Locals pitch in to help shattered pub owners

Three days after the suspected arson of her country pub, Jaswinder Kaur Singh is still in shock - shock that an altercation in the bar may have led to a revenge torching, and shock at finding out the tavern was not insured.
Ms Singh faces a loss of $500,000 for the building, equipment and stock she had believed was insured. Four family members, among them Ms Singh's 12-year-old nephew, were asleep in the Okaihau Hotel's private quarters when flames engulfed the bar about 5am on Saturday.
A firewall spared the family from the blaze that destroyed the single-storey building's adjacent bar.
Fire investigator Craig Bain has passed the incident to police as a suspected arson.
"I have real concerns that someone could do this with complete disregard to the owners' lives," Mr Bain said.
Neither Ms Singh nor her relative and hotel manager Arna Goundar would elaborate on a customer-related problem on Friday night.
"This is a very bad thing but I love it here, the people are really nice. We want to stay and rebuild the hotel if we can," Ms Singh said.
Mr Goundar said the community had been very supportive.
"Since the burning a lot of people have come to ask us if they can help. We appreciate any help we can get and we are very grateful for everyone's kindness," he said.
As he spoke his words were drowned by demolition noises coming from the charred ruin.
One of the volunteers on that job was pub regular Tewe Baker.
"I'm pissed off ... devastated," Mr Baker said. "How could someone do this to these people? They are really good people and they look after their customers."
Other locals were also concerned about the blow that could have repercussions on the small town.
"It's quite shocking, isn't it? Very sad," Okaihau Quality Meats owner Philip Smith said.
"They were doing the best they could. Like all small towns, we need as many businesses going as possible."
Ms Singh, her brother, sister-in-law and two nephews moved north from Auckland in April 2007 to try to save the financially troubled, poorly managed hotel she owned at Okaihau.
It was Ms Singh's first experience of running a tavern. She said her role as a former president of the Auckland Sikh Society women's wing had made her comfortable with dealing with the public. Although she was born overseas, her family had lived in New Zealand for the past 100 years.