Occupied with memory
It was 1967 and it might not have seemed like a significant year to many New Zealanders: Keith Holyoake was Prime Minister, the currency was decimalised and country music singer Keith Urban — who would one day marry film star Nicole Kidman — was born in Whangarei.
But for one man, it was the year New Zealand became his refuge.
Thuten Kesang was in his early 20s when he became the first Tibetan refugee to arrive here. Now, 50 years later, Kesang has chronicled his life story in a memoir, Tibet: The Home I Left Behind But Will Never Forget.
“I have been through long life; I wanted the younger generation to know where I come from,” he says.
After being told by people he should write down his life story, Kesang began dictating it to his wife, Gwen, 30 years ago. The couple have been married for 46 years and have two daughters and three grandchildren.
It wasn’t just Kiwis who wanted to know more; the Dalai Lama himself told Kesang of the importance of his story.
“He said to me ‘as the older generation who have lived under the Chinese occupation, we should write so that those who did not live under Tibetan regime will know what it was like’.”
He has returned only once to Tibet, in 1988, and, now 73, says New Zealand is home.
A self-employed printer and recipient of a Queens Service Medal, Kesang is still strongly involved in community groups and is focused on spreading a message of good will.
Ethan Sills