Eyewitness

Aung San Suu Kyi's recent historic democratic victory in the Myanmar elections seems to have brought positive change for the country but for a whole generation of former child refugees, life was conflict ridden. Burmese born Ngelay Aung Soe fled Myanmar as a child with his family to find a better life here. Lynda Chanwai-Earle is in Auckland to hear how Aung and his family survived years of separation and turmoil to turn their lives around, with help from some dedicated community leaders and an Outward Bound course.

The city of Auckland was founded in 1840 in a mix of hope and compromise and the occasion was marked with a suitably pompous ceremony. Just one eyewitness account remains from that day, and it was written by the only Pakeha woman present.

Imagine having to beg for your child's life with nothing but a couple of cigarettes as a bribe. Thirty years after their trauma, a group of 10 Cambodian New Zealand women are only now able to tell their stories. Participating in an oral history project that began as part of the 1993 Women's Suffrage Centenary, these survivors of Pol Pot's genocide finally published their harrowing experiences in a book titled I Tried Not To Cry, launched at Parliament. Some of these extraordinary survivors are talking to Lynda Chanwai-Earle with the help of translator and Cambodian community leader Niborom Young.

Mark Cunningham - known as Marko to the locals in Thailand - is a Kiwi from Upper Hutt. Marko survived the Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004 and joined local volunteers to collect bodies. These days Marko is an English teacher by day, and an Emergency Medical Technician by night with Bangkok's volunteer rescue charity. Nan Sirisamphan is in Bangkok to learn more about this altruistic Kiwi.

Eyewitness producer Lisa Thompson hears the serendipitous story of Tony Forster; a New Zealander who was one of the first to cross through Checkpoint Charlie the night the Berlin Wall started coming down.

In August 1998, the Auckland Art Gallery was the scene of this country's first major art theft. An armed man burst in, threatening visitors and assaulting a security guard before making off with the 19th century painting Still on Top by French artist James Tissot worth around $2 million. Visitor Experience Manager Richard Wormley was on duty in the gallery when it happened.

Two artists share their stories of the personal connections and memories they have of their homes through the exhibition Something felt, something shared. What are the connections and relationships that we build with our homes, and what story can they tell about the people who once lived there? Kalya Ward and Gabrielle Amodeo share their experiences and personal connections.

Roland de Bruyne is an elderly Malaysian Aucklander and a survivor of the infamous Changi Prison during the Japanese occupation of Singapore during WW2. Last year his children discovered letters and photos taken during his internment on a camera smuggled into the prison. Lynda Chanwai-Earle is in Auckland to meet Roland, now 91, to hear his incredible story of survival.

Archived audio courtesy of The New Zealand Archive of Film, Television and Sound - Contains commentary of New Zealand's first-ever cricket test victory: against the West Indies in Auckland on 13 March 1956. A short interview is heard with John Reid, the New Zealand captain, at Eden Park after the test.

Lynda Chanwai-Earle meets Red Cross and local legend Margaret Rankin. An Eastbourne resident, Margaret will never forget one of the worst storms ever to hit our coasts. Witnessing the sinking of the Wahine in 1968, Margaret was determined that her community would be prepared for any disaster in the future.