Tukufonua ki Langi - at what price? [1]
Wednesday, February 22, 2006 - 19:08. Updated on Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - 18:16.
Dear Editor
The fact that Tonga was never colonized has made Tonga unique and different from her neighboring islands. It is a source of pride for Tongans in the years gone by, so much so, that many of the Tongan poets have lines like: "Taha pe 'i he tahi saute", "Kei toe pe 'a felenite", etc, etc. Certainly, things would be much different now if that famous meeting at Pouono to decide on which colonial power to give Tonga to, came out with something different.
The impacts of colonialism can be seen quite clearly in our neighboring islands. New Caledonia was and is still colonized by France. The French interests are understandable as New Caledonia is the third largest nickel producer in the world. As of today, the indigenous people (Kanaks) are concentrated in the impoverished parts of the country. They are behind the French in almost all aspects of life. They have lost ownership of their best lands, lost their native language and are in a 15 years transition process towards independence. Tahiti is no different and they will forever live with the effects of the French's atomic testings at Mururoa.
In Fiji, their British masters brought the indentured Indian labourers to work on their sugarcane plantations - a race which thinks and behaves in the total opposite to the Fijians. The British built good roads, bridges and government offices but left their Indian imports for the Fijians to work and live with. Together with the Indians, they left behind the British democracy, which, after more than 30 years, the Fijians are still struggling to understand and to put into practice.
The Australians enjoyed the rich mineral deposits of PNG. Nevertheless, after thirty years of handing over independence, PNG is so rife with corruption, law and order are at an all time low, public infrastructures are at their worst and poverty and HIV/AIDS are at a record high.
In Vanuatu, their two colonial masters wanted to make their marks clear such that French and British are both part of the current official languages, and for many more years to come.
Samoa claims to be the first Pacific Island country to get full independence. Their days under the German and NZ rules is evident by the almost equal number of foreign and Samoan surnames in the country. Helen Clark only recently apologized to the Samoans over the human rights abuses the Kiwis did in Samoa. But unlike other island countries of the Pacific, Samoa earned itself automatic citizenship in NZ. Despite the later changes brought about by Muldoon's government, the Treaty of Friendship between the two countries gave Samoa a lasting special category in the NZ's Immigration Policy. NZ is now an extension of Samoa as can be witnessed in business, parliamentary representation, education, etc and as one rugby coach put it, NZ is a factory for the Manu Samoa.
Who would be interested in Tonga? It doesn't have mineral resources and we are not strategically positioned to the East nor the West. Perhaps the Tukufonua was the last option. But let's look at it. We may have missed out on better roads, wharves and airports brought by colonialists but more than 98% of the land is still in the hands of Tongans. Nuku'alofa is still dominated by Tongans. Major businesses in Tonga are owned by locals. Our language is still in place. Our parliament is made up of 99% full blooded Tongans. Tonga was not subjected to the same extent of abuses that the colonialists did in their Pacific Island colonies. Despite not being a colony, Tongans enjoy excellent opportunities to migrate to NZ, Australia and the US.
There are calls in the country for more democracy but experiences with our neighboring countries shows that even if Tonga was colonized, we will still be toying around with democracy as they are currently doing in Fiji and PNG.
But while all our neighboring countries, including Tokelau, are pursuing independence, Tonga decided to colonize herself by giving Tonga citizenship to some 400+ Chinese. Fakafeta'i e ma'ukoloa pea malie e maa'imoa!
'Ofa atu
Sailosi Finau,
Auckland, NZ
sailosifinau [at] yahoo [dot] com [dot] au