Letters: In our most vulnerable moments, the best of us can still shine through

Could New Zealand be the safest place in the world to live?

Letters to the Editor

Holding on to humanity in hard times

Given the latest conflict in the Middle East and as we mark the 20th anniversary of the July 7 London bombings, I find myself reflecting not just on the terror of that day, but on something more enduring: the extraordinary humanity I witnessed underground.

I was on the Tube that morning – just another young New Zealander navigating the city. When the explosions hit, chaos erupted. The air was thick with confusion, fear, and the unknown. Yet in that darkness, both literal and figurative, people chose to help one another. Strangers became lifelines.

In a moment when self-preservation would have been understandable, people reached out offering guidance, calm, and care. I didn’t expect it. I certainly didn’t feel entitled to it. But I received it. And it changed me.

In the years since, the world has seen terror on a far greater scale. And in recent weeks, heartbreaking headlines remind us that the threat and the suffering persist.

But so, too, does that quiet, defiant human instinct to care for one another.

If there’s one thing I learned on 7/7, it’s that in our most vulnerable moments, the best of us can still shine through. If we could carry even a fraction of that spirit into everyday life - reaching out instead of turning inward – our world might just become a little brighter, and a little braver.

Jono Dale, Three Kings.

Opposing attacks on Iran

Here we go again again, Labour Party members and Green Party members opposing any view on any subject from the present Government. Now it is over the bombing of nuclear plants in Iran.

For a long time, Iran has stated that it wants to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth.

Come on, put some thought into the situation before opposing a view just for the sake of it.

Carl Rosel, Freeman’s Bay.

High-rise surprise

I am surprised that the Government is forcing the Auckland Council to allow 15-storey apartments near the Mt Eden, Kingsland, and Morningside train stations, but not near the similarly well-placed Meadowbank, Remuera and Ellerslie stations.

The emphasis on the Western line is particularly strange since during the increasingly common evenings when a major sports or music event is hosted at Eden Park, buses and trains do not run through Kingsland and Morningside, with New North and Sandringham roads closed and trains only running away from the area after an event.

The Meadowbank, Remuera, and Ellerslie stations would seem much more logical locations for high-rise apartments.

The only difference I can see is the electoral boundaries.

Dr Stuart Norris, Kingsland.

Rising cost of living

It is difficult for the person in the street to work out whether they are being ripped off by supermarkets or not.

Supermarkets seem to vary prices weekly to such an extent it is difficult to work out whether a product is actually at a sale price.

With meat, cheese and milk at ridiculous prices, and the high cost of power, it must be extremely difficult for families on lower wages to survive.

While governments do not control these prices, there has to be recognition and movement to control this inequity. It’s the old story of the rich getting richer and the poor poorer.

Reg Dempster, Albany.

Anything goes ...

If it interferes with making money, anything is justified, whether it be degradation of the environment, arable land, rivers, lakes, the oceans, the air we breathe, the division of society into the various layers of the haves and have-nots, or the extinction of living creatures. You name it, if it doesn’t make money, anything goes.

Gary Hollis, Mellons Bay.

Safe places to live

In these turbulant times of geopolitical uncertainty, lots of people, especially the super-rich, are looking for somewhere safer to live.

At the top of a recent survey were Iceland, mainly because its isolation, New Zealand, also for its isolation and ability to be self-sufficient, and Switzerand, partly for its neutrality during times of war.

Maybe we could become neutral and not take sides.

Glen Stanton, Mairangi Bay.

Crime shouldn’t pay

When you read about someone who has traveled here from Britain, stolen over $300,000 from elderly people, refused to co-operate with police, and then receives discounts on his prison sentence and, even more incredibly, may be able to keep a share of the stolen money after being released, it makes your blood boil and shows just how soft our legal system really is.

It’s just plain crazy. He should be forced to return the money before being released.

Paul Beck, West Harbour.