What is your Chinese New Year wish for New Zealand?
That it will have a stable financial economy.
What does Chinese New Year mean to you?
Chinese New Year is all about family and friends getting together and enjoying the harvest and making plans and resolutions for the New Year.
What are your goals for the Year of the Monkey?
That I continue to develop and grow the eight night markets in Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga, and expand the markets to the rest of the country starting in Christchurch and Wellington.
What's the most interesting thing about you and your culture?
The most interesting thing about me is that I am a very good chess player. People who are Chinese are known for being hard working and studious.
How did you celebrate the festival as a child?
We celebrated with fireworks and will eat big meals with festive delicacies like dumplings. My most memorable Chinese New Year were my celebrations back in my home town in Suzhou.
What traditions do you still keep, and how do you celebrate Chinese New Year today?
I still have friends and family getting together on the Chinese New Year Eve when we have big "reunion" meal. All my children must wear new clothes, and I will give them their hongbao, or red money packets.
How will you be celebrating Chinese New Year?
The same as usual, with my family and close friends.
What animal zodiac sign were you born under, and do you think there are similarities between you and your animal sign?
Snake, and no, there are no similarities.
Dr Maia Hetaraka: 'Cultural competence' should evolve into genuine cultural understanding.