We Need Virgin Brains Not Crabby Ones

Written by Pio Sioa
Sunday, 31 August 2008
The record profit PolyBlue announced last week is an achievement that is hard to get over for a lot of reasons. How did they do it? One does not have to be hot shot economist to be overwhelmed by the financial feat the national carrier managed to pull off for the 2007-08 financial year. Oil prices were punching out record increases, inflation was speeding to catch up and still the brains behind PolyBlue managed to come up with a profit. It was also not just a simple excess of revenue over expenses, it was a record collection of earnings that exceeded spendings. No wonder PM Tuilaepa’s voice wavered when he spoke to accept Samoa’s cut from the profits. He even dared to joke about a politically sensitive issue like the upcoming switch to the Right Hand Drive. The economic survey of the region launched in Apia last week also sang the praises of the joint venture airline, but it was not for the profit it made for Samoa but the tourism industry that is now the buzz word for development in the region. Tourism is now the money word in the region and much of the overwhelming success Samoa is now reaping is influenced by the competition PolyBlue has been generating with their revolutionary form of low fare pricing. The key word that seems to ring a bell here is revolutionary….not the type where a nation goes berserk over political ideology, rather a whole new line of thinking that can stand up to the roller coaster changes of a global economy, influenced by factors ‘beyond our control’. PolyBlue is now riding the crest of revolutionary thinking that we all know came from the Virgin Blue concept. Travelers from around the world, and mainly from New Zealand and Australia are now literally riding back and forth to Samoa because of that. Now the question is,,,no make that the challenge is… to find if there are any Samoan brains capable of visionary thinking like the minds that created VirginBlue! Of course they are not expected to look at building a rocket to fly the Prime Minister and his HRPP Party to look for water on Mars. But they can start with something simple like finding a blueprint for the hoteliers and the farmers to benefit from. CEO Asuao of the Ministry of Agriculture has put his finger on where the problem lies. What he needs now are ‘Virgin’ brains that can work out solutions to the problem. Stuff like the Deputy Prime Minister Misa slamming the agricultural sector for slowing down tourism developments is good only for creating the ‘Blues.’ If CEO Asuao can come up with brains that can revolutionize the agricultural sector like what the Virgin Blue did to our Polynesian Airlines, Misa is probably going to arrange for a lifetime travel to New Zealand for him. There are other sectors that will surely need this kind of brain power to get them and all of us out of the economic rut and any other ruts that will nudge our social and economic development along. Of course the effort is always there to improve, but somehow it is not creating any new initiatives we can package and sell to our neighbours or the world as Virgin Blue has done. Maybe we need to be as fanatical about this search for new ideas and initiative from our own brain pool, as we are about our Manu Samoa. Maybe we should put more emphasis on the kind of research and pioneering work Taito Fa’ale Tumali'i and his crowd at the Research Centre at Vailima has to offer. Maybe we should put more emphasis on the kind of initiative CEO Asuao is suggesting and not just on agriculture and tourism, but other equally valid sectors as well. Virgin Blue has amazed us with what visionary thinking and the gumption to put it into practice can achieve. The latter part is also critical. The tale of the escaping crabs in the plastic container is a well know joke with us Samoans, and that is where mental strength separates the crabs who eventually escape, and the ones who will be left behind. Congratulations to PolyBlue for marveling us with its success and for showing the way to take for future success in any endeavour. Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment Name Email Title Comment

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