IN A LEPER HOSPITAL Another performance took place at the large leper settlement at Sungei Buloh. Here, 2000 lepers man their own township, administering it and providing themselves with all essential services such as police and fire brigade, to mention just a few. In a large modern theatre the group staged a concert to a very appreciative audience of all ages. The commentary on the items had to be given in five languages—English, Malay, Mandarin, Hokkien and ka mate, ka mate, ka or a ka ora Orchid Photo, Penang
Tamil. During the interval and afterwards the boys were entertained in their turn by a very competent display of Scottish and Highland dancing by a group of Chinese patients. For some time the group was waiting for costumes provided by the New Zealand Government. Early in July when it received notice of the end of emergency commitment, the battalion decided to buy a further set of ten and an order was placed, explaining the urgency, with Emily Schuster of Ngapuna, through the Maori Affairs Department, Rotorua. Rising magnficently to the occasion, Mrs Schuster in ten days, using forced drying methods, completed the order of 10 piupiu and twenty taniko headbands. These were rushed to Auckland, placed on an R.N.Z.A.F. aircraft along with the government-supplied piupiu and brought from Singapore by the Fijian contingent to the Victory Parade. They arrived in Kuala Lumpur on the morning of the big concert in the Lake Gardens scheduled for that night, the 31st of July. The last series of engagements before Te Ao Hou went to press was in late October. The concert party performed at the exclusive Eastern and Oriental Hotel on Penanga Island to raise funds for the Poppy Day Appeal. In the same week they also staged performances for the wives, families and men of the 7th Battalion, the Royal Malay Regiment, and at the Depot of the Brigade of Gurkhas. The Maori items caught the imagination of the tough little hill men of Nepal in no small measure. A slight complication was the fact that a script had to be sent in advance to the Depot so that a commentary could be arranged in Gurkhal. Since then, the men have returned to the jungle to continue their task of helping in the round-up of the remaining Communist Terrorists in North Malaya. Lt.-Colonel Aitken hopes that the party might be able to tour the Federation shortly, playing to civilian and military audiences. The men of the Battalion have found amongst the local populace a considerable interest about New Zealand in general and its race relations in particular. The Second Battalion's Concert Party will show these people of a far-off land with a different way of life from New Zealand, something of our own indigenous culture and provide also a practical demonstration of the harmonious mingling of Pakeha and Maori. Well-wishers bid the party farewell after their performance at the High Commissioner's residence on New Zealand's National Day, February 6, 1960.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/TAH196106.2.15.2
Bibliographic details
Te Ao Hou, June 1961, Page 25
Word Count
498IN A LEPER HOSPITAL Te Ao Hou, June 1961, Page 25
Using This Item
E here ana ngā mōhiotanga i tēnei whakaputanga i raro i te manatārua o te Karauna, i te manatārua o te Māori Purposes Fund Board hoki/rānei. Kua whakaae te Māori Purposes Fund Board i tōna whakaaetanga ki te National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa kia whakawhanake kia whakatupu hoki ā-ipurangi i tēnei ihirangi.
Ka taea e koe te rapu, te tirotiro, te tā, te tiki ā-ipurangi hoki i ngā kai o roto mō te rangahau, me ngā whakamātau whaiaro a te tangata. Me mātua kimi whakaaetanga mai i te poari mō ētahi atu whakamahinga.
He pai noa iho tō hanga hononga ki ngā kai o roto i tēnei pae tukutuku. Kāore e whakaaetia ngā hononga kia kī, kia whakaatu whakaaro rānei ehara ngā kai nei nā te National Library.
The Secretary Maori Purposes Fund Board
C/- Te Puni Kokiri
PO Box 3943
WELLINGTON
Waea: (04) 922 6000
Īmēra: MB-RPO-MPF@tpk.govt.nz
Information in this publication is subject to Crown copyright and/or the copyright of the Māori Purposes Fund Board. The Māori Purposes Fund Board has granted permission to the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa to develop and maintain this content online.
You can search, browse, print and download for research and personal study. Permission must be obtained from the board for any other use.
You are welcome to create links to the content on this website. Any link may not be done in a way to say or imply that the material is other than that of the National Library.
The Secretary Maori Purposes Fund Board
C/- Te Puni Kokiri
PO Box 3943
WELLINGTON
Phone: (04) 922 6000
Email: MB-RPO-MPF@tpk.govt.nz