This is just too OT now isn't it? take it to usenet, they love conversations like this.
On Tue, August 21, 2007 10:28 pm, Christopher Sawtell wrote: > On 8/21/07, Ben Ford <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> My 2 pence... >> >> I'm a pom, and I lived in NZ for 18 months Auckland (sorry) and >> Christchurch. There are a lot of places that I haven't seen in the >> world, >> but after living there, I can honestly say that nowhere I've ever been >> before can touch it. > You poor sod. You must have had to live in some pretty rotten holes! > >> I'm in Indonesia at the moment, and if you really want some perspective >> on >> how screwed up a country can be I highly suggest you come here (or talk >> to a >> South African ;-) ). > I thought Mogadishu, Somalia, and Harare, Zimbabwe were the places for > an exciting life. > >> You have the benefits of an honest police force, > Um, I don't think Arthur Alan Thomas or David Bain would agree with you.. > At the street level they are pretty good by and large, and they are > paid enough to keep them straight. But at higher levels the cops are > out of their depth. Ripping off both the Government and other members > of society is the latest fad the so called middle classes find > entertaining, At the other end of the social scale, shoplifting is > endemic, and the laws are ineffective to stop it. > >> I get stopped over here because they think I have money to spare to give >> them... > In comparison to what they have to live on you probably do. > >> In the 8 months I lived in New Brighton and on my travels around the >> South >> Island, I was in a traffic jam a grand total of once (when they moved a >> whole house by truck in Queenstown!), here is just on big jam!! > Count your blessings my friend. If the traffic is one big jam at least > you can cross the road and get about your neighbourhood without being > bowled whenever you try to cross the road! To get to my local shop I > have to cross 8 lanes of fast moving traffic. It's not easy & I have > have come very close to being shunted off the mortal coil more than > once. You also have the huge advantage of living in a Moslem country > where the social problems caused by alcohol are more or less a > non-issue. Count your blessings my friend. > >> If 600-700 skilled people are leaving every week, how many are moving to >> NZ >> (honest question, I actually don't know)? > A handful. There is a very real skill shortage at the moment. If you > can find a tradesman he will want to be paid about the same amount of > money as a weeks pension for working for just four or five hours. > >> The grass is always greener and >> such, but every expat I've ever spoken to has compared NZ favorably with >> their country or origin. Everywhere has it's problems, but on balance, >> you >> guys have one of the finest places in the world to live! > > Well I have lived here for nearly forty years with a year's break back > in the UK. > > Here's my take on the place. > > Central Government: > > The Civil Service was effectively lobotomised during the middle > eighties. We are still suffering from this. Everything which used to > be done by intelligent and dedicated civil servants is now done by > self-serving contractors who really know how to look after themselves. > The glide-time play by Roger Hall is still oh so true! > > Education: The public schools are in a word - hopeless. Effectively > just child minding centres. The literacy rate - depending on how it's > measured - is something around 75%. There is undeniably a huge tail of > people who are seriously lacking in the literacy and numeracy stakes. > I have come across people who do not know the difference between a > cabbage and a lettuce ( Till operators in the local supermarket ), > many people don't know the points of the compass ( Police 'phone > operator, & others ). Simple mental arithmetic is seemingly beyond > most of the population. The call-centre business has boomed mainly > because neither the staff of the service companies and organisations, > nor the general public can write a letter. > > Local Government: They all suffer from the problems of using > contractors instead of staff to fail to do the dirty work. So it's > badly done if at all. > > OK. So it doesn't sound as if I'm just a total whinge. The hospital > and medical system is really pretty good. If you need medical > attention you will receive it for free, and it's competent. The care > around the edges is a bit rough and ready, hostel, not five star > hotel, but that's ok by me. Certainly, if Michael Moore's Sicko film > is anything to go by, we are really spoilt in comparison to what the > average American has to put up with. > > The water treatment system here in Christchurch is superb. > > The benefits and pensions are generous. > > And the weather's pretty clement. Though I could do with a visit to > somewhere a bit warmer right now. > >> Sorry for the rant, back to work for me! :-) > Ditto. > >> >> >> On 21/08/07, Christopher Sawtell <[EMAIL PROTECTED] > wrote: >> > On 8/21/07, Steve Holdoway < [EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> > > On Tue, 21 Aug 2007 12:24:18 +1200 >> > > Christopher Sawtell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> > > [snip] >> > > > Oh for a return to those days when NZ was actually a pretty nice >> place in which to live. >> > >> > > All things are relative. What's the third largest city in England? >> Brum? >> Manchester? Where would you prefer to be? >> > >> > Rural France actually. >> > >> > What I do know is that 600 or 700 skilled and qualified people are >> > voting with their feet every week! >> > >> > I'm sick of having to walk along a foot-path which has not been >> > cleaned by the council since 1984 - I kid you not. The North side of >> > the street is so encrusted with lichen and moss that slipping and >> > falling over in wet weather is a very real risk. The South side is so >> > littered with small shards of broken glass that it's no longer safe to >> > walk ones dog along it lest the dog's paws get cut to shreds. The >> > built-up areas of India are better than that! >> > >> > Please don't get me going on road safety. I missed being a statistic >> > by millimetres when crossing the road at a lights controlled crossing >> > the other day. >> > >> > > Wasn't NZ second to Norway in a recent 'honesty' test, handing in >> lost >> wallets? >> > I do believe that was the case, but it would be interesting to know if >> > Norway had _six_ finance companies fall over in the last few months. ( >> > Nathan Finance today ) Who do you think is going to do their dough? I >> > assure you it's not the company directors. >> > >> > Don't forget that NZ has the second biggest prison population as a >> > proportion to the total of any country in the world. > > -- > Sincerely etc. > Christopher Sawtell > > -- Nick Rout
