Pope’s funeral
Donald Trump’s behaviour at the funeral of the late Pope will be interesting to watch. I imagine he will struggle to sit quietly for several hours without access to social media. He will find it difficult to be in a place where the focus will not be on him and concepts such as compassion, love and respect for all humanity will be mentioned constantly.
There will be many other world leaders present. Most of these have been treated by the President with utter disrespect in the last few months and I hope that even Trump does not see a funeral as a place to do a “deal”. The values of the MAGA movement and the first Pope to come from the Americas could not be further apart.
Greg Cave, Sunnyvale.
Health boss’ pay
I read on page 2 of this Tuesday’s Herald (April 22) that the Health New Zealand outgoing boss Margie Apa has resigned and is being paid out until her contract would have ended in June and in addition has been paid to attend some unnamed course. Her salary during her term was $895,000.
How was it that somebody working for the health department gets paid more than the prime minister? The department had a monthly deficit of $130 million on average. No wonder they cannot employ doctors and nurses if they spend such huge amounts on administrators who cannot keep within a budget but overpay themselves extraordinarily.
Jan Naish-Wallis, Cockle Bay.
Sleeping giant
Napoleon famously (apparently) said “let China sleep” when urged by his followers to attack it following his European conquests.
I’m sure Trump’s ego is big enough for him to see himself in Napleonic terms but I doubt he’s smart enough to follow the Little General’s advice.
Mike Newland, Matakana.
Building materials
Now that houses are packed eight to where there previously was one, fire safety or insurance becomes a number one priority and fireproof cladding must be a priority and there is none better than brick.
Two new build house fires featured in the Herald, whatever the new build material is and I suspected was imported, were severely blackened, indicating it is flammable enough to catch fire or be rendered non-recyclable. While (compared to brick) it can be a costly exercise to its owner, where there are eight such houses crowded together an even greater tragedy is waiting to happen.
Gary Hollis, Mellons Bay.
Shifting school standards
When I attended secondary school as a baby boomer, teachers were treated respectfully. We stood when they entered the classroom and called them sir or miss. We were either boys or girls full stop. Sanctions existed for misbehaviour ranging from detention or lines to the ultimate deterrent (for boys at least) a visit to the headmaster’s study for ‘six of the best’.
Of course smartphones were a figment of science fiction but had they been available they undoubtedly would not have been permitted in the classroom as we were not even allowed to talk during lessons.
Given the restrictions and woke attitudes of the present day it is no wonder that teaching is no longer such an attractive profession.
Ray Gilbert, Papamoa Beach.
