The current clamour for teaching our history in schools doesn’t surprise me. I say that as having put numerous offspring through our supposedly top private schools in Wellington, Auckland and Sydney over the past half century, it’s always alarmed me to note the absence of history in their school reports. Instead they’re riddled with ‘feel‑good’ subjects. To me, in an education pecking order, history is the first base subject after learning to read.
But here’s what puzzles me.
Last Thursday the Dominion Post editorialised on teaching New Zealand history saying, “there’s a need to have a painful conversation about our history…”.
The following day in Christchurch, the Prime Minister, doing her hugging stuff, this time with a bunch of school-kids, by a most remarkable coincidence, said, “there’s a need to have a painful conversation about our history”.
Two points arise.
When Robert Mugabe first gained the leadership of Zimbabwe, (forgive the pun) he was seen as the great white hope on a continent ridden with dictators.
Rob Muldoon was slammed at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference in Sydney for suggesting otherwise, but subsequent events soon proved him right.
Here’s an interesting tale about the Zimbabwean public’s view of Mugabe, as opposed to his much maligned predecessor, Ian Smith.
You have to admire skybayers patience. For 2,000 years they’ve been promised the imminent Second Coming, which apparently will be preceded by the second Great Flood, then the apocalypse.
As over the last month it hasn’t stopped raining in Auckland, the possibility arises that the much vaunted Second Coming is finally about to eventuate in the Queen city. The question is where?
With this morning’s newspaper is a printed invitation from a furnishing store.
It’s headed “This is your exclusive invitation to preview the McKenzie and Willis End of Year Sale. 12th Sept. 5.30pm-7.30pm.”
Suggesting an invitation to 36,000 unknown newspaper subscribers is exclusive, is world-class language abuse.
