December 18, 2012
Telecom needs more than “kia ora”
It’s almost 30 years since the post office tried to sack toll operator Naida Glavish for greeting callers with a cheery “kia ora” – and she feels the telephone company still has a lot to learn.
Ms Glavish says then-postmaster general Rob Talbot, who died at the weekend aged 89, supported her privately, but had to wait for Prime Minister Rob Muldoon to settle the row.
She says since then people have become used to greetings in Te Reo Māori, and Telecom even uses a calling service called the kia ora card, even if it still doesn't pronounce the phrase properly or give it due respect.
"It is a kupu Māori and Telecom has made no effort whatsoever to give 1 cent per card or some consideration to giving back to Māori maybe by sponsoring some Māori to progress in telecommunications even," she says.
Copyright © 2013, Uma Broadcasting Ltd