Transition

Knighted: A Uniting Church bishop, Sir Simon Gaius, and one of Papua New Guinea’s most successful businessmen. Sir Ling James Seeto, have been made knights in PNG’s new year’s honours list. They head a list of 48 people honoured by the Queen. Sir Ling James Seeto is the first Papua New Guinean of Chinese extrac tion to be made a knight. He was born in Rabaul and became a naturalised citizen at independence in 1975. His business in terests include insurance, real estate and food. Bishop Sir Simon Gaius became the first Papua New Guinean to head the United Church of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, more than 10 years ago.

Formed: The Pacific Islands Broadcasting Association, by 13 delegates representing radio services in the region, at a confer ence in Nukualofa. The conference was linked to Pacßroad (Pacific Broadcasting Training and Development), a broad casters’ training scheme financed by the United Nations and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation of West Germany.

Appointed: The University of the South Pacific’s librarian, Ms Esther Williams, as the new pro vice-chancellor of the univer sity. Ms Williams replaces Professor Al

bert Wendt, whose one-year term as pro vice-chancellor expired at the end of last year when he left to take up a post with the University of Auckland. Ms Williams, a Fijian, is from Suva.

Honoured: Henry Evans Maude, 81, Pa cific historian and writer, was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of the South Pacific. Speaking at the cere mony, the University’s Head of History and Politics, Dr David Routledge, paid tribute to Maude’s history and affairs, born of his twin careers of adminstrator in the then Gilbert and Ellice Islands and his work on the history of Island societies. His most famous works, Of Islands And Men and Slavers In Paradise , “have been cru cially significant in formulating the con ception and methodology of Pacific history,” said Dr Routledge. Dr Maude is currently working on several research top ics in Kiribati and Tuvalu history.

Appointed: Dr Heather Greenfield, from the United Kingdom, to the South Pacific Commission as food composition co-or dinator for the Pacific Island Food Com position Program, a project of the South Pacific Commission’s nutrition program.^