However I am here at the lectern, with the permission of Peter Anaru and you are there where I have stood freezing, sometimes in the rain in past years.
So what do you reckon we just enjoy each others company for the next seven minutes or so.
This morning I would like to present a civilians perspective on Anzac day by telling you a part of my story and commemorate those who gave their lives in military service while also encouraging us all to live our lives to the fullest.
My presentation to you today can be summed up in this beautiful korero,
He honore he kororia ki Te Atua, All Glory and honour to God,
He maungarongo ki te mata o te whenua, May there be peace on Earth
He whakaaro pai ki nga tangata katoa and goodwill amongst all people.
I think one of the reasons I am at this lecturn this morning is not because of anything I have done but because of the grace and blessings of God in my life.
Last week was Easter and through Jesus God continues to surprise me with opportunities and appointments such as this which are way beyond what I could ever have thought or imagined were possible.
I could never thank God enough for the many ways He continues to bless my life, He honore he kororia ki Te Atua, all honour and glory to God.
Or perhaps I am here this morning because of other members of my whanau who have served in our country's military forces.
People like my grandfather Private Pakau Tanirau regiment number 67550 who married my grandmother Mary Jane Doreen and they adopted my mother also named Doreen, before he left the centre of the universe made famous by All Black Sam Cane named Reporoa.
On a more serious note, my grandfather Pakau Tanirau left Reporoa to serve with the 28th Maori battalion B Company in Tunusia and never returned home. He was killed in action on the March 26 1943 aged 25.
It is said that a person dies twice. The first time is when we die physically, and the second time is the last time that our name is ever spoken.
I believe that one of the ways we can honour those who have given their lives in military service is to continue to say their names so they never die that second death. E kore tatou e wareware i a ratau.
Names like my koro Pakau Tanirau, or my other koro Tuhoro Ropiha, regiment number 39238 who was also a member of the 28th Maori Battalion B Company and did return home to the other centre of the universe named Awahou, to later marry my grandmother and raise my mother.
Kia ora from Ohinemutu for the Anzac Day dawn service. Today's guest speaker is Ngahi Bidois.
Posted by Rotorua Daily Post on Monday, April 24, 2017
Or perhaps I am here at this lecturn because of my father Michael John Tommy Bidois regiment number 536930 who served in the 1st Battalion New Zealand Regiment and saw active service between 1957 and 1959 in Malaya, before returning home to do other important things like marry my mum Doreen and create, born and look after me... Oh and my brothers Morgan and Preston and my sister Angela as well I guess...
So my koro Pakau Tanirau and my father Michael John Tommy Bidois saw active service and as you can imagine, as the eldest grandson and son it would one day be my turn to enlist in the armed forces.
And so it was that the Korowai and Taiaha of Tumatauenga our Guardian of war, eventually visited me and in my final year 13 or form 7 at Western Heights High School the army flew me to Burnham Army camp near Christchurch to attend a Regular Officers Selection Board (ROSB) which would last four days.
The ROSB went very well and I was enjoying it until an interview with a psychiatrist at the end of day two when I realised that I was more suited to the korowai of Rongomaitane, the guardian of peace, than the domain of Tumatauenga and the army was not for me.
So over the final two days of the ROSB I self sabotaged and deliberately failed every test to make sure I never got accepted.
I remember my father asking me how it went and I replied that the first couple of days were good but I did not think I would get in. I did not have the courage to tell my dad that I had deliberately failed the last two days of my ROSB... So I guess today is as good a day as any.
I'm sorry dad. I am sorry that I deliberately failed my ROSB and that I was never going to follow in the footsteps of you and koro Pakau. You are an amazing warrior and father and you will always be my hero. I love you dad.
Shortly after I received a letter from Lieutenant Colonel Stewart which I have kept and read every five years or so for motivation. You see the letter did not say that I was useless and that my life would amount to nothing. The letter outlined that while I was not suitable to the armed forces they encouraged me to use the many qualities they had seen in me.
The military forces have sent many letters to many people over the years.
We are here today to acknowledge anyone who has ever received an acceptance letter for military service.
We are also here to acknowledge those who's whanau, like my grandmother, received letters informing them that their loved one had been killed in action and would not be returning home. During the Gallipoli campaign which took place between April 25 1915 and January 9 1916 over 120,000 such letters would have been sent.
Records show 2779 New Zealand and 8709 Australian civilian whanau would have received letters informing them that their loved ones would not be returning home. Of them, there were 55 pairs of New Zealand brothers with 9 of those pairs dying on the same day.
From a civilians point of view, back here in New Zealand news of the dramatic and devastating Gallipoli landings were reaching home and obituaries which normally had 1 or 2 names now had 100, 200 or 300 names. The worst day for New Zealand occurred on August 8 1915 during the battle of Chunuk Bair when 425 New Zealanders lost their lives.
Over 86,000 of the tangata whenua Ottaman whanau received letters informing them that their whanau members had been killed in action defending their country against armed forces from Russia, France, Britain, India, Australia and New Zealand.
So why do we commemorate the Gallipoli campaign when we were defeated and so many lives were lost?
New Zealanders and Australians made up more than half of the 75000 troops involved in the Gallipoli campaign and we were separated from the other nations to fight together. It would be Australia and New Zealand troops side by side.
However, instead of landing on a flat stretch of coast the Anzac forces landed just 2km away on a narrow beach overlooked by steep cliffs and although we fought hard and developed a comradeship between us, we never came close to achieving our goals. That landing place is now called Anzac Cove.
When we look at the Ottaman who were the tangata whenua of the land we were trying to occupy, the Gallipoli victory was considered to be one of their great victories of the war. It lead to their true independence and the formation of the Republic of Turkey. They lost many of their sons and daughters defending their tino rangatiratanga during that campaign, but it lead to the birth of their new nation.
The Gallipoli campaign also marked the birth of something new for New Zealand and Australia, that being a new national consciousness as we became aware of who we were on the world stage. And so, the first Anzac day took place when news from Gallipoli started reaching home in New Zealand and a half day holiday was declared on April 30 1915. As two young nations we came of age under the korowai of Tumatauenga, and the date of the Gallipoli landing on Anzac Cove April 25 is now known as Anzac Day.
On this important day we not only remember those who have lost their lives while serving in our armed forces in war campaigns throughout the world, but we also acknowledge those who have ever served and are currently serving under the korowai of Tumatauenga.
You are our Kaitiaki o te Rangimarie, our guardians of our peace. Nga mihi aroha ki a koutou. Thank you. He maungarongo ki te mata o te whenua, may there be peace on Earth.
So to complete my civilian story for you this morning. Knowing I would never serve in the military I was determined to make my life count to honour those who had served.
A few months after receiving that letter from Lieutenant Colonel Stewart I was encouraged to apply for the inaugural Maori Affairs training programme called Tu Tangata which was selecting just 16 Maori from throughout New Zealand to complete business studies degrees at Massey University.
And so it was that instead of being sent to military school in Duntroon, Australia I ended up being sent to Massey University in Palmerston North.
I remember going to Palmy in 1981, kore rauemi, no possessions to speak of, kore ponotanga, no faith, kore putea, no money, kore matauranga, no qualifications and definitely kore wahine, no woman, unlike Anaru Grant who had The Te Arawa Princess Donna nee Morrison on his arm. In fact I was what you could call just a koretake.
In 2001 I returned home having leadership experience in the corporate sector before becoming a secondary school department head, a lecturer at a teachers college, an academic adviser and a kura kaupa teacher. I returned home with my beautiful wife Carolyn and we have been married for 32 years now. She definitely deserves a hoorah.
We brought back two more Te Arawa children Eruera and Tumanako. I also had a few possessions and a few qualifications as well as a deep Christian faith and I joined June Parata, Ken Kennedy, Aunty Molly, Dell Raerino, Eru Biddle and uncle Mita Mohi at Waiariki now known as Toi Ohomai. Our aim being to make a positive difference for our Te Arawa people, he whakaaro pai ki nga tangata katoa, may there be goodwill amongst all people.
Like me, as a civilian, you may be more suited to the realm of peace, or Rongomaitane than the domain of Tumatauenga. I think a question we need to ask ourselves as civilians is how much do those who serve in the armed forces require of us? And to make my presentation age appropriate the simple answer would be to quote that famous toy soldier and ranger known as Buzz Lightyear who said ... "To infinity and beyond!"
On a more serious note, on this Anzac Day, we are giving up a morning of our lives to acknowledge those who gave up every morning of the rest of their lives when they were killed in action during war campaigns around the world. And as my doctor, Harry Pert reminded me the other day, the best thing we can do to acknowledge those who gave their lives, is to live our lives to the best of our ability.
And at the risk of being blasphemous, Tom Poata. There are words from an old hymn which I think not only nicely portrays our responsibility as people of faith who acknowledge the blessings of Jesus in our lives, but these words also outline our responsibility as civilians in acknowledging those who are in the armed forces and continue to place their lives on the line and make the ultimate sacrifice for us.
"Were the whole realm of nature mine to give, that were a present far too small,
Love (and sacrifice) so amazing so divine, demands my soul, my life my all."
He honore he kororia ki te Atua
He maungarongo ki te mata o te whenua,
He whakaaro pai ki nga tangata katoa.
