Campaign only a
p. 45 · Read in the full issue
From the
Islands
Press
Condensed from an article in the Papua New Guinea
Port Moresby
t is an inescapable fact that as our criminal class grows, the cost if keeping that sneaky fraternity behind bars must grow too. The leputy prime minister, Mr Okuk, has suggested that prisoners be ut to work on community projects. His suggestion has some merit, 'he alleged ‘holiday camp’ atmosphere at Bomana and Baisu gaols 'Quid be dented if the inmates knew that, attired in readily lentifiable garb and under armed guard, they would be forced to 'ork under the eyes of their clansmen and all and sundry. Exposing ■ansgressors to public view may well turn out to be more a eterrent than gaol itself. ditorial comment from the Samoa Times, Apia, on hie deep-seated strike in the Western Samoan public ervice he Public Service Commission’s declaration that ‘we have all iffered enough’ and ‘hopefully we have learnt by our suffering’ 3es not answer the question whether it was necessary to go through iis very sad experience. Perhaps the most important lesson that 'eryone should learn is that this country and its people have a •iceless asset in the understanding and forgiving nature of the iople. At times there were signs that the very fabric of our culture as being stretched to the limit, but fortunately for all it has mehow withstood the pressure. One way or another on the jrsonal, economic or political level everyone in this country has Jen affected by what has happened. It is now time to confine the atter to experience and let us move forward to build up our •untry together. eading from the Cook Islands News, Rarotonga, small success in a campaign to exterminate inah birds
Campaign only a
minah success?
litorial comment in The Fiji Times, Suva disgruntled veteran of Fiji’s trade union world, Mr Apisai Tora, s complained that today’s trade union leaders tend, upon their ction, to ‘act exactly as the bosses of big companies’. Thank avens, if they do. Mr Tora meant to be disparaging, but in fact de union leaders should feel disgruntled on their part if their ders acted any differently. Many trade unions are now big siness and need business-minded men to run them. In dealing h employers they would be at a grave disadvantage if they were able to act as equals, and to be able to do that it is necessary to able to act like bosses.
>ws Drum, Honiara, Solomon Islands
e Solomon Islands government has decided to charge $5 each for
spectacles prescribed by a visiting Australian eye team, except where the spectacles are prescribed for people undergoing eye operations or for children. The Secretary for Health, Mr Nielson, said the eye specialists were visiting Solomon Islands as an Australian aid project and were not charging for their services or for the supply of spectacles. However the Solomon Islands government itself was incurring some costs which it wished to offset by making a nominal charge for spectacles. He believed that spectacles were not essential for some of the people using the service. They wanted spectacles for prestige, he said.
From a letter in the Papua New Guinea Post-Courier, Port Moresby, in which Lisette Joephides criticises an advertisement published earlier This very offensive advertisement describes sympathetically the vexations in the average man’s life, exacerbated by great hints from his wife about visiting her mother. It invites him to rest from his many responsibilities and humour the wife by taking her out for a great night dining and dancing at the Islander Hotel. In an independent Papua New Guinea committed to women’s equality, to whom is such an ad addressed? It is not the aim of this country’s Constitution to turn women into either men’s playthings or burdens, but to allow them to take responsibility for themselves.
Extracts from an editorial in the Pitcairn Miscellany, Pitcairn Island A total of 33 people over the age of 18 years this represents 91.6% of the permanent population were asked whether an airstrip should be built on the island. Their answers were 26 yes, three no, four unsure. The majority of people interviewed considered that due to a dwindling number of able-bodied menfolk to handle the longboats an airstrip and air contact would be a necessity for the island’s continued life. A few even felt that a regular air service might encourage the return of some of the Pitcairn population living in New Zealand. Only time, expert opinion and survey undertakings will provide the answers. If the longboats of the sea translate to the longboats of the air perhaps Pitcairn will have a definite future. Or does the answer still depend on the sea? If only longboats could fly!
Condensed from 3 ,etter signed Peter Slimmer in The Fiji Times, Suva, concerning a local controversy over
something which Fiji hasn’t yet experienced
television and television advertising.
A friend in USA has told me about an innovation in which television viewers with complaints can press a button and establish a dialogue with their TV receivers. Let’s listen in to one.
Little kid: I don’t like your advertisements telling me to eat candy.
Mommy says sugar rots my teeth.
TV: If you want to live in the 20th Century you have to face up to reality. TV is big business. So is sugar. Lots of under-developed countries depend on us developed countries to buy their sugar so that they can buy the other necessities of life. Countries like Fiji, for instance, send us tonnes of it.
Little kid: Then let’s get even with them. Let’s send them a free television set for every 100 tonnes of sugar.
From a report in the Cook Islands News, Rarotonga, about a debutante ball in Avatiu ‘Let us have a debutante ball every year to present our young ladies to society’ said one speaker. She might well have added ‘. . . and a master of ceremonies who is a little less lubricated’.
The Papua New Guinea Post-Courier, Port Moresby Bureaucracy at its best: A form sent to the Ombudsman Commission from the Angau Memorial Hospital in Lae had the following wording: ‘This form must be completed and signed by the deceased to accompany the body to the morgue.’
The Fiji Times, Suva
Drunk and disorderly cases dealt with in the Suva courts have increased sharply since the end of the Carlton Brewery strike. In 10 days since the end of the strike there were 42 cases of drunk and disorderly. This compares with 45 cases of drunk and disorderly in the 33-day strike that closed the brewery.