Poll: Who would you vote for as New Zealander of the year?
The New Zealander of the the Year finalists are Dr Siouxsie Wiles, Farid Ahmed and Ranjna Patel.
The awards honour extraordinary Kiwis who inspire, give hope and lead.
Wiles is a microbiologist and science communicator from Auckland.
When Covid-19 first hit New Zealand, Dr Siouxsie Wiles rose to the challenge, said Miriama Kamo, Te Koruru – patron of the awards.
"... she's stood tall to speak to hundreds of millions globally," Kamo said.
"Her work helped us all to see beyond the fear and complexity of the pandemic, to understand not only what was happening, but also how we could, and can continue to, collectively respond."
Ahmed is the Muslim community leader who became an icon of forgiveness following the March 15 terror attacks in Christchurch.
After losing his wife in the attacks, Ahmed demonstratred how faith and love could
provide a pathway to navigate deep grief.
Awarded an international peace prize for his ongoing work, he published Husna's Story in March last year, donating all royalties to St John Ambulance.
The third finalist, Ranjna Patel, is the Tamaki Health director and a domestic violence social entrepreneur.
When Patel was asked to offer guidance around family violence in in the south Asian community, she identified a crucial missing step in family violence intervention – engaging offenders in their own rehabilitation.
In 2014, she established the first Gandhi Nivas home for perpetrators in Otahuhu, providing innovative early intervention and prevention services for Kiwi men.
A study undertaken by Massey University looked at men five years before entering Gandhi Nivas and after, and found 60% of men did not re-offend.
The annual Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year Awards are in their 12th year.
The six winners will be announced in Auckland on March 31.
*Please put NFP if you do not want your comments used by Stuff.
-
65.7% Dr Siouxsie Wiles
-
17.6% Ranjna Patel
-
16.7% Farid Ahmed
Collaborative Tap Dance Show
New Zealand’s first home-grown professional Tap Dance show, Tap Fusion, will be performing at Auckland’s TAPAC Theatre this weekend. The show is a collaboration of New Zealand’s top Tap dancers performing alongside artists of Street Dance, Contemporary Dance and Swing Dance.
Tap Fusion is the work of former New Zealand Tap Champion Brandon Carter-Chan and is designed to expose the diversity of New Zealand artists through Tap Dance by inspiring, uplifting, and promoting the idea of creative collaboration, encouraging people to work with artists outside their social circle, and to increase opportunity and strengthen the arts community as a whole.
Tap Fusion is on at TAPAC Theatre, Motions Road Western Springs, 14th & 15th December. Buy tickets at: www.tapac.org.nz...
Step Right Up! Who Can Solve Today’s Tricky Riddle?
What has six faces, but does not wear makeup, has twenty-one eyes, but cannot see?
Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.
Want to stop seeing riddles in your newsfeed?
Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.
Have you ever been wrongly ticketed?
A Wellington man was wrongly issued a parking fine and spent over 40 hours going back and forward with Hutt City Council about it.
Have you ever been unfairly fined?