August 22, 2014
Frosty greeting sparks reo row
A Whangarei frozen yoghurt store boss will be getting a cold call from the Maori Party about banning an employee from greeting customers with 'Kia ora'.
Teenager Monet-Mei Clarke quit her first job after franchise owner Margaret Lang told her she could not deviate from the company's standard ''Hello, welcome to KiwiYo'' greeting.
Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples says that warrants intervention from party president Naida Glavish, who was threatened with the sack by the Post Office 30 years ago when she refused to stop greeting toll callers with a cheery 'Kia ora'.
He says it’s not hard to modify a script to take into account common and legal usage.
"It’s terrible that things like this still arise. Everyone adds kia ora to what they normally say, and it's great how we embrace Maori language, but all different languages have a place in New Zealand," he says.
KiwiYo chief executive Norman Markgraaff says he doesn’t want the company to be dragged into a political argument, and he has asked for reconciliation between the parties involved – and for ' Kia ora' to be added as an option to the script.
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH PITA SHARPLES CLICK ON THE LINK
https://secure.zeald.com/uma/play_podcast?podlink=MjEzNjc=
Copyright © 2014, UMA Broadcasting Ltd