Otara

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Otara is a suburb of Manukau city, one of the cities which make up the Auckland conurbation in the North Island of New Zealand. It is sited close to the head of the Tamaki River, actually an arm of the Hauraki Gulf which extends south towards the Manukau Harbour.

[edit] Location

Otara is surrounded by the suburbs of Otahuhu, Middlemore, Papatoetoe, Flat Bush, and East Tamaki, 18 kilometres to the southeast of Auckland city centre. The suburb is unusual for its proportion of Pacific Island residents, who make up more than half of its population, and its exceptionally low number of New Zealand European (Pākehā) residents.

The suburb achieved a mild degree of worldwide fame with the one-off hit single How Bizarre, by hip-hop artists OMC. "OMC" stands for "Otara Millionaires' Club" - a tongue-in-cheek reference to the low socio-economic status of much of the suburb, Otara being one of the poorest parts of the Auckland region. Otara is also known for its Saturday morning 'Flea market' held in the Otara shopping center car park next to Manukau Institute of Technology's South Campus.

Otara has gained a bad reputation over the years, most recently due to its youth gangs and murders. The majority of the population are not involved in such activity.

In the 1970's Prime Minister Muldoon's policies led to dawn raids on Otara's people, looking for overstayers from the Pacific Islands.

[edit] Education

Otara has two main high schools, Tangaroa College and Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate. Otara is also home to Manukau Institute of Technology's two main campuses.