Letters can be handed in at the letterbox just inside the Salient office or handed in to the editor personally. However if you wish to pay 8c postage then send your letters to P O Box 1347, Wellington. Letters should be double spaced and on one side of the paper only.

More on Henry Isaac's Editorial

Re Rob Rabel's letter Salient 14/6/76.

Mr Rabel in his last letter seemed to think I have no regard for freedom of speech but I'm afraid he hastily reached this conclusion without taking sufficient note of the tone of my letter (Salient 31/5/76).

My objection to Mr Isaac's articulation of N.Z. ills was not in his legal right of expression but in his moral right as a guest in this country. It is only common courtesy not to condemn his hosts with such sweeping statments. His next point that I resorted to "argumentum ad hominem" is probably justified but I regarded Mr Isaac's editorial as a personal attack on my countrymen, as if he had said "You New Zealanders are all racists". I sought to defend my country from an unjustified attack. The editorial itself did not deserve a comprehensive rebuttal since it advanced no facts to refute.

Mr Rabel finds it difficult to "reconcile arrogance with being oppressed". I am not so shortsighted. There are many groups and individuals who deserve the description of the "arrogant oppressed" (e.g. Black Power, Militant Unionists etc). II Mr Rabel thinks all oppressed people are meek and humble he does them an injustice. The deep rooted prejudice at which Rob writes is evidenced in "talk hack shows, letters to the editor, public bar conversations and even graffitti." But is this real racism? If so, it is only generalised racism and not specific. The average Kiwi may complain about Polynesian violence or Pommy Trade Unionists, but does he refuse to talk or drink with a person not of his race. I have seldom seen it. Being of Irish origin I could strongly object to being called a Mick or suffering the many Irish jokes that are told. I don't. The people who call this type of thing racism are oversensitive racial hypocondriacs who are looking for some bandwagon to jump on. We have to recognise our differences and when these are emphasised the trendies should not jump up and down screaming racism.

Mr Rabel did not identify the M.P. that advocated a system of apartheid for New Zealand. Does "trumpeted the virtues of racial separatism" answer my question? I think not. My final suggestion that Mr Isaac's should leave if he was not satisfied is quite reasonable, He is not a Citizen and can return to his own country. His continued stay indicates that NZ may not be one of the most racist countries in the world as he so forthrightly suggests. My main point was that this was an unfair description of NZ and Mr Rabel has failed to answer this. I stand by my objection to Mr Isaac's editorial and pray that Mr Rabel notes its unfairness.

Chris O'Connor

Students Starve On Miserable Bursaries

If a fifty-year-old person (with one leg and flat broke) whose aging parents still lived in Wellington, wished to attend university, that person would receive $13 per week. It would be as much a joke for that person as it is for the majority of Vic students now.

I doubt if every student comes from a household that is suitable to study in. I doubt if every student comes from a household where they don't have to pay rent. I doubt if every student actually receives money from their parents, to keep going without having to work during the academic year.

At least 60% of Vic Students are on only $13 per week. Even at home, that's just like something you'd throw the cat.

What about out-of-town students? They get $24 per week, but to live at Everton Hall, Vic House, or Weir House, puts you back $27 per week. You're in the red before you even start.

This is the position now, and Gandar has said there'll be no adjustments till 1978. In that time the cost of living will have risen unbearably for students, either on $13 or $24. In two years time, will you be able to live on $ 13 per week?

Sryth, Parrs, and Barlow (last week's letter writers) are obviously tight-arsed babies who were born with hollow eye-sockets. Daddy will buy their tennis racquets, and one day they'll lie back and tell how they became self-made factory-owners because they worked so hard.

Students are misrepresented and insulted by their letter.

Martin Doyle

Malaysians Clean and Tidy

I wish to educate the group of "worried students". Those students need accurate information to clear up their bias.

I can, therefore, just as easily conclude that the kiwi society is populated by untidy, dirty, and violent kiwis. But I do not jump to that sort of conclusion for I know that my experience in N.Z. is limited. And to base one's conclusion on one's narrow experience would be plain stupidity. The conclusion reached is bound to be fallacious and misleading. Just imagine that group of jokers who stayed in Malaysia for only a week and starts to claim that they can peak with authority on the Malaysian ways of life.

Remember boys 'he who knows not and knows not he knows not, he is a fool.' So, common sense dictates that all the Malaysians should shun and ignore those fools, i.e.. the group of 'worried students'.

Take a Look at Godzone

I would not lend any credence at all to the blatantly racist and bigoted comments of "Worried Students" re the Malaysian High Commission Objection in the Salient of 5/7/1976. These psuedo critics are quick to point out our purported social lifestyle and our aesthetic, cultural and political problems. I would sincerely ask these critics to examine their own problems in their own backyard, in so called Godzone.

One only has to visit Kiwi student flats to discover (and probably die of), the reeking stenches of unwashed bodies, unwashed jeans and the smell of beer, and be met with unsightly crates of empty beer bottles. Slums and sub-standard houses in the central Wellington area, especially in Newtown and Mr Victoria, speak for the standard of living in New Zealand. The pubs are filled with drunkards alcoholics, prostitutes and queers (Bistro Bar). Graffiti is earnestly written on toilet walls (VUW Library) and public buildings (Beehive Building).

Tramps and homeless old men sleep under the stars in Pigeon Park, the Public Library and the Basin Reserve and wander aimlessly on the streets. Gangs of marauding Black Power youngsters terrorize the streets. Where is the beautiful picture of New Zealand as Kiwis are prone to point out to others?

The daily papers abound with news of demonstrations for higher pay, abortion on demand, Maori land marches etc. I don't fancy a liking for New Zealand food with such weird names as "Hot-dogs" (whatever that means) or sausages and mince-meat - rotting and decaying meat being recycled for human consumption.

I hope Worried Students would grow up beyond their narrow world of prejudices and stereo-typed views. Know thyselves better before you criticise others.

Overseas Student.

Support for Carson

I was surprised that you found it necessary to devote so much space to "Carson Screwed".

It seems to me that an ex-president of N.Z.U.S.A. hasn't realised he's no longer boss and that Don Canon thought that he could express some opinions by himself.

If Carson wasn't given any reports until it was too late to write a reply, let alone send it to people outside Wellington, then that is shameful behaviour from a spineless president, John Blincoe.

Carson's involvement in the issues of East Timor and nuclear warships has taken N.Z.U.S.A. out of the elite Shaw Malaysian obsession.

Cafe Complaints Build Up

I wish to voice my dissaproval of the quality and cost of the shit sold in the cafe

Due to the lack of chicken I asked for 2 pieces of fish with my chips. I was appalled at the price: 75 cents!! Actually ¾ of my dwindling bursary dollar. (Not all of the increase can be blamed on Rob). Having sufficiently recovered from the shock of the price, I wandered over to the queue (knowing only part of the reason why it was so short).

I was given my fish (If I could be excused for calling them that), small, wee things they were. On top of that the usually passable chips were added. However, this time the chips left a lot to be desired (and I mean a lot; about ¾ of a bagful in fact).

Judging by the quality of the fish I would Say that the New Zealand leather manufacturers were doing a roaring trade in the cafe.

After this totally nauseating meal, I swore (more than usual) to withdraw my patronage, and protest. To this end may I enter a plea of mercy to the cafe manager; to stop treating us like the captive custom he thinks we are, and to increase the quality of the food served. (Note that being a hopeful person I use the word foot this time).

Weir House Apologises

The residents of Weir House wish to apologise for any inconvenience caused by their inaccuracy.

Weir House Apples

We are sorry that you caught Weir House on what was (unfortunately) a very bad day The management suggests you try our specialty rotten pears. They are a connoisseur's dream and decidedly superior to mere apples. The dull ponk as they connect and the resulting splat is sheer poetry.

The management has noted your complaint and assures you that it will not happen again. Henceforth pears only will be served on Thursdays - the main course has an E.T.A. of 9pm. We hope that this arrangement is suibable.

Serviettes will be supplied hall an hour before the main course. These paper napkins will be placed in convenient places on the footpath leading up to Kelburn Park. Feel tree to pick one up as they are there for your convenience.

The soup is contained in a bucket (capable of generous servings) that is at the permanent ready. It is quite a simple task to deliver the soup from C-floor down to the floor, so do not hesitate to make your need known.

Mr Anton, I am sure that by now you are aware of the comprehensive services that Weir House avails to passers by. Your experience was unfortunate insofar as you received only a entree to the vast services possible.

Your complaint has been duly noted and such an inept and (to coin a phrase) shabby incident will not occur again. We are there to provide such services so do not hesitate to ask. Cable car patrons do have preference as we have a standing arrangement with the WCC.

Yours of the first instance (but hoping there will be a second and a third, and a fourth and a fifth ....

The Manager of Weir Takeaways.

Record Reviewer Is Deaf

Concerning the review in Salient Vol.39 Number 19, July 5, 1976. of John Bowden On the record "Get Closer", by Seals and Crofts.

The intellectual inadaquacy of the reviewer amazes us. He is clearly devoid of the ability to think and express himself coherently. Although this is standard toilet paper material the writer has made a pitiful attempt to be original, but failed miserably.

The reviewer is unknown to us, but we have been informed by a mutual friend that he is deaf. This condition must surely retard his ability as a critic. The expository skill evidenced in this article has lead many co-readers known to us, to suggest Mr Bowden would have a promising future as editor to a school magazine (in this regard he is only surpassed by Salient's present editor).

One is left to the conclusion that the psuedo reviewer must be starting a lucrative second hand trade on records freely gained.