Te Whakapono o Tūmanako - Day 30
The Faith of Tūmanako
In a small village nestled between the mountains of Aotearoa and the vast ocean, lived a young Māori man named Tūmanako. His name meant “hope,” and his kuia (grandmother) often reminded him, “Tūmanako, e moko, your name carries a promise to the world. You must learn to walk the tides of life with grace.”
One summer morning, Tūmanako’s world was upturned. A fierce storm rolled in from the sea, its winds howling like angry taniwha. His whānau’s (family’s) marae was badly damaged, and the crops they relied on were swept away. Despair gripped the village. Many cried to Tangaroa, the god of the sea, asking why such calamity had befallen them.
Tūmanako, too, felt the sting of loss. “Why, Kuia?” he asked his grandmother. “Why does life bring so much suffering?”
His kuia sat beside him, her face weathered with years of wisdom. She handed him a tī kouka (cabbage tree) leaf. “Take this, moko. Bend it.”
Tūmanako did as he was told. The leaf bent but did not break.
“Now, hold it tighter and twist it harder,” she said.
He twisted until the leaf sprung back and slapped his hand, leaving a sting. His kuia smiled gently. “This leaf is like life. It bends under the weight of the wind but refuses to break. Yet when we fight against it, we feel pain.”
Tūmanako listened but wasn’t sure he understood. His kuia continued, “Life is a cycle, moko, just like the seasons. There will be days of sunshine and warmth, and days when the rain soaks the earth. Both are needed for growth. To fight against the storm is to forget the blessings it will bring in its wake.”
In the following weeks, Tūmanako began to embrace his kuia’s wisdom. Instead of mourning the storm, he worked with the village to repair the marae. They sang waiata (songs) of strength and unity as they planted new crops. Tūmanako noticed the soil, enriched by the storm’s floodwaters, yielded more bountiful kumara than before.
Years later, Tūmanako became a respected rangatira (leader). When challenges arose, he would remind his people of the tī kouka leaf. “We are like this leaf,” he would say, holding it high. “Life’s storms will come, but we will bend, not break. Let us move with the winds, not against them.”
The people of the village came to cherish this teaching. They learned to greet hardships with calm hearts and open minds, trusting that every storm would eventually bring new growth.
And so, the wisdom of Tūmanako and his kuia lived on, teaching the generations that to accept life’s ups and downs with equanimity is to find inner peace and wisdom.
The moral of the story is:
Resilience comes from embracing life’s challenges with acceptance and grace. Just as the storm nourishes the earth, adversity can lead to growth and wisdom when met with an open heart.
Poll: Are our Kiwi summer holidays helping us recharge, or holding the economy back? ☀️🥝
There’s growing debate about whether New Zealand’s extended Christmas break (and the slowdown that comes with it) affects productivity.
Tracy Watkins has weighed in ... now it’s your turn. What’s your take? 🤔
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72.8% We work hard, we deserve a break!
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16.1% Hmm, maybe?
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11.2% Yes!
Secure your homes over summer
Police are reminding people to keep their homes secure during the summer months.
Inspector Glenda Barnaby, Christchurch Area Prevention manager, says daytime burglaries are just as common as nightime burglaries.
“Burglaries can be committed at any time of the day, and coming into warmer months there is more opportunity for thieves."
"Although a majority of burglaries involve forced entry through windows and doors, we are starting to see more incidents at insecure premises. Police deal with cases where burglaries are committed in broad daylight, sometimes even while the victim is at home. Good weather means open doors and windows, which makes homes more vulnerable to burglars.”
Inspector Barnaby says there’s a few things people can do to reduce their changes of a burglary being committed.
⚠️ If you’re going outside for gardening, relaxing in the sun, or working in the garage, take a moment to lock your doors and secure your windows first.
⚠️ Do the same at night when you go to bed - keep your doors and windows secure and close your curtains. Fitting window stays means you can get a breeze coming through, while keeping your windows secure.
⚠️ Get to know your neighbours - let them know if you’re going away and look out for one another.”
If you see any suspicious activity, people or vehicles in your neighbourhood, don't hesitate to contact Police.
If you witness or suspect any illegal activity, please call 111 if it is happening now, or make a report through 105 either online or over the phone, if it is after the fact.
What sectors are barely paying more than minimum wage?
While New Zealand might have about a dozen sectors paying at least a median $100,000 a year, there are almost as many paying barely more than the minimum wage.
Data compiled by Infometrics showed the median and mean salaries across industries throughout the country.
The data does not adjust for hours worked, and some of the workers may not be working a 40-hour week.
But it shows that on an annual basis, many sectors were not delivering incomes that were equal to the minimum wage.
The minimum wage of $23.50 an hour works out to just under $49,000 a year for a full-time, 40-hour a week worker.
Fuel retailing was paying a median of almost exactly the same amount.
Food retailing was paying less, at $45,030. Accommodation was slightly more, at $49,240, and food and beverage services was significantly less at $40,170.
Also within $10,000 of minimum wage were "other store-based retailing" at $53,220, sport and recreation services at $53,350 and personal and other services at $54,170.
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment data last year showed that about 141,900 people would be directly affected by the minimum wage rising to $23.50, indicating they were at that point being paid less than that amount per hour.
Infometrics principal economist Nick Brunsdon said skills and experience explained a lot of the variation in incomes.
"Industries that need a more skilled workforce generally pay more - because they can get a lot of value out of their workers, and workers need a good incentive to gain those skills - for example, medicine. Industries that take in a lot of lower qualified staff, like hospitality, can get away with paying a lot less, and still get plenty of job applicants.
"There are other factors like desirability - some jobs might not have a high skill requirement but are somewhat undesirable - say underground coal mining - so higher pay is necessary to find workers."
CTU policy director and economist Craig Enney said "hours adequacy" was a big problem in many sectors.
"You've got someone who's working 20 hours a week or 25 hours, on $25 an hour, so you're earning $500 a week. Is that enough? No.
"The challenge is often about the structure of employment in some of those sectors…In hospo, in retail, in catering, in a range of other sort of service-based industries, it's wanting more hours and not getting it."
The latest labour market statistics showed the the number of underutilised people in the country had risen to 403,000.
"These are people who want more hours, want more work and can't get it. And that may be a key reason why, you know, total incomes are so inadequate for some people. And that's also partially helping to explain why the headline unemployment rate is not rising as quickly as some people had predicted."
Jake Lilley, a spokesperson for financial mentor network Fincap, said it was something mentors dealt with.
"They also help people work out what is realistic in terms of taking on hours while balancing additional childcare costs. Our latest Voices reporting recorded 31 percent of those supported by a financial mentor as having a mix of income from salary or wages as well as income support.
"It is a real juggle to navigate finances when unpredictable sporadic hours of work need reporting to Work and Income in what can be impractical timeframes. An example might be someone being asked to stay on for a longer shift by their manager and being unable to contact Work and Income when that day is the deadline to report other income.
"Someone might also not know exactly what their pay will be until a payslip is provided after the reporting date. Such situations can often result in overpayment debts from Work and Income compounding the difficulty of administering already tight finances."
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