100 LUNCHEON GUESTS

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 42, 13 November 1940, Page 4

100 LUNCHEON GUESTS

Life In Malaya Described At Y.W.C.A. Gathering Nearly 1(10 gnosis were present at a luncheon in AA'ellington yesterday held in connexion with the A.AV.C.A. AA’orld Fellowship AA’eck. A former member of (be staff of the AA'ellington Y.W.C.A., Aliss Audrey Mcßae, gave an address on life in Alalaya, from which country she had recently returned. The gathering was sponsored by the Business and Professional AVomen's Club, Junior AVomen's Club and the AVorld Fellowship Committee. The hostesses were Miss M. Toulson, Airs. .1. Robson and Miss Kershaw. Members of the board present were Airs. R. Gardner. Mrs. Knox Gilmer, Aliss Plimmer amt Mrs. E. AV. Hunt. Miss Mcßae, who was in the Singapore Y.AV.C.A. for some time, later went to Kuala Lumpur, where she was in sole charge of the association’s organizations. She will return to the Malay States in January, when her marriage will take place. She was able to give her audience some first-hand accounts of life and customs among Europeans and coloured folk. AVhcn first she arrived at Singapore, -Miss Mcßae said, she was surprised to see that business girls went to work every day by taxi and discovered later that'lo minutes’ walk at a time In the damp, hot climate was, as much as a white person could manage. The afternoon’s work was carried on from -1 id 7. and then one was free to dress ami dine al 8 o'clock. European children were sent away to schools in temperate climates from the age of six. Few people lived in Alnlaya till they reached adult, age, and similarly the climate was too severe for elderly people, of whom not many were living there. Miss Mcßae said she. wore summer clothing all the year round, and on returning to New Zealand found that, she had no woollen clothes to combat the colder climate here. The Y.AV.C.A. carried out a tremendous programme of work in Alalaya, she said, working among 14 nationalities iu Kuala Lumpur and 22 were catered for in Singapore. All these

people fitted into the scheme of things harmoniously auditor Ibis credit was due to the Britisli colonial system of government. Aliss Toulson spoke on the work of the Y.AV.C.A. in Europe, where, in spite of the war, the world office still continued to function in Geneva. Extracts were read from letters received from Aliss Ruth AVoodsmall, Avho visited New Zealand last year. In one letter she mentioned that she was about to leave on a tour of stricken European countries to seek information about Y.AV.C.A. organizations there. AVhire roses and rhododendrons decorated the Blue Triangle Hall, for the luncheon. A collection was taken up for the British Y.AV.C.A.