26/05/2026
30 Years in NZ Today!! Grateful to have called beautiful Aotearoa home for most of my life ๐๐
A journey that began 26th May 1996, when at the age of 11, my parents and I migrated to Christchurch from Fiji. Both Maa and Papa had great established Careers back home in Fiji but made the sacrifice to migrate to beautiful Aotearoa for a better life, education and career opportunities for us.
I still fondly remember arriving into beautiful Christchurch on a very cold winters day and having KFC for the very first time that evening ๐ lol ๐คฃ
My only sibling, Hamish later being born in Chch ๐.
Grateful for the beautiful opportunities provided along the way to make some really good friends, amazing Commercial Banking Career that spanned nearly 19 years, starting off in Property Finance in 2005 and Business & Commercial Banking in BNZ from 2007 onwards.
I will always be grateful for Chch and it will forever remain my Hometown and Crusaders!! Having gone through schooling since year 7, started my first job at age 14 pushing trolleys and stacking shelves at SuperValue Supermarket, Stanmore Rd, to my various senior sporting and martial arts journey, achievements and countless awesome times with amazing friends, some of us are still friends for nearly 30 years ๐๐๐.
Chch gave me the opportunity to purchase my very First Home at age 22. Still remember the day that my Home Loan Approval came through with only 5% deposit and the day I received the keys ๐, was surreal and a moment to remember and cherish forever ๐๐๐
I was actually transferred up to Auckland in 2009 by BNZ and became one of the youngest Business Managers in the Country at age 24 ๐.
I am also grateful for the beautiful 4 years spent in beautiful Mackay, Queensland across 2012 to 2016. Grateful for the time spent working at Commonwealth Bank Regional Commercial & Agribusiness Team. I learnt and grew a lot as a young Commercial & Agri Relationship Executive then with exposure to larger commercial and agribusiness transactions. Grateful to have made such amazing friends in CBA and wider Mackay Community ๐.
My Zara being born in Mackay and building my home at age 29 along with the beautiful people and friends of Mackay will forever be cherished ๐
After returning back to Auckland from Mackay, I spent about 7 years at Westpac Commercial and became one of the youngest and most successful Senior Commercial Managers in the Country which led to managing a commercial portfolio of $500m+ ๐๐
My Vihaan was later born in Auckland and brought added joy and love. With being from Fiji initially, having lived across NZ and Aus and my Kids born in Aus and NZ .. I truly feel, we are a great ANZAC Family ๐๐.
Later on I embarked on a journey of self-employment and started my own Financial Services Advisory Firm ZeeVee Financial Services - Amar Prakash which is named after my beautiful Kids Zara (Zee) and Vihaan (Vee). Working hard to help as many clients as possible and with my depth of real experience and knowledge in Complex Finance and being a real problem solver for clients โฆ led to ZeeVee being nominated 2 years in a row as Commercial Adviser of the Year and winning a separate Adviser of the Year award in 2024.
My message to all Migrants who may have recently arrived into this beautiful country with a hope of building a beautiful future here:
This is a very beautiful and amazing country and if you are prepared to work hard and sacrifice, you will do well.
My humble plea is to always remain grateful for living in this beautiful country and look to integrate yourself within the beautiful ways and cultures of this amazing country. Please live with integrity, love, care and respect and do not tarnish or bring down the migrant communities by being unethical, dodgy and trying shortcuts which often get highlighted due to the actions of a small percentage but which greatly affects the image of all migrants actually.
To end, I am grateful beyond words for my parents for choosing New Zealand and seeing them work 2 jobs each here for many years which instilled the hard working nature and ethics within me.
I am truly grateful for the opportunities given to me here which I fully embraced and I am glad I have
been able to give back to the wider communities in soo many different ways .. through my Finance Career now spanning 21 years having supported countless business clients to grow, helped many clients through their first home journey through to building investment portfolios and wealth through property.
My various volunteer community works over many many years across being an accredited Mentor at Young Enterprise Scheme, becoming one of the youngest Presidents in Rotary in Australasia & Pacific, becoming a Mentor for AUT MBA Students, Youth Development focused through Raksha Foundation just to name a few.
Looking forward to being of service to our beautiful Aotearoa for many more years to come ๐๐๐
