People
pp. 57-59 · Read in the full issue
he annual oratory contest for e Vijay Kumar Trophy has ;en won for the second time by ikhat Shameem. The contest as initiated in 1979 during the niversity of the South Pacific idian Students Association irmit Centenary celebrations i commemorate the arrival of ic first Indians in Fiji.
Nikhat beat off strong chal nge to retain her cup. She >oke on ‘Our Sense of Res msibility’. First runner-up was mele Kila and second runner a Hemant Vanmali, both >eaking on ‘World Peace: an npossible Ideal’. Other >eakers were Satya Prakash i ‘God’, Satendra Shankar on Vorld Peace: an Impossible leal’, Chandra Ram Rattan on Nuclear Destruction’ and bdul Sattar on ‘Why the cientist should Believe in od’.
The contest was chaired by arun Lakshman and the panel [judges consisted of the Direc >r of Community Services, Dr aleniu Asaua, Raymond Filial, ecturer in English, and USP tudents Association Vice resident, John Herrmann, rizes were presented by Dr isaua.
After the conclusion of the ontest in the USP lecture leatre the film American Taffiti was screened.
Western Samoa novelist Albert Vendt’s third novel, Leaves of he Banyan Tree (reviewed iM Sep p 39) has won New Zealand’s Wattie Best Book iward for 1980.
Mr Wendt says the prize of NZ4OOO will go towards build rig his house.
Jistorian of Fiji Deryck Scarr n October presented to Prime Minister Ratu Sir Kamisese rtara the first copies of a book ibout the life of the great Fijian talesman Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna.
The book grew from an idea loated seven years ago by the
Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna Biogra phy Committee.
Funded by the Fijian Affairs Board, Native Land Trust Board, Fijian Development Fund Board, and other donors, the committee commissioned Dr Scarr to research and write the work.
T think we have succeeded in fulfilling the task,’ said the prime minister. And President of the Senate Sir Robert Munro, who was a close associ ate of Ratu Sukuna, said: ‘lt’s full of fascinating information.’
One of New Caledonia’s top cyclists, Angelo Scoleri, has been bitten by the love bug, and has decided to leave the terri tory and settle in Australia.
Angelo, 22, decided to take a break from his teaching job about nine months ago and spend some time in Australia.
There, in Adelaide, capital of South Australia, he fell victim to the disease. The vector? A charming 19-year-old, Maria Delasio. After a five-month courtship, they were married in October.
The Australian immigration authorities had been keeping an eye on things, and Angelo got his residence permit only the day before the wedding.
Reporting these happy events, the Noumea weekly Corail voices the hope that Angelo will have kept a soft spot in his heart for New Caledonia and that folk there might still see him again some day, handlebars in hand and, of course, in the company of Maria.
Lyle Cupit has announced his retirement as managing direc tor of Carpenters’ South Pacific Ltd, effective December 31.
At a news conference, Mr Cupit, 49, said he would be developing the management structure of a new agricultural company. Consolidated Agri culture Fiji Ltd, after his retire ment.
The company recently bought Carpenters’ hurricane ravaged pig and cattle farm at Navua. Mr Cupit, his family, and Mr Greg Blakeney are shareholders in the company.
The farm now carries 1700 pigs and Mr Cupit expects to increase the number to 2000 in the next three months. The new owners also hope to increase the
2000 head of cattle to 3000 as soon as possible. Mr Cupit would not say how much his company had paid for the farm, but said it was over seven figures.
Another three Papua New Guineans are off for training in Europe for which they received scholarships from the European Economic Community.
They are Baffi Russell Purai of Loi, Manus Province, a lecturer with the Administrat ive College, who has gone for two years to Liverpool Univer sity, United Kingdom, to gradu ate as Master in Public Admin istration; John Samar of Kiraguri Village near Wewak and Mickey Epikana of Kumasina Village in the West ern Highlands Province.
John Samar, an industrial economist with the Department of Commerce is attending a two-months course in ‘Project Implementation Operations' or ganised by the Irish Develop ment Authority in Dublin.
For Mickey Epikana, an area mechanical engineer with the Department of Works and Supply, a special training course in ‘Planned Mainten ance' was arranged with the assistance of the Crown Agents.
He will follow lectures for 10 weeks in the United Kingdom and then will be attached for several months to hospitals and infirmaries all over Britain to gel better acquainted with the maintenance of technical hos pital equipment which is used in PNG.
The Independent / Journal, Majuro, has secured the ser vices of Dan Smith as its managing editor.
Mr Smith, who is married to Senator Evelyn Konou, has three children (at the time of this writing) and a new arrival
expected shortly.
He first came to the Marshalls in 1967 with the Peace Corps as a volunteer and at that lime was instrumental in setting up what became the widely disseminated Micro nesian News Service. He ob tained a BS in physics and an MA in communications, both from Stanford University.
Pramesh Raman has been named Fiji’s first locally-born Commissioner of Police. He
will take over from John Orme, who will leave in February after completing his contract of ser vice with the Fiji Government.
Mr Raman is now the Deputy Commissioner. In announcing his appointment, the Minister for Flome Affairs, Ratu William Toganivalu, said Mr Orme’s term would expire on February 2.
Mr Raman, 52, joined the Royal Fiji Police Force in 1947.
He worked as a constable in Suva and at Labasa after completing his training. He has acted as commissioner several times, the longest being for seven months when the last commissioner, John Kelland, left.
Mr Raman has been awarded the Independence medal, the police long service medal, police medal for meritorious service and the Queen’s Medal
A happy mother ... Lise Asiata with her four daughters (from top) Lise, Tuaula, Rato and Lakena after the babies left hospital in Auckland, New Zea land, late in September. The Asiata quads will go home with their mother to Samoa. - New Zealand Herald picture.
distinguished service to the lice force.
Mr Raman, originally from utoka, is married and has fen children. le of Australia’s outstanding k groups, The Larrikins, are an extensive tour of the ulh Pacific in November and icember under the Australian wernment’s cultural relations Dgramme. They plan to visit ;w Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, inga. Western Samoa, Kiri ti, Nauru and Solomon ands accompanied by an usual assortment of instru cts.
The group of five is noted for authentic Australian folk isic and among their instru cts are banjo, tin whistle, ncertina, fiddle, harmonica, Itic harp, bush bass, spoons d mandolin.
Folklorist Warren Fahey unded The Larrikins in 1974.
Ter members include Cathie Sullivan, Jacko Evans, Brad ite, and Dave de Hugard. ley have made previous over as tours to Indonesia and ew Zealand. ‘Our material is anything but e bush band productions that ople expect. We don’t do very any of those foot-stomping, gerphone, slapping “Click Go e Shears” type of things,’ ihey said. The Australian adition is not one of otstomping and so forth. It’s irly introspective with a pion :ring rough and tumble atti de. There are a lot of story mgs, and we are very much vare of the importance of the ords in our songs.’ ofessor Michael Smithies, ;ad of the Department of anguage and Social Science at ipua New Guinea’s Univer- Ly of Technology at Lae has ;en awarded the title of hevalier de I’Or dr e des limes Academiques by the rench Government.
Professor Smithies studied odern and mediaeval nguages, including French, at xford University and, al lough most of his career has :en involved with English as a econd Language at tertiary vel, he has at different times lughl French language at the
University of California at Berkeley and French literature at the University of Hong Kong. He recently conducted an extra-mural French course at the PNG University of Tech nology.
A woman believed to be (at 109) the second oldest person living in Britain today spent the
1890 s in Fiji, writes Philip
Snow.
She is Mrs Alice Brewster, whose husband, Adolph Brewson Brewster, was Com missioner in Fiji’s Interior at that time. His Hill Tribes of Fiji remains the classic work on that area.
A. B. Brewster died in England in 1939. He has a street named after him in Suva.
Much younger than her hus band, Mrs Brewster has lived in England since the couple left Fiji in the ’9os.
She has been blind for sev eral years, but in her 90s still retained vivid memories of her lime in Fiji. These she re counted to Mr Snow, who himself served as Com missioner in the Interior about 50 years after the Brewsters’ time.
A woman aged 110 is the oldest person alive in England, and it is understood that Mrs Brewster is the second oldest.
She has had nine telegrams from the Queen, one each year since passing the century. (Philip Snow is co-author with Stefanie Waine of People from the Horizon: An Illus trated History of the Europeans Among the South Sea Islanders (reviewed PIM Aug pi 31).} Polynesian Airlines has confirmed the appointment of Tevaseu George Sola Hunt as its system traffic services man ager after a 12-month training period.
Replacing Keith Williams, who is returning to Air New Zealand after two years secondment, Mr Hunt, who holds the chiefly title Tevaseu’ in the village of Siumu, is the first Samoan to hold this pos ition.
A man who played a leading role in piloting Western Samoa towards independence has been appointed the head of the New
Zealand Prime Minister’s De partment.
He is Gerald Hensley, 44, a career diplomat whose first post was in Apia. He takes over as the new permanent head from Bernard Galvin who has been appointed head of Treasury.
Mr Hensley was posted to Apia in 1959 as external affairs adviser to the High Com missioner of Western Samoa, Sir Guy Powles. Working from the veranda at Vailima, he was involved in the detailed nego tiations between New Zealand and the United Nations Trusteeship Council. Mr Hensley was closely involved in discussions on matai suffrage, which the UN initially opposed.
In 1961 Mr Hensley was posted to New York where he was charged with helping pilot Samoa’s independence through the council.
While in Samoa Mr Hensley was married to his wife Juliet.
Their first child was also born in Samoa and was named To’oa Hensley, the Malietoa family title which To’oa Salamasina was said to have agreed to.
Juliet Hensley’s grandfather was Chief Judge, Judge Henry Young, of Samoa following World War 11.
Mr Hensley was based in Washington from 1969 to 1973, during which time his house was mistakenly shot up by Black September terrorists. It had previously been owned by a Jordanian diplomat.
Before becoming deputy head of the Prime Minister’s Department this year, Mr
Hensley was New Zealand’s High Commissioner in Singapore. Mike Field in The Observer, Apia. lan Thomson, independent chairman of Fiji’s Sugar Indus try, will soon be named chair man of the Economic Develop ment Board.
Creation of the board, ap proved by the Fiji parliament a few months ago, is the govern ment’s latest attempt to get things moving in making more jobs by establishing new indus tries. The government hopes the board will give a much bigger and more effective thrust be hind efforts to industrialise the country.
The board will have eight other members. The Fiji Times tips that they will be: For the Fiji Trades Union Congress: James Raman and Mahendra Chaudry. For employers; Gerald Barrack and Eric Jones. For rural areas: Gus Billings and Joketani Cokanasiga. For the government: Secretary for Agriculture Robin Yarrow and Director of Planning John Sarny.
The Canadian High Com missioner to Australia, J. Alan Beesley, has presented his cre dentials to President Ati George Sokomanu of Vanuatu. He is the first non-resident high com missioner to be accredited to the country.
Mr Beesley said he looked forward to a closer relationship with Vanuatu, and that Canada may send technical assistance to the country when required.
The assistance was not long in coming; only a few weeks after Mr Beesley presented his cre dentials, a Canadian QC, Gerard Bertrand, arrived to spend a week in Vanuatu to assist in recruitment to top judicial posts.
These include judges, public prosecutors, legal draftsmen and a clerk of the National Assembly, a Vanuatu govern ment spokesman said.
Canada’s bilingual situation, and the fact that it had both British and French jurisdic tions, made the advice of Mr Bertrand particularly relevant, the spokesman said.
Sir Buri Kidu, recently ap pointed Chief Justice of Papua New Guinea, shows a local touch in the design of his judge’s robes.