Mr M. R. Jones Retires from Public Service Mr Michael Rotohiko Jones, who has been private secretary and liaison officer to successive Ministers of Maori Affairs for many years, and who has served with the Government for over 22 years, retired from public service recently. At a farewell function in the Ngati Poneke Hall, many tributes were paid by speakers to Mr Jones' integrity and ability. ‘He was one of the finest men who ever advised me,’ said the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Nash. The Minister of Maori Affairs, Mr Hanan, said that if he, as Minister, left a record behind of doing something to benefit the Maori people, a great deal of the credit would be due to his permanent head, Mr Hunn, and his liaison officer, Mr Jones. ‘Mr Jones has in fact launched me on my canoe’, he said. In his reply Mr Jones recalled the circumstances which led to the setting up of the Maori Education Foundation, and he referred to the Foundation as ‘the greatest step toward bringing equal status between Maori and Pakeha since the Treaty of Waitangi’. Mr Jones comes from Otorohanga, and he and Mrs Jones plan to build a home there for their retirement. ‘It is stupid to attempt to put in any small category a whole people or race. The picture the European carries in his mind when he thinks of the Maori is very similar to the one the Maori has of the European. ‘People say the Maori is improvident; that he is thriftless and happy-go-lucky in his outlook; that he cannot be bothered attaining the material standards of his European neighbours. ‘The Maori, when he draws his stereotype of the European, thinks of a person who also does not exist as a race. He sees a man who is fish-eyed, with a dull mind, walking about the streets not communicating with anyone; a man who sits behind a desk with thoughts going round and round in his mind. Such a person, thinks the Maori, is too wrapped up in himself and his own interests to be worried about anybody else. He sits on an isolated island, sufficient to himself.’ —Dr Rina Moore, in a talk to the Jaycee group in Motueka recently. ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ At Mataitai, near Clevedon, south of Auckland, the unique little Church of the Holy Trinity—Te Tokotoru Tapu—recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of its founding. Many visitors gathered to join the home people in worship, distinguished guests being the Bishop of Auckland, the Rt. Rev. E. A. Gowing, and the Bishop of Aotearoa, the Rt. Rev. W. N. Panapa. The church was built in the form of a meeting-house and dedicated on June 5, 1912, by the then Bishop of Auckland, the Rt. Rev. O. T. L. Crossley. The Rev. Mutu Kapa, who was present on that day, was at Mataitai for the anniversary. Fit and well although 86 years old, he still plays an active part in church work. Present as hosts were members of the Brown family whose service to the community and to the church has been an example over the years. Their elder, Mr George Brown, has himself carved the font in the church, and a figure which holds a bell in its open mouth. ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ One of New Zealand's top pop singers, 20-year-old Teddy Bennett, of Hastings, has left New Zealand for Australia, where he hopes to become a full-time entertainer. He has received several offers from television and recording companies in Australia but he has decided to freelance at first. Teddy has performed in many cabarets throughout the country and his recordings have sold better in New Zealand than those of top overseas artists.