Fisher Wang

Overcoming teenage trauma of mother’s death to become district’s youngest councillor

Fisher Wang is a member of a unique generational club.

He’s one of only three millennials, gen Zers, call them what you will, in this country to be a council table decision maker.

He was a newly minted 19-year-old when Rotorua electors gave him the big tick to be one of the ten chosen few from the 34 wannabe councillors who’d tossed their hats in the ring.

 That was in October 2019, 18 months on does he consider he made the right career choice, swapping being a McCafe part timer with an eye on a law degree for local body politics?  The answer’s yes and yes again. 

“I absolutely love it, it has even exceeded my expectations, there’s always so much going on. I learn new things every day as I make decisions that will really affect our community and help make changes for future generations.”  

He didn’t go into the position completely cold, while still at school he’d been a member of the youth council and was involved in the annual international United Nations models held in Auckland and Wellington. There he argued he case for the economic, social and other essential needs of Tonga then Nepal. 

Despite these experiences his introduction to the council was a bumpy one exacerbated by the pandemic. It struck when new councillors were still getting a feel for their role.

“It made things pretty challenging finding my way around the council and dealing with the public. Covid accelerated everything, it forced me to learn and get a handle on things a lot more quickly, we were doing things remotely, our meetings were being held remotely, it was a totally new environment. It gave me a new perspective, my passion for understanding [the council processes] became even higher.”

The portfolios he’s picked up are tailor made for those passions, the environment, climate change and working in tandem with councillor Tania Tapsell on matters involving young people. “She’s my mentor from my youth council days.”

In addition he’s the council’s representative on the rural community board, for someone who grew up on a farm it’s a perfect fit.

Which makes this the ideal spot to pick up the threads of Fisher Wang’s pre-council life story.

Early Years

With a surname like Wang it’s stating the obvious to say he’s of Asian extraction. To be exact his bloodline is Taiwanese, however Rotorua has been his home since birth.

His parents Nancy Kao and Henry Wang immigrated to New Zealand more than 25 years ago, buying a farm at Kaharoa.

“I think they chose to settle there because of the calmness, beauty and rural landscape.  I just love this place too, it’s beautiful so I can see why my family moved here.”

Farming was a new venture for the Wangs.

“My mother was a business manager, Dad was the captain of a cargo ship. It was from the same company as the one that recently became stuck in the Suez Canal.”

 His fraternal grandmother made the move with them. “She’s Japanese and orphaned during the war. In those troubled times she was adopted by a Taiwanese family.”

When he was ten Fisher and his brother Feran, who is five years younger, spent two years in Taiwan learning to speak and write Mandarin, Taiwan’s official language.

“My grandmother said we looked like Taiwanese but we couldn’t speak much of its language.”

Fisher has a Taiwanese Christian name but ask him to spell it and he dissolves into giggles.

“I don’t know how to spell it in English but I know that directly translated it means ‘flying snow’. The Wang surname means something almost like King, it’s a pretty popular surname in Taiwan.”

While there Fisher spent time living with one of his aunties, a vet at the zoo in the capital Taipei.

“The school I went to was academically focused, it was pretty tough for me not being able to speak proper Mandarin, it was a bit like the English Language Academy here in Rotorua.”

School days were long. “We started at 8am, finished at 4pm. I was pretty lucky I went home then but most kids went to after school programmes in maths, music,. Mandarin. Swimming was the most poplar sport followed by badminton, volleyball and table tennis.”

To Fisher’s joy the school had a running track, he’s been an avid runner since he was old enough to pick up speed.

“Running tracks and open spaces are rare sights in Taipai so for me coming from New Zealand it was pretty awesome to have that track.”

When the school’s long summer holiday breaks began the Wangs returned to New Zealand for six weeks each year.

“Taiwan is a sub-tropical country so we’d come back in the middle of winter here.”

But it was no holiday for Fisher and Feran, they slotted right back into Kaharoa School “catching up on lessons and the friends we’d left behind.”

It was reverse culture shock for the Wang boys. “Kaharoa has 200 kids spread across eight levels. The school in Taipei had 3000 kids in a six storey building.”

Tragedy strikes  

Fisher returned to Rotorua permanently when he was 13, living with an aunt who’s a teacher and entered John Paul College (JPC). 

The remainder of his family stayed in Taiwan for the most heartbreaking of reasons.  His mother had been diagnosed with a type of cancer from which there was no recovery. Fisher’s unsure of it’s name “but only seven people in the world get it in a year.” 

“She’d been throwing up three days in a row, an ultrasound showed something on one of her ovaries. When they opened her up all her organs were covered with tumours and cancer cells.

“They tried to remove as much as they could, she had very vigorous chemo and radio therapy. After the initial operation the doctors said she wouldn’t live past three months, that is how severe it was but she fought it for another three years, it was a very hard three years for us all.”

Cancer was not unknown to the Wangs. Both of  Fisher’s grandmothers were diagnosed with bowel cancer. His maternal grandmother’s came while his mother was receiving treatment for her cancer.  “That took a toll on the whole family.”

He gives thanks both grandmothers survived their ordeals.

Fisher was in his first year at John Paul College when his mother died.

“We got the call saying she’d died during the night, although we were prepared for the inevitable I just couldn’t believe it, her death was a big shock to me, I didn’t even cry because I was in this state of shock. It wasn’t until her funeral in Taiwan that I broke down crying. It was tough not to have been by her side when she was dying.”

However following her cremation there was a time Fisher didn’t let her out of his sight.

He was charged with the responsibility of bringing his mother’s ashes home while his father and brother packed up. They followed soon after.

“I got on the plane by myself , I had her in my backpack, I held on to it for the entire flight even when I had to transfer [flights] at Singapore. I bought her home, when the whole family came back we arranged her burial at Kauae [cemetery]. She’s resting there now.”

However did one so young cope with so much trauma?

“When I was brining her back I was kind of just blocking some of the emotions out and focusing on what needed to be done, what I needed to do. My job bringing her home was really special.

“When I got back I had so much support from my school, my teachers, and my friends.  People I didn’t even know gave me hugs saying how sad they were for me.”

Losing his mother so young to such a vile form of cancer has inspired this inspirational young man to dedicate much of his time to fund raise for cancer-related organisations.

Soon after his mother’s death he organised a Shave For A Cure when he and a group of JPC friends had their heads shorn in front of the entire school, he did so for several years.

When he was approached last year to enter the city’s annual Dancing for Hospice he was, as the non-Taiwanese saying goes, in like Flynn.

“I was absolutely on board, there was no way of talking me out of it.”

Then Covid scuppered what’s become Rotorua’s social event of the year. His enthusiasm remained untarnished.

“I was very excited to be asked to do it this year, supporting such a cool event supporting the amazing work Hospice does.”

He hasn’t entered as a total dance floor novice.

“I’ve had a bit of practise, when I was in Year 13 we had a Dancing With The Staff fundraiser for the school. “It was a big step out of out of my comfort zone, it was a bit awkward dancing with a teacher, but really cool too. My partner was Mercia Tarewa-Thomas, the head of Maori studies, we danced the tango.” 

What’s Next?

What can we expect from the Fisher Wang of the future? Will politics continue to dominate the direction his life will take?

There’s no doubt about it, political fire continues to burn in his belly. The teenager who became hooked on politics during the lead up to the US 2016 presidential elections won’t be quitting any time soon.

“The council has become my life now.”

With the mayor indicating this will be her last term in office Fisher’s not ruling out the possibility of standing as her replacement but accepts he may need a bit more experience under his belt. 

Then there’s the Beehive with its pressure cooker debating chamber atmosphere. How about a go at that?      

 “Central government has always been at the back of my head. If I did stand it would definitely be in Rotorua. It’s the place where I was born and bred. It’s special to me because it’s home.”