Waikato’s King of Kindness
Waikato’s own Santa has struck again — this time gifting laptops to a group of unsuspecting students, writes Maryana Garcia.
When Ka¯ whia local business owner Sid Patel asked to speak at the local primary school’s end of yearprizegiving ceremony, no one knew what to expect.
They definitely did not expect to be surprised with 56 laptops, one for each student of the school.
‘‘I had no idea what his plan was,’’ Ka¯ whia Primary School principal, Leanne Apiti, told Stuff.
Patel came up to the front of the room and then presented each child with a named bag of grocery items. Inside was items such as coffee and biscuits.
Then he told the students they had to give their bag away to someone in the audience, a friend, teacher, or family member.
‘‘I thought that was it,’’ says Apiti.
‘‘I thought he must want to teach the kids about giving. Then a man came into the hall with all the laptops.’’
For Patel the expressions on the children’s faces said it all.
‘‘I really felt like Santa,’’ says Patel.
‘‘Their faces lit up like little diamonds, very shiny.’’
Patel said he gave the laptops as a way to invest in the future of each child.
Patel, himself, struggles every day with severe dyslexia. He cannot read or write.
So he knows from experience that new technologies are an important means to overcome adversity.
‘‘I came last in my class – always. I thought I was the biggest loser. I don’t want any of the kids to feel like that.
‘‘Everyone has skills. They just need help to develop them. All I needed was one teacher who encouraged me. So I want to encourage them.’’
Growing up in Fiji, Patel’s mother always taught him to put the needs of others first.
When Patel, who moved to Te Kuiti in 1992, remembered that lesson.
The dining room at the town’s Te Tokanganui-a-Noho marae is still warmed by the heat pumps he donated.
And Patel’s first store in Te Kuiti remains known in the community as ‘‘Sid’s Store’’.
Since then Patel’s business interests, and the reach of his generosity, have grown.
He is now the proud owner of a motel in Ka¯ whia, and the KBeez superettes in Huntly and Puta¯ ruru. Patel also famously bought the Huntly Deka sign in 1996.
‘‘The kids ask me if I am rich. I tell them being rich is not about money. It’s about being happy, and making other people happy.’’
This is not the first time Patel has played Santa Sid for the children of Kawhia Primary. He has been putting the prize in prizegiving since 2013.
Christmas gifts to the Ka¯ whia Primary community have included a fleet of new bikes, Samsung 8 smartphones for school-leavers, and $30,000 worth of desktop computers for the library.
In addition, Patel donates stationery to the school at the beginning of every year.
‘‘This is my backyard, my community. I want to look after it.
‘‘I feel like all the kids in Kawhia are my mokopuna.
‘‘I could get myself a motorcycle. Maybe this year I will get to it. But if I buy myself something, I only make myself happy.
‘‘If I buy laptops for the kids, then I make a hundred people happy.’’
Apiti, said Patel always goes into ‘‘ bat for the underdog,’’.
‘‘And he has the biggest heart.’’ Outside of Kawhia, Patel generously contributes food, stationery, and other gifts to children in Huntly, and
Puta¯ ruru.
Locals know they can rely on Patel’s KBeez superettes to supply school kids with free bread, and fruit all year round.
But as his reputation as a king of kindness grows, Patel says he doesn’t like the attention.
‘‘People tell me I might not have enough saved for my retirement.
‘‘But I will have the memories. I will have my community. That is more important.
‘‘One hug is worth a million dollars.’’
As a young detective working the Papakura streets, Inspector Will Loughrin saw first-hand the shattering realities of family violence.
A woman murdered by her expartner, leaving three children without parents, was a stark reality that gave him an understanding on why focusing on family harm was so important.
Forming a close bond with the victim’s family, Waikato’s new Western Area Commander learnt empathy and taking a ‘‘people first’’ approach to policing, values he intends to bring to his new role.
The Western area is a large and diverse patch, stretching from Meremere in the north, along Waikato’s west coast and through the King Country to Piopio in the south.
The son of a New Zealand police officer, who went on to be a Chief Detective Inspector in Hong Kong Police, policing was always a career Loughrin saw himself doing.
At the age of 19, he joined police, starting out in South Auckland where after two years he became a detective.
One of his first investigations was the murder of a police employee.
He recalls being taken to the scene by the 16-year-old offender who showed police where he had done the fatal stabbing.
After moving to Waikato with his family in 2011 he developed a career in investigations, working predominantly in CIB and Organised Crime in Hamilton City.
During 2020 he has worked simultaneously on three homicide investigations, leading the Operation Kane team investigating the death of Sao Young – the Hamilton man found dead at a rural Gordonton property during the Covid-19 lockdown.
Loughrin said it was hugely rewarding to be able to inform the victim’s family they had charged six people in relation to his death.
Yet among the successes there are cases that still niggle him, like Operation Olive, the murder of
Paeroa pizza man Jordan Voudouris.
‘‘It’s a real whodunnit, it’s a small community, someone knows the answer.
‘‘Something like that still niggles me.
‘‘I have handed that over [to another officer] in the hope they will bring closure and hold someone accountable.’’
Even though Loughrin clearly has a passion for being a detective, it was his time relieving in the western area that propelled him to apply for this role.
At only 34 he’s ‘‘fairly young’’ for an area commander, but Loughrin said he couldn’t say no when the opportunity came up.
‘‘I always wanted to be an area commander and the opportunity came up, so I took it.
‘‘My first role is to speak to our people and communities to establish what is important to them, what they are hearing and seeing, which informs how we will police.’’
As an officer he said he has been lucky to have good leaders, so to come back in a similar role was exciting.
‘‘I really enjoy the people side of policing.
‘‘I know a lot of people that work in the area that I can work with and help develop them and grow.’’
He’s excited to deliver new rural support officers to the O¯ torohanga and Te Kauwhata communities to prevent and detect crime and crashes in the communities.
‘‘It’s not a one size fits all because we have so many different communities [in the area] with different requirements.
‘‘What’s really important is our staff have that mindset of eyes wide open, some times you will go back to the same family on a number of occasions, what’s important is you have that approach.
‘‘Why are you coming back here, is it alcohol, can you bring in some support agencies.’’
With 11 stations in his patch Loughrin is aiming to visit all of them before Christmas and walk the beat to get familiar with the locals.
‘‘I really enjoy the people side of policing. I know a lot of people that work in the area that I can work with and help develop them and grow’’
Waikato’s new Western Area Commander Will Loughrin