It is important to recognise and acknowledge the work and achievements of our fellow community members every now and then. Punjabis have a history of nearly 128 years in New Zealand with contributions in almost every field, whether it is politics, sports, culture or business.
It was long-due to acknowledge those contributions and New Zealand Punjabi Foundation took this opportunity by organising the Kiwi Punjabi Awards.
The first-ever Kiwi Punjabi Awards were held in Auckland on Saturday, November 4 among a gathering of nearly 100 key-influencers from the Punjabi community in Auckland.
Awards were given out in six different categories for community work, sports, arts and culture etc.
The highest honour- Life Time Achievement award was given to Mr Paul Singh Bains. His family was one of the earliest migrants to New Zealand. He has been actively involved in community work for more than 50 years. He was the president of New Zealand Indian Central Association (NZICA) in 2010 and is also a Justice of the Peace.
For his outstanding performance in the Sports Ish Sodhi, the Black Caps bowler of Indian-origin was awarded the Sportsperson of the Year Award. His parents came to receive the award on his behalf as he was in India for the ODI series between Black Caps and Indian team.
Mr Sodhi is the first India-born person to make it to the national cricket team, hence bringing pride to not only Punjabi but the entire Indian community.
Mr Manjit Singh was the winner in Outstanding Performance in Arts category for his contribution to the music industry. Ms Singh has been playing the tabla since a young age and has been teaching it in Auckland through his school Rhythm School of Indian Music since 2008.
For their work in the community and assistance to women, Woman Care Trust (WCT) was awarded Organisations of the Year award. One of the newest community organisations, WCT has been helping the women of Indian origin settle down in New Zealand society by providing various basic skills.
The Woman of the Year award was given to Satti Singh, a Punjabi woman of Fijian descent. She was born and brought up for a few early years of her life in India and then moved back to Fiji with her parents at a very young age. Later her family moved to New Zealand.
She was recognised for her contribution in preserving the Punjabi language while working at Papatoetoe library, collecting Punjabi literature books and making them available for anyone to read.
An award among these was the Honorary Punjabi Award for a person who is not of Punjabi background or heritage but has been contributing to the Punjabi community through their work. This award was given to Pritesh Raniga of Forum Films. Forum Films have been bringing more Punjabi cinema to New Zealand hence providing the Punjabi community more entertainment.
The award night was well attended by key people from the Kiwi-Punjabi community including National Party MPs Mr Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi and Dr Parmjeet Parmar, Honorary Consul of India Mr Bhav Dhillon and Judge Dr Ajit Swaran Singh.
The initiative was welcomed by the members of the community who expressed that recognition are important for the growth of the community and act as an inspiration for the future generation.
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