School 'unfairness' led to Moala’s media success

By Lucy Mullinger: Pacific Media Centre

Publisher Kalafi Moala’s civil rights streak began early – as a high school student. His friend and broadcaster Sefita Hao’uli told at the weekend how Moala had already brushed against government authority in school.

Teachers at the state-run Tonga High School, where Moala was head prefect, would “cane us if we tried to speak Tongan,” said Hao’uli.

Speaking at the launching of Moala’s second book, In Search of the Friendly Islands, Hao’uli described the clothes they had to wear at school – “thick blazers, socks up to our knees and caps in sweltering tropical heat”.

The boys were confused about why they needed to dress this way. But they knew one thing: “The moment you were in uniform you couldn’t speak Tongan.”

“We all thought what a silly uniform and why do we have to speak English, a language we don't understand?”

The unfair high school treatment propelled both men towards a media career.

Hao’uli later launched the 531pi Pacific community radio in Auckland and Moala now runs the government newspaper Kalonikali – the Chronicle. Twenty years ago when he sought help from the state paper, Moala was told his newspaper Taimi ‘o Tonga would not last three months.

New era
But the Taimi group has now taken over, marking a new era in government and press relations.

During the two decades he has owned the Taimi ‘o Tonga - a newspaper which according to Pacific Media Centre director Dr David Robie “aimed to bring alternative perspectives and voices into Tonga's public sphere” - government laws often curbed freedom of the press.

During October 1996, Moala was jailed for alleged contempt of Parliament and banned from his own country for more than four years, the newspaper was raided 12 times during a period of three years and he received death threats

His Auckland-based newspaper suffered because it practised “freedom of the press”.

Moala has won many different awards, including the Pacific Media Freedom Award for his fight for democratic reforms.

“I believe that without Taimi being in place, things wouldn't have changed as much as they have. Kalafi has made a real contribution to Tonga,” said Sefita Hao’uli.

“Any journalist worth his salt will learn how to write, spell and use proper syntax –
but without courage, the stories will be empty,” Hao’uli added.

“Kalafi is much more courageous than many of us.”

Finding solutions
Moala’s earlier book, Island Kingdom Strikes, published in 2002, was written mainly about the scandals and injustices that were carried out by the government and royal authorities. In Search of the Friendly Islands deals with Tonga’s problems and finding solutions.

According to his publisher, Ana Currie, Pasifika Foundation Press, a Hawai’i- based group, was keen to publish this book with the help of AUT University’s Pacific Media Centre because of the “great work Kalafi has done for Tonga and the Pacific Islands”.

Currie met Moala back in 2003 and having lived in Hawai’i and travelled all over the Pacific, she appreciated “what Kalafi was fighting about”.

Innes Logan, publisher of Spasifik, the only mainstream media Pacific magazine in New Zealand, said: “There must be a new way we can confront the problems that we face”.

Moala said: “My dream and hope for Tonga is that we will have a nation with freedom and without anarchy”.

Picture: Kalafi Moala being interviewed by CBA's John Cameron and Shona Caughey at the book launching. Photo: Lucy Mullinger.

Lucy Mullinger is a student journalist on the Asia-Pacific Journalism course, AUT University.

Pasifika Foundation Press
Book launching photo gallery
In Search of the Friendly Islands

Storytelling the tough Tongan issues

By Josephine Latu: Pacific Media Watch

Tongan publisher Kalafi Moala uses real-life examples for storytelling about sensitive Pacific issues in a new book launched in New Zealand at the weekend - such as elitism, religious hypocrisy, child abuse and domestic violence, racism against Chinese immigrants and the exploitation of tradition.

“It’s an uncomfortable truth,” Kalafi told Pacific Media Watch about his vivid Tongan examples.

One story in his book, In Search of the Friendly Islands, is a gritty childhood memory of a boy getting his earlobe clipped off by his own father – because he “wouldn’t sit still” during a haircut.

“But that’s part of transparency. We have to bring up those issues – we’ve got to face it, we’ve got to embrace it so we can come up with certain solutions,” said Moala.

The courageous book by Taimi ‘o Tonga publisher Moala - arguably the kingdom’s most prolific media figure - was launched at the Onehunga Community Centre and Library in Auckland on Saturday.

The event brought together various Pasifika media personalities, including New Zealand Herald columnist Tapu Misa, Spasifik publisher Innes Logan, Radio 531 PI founder Sefita Hao’uli, Pasifika Foundation Hawai’i executive director Ana Currie, Pacific Media Centre director Dr David Robie and MP Carmel Sapuloni.

It also marked the launch of Pasifika Foundation Press, which published the book along with AUT University’s PMC.

In Search of the Friendly Islands, is a candid critique of Tonga’s political, social and cultural challenges, and deals with many misconceptions that the public – including the foreign press – may have about the issues.

'Parachute journalists'
The book is also so outspoken that University of the South Pacific Professor Ian Campbell predicts “many Tongans will be embarrassed by what Kalafi has to tell them”.

In a separate chapter, Moala talks about the notorious riot of 16/11. Rather than a freedom protest, he claims the crisis was driven by self-interested “pro-democratic” leaders wishing to seize political power through mob force.

Overseas “parachute journalists”, Kalafi claims, got it all wrong.

The two-time Pacific Media Freedom Award winner said much of the reporting about Tongan politics by Western media are “very shallow”, often pushing a simplified “one size fits all” democratic model that ignores the complexity of the Tongan situation.

His message is that social and political problems will not be solved simply by changing the political and economic system – it involves a spiritual and ideological dynamic as well.

Associate professor David Robie described the book as “brutally honest” and a “reality check on Tonga today”.

“While some might see Kalafi’s message as pessimistic, I see this as essentially an optimistic book – one that is a challenge of how to be far more constructive about change,” he said.

As a long-time advocate of democratic reform and media freedom in Tonga, Moala is indeed positive about the nation’s future, and is opting for resolution and reconstruction in his campaigns.

In addition to operating the weekly Taimi ‘o Tonga and TV channel TMN-2, his newest venture is taking over operations for the government-owned Tonga Chronicle (after being threatened, sued, and banned by the government in previous years).

“I’m far more optimistic now about Tonga than ever before in my life. I see a lot more togetherness, in the political, social and religious spectrums,” he said at the launch.

Pictures: Top: Kalafi Moala with columnist Tapu Misa; Middle: Sefita Hao'uli; Above: Josephine Latu interviewing businesswoman Salote Lilo. Photos: Del Abcede.

In Search of the Friendly Islands, by Kalafi Moala. Published by the Pasifika Foundation Press and AUT Pacific Media Centre. ISBN 9781877314759. NZ$34.95 South Pacific Books Ltd.

Indian Weekender makes its debut

By David Robie: Pacific Media Centre

Fiji media old hands feature strongly in New Zealand’s new national Indian weekly newspaper launched by Social Development Minister Paula Bennett at the Holi Mela festival in Auckland today.

Editor Dev Nadkarni of the Indian Weekender is a former journalism coordinator at the University of the South Pacific and chief reporter Thakur Ranjit Singh is a former Fiji Daily Post publisher and currently a columnist for the Fiji Times.

The 32-page paper, published by Kiwi Media Group, had a print run of 8000 for the first edition and is aimed at an increasingly competitive market of about 120,000 Indians in New Zealand.

Most live in Auckland and the market includes a strong Indo-Fijian community.

The new paper will be challenging the long-established Indian Newslink newspaper, another fortnightly.

Publisher Giri Gupta told the Pacific Media Centre the Indian Weekender aimed to do a better job in running the “many untold positive stories” about Indian community successes.

“We Kiwi Indians have that rare opportunity to have the best of both worlds and most of us have made the best of that opportunity too,” Nadkarni told readers in the editorial.

“Over the years, as in over a hundred countries around the world, people of ethnic Indian extraction have grown to be a force to reckon with both economically, and more recently, politically.

“That has been possible mainly because of Indians’ great propensity for ingenuity, hard work, adherence to their cultural values and the innate ability to assimilate into any culture while yet preserving their own identity.

“It is these attributes of Indians in New Zealand – Kiwi Indians – that we at the Indian Weekender wish to celebrate.”

Nadkarni appealed to the community to become involved in the paper with an “interactive discourse”.

The first edition featured a striking layout by art director Tanmay Desai, a graduate from AUT University who previously worked as a designer for the New Zealand Herald.

The front page focused on the Indian cricket team – currently dealing to New Zealand on its tour – and Bollywood with the NZ success of the film Slumdog Millionaire featured in a story headlined “Setting the Kiwi summer on fire”.

The edition included national news, local news, “tradition”, Indian news, business, finance, opinion, community news, humour, “productivity”, rasoi, events, a two-page spread of Fiji news and seven pages of Bollywood news with a full page devoted to the “sexiest lucky mascot” – actress Katrina Kaif.

Pictures: Top: Chief reporter Thakur Ranjit Singh (left) and editor Dev Nadkarni; Centre: MP Melissa Lee reading the first edition of the Indian Weekender; Above: Monisha School of Dance performers Ayesha Dewan (from left), Sindy Gounder, Poonam Maharaj, Sharlene Sharma, Kajal Gounder and Komal Gounder. Photos: Del Abcede (Pacific Media Centre).

Dr David Robie is director of the Pacific Media Centre.

Fiji's mood - the raging rhino - Thakur Ranjit Singh

Moala's message: Freedom without anarchy

Staff reporter: Pacific Media Centre

Publisher Kalafi Moala has warned Tongans to decide on what sort of nation they want for their future, saying mere political reform is not enough.

“We have to decide whether we want freedom without anarchy and order without tyranny,” he said today at the launch of his second book, In Search of the Friendly Islands, in Auckland.

He said he had written the book in response to the challenges facing Tonga in an era of globalisation and conflict between tradition and modernity.

The answers lay with the Tongan people - it was up to them to shape their future, but rediscovering traditional spirituality and faith was an important part of this path forward.

Democracy alone could not solve the issues of poverty, crime and social justice.

Several speakers endorsed the publication of the book, including Pasifika Foundation Press executive director Ana Currie, leading broadcaster Sefita Hao’uli and Spasifik magazine publisher Innes Logan.

Associate professor David Robie, director of AUT’s Pacific Media Centre, described the book as courageous and likely to provoke controversy and debate for months ahead.

“While some might see the book as pessimistic, I see it as ultimately optimistic,” he said.

“Kalafi Moala believes passionately in ideas and unlike some journalism that is part of the problem in a society, he has made the choice to be part of a solution.”

The New Zealand Herald published a full page feature article on the book today, quoting Moala as asking: “Can we rediscover the values in our own culture, in our faith-based principles, that have worked for us?”

For Tongans living outside the kingdom, in particular, he said: “The call for changes to our governing structure … must involve not only the abandoning and discarding of all that is harmful but must be replaced by that which serves the divine imperative.”

The book was launched on the day that Moala’s Taimi Media Network took over management of the government-owned newspaper Kalonikali, the Chronicle.

A launching will be held in Nuku’alofa, Tonga, next weekend.

Top picture: Kalafi Moala in an interview with Tnews, above: signing a book for PMC's David Robie. Photos by Del Abcede.

Media crusader’s blighted dream
In Search of the Friendly Islands

Fiji's mood - the raging rhino

By Thakur Ranjit Singh: Pacific Media Centre

They say, when a rhinoceros rushes on its prey, it puts its head down, with its deadly horn protruding with a resolute to accomplish its mission of striking and demolishing its target and opposition.

It is unfortunate that sections of the Fiji community, especially the SDL and NFP and certain NGOs and sections of the international community have failed to realise or understand the mood of Fiji's interim Prime Minister, Frank Bainimarama. This can be summed up as a raging rhino which is out to accomplish what he had wanted to achieve.

Despite all forms of threats and demand for deadlines for an election, Bainimarama has stuck to his guns and is almost like a raging, unstoppable rhino.

Fiji's second political leaders' forum was held at the Parliamentary Complex on March 14, 2009 where Bainimarama addressed the leaders. He emphasised the need for political leaders to accept changes to the electoral system so that the racially divisive provisions in the electoral system could be removed.

He reiterated that to hold elections under a communally divisive system, for the sake of satisfying deadlines imposed by outsiders, would not solve Fiji's deep seated problems.

He emphatically warned that it was not the time to arouse ethnic fears and racial mistrust as grounds to win elections because indigenous interests were protected by the Constitution.

He added that the interim government would oppose those who undermine Fiji's independence and sovereignty. And he had been doing exactly that.

He recently told an international agency to go and jump in Suva Harbour. He effectively told them in Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry style: "Go ahead, punk, make my day and sack Fiji from the Commonwealth."

The advantage of doing a Masters in Journalism while being a columnist is that you are required to read articles as part of your studies which are quite pertinent to the subject being pursued.

Human rights
In this context I read an article by Mark Revington in the Listener of August 2000 where Dr David Robie, associate professor in communication studies at AUT University was quoted, questioning what Fiji had achieved in the aftermath of Rabuka's coups of 1987. Chauvinistic, nationalistic struggles of this kind (like Rabuka's coups) based on nepotism, racism, opportunistic crime, opportunities for corruption and suppression of human rights of others undermine genuine indigenous struggles such as the Kanaks struggles for independence from France in New Caledonia.

Fiji, which has been independent from Britain since 1970, has had indigenous government except for one month in 1987 when Bavadra was Prime Minister and one year in 1999-2000 with Chaudhry.

It has been questioned what the indigenous leadership had done in all this time for the underprivileged indigenous villager? Why were they blaming the Chaudhry government after three decades of failure by Mara and Rabuka and the chiefly oligarchy?

Those who are rushing Fiji into an election need to honestly ponder this.

They need to answer, what would an election achieve for Fiji when it did not do so in the past three and half decades? Why should Fiji not be allowed to sort out its unique problem in its own unique way which those pushing for elections conveniently forget that elections of the past failed to deliver democracy and social justice to Fiji.

We have politicians hijacking democracy which allows unscrupulous leaders to discriminate against their own people under the revered shelter of democratic sovereignty.

What will the Commonwealth, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Island Forum do if an election sends back the same culprits who were raping democracy under the sanctity of supposedly democratic elections, and continue doing what they were doing before December 2006? It is time Fiji was allowed to sort out and find home grown permanent solutions to its political problems.

Other stakeholders
This looked a step closer to being realised when the leaders' forum met under very cordial atmosphere and even the greatest critics of Bainimarama were pleasantly supportive of the move to involve all leaders, NGOs and other stakeholders to seek a permanent solution to Fiji's fundamental problems.

It was a pleasant surprise to see the deposed prime minister, Laisenia Qarase, supporting the forum and seeing the positive side of the meeting. It is good that politicians and trade union leaders realise the reality of the situation and understand the mood of the raging rhino.

For those who cannot appreciate the reason why Bainimarama is pushing for changes and coming hard on his opponents, they need to realise that he had come within a hair's breadth of becoming history. His opponents need to delve into Pacific history. Since 1981, there have been 10 political assassinations in Melanesian countries.

Frank Bainimarama narrowly escaped becoming assassination victim number 11. It was through good luck and a band of loyal soldiers, who enabled a dramatic dash through a cassava patch in a gully behind Suva's Queen Elizabeth Barracks when the elite Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit rebel soldiers mutinied on November 2, 2000.

In light of this background, can you really blame the rhino for its raging mood?

Thakur Ranjit Singh is winner of the 2008 AUT University-Pacific Islands Media Association (PIMA) Pasifika Communications postgraduate scholarship and is attached to the Pacific Media Centre. This article first appeared in The Fiji Times.

From scourge to public conscience

By David Robie: Pacific Media Centre

Publisher and broadcaster Kalafi Moala, the scourge of the Tongan establishment for almost two decades, has turned his pen to the challenges of the kingdom’s future in an optimistic new book being launched in Auckland this weekend.

In Search of the Friendly Islands also reflects on the ‘Black Thursday’ riot in November 2006 that devastated the heart of the capital Nuku’alofa.

Moala launched the Taimi ‘o Tonga on 13 April 1989 with the objective of bringing alternative perspectives and voices into Tonga’s public sphere.

Little did he realise then that he would face unlawful imprisonment in 1996, lawsuits over trumped up charges, being banned from his own country for more than four years and death threats during his long campaign for a free press and freedom of speech.

His newspaper was raided 12 times at one stage over a three-year period. However, his campaign ultimately contributed to greater media freedom and progress towards political and democratic reform.

Moala’s 2002 book, Island Kingdom Strikes Back, gave a vivid and revealing account of his newspaper team’s struggle for a more open society and his family sacrifices for the cause.

He was awarded the inaugural Pacific Media Freedom Award that year by the Auckland-based Pacific Islands Media Association (PIMA) and won the award again in 2003.

Now back in Nuku’alofa publishing Taimi ‘o Tonga after its stint in exile in New Zealand, Moala has turned to contemporary political, cultural and social issues and dilemmas facing both his beloved and resilient kingdom and the Tongan diaspora in Australia, New Zealand and the United States.

In Search of the Friendly Islands covers a broad canvas of challenges and problems in search of some solutions.

Starting with a chapter dealing with violence in different diasporic settings, he delves into traditional conspiracies dating back to the “Dark Age” of Tuka’aho that led to the assassination of the warrior chief and the killing of his wives.

After a series of feuds, Tuka’aho’s grandson, Taufa’ahau, united Tonga through “brute force, ingenious leadership and new found faith”.

Other chapters deal with domestic violence, the monarchy and leadership, Christian spirituality, economic development and globalisation.

In perhaps the most contentious chapter, Kalafi analyses the rioting in November 2006 when “a demon was unleashed”, leading to eight deaths and the destruction of downtown Nuku’alofa.

He blames the riot on some political leaders and activists whom he accuses of losing sight of democratic reform and responsibility while seeking personal gain.

Moala’s final chapter offers hope for the future based on social reconstruction founded on justice, good governance and spiritual leadership.

For more than a generation, Kalafi Moala has inspired the Pacific region as a newspaper publisher and social conscience. This book is another important contribution to debate and reform about the Friendly Islands and journalism’s role in a “challenge for the soul of our very civilisation”.

>> In Search of the Friendly Islands (Pasifika Foundation Press) will be launched at the Onehunga Community Centre and Library, Auckland, at 11am on Saturday. Co-publisher Pacific Media Centre. ISBN 978-1-877314-75-9. NZ$34.95. Order from South Pacific Books.

Dr David Robie is director of the Pacific Media Centre, AUT University. This article was originally published in the Scoop Review of Books.

New book by former Tongan dissident

Kalafi Moala probes Tonga's key issues in new book

Staff Reporter: Pacific Media Centre

Publisher and broadcaster Kalafi Moala's new book on key development and social issues facing the kingdom of Tonga and its diasporic communities in Australia, New Zealand and the United States will be launched in Auckland next week.

The book, In Search of the Friendly Islands, lifts the lid on many contemporary social issues and dilemmas facing South Pacific nations.

The issues that led to the unprecedented explosion of violence on 16 November 2006 that resulted in the deaths of eight people and the destruction of 80 percent of the central business district of the Tongan capital, Nuku’alofa, are among topics explored by the book.

Executive director Ana Currie of the Pasifika Foundation Hawai'i, publisher of the book, describes it as a significant work for Tonga at this time.

Professor Ian Campbell, of the University of the South Pacific, writing in his foreword, says that while reading Moala's book, "one can imagine him seated on the floor in a circle around the tanoa talking the same way as he writes - connecting the big issues to daily life".

He believes the book can go far in teaching international experts about the "grassroots Pacific".

Associate professor David Robie, director of the New Zealand co-publisher Pacific Media Centre at AUT University, says: "For more than a generation, Kalafi Moala has inspired the Pacific region as a newspaper publisher and social conscience.

"This book is another important contribution to debate and reform about the Friendly Islands and journalism's role in a 'challenge for the soul of our very civilisation'."

>> NZ launching: Onehunga Community Centre & Library, Church St, Onehunga, Auckland, 11am-1pm, March 21.

>> Tonga launching: Tongan National Centre, Vuna Rd, 11am-1pm, March 28.

Pasifika Foundation Hawai'i
Pacific Media Centre - AUT, New Zealand
South Pacific Books