Thanks to Aunty Mercia
WHEN I was leaving Kaitaia College, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. I wanted to be the driver of the speed camera van ... Then I could park up all day, sit there and go surfing. But my aunty told me to go to teachers’ college, so I did!
Aunty Mercia Smith was my first teacher and is one of my greatest inspirations — she got me into public speaking when I was 6 years old, dressed up as a kiwi at a multicultural festival. It was my first experience of speaking in front of what looked like hundreds of people. Since that time I’ve had a sense of “I can do this,” because she put me up there and simply told me, “You can do this!”
We’ve lived and travelled overseas, and we’ve been around the world twice. I think if you compare New Zealand to different places, some places will be better at different things. But you can’t beat the people up here in Kaitaia. That’s what makes it what it is.
There’s a heck of a lot more I want to do. I’ve done business and charity work, but I think I’m only a third of the way there. I’m looking forward to the positive changes ahead, not only for me and my family but our community.
I’m a guy who tries to understand people and what’s going on in their world. I genuinely want to help others. I hope that my kids and students get a real sense that I believe in them and the huge potential that lies within. I want them to ignore the limitations that outside influences put on them, and give everything a go and work hard; that they use external negative forces as momentum and motivation to overcome and succeed.
My Dad and Mum arrived up here in the 1970s. Dad is Chinese and Mum’s Pa¯ keha¯ . They were just taken in — basically adopted by whanau here — and they never left. Because of that love and acceptance, this is home, and will continue to be our home, and it’s home for my kids and for the generations to come. You can’t beat that.