Simon | Christchurch

“My mum is a big influence for me, in terms of shaping my character. She’s a very strong, patient person. Someone who doesn’t really jump to conclusions quickly, but sometimes, I myself am that sort of person, but I always think about her, because she would step back and say, hey just pause a little bit before you make any big decisions.

I grew up in Malaysia. I spent my high school days in Malaysia, and I came here when I was 21, to study at Lincoln University in Christchurch. I thought finishing my commerce degree, I’d be saying goodbye but my grandfather encouraged me to come back for a  couple more years to study. That two years turned into five years. Five years turned into 10. Ten turned into currently 27. So, practically I’m still in my OE. I’ve got my wife and kids here, and we’re expecting another kid on the way. I’ve been in Auckland a few times. I love Auckland, and Auckland is such a diverse place and holds a special place in my heart. I love Auckland.

We are very big on family. We are very family-oriented. We are a very tight unit, and if there’s any family problem let’s talk about it and not shy away from it, just find a way through it, because family does matter and that’s why we’re here for, you know? We’re here for people. We’re not here for anything else. It’s the family that brings everything together. If you have a good family, you have a good life, or good wife, good life.

My mum is a very soft person. That’s what I love about her as opposed to my father, who’s a really strong and hard man, he doesn’t have much emotions. So much of my character was based mostly from my mum, because she’s such a lovely person who’s into friends, into family, into everything. She’s got her own hobbies, and that’s something I look forward to. He’s always a distant person. Someone’s who’s very difficult to get to know too. But my mum conversely is the opposite of that. So that sort of balances out the family, and I said I prefer the way my mum brought me up, and she has such a big influence on me. But I love my dad too. He’s very passionate, he’s really determined, I get that from him, I guess I have the best of both worlds.”