Islands

From the

Press

The Coconut Telegraph, Savusavu, Vanua Levu, Fiji The outstanding impression of Children’s Day, August 6th, in Savusavu, was the eager enthusiasm of the children, who threw themselves into it, heart and soul, from the moment they came marching through town, banging on a biscuit tin, and assembled at Khemendra School, where the events in honour of the International Year of the Child were held. An overcast, but cool, fine day, gave everyone lots of energy and the programme went with a swing ...

Tohi Tala Niue, Alofi, Niue To People Who Use To Wait In The Waiting Room: Health Department. Please do not tear the posters on the wall. Please do not cut the hardboard lining of the walls. There are two big holes in one wall being cut by someone who was waiting. Look after your children and do not let them play with posters, wall furnitures or anything in this room. Replacing broken articles is very costly we do not have any money to pay for these. Keep the room tidy and comfortable for you to rest in while waiting for the doctor.

Tonga Chronicle, Nukualofa

The talk of the town these days is the recent passing by the Parliament of a New Amending Act to the Land Laws which could take away an allotment from a Tongan who has been naturalised as a citizen of a foreign country as well as a Tongan who has been away from the Kingdom for more than two years ...

Tuvalu News Sheet, Funafuti

A Royal Navy frigate, the HMS Dido, was expected to make a goodwill call at Funafuti for two days early this month, but the visit was cancelled due to the captain’s concerns about the safety of entering the island’s lagoon . . . Although Government offered to provide a local pilot for the ship the offer was turned down by the commanding officer who in turn put forward that he and about 12 members of the ship crew call briefly at Funafuti via helicopter, while the Dido lay drifting somewhere close by. The plan was unacceptable to Government on the grounds that the amount of time to be spent ashore was limited to four hours, while a much longer visit had been anticipated by both Government and the Funafuti people .. .

The Observer, Apia, Western Samoa, (Editorial)

Those people who are addicted to scrawling threats and abuses on other people’s walls must check themselves before placing their tools against the walls ... graffiti are meaningful only if they are meant to amuse. And these are amusing only when one is bored waiting and one is reading them on a bus-stop shelter wall.

Or bored sitting on a public house bowl and one is reading it on the inside of the door.

The Norfolk Islander ... the small but very proud team’ was the description given to the Norfolk Island team by the Prime Minister of Fiji, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, at a reception hosted by the Mobil Oil Company after the opening ceremony of the Sixth South Pacific Games . . . We arrived in Fiji on Friday 24th August after a most enjoyable flight on Norfolk Island Airlines and someone said to us after our arrival ‘You Norfolk Islanders certainly caused a stir when you arrived in your own aeroplanes! ’

Tonga Chronicle, Nukualofa

This should be in the Guinness Book of Records. Tonga is the only country in the world to beat five countries in a period of 11 days. The Tonga (Rugby) team defeated Western Samoa 18-10; Tahiti 74-0; Solomon Islands 92-3; New Caledonia 58-3 and also Fiji 6-3. Tonga scored 248 points against 19 countries or 47 tries and 30 conversions to two tries, a conversion and three penalties by Fiji, Western Samoa, New Caledonia, Solomon and Tahiti. An average of 49.6 to 3.8 points.

Fiji Times, Suva

When William Shakespeare wrote the tragedy of Othello, a performance of it in Fiji would have been beyond his imaginatioi - if indeed he knew that Fiji existed. However, the students of Queen Victoria School in Tailevu have tackled the play and produced a remarkably good version of it.

Micronesian News Service, Saipan

The Marshallese man who was on Saipan in May to buy pigs for the Marshalls Government returned to the island Friday .. . Asked what happened to the 33 pigs he bought on Saipan during his last trip, Joaje Aisak said that they have been sent to the Marshalls’ outer islands hit by Typhoon Alice last December for breeding purposes... ‘All the pigs arrived in Majuro in good condition,’ Aisak indicated. ‘Some people travel 1 to buy cars and other imported items. But sometimes I travel to buy pigs. I enjoyed the pig-buying mission very much.’

Fiji (magazine of the Ministry of Information, Suva) The hurricane is not monopolised by Fiji. Fiji is not the only place you get hurricanes. They get typhoons in Hong Kong, Japan, Manila and in Singapore. If there is recession in Fiji, Fiji is not the only place where there is recession - there is recession m other countries too.’ (Quotation from Hargovind Lodhia, Opposition backbencher in the Fiji Parliament.) News Drum, Honiara, Solomon Islands The whole work force of the Province Headquarters in Honiara spent all morning on Tuesday killing rats from their furniture shop. An assistant administrative officer who helped in the killing of more than 105 rats said the animals were discovered when they wanted to get furniture for shipment. He said the 20 workers started to kill the rats about 8 am, and by about midday they were still busy chasing the rats.

Papua New Guinea Post-Courier, Port Moresby

The member for Nipa-Kutubu, Mr Ibne Kor, wants the Government to immediately knight him for his services to the country. Mr Kor told Parliament this week he had done as much work as those who have already been knighted and deserved to be called ‘Sir Ibne’...

Atoll Pioneer, Bairiki, Kiribati

King George V and Elaine Bernacchi Secondary School, Tarawa, dosea for the school holiday on Tuesday. The school closed three days early because of disciplinary problems at the school. The problems arose when Fifth Form students demanded to use the I school dormitories during the school holidays. The Headmaster I refused to allow them to do this because similar arrangements had been abused in the past but agreed that classrooms would be available from 8 am to 6.30 pm on weekdays for study purposes and transport arrangements would be made. The third term will commence early so that students will not lose any school time.

Meanwhile, the Board of Governors of the school will meet to consider what action to take about students who caused trouble at the school, including damage to property.

Atoll Pioneer, Kiribati Faced with the need for a repaint job on the church, the local Catholic community on Makin set out to create a lime whitewash for the purpose. The method used is not new by any means but is seldom used in islands closer to imported convenience. A large j pit was dug about five metres square and firewood was placed in the bottom. The firewood was a complete green teren tree cut into convenient pieces. Then coral was placed on top and the lot set to burn, stoked occasionally by coconut logs. The fire lasted

bout a week. When the coral finally cooled, it was taken from ist below the surface and mixed with water to form a thick udge. It was this sparkling white sludge that was applied to the alls of the cement church, ress Extracts from New Caledonia 0 mark the occasion of the French President’s visit to Wallis id Futuna, a customary ceremony was organised in his honour the royal Kawa ceremony. Tradition has it that the first and st cup carry with them the greatest token of honour. These cups ere given to Mr Giscard d’Estaing and his wife.

he Samoa Times, Apia, (editorial)

r hen times are good, population issues are not a practical oblem for most people. Why worry when things are going well, ey would say. However, quite different is the picture when the iuntry suffers economic problems galore. Now that we are again cing economic problems, we are compelled to take a closer look the over-population problem, primarily, of course, because of e economic impact of this problem . . . The argument that ;ople who reduce the size of their families are merely being Ifish does not hold. The real issue is whether people can afford give a decent living to their offspring. To overproduce without re of the consequences is criminal.

iugini Nius (from column by Rhonda)

ie Port Moresby Theatre Group will bring us Midsummer ght’s Dream late in August. Ideas for its presentation could elude an updated presentation. I like the way one actor put ‘Shakespeare’s still Shakespeare even with the players in ms, so we’re thinking of doing away with carboard cut-down

awns, cloaks and jiffies’.

tcairn Miscellany, Pitcairn Island 3AMSTOWN AND AROUND:.. . Best Dressed Man in >wn: Christy Warren would almost certainly win this award, henever he appears at church or the pictures, he steals the show th his fancy styles. Recently he has added trimmings to all his irts, and caps are his speciality. Last week at the pictures he is wearing a fancy, hand made blue cap, with buttons and )bons on the front; a lace-trimmed shirt with silky cravat; and lite gloves with a matching white handbag. He completed the tfit with a rather elegant cane. Very smart indeed Christy. apua New Guinea Post-Courier, Port Moresby (letter 3m reader signing herself ‘PNG Woman, Boroko’). fing bare-breasted is our tradition. What are we ashamed of? rhaps you don’t realise that those people who told us, taught and forced us to cover our breasts up today want to or are actising the reverse. So-called modesty is lost. They show this the way they dress. Don’t you see that if they were given the ance, they’d be jumping into arse-grass and going re-breasted? You should be proud of your breasts when you iss up traditionally. If you want to cover them up, use ditional material to do so. There’s nothing more sickening than see a beautiful Papua New Guinean girl or woman dress up ditionally and put on a splash of Western clothing, namely ; bra . . .

ji Times, Suva

>cal beer was condemned in Parliament yesterday as the >ortsman’s killer’ by an Opposition member who said it should 1 be advertised in sports grounds. The MP, Mr Koresi Matatolu, id that as a sportsman he found it difficult to understand why i, whisky and beer advertisements were hung in sports stadiums. ji Times, Suva (letter from Leighton Bullock, of

arlton Brewery [Fiji] Ltd).

ith sales of approximately 3.6 million gallons per annum Fiji nks very low in beer consumption per capita. In fact Fiji’s yearly •nsumption per capita is approximately six (6) gallons or 2.6 mces of beer daily which is less than one fifth of that in

Above is the front page of the issue of the government-owned Cook Islands News which reported the results of the court decision on the conspiracy cases involving former Premier Sir Albert Henry and a number of other officials in his government (PIM Oct. p2O). The headline rather dramatically quotes the judge who sat on the cases, Mr Justice Beattie, and the caption to the photograph of Sir A Ibert says: ‘Above: “Sir Albert, you place yourself above the democratic process, ’’said Mr Justice Beattie. ’

Regular readers of the Cook Islands News over many years will certainly recall the occasions when uncomplimentary headlines have been reserved for the Opposition members who are now in power.

In the Cooks, press licence might seem to depend on who licenses

the press!

Australia. Drunkenness in Fiji is a problem only with a very small minority and any harsh regulations harm only the vast percentage of the population for whom no problem exists ...

Tohi Tala Niue, Alofi, Niue Quarry Sales: The Public Works Department has at long last received the explosives which were ordered some months ago.

As a result of this and following a very successful course held in Niue on the correct use of explosives, we are able to sell crushed

chips etc. to the public again.