Salient. An Organ of Student Opinion at Victoria College, Wellington, N.Z. Vol. 19, No. 2. March 10, 1955
Great Bitterness
Great Bitterness
A great bitterness has been aroused in the Asian people: bitterness directed against the colonial powers for having profited from and subjected Asia for so long, without repaying their debt or helping overcome the poverty of that land; bitterness against prosperous countries (e.g., New Zealand and Australia) which refuse to allow Asians to share in their prosperity; bitterness against the Western world in general for fighting their battles against communism on Asian soil, using the Asian peoples as fuel for their guns. New Zealanders must become aware of their responsibilities towards Asia: for too long we have regarded ourselves as isolated, insulated and therefore safe from the rest of the world. Sir Carl Berendsen sounded a warning recently when he said that it was not impossible that in a few years time we will be pulling rickshaws down Lambton Quay, Communism is not an exaggerated evil; it presents a malignant danger to Asia and not least of all our own country.