Tears of joy as new Kiwis welcomed

From left Khusbu Naaz, Rozina Begum, Saiyad Ali and Faizaan Ali from Fiji, with Mayor Steve Chadwick. Photo / Stephen Parker

Cheering, laughter and a few happy tears filled Rotorua's council chamber as 34 people officially became New Zealand citizens.

Families and individuals from England, South Africa, Korea, Fiji, China, Sri Lanka and the Philippines were presented with their citizenship certificates by Mayor Steve Chadwick yesterday, at the last ceremony of the year.

The new citizens received a copy of Choice - a commemorative book about New Zealand citizenship - and all the women received corsages. Each family was also given a native tree seedling to be planted around the city.

Mrs Chadwick spoke about how the tree symbolised "planting your roots in Rotorua".

"It is very symbolic and one day you can bring your grandchildren to Rotorua and show them the tree and tell them what it stands for."

The crowd was also treated to entertainment by Te Kura o te Whakarewarewa pupils.

Among those welcomed were the Ali family from Fiji who first came to New Zealand when they found out their son had a serious heart defect.

"Our son was 6 months old when we found out he had a hole in his heart. There were no medical facilities in Fiji that could operate on him and we had family in New Zealand, so came here so he could have the operation," Saiyad Ali said. "In November 2007, my daughter and I moved over here for good and, in April 2008, my wife and son were able to follow."

Mr Ali said his family moved to Rotorua in 2012, after he was offered a job at Skyline Rotorua. His son has now fully recovered.

"We love living here. It is so multicultural and the climate is very pleasing. It has wonderful education opportunities for our children, as well as medical facilities."

He said it was a great feeling "becoming a part of such a beautiful country".

Another new citizen Richard Perkins reduced many to tears as he spoke of how proud he was to become a New Zealander.

"I believe in safety, love and respect and I came to this country to find that."

We asked some of our new Kiwi citizens where they came from and why:

Rudi Keown:

My family and I moved to Rotorua from South Africa in 2008. Our main motivation for moving was the kids because we wanted them to have more opportunities and New Zealand offered that. We chose Rotorua because it is beautiful and has great outdoor activities.

Michael Tubilla:

We came to Rotorua from the Philippines in 2007 and have loved living here. We wanted our children to grow up in a country with many opportunities. We love living in Rotorua because it is safe and there are a lot of nice people here. There isn't much traffic either which is great.

Richard Perkins:

I moved to New Zealand (from South Africa) in September 2010 and lived in Taranaki before moving to Rotorua.We decided on this beautiful country because I wanted secure futures for my boys and myself. My favourite part about this city is the cultural diversity and the respect people have for each other. The people here are very good natured, caring people.

Gregory Thompson:

We moved from South Africa to New Zealand in 2007 and lived in Auckland and Taupo for a while before settling in Rotorua. We picked New Zealand so our kids' futures would be filled with more opportunities. We love Rotorua because it is central to most things, we have the lakes and forest at our back door and there is always something happening.