From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 18, no. 3, December 2003.

A former technician with the Tonga Telephone and Telegraph Department back in 1957, Alexander James McGregor (80), from Grey Lynn, Auckland, visited Tonga for the third time in November.

When Mr Mc Gregor first arrived in Tonga in 1957 homes were Tongan thatched huts, and there were no aeroplanes, just ferries. There were a few vehicles and the telephone system operated through one switchboard.

“Now Tonga has developed massively in regards to everything, and it has become a mobile little island,” he said.

On his last visit in 1980 changes of development were taking place, and now people and places outside the main island are accessible because of better communication.

He added that telephones then were available only within Nuku‘alofa, but rural areas and outer islands remained inaccessible. Today communication is not a problem because the whole of Tonga is connected with the introduction of mobiles and digital phones.

While in Tonga Mr McGregor visited Vava‘u for a few days, and he also met up with two of his old working colleagues, Viliami Tu‘ipulotu and Tapu Panuve of Kolofo‘ou.