Repeating form four three times unable to read properly until form six in Tonga, Palatasa Havea has developed into an academic achieving a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and a PhD in food science.

He is currently a leading senior research scientist based at Fonterra Research and Development Centre in New Zealand and was at the centre of finding a process to add whey protein, an exceptional source of nutrition, to consumer products while retaining its nutritional value, something scientists around the world had grappled with.

“We led the world in that and I did a lot of the extra research myself over many years,”  Palatasa told New Zealand’s Stuff media recently.

He said it was one of the highlights of his career. Fonterra is able to include whey protein in consumer products such as yogurt, beverages and food snacks without losing its nutritional value.

Growing up in Tonga

Hailing from Vava’u, Palatasa grew up fixated on boxing rather than school. But his father would continually nag him about getting an education, pushing him to do better.

“My dad never like me doing the boxing. He kept on saying “Boy, you go to school!” said Palatasa.

"I didn’t like school, was tossing up whether to leave when I was younger, at 14-15,” he said.

“I failed everything. In the islands at the time we had New Zealand School Certificate that we had to sit. I never passed that. It took me three years to do the year before that – the fourth form.”

As education on Vava’u was not having much of a positive effect on Palatasa, he moved to Tongatapu to attend a better school, and it had a profound impact on him.

Prior to being accepted into the school, Tasa had to convince the principal he deserved to be there during an interview.

“They accepted me because I told the principal I had passed my School Certificate and he put me in Form 6……because of me being a nice-looking guy, looking innocent, he let me in.”

Since he embraced learning, Tasa has never looked back.

“This school was so good because they helped me and they made me believe in myself.”

“I became top in math, top in biology. I got prizes for many things in that year and that’s when I discovered I liked education. The teachers were better, the environment was better and because you are around good students you can’t help but try your best. So I learnt to read properly. I could never read before then. I learned in Form 6.”

Academic achievements

Palatasa went on to work at the Tonga Commodities Board, responsible for marketing local farmer’s produce, and was sent to Massey University in Palmerston North to study for a degree in food technology.

“I learnt a great deal,” he said.

“Because in Tonga you see chocolate, ice cream and corned beef and other things and we never knew how they were made. To actually experience seeing all that, gaining understanding of how they are made and the discipline behind it was so fascinating.”

Returning to Tonga armed with his degree, he continued working at the Tonga Commodities Board until it closed down a few years later.

He headed back to Massey University on a Government Scholarship to learn more about food science and completed his Masters degree with first class honours in food technology. He was then offered a PhD role to research whey protein functionality at the Dairy Board.

“I was the only Tongan with a food technology PhD,” he said. “By now there are probably three or four more, but I was the first one.”

Later on, he worked at the whey protein plant at the Edgecumbe Dairy factory as a research and development officer, then moved on to work at the New Zealand Dairy Research Institute in 1999 that later merged to become Fonterra.

However, his important work hasn’t stopped with Fonterra, Palatasa also advises the Ministry for the Pacific Peoples on policies to help children to do well and he has been doing this for the past 13 years.

Inspiring people

Palatasa speaks at various schools, conferences and communities about his struggle through school in Tonga and how he managed to turn this around inspiring children around New Zealand.

“We don’t always do very well in our education and the Ministry of Education has used me a lot as an example of someone who was really bad at school to help the kids.”

“We set up programmes to help kids with the literacy and numeracy. I think I know how they do well and how they do badly and how to turn them around to become good kids. I try to use my own experience.”

Palatasa is married with three children and when he plans on retiring he may return to Tonga and “Maybe run a little business, retire pretty much, go fishing every day.”