Graduations, Sparkies and Privatization!

Written by Seuamuli Des Bentin
Monday, 31 March 2008
I think most people who have read the half-a-page-of-nonsense regularly since it appeared on the newspaper scene voluntarily a few years ago to insult your intelligence, already know that I don’t think much of University Degrees. Actually, I think they’re cool, but I would rather have a ’67 ‘Stang. They’re harder to get! I am kidding of course you guys. Congratulations to Auntie Katie and the rest of you guys who graduated last Friday. You done good! Are any of you now qualified to translate text books into Samoan? I agree with most of the students who have indicated that they would rather tuition was done in Samoan that more students would understand subjects better and therefore have a better chance of passing exams. I used to argue that we should learn English first to be able to understand the material which was always in English. It seemed easier and would take less time than to develop a standard for the translation of words we do not have Samoan words for, which would be just about all of the words and terms in an Electrical or Electronics text book, and we haven’t even reached the classrooms yet. It would be the same as or harder than learning English because it would be like a whole new language. There wouldn’t really be a saving in time. And then there’s the ability to do your own research and gather information on everything from how to splice DNA, plot a Storage Rule Curve for the EPC Afulilo Reservoir and get an On-line Degree on Basket Weaving at Zero Gravity, all on the Internet, which is not in Samoan. So while I think it is a good idea to have classes on all subjects in Samoan, it would still be a damn good idea to be able to read, write and converse in English. My PNG, Vanuatu and Kiribati friends here to do an Electrical Certificate Course at the Australia Pacific Technical College would find it very difficult to communicate if we did not all understand English. It is just the language most people and countries use. Which also explains why it is the language of the Internet. It could have been German or Japanese if attempts at world domination by former ‘off the wall’ leaders of those countries had succeeded. But I found the first question my Papuan and Vanuatu friends asked very interesting. They found that even though the training was being held in Samoa, there were no Samoan students in the Electrical Certificate Course. The Samoans and Kiribati students preferred the course on Hospitality. I told them that it was because the Samoa Electric Power Corporation was going to be privatized which meant that only a few Samoans who did not mind hard work would be retained by the private owners, with the rest of the positions being filled by Indians, Sri Lankans and Chinese. Try doing that with your tongue lodged firmly in your cheek. But it was an interesting point my friends brought up though, wasn’t it? Have a nice one folks! Comments (1) Subscribe to this comment's feed ... written by Sane Mataitusi, April 01, 2008 Unfortunately, to survive in the language of commerce one must be able to speak English. It's true that our Samoan people can do a lot more if only we had Science books in Samoan and other content areas but the reality is that our language is very limited. Afterall, most Samoans would rather imitate the 'palagi' lifestyle than their own. Why else do they pretend they don't understand their own language? It's the harsh truth but too many Samoans fall under the 'fia palagi' category, yet they can't even adapt well in that mainstream culture. If you want to test my theory, just give a 'fia palagi' Samoan girl a muli pipi and see how fast she chows it down... (just kidding)... At any rate, we all need to make sure our Samoans aren't flunking out of high school. Those kids need our help! I see so much of it here in America and research has shown that the Samoan kids in Australia and NZ are having the same difficulties. Let's get to work and show the world how civilized we can be! Write comment Name Email Title Comment

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