Venkat Raman
Auckland, January 4, 2023
We are sorry to report that Baljit Kaur, one of the most popular community workers and Manager at the Waitakere Ethnic Board passed away this morning (at 10.48 am) at her West Auckland home after losing a year-long battle with Cancer.
She was 62 years old and left behind her husband Manmohan Bains, son Karamjit Singh Bains and daughter Malvindar Kaur Bains who were beside her with a few other members of the family and friends when she breathed her last.
We will publish information about her funeral on hearing from her family in due course.
It is hard to come to terms with the reality that Baljit is no longer in this world. For many of us, who had known and worked with her for more than 20 years, she was the epitome of kindness, community service and everything that came with a Samaritan.
Unique and Outstanding
I have known no one like Baljit. Polite and yet firm, Forthright and yet restrained, vociferous and yet silent when the occasion demanded, she always carried dignity and a certain demeanour that was so unique to her personality. She never failed to support people in times of need, take up their causes with the concerned and argue what she thought was right.
I know that thousands of people will cry today in solitude or the company of their loved ones because we have lost one of the most precious members of our community.
We know they will because thousands of them did when they read a message that Baljit sent at the launch of a Report that we published on March 12, 2022.
She wrote the following message that was read out at the launch of a Report on the Contributions of Ethnic Communities to New Zealand in West Auckland on March 11, 2022. Despite the physical pain and the mental anguish that her time was limited in this world, Baljit was thinking of people who have been hit hard by events of the past two years. Here is an extract from her message:
Concern for the country, people
“Can I request that immigration please fast-track all permanent overseas backlog applications that are outstanding as soon as possible? That the future government policy will look into only accepting future applications of highly skilled migrants with their family support as New Zealand certainly needs more of these kinds of people. This has been proven to be even more obvious to me in the hospital setting where the majority of my care has been primarily made up of migrant health professionals. Kudos to these wonderful highly skilled migrants that work so very hard and with such dedication and skill beyond being measured by a dollar value from the Philippines, India, China, the Middle East and African Continent to name a few. I thank you all so much.
“I have been personally pushing for nearly eight years that we needed not a token Office of Ethnic Communities. I think that funding to assist our communities at that time was $500,000. Is that a fair representation to assist the ever-evolving Multicultural great contribution that migrants have given to this country? We needed to be acknowledged in a rightfully fulfilling manner.
So of course, I was so happy that our communities now have a Ministry for Ethnic Communities with a fairer portion of funding available to assist all migrants since we currently make up 20% of the population and growing,” she said.
Baljit was the second generation New Zealander. Her father, Tej Singh Khaila was born in Whanganui, while her Chanan Kaur was a new immigrant. She was proud to be “a daughter of migration and of the beginning of a movement that helped raise New Zealand’s economic profile to where it is today.”
Special people in her life
Baljit had told me once that if I were to write her obituary, I must include a few people who were very special to her.
They include her husband, Manmohan Bains, her children Karamjit Singh Bains and Malvindar Kaur Bains, younger brother Azad Munjit Singh Khaila and his partner Nirmala Devi, her niece, Revinder Singh, her Punjabi younger sister Mandeep Kaur Sidhu (Senior Sergeant at New Zealand Police) and younger Punjabi brother Gurdeep Talwar (current President of the Waitakere Ethnic Board.
She said that she wished to acknowledge Mandy Spencer. One of her best friends, her other adopted daughters Nasim Mehrabi and Zahrah Ali.
“I have been associated with the Waitakere Ethnic Board (WEB) for the past ten years and I was recently appointed to the post of Manager. I wish to acknowledge these wonderful people who have inspired me throughout this progression: 1. Dr Camille Nakhid (Former WEB Member) 2. Monica Sharma 3. Mary Dawson 4. Mandy Spencer (again for being my office buddy) 5. Sam Farquhar 6. Nanette Nathoo 7. Venkat Raman 8. Rizwaana Latiff 9. Michelle Clayton 10. Sofia Kaur 11. Chris Carter 12. Zara Fazel 13. Tayyaba Khan (the first WEB Coordinator) and 14. Bobby Arora, owner of Little India Restaurant who has selflessly always donated amazing food to the events of the Waitakere Ethnic Board. I also wish to acknowledge WEB Past Presidents Amail and Boaz Habib, Kudakwashe, Shirley Freeman and Naveen Prakash as well as some influential past Board Members Zahra Atai, Zaif Khan, Sunil Kaushal, Thakur Ranjit Singh and Anne Degia-Pala,” she said.
Baljit, we will miss you immensely. We know that God has taken you back because He wanted you now more than ever before, depriving us of your presence forever.
As you would have desired, here is one of the sayings of Guru Gobind Singh Ji the 10th and last Disciple of Sikhism:
Karta (The Creator) and Karim (The Beneficent) are the names of the same God.
Razak (The Provider) and Rahim (The Merciful) are also the names given to him.
Let no man in his error wrangle over differences in Names.
Worship the one God who is the Lord of all. Know that this form is one and the One Light diffused in All.
Those who call me God will fall into the deep pit of hell. Regard me as one of his slaves and have no doubt about this. I am a servant of the Supreme Being and have come to behold the wonderful drama of life.
