Adon Kumar
Auckland, April 1, 2023
Upon reaching retirement age, many people would like to embark on a final bucket list of enjoyment journeys.
I had a different adventure- academic pursuit.
I grew up in Malaysia in a middle-class family.
At school, I was an average grade achiever but with high ambitions. Learning languages was my passion but most of all, I wanted to study Law.
It was an impossible dream. So, I branched into my first degree in English in India.
Then I wanted to follow my parents’ wishes and gained my next degree in Theology which was how I got to New Zealand as a student at the age of 23.
After a stint in gaining my first job in a production factory making rubbish bags for $3 per hour, my interest in technology led me into a 25-year career in Information Technology.
But my passion for language encouraged me to earn a postgraduate (Master’s) degree in Applied Linguistics at the age of 58 in Australia while I was teaching ESOL at Unitec.
Then, a chance suggestion by a colleague took me to the world of wines, of which I did not know. I became the Chief Executive of wine-searcher.com which is one of the world’s most used price comparison search engines for wines.
Student again at 69
Retirement stared at me when I was 65 years old and I wondered what next- sit at home watching
TV and fade away, go on a world trip or do what many other retirees do – enjoy the end-of-life phase?
My boyhood dream came to haunt me. What about law studies?
My heart asked, ‘Why not?” but my mind said, “You do not have the brains anymore.”
I told my wife that I may pass unfulfilled if I did not take up this challenge.
Therefore, I enrolled on a four-year, full-time law degree at Auckland University of Technology when I was 69 years old. It was a daunting challenge to study with school leavers and the brainy lot, who could recite Latin phrases as if it was their mother tongue.
In my third and fourth years, I faced two interruptions.
First, Covid-19 hit me as it did everyone else. Who would have guessed that Law studies of the staid and elite will allow online classes, let alone online Law examinations?
Covid changed everything. I was determined to finish what I started but something else confronted me physically and emotionally.
Heart-stopping experience
Life is not without its challenges and barriers. During the final month of my final year, I began to experience shortness of breath while walking uphill from Britomart to AUT on Wellesley Street, a habit of three years.
Upon the recommendation of my Cardiologist, I underwent the angiogram procedure, which found 99% blockage on the right and 80% on the left sides of my heart.
I was rushed to the hospital, where I had quadruple heart bypass surgery.
I still had to complete my final examination for the last three law papers. I was advised to spend four weeks in recovery. I was in pain, from deep cuts and wounds. I had lost seven kilograms and could hardly walk.
Persistence leads to success
My determination to complete what I had begun, prompted me to complete all three papers.
On Thursday, March 30, 2023, I attended my graduation ceremony, earning my Bachelor of Laws degree at the age of 73, with my young cohorts.
As the Bible says, “No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back is fit for the Kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62)
Age is no limit to life-long learning.
I have not retired. I just got re-tyred. There is still some tread left.
I plan to provide Employment Advocacy such as Mediation, Dispute Resolution and similar services, mainly to migrant employees who have problems with employers.
I have a penchant to fight migrant exploitation in New Zealand.
Sadly, most of the cases that come before the Employment Relations Authority are about migrant employers abusing fellow migrant employees.
What is your plan, fellow retirees? You can put yourself to good use; gain more knowledge and reinvent yourself at any age.
Will you take up my challenge?
Adon Kumar has several attributes that make him a multitalented person. Among many credits to his profile, he is an English Language Lecturer and Employment Coach based in Auckland. Migrants find his Language and Coaching classes valuable guides to success. He runs ‘Goshen Consulting,’ a firm that offers many services. He discusses migrants’ issues on his Facebook Page and conducts Free English Lessons every Sunday at 1120 am on Planet FM 104.6.
