WORDS FROM THE WEBMASTER & THE THSESWS NEWSLETTER EDITOR:

Welcome to the THSESWS monthly newsletter for the month of December 2000. News-wise, it has been quiet but we did our best to bring to you what we could gather.

It is encouraging to hear that so many schools in New Zealand are donating text books to Tonga High School. If there is any consolation coming out of the fire - it would be that current students will have better text books and facilities available to them prior to the fire. Mr Howison, a former teacher at Tonga High School who is now the principal of Stratford High School in New Zealand sent his condolences to Tonga High School in regards to the devastation. He is now one of those active people who are putting a lot of effort into getting text books to Tonga High School. Published below is a transcript of Mr Howison's message sent to THSESWS. Thank you Mr Howison!

According to 'Etuate Saafi from Auckland, they successfully conducted a concert on Friday, 24 November to raise funds for Tonga High School. Those who attended managed to raise $10,000. Well done New Zealand! Further details of the New Zealand concert are published below.

As Christmas is drawing near, we would like to wish everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR.

Faka'apa'apa atu

Loseli M Hafoka & 'Amelia Piutau

A MESSAGE FROM AN EX-TEACHER:

Hello

My name is Paul Howison and I taught Physics and Science at THS between September 1983 and December 1985. I have been reading the exstudents webpage and have been very saddened to hear the news about the fire. What an unbelievable waste, and especially disruptive so close to exams.

I heard about it initially because Lynn Scott emailed my school last week requesting spare copies of textbooks. I am now Principal of Stratford High School in New Zealand. We also phoned ESA book publishing company in Auckland and requested they send textbooks also, as I have written 3 textbooks publlished by them that are on your request list.

We were in Tonga in 1997 and had a visit around the school, admired the computer lab greatly, and revisited my classroom. Such a loss!

Paul Howison

NEWS FROM NEW ZEALAND:(received Tue, 28 Nov.)

Hello to you all THS Ex-students!!!

Hope all is well. This is an update from our concert last Friday. Our concert was excellent!! Thank you all for your support for the old school. I extend to you all a very big thank you from our Associations executive committee for all your efforts and support.

Ko 'etau tau'olunga fakaava na'e fai ia 'e Nopele Tu'ivakano and Lopini (ex-students) to whom we are truly grateful for their time and for gracing our concert.

Na'e hoko atu aipe ki he ngaahi tau'olunga kehekehe pe 'a e kau kolisi tutuku mei he ngaahi vahe kehekehe 'o 'Okalani, ngaahi Siasi, Ngaahi kautaha kolisi tutuku kehe pea mo e ngaahi kainga 'ofa tautaha kehekehe pe na'a nau tapa ange 'i he po Falaite.

Na'e MC 'i he koniseti 'a Aisea Kaifa, lele aipe pea mo e ongo faikava 'e 2 foki 'i he lolotonga 'a e koniseti. It was a night of good clean sober fun.

Ko e faka-katoa 'o e ngaahi 'ofa 'i he po koniseti na'e fe'unga ia pea mo e $10,000 tupu ('oku kei fakama'opo'opo pe 'a e ngaahi 'ofa 'oku kei a'utaki mai - and this is not just extreme positive re-enforcement here, Im serious!!).

Would you believe it na'e a'utaki mai foki mo e ngaahi 'ofa ki he koniseti from as far away as Canada ('Evaloni Puniani) and from Wellington (Violani Ilolahia & the THS ex-students association there). The committee also acknowledges and thanks these people for their kind support.

And for those of you who were with us in spirit only and could not materialise in time by 7pm last Friday, or materialised but evaporated too early into oblivion (perhaps try adding a bit more coke... hange ko e lau 'a David Tua on TV (before he lost to Lennox Lewis)... WE LOVE YOU MAN!! Hehe. He also has another ad currently running on TV where he finishes by saying... LET'S GET IT ON!!! too.

Once again, a very big thank you to you all from the executive committee for all your efforts, support and help with our concert. Couldn't have done it without you guys.

A few other things I remember from this Months executive committee meeting earlier in the month is that:

1. Na'e tali foki ke to e fakamo'ui 'a 'etau tokoni sikolasipi 'e 2 (fees scholarships) na'e fa'a fakalele fuoloa mai ki he ongo tamaiki ako lolotonga 'e 2 (2 top students) 'i he Tonga High School. The exact level (class) is yet to be determined.
2. It was also passed that we will start a book collection project to donate to the current schools book-less library ASAP, (Im so saddened by the loss of the original Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series we used to fight over on library day amongst our class - it was considered mucho for the guys to read Nancy Drew back then believe it or not - hehe) so if any of yous know of any sources of books for free, do please let us know. The collection of type-writers, sports gears and laboratory equipment is also welcome.

I think that's it for now folks, as far as I can remember, I have to run 'o taa'i mai ha va'a fefie mei 'uta na'a po'uli. Till next time, take care and God bless.

Faka'apa'apa atu

'Etuate Saafi (Secretary)
Tonga High School Ex-students (NZ) Association

NEWS FROM SAN FRANCISCO:

According to 'Amelia Piutau and Ma'ata Misinale, the San Francisco Dance was a success and it was a treat to see so many ex-students turned up.

Summary of the SF Dance: To'oto'o me'a lalahi pe

1. Taimi na'e fai ai koe po Falaite 24 'o Novema 'ihe Hotele Embassy Suite 'i Burlingame.

2. Taumu'a 'oe hulohula koe fakafeohi ke fe'ilongaki 'ae kau ako tutuku 'oe vahenga S.F. Na'e foaki foki ai moha ki'i me'a'ofa 'ehe kautaha ako tutuku ma'ae Konisela Seniale Tonga ki 'Amelika, 'Emeline Katoa Tuita koe kolisi tutuku 'ihe 'amanaki kene foki koia ki Tonga 'ihe 'osi hono taimi ngaue koia 'i 'Amelika ni.

3. Na'e fakahoko foki ha fanga ki'i polokalama hange koe tau'olunga moe hiva koe konga pe 'oe ngaahi polokalama fakafiefia kihe hulohula. Na'e lava foki ke hanga 'eha kau fofonga 'oe ngaahi to'uako 'o fai ha fanga ki'i vahevahe taki miniti 'e ua kiha ngaahi me'a 'oku nau manatu fiefia kiai he lolotonga 'o 'enau kei ako.

4. Na'e 'iai foki ha ni'ihi na'a nau fai ha ngaahi tokoni ma'ongo'onga 'o lava ai ke fakahoko lelei 'ae ki'i hulohula ko eni, 'o hange ko Kilisitina Helu mo 'ene polokalama letio Tonga 'i S.F., pehe foki kihe ongo tame'a 'oe po koia, Kena Puamau pea mo Vila Talanoa. Pehee foki kia Malia Mailangi meihe Hotele Embassy pea mo Pryce Misinale mo Seini Palu koe ongo hoa 'oe Palesiteni moe Tokoni Palesiteni 'ihe ngaahi tafa'aki kehekehe 'o lava lelei ai 'ae ki'i hulohula.

5. Ko hono faka'osi pe, na'e fiefia 'aupito 'ae kau ako tutuku moe kau fakaafe ne lava ange. Koe me'akai na'e faka'ofo'ofa 'aupito ka koe me'a tepuu 'ae laumalie fiefia mo fe'ofo'ofani ne ongo'i 'ihe po koia. Kae 'ikai fai ha laukovi ia koe fo'i talavou 'ae kau ako tutuku moe kau guest e! 'Ai 'ene to to atu!!!

ARTICLE BY DR. ROBERT WOLFGRAMM:

Why Fiji's New Constitution Must Not Fail Fijians

Where some nations have worked from one constitution (with revisions) for the past hundred or two hundred years, Fiji is beginning the process of writing its fourth in just over thirty years. Why so many in so short a time? The answer seems obvious: the people of Fiji have yet to get it right. A constitution should broadly reflect the ethos of those who are governed and specify rules and conditions for those who govern. On both counts, Fiji's three constitutions appear to have been poorly drafted. While some aspirations have been codified, others, and crucially those affecting indigenous Fijians, appear to have been ignored.

The primary objective of the coups of 1987 and 2000 was to satisfy nervous nationalists that, once and for all, the control of the vanua was secured in indigenous hands. Was this objective achieved? Sadly, not to the nationalist satisfaction. Are they likely to be appeased by a new document? In an absolute sense, they shouldn't be - there is nothing of human construction which can guarantee anything for anyone in life. No constitution can be written which will prescribe indigenous control of the vanua for eternity because constitutions can be changed by the will of the people as well as by usurpers. And no government can entrench indigenous domination because governments come and go with the tide of time and national sentiment.

Thus, to imagine that the will of the Fijian people can, on this matter, be forever enshrined by some objective political or constitutional process is an illusion. Nationalists should understand that the only way to really guarantee the memory of what Fijians are, and to obtain the objectives of what they want for the future, is to write them in the hearts of each new generation. This an ancient method but it is a proven one; written constitutions have been around for only two hundred years. What people did before them is the only way: to teach your children at home, in school and through custom, what is precious, what is to be valued, and therefore what is to be protected and fought for. Unless it is stored in the heart, it can be bought or sold; it can be torn up and re-written. As the eminent political scientist, Hugh Emy, once put it, a constitution 'is a means to an end. It is not the constitution which must be respected or preserved at all costs but the ideas embodied in (it)'.

The people of Fiji know this to be true: they are about to write another constitution because, clearly, they have not yet set down in words what ideas they really want enshrined. In the practical sense, a document isn't worth the paper it is written on if it does not articulate the central ideas of people most affected by it. That is why nations have persisted in writing them down. And if Fiji's nationalist framers do not get it right this time around (having given themselves another chance under Speight), they will be the laughing stock of the Pacific. Worse, they will plunge Fiji into yet another disaster of someone else's making.

The challenge for these people is to have the courage of their constitutional convictions and set forth in written form what is truly in their heads and hearts. It may not be to everybody's liking but if it is singular in its idea and true to the purpose and sentiment of the Fijian people, it may finally give some stability to the political system. The Bible book of James tells us that a 'double minded man is unstable in all his ways' and Jesus himself says 'no one can serve two masters'. Nowhere has this been more underscored than in the writing of two of Fiji's past three constitutions. The 1970 and the 1999 models attempted to please two sets of values: one, Western; the other, indigenous. By trying to combine the global with the local, Fijian nationalists argue that they have gained the respect of the world, but at the cost of the nation losing its indigenous soul.

The path before the present Qarase regime is to decide whether they can be honest to their past and enshrine the traditional values which lie at the root of Fijian being. Or whether they again want to risk sending Fiji down the road to modernity with liberal democratic values that please modern, urban and educated Fiji but have little resonance with the indigenous village heartland. It is possible to combine the ancient and the modern, but not in equal measure - that much is certain. Both can be symbolised and constitutionally recognised but in terms of the allocation of power, one must give way to the other. One need only consider the compatible but unequal relationship between the British monarchy and her Westminster parliament to see that.

The new constitution's framers must know that their document is for Fiji, not the rest of the world. It is the people of Fiji who have to live by its terms - not the world at large. Criticisms and punishment from minorities within Fiji and observers abroad may come from that narrowness of consideration, but it is what will work for Fiji which must be uppermost in the minds of constitutional lawyers. So far, prescribing electoral equality has not worked. Nationalists have felt that dealing equally has not meant dealing fairly.

Jesus once said, 'broad is the road that leads to destruction'. He was not speaking of Fiji's constitutional considerations but he may as well have been - that is exactly what has happened to democracy in Fiji on one hand, and nationalist confidence in it on the other, whenever constitutional framers have tried to please all masters at once, in one and the same document. So has the lesson been learnt? Can Fiji define a narrow democracy which satisfies its taukei (landowners)? Can a document be produced which will elevate the considerations of the nationalists? Can this be done without devaluing the personhood and worth of others? Can it be achieved without sacrificing the principle of giving just consideration to the needs of others? We will have to wait and see but the peaceful future of Fiji now unambiguously rests upon her Constitutional Review Commission meeting exactly this task.

Dr. Robert Wolfgramm(THSESWS Political Writer/Analyst)

WHAT MEANING THE CHRISTMAS MAY TAKE!

Christmas is......

A time of sharing
A time of memories
A time of greetings
A time of gifts
A time of generosity
A time of helping the less fortunate
A time of hope
A time of faith
A time of tradition
A time of candles
A time of music
A time of being in touch
A time of rush
A time of singing
A time of family
A time of reunion
A time of decorating
A time of feasting
A time of getting together
A time of remembering
A time of missing and grieving
A time of forgiving
A time of harmony
A time of peace
A time of holiday
A time of a promise kept
A time of giving thanks
A time of grace
A time of blessing
A time of angels
A time of celebrating.............

May the grace and hope that are to be found in celebrating the birth of Christ be with us in this coming season and always. May God bless our ex-students' communities all over the globe! Amen

Merry Christmas and whatever you do, please take care!

WEBMASTER 

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Copyright ©:  Loseli Ma'ukie Hafoka 2000.