26 August – Fo Guang Shan (North Island)NZ Congratulates NZ Police on IPANZ Award

On 26 August, Fo Guang Shan (North Island) NZ’s Venerable Jue Hao, BLIA (North Island)
President Dolly Tsai and 3 other BLIA members attended the celebration dinner to congratulate NZ Police Ethnic Strategy on being awarded the Institute of Public Administration New Zealand (IPANZ) Gen-i Public Sector Excellence Awards top prize for Excellence in Recognising Ethnic Diversity at Shanti Niwas. This award was awarded in recognition of the effort by the NZ Police Ethnic Strategy in engaging across all cultural communities to enhance community safety and help prevent and reduce crime. Other VIPs included Assistant Commissioner of Upper North Allan Boreham, Auckland City District Commander Superintendent George Fraser, General Manager Maori, Ethnic and Pacific Services Superintendent Wallace Haumaha, and other community leaders, a total of 70 people.

General Manager of Maori, Ethnic and Pacific Services, Superintendent Wallace Haumaha’s team members comprise different ethnicities and nationalities and they used their own native languages like Chinese, Korean, Indian etc to invite the various community groups such as Korean and Indian Communities to deliver their speech. The use of different languages also shows the sincerity and dedication of the NZ Police in reaching out to the community. Community leaders shared their great work experience with the Police and were deeply touched by the Police officers who earnestly learn the Asian cultures and languages in order to communicate more effectively with the Asian community to ensure their needs are attended to.

Assistant Commissioner of Upper North, Allan Boreham praised Superintendent Wallace Haumaha and his team for their excellent performance in engaging across all cultural communities to enhance community safety and help prevent and reduce crime; the team had also provided translation and assistance for the non-English speaking victims’ families during the devastating earthquake that shook Christchurch this year. NZ Police will continue to recruit people of diverse cultures and languages to meet the needs of NZ’s diverse communities.

Superintendent Wallace Haumaha thanked his team for their outstanding performance and their team spirit. During the Christchurch earthquake, the team’s language skills and understanding of the victims’ families’ cultures made them feel understood and welcomed, which showed that the NZ Police is ready to step into international service. A special mention was made of the good relationship with Fo Guang Shan NZ, whereby Abbess Manshin is the first Buddhist reverend to be appointed as the wing patron.