Kalafi Moala
Someone has rightly said that if it’s broken, fix it. The implication is that broken things are fixable.
If it is not broken, it has been suggested that we strengthen it, so it won’t be easily broken.
We do live however in a world where there are too many things broken and left unfixed. Some things are broken beyond repair but they maybe replaceable.
There are tangible things when broken that cannot be fixed – a plate, a glass, a vase. It would be much easier and cheaper just to replace them. It may be impossible to try and put them back together. Such is the nature of things broken beyond repair.
There are broken things that are impossible to fix. Lets not waste time on it. Replace it with something that can continue its function.
There are of-course bigger things like roads, houses, vehicles; that if they are broken, they urgently need fixing. They can, and must be fixed as people are dependent on them to serve specific needs in their lives. When left unfixed, that which has been broken gets worse, and therefore harder or more costlier to fix.
But there are also intangible things that are broken. Leaving them unfixed could inevitably be detrimental to the life and development of a society. These are things not easily so apparent as tangible, material things.
As in our beloved Tonga, when there are too many broken things left unfixed, they inevitably create among us a kind of damaging reality perception that we do live in a broken country. And maybe we do!
But how do we fix a broken country?
There are broken promises as from politicians or leaders. Broken promises create broken trust.
There are broken systems or organizational structures. These structures were created to facilitate and propagate activities to be continuous into the future. If they are broken, we cannot move forward.
There are broken processes or procedures. These are regulated ways of doing things that have been violated or compromised, and are therefore “broken”, and must be fixed.
Leaving unfixed such broken ways of doing things could result in chaos; certainly wrong decision-making, which can lead to massive disorder.
There are laws, rules, and regulations that are broken. These need to be fixed urgently otherwise a state of illegitimacy gives way to lawlessness and anarchy.
When it comes to breaking the law, it is not the law primarily that needs fixing. The lawless or those who break the law are the ones that need fixing.
Broken relationship would definitely rank as one of the most critical forms of brokenness there is. And especially in a country like Tonga where harmonious relationship is believed and often declared rhetorically as one of our fundamental cultural values.
A state of brokenness in the relationship, especially among leaders can create not only disunity in governments, organizations, corporations, churches, and families, but also damaging conflicts and tensions. It often paralyzes development of every kind.
Broken relationship always leads to a state of dysfunction, without exception.
In a recent visit to the Solomons Islands, I noticed the rigorous activities carried out to prepare for the 2023 Pacific Games to be hosted in Honiara. A Chinese company is constructing a new multimillion dollar stadium to seat 10,000; and they plan to have it completed by May 2023.
I recalled with sadness the cancellation of the Pacific Games that was planned to be held in Tonga in 2019. Tonga lost out on a major opportunity to build and develop infrastructures that would enable the hosting of not only sporting events but also other major activities in the country.
All this happened as a result of a broken relationship between two leaders, the Prime Minister at the time, the late ‘Akilisi Pohiva, and his former friend and colleague, Lord Sevele who was the leader of TASANOC (Tonga Amateur Sports Association – National Olympic Committee.)
A broken relationship between two decision-makers, who were not humble enough to admit wrong for the sake of the country, resulted in the cancellation of what would have been the biggest sporting event ever held in the country.
The amount of money that would have flowed into the country, not counting the infrastructures built for the games, would have taken Tonga to a whole new level of economic and social development. But instead, Tonga got left behind. Samoa stepped in to replace Tonga in hosting the 2019 games, and now the host for the 2023 games is the Solomon Islands.
The extent of brokenness
Wherever you look, we see broken roads, broken infrastructures, and so many things left unfixed and allowed to deteriorate, no longer able to be utilized to serve people.
Things do get broken from time to time, but leaving them unfixed, is not the responsibility of those things to fix themselves. In fact, broken things do not get fixed by themselves. Someone has to take responsibility to repair what is reparable, and to replace what is irreparable.
Leaving things unfixed produce a serious state of fragility in all spheres of society, including the people of that society.
In Tonga, we are seeing not only the brokenness of things tangible and intangible. Most alarming is the state of brokenness we are increasingly seeing among people. Mental illness and addictive behavior – to drugs, alcohol, and food – have become common place.
A society with too many unfixed brokenness, will negatively affect, not just those most vulnerable, but all people.
So, what are we to do? Unfortunately, unless we become aware of the things that are broken, we will not begin the hard task of fixing them. It is when we humbly embrace the responsibility to work together in fixing that which is broken, that we will then see clearly the things that need to be done.
Its never too late, someone has tried to restore hope. Our efforts in building and creating a prosperous future however, will be greatly hampered by leaving broken things unfixed.
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