Letters: Question of arming police on duty raised again

One letter-writer says "all police on duty should be armed for their safety".

Letters to the Editor

No doubt after the tragic event in Nelson, the usual call to arm our police and so on will be made.

But the problem lies much deeper and requires a commitment at the national level which leaves no doubt that if you commit any such act, you will face a very stiff response which I think should be made mandatory.

To date, all that politicians have done is “fire from the hip”, such as what occurred when Constable Mathew Hunt was gunned down. That response simply took guns off law-abiding people and drove weapon ownership straight into the hands of gangs.

And it’s the same thing with drugs, which can even be distributed within a prison here.

So, it’s time to get real, think it through carefully but then do what’s required to stop it. The home environment certainly plays a major part, but such continual excuses run thin.

The first thing should be a lengthy, uncomfortable prison sentence, not the almost motel-like residence most get, as surely the public and emergency people are entitled to protection?

And it has reached the stage, unfortunately, where all police officers on duty should be armed for their safety.

Paul Beck, West Harbour.

It could be worse

There are lots of doom-and-gloom letters written to the NZ Herald at present.

To provide some perspective, let’s look back at how the first 25 years of the last century looked.

Hundreds of Kiwis died in the Boer War; polio killed thousands; 17,000 Kiwis died in the “Great War” and 40,000 were injured; 9000 Kiwis died of Spanish flu when there was no effective vaccine.

We didn’t know it then but we were teetering towards the Great Depression, which made modern recessions look very tame by comparison.

Hardly the “good old days”, was it? So, cheer up folks. Times ain’t so bad.

Andrew Tichbon, West Auckland.

Plenty of warning

Hot cross buns are being made available some three and a half months before Easter.

Come mid-August, it should be incumbent upon all retailers to advise the public, and Santa, that “there are only 130 days before Christmas”.

Then nobody will be caught unawares.

Ian Doube, Rotorua.

Graduation medal

I met a young girl at Waikato Hospital one morning about four years ago who told me she had just graduated, and it was her first day at the hospital. When I asked, “Where is your medal?”, she said she couldn’t afford to buy it.

Glennys Adams stated (Herald, Jan 4) she was proud – as she should be – to receive her medal on graduation. Graduate nurses should not be required to buy their medals when, as Glennys stated, the medal was the recognition of registration since September 12, 1901!

Sharon Marks, Te Aroha.

Musical support

It was wonderful to see the full-page coverage given to the classical instrumental music programme for young, less advantaged people in Kenya in a recent edition of the Herald.

There is also so much going on in our own backyard in providing free music lessons and instruments to tamariki who would not otherwise have this access, and it would be great to see the programmes operating in New Zealand given the same level of interest and support.

In Auckland, there is the Tironui Music Trust, largely privately funded, and Sistema Aotearoa, originally set up by Auckland Philharmonia and now operating independently. Both programmes have very strong links with Auckland Philharmonia.

Further north, there is Sistema Whangārei, and then there is Arohanui Strings in the wider Wellington region, and other smaller programmes elsewhere. All programmes get significant help and support from “their” professional orchestras.

These are, of course, in addition to the musical education programmes run by all the professional orchestras in New Zealand.

In Auckland, Tironui Music Trust and Sistema Aotearoa offer free musical education opportunities, including lessons, instruments and performance opportunities, to well over 1000 tamariki ranging from preschool to secondary age each year.

Many of these students have gone on to achieve way beyond their own and their families’ expectations, in music and also in other disciplines, with university scholarships and other extraordinary achievements.

Seeing the pride of the families as they experience their children perform is very special, and we know from feedback received how much these opportunities and classical music can change lives and communities.

Barbara Glaser, Onehunga, deputy chairwoman of Tironui Music Trust and a co-founder of Sistema Aotearoa.

Temple building

The new expensive Mormon chapel at Manukau is a clear sign of why a lot of people are suffering financial hardship.

This massive temple will have been funded by the congregation of mainly lower-income people who will no doubt have had to go without to pay their dues.

This is an in-your-face piece of arrogance in these hard times.

It compares with the European excesses in the Middle Ages, when people were starving to death to pay for the huge cathedrals the churches were building – each competing to see who could build the biggest.

Jock Mac Vicar, Hauraki.