Tribute to Sir Ed
Sir Edmund Hillary was a man who embodied the spirit of New Zealand, Green Party Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons says.
“I met Sir Ed on several occasions and admired him tremendously,” Ms Fitzsimons says. “I, like so many other New Zealanders, looked up to him as an inspiration. He embodied the things that we are proud of. He was not just a great mountaineer, he gave back so much to the people of Nepal with his work in education and health, and he ably represented New Zealand to the rest of the world.”
“He also embodied the spirit of Kiwi ingenuity. It was his idea to save a monastery from falling down a cliff with meshed number eight fencing wire instead of concrete and steel. Unlike the engineers, he understood that all the materials had to be carried in on the backs of sherpas.”
“Sir Ed lived a long, happy and fulfilling life and at the age of 88 had achieved so much. I am sure he passed on without leaving regrets about things he did not do.”
“I wish to convey the condolences of the Green Party to Lady Hillary and the rest of their family,” Ms Fitzsimons says.
I admit, it’s just our press release. Could I have said it any better? So long, Sir Ed.
January 12th, 2008 at 10:12 am
A life lived well and also a life well lived.
A truly genuine person who deserves the respect we have given him. Outstanding in all good things.
January 12th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Kia ora,
Sir Ed was an inspiration to me personally and to billions of others. I wrote a tribute to him on my blog.
http://newzblog.wordpress.com/2008/01/11/kiwi-icon-passes-on/
Regards,
ahod/redbus.
Again, he was a truly inspirational man and I will be doing my best to attend the State funeral. I am sure many others will be there also.
Yesterday marked the loss of an amazing New Zealander. Jeanettes comments were spot on.
January 14th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
An extra days holiday to remember Sir Ed?…..you just know it is Election year when a politician comes up with something like that.
January 14th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
Sir Ed has had his time Frog, however, I think we should dig up Tom Skinner (and find some DNA so we can recreate him).> I am worried about the Kiwi worker. The things that matter are becoming expensive and the things that don’t are becoming cheap.
When labour gets short the price is supposed to go up, but now the government just brings in a lot of temporary workers (as in Queenstown). Meanwhile we are told that wages in China will rise; to some extent that may be true but Chinese manufacturers can uproot and head inland away from the expensive coastal cities.
The burgeoning middle class in china will want a Mercedes a Western Education and a house in Remuera
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The government needs to look into the hourly rate of Japanese tour guides. Many are paid less than the minimum wage.
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Another thing to note is that while China is our fastest increasing market for tourists a quick look around the bus park at Milford sound will reveal an increasingly large proportion of immigrant drivers driving Toyota Coasters.
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Tom would also want to know why it is developers build many more houses than the country requires, selling them to people from overseas, clogging the roads and infrastructure and generally diluting what used to be so good about life in New Zealand.
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The whole country has come to believe its own PR hype