Tubou I, a leader in education [1]
Tuesday, July 2, 2019 - 22:04. Updated on Tuesday, July 2, 2019 - 22:09.
An Australian missionary scholar, Rev. Dr Geoffrey Cummins, made a special presentation ‘Tubou I – the Making of a Nation’, at the Fa'onelua Convention Centre in Nuku'alofa last night.
The event attended by HM King Tupou VI and Queen Nanasipau‘u was the first of several special events planned this week in honour of the king's 60th birthday celebrations.
Rev. Dr Cummins and his wife were welcomed by HRH Princess Angelika Latufuipeka.
Tubou I was an outstanding figure in 19th Century Tongan history at the time of the first missionary contacts. Rev. Dr Cummins presented his lecture based on his research into the reports made by visitors who had met Tubou I, and spoke highly of the King as a leader who was ahead of his time. Dr Cummins related interesting anecdotes of the schools on the beach at Lifuka where Tongans learned to write in the sand, and how the education of Tubou I forged his desire to educate all Tongans. He related the king's personal journey from “conquering by the club” to “conquering by love” following his conversion to Christianity. The King's education helped him to skillfully navigate the documentary treaties and agreements that Tonga was making with the world powers of the time, and to oversee the making of the Tongan Constitution and law.
Rev. Dr Cummins, a Minister of the Uniting Church in Australia, is a former General Secretary of the Board of Education of the church. He was a missionary to Tongan and served as Principal of Tupou High School 1966-73. He was ordained a Minister of the Free Weselyan Church of Tonga in 1967. Over the years he has authored several scholarly articles on the history of Tonga.
Tupou Tertiary Institute musicians and dancers also performed last night at the event.