The Editor's Mailbag

Half Truths On Tonga

Sir,—ln PIM (Feb., p. 67) the following sentence appeared in an article on Tonga, “The nobles today are losing the respect of many and that includes the king”.

May 1 question the veracity of this statement, especially the latter phrase, and ask the writer to com ment. That he has a chip on his shoulder is evident, though he has received higher education at the Tonga Government’s expense. It is indeed perturbing in developing countries to see young privileged people turning to “bite the hand that fed”.

The more discerning would recog nise such an article as slick journalism, but what of the Tongan reading it in his second language?

It would appear that the writer has reverted to cheap sensationalism at any cost with a series of half truths and invidious innuendoes. Un fortunately your magazine, and daily papers abroad, are aiding and abetting an almost subversive approach by printing unverified and premature material.

Although Tonga spends thousands of dollars annually on the education of many young students they are ap parently not bonded to return any services at studies end. Nor, it would seem, do some feel they owe any loyalty, nor affection to their bene factors.

But the remedy really lies in Tonga’s own hands. If these young people accept higher education at the country’s expense they could be bonded to repay in services or financially, or stand down and give others the opportunity.

What a pity a few immature, pseudo-intellectuals, who would stir up strife in Tonga, are not stirring up the soil under the banana palms or counting their blessings.

Betty Sanft

Nukualofa.

Blame "Civilisation"

Sir, —I read with interest, the article in PIM (Feb., p. 37) regard ing the crown of thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci).

My wife and I have been sailing and shell collecting for the past two years in our yacht Rambler of Berkeley. Our travels have taken us from San Francisco to Hawaii, Micro

nesia, and Rabaul. In looking back over my notes I find a distinct pattern developing as regards Acanthaster planci.

In the many islands and atolls we have visited so far, without excep tion the most extensive concentrations of the starfish have been found near heavily populated areas. I have ob served the Triton shell feeding on the starfish in a few instances but I have observed more of this same shell feed ing on worms and the common sand dollar that is the food of the common Helmet shell.

Without exception, all the heavy concentrations of Acanthaster planci that I have observed have been on the sheltered side of the reef among the sand forming types of corals and not the reef forming types. The types of corals that form the lasting beach pavement part of the reef did not appear to harbour this starfish.

From notes I have kept regarding the ecology of the shells 1 have found, two rather startling examples regarding Acanthaster planci come to light: Ponape, in the Eastern Caro line Islands of Micronesia, has a very heavy concentration of starfish in the area of the outer reef on both sides of Jokaz Pass into the lagoon.

Water circulating through this pass feeds an area where extensive dredging has been going on for the fill required for the new airstrip on Takatik Island.

Spoil from the dredging operation has covered the outer reef area with fine silt and mud. In the areas where there is clear water and no silt, there was no heavy concentration of star fish.

Rabaul is another example. At the head of the harbour there is a heavy discharge of effluent from sewage out falls; in Matupi Harbour there is a garbage dump that is a disgrace to any civilisation. The resulting dis charge of nitrogenous matter is caus ing a very heavy concentration of sea urchins and in the six months that we have been here the population growth of Acanthaster planci has been startling.

From the above two examples alone it would appear to me that Acanthaster planci is multiplying not SO' much from the over-fishing of Charonia tritonis but from the results of what we are pleased to call “pro gress” and “civilisation”.

The world’s “progress” is resulting

in a situation that will make thi world we live on unfit for humai life in a shorter time than I like t( think about. In our travels we hav< not found one atoll or island that die not have some evidence of the gar bage that is being thrown into th( ocean today.

It is almost impossible to get los anymore on the passage from the Hawaiian Islands. All one has to d< is reach down into the Equatoria Current and follow the garbage trai that leads to the Marshall Islands.

A really dedicated spy could get i good idea of what is going on a Kwajalein Atoll for example, b] examining the plastic instrument con tainers that are floating around From Ponape, in the Eastern Caro lines to Rabaul, the prevailing cur rent is filled with plastic jugs, bee bottles and other junk.

Although I am not a graduafi marine biologist it would appear tc me that this much maligned starfisl is the “whipping boy”. It is takinj the blame for something for which in my opinion, our so-called “civilisa tion” is rightly to blame.

Richard C. Willis

Rabaul,

P-Ng.

• For a man who agrees with Mr Willis, see p. 101.

OF DAYS GONE BY . . .

Sir, —Having just read you February issue (an excellent one), j thought you might be interested in i casual observation I made during m 3 latest three month tour of the Pacifh basin area (late 1969). Since I wai in transit from my home in Sar Francisco to my new one in Sydne} there was no rush or hurry.

Hawaii was well covered by Su( Wendt in her piece “Homespui Fiji . . .”, but she does miss a point Honolulu could be any resort city ir the south of the US; it is in fact ar extension of the American resort idea If one were transplanted blindfoldec to Waikiki it would be most difficul to distinguish between it and sa} North Miami Beach, Florida.

This is not to say that such i; wrong, but isn’t it sad that th< “Hawaiian Way” has passed sc quickly in less than 20 years. I spem several days on the other outer island; and can attest that the dream Hawai of yesteryear is fast moving awa3 there too, replaced by the hard sell plastic lei, kiss on the cheek, let the purse strings go attitude.

My visit to American Samoa, aftei four years absence, was another trial Educational TV is not and will not be the answer. Nor, for that mattei is the subsidised housing scheme.

Your “squib” on glue sniffing is

Letters

apropos here; an indication of one type of cultural breakdown. Is the dilemma in voting for the Samoans a result of the influence of TV or has TV failed in its responsibility to educate? 1 wonder if the “old way” of the folks teaching of family situ ations did not better prepare the young for life?

The square concrete block houses (with cedar shake roofs, yet) appalled me. This is to replace the traditional fale? My God, it is nothing but the extension of the “little boxes” of US suburbia. Drab, cold and efficient, but not Samoan, and never will be.

But the food IS better for tourists, thanks to Soli who is succeeding and well. A good restaurant in Pago has long been needed (will the govern ment let him succeed?) An excellent show. Sharing your table with a stranger like the old days is a good touch. I wonder what Sadie Thomp son could have accomplished given such splendid surroundings? (with air-conditioning!) Pago Pago is the new Honolulu.

Apia: Charming and warm after Pago and Honolulu. A bit of the Old South Pacific. Truly, Aggie Grey has the right idea for tourists—comfort and authenticity. A modern hotel, but with simple Samoan food and service.

Her new “entertainment fale” must surely be an example for all tourist hotels.

But this is changing too, as all the islands must with oil and mineral prospecting, lumber men, UN men, Peace Corps, and a half-dozen assorted commercial characters wan dering around exploring money making possibilities. For those of us who have memories of the good old days, Aggie’s seems the most comfort able.

Fiji: Smiling happy people and the old, dear Metropole, may they never tear it down. Special treatment by Mrs. Prentis and staff at BP made my stay there the highlight of the whole period. However, actions such as I saw by American tourists and an ABC TV crew at the Korolevu Hotel, during a sacred fire-walking cere mony, are an indication of what is to come.

Damn tradition, keep those lights and cameras going, in spite of the sacred meaning of this ceremony (and in spite of being asked to the contrary). I hope the Fijians will not compromise their tradition as others have. (Take this sacred rite

from the heathen and replace it with a light show, rock band and neon rocks that look like fire. No one will know or care about the difference.) Tonga: A land where you are still a guest. Where you are still invited to private homes and family gather ings. Where the head of the family is still respected, and where prayers are offered, and where people like Uepi Vai of Veitongo go out of their way to make certain you are happy and taken care of. But even here change is taking shape. Oil, Peace Corps and boat night at the hotel.

The latter loud, roudy and sometimes even a disgraceful performance after a beer or two, but that’s progress.

A Tongan correspondent recently wrote “warm sun, sea and God’s providing of food as you (me) call it will not educate my children. Not at a dollar a day . . .”

Tahiti and Noumea are changing so rapidly. Dollars in the soil and tourists. Even dear old Quinns, an international institution, has gone.

Some say good riddance—to me, it’s the passing of an age. For the time being, progress in tourism will not be able to destroy the magnificent sky lines of Bora Bora and Moorea. But in time pollution by the motor car and industry will blot out their mag nificent peaks with smog, and kill the fish in their lagoons, as the fish are being killed now in Noumea.

Great changes in the Pacific basin.

May your magazine continue to do its duty. Report facts. Fairly, squarely and with half the emotion of this letter. We who love the area need to be informed of its growth, the exploitation of the resources and the “progress” of its people.

Jack N. Payne

Neutral Bay, NSW.

Kaputin's Academic Career

Sir, —I cannot see the relevance of John Ryan’s statement that John Kaputin “tried—and failed—at the East-West Center” {PIM, Jan., p. 30) to rational discussion of Gazelle Peninsula politics.

If it can be shown that one’s uni versity record must determine the acceptability of one’s political views, then surely we may all benefit from Mr. Ryan’s researching the academic qualifications of Administration officials on the Gazelle Peninsula and elsewhere.

As one who has failed to notice signs of academic distinction on the part of Administration officials with whom I have come into contact, I must conclude that academic accom plishment has little indeed to do with the acceptability of political thought.

I can then only infer that Mr. Ryan chose to mention Mr. Kaputin’s Hawaii record through malice, and surely this sort of gratuitous slur has no place in PIM.

D. D. Mitchell

Pomalete Village, PO Buin, Bougainville. • See PIM, Feb., for a long and factual report on Kaputin’s back ground and opinions.

Dr. Laycock Replies

Sir, —May I be permitted a brief reply to your many correspon dents who commented on the use of kirapim in my Pidgin article {PIM, Jan., 1970)?

I am well aware that kirapim means “start, arouse, wake up”, and that you no ken kirapim man i slip is a possible translation of “Do not disturb”. However, I have (mainly in the Sepik) heard kirapim confused often enough with goapim and (more often) kalapim, in sexual senses, that I figured that saying the sign had an obscene meaning was worth a throwaway remark at the end of the article. Apparently it wasn’t and I apologise.

However, since kirapim can also mean “arouse sexually”, perhaps the hotel in question would like to play safe and settle for something short and unambiguous like larim i slip.

D. C. Laycock.

Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, Canberra.

Search For Harold Barnes

Sir, —First let me thank you for publishing my letter requesting in formation on Mick Gollin and Miss Amelia Earhart ( PIM, Dec., p. 33).

I received two letters with very in teresting information. Due to them I come again to you for help for research I am doing.

One letter pointed out that Mick Gollin was not the head radio man on Nauru Island but a Mr. Harold Barnes was. Neither of the two letters received knew where Gollin was or Barnes.

What I am seeking now is in formation on the whereabouts: • Of Mr. Harold Barnes, chief radio operator on Nauru Island in July, 1937. « Of Mr. Mick Gollin, assistant radio operator on Nauru in that period. • Information from anyone who might know the content of the messages received from Miss Earhart by Nauru Island on July 2, 1937,

Letters

or might know of the supposed contacts of July 3 and 4 with Miss Earhart. • Information from anyone of the messages received from Miss Earhart by Lae Radio on July 2 (copies of these messages were lost). • Information from anyone who might have heard Miss Earhart’s radio on July 2 while she was en route from Lae to Howland Island. • Information on whether Ocean Island Radio picked up Miss Earhart’s radio signals on July 2. • Information on whether the steamer Myrtlebank, or any other vessel, was in the vicinity of Nauru Island on the evening and night of July 2-3, 1937.

I know it is a rather imposing list of information desired, but due to the loss of the Lae messages and not being able to pinpoint the radio operator at Nauru, this seems to be the only way left to try to fill in the blanks. The information on the ship is sought, for the only recorded message from Nauru was that they had heard Miss Earhart say that she saw a ship dead ahead at about 10 p.m. Nauru time, July 2, 1937.

Francis X. Holbrook

Department of Social Studies, Fordham Preparatory School, East Fordham Road, Bronx, New York, 10458.

Knew History Of Guam

Sir, —In reply to Neville Chatfield’s article on Guam {PIM, Jan., p. 35), I am one person in Australia who at one time knew the entire history of Guam.

But questions put to me now would reveal I’m no quiz kid on the sub ject, as I have forgotten some of it.

I studied everything I could about the island and its people as I was to make my home there. The then acting US consul in Sydney informed me I was the first Australian to apply for and was granted a visa to enter Guam. Also I was the only person in Australia with any mail from there at that time.

Many times 1 had requests for stamps on my correspondence because although the stamps were US postage, the postmark was a novelty. I didn’t give any away and still have them all.

I also have a jewellry box made by some Guamanians. It is of teak

wood and has a mural scene on top with my name and date inlaid in colour. It was made with hand-made tools. 1 have a copy also of one of the very few songs written about Guam in England. I am always interested in any article on Guam and would like to see more in PIM.

Alma Townsend

Sans Souci, NSW.

Where That Day Begins

Sir, —Surely Mr. Allies (“Where time really begins”—Letters, Feb., p. 32) is quite wrong in saying that time begins east of the International Dateline; as you are wrong in agree ing with him.

Any new day begins at the Inter national Dateline and travels west ward round the globe. Thus the first people in the world to see Sunday, February 22, will be people living just west of the Dateline and the last people in the world to see it will be people living to the east of it —for example, in Aleutian Islands.

Similarly, New Zealand will have “finished with” Sunday two hours before people in Eastern Australia, and will have started on Monday.

My celestial navigation instructor in my Air Force days explained it by saying that Sunday could be imagined as rising out of the ocean at the Dateline, while Saturday slid away out of sight beneath it.

Geoffrey F. Bennett

Canberra,

Act.

Sir, —I have been shocked silent awhile by your reply to the letter of Hans G. Allies that he is “scientifically right” in claiming Tonga to be the “place where time ends”. Surely his letter and your reply are wrong.

The purely arbitrary line, a matter for international negotiation, follows, in some part, the 180th degree of longitude east or west of Greenwich, and was constituted for the con venience of Europe.

Mr. Allies is correct in saying that Tonga is west of it; therefore this is where the day (estimated from a London noonday) begins. Were Tonga east of the line, like Hawaii, Tahiti and the United States, its day would be the one following that of Fiji or Australia.

Authorities other than PIM approve the westward bending of the line to bring the Aleutians into the same framework as the United States, the eastward bending to keep Siberia all in one piece, and the lesser distor tion to keep Wallis in line with New Caledonia, the Chathams and

Kermadecs in line with New Zealand, and Tonga in line with most of the countries with which it trades.

Whoever told Mr. Allies that “time begins east of the International Date line” is, I hope, an amateur of instruction operating within a very narrow circle. I trust this sort of nonsense doesn’t get into the school books.

Olaf Ruhen[?]

Mosman,

Nsw.

• Don’t confuse us. We are con fused enough already by the fact tha\ east of the dateline is called Wes t Longitude and west of the dateline is called E. Long.; and that differen , people put bends in the so-callec dateline to suit their convenience. AI we were really trying to say is that if there wasn’t a bend in the dateline round Tonga, Tonga would keep time 10 or 11 hours behind, say, Suva For the rest, put it down to the fac that we are lousy navigators. In ou\ brighter moments we do know tha when it’s Monday in Fiji it’s Sunday in. say, Western Samoa.

"Coconut Milk" Co.

Sir, —We refer to the articl “Coconut Milk Co. favours Nauru' (. PIM, Feb.).

In the article the sponsors o Cocomilk Ltd. state that the initia $25,000 received from underwritin; will be escrowed with this bank a its Nauru branch. This statement i not correct, and the “provisiona director” was advised late last yea that it was not the bank’s presen policy to act as trustee of applicatioi moneys, pending the issuance of stoc’ certificates or completion of formal ities connected with such issues.

At no time since the above advic has the bank, through its Naur branch or otherwise, given an indication that its policy as state' above has been relaxed for Cocc milk Ltd., or in any other case.

We would be grateful if you readers could be so informed.

F. O. Monk[?]

Assistant general managei Bank of NSW, Melbourne. • With not more than 12 miles o road, all but a mile of it bumpy an< dusty, Lord Howe Island may sooi have a bus service to ferry un energetic tourists from beach to gues house, and to the foot of the moun tains at the end of the seven-mil long island.