Venkat Raman
Three Persons of Indian Origin are on the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in New Zealand, an announcement of which was made on June 2, 2019.
Mr Arthur Robert Ashan Amputch (Auckland) has been appointed as an Officer of the Order of New Zealand Merit (ONZM) for services to Engineering, while Anjum Rahman of Hamilton and Shila Nair (Auckland), a former Reporter of Indian Newslink and have been recognised for their services to Ethnic Communities and Women.
Arthur Amputch
Arthur Amputch, who has been honoured with a ONZM, is a Civil Engineer by profession and is currently Technical Director of Riley Consultants Limited based in Auckland.
A Former Director of Tonkin and Taylor Limited, he has been involved in the design and construction of significant infrastructure major projects such as Auckland’s Northern Motorway, SH1 Northern Corridor Extension and Waterview Connection, and Canterbury’s Kate Valley Landfill.
Mr Amputch has contributed to major award-winning solid waste and environmental protection projects. He was the first engineer to win a Ministry for the Environment Green Ribbon Award, and a New Zealand Planning Institute Project Award, and has received many other engineering, planning and environmental awards. In 2010, he was one of the youngest elected Fellows of Engineering New Zealand, recognising his contribution for developing best practice design and management guidelines for New Zealand.
Anjum Rahman
A Chartered Accountant by qualification and profession, Anjum Rahman has been a champion of gender equality and empowerment of women for more than two decades. Based in Hamilton, she has also been a political and human rights activist.
Ms Rahman is founding member and Trustee of ‘Shama,’ the Hamilton Ethnic Women Centre that provides support services for ethnic women. She is also a founding and governing board member of the Islamic Women’s Council of New Zealand, established in 1990.
Her work has also focused on sexual violence where she was a founding member of the Hamilton Campaign of Consent and a member of the Accident Compensation Corporation Expert Reference Group in 2017. She has been an active member of the Waikato Interfaith Council for more than a decade and a Trustee of the Ethnic New Zealand Trust. She is a member of the Ethnic Police Group with New Zealand Police. She is a Trustee of the Waikato Community Broadcasting Charitable Trust. Ms Rahman is a qualified Human Rights Commission facilitator, and travels around New Zealand to speak on issues affecting Muslim women and to promote diversity and inclusion.
“Anyone who does any social and community service with the support of the people will succeed in their efforts. I believe that so much more can achieved by working together. This (MNZM) is a recognition to everyone who worked with me,” she said.
Shila Nair
Shila Nair migrated to New Zealand in 2002 and joined Indian Newslink as a Reporter.
She has always been dedicated to supporting vulnerable women, children and youth within ethnic migrant and refugee communities.
Ms Nair began working for Shakti at its women’s centre and has been pivotal in its growth from a local ethnic community organisation in Auckland to a national umbrella organisation, Shakti Community Council Inc., with specialist refuges and centres in Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin servicing more than 9000 women annually.
She completed a master’s degree in counselling and is currently registered with the New Zealand Association of Counsellors, Primary Health Organisations, and ACC to support the mentally unwell including survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. Her focus has been on supporting Asian, African and Middle Eastern women and she has been a leading advocate for legislation against forced and under-age marriage in New Zealand.
She has been on various consultation committees including the New Zealand Family Violence Taskforce, the Reference Group to the Social Development Minister developing the Vulnerable Children’s Act, and more recently the Safe and Effective Justice Programme Advisory Group, working towards reforming the country’s criminal justice system.
Dames Companion (DNZM)
The Queen’s Honours List features Dr Susan Nicola (Sue) Bagshaw of Christchurch for services to the Youth and the late Yvette Winifred for services to Athletics as Dames Companion (DNZM) of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
Dr Sue Bagshaw has worked in the youth health sector for 30 years and is currently Senior Lecturer in Paediatrics at the University of Otago in Christchurch, and a contract educator and Trustee for the Collaborative for Research and Training in Youth Health and Development, which she founded.
Ms Winifred was the first New Zealand female athlete to win an Olympic Gold medal in 1952 in the long jump event.
She served as Patron of Counties Manukau Regional Sports Trust for 17 years until 2009. She was Patron of Athletics New Zealand from 2003 to 2006 and served on the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame’s Board of Governors from 1990 to 1995. She served for 40 consecutive years on the selection panel for the New Zealand Herald Junior Sports Awards. Mrs Corlett continued to volunteer her time coaching at the Panmure Young Citizens Centre.
Knights Companion (KNZM)
Paul Hunter Adams of Tauranga. Roger Leighton Hall and Graham Michael Lowe have been made Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, respectively for services to philanthropy and the community, theatre and youth and education.
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Arthur Amputch (Picture from Christ the King, Catholic School Website)
Anjum Rahman (Picture Supplied)
Shila Nair (Picture Supplied)
