Supa Mario
During the first two years of Prime Minister Tu’i’onetoa, houses that were ruined by Cyclone Gita were successfully built. Amongst these houses was a house in his constituency, Tongatapu-10. A celebration was held and the Prime Minister was presented with gifts such as mats, tapa cloths and other traditional handicrafts.
Most of the houses built were followed with such celebrations. Not to mention the gifts the Prime Minister had when he conducted the National Fastings. The monetary value of these gifts combined could be sold more than a hundred thousand pa’anga in the appropriate market.
One cannot help but wonder – why? The funds that built these houses came from donors but these gifts weren’t given to the donors.The Prime Minister was merely doing his job (in which he is being paid to do) and yet he receives gifts as an added bonus.
So why would these people be grateful for getting something that was, for all intent and purpose, to be given to them in the first place? These are not isolated incidents. For decades, most would give gifts (of different kinds, including cash) to civil servants as a show of appreciation.
It is strange that these gifts are given in return for getting the very service that they should be getting in the first place. We would often show our appreciation to Custom officers, etc. While this could be interpreted as bribery, it hasn’t stopped many from doing it. It has became a norm with the services provided by most civil servants that many would have to show their gratitude by means of gifts.
Parents would prepare food for teachers, not to mention giving out cash at the end of year when their children gets good grades from school. So the question is – why do most Tongans feel grateful for getting something that they should be getting in the first place?
The simple and most accurate answer is – it is our culture.
We are mentally tuned as slaves and we tend to act accordingly from time to time. As a creature, we shouldn’t be owing any other creature anything but the Great Creator who created us all equally in dignity.
But because we were enslaved by our fellow creatures for centuries, we somehow developed a “slave mentality” which is reflected by our very traditions and cultures.
Most will forever be grateful that the legendary Taufa’āhau freed us from slavery. But the thing is, we weren’t supposed to be slaves in the first place. So technically, he gave us the freedom that we should have been given in the first place.
Acting as grateful slaves, we view our masters as our Savior, our Lords and our Kings that we continue to bow down before them.
For generations and generations, we are still enslaved mentally into keeping those traditions, forever keeping us inferior.
The longer we remain inferior, the more comfortable we became so. The more comfortable we are with it, the more proud we are of it and thus became our very identity. If this isn’t injustice, I seriously do not know what else is!
END