Letters to the editor: Ynys Fraser, 103 - her middle name was Joy for a reason

Ynys Fraser photographed in May 2017 in her Hamurana home at the age of 100. Photo / File

Few Rotorua peoples' lives will not have been touched by the late Ynys Fraser, who died recently at the age of 103.

I first met Ynys when, at the age of 92, she joined the Rotorua Nightshelter Trust, on which she served for a number of years.

The Trust was one of a large number of community organisations of which she was a
member.

We last met in late 2020, when we attended an evening of poetry and song at Level 13.

She was then aged 103.

Ynys was an inspirational human being, with a huge love of people, and of life itself.

It is little wonder that her middle name is Joy.

Jackie Evans
Pukehangi

House the homeless or Lakefront upgrades?

In Rotorua, we have 2000 homeless people being accommodated at taxpayer expense for more than a year in motels.

In my view, Rotorua Lakes Council could have spent the $20 million on the Lakefront upgrade building council flats to accommodate these people.

How can we have families with kids growing up in motels?

The Lakefront was fine and did not need this totally exorbitant amount spent on it.

Then we have money spent on a statue at the southern end of town, which is largely below road level and almost unnoticeable to traffic, ready to be wiped out by a truck and trailer unit.

(Abridged)

Paul Carpenter
Rotorua

Is wisdom missing from our education system?

A few years ago, on a bus to Wellington, I sat beside a young Japanese student who was at university in New Zealand studying English literature.

As we chatted away, improving his English no doubt, I asked what his vocational ambitions were.

Imagine my surprise when he said his aim was to seek work in automotive engineering with one of the large Japanese manufacturers.

I asked: 'Shouldn't you be studying maths or engineering?'

He replied that in his country the quality of education is respected higher than the content and that having a meaningful degree proved an ability to learn thus opening the door for the employer to educate in their company values.

I wonder if the wisdom apparent in this conversation is part of what's missing in our education system.

Learning should not be totally focused on future employment desires but rather on a rounded appreciation of a much bigger world.

It seems that wisdom comes from broad-based life experience over time, and that education plays only a small part in its formation. Perhaps we drop Latin at our peril.

Proverbs 12:12. ' Wisdom is with aged men, and with length of days, understanding'.

John Williams
Ngongotahā

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