North & South – June 2019

14 | NORTH & SOUTH| JUNE 2019

APĀKEHĀPROBLEM?

InresponsetoBrendaBarnes’

letter,“AMāoriproblem?”

[March,andrecentcorre-

spondenceinLetters], I would

liketotrytoexplainwhyI

thinktheissuessheraisesare

problemsforPākehā.

Withfew exceptions,

schoolsinlowerdecileareas,

wherelargernumbersof

Māoriwhānaulive,arelikely

tofaceproblemsretainingex-

periencedteachers,alsowith

fundraisingandschooldona-

tions.Whatdiscretionary

fundsexistarelikelytobe

exhaustedbyrepairstobuild-

ings,providingbreakfasts,

stationeryandbasicitemsto

enablestudentstoparticipate,

ratherthanbeingfullyavaila-

bleforenrichingitemssuch

asnewbooks,sportsequip-

ment,technologicalupdates

orschooltrips.

Wealsoknowchildren

tendtofulfilexpectations

andthatlowerexpectations,

whetherasa resultofracism

orotherbias,resultinlower

scholasticachievement,low-

erself-esteemandtherefore

alsopoorerbehaviourand

mentalhealth,nottomen-

tionlowerearningcapacity.

TheMāoriyoungpeopleI

knowwhoaredoingwelland

makingvaluablecontribu-

tionstotheirpeopleandto

societyarethosewholiveat

leastsomepartoftheirlives

inteaoMāori.Theycome

fromhomeswhereMāori

tikangahasbeenthewayof

thinkingandthewayofdoing

things, and often where te reo

I havetravelledtobothplac-

esmorethanonceandto

otherMuslimcountries.I

havebeengropedandstared

atanddidnotfeelsafeatall.

Whitepaintsa rosypicture,

butitiscertainlybased on

hisownexperience.

MARIECOYLE,FROM

FACEBOOK

SHORT,SHORT

FEEDBACK

Dementia,alcoholism,infer-

tility,suicide,committalofa

deadlovertothesea:win-

ningthemesinNorth&

South’sShort,ShortStory

competition[May].Aheart-

breakingreflectionon con-

temporarysociety.

PATRICIAFENTON,

WHANGĀREI

AHUSBAND’S

POSTSCRIPT

Thankyou forHannah

Brown’sstoryaboutmywife

Sharonandherbattlewith

chronicobstructivepulmo-

narydisorder.[SharonO’Brien

diedshortlybeforeBrown’s

SenseofanEndingwaspub-

lishedintheMayissue].

Sharonwouldhavebeen

excitedandoverthemoon

aboutthearticle–andit

shineda lightontheperson

shewas.Shehadtoputup

withsomuchoverthelast

eightyearswithCOPD;the

storyshowedwhata strong

andintelligentwomanshe

was.Andnota daygoesby

thatI don’tthink of her and

missher.

M U RR AY ORR , MATATĀ

linethatranbetweenRivers-

daleandWaikaiafor 50 years,

from 1909 until1959.Thepri-

marypurposeofthelinewas

toopenupa considerablearea

ofproductivefarmland.There

arevisibleremnantsoftheline

alongtheoldroute,themost

obviousatFreshford.Alsothe

renovatedwatertankatSwit-

zers,asphotographedforthe

story.Informationaboutthe

Riversdale-Waikaiabranch

lineand 41 other“ghostlines”

throughoutNewZealandcan

beaccessedviaourwebsite,

ghostrailnz.weebly.com

BARBARAMULLIGAN

& DAVIDCUTHBERT,

WELLINGTON

FOLLOWTHEMONEY

I wishtocongratulateNorth

&Southonyoureffortsto

cover theChristchurch

shootings[May].Thismust

havemeanta lotofextra

workforeveryone.

A “lonewolf ”he[theshoot-

er]mayhavebeen,butsome-

whereinthepicturemustbe

thequestionofhisfinancial

support.Itismysuggestion

thattheauthoritiesgivethis

aspectofthetragedyfullat-

tentionforalloursakes.

LYNNE HILL, MOSGIEL

NOTSOROSY

InreferencetoMikeWhite’s

essayAntidotetoBigotry

[May],I wouldliketosayI’m

gladhehadsuchanuplifting

experiencetravellingto

countrieslikeAfghanistan

andPakistan– butfora

woman, it is a different story.

“selling”– andyouwillsuffer
a hugeloss,wipingoutyour
investment.Theexcusewill
betradingfluctuations.Also
thescammerstakecommis-
siononlosses– anotherway
theyerodeyourinvestment.
Theirnextstepis a pleafor
moremoney.Theywillthrow
inincentivestoencourage
youtoinvestmorecash.Often
theywillgiveyoua bonusat
thestarttoincreaseyour
tradingpower.Butwhenyou
wanttowithdrawyourprof-
its,thereareconditionsre-
strictinganywithdrawals
untilyouhavereacheda pre-
determinedlevel,a condition
notrevealedatthestart.
Anyway,if therearenoas-
setstobuyorsell,where
doesthemoneycomefromto
fundwithdrawals?When
youloseyourdeposit.
Whenyoupullout,youwill
bepesteredwithphonecalls.
Don’tanswer.Theringwillbe
shortandeverytimethenum-
berwillbedifferent.These
peoplearemobile.They do not
wanttobetraced.
NAMEANDADDRESS
SUPPLIED
LETTER OF THE MONTH

GHOSTRAILWAYS
I thoroughlyenjoyedMike
White’stravelstoryonWai-
kaia’s“realquarter-acre,DIY
Paradise”andcongratulate
everyoneintheSouthland
townforensuringtheimpor-
tantthingsinlifearevalued
andrespected.I notedwith
interesttherewasnorefer-
ence to the branch railway

THISMONTH’SBESTLETTER

winsa wonderfulbundleofcookbooks,

valuedat$125.Thepackincludes“fuss-

freerecipesandsimplescience”from

UKbotanist,broadcasterandfoodie

JamesWong(10-a-Day:TheEasyWay,

Hachette);Aucklandbakerandbusi-

nesswomanBernadetteGee’sMagnolia

Kitchen:InspiredBakingwithPersonal-

ity(Allen&Unwin);andHomemade

(Penguin)frombestsellingnewZealand

cookbook author Eleanor Ozich.