Tonga's police commissioner return to New Zealand; Tongan solutions to problems

On the evening of 16 November 2006 in Nuku'alofa, two brothers from the family that owned the Taumoepeau Building watched nervously as fire engulfed the Molisi Tonga store next door. Also watching were firemen who said that a fire engine parked nearby is full of water. But as flames started to flicker on the edge of the roof facing Molisi the firemen made no move to hose it down. The appointment of Chris Kelley as police commissioner was still two years away or we would have known definitively what they were saving the water for or if there was water at all in the fire engine. An HSBC Bank advertisement emphasizes that local knowledge is invaluable. And a key fact that Kelley should have learned from day one is that the Friendly Islands Human Rights and Democracy Movement is not a human rights organization. There are things in this country that can only be understood in that context. Unfortunately Kelley's days as police commissioner ends this Friday. Today the Minister of Police tried to rationalize the government's decision not to renew Kelley's contract and failed miserably. The honour for the most comical decision however belongs to the Tonga Water Board. To counter a rising tide of complaints from water consumers the TWB hired a public relations officer. These are engineering problems that need engineering solutions. Another problem that is not tackled is the bastardization of the Tongan language. The use of pidgin Tongan is on the ascendancy and one of the worst offenders is the Ministry of Education, Women Affairs and CULTURE. A new Miss Heilala was crowned last week; and a heartening and positive development is that those judging the talent contest in the pageant now include dancers, singers and artists. The principal judge in another year was a fresh diplomat from NZ whose previous career was farming, probably dairy. That is not so unusual here. The last general manager of the Tonga Broadcasting Commission came straight from the Ministry of Agriculture where she handled livestock, fertilizers and tractors. A professional farmer might be just what the Talaki newspaper need. Its edition on 25 March 2009 talked of the Catholic church's generosity in letting students from other faiths enter the Australia Pacific Technical College. The Talaki's editor forgot that the APTC is owned by the Australian government.