Sarah Her-Lee: Representing New Zealand at table tennis

As a multitalented individual Sarah Her-Lee is involved in the Sir Edmund Hillary Scholarship Programme at Waikato University. This programme supports her academic pursuit of a conjoint degree in Law and Social Science as well her intensive involvement in table tennis, for which she has represented New Zealand. Sarah is interested in a wide range of areas in law, including international, tax and human rights law. She is majoring in politics within her Social Science degree and has a particular interest in international and race relations, particularly between Asian and Maori and Pakeha New Zealanders.

Sarah immigrated to New Zealand from Taiwan with her family when she was 10 years old. “I am proud of my Asian background and I felt it was important to retain my culture, such as language and sharing what it was like for me to grow up in Taiwan, with my friends here,” she explains.

At the age of 14 Sarah’s passion for table tennis was ignited. She has been overwhelmed with the opportunities this sport has opened up for her. This year alone she has represented New Zealand at the Commonwealth Championships in Scotland and the Australian Championships and won a bronze medal in women’s singles at the South Island Championships. She is currently training toward the NZ Championships and describes her ultimate dream as representing New Zealand at the Olympic Games. Sarah attributes a large part of her success and motivation in table tennis to her family and friends, coaches Murray Finch, Tom Liu, Richard Lee, and others from Waikato Table Tennis, Marc and Lynnette her teammates, and her university.

Sarah’s involvement with Asia:NZ began with the Young Leaders Forum in 2008. This year she was involved in the organisation of the World Café Leadership Series and has been in contact with other Young Leaders though social events. Sarah would like to thank Asia:NZ for the chance to participate in network activities. In particular, she says of the Forum “It was a great experience to meet like-minded people as well as taking on the UNICEF challenge and learning about international relations and public speaking and networking skills. “  

Sarah continues to dedicate herself to the goal of winning at an international level in the sport of table tennis. Career-wise she would like to work within the field of law or politics and strives to make a positive contribution to society by addressing issues of address race and inequity within society.