The 21st-century dating scene is a fast-paced environment that's equally as flaky as it is fun. Apps like Tinder and Bumble have been a game-changer for anyone looking for love - but does technology help or hinder people when it comes to intercultural dating? Sonia Yee investigates.

The 21st-century dating scene is a fast-paced environment that's equally as flaky as it is fun.

Apps like Tinder and Bumble have been a game-changer for anyone looking for love - but does technology help or hinder people when it comes to intercultural dating?

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"I haven't dated any Indian girls so far," says Harpreet Singh.

Harpreet, who is now in his thirties, moved to New Zealand eight years ago to study and is now a working professional in Wellington.

When Harpreet arrived here, he was in a long-distance relationship with a girl in India. In the end, he called it quits.

His parents had never met his girlfriend and because he was leaving New Delhi, he was unsure whether the girl was a good fit.

Ten years ago, the dating scene in India was different and Harpreet says hook-ups weren't a thing like they are today.

Indian girls were keen to get married and preferred to be intimate only if there was the chance of marriage at the end of it, he says. That's a lot of pressure for a young guy.

Here in New Zealand, Harpreet has a relaxed approach to meeting new people.

All of his dates so far have been with Pākehā girls.

"Maybe the Indian girls don't like me, so that's why they don't swipe right."

Harpreet uses Tinder and says in his experience, girls here prefer white guys.

As soon as he tells girls that he's from India some ghost him, he says.

But that hasn't deterred Harpreet, who says he's not prepared to lie about his background just to get a date.

Harpreet is outdoorsy and adventurous with an interest in snowboarding, surfing and hiking.

He'd like to meet someone open-minded, career-driven and independent who pursues their own passions.

"I'm really bad at trying to understand another person, so for me it takes time."

Sara, 29, comes from Chandigarh about four hours out of New Delhi.

"I think everybody I know is using Tinder unless they're married," she laughs.

"I mean it's easy to date, but it's hard to be in a relationship these days..."

Sara has been single for two-and-a-half years, and her longest relationship lasted two years.

She's looking for someone who's ambitious and has their life sorted on the career front.

She prefers someone who is tall, with a subtle personality - she's not into nightlife and partying…

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Paris Baker only wanted to go to the mall. But her father's illness changed not only his life, but hers as well. Now the 21 year-old Tongan-New Zealander is a world bowls champion

Paris Baker's love of bowls came from an act of love.

At first, 15 year-old Paris hitched a ride to the bowling club with her dad, Dave Makasini, just because the bowling club was near a mall.

When Dave had a stroke, Paris started to play games with him, as a way of helping him recover. It turned out she was a bowls star in the making.

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In this episode of Voices, RNZ Pacific sports reporter Talei Anderson tells the story of how Paris took her talent to the world champs and won.

Read Talei's full story here.

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Jack and Carrie Lum are celebrating 50 years of love, family and hard work among the fruit and vege cartons, but their livelihood is under threat from big business

From humble beginnings, grower-turned-green grocer Jack Lum has spent half a century cultivating a thriving business through hard work and quality produce.

Jack Lum turns 77 this year and his business - Jack Lum Fruit and Vegetables in Remuera, Auckland - turns 50. Yet his work ethic, just like his passion for produce, hasn't waned, even as other small businesses close up shop as they come under pressure from the corporate big boys.

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Jack and his wife Carrie opened their Remuera business in May 1970 and their current shop - in a converted bank - in 1988. But just across the road is a New World and Jack says supermarkets are killing off businesses like his. He remembers when there were four green grocer shops in the Remuera village; today, his is the last one standing and one of only a handful left in Auckland.

"It's all sort of hairdressers, beauty stores and banks and real estate agents. Because the fish shop's gone and the butcher's gone," Carrie says.

"I think I'm one of the two or three really genuine ones left, because when the supermarket opens they've got to get their business somewhere, so it's mainly smaller shops," Jack adds.

"If it wasn't for the Asian supermarkets I reckon the supermarket's pricing would be a lot dearer. The Asian markets are keeping them honest, because you know around the country there's no small fruit shops left. They've killed off the whole lot, and they'd love to kill us as well".

Jack's father Lum Young Hoy came to New Zealand from China in 1927.

"They're from, in those days it was called Canton but it's got so many different villages. Ours was called Zhongshan which is just across the border from Macau," says Jack.

"We were growers, that's all they seem to know when they come over from China".

During the Japanese invasion of China, which began in 1937, around 200 Chinese wives and their children took refuge in New Zealand.

Jack's mother Lee Way Hing came here by boat as part of the War Refugee Scheme in 1939, escaping the political upheaval just before the Communist Revolution. Jack was her second son of four boys who were all born in Auckland…

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In this episode of Voices; we meet an elderly couple who say outdated immigration rules are unfair and need an overhaul. Produced by Sara Vui-Talitu.

Ron Falconer's story is so unlikely, immigration officials didn't take it seriously at first.

Now, Ron's honesty is standing between him and a life in New Zealand.

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Like any modern-day romance, elderly couple Fiona Lundy, a Kiwi, and Ron Falconer, a Scotsman, met online and fell in love.

In 2014, Fiona suggested Ron come to Aotearoa to visit her for three months during the wet season in French Polynesia where he had lived for many years.

When Ron arrived in New Zealand that first time, in December 2014, he wanted to be honest.

"I had a really strange story about being sent off a deserted island which I never took seriously as it was a harmless situation but I had been removed from an island... well actually two islands," admits Ron.

So, he ticked the YES box on the immigration questionnaire that asked if he'd ever been deported.

He was stopped by an immigration official and told them the story.

Essentially, it goes back thirty years, to when Ron was working as a caretaker on Millennium Atoll. It's a pristine uninhabited island in the middle of the Pacific ocean. Back then, it was known as Caroline Island, the Kiribati government renamed it in 2000.

"I was there for 4 years with my French wife and two young children," explained Ron, "But the guy who had the lease lost it or rather it ran out and a businessman got interested in the fishing and all the things he could gain from the island. He wanted me off the island 'cause he wanted to kill the turtles and fish and collect what he could. He wanted to rape the island basically. He wanted me out of there."

Ron said the businessman used his Kiribati connections to get him booted off the island. Ron received a letter asking him to leave, so he did. He took his family and sailed away.

More than twenty years later at New Zealand's immigration counter, Ron told officials he'd written a book about his experiences called 'Together Alone'. The official checked his story out.

"She said hey yeah you did it and it's a good story and you got good reviews," recalls Ron.

"I mean I was protecting the island but I was essentially deported. So when I got to NZ and wrote deported, I thought I'd be honest."

And with that, Ron was allowed in. He left and returned a second time to marry Fiona.

Still no trouble getting into the country…

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In this episode of Voices; we find out how one driving school is making a real difference to the lives of refugee learners. Produced by Sara Vui-Talitu.

A driving school in Auckland offering subsidies on lessons for refugees is appealing to the public for help.

Due to growing demand, the Migrant Action Trust manager, Amie Maga, said they need more donations and volunteer staff and driving mentors for The Puketāpapa Community Driving School.

Amie said they need at least $7,000 to buy another dual control practise car plus a driving simulator to help nervous learner drivers.

"This is very helpful for someone with zero driving experience and going in a driving simulator will give confidence (and) hopefully after some sessions it will help them drive on the real road."

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The Puketāpapa Community Driving School has been going for two years already in an Auckland suburb known for its diversity of cultures and communities.

"It's the Maori name for Mt Roskill," said Amie. "We are one of the more ethnically diverse communities but happy to support all people and help them try to get a job."

"We help the whole family by getting one driver."

The project, which is a community-owned social enterprise, offers subsidised lessons to a refugee learner for every fully paid driving lesson.

The school takes into account cultural and religious considerations and a translator can be arranged if needed.

"So, several organisations get together to make it more migrant friendly and more culturally appropriate as many of the women prefer woman mentors and instructors as many of them are Muslim women."

Islam Khalelo, has been in Aotearoa New Zealand for four years now as a former refugee from Syria.

"It's very good and helpful and I feel lucky because I heard from others before...it is expensive to have to pay in full."

Islam reckons she has an elephant foot and her husband often tells her to slow down. Unlike driving in Syria, Islam said people in New Zealand follow the road rules.

Islam's driving instructor and mentor is Susan Matencio.

"I started as a volunteer 2017 when we launched this and then after a year, they told me would you like to consider being a driving instructor?

"And they said the skill is there and I have had a lot of good feedback from students and you have a lot of patience…

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