The Indian Weekender, 01 July 2022

6
NEW ZEALAND
Police raises
awareness
about Child
abuse in ethnic
communities
NAVDEEP KAUR MARWAH
Tuesday afternoon saw New
Zealand Police organising an
ethnic community workshop on
Child Abuse Prevention at the Fickling
Convention Centre in Three Kings in
Auckland.
As part of NZ Police Ethnic Wing’s
regular liaising with different ethnic
communities, the event saw an engaging
and informative presentation by
Detective Sergeant Alfred Zhou, where
he spoke about the early signs to notice
child abuse and how to address such a
sensitive issue while safeguarding the
interests of the vulnerable child.
He also spoke about the different
ways that police deal
with those suspected
of indulging in child
abuse and the New Zealand laws related
to Child Abuse.
Those seen in attendance included
Ethnic Responsiveness Manager for
Metro Auckland for NZ Police Jessica
Phuang and community leader Nilima
Venkat among others.
Talking about the intent behind the
event, Phaung said, “Through this
workshop, we want to create awareness
about what child protection is in New
Zealand as many members of ethnic
communities are still uncertain about
where the law sits regarding child abuse
and child abuse protection.”
While talking to Indian Weekender,
Phaung further acknowledged that
Friday, July 01, 2022
We can only achieve a
real safe environment
while working with the
community. We need
support from community
members as Police can’t
do anything alone.”
Police need the community’s support to
have a safe environment for the wider
community. “We can only achieve a real
safe environment while working with
the community. We need support from
community members as Police can’t do
anything alone,” she said.
While making his presentation, Zhou
stressed that it is essential for the
community to be vigilant if they see or
Read online www.iwk.co.nz
hear of any case related to child abuse.
“If you see a child being ill-treated,
neglected, or abused, do not ignore it.
The key thing is to protect our next
generation so that they can live in
a violence-free, friendly, and loving
environment. It is our priority to protect
children and not parents who abuse their
children. We don’t want our generations
to suffer, and it is crucial to be vigilant,”
he signed off.
• Continued from Page 3
Bilateral trade talks have also resumed,
Shri Pardeshi indicated. “Last week, we
had Foreign Office consultations in Delhi,
and after more than a decade, for the
first time, trade offices from both sides
met in Delhi to resume discussions on
how to take trade relations to the next
level.”
The Vande Bharat flights from New
Zealand to India that flew non-stop
between the two destinations had
set up a template for future non-stop
direct flights, Shri Pardeshi said. There
was some uncertainty about whether
non-stop flights were possible in the
beginning.
“When some 20 flights came to
Auckland and airlifted people... the
template was set... direct flight in 16
hours plus [flying time] was possible.”
He said that India’s Indigo Airlines will
likely fly the direct route in the not too
distant future.
The pandemic had unfortunately
affected India’s global plans to celebrate
the 75th anniversary of her independence.
“I had announced in August 2019 that
there will be a festival of India. But once
again because of the Covid-19 that
has been on hold. Hopefully sometime
later this year, we can start once again
putting it into shape.
“The idea is will bring several cultural
groups from India. And then we’ll have
50 events around Auckland, Wellington,
Hamilton, Christchurch and other places.
That kind of cultural celebration we
have not done so far at that scale.
That festival of India will be supported
by India’s Ministry of Culture and Indian
Council for Cultural Relations,” Shri
Pardeshi revealed.
Expressing pride on Kiwi-Indian’s
contribution to the NZ economy, Shri
Pardeshi said,
“One outstanding aspect of India NZ
relations in our rich and well-integrated
community that we have 250,000
people almost 5% of the population;
10% in Auckland, that’s commendable.
During my time we worked on a report
to document economic contribution
The idea is will bring
several cultural
groups from India.
And then we’ll have 50
events around Auckland,
Wellington, Hamilton,
Christchurch and other
places. That kind of
cultural celebration we
have not done so far at
that scale.
of Indians and we found out that
community as a whole is contributing
more than $10 billion to NZ’s economy.”
Reminiscing of his travels throughout
the country he said, “We enjoyed the
company of associations from north to
south, from east to west... So happy that
even in Invercargill, there is a community
association and they celebrate Diwali,
Holi and other festivals. I found Indian
restaurants serving Indian dishes and I
think they are the first contact for the
Kiwi population to know a little about
India. So the footprint of India and Indian
culture is seen throughout NZ.”
While the Indian community was well
established and well-integrated in NZ, he
said it was important for the community
as a whole to stay cohesive.
“We appreciate different community
organisations celebrating their festivals
in their own manner, but for the few
national events I urge you to come
together and celebrate as one. These
are the events which concern every
Indian – those should be done not in
compartmentalised fashion. This should
be done on a bigger scale and in the
end bigger scale events become far
more impressive. If every community
starts celebrating separately, then it
will be a localised and the grandeur of
that festival will be lost. So I hope this
message will go across to all community
members.”
Community leaders presented Shri
Muktesh and Smt Rakhi Pardeshi with
mementoes and flowers at the end of
the function. Narendra Bhana, President
of the New Zealand Indian Central
Association welcomed the gathering.
Honorary Consul of India Bhav Dhillon,
Auckland Indian Association President
Dhansukh Lal and community leader
Jeet Suchdev shared the dais and spoke
at the event.
The speakers commended the High
Commissioner for his leadership on
various fronts including his hand-on
involvement in helping the needy in
the community during the pandemic
by making available resources for food
supplies and medication. They praised
the his many achievements despite
pandemic restrictions – especially seeing
through the completion of the new
chancery building and wholeheartedly
supporting the Kiwi-Indian community’s
many cultural projects around NZ.
The evening concluded with
a light repast hosted by the
Auckland Indian Association.
• Continued from Page 5
So what began as a physical outlet for
Haransh’s (and his younger brother’s)
unsettled emotions, boxing soon
became a passion and purpose for him,
Jasjit said.
However, it is not to be lost that
Haransh was a natural athlete and a
budding sportsperson back in India and
played well at local levels.
Eventually, he brought in that sports
background, including stamina and a
focused attitude to the game of boxing
at Revill’s boxing gym, and slowly began
to shine.
Coaches – Lance Revill and
Jono – played an important role
The two coaches of Revill’s boxing gym
– Lance Revill and Jonothan Nevin, had
been instrumental in Haransh’s success
in the boxing ring, right from identifying
the talent to putting in a hard training
regimen to eventually backing Singh’s
boxing prowess and zeal to excel
competitively.
Speaking with Indian Weekender
coach Revill revealed that from a very
early Singh has expressed a desire and
ambitions to play the sport competitively
within New Zealand’s boxing circuit.
This year Revill’s Boxing Gym shone at
the Golden Glove boxing championship
2022 and returned with three gold
medals (including Haransh).
Wendell Stanley, currently the
71kg New Zealand Champion and
on the shortlist for the 2022
Commonwealth Games in July and
Kheva Potatau were the other two gold
medallists for the team.