LIFE IN JAVA

Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 July 1939, Page 5

LIFE IN JAVA

IMPRESSIONS OF PAHIATUA VISITOR. “PEARL OF THE ORIENT.”

“The weather and also the sea have been very kind to us up to now, and the days seem to fly by very quickly,” stated, Mr A. Vaughan, manager of the Pahiatua branch of the W.F.C.A., Ltd., writing from Java on June 20 to a Masterton resident. “I am writing this from a hillside resort about 250 (miles?) inland from Batavia. Until we started this inland tour the heat was very trying, more, especially up in Saigon. There is an enormous amount of shipping in these ports and you see boats from every country in the world. The most astounding thingin Java is the. teeming thousands of people. Java is about the same size as the South Island of New Zealand, and the population exceeds 45 million, so. it is heard to realise how they all live. Last night we stayed at a place called Bandoeng. This town has a population of about 330,000 about 90 per cent natives. Unfortunately we strike very few people who speak English, so we have some rather unique experiences. Java is certainly a wonderful country, and during ‘the past two days we have seen thousands of acres of‘rice fields. Some of the hills, although very stegp, are cultivated right to the top. Rice is grown as far up as water can be had, and then citronella grass, tapio.ca, tobacco or tea. The‘rice fields are a ■wonderful sight and are in all stages of production. Bandoeng is by far the

prettiest residential place we have visited. It is about 3000 feet above set level and very many wealthy Dutcl people have made their homes there The' weather seems very mild and t nice cool tinge after the seaport towns “In all the Eastern cities the roads and streets arc planted \yith . trees Most of the roads are tar sealed and all work is done by manual labour. The natives receive about 7d per day, and the women work just as hard as the men. All the cities have an enormous Chinese population, and nearly everyone seems to have something to sell or trade. Although Saigon is known as the Pearl of the Orient, it was the city which impressed us the least. It is almost entirely French as far as language is concerned. On arrival there the boat was met by a horde of hawkers and rickshaw men. Tourists are evidently looked upon as fair game, and I can assure you we have had endless fun in getting prices reduced from anything to a. fifth of that asked. In Saigon, liquor is par-, ticularly cheap and can be purchased by the Dottie at almost any store. Champagne from about 3s 3d to 6s

liquors from 3s to 4s 6d and wines about 2s New Zealand money. In Java we use guilders and cents. In Singapore, dollars and cents and in Saigon piesters and cents. A Java guilder and a Singapore dollar are both worth about 3s New Zealand money, whilst a piester is worth about Is 6d. Cents in each instance run in 100’s. The most striking feature all through the East is the size of the hotels. Even in the country towns nothing in New Zealand can approach them for size and ser-. vice. There are no bars like in New Zealand, but all drinks are served in huge lounges. A whisky costs about 3s 2d, wine 2s 6d, ale Is 6d per glass, but there is a waiter to about every two people. The hotel where we stayed last night was very elaborate. Some of our party went to the pictures, and were told that dinner would be on until 10.30 p.m. Breakfast is served from 5 to 9 a.m., and the hotpl workers get two days’ holiday per year, working seven days per week. Singapore is really a wonderful city and the climate is good compared with Java cities. Nearly everyone there speaks English, so we felt more at home there than elsewhere. In all the Eastern cities the European shops close from 12 to 4 and then reopen until about 8 p.m. All Europeans seem to sleep from 12 to 4, and that is a habit that can be quite easily acquired. Oil the whole, our trip has been crammed full of wonders and experiences which are much too numerous to detail. In spite of the thousands of acres of rice fields there is not a fence to be seen anywhere. Moneychangers in Singapore will change currency from any country in the world with the exception of New Zealand! Practically all letters here are carried by air mail, and that service is most ifficient.” ' - .