Tonga's diplomats,politicians and the late Fineasi Funaki

Most of Tonga's senior diplomats have one thing in common; they are former military-men. Here they are: Tonga's ambassador to the People's Republic of China, Tonga's ambassador to the United Nations and the US, Tonga's high commissioner to Australia, the CEO of Tonga's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Tonga's consul general in San Francisco. Only the high commissioners to the UK and New Zealand did not serve in the Tonga Defense Services. The prime minister who heads the government is a former secondary school teacher. The leader of the opposition in parliament is a former primary school teacher. His experience in teaching little children between the ages of 6 and 12 without a doubt stood him in good stead for he has been a member of parliament for 25 years. He however is unable to stem the deterioration in the use of the Tongan language in parliament. As members, especially the younger ones, continue to gratuitously adulterate their speech with English words; probably to impress but makes it hard to understand what actually they are barking about. Communicating in the Tongan language was one of the strengths of the late minister of tourism Fineasi Funaki, himself a former high school teacher. Gifted with a sharp mind Fineasi was often responsible for causing some of the fiercest debates in the legislature; accompanied by the inevitable rise in pitch, in temperature and in the blood pressures of his opponents. Another area in which Fineasi excelled was his defense of human rights; in particular, the rights of minorities and religious freedom. His passing last year was a huge loss to human rights, i.e. to genuine human rights, here in Tonga.