Gauthaman – Pakuranga
“The message I just recently sent to someone was to my mate Glen who went to Australia this year to study engineering at University of Queensland.
So I sent him ‘best of luck’ with his future, and hope he becomes a good engineer like me, and we hope to graduate at the same time.
I’ve never really lived in Auckland. I’m originally from Malaysia, born in Malaysia, but we moved here about 14 years ago. In Auckland, I definitely feel safe. It’s what I call home now. I’ve been here for so long, so I don’t really refer to Malaysia as being home. Home means like a safe place where I’m comfortable.
You have the Lantern Festival every year, Diwali, and all the other cultural events that happen throughout the year, which showcase how diverse New Zealand is. We go to the temple – pray to god as a family at festival times.
You could always be open-minded, helpful and grateful for the things you have. So, just embrace all those things and be self-aware and just go about your life, I guess.
The reason I want to become an engineer is because of my dad. He’s a huge influence on that; he’s a mechanic and I just want to take that up and be a better, higher standard version of that, and I’ve always wanted to do that as a kid. I’ve been good with engines and stuff like that as a kid, so I just wanted to take that on and take that further in life.”
