Are You Ready to Be Part of the Champion?

In 2004, my journey began as a Pilot Peer Support Worker in mental health, funded by Auckland Health NZ. At that time, very few Asians openly acknowledged their experiences of mental distress. Although I was new to the sector, I was quickly invited to be part of key projects — as an advisory member, focus group participant, and contributor to initiatives like the Depression.org campaign during its testing phase, while I was at the Mental Health Foundation.

To be honest, while I appreciated the exposure and opportunities, I didn’t always grasp the full depth or purpose of the roles I was stepping into. The system was filled with unfamiliar jargon, complex questions, and tasks that sometimes felt beyond my reach. Fortunately, I had the guidance of a wonderful mentor, Jim Burdett, and the support of a group of consumer advisors who helped me ask the right questions and navigate the landscape. These early experiences offered invaluable insight into the layers of bureaucracy embedded in our health systems.

Even so, I often felt stretched. As a Malaysian-Chinese gay man, I could speak from my own experiences of depression and anxiety, but I wasn’t always comfortable being asked to represent the wide diversity of Asian communities — families, spouses, migrants from different cultures and backgrounds. That gap stayed with me.

In my most recent leadership role, I was able to create something different. I helped build inclusive platforms where people with a range of lived experiences — across mental health, wellbeing, suicide prevention, and gambling harm — could speak for themselves. Over the past 20 years, I’ve witnessed a powerful shift: from hesitation to engagement, when people are given a safe and trusted space. That shift has been transformative.

I discovered that I love building platforms for others — helping people voice their truth, challenge systems, and push for meaningful change. And I’ve learned that leadership doesn’t always mean being in the spotlight. There’s deep satisfaction in helping others step forward, in recognising passion, and in opening doors for people to lead. That’s leadership, too.

As someone who has experienced mental distress, ADHD, and the impacts of gambling harm within my own family — and as a gay Chinese Malaysian — there were times I felt like I was recycling the same story, over and over. I’ve wished more people, from all walks of life, would recognise the value of their voice in shaping our systems in Aotearoa.

Authenticity Studio will soon be calling on individuals from all backgrounds, with lived experience, to join a new pool of Lived Experience Champions. This isn’t just for Asian or ethnic communities. It’s for anyone who wants to be part of something that believes in integrity, honesty, and collective change.

One of the biggest challenges we face isn’t just within the system — it’s in how we translate it. Government strategies are often complex, packed with technical language, paradigms, and frameworks. Turning them into everyday language that people can relate to is not easy — but it’s essential. The right thing to do is to centre the voices of those affected and, for those shaping policy, to reflect how it truly impacts people’s lives, both intended and unintended.

This has been my work for many years, and I believe that truth only emerges when stories are told freely — not boxed into narrow formats. The most powerful spaces are the ones where people can speak honestly, and be heard without judgement.

Let me leave you with this: when trees of the same species grow together in the same soil, they weaken. Their immune systems suffer. But in a forest with at least thirty-seven different plant species, the trees thrive — challenged and supported by one another. They grow stronger, more resilient, and better equipped to weather storms.

We must ask ourselves: do we want a system that only echoes the same voices? Or one that thrives through diversity, honesty, and the courage to grow together?

Are you ready to be part of the champion?

Keen to be part of this journey? Learn more about becoming a Lived Experience Champion here: Lived Experience Champion.