Post by Kiwi Frontline on May 23, 2019 14:14:16 GMT 12
Otago Daily Times 23/5/19
IWI SEATS
LOU Scott (letters, 20.5.19) is appalled by Michael Laws’ understanding of the Treaty of Waitangi.
Lou Scott may wring his/her hands and be appalled (as is allowed in a democracy). I am equally appalled by Lou Scott’s support of racebased representation while we of a different hue must do the ‘‘hard yards’’ and sell our credibility to the elector in order to enjoy the same status a racebased system delivers.
The practice of ‘‘privilege’’ as promulgated by the Otago Regional Council is the thin edge of the wedge that (if not challenged) will destroy the concept of democracy. [Abridged]
MAURICE PRENDERGAST, Mosgiel
Northland Age 23/5/19
FACTS AND MYTHISTORY
Tumbled out of bed, collected the Weekend Herald (May 18) thinking I would have a quiet read while enjoying my Weetbix and coffee. Skimming through Herald I came across ‘Paddy’ O’Malley’s latest take on NZ Wars (more correctly described as Tribal Rebellions) and nearly choked on my Weetbix.
Composing myself, I went to the bookcase and grabbed James Cowan's `New Zealand Wars,' and thankfully this reputable historian's epic authoritative text on the topic based on eye witness accounts quickly reassured me I hadn't missed something, concluding Paddy 0's blurb was primarily a flowery piece of prose. Eye witness accounts always trump modern day mythistory, or put another way, a Royal Flush trounces the Knave/ Deuce hand every time.
Breathing a sigh of relief, I moved on to the Review Section, being confronted there by Dizzy Lizzie Marvelly's take on Captain Cook titled 'Heroic Endeavour or murderous invasion.' Fortunately I didn't need to check any authentic reputable source to realise this was just another throwaway piece of nonsense.
Incidentally, Admiral Zheng-He (1421) and Tasman (1642) both preceded Cook (1769) in finding New Zealand, and by all accounts probably others pre-Maori did too.
Mandatory media warning is needed to make it clear that this mythistory stuff bears little relation to either the truth or facts, or reality being primarily floated to cause consternation.
We should consider nominating Paddy 0's NZ Wars novel for the Acorn or Pappe Fiction Prize and the Marvelly Cook fantasy piece for Sargeson Short Story Fiction Prize.
ROB PATERSON, Mount Maunganui
DUMBING DOWN
Surely many of us have felt grave concern at how people of Maori and Pasifika ethnicity (even if it's only a small fraction in the person concerned) can be accepted for some university courses with lower NCEA Level 3 marks than all other new students must have.
I don't think we would feel very confident about consulting a professional who is of that ethnicity, even though he/she had the appropriate qualification.
The point would still be, just how well did he/she pass the final exams for it?
Leaving out the matter of ethnicity, there is surely a much higher chance that a student who enters on those easier terms will flunk out or voluntarily drop out at some stage of a long and tough course. Also that, even if he/she passes the finals to qualify, it will very likely be just a scrape-through pass and not a brilliant one.
From the viewpoint of a professional person's patient or client, this could have very serious consequences - I don't need to spell out what they might be.
I wonder whether there are any official statistics that would tell us the facts about how many of the flunk-outs and drop-outs were those who began the course on that privileged basis, and perhaps also statistics of how well, if they got through the final exams, what their marks were. But my guess is that, even if such statistics exist, our authorities would be very reluctant to release them to us.
Even if we leave out the facts about those students who finally qualify, there is likely to be a large waste of taxpayers' money on the flunk-outs and drop-outs, so this would embarrass the powers that be if it became public knowledge.
H WESTFOLD, WELLINGTON
STILL SQUEAKING
It's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease. Most iwi, throughout the land. have been successfully producing squeaky wheels for a long time. The bountiful sum of $80 million, approved by Jacinda Ardern for northern Maori, is an example, as are the exclusive funds for health, education, social welfare, and the large sums that were granted to iwi to make claims for control of the coastline. No funds were made available to the general public to challenge the legality of the claims.
They are doing well with the multi-millions spent on promoting to reo, as it now, with three per cent national speakers, takes precedence in official signage over English, with 20 per cent internationally, and still they keep on squeaking.
It is difficult to accept logically that a citizen with one-sixteenth Maori blood should have special exclusive advantages over a citizen of one-sixteenth Scottish ancestry. Fifteen-sixteenths of the part-Maori's forebears were possibly colonists.
We should all identify primarily as New Zealanders and share equally the bounty of this great land, and stop squeaking for a larger share. These claims are not against Maori but against divisive, avaricious national practices.
BRYAN JOHNSON, Omokoroa
sites.google.com/site/kiwifrontline/letters-submitted-to-newspapers
IWI SEATS
LOU Scott (letters, 20.5.19) is appalled by Michael Laws’ understanding of the Treaty of Waitangi.
Lou Scott may wring his/her hands and be appalled (as is allowed in a democracy). I am equally appalled by Lou Scott’s support of racebased representation while we of a different hue must do the ‘‘hard yards’’ and sell our credibility to the elector in order to enjoy the same status a racebased system delivers.
The practice of ‘‘privilege’’ as promulgated by the Otago Regional Council is the thin edge of the wedge that (if not challenged) will destroy the concept of democracy. [Abridged]
MAURICE PRENDERGAST, Mosgiel
Northland Age 23/5/19
FACTS AND MYTHISTORY
Tumbled out of bed, collected the Weekend Herald (May 18) thinking I would have a quiet read while enjoying my Weetbix and coffee. Skimming through Herald I came across ‘Paddy’ O’Malley’s latest take on NZ Wars (more correctly described as Tribal Rebellions) and nearly choked on my Weetbix.
Composing myself, I went to the bookcase and grabbed James Cowan's `New Zealand Wars,' and thankfully this reputable historian's epic authoritative text on the topic based on eye witness accounts quickly reassured me I hadn't missed something, concluding Paddy 0's blurb was primarily a flowery piece of prose. Eye witness accounts always trump modern day mythistory, or put another way, a Royal Flush trounces the Knave/ Deuce hand every time.
Breathing a sigh of relief, I moved on to the Review Section, being confronted there by Dizzy Lizzie Marvelly's take on Captain Cook titled 'Heroic Endeavour or murderous invasion.' Fortunately I didn't need to check any authentic reputable source to realise this was just another throwaway piece of nonsense.
Incidentally, Admiral Zheng-He (1421) and Tasman (1642) both preceded Cook (1769) in finding New Zealand, and by all accounts probably others pre-Maori did too.
Mandatory media warning is needed to make it clear that this mythistory stuff bears little relation to either the truth or facts, or reality being primarily floated to cause consternation.
We should consider nominating Paddy 0's NZ Wars novel for the Acorn or Pappe Fiction Prize and the Marvelly Cook fantasy piece for Sargeson Short Story Fiction Prize.
ROB PATERSON, Mount Maunganui
DUMBING DOWN
Surely many of us have felt grave concern at how people of Maori and Pasifika ethnicity (even if it's only a small fraction in the person concerned) can be accepted for some university courses with lower NCEA Level 3 marks than all other new students must have.
I don't think we would feel very confident about consulting a professional who is of that ethnicity, even though he/she had the appropriate qualification.
The point would still be, just how well did he/she pass the final exams for it?
Leaving out the matter of ethnicity, there is surely a much higher chance that a student who enters on those easier terms will flunk out or voluntarily drop out at some stage of a long and tough course. Also that, even if he/she passes the finals to qualify, it will very likely be just a scrape-through pass and not a brilliant one.
From the viewpoint of a professional person's patient or client, this could have very serious consequences - I don't need to spell out what they might be.
I wonder whether there are any official statistics that would tell us the facts about how many of the flunk-outs and drop-outs were those who began the course on that privileged basis, and perhaps also statistics of how well, if they got through the final exams, what their marks were. But my guess is that, even if such statistics exist, our authorities would be very reluctant to release them to us.
Even if we leave out the facts about those students who finally qualify, there is likely to be a large waste of taxpayers' money on the flunk-outs and drop-outs, so this would embarrass the powers that be if it became public knowledge.
H WESTFOLD, WELLINGTON
STILL SQUEAKING
It's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease. Most iwi, throughout the land. have been successfully producing squeaky wheels for a long time. The bountiful sum of $80 million, approved by Jacinda Ardern for northern Maori, is an example, as are the exclusive funds for health, education, social welfare, and the large sums that were granted to iwi to make claims for control of the coastline. No funds were made available to the general public to challenge the legality of the claims.
They are doing well with the multi-millions spent on promoting to reo, as it now, with three per cent national speakers, takes precedence in official signage over English, with 20 per cent internationally, and still they keep on squeaking.
It is difficult to accept logically that a citizen with one-sixteenth Maori blood should have special exclusive advantages over a citizen of one-sixteenth Scottish ancestry. Fifteen-sixteenths of the part-Maori's forebears were possibly colonists.
We should all identify primarily as New Zealanders and share equally the bounty of this great land, and stop squeaking for a larger share. These claims are not against Maori but against divisive, avaricious national practices.
BRYAN JOHNSON, Omokoroa
sites.google.com/site/kiwifrontline/letters-submitted-to-newspapers