New Pacific programme to challenge 'outsider' history

By Pippa Brown: Pacific Media Centre

A pioneering new Pacific studies programme at Tonga’s ‘Atenisi University is set to change the way Tongan and Pacific history has been written, while embracing the institute’s classical philosophy.

“Traditionally history passed through generations orally and writing is a comparatively new thing,” says Pacific studies researcher Dr ‘Opeti Taliai.

The past was originally documented by missionaries who came to the Pacific in the 19th century and was therefore written from a colonial and outsider perspective, he says.

‘Atenisi Institute is encouraging Pacific Island students to rewrite their own history from an insider indigenous perspective.

“The emphasis on the new programme will be to encourage Pacific Island scholars and people that come from a background of oral history to start writing their own history,” says Dr Taliai, one of six international scholars inducted as fellows of the institute in a ceremony last month.

The four-day celebration honoured the life and achievements of founder and philosopher Professor Futa Helu.

Although the course structure is based on the history of the Pacific region, an emphasis is placed on research and the problems associated with it in the Pacific and the paradox of the insider and outsider viewpoint.

He says using the insider perspective with an outsider training will pull together both sides and give a clearer point of view.

“It ensures ‘Atenisi’s Pacific Studies will be able to publish a clearer interpretation and provide balance in the discourse and unity,” says Dr Taliai.

Misunderstanding can come from the misinterpretation of language.

“Tongan language is heliaki and this is quite common throughout the Pacific,” he says. “It is saying one thing and meaning another.”

Literal translation
“In comparison, English is a literal translation,” says Dr Taliai.

“Tongan language is poetic and English language scientific” and it is important to acknowledge the differences in the two languages, he says.

“English people go straight to the point and Tongan people go around and around before coming to the point because Tongan society is hierarchical and stratified.”

The key element in such a society is respect of people and their superiors.

“In Tongan society, we don’t go straight to the point as in Western society,” he says.

Special places and sacred historical places are used symbolically for particular chiefs and high-ranking officials and these symbolic places take the place of the high-ranking person in the conversation.

“We start with different places associated with those superiors,” he says.

It is common to use geographic locations and flora significant to chiefs and other high-ranking officials.

“Places they have come from and certain flowers can be very significant and these are distinguished in a metaphorical way,” says Dr Taliai.

To understand this it is necessary to know what and where these places are that people are using and talking about.

“This underlying meaning is only known to the indigenous people,” says Dr Taliai.

“We are starting to see more books written by indigenous people and we want to see more of that.”

Equal emphasis
There will be equal emphasis on teaching and research, says Dr Taliai.

The Pacific studies programme wants to recruit people who will teach and research at the same time and postgraduates who are already doing research in the Pacific.

“We hope to achieve from this programme more understanding of one another, not only in the Pacific but in the world.”

What makes the ‘Atenisi University Pacific studies programme different from the University of South Pacific in Fiji and other universities in Auckland is the method of analysis used in looking at data, oral traditions and literature, he says.

Dr Taliai says his life changed when he started attending ‘Atenisi Institute.

“I started to question,” he says.

“Education and religion co-exist like a coin,” says Dr Taliai. He says they cannot be separated and sees education as being scientific and objective while religion is mainly subjective.

Dr Taliai recently completed a PhD in social anthropology. His thesis, “The legitimation of economic and political power in Tonga: A critique of Kauhala’uta and Kauhalalalo Social Moieties”, discusses how the struggle for the control of power works in Tonga.

Tonga is a stratified society and has kings, nobles, and commoners; who make up the majority of the population he says. “The power in Tonga is in the hands of a very small group,” says Dr Taliai.

“In the Tongan riots people questioned the way the country was run and the position of the monarchy and started to demand the decentralisation of power,” he says.

Future dream
His investigations throughout his PhD researched the relationships and interconnectedness between Tonga and other Pacific Islands into parts of South East Asia. He wants the Pacific studies programme to be filled from people all over the Pacific.

“You can’t separate the rest of the Pacific from Tongan history,” he says.

My dream in the future will be to bring in experts and students from the Pacific and we will work together to write a comprehensive history of the Pacific from both the insider and outsider perspective, says Dr Taliai.

“The ideal student will have a combination of western methodology of analysis and local knowledge.”

Dr Taliai describes ‘Atenisi Institute as a small but independent institution. He relates it to the institute’s Latin motto, Pauca sed matura which translates literally as few, but ripe.

“It is always small but the outcome of the product is mature,” he says.

“We will do it more effectively at ‘Atenisi because there is also the philosophy in place to develop it further,” he says.

The institute’s name ‘Atenisi is Tongan for the Greek capital, Athens. It was founded by professor emeritus Dr Futa Helu who embraced the scientific and democratic ideals of the ancient Greeks into ‘Atenisi Institute’s philosophy of education.

It places criticism at the very heart of education and has as part of its core curriculum traditional subjects such as philosophy, logic, art and literature. It is unique compared to other educational institutions in the Pacific region, which are described as utilitarian in nature.

‘Atenisi Institute is portrayed as a “people’s university” and many of its students come from isolated and poor communities.

Picture: Dr 'Opeti Taliai (right) next to Professor Futa Helu at the fellowship induction at 'Atenisi Institute last month. Also pictured are Dr David Robie and Dr Ian Campbell. Photo: Pacific Media Centre.

Pippa Brown is an AUT Graduate Diploma in Journalism student on internship with the Pacific Media Centre.

'Atenisi University
'Atenisi University inducts six fellows

Thousands of Pacific children 'miss out on school'

By Pippa Brown: Pacific Media Centre

Thousands of Pacific children – possibly up to 5000 – may be missing out on education in New Zealand because their parents are overstayers, says a Pasifika school trustee spokesperson.

“It is an issue that affects not just Pacific students, but all students whose parents are non-residents, no matter where they come from,” says Ben Taufua from the Pacific Island School Trustees Aotearoa.

A select committee looking into New Zealand’s relationship with Pacific Island countries has been told hundreds of Pacific children were missing out on education, according to Radio New Zealand.

Ben Taufua from the Pacific Island School Trustees Aotearoa, told the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee in Manukau City that granting overstayers amnesty might help.

Taufua later told the Pacific Media Centre that the figures were probably much higher and New Zealand needed to take responsibility otherwise thousands of children may end up without access to health or education.

He says these children have lost their voice because they have been tied into the immigration status.

“Their rights have been breached.

“It is not their choice they end up being here,” he says.

Taufua said although Dr Jonathan Coleman, who has both the Minister of Immigration and Associate Minister of Health portfolios, said on Radio New Zealand that every child had access to education, he had failed to say that every child in New Zealand can access free education and free health.

Huge problem
“It is huge,” says Taufua. “We are talking about a generation of people without education and who when they grow up might still be in our system.

“To do nothing about this issue is both immoral and criminal,” says Taufua.

He says New Zealand needs to honour its signature to the Ottawa Charter and give children free education and health.

“The Labour government initiated a law that says children born in New Zealand of non-residential parents are not automatically New Zealanders,” says Taufua. He wants to see this changed.

Taufua told the committee that they must deal with immigration issues that affect these people as their children are suffering.

According to Radio New Zealand, Makelita Kolo, from the Tongan community, said the children rarely got health care and never used their own name when they saw a doctor. Select committee chairman John Hayes responded by saying the amnesty call was beyond the scope of the committee’s brief.

Pippa Brown is an AUT Graduate Diploma in Journalism student on internship with the Pacific Media Centre.

Potential Pacific school trustees sought
Hundreds of Pacific Island children not at school
Taufua says more needs to be done to demystify university education for Pasifika peoples

Moala explores Tongan democracy and identity issues

By Pippa Brown: Pacific Media Centre

Publisher and broadcaster Kalafi Moala led an intimate and spirited philosophical public discussion last night on what it means to be Tongan with a sense of place in the world.

The issues of modern Tonga and how to take the country forward without losing its sense of identity dominated the discussion as the kingdom moves into a fresh era as it progresses toward developing a new constitution.

When Tongans express a sense for democracy there is also a voice saying “please don’t touch my Tonganness, my identity that was established over 3000 years ago,” says Moala.

“Even radical reformists do not want to break up this system.”

Moala, who publishes both the Taimi ‘o Tonga and Tonga Chronicle, was being hosted by the Pacific Media Centre at AUT University to talk about his new book In Search of the Friendly Islands and the constitutional reform consultations.

As the problems of diaspora and the dispersing of people and culture become greater with the issues of globalisation, consequential loss of identity were likely to become more prominent, he says.

Moala introduced the statement, ‘I belong, therefore I am’, and contrasted it to ‘I think, therefore I am’, as being fundamentally important to Tongans and other Pacific peoples in knowing who they are.

He says young people are starting to question who they are as they move among other social structures and although this can relate to anyone, it applies in particular to people in the Pacific.

The quest for identity is a huge thing in the sense that for so many years being Tongan has been taken for granted.

Social relationships
“It is not so much that ‘I have’ but my belonging that shapes everything else that I am,” says Moala.

“In Tonga, the social relationship starts with the family, from the immediate family to the kainga (extended family) which contribute to the grouping of the families who make up the village which combine together to become a region and a nation which then become the fonua.

Moala says the more people look at this belonging and social structure within Tonga, it shows how the relationships work within the family and the strong traditions and headships that lead.

“It’s the people, it’s the land, it’s the nation,” says Moala.

The difference is that Western identity is based on what a person does while Tongan and Pacific identity are based on who people are and the relationship with family, village and so on.

“It is not what you do that really matters in the relationship,” says Moala.

“I belong, therefore I am: Belonging is the relationship of who we are and how we base our relationships in Tonga,” says Moala.

The structure is clearly defined even before Christianity. It is always important that we have a head of the structure from the immediate family where the father figure protects, provides and teaches to the emotional support the mother brings, he says.

Within the relationship courtesy, loyalty, sharing and love are very much part of the social structure. In this sense of structure or Kainga there is always a headship person to relate to.
It is very clear in this society knowing who people relate to, family, kainga, village, and nation and within this nation, the head, says Moala.

“We as a nation are progressing toward reform and the people want changes to happen but they are saying please don’t let it affect my Tonganness and my relationships and relationships to the land and the issues that need to be resolved spiritually for our future,” he says.

Concept of land
Tongans have a strong relationship to the land. The Tongan concept of land and the spirit and life of the land we belong to always remains even as generations come and go, says Moala.

The system of tenure and generational inheritance remains in the sense of Tonganness when returning to the homeland.

“The issues of land extend to the ocean and seabed,” says Moala.

The oceanic kingdom of Tonga comprises 169 islands, 36 of them inhabited and extends over a distance of about 800 kilometres.

Spirituality plays a large part in Tonganness. Moala sees the strong thread of spirituality that binds the people in their relationship with one another and the land as becoming stronger.

“The movement of people across borders is opening up more spirituality as there is more out there to explore,” he says.

Modernisation has made some issues difficult to grasp within the Tongan and Pacific world which are clearly defined in Western terms.

“It is important for us to find conceptual tools that we can use to construct new thought patterns to allow us to find what we are looking for,” says Moala.

“As scholars, media and academics we are trying to probe into this new era of Pacifica and we need to find and create the right conceptual tools."

“The challenge of walking into the future is how we develop new tools,” he says.

Consensual methods
The consensual methods we traditionally use to provide solutions to problems are deep in our culture together with the peace and harmony that come with it says Moala.

He says one of the problems of cultural dispersion and diaspora is that wherever Tongans and Pacific Islanders are in the world they encounter these issues of identity.

“In international cities where there are large populations of Pacific Islanders churches become very important and almost like a refuge,” says Moala.

He thinks the Pacific as a region identifies with a lot of similar issues that we need to find a solution for.

“It is important to find the tools to walk down the aisle together and discover who we really are,” says Moala.

Vaea Hopoi is a student who also works with youth who are dependent on alcohol and drugs. He thinks the biggest problem for Polynesians is a loss of identity and not knowing where they come from.

“I believe you must know your history to know who you are now and to know where you are going in the future,” says Hopoi.

Moala questions why the Pacific region is trying to solve the current Fiji political problem in an confrontational way.

“Why not solve it in a Pacific way and let the Pacific sovereignty leaders meet Fiji and see how we can open up the dialogue,” he asks.

Moala thinks New Zealand is a country that is standing in confrontation with Fiji so Māori may offer a solution. Going in as an outsider hasn’t worked but to look at the issue as Pacific brothers in the broader sense of fonua may work.

New framework
“It hasn’t been solved within the current framework so we need to find another one,” he says.
He thinks the Forum had the right to suspend Fiji “but we don’t need to keep beating them up.”

Moala says the heads of government in the Pacific Island Forum may have some conflict with the duality of the Pacific and Western frameworks.

It is important to apply criticism and look at the challenges facing the Tongan and Pacific Island people he thinks. He says rather than standing outside and looking in we need to come to the culture.

“While it hurts talking about these things it feels good to be a part of it,” says Moala. “We need to report on it but report on it from our own perspective.”

David Robie, associate professor in communication studies at AUT and director of the Pacific Media Centre, commented on how Moala was one of the only journalists in the Pacific who is reflecting on these new issues of belongingness and sense of identity.

“Media reflects a society and its sense of identity and yet in the Pacific this is very much influenced by New Zealand and Australia,” says Dr Robie.

Moala thinks people need to learn to be comfortable with the two sides of traditional belonging and Western way of thinking, to overcome the confusion with identity.

He says some concepts cannot be explained because the tools are not there and “it may be a role for Pacific scholars to investigate and construct these tools and find how to put it in words”.

Top photo of Kalafi Moala last night by Pippa Brown; photo of Moala and Taimi in Nuku'alofa by David Robie. - PMC .

Pippa Brown is an AUT Graduate Diploma in Journalism student on internship with the Pacific Media Centre.

In Search of the Friendly Islands, by Kalafi Moala, published by the Pasifika Foundation
Taimi 'o Tonga

Tributes farewell the 'father' of Pacific studies

By Pippa Brown: Pacific Media Centre

Tributes flowed as families, friends and colleagues gathered in Auckland to say goodbye to the man they called “Papa Ron”, before his final journey home to the Cook Islands today.

About 150 people gathered at a memorial service yesterday at the Pacific Islands Presbyterian Church in Newton to remember professor emeritus Dr Ron Crocombe, known as the father figure of Pacific studies.

Family and friends were joined by ex-students, politicians, learned colleagues and academics who spoke of this great - but humble - man, a leading academic in the Pacific and founding professor of the University of the Pacific’s Institute of Pacific Studies.

Professor Ron Crocombe died suddenly in Auckland on Friday while on his way home to Rarotonga, where he will be buried today.

Born in Auckland and brought up in the King Country, he lived his life as a passionate advocate for the Pacific Islands and the people.

A great traveller, during his time in the Pacific he mentored many Pacific Islanders, a lot of them becoming outstanding leaders in governments and organisations throughout the region.

His family spoke of his love of people, how their home would fill with young people who would return years later as judges, prime ministers and leading academics.

Tata Crocombe, the eldest of Dr Crocombe’s four children, honoured his father at the service and spoke about his strong sense of duty and inclusiveness.

“It was a hand up not a hand out,” he said.

He said his father had tremendous respect for everyone and went beyond the barriers people created and had a natural ability to connect with all people.

Bridge builder
He treated everyone with the same respect and his trademark was to stick out his hand, to anybody and everybody and introduce himself, said Tata Crocombe.

He was an educator, social scientist and bridge builder and believed in the University of the South Pacific whole heartedly.

Tata Crocombe said the memorial service was a “celebration of a good man who left a good legacy”.

Passionate about the Pacific he would argue with anybody in order to get them to understand the Pacific better.

Dr Crocombe also had a strong connection with New Zealand Māori. He spoke many of the Pacific languages including Cook Islands Māori, New Zealand Māori, French and Tok Pisin.

He wanted the Pacific Island people to find their own confidence and ways to go forward. “All he wanted was for people to find their own conscience, wisdom, truth and have the willingness to listen and be open to others opinion,” said Tata Crocombe.

He was a true educator and always helping someone out. He wanted to bring the best out in people. He believed people should be “the best you can be”, and would try to get everyone to achieve that goal, said Tata Crocombe.

Dr Crocombe was the author of many books and an energetic writer. One of his recent volumes Asia in the Pacific Islands: Replacing the West, points to the decline in influence of New Zealand, Australia and European countries within the Pacific, and the rapid acceleration of Asian migration and power into the Pacific Islands.

Tata Crocombe spoke about his father’s ability to see through the political and social structure and understand how the country was going to change.

“He predicted 20 to 30 years ago the rise of Asia, not only in the Pacific but in the world,” said Tata Crocombe.

Definitive book
Younger son, Kevin Crocombe spoke of a lost chance as Dr Crocombe had really wanted to write a definitive book on the Cook Islands that he had started drafting.

“It is a tragedy that it was not finished,” said Kevin. “Reading Dad’s books are like having a chat with him. They are such an easy read.”

He was a cheerful academic said Kevin Crocombe.

“He was always wisecracking, joking and had a different point of view on everything.”

Dr Robert Woonton, former Prime Minister of the Cook Islands from 2002 to 2004, spoke of his deep respect for Dr Crocombe and the standards he set in education and for the people of the Pacific Islands.

He said Dr Crocombe was not just a Kiwi but a Cook Islander over and over again. He covered the Pacific from Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia.

Dr Mary Salisbury, lecturer in linguistics at Massey University said she spoke on behalf of Kiwi academics and the mark he had left on academia. He had such breadth of knowledge, not just in one area but the whole of the Pacific.

“No one could fill his shoes,” she said.

Dr Salisbury told of his generosity and open heart, the time he always had to give, the time he gave because he loved people so much. She thought it a great legacy if his dream, his final word and book on the Cook Islands could be written by a Cook Islander.

International fellows
Dr David Robie, associate professor in communication studies at AUT University and director of the Pacific Media Centre, had been with Dr Crocombe in Tonga last week when, together, they and four other international academics were inducted as international fellows of ‘Atenisi University in a special ceremony.

Dr Robie paid homage to Dr Crocombe as an exceptional man who was an inspiration all over the Pacific.

“He was an extraordinary mentor to Pacific Islanders and wherever he went he took books,” said Dr Robie.

He quoted from a tribute from Professor Rajesh Chandra, vice-chancellor of the University of the South Pacific, emphasising that Dr Crocombe would be remembered as a humble man, disdainful of hypocrisy and of self-proclaimed experts, who devoted his professional life to explaining the Pacific to those from elsewhere.

He will be remembered with enormous respect by all those with whom he worked and those he taught.

“A scholar and a gentleman, Ron Crocombe is sadly missed by his numerous friends and admirers at the University of the South Pacific,” said Dr Robie.

Just four months short of turning 80, Dr Crocombe is survived by his wife, Marjorie, four children Tata, Ngaire, Kevin and Sam, and many grandchildren.

Top photograph: Ron and Marjorie Crocombe (The Fiji Times); other photos - the pallbearers, Tata Crocombe and PMC's David Robie (Photos: Pippa Brown).

Pippa Brown is an AUT Graduate Diploma in Journalism student on internship with the Pacific Media Centre.

David Robie's tribute
Brij Lal's tribute
Croz Walsh's tribute
Pacific Minister Te Heuheu says Crocombe will be sadly missed

Europe cancels sugar grant, Fiji regime remains defiant

“There has been no civil disturbance among Fijians of either Melanesian or Indian descent. The army is well-disciplined and trained and it’s there to ensure law and order and the people have respect for this,” says Alton Shameem, president of Fiji Club of New Zealand.

By Pippa Brown: Pacific Media Centre

Thousands of Fiji Islanders will be hit by the European Commission’s decision to cancel a grant worth more than $US31 million to help the Pacific country’s ailing sugar industry just days before the harvest is due to begin.

But Fiji still refuses to be bullied after this month’s suspension from the Pacific Islands Forum on May 2 after ignoring a deadline by the Forum to set a date for elections this year.

Regime leader Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama maintains his stance that elections will not be held before 2014, allowing changes to the electoral system to be put in place.

He claims he is providing a better system for the Fiji people and calls the system under the previous Laisenia Qarase government biased and racist.

Bainimarama says he has extended the current media ban in an effort to maintain calm within the country.

Alton Shameem, chairman and president of Fiji Club of New Zealand, says Bainimarama is on the right track bringing democracy to Fiji the way western people want it.

Shameem is among people from Fiji who agrees with the media controls Bainimarama put in place and says Fiji needs to proceed quietly, step by step and not rush things.

He says it takes time to take a country to “freedom” and that is why the elections are not being held until 2014.

‘Anzac bullies’
Both Australia and New Zealand are refusing to engage in dialogue with Bainimarama’s regime in the absence of any internationally recognised government.

Shameem says countries like New Zealand and Australia have a condescending attitude and are trying to sabotage Bainimarama’s ideals and make it harder.

He says the foreign policies of both the Labour and National parties are similar but says the previous Labour government acted as “a very hard bully”.

Shameem thinks the New Zealand and Australian governments are deliberately acting to keep Fiji subservient.

“Fiji is a good country with lots of resources. It is doing well and they don’t want it to prosper,” says Shameem.

He says New Zealand and Australia are threatened and do not want Fiji to be “democratically independent”.

Earlier this month, leaders of the Māori Party were invited to visit Fiji but New Zealand Prime Minister John Key banned ministerial members from making visits to the military dictatorship, even in a private capacity.

The Māori Party says it does not necessarily support the Bainimarama regime as it is unclear what the interim government is doing.

The party still plans to send a delegation on a fact-finding mission to get an understanding of what is happening at grassroots level.

It does not agree with the way the New Zealand government is dealing with Fiji as being the right way forward.

Support for regime
Most Fiji Islanders support the Bainimarama regime, claims Shameem.

“There has been no civil disturbance among Fijians of either Melanesian or Indian descent. The army is well-disciplined and trained and it’s there to ensure law and order and the people have respect for this,” he says.

“The army is not committing ethnic cleansing or genocide. It is there to protect all Fijians.”
He claims New Zealand and Australia have made up their mind to bully the people of Fiji.

He cannot understand why the New Zealand government is doing everything to "make life hell" for the Fijians.

“It’s the everyday people that suffer like the vulnerable and the poor. Why are they making it harder for them,” he says.

He thinks that the Pacific Islands Forum have been pressured by New Zealand and Australia.
“Look at Tonga. It doesn’t have democracy and no one is saying anything about that,” he says.

A few days ago, Fijilive reported that Tongan Prime Minister Dr Feleti Sevele had asked for a rethink on Fiji’s situation after being suspended from the Forum. He thought Australia and New Zealand were acting with a heavy hand.

Chinese influence
China’s aid programmes have resulted in a sevenfold increase in pledged aid to Fiji since the coup - from $US23 million in 2006 to $US160 million in 2007.

China is ambitious to be a super power and is moving closer to the Pacific, says Shameem.

He says recently $NZ280 million was awarded to Chinese companies to build state housing in Fiji.

“The real losers will be Australia and New Zealand,” he says.

Shameem says there has been a clamp down on media because foreign media have been seen to be agitating and not telling the true Fijian story.

Most foreign journalists are “parachute journalists”, he claims.

“They think they can fly in and be experts. People can see through the fact that they are trying to just promote themselves.”

Squatter problem
Shameem claims references to an increasing squatter problem is just western media blowing it out of proportion.

“In Fiji, you can’t buy land - especially the Indo-Fijian population. When the land leased for farming expires, they need to go somewhere. The Indo-Fijians have never wanted to take land by force,” he says.

Shameem says this is a byproduct of the Qarase government which made a “real mess of everything” with allegedly corrupt and racist appointments. And it is why Bainimarama has needed to interfere.

Bainimarama did not necessarily want to go into politics, says Shameem. He is an army man and that is why he is direct.

He is not a politician but circumstances mean that he has been thrust into this situation.

Shameen says there is no undercurrent of tension. People are happy but there will be a group with a vested interest.

Bainimarama wants to give power to the people. Democracy is about people like you and me.
“Fiji is progressing fast,” he says.

“The Fijians are everyday people who just want to put food to the table,” says Shameem.
“Bainimarama is a good guy, bringing democracy, doing the right thing and making life better for the Fijians,” he says.

Dr David Robie, associate professor in communication studies and director of the Pacific Media Centre at AUT University, says the regime is saying the colonial system has failed Fiji and past politicians have failed to deliver to their people.

He believes the regime is moving toward China and Asia, particularly.

“I don’t think our political advisers are reading the situation particularly well.

Fiji is vitally important to the rest of the Pacific and excluding it is not in the region’s best interests. If we aren’t careful, it will dramatically change the balance of power in the region,” he says.

Pippa Brown is a Graduate Diploma in Journalism student and she is on the AUT Asia-Pacific Journalism course.

Europe cancels Fiji sugar grant
Fiji tightens grip, plans own media

Fiji regime tightens grip, plans own media

By Pippa Brown: Pacific Media Centre

Fiji continues to head into a political and economic hole as Fiji’s military regime tightens its grip and communications in the country are heavily censored.

The regime now plans to begin broadcasting its own television programme in a deal with Fiji TV, and to publish a newspaper insert in the Fiji Sun, the second-largest daily.

The unanimous decision to suspend Fiji from the Pacific Islands Forum earlier this month further compounded Fiji’s woes.

The PIF responded to Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama’s failure to return Fiji to democratic governance by May 1 and name a date for elections this year.

“A regime which displays such a total disregard for basic human rights, democracy and freedom has no place in the Pacific Islands forum,” said the Forum chairman, Niue Premier Toke Talagi.

The forum will ensure that Fiji does not benefit directly from any regional cooperation initiatives, new financial or technical assistance until it returns to democratic rule.

Amnesty International is extremely concerned about the volatility of the situation. It says the human rights situation is getting worse by the day and the civilian population is living in fear as a result of draconian measures implemented by the military regime.

“What is developing is a nature of extreme fear and intimidation.

“As well as the media clampdown, the regime is now believed to be monitoring email traffic, blogs and telephone conversations,” says Pacific researcher Apolosi Bose after a trip to Fiji last month.

‘Chilling effect’
The censorship has affected the way people work and has had a “major chilling effect” on the operations of a non-government organisation whose work is critical for standing up to human rights abuses, says Bose.

Oxfam New Zealand executive director Barry Coates thinks communications have not entirely shut down.

“Technology and communications are still available through the internet. Ten percent of citizens have internet access; mainly in urban areas as a lot of rural areas still have traditional lifestyles,” says Coates.

China has an influence on Fiji and other Pacific nations.

“The influence of New Zealand and Australia is disappearing and there is a real problem with foreign policy,” he says.

China is not condemning Fijian policies and now gaining influence in the region.

The Chinese government has been accused of propping up the military regime by supplying hundreds of millions of dollars in aid, according to a Lowry Institute analyst, Fergus Hanson.

The Australian reported that although China maintains a strong relationship with Fiji and other Pacific nations, it does not want to be seen as the new international protector filling Fiji’s international relations vacuum, or writing cheques to underpin the country’s collapsing revenues.

Foreign exchange
Foreign exchange remittances sent home by Fijian peacekeepers are said to be worth millions of dollars a year to the Fijian economy.

The Chinese news agency Xinhua reported that the UN will continue to use Fiji police and soldiers in its current peacekeeping missions but will not increase the numbers in future deployments.

There are more Fijian police working under its peacekeeping mandate than soldiers, said the UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Ly Pascoe, during a conference in New York recently.

Bruce McConchie has extensive global experience within the development area through both government aid projects and NGOs over a period of 35 years.

He says that NGOs hold a distinct advantage in aid projects.

“They are better at reaching the poorest as they operate at grassroots level and are more effective at managing micro-finance initiatives. They commit to the lengthy time frame required to make a difference,” he says.

“They are used to times of strife and operating in an environment of poor communication,” he says.

Providing the resources are still available, the lack of communication isn’t a problem. NGOs operate best on mobilising and encouraging other people.

They are not solely dependent on outside resources and work effectively with what is available in their immediate environment. Change is often not obvious for another 10 to 15 years, he says.

Squatter settlements
Oxfam’s Barry Coates says there has been an increase in squatter settlements around Suva.

Relations between New Zealand and Australia toward Fiji have cooled further after both countries snubbed an attempt by Commodore Bainimarama for a summit with Prime Ministers New Zealand John Key and Australian Kevin Rudd.

Bainimarama expressed frustration with both prime ministers and their attitude at his attempts to rid Fiji of racism and undertake electoral reform before elections in 2014.

An election this year would restore the “racist” government of former Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, whom he disposed at gunpoint in 2006, according to The Australian.

Can Fiji sustain itself operating alone in this environment?

“The problems are enormously complex,” says Coates. It is partly due to the coup and partly due to a decline in Fiji’s economy. The textile industry is breaking down as more manufacturing is going to China.

There have been major disruptions in the sugar and tourism industries. The impact on tourism is due to the coup.

Tourists nervous
“It made people nervous about going there with the military running the country,” he says.
The sugar industry and international trade issues are due to European Union policies.

“They are protecting their own distributors.” The EU suspended its $170 million aid package to Fiji’s sugar industry, the second- largest after tourism, following the coup and says future help depends on democracy being restored.

Coates says it is difficult to see how this situation is going to play out in the long term.

“Without the restoration of democracy, the rights of minorities like the Indo-Fijians will suffer,” he says. He believes tension is building and the Fijians are suffering economically.

Pippa Brown is a Graduate Diploma in Journalism student who is on the AUT Asia-Pacific Journalism course. Photo: Pacific Media Centre.

Healthy eating message in for next Polyfest

By Pippa Brown: Pacific Media Centre

Health messages are in for next year’s Polyfest after more than 90,000 people enjoyed the latest event here over the weekend at the Manukau Sportsbowl. School teams from more than 15 Asia-Pacific cultures contested the annual event - the world's largest Maori and Pasifika cultural event.

Event manager Tania Karauria says subtle changes are made to the successful formula each year – “another reason for the calm mood”.

The festival, now far too big for the host schools to handle as a venue, is a smoke free event - and a real effort is put into stamping out smoking.

This year free water was on offer with no fizzy drinks.

The aim for 2010 is to further encourage a healthy eating message around festival type foods and the different cultural stages, says Karauria.

The festival evolved from humble beginnings in 1976 when it was first hosted by Otara’s Hillary College.

Dean Wilson, media manager, has been with the Polyfest for three years. He describes this year as “brilliant”.

“It’s a bit of a slice of the islands – every stage has a bit of a presence.”

Wesley College hosted this year’s four-day event. More than 9000 students from 60 schools performed under the slogan of “Many cultures, one world”

Five stages included Maori, Cook Island, Niue, Samoan, Tongan performers along with a diversity stage.

More relaxed
“The presentation of the festival has got better. Using professionals makes it more relaxed and the quality of the performance is bigger. The students go out and work really hard to be competitive,” says Wilson.

Manukau City had assisted the 34-year-old festival with the infrastructure at the Sports Bowl.

“Sponsorship is a big part of the support. The downturn has brought a tougher sponsorship market but many of our sponsors have signed up for three years so will come back,” says Wilson.

“ASB has been a loyal supporter for 24 years and every year continues to add to the event. It’s a good positive youth celebration and a good synergy to be involved with,” he says.

Wilson has not seen violence at the event for some time. Counties Manukau police have a strong presence and there is security on site.

Tania Karauria, ASB Polyfest event manager, says organisers want to see it stay safe and exciting.

“There is a total concerted effort to make the festival what it is today,” she says.

Karauria says there is an increase in the number of large groups from schools attending.

On Friday, Te Atatu Intermediate bused in the whole school of 270 pupils and 30 staff to the event.

Multicultural goal
Inspector Dave Simpson, in charge of operations, says: “The festival started out as a really good intention for a multicultural secondary school extravaganza. Unfortunately, it also provided the opportunity for young people to act inappropriately.

“Going back about six or seven years there were some brawls, ethnic pressure and tension between schools,” he says.

John Sione, a visitor from New Lynn, is concerned about talk that the future of the festival could be at risk.

“It’s stupid. This is what our parents from the islands did,” he says.

“For some of us, learning this is our only escape from gangs. The practice in the weekends and after school keeps us occupied. It’s good the way it is.”

Inspector Simpson believes the event is good for young people committed to training and competing for a trophy with strong parent support.

He took over the policing of the event in 2003 and quickly recognised there were problems and safety issues.

Safety issues
“We started putting a lot more police staff into it, working with the organisers and a security firm and producing a more integrated response to safety issues. More effort is put into this event than other events like an international sports fixture or rock concert,” he says.

“We have a disproportionate number of lower decile schools in our district and an incredible ethnic diversity. This event celebrates that diversity.

“An organisation like ours should be very much involved rather than sitting on the periphery and doing its normal job,” says Inspector Simpson.

“The fact that this event is all about connecting with culture is not really the issue. It’s about providing the opportunity for young people to get together, to commit and train for something, to gain a sense of achievement whether they win or lose.”

“I just think that events like this do so much for our young people. We are really pleased to see the improvements that have occurred and I must stress that this is not just about the police or down to the police. By working closely with the organisers and security we have come up with a type of solution,” says Inspector Simpson.

Top: Cook Islands dancers at the Polyfest; Above: Police keep an eye out for problems. Photos: Pippa Brown.

Pippa Brown is a student journalist on the Asia-Pacific Journalism course, AUT University.

ASB Polyfest