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Written by Seuamuli Des Bentin
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Tuesday, 16 October 2007 |
When I was looking around for another newspaper silly enough to allow me some space for the weekly half-a-page-of-nonsense, after a former Observer editor refused to acknowledge in writing that I did write a weekly column for them for a small fee, a lady at one of the papers I rang told me that they couldn’t print my column because I was too controversial. At the time, I thought it was a rather big word for what I preferred to describe as not being a suck-up!
My mother once asked why I wished to make life difficult for myself by writing this column, to which I grandly claimed that I was part of the checks and balances necessary for fair democratic rule in a democratic society, though maybe not in as many words and only slightly to the left of the truth. This Thetan needs a creative outlet for a host of grossly exaggerated stories about my life history and achievements. L Ron Hubbard is not the only human accused of ‘pumping up the volume’ for personal gain or other reasons.
It is always a worry when even after reassurances from people in high places to the contrary, it is still pretty obvious that one must rotate in the sphere of influence, network with the upwardly mobile and dance with the movers and shakers to be “successful”. It is a fact of life that we the “aufaipopo” recognize but refuse to accept. So we will continue to bang away for a crust and to remind those in the fat cars that we do need an elegi to go with the fa’alifu every day of the year and not just a few weeks out from elections, as well as other almost as important things. I think it was the same reason why one of my newspaper colleagues claimed that they warned us about the dangers of a one party state!
But is there such a thing as a proper avenue for dissent? While the peaceful protest march in Apia a couple of weeks ago was not so much about elegi on the table as about a Church which is not a Church, setting up house, or tent, on God’s own soil, it was still an example of democracy in action. Thanks to the constant reminders in the Samoa Observer, I can say that I have just about memorized all 30 of the Articles in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with Articles 18, 19 and 20 being the most pertinent to this here example of my “right to freedom of opinion and expression” regarding your “right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion” including freedom “to manifest (your) religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance” and that other guy’s “right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association”.
But what sent my S-meter into a spin, (or was it my F-meter?) was when someone told me that Human Rights activists are the most vocal and energetic of a multitude of groups and individuals against the teachings of the Church of Scientology. If we are so accepting of the “Rights” of every “Human”, then why are these Human Rights activists so determined to deny these guys theirs? I have never liked activists and controversy anyway. They interfere with my ‘standing waves’!
Then in between the 30 Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights popped the bogeyman threatening Police intervention for what I would presume was a violation of a local law that over rides the “right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association”. Or was it just an “assist” from an elected representative feeling the heat?
Those familiar with the game of basketball are no doubt au fait with the term ‘assist’ in scoring a goal. Those who have a lot of female palagi and overseas friends and relatives are no doubt familiar with the “touchy feely” phenomena and uninvited sexual propositions peculiar to a number of our taxi drivers. It has been around from as far back as the early nineteen seventies when Peace Corps volunteers started arriving in numbers on our shores, but please don’t say that it is part of our culture like some have defended the physical abuse of our children! You have never heard of any such incidents and cases? That’s okay. I too suffer from selective hearing at times, especially when it is not one of us telling the story. God forbid that a Samoan should badmouth our own people, habits and peculiarities, so imagine what a God-loving Samoan would do to a Cook Island journalist or other foreigner telling it just the way it was for them! We know that they have a “right to freedom of opinion and expression” but also know that whatever they write or say that is contrary to our views and opinions of ourselves is out of jealousy anyway. But maybe the unwanted sexual advances towards female fares that our taxi drivers seem to think is part of their job is a sickness that Mister Andrews and his Ministers could cure.
And after being to Savai’i for a couple of days last weekend, I am very jealous of how clean and tidy the villages are at the Itu-o-Tane where I hail from. It is a quantum leap in environmental pride and cleanliness compared to what we are faced with in the town area. Since after the South Pacific Games, rubbish collection in our area has been sporadic and sometimes non-existent. Someone in the Ministry concerned told me that it was because the new contractors are still trying to get used to the roads and house locations. According to my brother, the new contractors told him that they will not collect our rubbish until we have built a “faka lapisi”. Ooops! My bad. I tore the faka lapisi down and told the four households in our family compound to bring their rubbish to the roadside only on the rubbish collection days because they made the place look untidy and smelly if bags of rubbish were piled up on it for three to four days before they were collected. Other people were also putting their rubbish on our faka lapisi when I wasn’t looking. And the former rubbish collection contractors were quite happy with that arrangement. I am sure that the new contractors will be too once they know why I haven’t got an unsightly faka lapisi stinking out my “luma fale” and they have told me the exact days when they will be coming around to collect our rubbish.
It is just a matter of understanding where each Church, commentator or player is coming from and what they are hoping to achieve a ea? Have a relaxing and fruitful White Sunday folks!
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