Don't Put Your Son On The Stage...

Pukana

I can still remember the day I developed a school boy crush on Ana Watson.  I had just hung my small leather school bag on the peg and been marshalled into my new primmer two class, what would now be termed Grade II.

Miss Watson was a young graduate teacher and a Maori from the local Iwi of my home town of Waitara.  The school in question being Waitara Central, in northern Taranaki.

I happened to be great mates with her younger brother Evan, who started school at the same time as I.  He had a younger (and shorter) younger brother who everyone called Peewee.

Our classes with Miss Watson were entertaining affairs which which singing and guitar strumming; my first introduction to this instrument which I went on to play in bands in later life. Ana Watson and her sisters had formed a group The Watson Sisters and sang in close harmony at regional concerts.

My enduring memory is learning a wonderful array of traditional Maori songs which we all sang with a great gusto, albeit in a rather shrill falsetto.  It was the most natural of introduction into the multicultural society of New Zealand.

Owae Marae - Manukorihi Pa

I must have had a modicum of talent as I was selected to join Evan and Peewee is a small 'concert party' which performed as one of the warm up acts to the Howard Morrison Quartet in the Waitara Memorial Hall.  With our piupui rustling we waited nervously in the wings as other acts performed.

After we sang a couple of songs we then entertained the crowd with a spirited haka which had the crowd roaring with appreciation largely at Peewee's protruding tongue and eye-rolling antics as he performed the pukana.  As the only small white body performing I must have appeared quite a novelty but we performed our act  reasonably well and received an appreciative ovation.

My favourite song from those times was the gentle melody of Pa Mai ( hear in the video below)



This Waitara concert was my first real experience of performing on a stage and I loved it!  As a result I would be the first to audition for the various school plays as I made my way through the grades.

I even performed at home home for the neighbourhood children firstly with a small puppet theatre and later doing conjuring with a range of tricks I had saved up and bought by mail order from De Larno's Magic Centre in Christchurch's Chancery Lane.

But it is my first experience of being on a real stage that sticks in my memory long after I left Taranaki.  Performing build confidence and in those days I had it in bucket loads - probably too much for many of my frazzled teachers!

Another highlight from those times was going with my small friends up to the Manukorihi Pa from time to time. In hindsight these were carefree days as any childhood should be.

Such experiences were a good grounding for life and the over emphasis on academic achievement from early childhood these days is, in my opinion, a great mistake.  The world needs well rounded and adaptable people and a childhood rich in cultural interaction and exploration encourages the development of the enquiring mind.

They Don't Make Them Like They Used To

From Facebook

At first I thought this news item on the BBC web site was a belated April 1st joke but unfortunately I was mistaken:

"A Singaporean soldier who was pictured with a maid carrying his backpack has identified himself to his commander and undergone counselling, officials say.

The soldier was "remorseful", defence official Col Desmond Tan said in a letter published in the Straits Times.

The recruit was undergoing physical training prior to basic training.

The image, which was first published on social media sites, has led to debate in Singapore on whether conscripts and their training are tough enough."

Apparently the SAF "has reminded all servicemen to be mindful of their conduct in public". This reporting  is a tad ambiguous.  Does this mean it is alright for the maid to carry your gear out of the public gaze?  I suspect not.

However, the forum commentary has largely vilified the National Serviceman involved and rightly so.

One serviceman who did his training the hard way had this to say:

"It’s hard to believe that a grown man who is supposed to be serving the nation is making his female domestic help carry his backpack.”

“He’s a disgrace to the army and makes Singaporean men look bad”

Others have blamed such an attitude on spoiled 'little emperors' who have had their baggage carried by their domestic servants since birth.

Whatever the reason, the sort of attitude displayed by this conscript is enough to make even the most humble SAF recruit wince.

I am not surprised he is "sorry for the incident". 

Right now the young man in question is probably completing his hundreth lap running around a sport ground, in full battle kit with his rifle held above his head -  such was the discipline in my time.

And... not a maid in sight!

Related articles

• 'Soft' Singapore soldier 'sorry' for maid incident (bbc.co.uk)

Fulham Follies And Other Foibles

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeMohammed Al Fayed's increasingly bizarre shrine-making has reached a new zenith.

According to Today newspaper and the BBC he has unveiled a statue to the late 'Wacko Jacko' outside Fulham Football Club's grounds.

I doubt very much if Michael Jackson ever entered Craven Cottage or had much of an interest in football, but that  has not deterred the super rich Al Fayed from spending some of his Harrod sales spoils on a  a statue of his departed friend.

Critics of this idea (and there are a few fans who are not enchanted by this development) can "go to hell" or "Chelsea" according to the club's owner.  I would have thought backing Chelsea was a kind of purgatory in itself but no doubt there are those who think otherwise.

The majority of the front page of the Singapore paper seemed to focus on the merits of new PAP candidates although another snippet also caught my attention.

Why is it that so many young, Singaporeans (and the not so young) still want to leave the country?  According to a recent survey, 20% of young Singaporeans did not feel a strong bond to the country and despite feeling differently about their family, were quite prepared to fly the coop.

The more disquieting news is that this same segment are in the better educated demographic and are pessimistic about Singapore's economic future.

26.4 per cent of all respondents expressed a desire to emigrate within the next five years which must be of concern to the country although expect like New Zealand, once the O.E. is out of the system many of these dame people will feel happy to return to the land of their birth.

If any of them are Fulham supporters I would suggest they stay put!

Related articles

• Al Fayed defends Michael Jackson statue outside Craven Cottage (bbc.co.uk)
• Do Michael Jackson and Soccer Fit Like Hand in Glove? (online.wsj.com)