NEW ZEALAND CONCERT PARTY IN MALAYA

Te Ao Hou, June 1961, Page 24

Kerry Royal and Fred Kaa do a version of titi-torea. Stick games are always very popular with Asian audiences. orchid photo, penang NEW ZEALAND CONCERT PARTY IN MALAYA BY A SOLDIER SERVING IN MALAYA Parti Yang Tuantuan akan dengar belakan itu terdiri dari sakumpulan seldadu orang Maori dan Eropah … the party which you will hear comprises soldiers both Maori and European …” said the announcer in Malay, and the concert party of the Second Battalion of the New Zealand Regiment swung into a spirited haka before a huge audience, both seen and unseen, in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of the Federation of Malaya. The soldiers who form the party are now old hands at performing before Asian audiences and thus fulfilling part of the Battalion's charter in Malaya —to create goodwill amongst the civilian population and to show them something of New Zealand culture and traditions. Almost half of the 750-odd officers, NCOs and men of the Second Battalion are of Maori blood in some degree and it is not surprising therefore that the Maori Concert Party is a very large and active one. Comprising seventy-odd members, both Maori and European, the party has normally had to be restricted to about thirty when they travelled away from their base at Taiping. The officer in charge of the party is a Pakeha, Capt. A. G. Armstrong of Auckland. Capt. Armstrong teaches the action and group songs and Maori games and sometimes leads the party in these items during performances as well as providing commentaries on the items in English and Malay. The other leaders are Pte B. Ohlson (Rotorua), G. Pihema (Rotorua), F. W. Toni (Tauranga) and L/Cpl. Bob Turner of Te Awamutu. The party had its beginnings at Papakura in June 1959 when a group was formed during the early part of the Battalion's training to entertain at a company social function. It was however the wish of the Commanding Officer, Lieutenant-Colonel D. J. Aitken, O.B.E., that the party be formed as an official battalion group and when the unit concentrated at Waiouru in July 1959, the Papakura element amalgamated with a similar group of enthusiasts at Waiouru and the Concert Party of the Second Battalion. New Zealand Regiment, came into being. Owing to intensive military training, little practice could be done, and the only public performance before leaving New Zealand was a few impromptu items at a Ngati Poneke farewell to Maori soldiers of the unit on their last night in New Zealand. One of the speakers at this gathering was the Hon. E. T. (now Sir Eruera) Tirakatene, who earlier this year (when he visiteo the Battalion in Malaya), was able to renew acquaintances made that night. The voyage to Malaya took three weeks and the opportunity was taken to rehearse thoroughly a repertoire of about an hour's duration which has been used, with gradual additions, ever since. So heavy has been the operational commitment in Malaya that the Party has had little opportunity since its arrival to practice. This was foreseen and on the boat the boys practised almost daily—to the despair sometimes of anxious mothers trying to soothe young babies in the adjacent cabins. On the voyage, the party gave concerts to the predominantly Scottish crew as well as to the wives, families and men of the Battalion.