Letters

Remembering The Heroes

I READ with great interest the story “Bringing The Heroes Back Home” in January Pacific Islands Monthly. As a veteran of the Pacific War myself, I can share with the families of those airmen the relief, even after 40 or so years, of knowing what had happened to their boys.

One thing that emerges from Mr Hiar i’s excellent story is the work being done by the Papua New Guinea Government to catalogue the crash sites and to preserve relics of the conflict; not to glorify war, but to show future generations the price so many paid so they could live and grow in freedom. The PNG Government is to be congratulated for this concern, although I would like to see more involvement by Australian Government and veterans’ or ganisations. I do not know whether the Japanese Government takes an official in terest in bringing its own heroes home, or whether it is only veterans’ organisations and the like who take such care, but I wish our own old soldiers would display the same kind of interest, instead of concen trating on remembering their comrades by preserving their memory in alcohol.

Malcolm Harradence (ex RAAF) Blackheath, New South Wales Australia

High-Minded “Attackers” Of Fiji

I CANNOT understand the attitude of countries like New Zealand and Australia.

They attack Fiji for taking control of their own destiny away from Indian owner ship of media, business and government control and they criticise Fijian foot ballers for playing in South Africa.

Where will this hypocrisy end? Both of these countries trade with South Africa, and both have sportsmen who compete in South Africa. Rugby and cricket players from New Zealand and cricketers from Australia even tennis “ace” Pat Cash have travelled to South Africa. Have they been attacked at home in newspapers?

Have they been attacked by the same newspapers that attack Brigadier Rabuka for giving Fiji back to the Fijians?

Pacific Islands Monthly has been prominent in this hypocrisy. You publish ridiculous theories how the CIA made the coup, then you attack the Russians for dar ing to sail their ships in the Pacific. Let me tell you, the old days are over! The Pacific Ocean does not belong to Australia, Rus sia, England or America any more: it be longs to the people who were here before anyone.

J K Raiwalui

Samabula Republic of Fiji

The Games Must Stop

LIKE many observers of Pacific affairs, I’ve been concerned about the continuing gamesmanship being played in Palau: in your journal as well as newspapers, I read of assassinations, bombings, corruption, threats, riots, mysterious fires, all appar ently directed against opponents of the Compact of Free Association with the United States.

I am not supporting or decrying the Compact: I am neither a citizen of Palau nor of the United States, and it would be impertinent of me to tell the people of Pa lau which way to vote. But there is defi nitely something rotten there, and it is past the point where the Governments of Palau and the USA can get away with the tactics of intimidation.

The economy of Palau is in tatters, with forced retrenchments from the civil serv ice, investors scared off by bullying, aid apparently slashed and, as my Palauan friends tell me, little incentive to work for an administration that seems more wor ried about its enemies than the citizens it is elected to serve.

The situation is not one-sided, how ever: the USA, Home of the Free, seems to be treading as gently and as diplomatically as it did in the Solomons during the tuna wars. It is high time the investigating team of the General Accounting Office finished its work (surely they have enough infor mation by now!) and reported, so the people of Palau and of the world can see what is really going on. The Compact question has to be settled, and settled soon.

The Soviets are just over the horizon, waiting for an opportunity to expand their own interest and influence in the Pacific.

Dr C R Buell

Orchard Road Singapore

More Arts Please

THE LATEST issues of your magazine have covered many political topics. What interests me is the material on crafts, film, music, culture and sport. Can we not have a little more feature material in the magazine?

Thorkild Hoy,

Maglehoj, Farum, Denmark.

While it is our policy to present read ers with the big political stories, we are now expanding our feature pages to bring you articles on the arts and sport.

From this issue onward, too, there will be more business news pages in Pacific Islands Monthly. Editor.