Voluntary Service Work In Sarawak

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30036, 22 January 1963, Page 15

Voluntary Service Work In Sarawak

There is “most definitely” a need for more young persons to serve in other countries under the Voluntary Service Overseas scheme, Mr D. C. Johnston, the first New Zealander to return from service under the scheme, said yesterday. Mr Johnston, son of Mr T. C. Johnston, postmaster at Waikari, worked for a year at a boys’ postprimary school in Sarawak.

Mr Johnston was on the staff of the Government

boarding school at Kanowiit, a small bazaar about 30 miles by river from Sibu. Apart from the Welsh headmaster and the headmaster’s wife, he was the only European there, the others being mostly Chinese with two Indians, two Malays, and an Iban (Sea Dyak). The 230 boys were Chinese, Malay, or Iban. Mr Johnston taught history, geography, and English literature to boys of about 15 or 16.

Although the revolt in the neighbouring territory of Brunei took place while Mr Johnston was in Sarawak, few echoes of the troubles reached Kanowit. The people of the area seemed perfectly content with their existence, he said. There were persistent reports of Indonesians crossing the bordrr from their

part of Borneo, but he had no first-hand knowledge of this. Most of the reports came from districts nearer the border. Kanowit was about 100 miles inland, but still far from the frontier. Sports were popular with the boys, the main games being soccer and basketball, played outdoors to indoor rules. Mr Johnston tried to introduce Rugby, but his team lost interest for want of competition. He did not think the standard of soccer very high, one of the main reasons being the difficulties of transporting the teams. The territory has only about 100 miles of roads transport otherwise being by water or air. The journey to Sibu took between three and 11 hours by Chinese launch, or an hour and a half to two hours in the school speedboat. There was no airstrip at Kanowit, airways being limited to regular service between the main towns and occasional flights to outback areas. Two from New Zealand At the time he was in Sarawak, there were 15 members of the Voluntary Service Overseas scheme working in the territory. Mr Johnston said 13 were British and two from New Zealand. The other New Zealander, Mr J. Baird, was expected back in

Christchurch in a few days. Although the payment to members of the scheme was supposed to be at subsistence level, it was sufficient, with care, to pay for trips in the holidays, said Mr Johnston. He visited Brunei and North Borneo m August and Singapore, Malaya, and Thailand in December and January. Mr Johnston, who went to Sarawak in January, 1962, after leaving Christchurch Boys’ High School, will begin an arts course this year at the University of Canterbury.