Islands

From the

Press

From The Drum column, Papua New Guinea Post-Courier, Port Moresby A big firm in Port Moresby has just extricated itself from The Great ‘Fridge Foul-Up’. The problem started when a refrigerator worth 1000 kina was moved from an executive’s house to the company’s warehouse for safe keeping. It got mixed up with a pile of second-hand refrigerators on sale for 25 kina each.

Needless to say it didn’t stay on the floor for long. Lucky buyer, when told there had been a blunder, agreed to pay another 225 kina and still walked out with a bargain basement grin.

Part of a reader’s letter published in The Observer, Apia, Western Samoa It is amazing to learn that the Prime Minister has had the audacity to ask the U.S. President to consider recruiting Western Samoan young men into the U.S. Army. This is offering them as mercenaries to a foreign army, or in other words it is prostituting our young men. When we run out of men and boys why not offer our girls? Their services would be in great demand around the world.

From The Drum column in the Papua New Guinea Post-Courier, Port Moresby There might not be honor among thieves but in one group at least there seems to be an appreciation of beauty. The hold-up gang that robbed a Port Moresby bookie shop a week ago, and stole a car, has returned to the woman owner of the vehicle her licence. A note with it said “You are beautiful, so we have decided to send back your licence. But not the car because it is too good for the police.”

From the Flotsam & Jetsam column in The Fiji Times, Suva A 30-year-old woman was fined $4O in Suva Court for stealing a duck. The woman, who admitted the offence, told the court she was cutting grass around her home when the duck waded onto her knife. The duck died as a result and her family had curry duck that night.

From Akio Heine’s column in the Marshall Islands Journal, regarding plans to provide sex education and birth control information We doubt that sex education is needed, at least in the Marshall Islands. Birth control, yes. But not sex education, and here is why. Almost every youth is not only knowledgeable but very experienced when it comes to sex an extracurricular activity here. It is like fishing just about every one knows how to fish.

Sir Julius Chan, quoted in The Times of Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby, appeals for a country of refuge for West Papuan freedom fighters Not necessarily the cold icy north like Sweden (where some West Papuans have been granted asylum) but somewhere where they can live like human beings, he said.

Solomons Toktok, Honiara, in an article on birth control We are well aware that unmarried women can produce babies if there are persuasive men about, therefore it will be necessary for

young women to have instruction in the strategies of the male sex and be brought to realise that it is not always in the nation’s interest to associate with men. Women can be patriotic too.

An unfortunate spelling error from a letter published in Solomons Toktok, Honiara, Solomon Islands An alien who forged a passport continues to exist happily in Solomon Islands extending his testacies to even politics.

From an item headed New Flags Needed’ in the Marshall Islands Journal Last week we set out to photograph the Marshall Islands flag flying in the capital. We were greatly disappointed that all the ones to be seen were too frayed and faded to have made a good picture. At the Aide building, the place where the flag was raised for the first time in 1979, there was no flag flying. At least on Constitution Day a new flag was flown. We think it would be a good use of funds to replace the flags at key places as often as needed.

Part of an editorial in the Samoa Times, Apia, Western Samoa Maybe it is about time we should ask the government to slow down the pace of development. The pace of development has been too fast. We are now seeing the effects of too rapid development cuts in the government budget, the laying off of workers, cuts in necessary imports and increases in charges. If conservation is the policy now, then that applies also to development.

The Times of Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby, from an article in which Bernard Narokobi warns against increasing dependence on foreign aid This money helps us to maintain very costly institutions and high standards on paper. It helps to create high rates of inflation by giving us the illusion that we can afford high wages, high prices and luxuries. We have had no chance to find our own level. The result is that we have set very high sights of expectation for our people. I believe this is partly the trouble with our education system. In the days that we didn’t have all this money coming in, we grew our own kaukau and aibika, we cut our own grass and cleaned the school area. We cooked our own food. Nowadays students expect “boys to cut grass with a lawn mower”. They also expect the government to supply them with food. They don’t know what self reliance is and those in power have no right to tell students to be self reliant.

Unsigned letter to the editor published in The Observer, Apia, Western Samoa It is indeed most heartening to hear that Chief Inspector Falaniko intends pursuing those people who insult the “freedom flag” by not saluting it. I am puzzled however, by the term “freedom flag”. What does the Chief Inspector mean? I am not a Matai, so I am not free to vote. I am not free to buy those things in the shops which I and my family need. I am not free to think except for those things that the Faifeau tell us on Sundays.

Please tell me, why do I not feel free? Why do I feel that I am trapped and unable to live a normal life, unable to do all those things which freedom entails. Freedom means much more than not saluting a flag.

The Marshall Islands Journal A slow-moving truck recently pulled over to allow the line of cars behind to pass. We don’t have a clue as to what caused the driver to break the custom of blocking traffic. The police better look into this deviant behavior.

A heading in the Papua New Guinea Post-Courier, Port Moresby, after a rugby league team from Australia defeated a PNG team by 106 to 3 Dark hour as Queensland drops bomb.

A view on slot machines expressed in Marianas Variety News & Views I don’t like them. They can cause banks to take back paid cars which are not paid because slot machines ate up the money.