OUR REAL FIJI
Fiji Sun
11/9/2009
The latest drama surrounding Fiji is starting to conjure up images for me of the Bermuda Triangle.
There is a mysterious dead zone of understanding between Fiji, Australia and New Zealand despite over a century of trade, and political and cultural exchanges.
In this abyss history begins again and again in 2006, 2000 and 1987 and the future of the island nation constantly hinges on a string of negative political and economic sound bites.
I often discuss popular perceptions of Fiji and the Pacific with many of my students.
INTERVIEWS IN CANBERRA
One postgraduate made a short documentary of Australian and Pacific relations for her final research project in 2008. She interviewed several young people in Canberra about their views of the island region.
The majority had close to no opinion or were'nt sure what part of the world she was talking about.
The rest had perspectives that revolved around two sets of images: coconuts and cocktails on one side, and coups and crises on the other.
The two views of Oceania have been around since before Captain Cook and continue to be invoked by many a journalist who begins their South Pacific news story with the ominous words: “Beneath the exotic facade lies...”
PARADISE IN CRISIS?
The dominance of the “paradise in crisis” paradigm is a reflection of the lack of in-depth understanding of the region within the Australian public.
There is next to no Pacific content in Australian education at all levels, for example. In a recent discussion at the Australian National University (ANU) with foreign affairs cadets from across Asia and the Pacific, we compared the two regions.
The economic and political influence of many Asian countries was a clear attraction for young people wanting to further their studies and international careers. One young woman then asked me what the “gain” was in engaging the Pacific.
POPULAR PERCEPTION
The popular perception is that countries such as Australia and New Zealand guide, advise, fund and support Pacific Island governments and communities but have nothing to gain or learn from them.
But the majority of people who do spend quality time in the islands, many of them government funded development volunteers, do come away with some major life changing experiences. They are often moved and inspired by the culturally vibrant communities they work with.
Clearly, if one is open to learning, an important “gain” is always cultural.
In August, at the Fiji Update held at Parliament House in Canberra, I called for a diversity of views on the current situation highlighting the wealth of activity and promise within the culture sector.
By diversity I don’t mean illuminating life and politics in Fiji from the perspectives of more “big men” whether they are of the Melanesian, Australian or New Zealand variety. I mean, find out what else is going on, what other extraordinary and meaningful things Fiji Islanders are doing.
What are women’s groups doing? What are artists doing, painting, weaving, or singing? What other creative strategies do people use to express themselves?
With all respect to ABC’s In the Loop, do such stories reach the general Australian public?
These questions probably would not result in enough sensational or scandalous answers to merit mainstream media attention but they would illuminate life on the ground and help assuage the panic that seems to rise every time Australia and Fiji’s relationship gets extra rocky.
DOMO NI KARMEN
Australians might learn, for example, about why the French funded Domo ni Karmen, “Carmen’s Voice” in Fijian, Fiji’s first Pacific opera and an adaptation of Georges Bizet’s Carmen, performed to sold-out theatres in Suva.
We might contemplate the rise of slam poetry and hip hop and its direct connection with youth empowerment.
In some parts of the world we would turn to the musicians, poets and other literary figures for social and political insight. There is no shortage of such voices in the Pacific but rarely are they called upon for such wisdom.
One of the most cherished poems of the post coup era, “My Fiji,” was written by the late Adi Kuini Vuikaba Speed, wife of the late Dr. Timoci Bavadra who was ousted from government in the first Fiji coup.
Her words are worth remembering again, and again, and again.
. . . It was the budget
That brought them down.
But my country is:
singing competitions, old clothes bazaars,
food and mat sales for the church fund.
Noisy volleyball games and the boredom of children,
too small to enjoy the events, hot and bothered
by the things bigger people do.
That same government is back again,
old faces, old games.
But my country is:
The bumpy ride on Singh’s valley bus,
and driver Pratap greeting Fijians
in fluent Sigatoka dialect.
The Hindu tobacco grower who
helps the poor Fijian family
with the adopted Chinese son
- Adi Kuini Vuikaba Speed, 1997
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Savusavu-born Dr Katerina Teaiwa is from Fiji and is Pacific Studies Convener at the Australian National University’s’s College of Asia and the Pacific in Canberra, running the teaching programme.
She went to Yat-Sen Primary School and St. Joseph’s Secondary School in Suva. She has a Bachelors of Science from Santa Clara University, an MA in Pacific Islands Studies from the University of Hawai’i, and a PhD in Anthropology from the Australian National University.
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