LIFE IN CHINA

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 90, Issue 164, 17 July 1946, Page 2

LIFE IN CHINA

EXPERIENCES OF MISS AGNES MONIYIEFF, OF Y.W.C.A.

Miss Agnes Moncrieff, who recently returned to New Zealand after 16 years with the Y.W.C.A. in China, to take up the position of general secretary at Wellington, gave a talk on life in China to a meeting of women held yesterday afternoon in the Y.M - Y.W.C.A. lounge. Miss Moncrieff described some of the difficulties experienced during the war years, the attitude of the Chinese to life, their culture and wonderful phiiucophy. It has been a great education for me and a great privilege living in China, said the speaker. People say there is no normal or peaceful year in that country. There has always been some excitement or some political factor to disturb one's life. Shethought no country in the world celebrated VJ-Day as China had. The people had celebrated it as they do most big occasions. The period 1931 to 1945 bad been hard for the Chinese. With the closing of the Burma Road all contact with the outside world was effectively cut off and China felt isolated.

It was amazing what was brought in “over the hump” as the very high and dangerous mountain top was named by the airmen who brought in supplies. It was said thaf a plam/ landed every few minutes with streams of supplies—equipment for air bases, petrol, generator sets for electricity and other help from the Allies flown in by the Chinese National Airways and the American Army Air Corps. It did not matter what, the weather was like the airmen brought in the drugs, installations and munitions.

The speaker described the irrigation system of keeping rivers in check so that the level of waters can be controlled, and said that a great deal of the prosperity of the districts was due to this system.

Miss Moncrieff had lived in Chengtu since three months before the closing of the Burma Road. Chengtu was an old educational centre and while she was there four refugee universities were established.

As the Japanese advanced, refugees began crowding into west China and the congestion in Chengtu city was tremendous, putting an enormous strain upon the accommodation and the land. The housing nroblem was most acute. The speaker referred to the dilliculties of transport during the war and gave illustrations of difficulties she had to face and an account of a trip of 110 miles which took two days and would have taken longer if they had not met an American who took them the rest of the way home. Miss Moncrieff described the effects of infiation in China, when the cost of food went up and the standard of food went down. Milk, which was never a plentiful commodity in China, owing to every inch of land being wanted to grow food, was at first very expensive and was the first food to disappear. Then there was no fruit and no meat. As inflation increased the mothers had to go out to work too, and they did not. know what to do about their children. It was here that, the Y.W. stepped in and established nurseries for the children. .The quality of food deteriorated to such an extent that T.B. was prevalent. It was a nightmare for parents when their children began to look sick. Life was an anxious business for many of them, yet she had never lived among people whose outlook on fife was as philosophical as the Chinese. They were marvellous in their cheerfulness, courage and resignation.

The speaker dealt briefly with the political state of affairs in China, and the tremendous problems she is facing, and also gave an outline of the work of the Y.W.C.A. in that country. Miss Moncrieff expressed her gratitude to New Zealand for what it had done to help the work. She mentioned that before going to Chengtu from Shanghai, she was told that it would cost her 22 dollars a day to live, against a few dollars for the cost of living she had paid previously, but last year it rose to 2000 dollars a day. Before Miss Moncrieff’s address, she was welcomed and introduced by Mrs. R. N. Wilson, on behalf of Miss E. D. Graham, president of the women’s committee, who was unable to be present. Miss Moncrieff was presented with a spray of flowers, and at the conclusion of her talk was thanked with acclamation.