Guest Post: A letter from the Kingdom – Part I

A guest post by David Garrett:

I have recently returned to the Kingdom of Tonga, after a long absence; I last did significant work here representing the Tonga Ports Authority at the Princess Ashika  enquiry back in 2011. (Both I and the then CEO of the Ports Authority subsequently  got fired. My crime was “aiding and abetting Lupeti Vi to undermine the government”. In Lupeti’s case, his crime was  being brutally honest about failures of the Marine Department, particularly saying that the vessel was a “rust bucket” which ought never to have been given a Certificate of Seaworthiness. Only in Tonga, as the Tongans themselves say often).  

While much remains the same in Kingdom – efficient bureaucracies being the exception rather than the  norm being one notable example – there has also been significant social change. The most obvious is that everyone – at least everyone under 30 – has a cellphone seemingly surgically attached to their hands, just as in New Zealand.

An even bigger and more surprising change is the use of cellphones  by older people – even in church. Such behavior would have almost certainly resulted in severe sanction at the very least 10 years ago; expulsion from the church would not have been out of the question, and expulsion from one’s church is akin to death for many Tongans.   But no, when you see Tongan church services on local TV – and there is nothing else on a Sunday – it is now common to see even middle aged Tongans using their cellphones during services. Sacrilege!

Another obvious social  change is that  it is now not uncommon to see two or more women – unaccompanied by men – drinking  in bars. While this was not unknown 11 years ago, it was certainly frowned upon, and such women were regarded as “loose” at the very least. While a single woman drinking alone would probably still attract unfavourable attention from most Tongans – including other women – the assumption that the woman was a “working girl” – or perhaps just  an enthusiastic amateur –  may well now be wrong.

One thing I have noticed with considerable sadness is that the school kids here are thoroughly indoctrinated regarding climate change. The idea that the behavior of 105,000 Tongans could affect the climate is utterly ludicrous – the behaviour of 5.5 million of you down there in NZ won’t have diddly squat effect on the climate, even if the change which is undoubtedly occurring is  indeed man made, which to my mind is far from certain. As an aside, I see no evidence of sea level rise here, and I am very familiar with the shoreline on many islands.

It is also glaringly obvious that for the foreseeable future, fossil fuels will be essential unless Tonga wishes to return to the Stone Age. While there are some sizeable solar panel arrays contributing power to the local grid, 90% of electricity is still generated by diesel generators running 24/7. Tongatapu, the main island, is as flat as a pancake, as are the majority of the other 170 islands that make up the Kingdom. There are no rivers or lakes on any islands, which means hydro is simply not an option.

I am unsure what potential there is for wind generation; the prevailing easterly which blows gently most days may be an unexploited resource. How practical wind power is for Tonga – i.e. costs v. benefit – is unknown to me; perhaps someone with greater knowledge of wind generation  may enlighten us. I would imagine a major obstacle to wind power would be the devastating cyclones which periodically cause huge damage to buildings and structures in Tonga.

One thing that hasn’t changed is the widespread use of cash; many businesses and government departments will not accept cheques, which are still widely used. Even the Supreme [High] Court still requires filing fees to be paid in cash. On the other hand, the country remains the country of huge contrasts that it has always been – at least in my experience; many people are thoroughly familiar with both phone and internet banking, and ATM’s are widespread.

The political changes since half of Nuku’alofa was destroyed in riots in 2006 have been both profound, and less than would have been expected. Prior to 2006, the Tongan parliament was effectively a rubber stamp for the King. While the common people and the Nobles had the same number of representatives, the King could appoint however many people he liked to his cabinet. Since none of the cabinet wanted to lose their relatively well paid jobs, they and the Nobles representatives almost always voted as a bloc in support of the King.

After 2006 control of the Tongan parliament moved to the commoners – but with surprising results. Of the four (I think) prime ministers elected since 2006 two have been Nobles, and two commoners. The prime minister is elected by his fellow MP’s, not by voters. The most notable commoner PM was one Akilisi Pohiva, a former teacher and long time irritant for the government and the Royals. Over many years he brought many court cases against the government, a number of which were successful and created new precedents.

From what I can tell talking to Tongan friends, Pohiva as widely regarded as a useless, if not a complete  disaster as prime minister. He was in many ways very like Winston Peters – a publicity seeker and far more comfortable in opposition than in government, where he actually had to do  something. I well recall him being interviewed on TV when I was first  here 20 years ago. When asked what system of government he wanted, he could only repeat “democracy” over and over; he was quite unable to enlighten viewers as to the type of democracy he had in mind. He seemed not to understand that there were huge differences between the political systems of Britain, the UK, and Commonwealth countries such as New Zealand. For all the changes I have noticed since returning, some things remain the same: Tonga is the fascinating country of huge contrasts that it has always been, and the people are for the most part, warm and friendly. One hears laughter everywhere. I