Islands
p. 36 · Read in the full issue
From The
Press
A comment in the New Hebrides News by Cecilia M. Ratard on New Hebridean marriage customs: What could be more cruel than selling one’s dearest teenage daughter to some unpleasant man simply because he has the right amount of pigs or money to buy her? Girls have souls and feelings, they are, after all, human beings and should be respected as such . . . The only way to speed up New Hebrides progress, in keeping with the 20th century world, is to educate all young girls as quickly as possible ... It is well to remember: “Educate a man you educate an individual; educate a woman you educate a nation”.
“Island food is all right but . . .” reports the Atoll Pioneer in an interview with two young Canadian visitors: Kelly and Ira spent two weeks on Butaritari (Gilberts) and described it as great. Their only problem was getting used to the food. Kelly told me that before coming out here he had made up his mind to taste every kind of food there was. “And now?” I asked. I miss fish and chips , he answered.
From the Cook Islands News: The Moana has left our shores but has returned once again proving that it is just right for the scrap yards, the only trouble is that Avatiu Harbour could be that scrap yard!
From Lae Nius, reporting a councillor’s
complaints:
Cr Roy Pogat has demanded that Lae City Councillors who went to Fiji to study the Fiji council 11 months ago supply a report on what they learned if anything from the trip. He said it cost more than K 6,000 for the six councillors to go, yet no report has been made to council by the mission leader, Cr John Rogers.
He told the last council meeting that the money appeared to have been wasted, and he called upon Cr Rogers to make a report to prove that the money would not have been better spent on services to rate payers.
Top of the Pops in the hymn department, a Seventh-day Adventist Church survey to find Norfolk Island’s favourite hymn as reported by the Norfolk Islander: it would seem that the vote was definitely for those hymns beloved by the old Norfolkers, for we find the voting thus: 1 Pitcairn Anthem; 2 The Old Rugged Cross; 3 Abide with me; 4 What a friend we have in Jesus; 5 Let the lower lights be burning; 6 The Lord’s my shepherd; 7 Rock of Ages; 8 Gethsemane; 9 Have Thine own way; 10 Amazing Grace.
From a letter by Peter Crowe in the New Hebrides News on ceremonial pig killing: The skull of the melanesian pig, sus papuensis, is quite thin and a wooden club is all that is The european breeds have skulls up to four times as thick (a lesson here?) and need the sharp edge of an axe.
From a commentary by Vili’ahio Vaipulu
(People’s Representative in the Tonga Legislative
Assembly) in the Tonga Chronicle: . . . It is not so much the decision of the New Zealand Government (concerning the expulsion of overstayers) that the island people are concerned about. New Zealand has the right to decide what course she is going to take on any issue. Rather it is the imperialistic, if not arrogant, attitude shown by New Zealand when what is needed is the genuine willingness on both sides to be “in the other person’s shoes” . . .
From the Papua New Guinea Post-Courier: Bishop David Hand yesterday warned of the danger of Papua New Guinea’s education system becoming simply technological, money-centred and materialist.
“I have heard that the time and effort spend on expressive arts here may be cut down by departmental order m favour of more mathematics and science, he said.
“This seems to me directly opposed to all that is being said in our country today about preserving our traditional Melanesian culture and its evolution through contact with other cultures.”
From Uni Tavur, the students’ newspaper at the University of Papua New Guinea: The National Union of Students will negotiate with the Government to send two students to China. The General Secretary of the National Union of Students, Mr Max Rai, said yesterday the executives want these two students to go to China to see why students m China do not oppose their government.
The Cook Islands News, reporting the return of the Deputy Premier from 22nd Commonwealth Parliamentary conference in Mauritius: Mr Short said that after witnessing how the other half of the world lives, especially in Mauritius, he was mighty glad it was the Cook Islands he was coming to.
From the Fiji Times: .
Fiii could be on the way out in top women s athletics it nothing is done to look for more women sprinters with the next South Pacific Games only years away Our women sprinters have dominated this field since Fiji hosted the first South Pacific Games 13 years ago.
In the past 13 years Fiji has never run out of women sprinters, who have won several gold medals. But a sign that the sprint events were getting away from our women sprinters was at Guam in 1975, when for the first time Fiji was runner-up in the 4 x 100 metres relay.