First Fiji-Indian Troops for Malaya

fl MR. DES SULLIVAN, the Official Secretary to the Administrator of Papua-New Guinea, has moved over to the Government Secretary’s Department, and his work in the Department of the Administrator is being handled now by Mr. F. H.

Hughes.

A noteworthy event took place on June when a Fiji-Indian lance-corporal and [?]ur privates left Fiji by air for Malaya. hey were part of a detachment of re [?]forcements. Apart from 2 lone Fiji [?]dian medical orderly who served in the [?]olomons in World War II, these are the [?]ret Fiji Indians ever to serve their [?]untry overseas. Five more are expected [?] leave for Malaya in July.

It should be noted that there is one [?]rious hindering factor in serving in the [?]med forces which is peculiar to the [?]reater part of the non-Christian Indians [?] Fiji and which does not affect the [?]ijians. This is the question of food, part, from Indian eating habits being [?]tirely different to those of the Fijian [?] European, there is a religious factor, [?]here are at least some willing Indians ho have withheld service on this score lone.

The only way in which this problem an be overcome is by the Indians plunteering in large enough numbers to

form a unit of their own, with their own cooks and foodstuffs. So long as Indian servicemen are a very small minority this problem will remain, as it is clearly impossible for the Army to provide special facilities for them.

The five Indians included in reinforce ments for Malaya in June and shown here with their Fijian officer, Lieutenant George (centre), are, left to right: Lance- Corporal Satlus Harigayan, Pvt. Birbal Brijpal, Pvt. Krishna Pillay, Medical- Orderly Tom Ram Narayan, and Pvt.

Alfred Singh (insert).