Tibetans mourn the passing of 'father of the community' Thuten Kesang

Thuten Kesang was New Zealand's first Tibetan refugee.

New Zealand's first Tibetan refugee and ardent Tibet advocate, Thuten Kesang, has died at the age of 76.

The Auckland Tibetan Association said in a statement that Kesang died on Sunday, May 23.

Charles Chan, 79, who had known Kesang for 25 years and attended the same temple - the Dorje Chang Institute - said Kesang suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm two nights earlier.

"We were offering puja [Buddhist prayers] for Thuten over the weekend, and his passing does come as a shock," Chan said.

"The Tibetan community here is small in number, maybe just around 50, and many consider Thuten to be like the father of the community. His passing is a very great loss."

Rinchen Dhondup, 48, a translator at the Dorje Chang Institute Tibetan Buddhist Centre, first met Kesang on his arrival here in 2004.

"You can say we shared a similar journey, leaving Tibet for India before moving to New Zealand," Dhondup said.

"From the first time we met, I knew him as a passionate - and sometimes too passionate - advocate for our homeland, Tibet."

Thuten Kesang was an ardent Tibet advocate.

Dhondup said Kesang was "the face of Tibetans in New Zealand" and his passing was a "huge and massive loss".

"It's like the head of the family is gone, and the rest of us are left behind wondering what's next," he said.

"Thuten was the most experienced Tibetan here in NZ in every aspect, and the big question is who can even come close to filling his shoes."

The association described Kesang as a loving husband, father, grandfather and ardent Tibet advocate.

In 2017, he launched an autobiography "Tibet - The Home I Left Behind".

That same year, a documentary film telling Kesang's story also screened at the New Zealand International Film Festival.

The film, Team Tibet: Home away from Home, gives an account of Tibetan culture in exile through Kesang's eyes.

"I have been through a lot in life," he said at the time.

He came to New Zealand more than 50 years ago as the first Tibetan refugee, and for many years he was the only Tibetan living here.

Born in the Tibetan capital Lhasa in 1944, he was sent to India on horseback by his parents in the mid-1950s before the Chinese invasion of Tibet.

But during the Chinese occupation, Kesang suddenly found himself an orphan and refugee in India.

He graduated from Dr Graham's Homes, a Christian boarding school in Kalimpong, and after finishing his apprenticeship in printing, Kesang emigrated to New Zealand arriving here on January 4, 1967.

When he arrived, he lived in Mt Albert but in later years moved to Beach Haven on Auckland's North Shore, where he ran his own printmaking business.

He and his wife, Gwen, had two daughters and three grandchildren.

From 1967 until 2015, he served as head of the Tibetan Community in New Zealand, and then as head of the Auckland Tibetan Association until 2019.

In 1986, Kesang founded the Friends of Tibet, served as president and was the political voice of Tibet in New Zealand.

Last year, he facilitated the Tibetan language and culture weekend classes in Auckland.

Thuten had also previously served as Honorary Secretary of the Liaison Office of Tibet NZ and also representative of the Dalai Lama for the Asia-Pacific region.

"Words fail to describe his selfless dedication and contribution to the Tibetan cause," the association's statement said.

"Thuten lived a life full of compassion and purpose. He was a proud and happy Tibetan-New Zealander always ready to sing his favourite old Bollywood songs.

"We pray for his soul to rest in peace and consciousness to be reborn as a Tibetan under the realm of Avalokitesvara."