, and thereby help its friend, the bird. The ant went and began biting the feet of the hunter. The irritated hunter could not aim carefully and missed shooting his prey, the bird, as his feet had been bitten by the ant.
The moral of the story is that we may all be very small persons but we must try our best to help our friends under all circumstances. Returning a favor is as important as accepting a favor.
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Immigration: Kiwi brain drain has peaked despite another year of record departures
Migrant departures reached a record 122,800 in the year to January 2025, up 18%.
Migrant arrivals were 155,300, down 31%, with a net migration gain of 32,500.
Economists warn low net migration could impact the housing market and economic recovery.
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The number of people leaving the country long-term hit another new record in the year to January – but monthly data suggests the brain drain has peaked.
Stats NZ provisional data for the January 2025 year (compared with January 2024) showed migrant departures up 18% to 122,800, the highest on record for an annual period.
Migrant arrivals, at 155,300 were down, 31% for the year.
There was an annual net migration gain of 32,500 (± 1500), compared with a net gain of 121,800.
Down from around 33,317 in the year to December, that was the lowest rate of net migration since 2014 (outside of the Covid-19 era).
In the past few weeks, economists have warned that low levels of net migration are providing a headwind for the residential housing market and may slow the overall economic recovery.
“Over the past few months, we’ve seen net migration stabilise at annualised rates around 25-35k. It leaves us with a view of positive but below average expansion in the population over the next 18 months or so,” BNZ chief economist Mike Jones said in a note last month.
“That adds to the list of factors likely to check the pace of recovery this year.”
Commenting on the latest numbers, ASB senior economist Mark Smith noted that weaker net immigration had “eroded a key leg of support for the New Zealand housing market, domestic demand, and labour market capacity”.
“Easing economic support from net immigration will weigh on economic growth and translate into greater spare capacity,” he said.
Annual migrant arrivals peaked at 234,800 in the year ended October 2023. Annual net migration peaked in the year ended October 2023 with a gain of 135,500.
For New Zealand citizens, the net migration loss of 44,200 in the January 2025 year shows a stabilisation of the ‘brain-drain’ trend.
It was a slight improvement from a net migration loss of 44,700 Kiwis in the January 2024 year, and a loss of 44,375 for the year to December 2024.
The monthly data shows the rate of Kiwi departures peaked in the year to August 2024 when a net 47,147 departed long-term.
That was still high compared to an average annual net migration loss of 27,100 in the January years 2002 to 2013 and an average annual net migration loss of 7500 in the January years 2014 to 2019, Stats NZ said.
For migrant arrivals in the January 2025 year, citizens of India were the largest group, with 25,800 arrivals. The next largest groups were citizens of New Zealand, 25,000; China, 17,600; and the Philippines, 14,000.
For migrant departures in the January 2025 year, citizens of New Zealand were still the largest group, with 69,200 departures.
The next largest groups were citizens of China, 7900; India, 5800, and the United Kingdom, 4500.
Citizens of India, the Philippines, and China drove net migration gains in the January 2025 year, Stats NZ said.
Country of citizenship is the nationality of the passport used to arrive in or depart from New Zealand and is not necessarily the country of previous or next residence.
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