Top recognition for young Pacific talent

Samuelu Si'ilata, Tammy Kingi, and J'aime Laurenson. Photo / Godfrey Boehnke

Three of the country's highest achieving Pacific youth have been honoured in a new awards system set up by Prime Minister John Key.

Samuelu Si'ilata, Tammy Kingi and J'aime Laurenson have been named the recipients of the inaugural Prime Minister's Pacific Youth Awards.

The prizes include $6000 worth of tuition fees, an overseas trip to the value of $5000 and a year-long paid internship with Weta Workshop in Wellington.

Mr Si'ilata, 24, has a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in film, television and media.

He also has a Graduate Diploma in digital studies from the Auckland University of Technology.

He was awarded the Weta Workshop Creativity Award and says he is looking forward to spending a year being mentored by Sir Richard Taylor.

"How awesome is that? I just feel really privileged to get this opportunity. I just want to learn everything - what they do and especially how they do it."

Fellow Auckland Grammar old boy J'aime Laurenson receives the Leadership Award, sponsored by the University of Auckland.

The 24-year-old from Manukau City is the first person to graduate with first class honours in both Bachelor of Engineering and Bachelor of Laws at the university.

The straight-A student is a popular mentor within the Engineering faculty and also tutors Maori and Pacific youngsters.

"I can help and encourage Pacific people to consider opportunities and careers they wouldn't think possible," he said.

"And also being an engineer - to increase the amount of Pacific people in that area [because] there's a shortage of them in our society."

He is due to use his award to study towards a Masters or doctorate degree in engineering.

The recipient of the Cogita Software Inspiration Award goes to Miss Kingi, of Mangere.

The 22-year-old, who completed a Bachelor of Arts majoring in linguistics and Pacific studies, is passionate about Pasifika languages and is working at making moves to prevent the loss of many Pacific languages.

"I'm a proud Niuean and can speak fluent Niuean," she said.

"So many of my Tongan and Samoan friends can just start talking in their language and I can't do that - because it's really rare for a young person who is Niuean to speak it.

"[The Niuean language] is dying.

"I just want to get young people excited about knowing their language and the importance of knowing it."

Prime Minister John Key, who announced the awards in August, said they were created purely to highlight the achievements of young Pacific people in New Zealand.

He said the winners had excelled across a number of disciplines and he acknowledged that the awards would be an incentive for other Pacific youth to further achieve and become leaders within their community.

"If we want this country to continue to be successful on the world stage, it is critical we capitalise on the expertise of all New Zealanders," Mr Key said.

"As these awards show, the Pacific communities of New Zealand are home to talented and determined young people with great leadership potential."