New laptops for Tonga's parliament; birthday guest-list is news for Radio NZ International; and a code of ethics for Tonga's teachers

Each member of Tonga's new parliament has at his disposal a new laptop, courtesy of the People's Republic of China. The Speaker was so overjoyed at the gift that he forgot which language to express his gratitude in and ended up switching back and forth between the English and Tongan languages while talking to journalists. When the Speaker was still an ordinary member of parliament he once complained that he could not understand the then minister of health, who used to decorate his speeches with English phrases. The Speaker talked of the many advantages a laptop brings, including ease of access to the internet; but he overlooked the mere fact that these toys are also useful for watching porn, a diversion that can help MPs bear with the long and aimless speeches that dominate parliamentary debates. What will happen to the laptops in four years? We do not know yet, but in parliament this year veteran MP 'Akilisi Pohiva wanted to know the fate of 10 motorbikes, 40 desk fans. and 100 green-colored chairs that belonged to the legislature but have mysteriously disappeared. Every weekday at 8.40 am we get to hear a news bulletin in the Tongan language from Radio NZ International, relayed via FM 89.5. If the news reader had been to a wedding or birthday party, that too would often feature in the news. But Tevita Finau who read the news from Wellington took it to an absurd level on 22 February 2011 when he actually read out the guest-list at a birthday party. By the sixth minute (I timed it) Tevita started on who lit the birthday cake, but thankfully local announcer 'Anolo Manu has heard enough and turned it off. Today the Friendly Islands Teachers Association president Finau Tutone told Radio Tonga news that they are working on a code of ethics for teachers here. What I as a parent want is equal opportunity for all students. In 2005 Mr Tutone's then 12-year old grandson, a Form 2 student, sat the Maths paper in the Tonga School Certificate exams, which was and is only available to Form 5 students. This country teems with youths who unwisely left school early without any qualifications; why not not give them the same opportunity as that enjoyed by the young Tutone. Anyway Finau Tutone is a very active member of the Friendly Islands Human Rights and Democracy Movement that purports to promote human rights here in Tonga.     

Chris Kelley should stay on as Tonga's police commissioner; Tongans' penchant for writing reports

Chris Kelley can clean up the Tonga Police Force. In one of the trials relating to the riot in 2006, a key piece of evidence, a videotape, went missing. When it was finally recovered, part of it had already been deleted. Its trail through the police department was tracked down to a cadet officer and a constable. The defendants were of course acquitted but what happened to the two police officers? A member of the then small Tongan community in the UK, i.e. before rugby union turned professional, related to me in 2006 of his shock when an inspector from the Tonga Police boasted of how he had punched a prominent Nuku'alofa woman unconscious and then raped her. The inspector completed his course of study, then returned to Tonga where he spent many more fruitful years serving King and country. And write reports. Tongans have a weakness for writing reports. The editor of the Matangitonga news website write reports for Transparency International. After the submission of one such report, TI rated Tonga as one of the world's most corrupt countries. Reports were already written about the MV Princess Ashika before it sank.. Even on the day it sailed on its final voyage, the vessel was inspected by an independent marine engineer for yet another report. The director of the Friendly Islands Human Rights and Democracy Movement also write a report; unbelievably, it is on the state of human rights here in Tonga. Since the FIHRDM only pretends to be a genuine human rights organization, you would expect the director to be writing a report for Stupidity International. But no! The report is actually read, dissected, digested, filed and probably memorized by a group of idiots from Christchurch, New Zealand who call themselves the Christian World Service, They seem to specialize in giving away money to unworthy causes. This week the FIHRDM announced its displeasure that Lt. Col. Tevita Mara, who alleges serious human rights abuses in Fiji, has been given a Tongan passport. No doubt the FIHRDM director will include the Mara passport in his report to the preschoolers at the Christian World Service.

Tenth anniversary of campaign to expose the Friendly Islands Human Rights and Democracy Movement; Ngalu Fusimalohi heads Tonga's Olympic team; hero Sepp Blatter; and more advice for Radio Australia's Bruce Hill

2011is the tenth year since I came to the conclusion that the FIHRDM is an organization that devours human rights and decided to do something about this madness. In 2001 I hand-delivered a letter to the editor of the then Matangitonga magazine, outlining my reasons as to why the FIHRDM cannot qualify as a human rights organization. That letter was never published but the Tonga Chronicle and Taimi 'o Tonga newspapers accepted letters that dared to challenge the status of the FIHRDM.. There is no doubt about the cleverness of the FIHRDM in putting on a respectable front and its ability to attract funds from overseas sponsors. There is also no doubt about the failure of the Tonga Media Council to detect a monstrosity right under its nose. The Tonga Amateur Sports Association (TASA) has appointed Ngalu Fusimalohi as chef de mission of Tonga's team to the 2012 Olympics. Last year Ngalu was suspended by FIFA for three years. TASA administration manager 'Ahosivi Kaitapu told the Tasimi 'o Tonga that Ngalu has university degrees and experience in journalism and these will come in handy if there is a need for negotiations. 'Ahosivi is probably unaware that Ngalu is disciplined by FIFA because of comments he made to British reporters who had posed as American soccer officials. Ngalu is seeking to divorce his Fiji-born wife on grounds that are not recognized by the laws of Tonga. Nevertheless I trust TASA's judgment. FIFA under hero Sepp Blatter's leadership had built a multimillion dollar soccer complex here in Tonga. Ngalu, then secretary general of the Tonga Football Association, oversaw that project. As for Radio Australia's Bruce Hill. Well, poor old Bruce should first visit Atenisi University when he is in Tonga; because there, academics and students disinterestedly analyze significant events in the local scene. That should help Bruce distinguish between bread crumbs and bird droppings when he interviews Tongan politicians and political activists.  

More nonsense from Radio Australia's Bruce Hill about the recent Chinese migrants to the Pacific

On 18 April 2011 Bruce Hill claimed on the "Pacific Beat" program that these latter day migrants from China do not learn the indigenous culture or the language of the countries in which they settle. And that could have contributed to the perpetration of atrocities against them. Mr. Hill got a professor from Malaysia and someone from Bougainville to back those views. He failed however to get someone with an opposing viewpoint. Mr. Hill should tell us the kind of cultures that he meant, since some of these are criminal offenses. As to the language, the Chinese migrants learned and used the Pacific languages in order to reach their customers. Obviously Mr. Hill has got that one wrong. On 5 May 2006 Bruce Hill was in Tonga and I had called him about a spate of robberies against Chinese businesses. Mr. Hill quoted a big shot from the Tonga Media Council as saying that the police are on top of the situation and then discontinued the conversation. Six months later many Asian businesses in Nuku'alofa were looted and destroyed. Mr. Hill descended once more on the kingdom of Tonga and this time interviewed a Dr. Tui Uata. According top Dr. Uata the local Chinese community did not practise certain elements of the Tongan culture and the destruction of their businesses was due in part to what he called the "ripple effect." Mr. Hill did not contest this. But this is problematic since the prominent Chinatown Hotel, the Lily's restaurant, and several other Chinese businesses stood apart from other buildings but were looted and torched. And the Chinese retail stores in the central business district were among the first, if not the first, to be looted. The ripple effect is therefore fiction. Radio Australia should urgently enroll Bruce Hill in a refresher course on responsible journalism.

MV Princess Ashika trial, journalism and human rights in Tonga

Four defendants are being tried in the Tonga supreme court over the MV Princess Ashika tragedy. Almost all of those who died were unaware that the ferry was severely corroded. The question is why wasn't the public alerted to this? The media in Tonga, in particular the Tonga Media Council, did not issue a single sentence doubting the seaworthiness of the vessel before it sank. 'Akilisi Pohiva, former newspaper editor, populist politician and secretary of the Friendly Islands Human Rights and Democracy Movement, told the commission of inquiry that he had informed the minister of finance of his concern over the condition of the vessel. Yet it sailed Tongan waters for a whole month before it sank. According to 'Akilisi he was too busy to go and see the Ashika. But his son Po'oi, who is director of the FIHRDM, should have looked at the Ashika instead. The tabloid-style newspaper Kele'a, which is owned by Po'oi, prospered following the sinking. Its coverage of the tragedy and the sickening photos of the very corroded Ashika, plus all the allegations and finger-pointing made the Kele'a very popular indeed. To be fair the other media companies all profited from the Ashika. But then how can the media here in Tonga discover the un-seaworthiness of the Ashika after just one month of sailing when the FIHRDM has been in existence for over ten years, writing human rights reports while advocating at times outright racism flavoured with traces of human rights jargon. Only the Taimi 'o Tonga newspaper has stated categorically that the FIHRDM is not a human rights organization. The Matangitonga Online should tell its readers what exactly the FIHRDM does, unless of course it too is convinced that the organization genuinely, despite all the evidences, promotes human rights. I wrote last year to the editor of the Talaki newspaper, one of the four major newspaper that is sold in Tonga, expressing my dismay that the FIHRDM continues to portray itself as a human rights organization. No response. That was surprising since the editor is a brother of Fr. Seluini 'Akau'ola, a Roman Catholic priest and intellectual who is conversant with the principles of human rights. Here in Tonga we have several with degrees in jounalism; there is even one with a doctorate but the FIHRDM has no problem with these. In celebrating press freedom day in 2010 the Tonga Media Council not only hosted an invitation-only dinner contrary to previous years, but also decided to honour the 12 journalists  who died the world over while plying their trade. But how about the 74 lives who perished on the Ashika?      

Radio New Zealand correspondent call Tonga's independent members of parliament traitors

Radio NZ correspondent in Tonga, Mateni, wrote in an editorial on 24 December 2010 on page 8 in the Kele'a, the newspaper that he edits, about "these few representatives who betrayed the people." Huge betrayal by Sunia Fili and Fe'ao Vakata" [two of the five independent MPs in the new government] is the headline of Mateni's editorial on 29 December 2010. On page 32 there were two letters to the editor on the same theme under the following headings "We have been betrayed by Fe'ao Vakata" and "Fe'ao Vakata and Sunia Fili are two Judases." In the Kele'a on 5 January 2010, it is "betrayal" "betrayal" "betrayal" in all three letters to the editor. In an article by an anonymous author on page 27, "the five independents...are the Judas of this election." Before the formation of the new government Mateni wrote in the Kele'a on 15 December 2010 of the independent MPs, "if they betray change, all the struggle, sweat and blood that has flowed since the start of this crusade...will be placed on these representatives' heads." Incredibly in the very next sentence he denied that this is a threat. Well done Radio New Zealand!!!

Tonga's human rights organization call independent members of parliament Hispanics

The Friendly Islands Human Rights and Democracy Movement (FIHRDM) annoyed that independent MPs helped elect a noble as prime minister ran a full-page advertisement in the Kele'a newspaper on 5 January 2011titled "Nobles are smarter in Politics." Initially it labled the independents as "non-independents" and "drifters" in paragraph 1. In paragraph 2 it started with "drifters" then" those dear ones with sleep in their eyes" then it is "like they say in America 'thankfully they have got a miko'." Miko is a term that Tongans in the US use in reference to Hispanics, principally Mexicans; it is probably an abbreviation of amigo. It went on, "clearly the drifters are truly mikos of the nobles; whenever they want cool refreshments then the mikos are summoned; if they want to be comforted, again the mikos are summoned." Miko is mentioned one more time in paragraph 2; three times in paragraph 3, and twice more in paragraph 4; all in the context of being stupid and servile. The FIHRDM is funded from New Zealand by the Christian World Service to promote, believe it or not, human rights in Tonga. The owner of the Kele'a newspaper is Mr. Po'oi Pohiva who is also the director of the FIHRDM.
The office-holders of the FIHRDM are as follows:
Chairman : Rev. Simote Vea [an ordained minister of the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga]
Secretary : Mr. 'Akilisi Pohiva [a populist politician]
Director : Mr. Po'oi Pohiva [son of 'Akilisi Pohiva]