There is No Time/Kāore He Wā

Why was I made to feel like being Māori wasn't a good thing? It's odd.

– Bic Runga on growing up in Christchurch in the 1980s as a Māori/Chinese New Zealander

It's amazing, like...it's more of a sensation of skiing or driving in a fast car or something really exciting, it's something new and exhilarating.

– Bic Runga on singing her songs in te reo Māori, in episode four of Waiata Anthems

I just want to nail this and I think in just getting it right that will be the sort of healing I need.

– Bic Runga on her desire to excel in performing in te reo, in episode four of Waiata/Anthems

Na te tino pai o te reo, te tino tika o te reo, ka rongo te tangata ki te ātaahua, ki te rangi, me te whakatakotoranga o ngā kupu. Na tērā, ka ako ki ngā kupu hou me ngā rārangi kōrero. Na tērā ka whakahau te tangata, ka whakakaha te tangata ki te whai i tēnei kaupapa ki te ako i te reo Māori.

– Waiata/Anthems creator Hinewehi Mohi on the process of encouraging New Zealanders to learn te reo Māori, Te Ao Māori News website, 3 May 2021

The headline said "Runga: NZ a racist place". You know it didn't really need to be on the front page of the newspaper when I got home, that was a bit devastating. It really knocked me sideways...at first I thought 'ok well I suppose I did say that, but...people were so mad about it.

– Songwriter Bic Runga on a 2004 NZ Herald headline based on an interview she gave in France, in episode four of Waiata/Anthems

I just feel like I really need to be a part of this. I've been around for a long time and it's breathed a new life into my own personal love of waiata.

– Bic Runga on her involvement in the 2021 Waiata/Anthems TV series, Te Ao Māori News website, 3 May 2021

Bic really represents a lot about this country...Māori heritage, Chinese heritage, growing up in Christchurch but not really having a connection to her papakāinga [original home]...but is beautiful in her expression of the human condition through her music.

– Waiata/Anthems producer Hinewehi Mohi on Bic Runga, in episode four of Waiata/Anthems