Caught in the middle

Your article on income insurance (“Weathering the storm”, May 14) exposes the fundamental flaws in the unemployment figures that tend to be bandied around by politicians and pundits.

I was made redundant, aged 59, by a New Zealand university which dismissed my whole section in order to replace it with a private Australian company. Employees of this company are paid, on average, a third less than those employed by the university, clearly showing the “wage scarring” effect.

I was informed that I was not eligible for the unemployment benefit as my wife earns too much. Now 60, I have been unable to find a job that matches my qualifications and experience.

Some of the academics and commentators in your article unfortunately appear to be ideologically locked. They fail to acknowledge that the middle class also have bills to pay: our family income has drastically reduced but our bills have continued to climb.

Proportionally, the middle class are the biggest supporters of small to medium enterprises. If it was not for middle-class spending, businesses such as organics, tourism and hospitality would pretty much dry up. Equally, the government’s aim of a national electric car fleet is predicated upon middle-class spending.

The introduction of income insurance is not a “silver bullet” but, from overseas experience, it would appear to offer much greater worker income security, which surely cannot be harmful for either the individual or the wider economy and society. Julius Williams (Palmerston North)

FUNERAL POVERTY

I agree with Gillian Boyes of the Funeral Directors Association ( Upfront, May 14) on her pleas for an increase in the Work and Income funeral grant. Funeral poverty is an increasing problem for many families. However, there are also new ways to reduce costs that can be explored.

Not long ago, funerals used to be organised by communities. My mother-in-law laid

out the bodies in her village in England.

Since then, the professionalisation of after-death care has grown apace, as have the costs. Embalming has become the norm, although the practice is being banned in Europe due to the health effects on embalmers and the polluting of soils.

New cooling technology obtained by some New Zealand communities now obviates the need for embalming in nearly all cases, so a rise in home funerals is on its way.

Cut-price coffins are now readily available for about $500, and Māori whānau weave kōpaki (wraps) as a culturally appropriate alternative.

In many parts of the country funeral guides now support families to organise their own funerals without funeral directors. This does not only alleviate the funeral poverty faced by so many, but also supports families to come to terms with their loss. Families who have taken a major role in after-death care report that sharing this last act of love supported them in their grieving.

Yes, let’s raise the funeral grant, but also, let’s explore how communities can once more take care of their own.

Ruth Gerzon

(Whakatāne)

LETTER OF THE WEEK

EDUCATING PĀKEHĀ

Kia ora, Keith Burgess ( Letters, May 14). I find your use of the word Pākehā misplaced, erroneous and unhelpful if your desire is to stimulate discussion about co-governance.

Being someone born in Aotearoa to a Singaporean Chinese mother and a New Zealand European father, I don’t consider myself Pākehā. I suspect this would be the same for people of mixed heritage or descendants of people born in the Pacific, Asia or Africa.

Three Waters, He Puapua and co-governance have all been poorly explained by the government. Labour has been unable to clearly define how co-governance will work, the benefit to all New Zealanders, and what would happen if there were problems.

It is not the responsibility of Pākehā white New Zealanders to educate other Pākehā about co-governance. The government must bring all tauiwi (non-Māori New Zealanders) on board and clearly define how co-governance will work and show how it will benefit all tangata in Aotearoa.

Ray Calver

(Grey Lynn, Auckland)

SUB-BOOMER SUN-WORSHIP

As a 70-year-old freckly with Irish ancestry, I’m all ears when it comes to melanoma education ( Health, May 7). Annual checkups with the dermatologist always bring moments of discomfort: the craters of the moon on my shins and the topography of my once-blistered back must present an exercise in professional self-control on her part.

But it’s inaccurate to say that post-boomer generations know better. They don’t. I can confidently predict that on any popular New Zealand beach on any summer’s day, there will be sub-boomers in full sunworship mode, with most of their skin exposed, for hours on end.

So this “coming melanoma surge” is not age exclusive.

And how hard is it for sunscreen manufacturers to produce a pocket/ handbagsized tube of SPF50? If it can be done with hand cream and UV lip protection, why not for sunscreen?

Annabelle O’Meara (Tauherenikau, South Wairarapa)

FAITH AND CULTURE

Your review of Rahaf Mohammed’s book, Rebel: My escape from Saudi Arabia to freedom

( Books, May 7), lists some of the teachings from which

Rahaf fled: that hugging a brother was considered a sexual act; that women are seen as “evil Jezebels”; that bike riding might lead to losing one’s virginity; that a teenage boy “has the right to beat his grandmother for stepping into the garden without his permission”.

It’s the fate of all Saudi girls “under the strict rules and ancient customs of their Islamic faith”.

All this may be in Rahaf ’s book; it may be in the justifications she was fed by her family. But it is nonsense. Islamic teachings are nuanced and far more just. “Heaven,” Muslims are clearly taught, “lies at the feet of your mother.” And, by extension, your mother’s mother or your father’s mother.

It may be that Saudi Arabia is seen by the world as synonymous with one faith, yet in that country, as in so many places, misogyny can still exist, and culture or local conservative traditions can still ride roughshod over faith.

Anthony Green

(Hillsborough, Christchurch)

BEING THERE

Like Russell Brown ( Diary, April 30), my only moment of history was in Berlin. We were living in London in November 1989 and watching live on BBC the events unfolding in Berlin. I said to my husband, “We should go there.”

So, we were on the phone to the only travel agent open on a Sunday, Trailfinders, a company serving the Oz/Kiwi traveller, and booked flights for three to Berlin for two days later.

We had a 21-month-old daughter and no one to leave her with, something I’m now glad of. We paid an exorbitant amount for a corporate hotel in the suburbs, but it was worth it for the three days we were there, seeing East Germans coming through the wall and getting their 100DM welcome money, riding the U-Bahn, now stopping at dim, dusty stations not in use since the wall went up, taking turns climbing a ladder to look over the wall to see bemused East German border guards, and children in 1960s prams clutching oranges and matchbox toys. There was a sense of excitement and hope.

Five years ago, we returned to Berlin to visit an exchange student who years before spent a year with us. She had a very tiny apartment, so booked us into nearby accommodation. It was the most amazing coincidence – we walked into reception, I looked around and said, “We’ve been here before”, and tears came to my eyes. It was the same hotel.

I now have a most treasured photo, our young daughter standing in front of the Brandenburg Gate in her red snow suit looking for all the world like the accomplished young woman she would go on to become.

Kaytrena Gibson

(Claudelands, Hamilton)

COUNTING THE BEAT

It is no surprise to me as a former teacher of pupils from preschool to adult level that standards of attainment have fallen recently. Has anyone connected a link with the abandonment of music as a

standalone subject in primary and intermediate schools? As a tutor at an Eastern Bay of Plenty children’s music school, I am horrified when I encounter new students, many of whom cannot sing a simple song, or know when a musical sound is out of tune or how to keep in time. I have attended school concerts recently where practically no one could sing in tune.

There is some fine work being done for those fortunate to attend schools that have kapa haka, choirs, bands, orchestras and major productions run by hard-working teachers, who do most of this in their own time.

However, many schools are using the so-called performing arts curriculum to cop out of music instruction, which they prefer to put in the “too hard” basket, often because music is not compulsory at teachers colleges any more.

Also, the former tuition

in secondary schools, where professional tutors paid by the Ministry of Education taught band, singing and orchestral instruments, has been largely abandoned.

Research by Frances Rauscher and Gordon Shaw, of the University of California, and similar studies in Britain and Australia, have shown that learning music improved children’s maths results and encouraged quicker and clear reasoning.

I have attended school prizegivings where there was a continuous stream of pupils from the band, choir or orchestra going up to receive the dux or academic and sports prizes.

Let’s think again.

Tom Bayliss, QSM

(Whakatāne)

PSYCHOLOGIST SHORTAGE

Just when it is recognised that the unmet mental health needs of young New Zealanders are at a zenith, an average 20%

vacancy rate in psychologist positions ( Psychology, April 23) across district health boards and the Ministry of Education is having a serious impact on psychological wellbeing and educational success for children, young people and adults in Aotearoa.

Unrealistic salaries continue to drive psychologists into private practice or other higher-paying work. Turnover of psychologists in education alone is 17% on average. With at least six years’ training plus registration requirements, young psychologists struggle to pay off student loans on current salaries.

Poor working conditions -- high caseloads and stress, low levels of quality professional learning opportunities, non-existent sabbatical and research funding, managers with little conception of how to maximise the effectiveness of psychologists let alone retain them -- are

all contributing to this.

For many years, psychologist training programmes, even before recent full-employment statistics, have failed to recruit to the capacity of the programmes because of unrealistic student training allowances. This has also resulted in failure to recruit from a diverse range of ethnicities.

Poor workforce planning by government ministries is about to have a further severe impact as many psychologists reach retirement age.

Government ministries must seriously address these issues to achieve a high-quality psychologist service for our most vulnerable citizens and to invest in their current and future wellbeing and educational engagement.

PJ McGovern

(Tauranga Moana)

Mark Smith’s letter (May 7) questions whether the solution to the mental health crisis depends on having more psychiatrists and clinical psychologists.

He correctly identifies a range of people who are also needed to support people in mental distress. I would go further. We need to look at mental health in a way that does not equate it solely as mental illness.

According to the World Health Organisation, mental health is a state of wellbeing in which an individual realises her or his potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and is able to contribute to the community. This definition means that we all have varying degrees of mental health at any point of time. It also means that mental health policies need to be concerned not only with mental disorders, but also with the broader determinants of health that promote the mental health of us all.

Glennys Adams

(Oneroa, Waiheke Island)

Marc Wilson ( Psychol

ogy, April 23) suggests that “apart from psychiatrists, clinical psychologists are the only group of practitioners explicitly and solely trained to assess, diagnose and treat mental distress”.

This is incorrect and could lead members of the public, including those in the care of registered psychotherapists, to have doubts about the training of psychotherapists to deal with their mental distress.

The ability to assess a person’s mental status and to plan and effectively use psychotherapeutic interventions is one of the core clinical competencies required of registered psychotherapists.

It should also be noted that the ACC recognises registered psychotherapists as able to diagnose and assess mental injuries as a result of sexual violence, alongside clinical psychologists and psychiatrists.

Hamish Brown

Chair, Psychotherapists Board of Aotearoa New Zealand

“It’s an invitation to Kathy and Brian’s house warming. They’ve asked us to bring a piece of firewood.”

FREEDOM FROM CLUTTER

I have followed the decluttering issue in the Listener and I’m astonished at some people’s attachment to their stuff.

Spurred by concurrent media discussion, I set about serious decluttering. What a wonderful and productive experience. Systematically, I have gone through every cupboard and drawer and seriously questioned every item.

I was shocked by the amount of duplication caused by clutter. Anything no longer of use or interest but of value to an op shop was cleaned up, packed carefully and taken to a Family Store.

Result: freedom! Drawers close properly, their contents easily located. Cupboards are tidy and accessible. Sorted photos are organised into fewer, clearly labelled albums.

Fourteen John Grisham novels are with a new owner via Neighbourly, leaving space for my next favourite author. The garage is tidy. Everything that is of important sentimental or family value is clearly displayed or labelled.

Should retirement village living be in my future, the move will be far less traumatic, and there will be much less family dumping of stuff on my demise.

Marg Pearce

(Porirua)

LEAVE THEM SMILING

The contrasting valedictory speeches of Louisa Wall

( Politics, April 23) and Simon Bridges brought to mind advice I was once given on farewell speeches. “Accentuate the positive – don’t use your speech to air your gripes. Get them off your chest face-toface beforehand. You don’t want to be remembered as a grizzle-guts.”

The overall impression I have of Wall’s speech is that it was mostly about her and how her party – a party that she chose to call corrupt -- had wronged her. And Bridges? His advice included some gems as “be bold” and “it’s better to burn out than fade away”.

Many must have left the chamber smiling. And that’s the way it should be.

Warren Jowett

(St Clair, Dunedin)