Strong but safe — that is manly

Doing violence against anyone physically weaker (including women) is cowardly. You may be provoked, deceived, aroused, frustrated, enraged, but you cannot explain yourself all the way to innocence. Never do violence to a woman. Every alternative action, even walking away, is more admirable and more manly.

I’m not calling you a coward — there is more to you — but it is a cowardly action.

It can be difficult to see the point of “being a man” in modern urban New Zealand, and we are despised by some flimsy people wielding megaphones. Do we man up, or down?

Start at the start: Man up to what you do. You do a cowardly act, be “man enough” to be honest about it. Then, man up to who you are: You have a beast in you. It isn’t toxic but it’s dangerous. Tame it. Be strong — a strong man is impressive. But if you are strong and also safe, you are admirable (and magnetic).

There was once a creature called a gentleman. He was strong, distinctively masculine, also gracious and safe. Replace the beast with a gentleman. Be visible, do right, let the consequences roll.

Gavan O’Farrell, Lower Hutt.

Hooton reports

Shouldn’t Matthew Hooton be showing a bit more restraint and balance in his weekly attacks on the Government in the Business section?

To call it “just incompetent and comical” is surely several steps too far.

The incoming Administration has had to deal with a set of “ticking time bombs” left for it by the previous Government: Huge gaps in information required for planning from an underfunded Census contributing to a shortage of 800 teachers; wage compression across the public sector; failure to enforce livestock tracking (M. bovis); deficiency in vehicle checks resulting in tragedy (NZTA); underreporting fish catches; fresh water pollution; among the highest inward and seemingly unplanned migration flows in the OECD leading to serious infrastructure deficits including in housing; a dispirited and politicised housing corporation unable to meet needs for social housing; deferred hospital maintenance; an eroded social infrastructure; and more.

The list is long and there will still be more consequences of the nine years of neglect to emerge. Ruling the country in the aftermath of the global financial crisis and the Christchurch earthquake does not excuse this unwelcome legacy.

The new Government has had to deal with this large “gift” of bad news from the past — and they need to be given time to get on top of the job.

Peter Davis, Kingsland.

Sroubek case

Perhaps the news media should have heeded the Prime Minister’s advice and “read between the lines” on the unfolding Karel Sroubek drama, given there are obviously two sides to this story as reported in the Herald on Sunday.

National for its part can be forgiven for desperately wanting a headline, any headline to play to its law and order narrative. John Capener, Kawerau.

Christmas in the Park

What a misleading title that was given to Christmas in the Park on Saturday night. I and I guess many others were very disappointed with what was presented.

A truthful description would have been Concert in the Park. Families going and watching on TV would have expected Christmas songs and a jolly Santa to set the scene as a Christmas event to be enjoyed by all ages. Instead we were given a programme more suited to just adults without any Christmas atmosphere. Wellknown items the audience could join in singing would have been appreciated.

Walter Bishop, Birkenhead.

Violence against women

Herald correspondent Pam Jones echoes the sentiments of a group of women who call for Government action and education of males against violence and say females have the right to make social choices without encountering danger. Fair enough, but there is a but.

In a perfect world women could drink with a stranger and accompany him to a hotel room in complete safety. We don’t live in a perfect world and although we can try we will never make it perfect.

No matter what messages are aimed at men there will always be some who are bad. No matter how loudly one protests against violence there will always be a safe way and a less safe way to live.

We should avoid statements that cause young women to believe that caution isn’t necessary just because it shouldn’t be necessary. Graham Carter, Herne Bay.

Driving dangers

So the Government want to spend $1.3 billion on barriers and other devices to keep us safe. How many times do the police plead “drive to the conditions”?

Will these barriers stop head-on accidents? Of course in some cases it will help, but they will it stop crashes? No.

As long as drivers text, are drunk, on drugs or have an attitude that others do not matter the carnage will continue.

Wake up Ministry of Transport, you need to fix the latter first before this spend.

Robert Bicker, Gulf Harbour.

Being a gentle man

It goes on and on — our shameful record of violence, particularly (though not only) men’s violence against women and children.

Out of curiosity I went to the dictionary and looked up “gentleman”. The definition is a man of “good family, cultured, courteous, noble.” I disagree with the definition. Men and boys can be gentle. They don’t have to be rich or of “good” family. They do not need to be “cultured” or “noble”. Just because they are born male does not mean they are born to be arrogant and violent. They are not born with the right to lord it over women and children or hurt them.

So let us redefine the word and define a “gentle man” as one with empathy and kindness. Whether he be rich or poor or cultured or noble he can be a gentle man and our society could be much the better for all. Let us all have a happy New Year.

Diane Percy, Sandringham.

Rules for Santa

I’ve left a message for Santa that this year he will be allowed landing rights by our chimney only if he is driving an EV sleigh.

Despite the fact that he will be coming by EV this year, his reindeer, should they be accompanying him for the sake of tradition, must be low emission. The elves have the option of coming by Lime scooter. All parcel wrappings must be fully recyclable. Gift labels must refer to the Festive Season, and not contain any religious allusions. Santa is reminded that while Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder and Blixem may be named, there is a strict name suppression order in place covering the ninth reindeer. Jonathan Jepson, Torbay.

Air NZ strike threat

Thankfully the threatened strike action by the Air NZ Engineers was averted, much to the relief of travellers. Nonetheless the action was reminiscent of that bygone era when on cue the Cooks and Stewards Union pulled their members off the interisland ferries, without exception during the festive season with major disruption to family and foreign tourists.

It is incidental the engineers’ strike did not materialise, it was the timing and malicious intent that was insidious, resulting in anxiety to many with needless rebookings undertaken.

If Labour’s “Fair Pay Agreement” is enacted in entirety, legislation which will gain greater dominance for unions, then threats of industrial disruption will become commonplace. Buckle up, a turbulent flight may await us all.

P.J. Edmondson, Tauranga.

End of Life Choice Bill

David Seymour’s sponsor’s report on his End of Life Choice Bill has a strong whiff of political cynicism about it.

The report’s eleventh-hour suggestion to appropriate Maggie Barry’s Access to Palliative Care Bill and include it in the EOLC Bill is breathtakingly specious. It will offend the many health professionals who submitted emphatically to the justice select committee that palliative care is an alternative to euthanasia, not a complementary treatment option.

The report’s consideration of just 230 submissions out of 37,000 on the EOLC Bill is equally insulting. It suggests a contempt for the opinions of submitters, if not the whole submission process.

Conspicuously under-represented in the report’s list of submissions considered are those from the scores of individual doctors and specialists who expressed deep concerns about the EOLC Bill to the justice committee. Mr Seymour’s eleventh-hour recommendation supporting a referendum on euthanasia that will effectively go over the heads of those health professionals to a lay public not always confronted with the ethical or practical issues of end-of-life-care on a daily basis is political cynicism at its lowest. James Braund, Remuera.

Street closure

Some years ago the Onehunga Borough Council closed Queen St Onehunga to traffic and changed the name to Onehunga Mall. I was told by a business owner in the lower part of the mall that business there had almost died.

Now the street has been reopened and the place is thriving. We do unfortunately have a parking warden from Auckland Transport who does his best to discourage shoppers. But we hope to get rid of both him and Auckland Transport after the election next year.

I avoid Queen St in the city if I can.

K M Findlay, Oranga.

Public transport plans

I was amazed by the artists’ impressions of light rail in the recent Project Auckland supplement. No cars on Queen St or Dominion Rd! Our rather basic public transport system is a long way off being able to supplant cars to this extent, and I can’t see trams helping the situation.

A tram ride between the city and airport will take at least an hour, as opposed to 30 minutes in a taxi, or 45 minutes on the Skybus. And what if there is an accident on the tram route? A bus can take a detour, but a tram will be stuck in its tracks.

Let’s make the bus system better, and forget trams. Tony Waring, Grey Lynn.