It is slowly growing inside of me and with my children beginning to converse in Tongan with single sentences, my awareness and acceptance of certain aspects of my culture has been brought to the fore-front of my thinking and critique.
Last week was Tongan language week and the theme this year was Enriching Aotearoa with our love of the country and it's duties. There has been no other event that has been close to expressing how Tongans love and embrace their culture other than the Rugby League World Cup in 2017. In the semifinal game between Tonga and England, Mt Smart was splashed with red flags, red tshirts and everything red. It is important to note, that the Tongan population in NZ is 20% and is the third largest Pacific ethnic group behind the Cook Island Maori and Samoan groups. So I prepared my presentation that was aimed at capturing the theme and this was my spoken word;
Enriching Aotearoa with the love of the country.
Crazy, Horse-eaters, OTT and too much!
Was our Tongan supporters that bad?
Rolling on the streets (literally) and carrying the Tongan flag, on our shoulders, cars and even our heads
Jamming the streets of the Otahuhu CBD then Mangere Town Centre
Were we that bad? C’mon! We later congested Queen St (LOL)
Taumalolo, Fifita and star NRL players turn their backs to the lure of Money
To show their LOVE of their country
‘Otua mo Tonga, ko hoku Tofi’a
God and Tonga are my inheritance
A country so small, it’s called the period. Full stop.
Never have been colonised, but Christianised by the Europeans
Who brought us the Hymns… hear that resonate the stadium floors
See it empower our players …… Go Tonga!
Yes we go OTT, and crazy because of our love, our love of Tonga
It is not be the perfect island paradise, far from it, but we’re here now
It’s all we have and share with Aotearoa, love, ‘Ofa.
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