From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 14, no. 4, December 1999.

Hon. Lupepau’u Tuita, 22, is the latest recruit to join the staff of the Pacific Asia Global Holdings Ltd. office in Hong Kong.

Lupepau‘u, the eldest daughter of Princess Pilolevu and Noble Tuita, the Governor of Vava‘u, is among a new generation of Royals who are breaking tradition by not working for the government, but are pursuing a career in the competitive business world. “It is my first job, and even though I am working for my mother I still have to regard her as the Boss, and I can define that line. Outside the office it is back to normal, but it is my first real job, and I hope that I will not get fired,” she said.

Pacific Asia Global Holdings is the only Tongan owned business with a branch in Asia, and it is staffed by a group of young Tongans. Lupepau‘u joined the company in March last year as an Executive Trainee. She said that her first assignment was to learn the history of the company, “what they did, how far they have branched out from just marketing the satellite orbital sites, to trade, and the Asian market.

“This year I was given a new title, Chief Operations Manager-Trade. I have to deal with everyone—you get to know the connection, you know what has been marketed, you actually see the contract, and sit in with them during negotiation. When Anna Tupou and Semisi Panuve are away they leave me in charge.”

Lupepau’u graduated from Auckland University in 1997 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History, and she said that she never dreamt that she would end up working in Hong Kong, doing administration and marketing. “I was interested in satellite communication because of my mother, so she decided to send me here. “At first I was thinking a lot about administration but so much has happened since last year I want to explore marketing more. It is very competitive, but I think I will gain more experience in marketing rather than being responsible for administration in the office,” she said.

Survival

After two years in her first job Lupepau‘u is convinced that it is “absolutely desirable” for Royal children and the children of Tonga’s nobles to explore career opportunities in the business world. “I think the only chance for them to survive in the future is to get involved in ventures like this, modern ventures, such as marketing and business. They don’t have to go overseas for that, they can stay in Tonga, but I think most of them have been, and still are, very confined. Most of them have not really had the overseas experience that my sister and I have been very fortunate to have had when we were growing up. When you are raised overseas you see opportunities, you see what you can become, where as if you are raised in Tonga your thinking is confined to certain things and you are not open minded about things.”

On the gender issue, Lupepau‘u said she would encourage girls to branch out, “I don’t take it for granted that I have opportunities that other girls in Tonga don’t have. I feel very fortunate that I am able to do this and I think my family realise that if I am kept too long in Tonga they will eventually pass away and we will be totally stuck, so I think they want the same opportunities for my male and female cousins to go above that. Tradition will always be tradition, and at home.”

Lupepau‘u  said the good support from her family, was important.

“I said that I have had it easy, but it is definitely not easy when you are in there with the real people and the real world…you are just a person negotiating with them to get a deal done. But it can get difficult, and I think it really helps me play my role here. I prefer to just introduce myself as my job title and nothing more, because that is what people regard you as anyway.

“It was a big shock, when I started, but Anna and the others were keeping an eye out for me. I found it very different and it is still very exciting for me, because everything is happening all at once, and being in Hong Kong has that working atmosphere. So I think the real world is very exciting, and I don’t have a problem with it.”

Lupepau‘u believed that the young people of Tonga should think about making Tonga grow, “That is one of the themes that we operate under here—to make Tonga grow—so that it could become something of an asset for the whole Pacific Region. If they can focus on that then a lot of opportunities will arise for the young people of Tonga,” she said. “The hard thing though is having the generation before you in a totally different frame of thinking from what the young people of today think. I don’t think it should be looked upon as rebellious. So you get to focus on that perspective that everything is on a larger scale, and you are doing this for your country, and you should only think of the benefit that it can achieve, then you do it without any questions, thinking that it is right,” said Lupepau‘u.