People

• Some interesting people turned up for the Fiji independence delega tion’s official reception at Marlbo rough House, London, recently. The Fiji delegation at the conference were reciprocating an earlier recep tion held for them by Lord Shepherd, Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.

As well as Lord Shepherd and the Fiji delegation, there were past officials of the old Colonial and Commonwealth Office, Sir Leslie Monson and Sir Hilton Poynton; Lord Denning, arbitrator of Fiji’s sugar award; Sir Dingle Foot and his wife; former Governors of Fiji, Sir Kenneth Maddocks and Sir Derek Jakeway, and three former Com missioners, the Hon. Philip Snow, Q. V. L. Weston and J.W. Gittins.

Crown Prince Tupo’utoa and Major Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, both on foreign services courses at Oxford, were also there, as was the High Commissioner for Tonga, the Hon.

Va’ea, the Secretary to the High Commissioner, Mr. David Tupou, Mr. H. P. Ritchie, recently retired Financial Secretary, Fiji, and Mr.

E. A. Jones, former Administrative Officer, Fiji. • A representative of the US Marine Corps, Staff/Sgt L. R. Rose mann, recently visited American Samoa to promote a recruiting drive.

Staff/Sgt Rosemann said he was there to tell young Samoans about the “active-life opportunties offered by the Marine Corps to healthy, adventurous, intelligent young men”.

Hundreds of Samoans are already serving in the corps. • Mr. S. Sorbotten, United Nations economic planner to the Western Samoan Government, left Apia for Norway in June, having completed a two-year contract, during which he had taken part in the plan ning stages of a second five-year development plan. • Sydney is not, of course, build ings and a harbour. Sydney is people. Bruce Adams used a tele photo lens from the opposite side of Martin Place to capture the expressions on this typical Sydney crowd waiting for a bus.

The maxi skirt is worn in Sydney

these days alongside the

shortest minis in the world.

• Three part-Samoans have been picked to take part in the con troversial All Blacks Rugby tour of South Africa. They, and three part- Maori players, will be the only non “full-European” members of the side.

They are Bryan Williams and two brothers, Dave and Frank Solomon.

Bryan is the 19-year-old son of Arthur Williams (originally of Apia) and Irene Williams formerly Irene Boucher of Rarotonga). Dave and Frank have represented New Zealand in past Rugby games. • President Hammer Deßoburt of Nauru met the Queen during his visit to the UK recently. He was in England to sign the contract for the purchase of a new ship, the Enna G (PIM, June, p. 110). • Mr. Henry Manuhea of Lord Howe Island, (the one in the British Solomon Islands, known also as Ontong Java) is back in Fiji again after having completed a three month Nuffield Scholarship course in clinical work at Princess Mary’s Hospital, Newcastle, in the UK. Henry, who expects to take his finals at the end of this year, is a medical student at the Fiji School of Medicine. • Mr. J. R. W. Parker of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office in Fiji, is to remain in Fiji alter October independence as deputy m the British High Commission.

Preparatory work for the setting up

of a UK High Commission in Fiji is in progress. • Popular Gilberts master, Cap tain Tom Murdoch, is currently in Sydney for several weeks studying and taking examinations to obtain his overseas master’s certificate.

Sydney’s smog, filth and cold are making Tom more than a little home sick for the air and lagoons of the Gilberts. He’s also missing his wife and three young children, who live on Betio, Tarawa. • Corporal Lane F. Levi, son of Mr. and Mrs. Fatutoa Levi of Fagatogo, Tutuila, American Samoa, was killed in action in Vietnam recently. He was the 18th American Samoan to die in the war, and the 49th Samoan casualty of the war. • Recent executive changes in the government of American Samoa include Mr. Richard Berg, former director of Manpower Resources who becomes special assistant to the gov ernor; Mr. W. H. Struhs, former San Francisco-based recruiting officer for the US Trust Territory who be comes director of Manpower Resources and Mr. Raymond Smythe, former yachtie and corrections super visor who becomes commissioner of Public Safety.

The Cook Islands Minister of Health, Inatio Akaruru, and his nephew, were nearly drowned when the outrigger of their canoe broke while they were tuna fishing near Titikaveka on May 2. The two had hooked and landed a tuna when, while turning the canoe, the outrigger broke. Mr. Akaruru held on to the canoe to prevent it capsizing while his nephew recovered the outrigger and fixed it to the boom with a bicycle tube. • Pisila Taufe’ulungaki, has returned to Tonga with a Master’s Degree from Alaska Methodist Univ ersity. She is the first woman in Tonga to hold an MA.

Miss Taufe’ulungaki is the daughter of the headmaster of GPS Atele, Solo Taufe’ulungaki. She has taken a temporary teaching post at Tupou High School until August when she expects to return to Canada or the USA for more post graduate studies. • Mr. David P. Garretson arrived in Suva on May 19 as vice-consul in the American Consulate, replacing Mr. Peter Maher. A single man, he previously served in Niger, Vietnam and Thailand. • France’s Minister for Overseas Territories, Mr. Henri Rey, will visit

Valuable canine recruit to the Fiji Police Force is three-year-old Emily, a Dober mann Pinscher, who proved her worth by tracking down a burglar on her first job out in May. With her is her handler Constable Peni Rokobera.

the New Hebrides in September. He has just completed a visit to New Caledonia. • A popular young person at the South Pacific Commission for nearly four years, Mrs. Marie Johansson, left Noumea in June for Pago Pago.

Originally from Western Samoa, she’s taking up the position of secretary to the Attorney-General of American Samoa. • Japanese artist Hideri Goto, who has now spent years paint ing his way around the South Pacific, was back in Noumea in June.

Mr. Goto first appeared in the area during the South Pacific Games in Noumea, December, 1966. Since then his brush and palette have wound their way through Papua-New Guinea, the Solomons, New Hebrides, Australia and Fiji.

The Japanese artist is planning to revisit Fiji, before proceeding to Tahiti, and he expects there will be considerable changes to adapt to when he finally gets back to Tokyo. • The last European regimental sergeant-major to serve with the Ist Battalion, the Pacific Islands Regiment, Warrant Officer Class 1 J. D. McKay, left Port Moresby on June 5, ending an association that goes back 28 years. In 1942 he was a lance corporal in charge of Papuan Infantry Battalion soldiers on guard duty at Jackson airport. During his term he handed over as RSM to WOl Osi Ivaraoa and has been acting as training officer for the battalion for some months.

Major Ronald George Lange, 40, has been appointed commanding officer for Ist Battalion, Pacific Islands Regiment. Major Lange has been promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel, and he succeeds Lieutenant-Colonel M. B. Pears, who has retired. Pic ture shows WOl McKay and Mrs.

McKay being piped to their aircraft by pipers of the IPIR Pipes and Drums.