Dr Futa Helu (centre) with international scholars and the Tongan Prime Minister Dr Feleti Sevele at Helu's 75th birthday celebrations. Photo: PMC

Pacific Scoop:
Opinion – By David Robie

The loss of  inspirational Tongan philosopher, educator and social critic ‘Ilaisa Futa ‘i Ha’angana Helu, who died on Tuesday at the age of 75, will be felt deeply throughout the Pacific.

But his vision and critical thinking will live on through his family and the many Pacific leaders and innovators he has touched and inspired over more than four decades of education through his modest, and still struggling, yet influential ‘Atensi Institute.

I had the privilege of meeting him again after many years while sharing his 75th birthday celebrations at an induction ceremony for scholars at ‘Atenisi last June.

This was some two decades after writing articles about ‘Atenisi and interviewing Dr Helu in the early days of optimism at the institute.  It had seemed to me then what an extraordinary vision this was for Tonga and Pacific education.

This was the only truly independent and secular educational institution – later including a university – outside any influence from government or religion.

In those days, Dr Helu was not only steering an “Athenian” education with an emphasis on philosophy in an ocean of utilitarian education. He was also heavily involved in actually designing the physical educational landscape, the classrooms, laboratories and library.

While many will pay tribute to his educational and philosophical legacy, I would like to recall his inspiration in a media sense, which is less well known. This is also related to his intellectual underpinning of the pro-democracy movement.

Dr David Robie (from left), Dr Ian Campbell, Professor Futa Helu and Dr 'Opeti Taliai at the 75th birthday celebrations. Photo: PMC

‘Atenisi a model
‘Atenisi has been a model of its own kind in the Pacific region, a liberal arts university in Tonga. As one academic described it in Polynesian Paradox – published to mark his 70th birthday – “the only Polynesian university in the world in which certain of its required courses, such as music and culture, were conducted in the vernacular”.

A general characteristic of ‘Atenisian education has been the founder’s commitment to nature and culture and their relationship with the Polynesian and Pacific world. Analogies, anecdotes and mythology from an oral culture are vitally important.

Notions of indigeneity in the Pacific, especially in relation to human rights and how media interpret them, are increasingly important for the South Pacific.

Cultural, ethical and philosophical issues tackled by Dr Helu’s ‘Atenisi University have helped to illuminate debate in the region. Such issues as collectivity and rights lie at the heart of Fiji’s political dilemma and are also part of the constitutional reform debate in Tonga.

Some years after my initial interviews with Dr Helu, when I was then coordinator of the University of Papua New Guinea journalism programme, I asked the professor if he would write a foreword to a book that was being published with a collection of mostly indigenous authors in PNG and the Pacific, entitled Nius Bilong Pasifik: Mass Media in the Pacific.

Writing on the theme “Media, morality and culture”, Dr Helu argued that media freedom in the Pacific Islands was in the balance.

Chief culprits
At the time of publication, 1995, Fiji, with threats of licensing and gagging writs, and Papua New Guinea and a threatened Mass Media Tribunal Bill, were the chief culprits.

Ironically, both Pacific countries also had the strongest news media in the region, but the press was dominated by foreign ownership with both leading daily newspapers being owned by outpost companies of Rupert Murdoch’s transnational News Corporation.

Dr Helu referred in his foreword to Samoa’s 1993 Newspapers and Printers Act and another defamation law compelling journalists to reveal their sources in libel actions.

The professor also spoke of a case involving Kele’a, then before the Supreme Court of Tonga, and talked about the fate of Tongan media freedom.

Fortunately, the media has come a long way since then and this is part of the discourse on constitutional reform today.

Spectre of censorship
Dr Helu also raised the spectre of censorship, while raising a range of cultural conditions and issues related to the media that remain vitally important for the region.

In a sense, they were rather prophetic and insightful comments when contemplating the fate of news media in Fiji and elsewhere in the Pacific today. With media freedom comes a balancing media responsibility and there are fundamental questions about this responsibility for contemporary Pacific media. He wrote:

“There is widespread confusion as to what really is this thing, the media, and what to do with it.

“But the important point is that the media is an institution with a distinct morality and set of values – [for example, codes of ethics] – of its own. These values are part of the morality of liberal democracy, for modern media culture is an institutional embodiment of freedom of expression and the right to be well and truly informed.

“Suppression of views is not the only the only kind of censorship that is the curse of a journalist’s life. There is also ‘legalism’, the presumption that lawyers – who do things mostly by custom – are perfect, comprehensive arbiters who can prescribe for all questions.

“International opinion is increasingly aware that the law can be quite deficient in censorship where it relates to the question of moral goodness and evil. Censorship is invariably the replacing of the good by the bad.

“[Censorship] is symbolic of the relationship between media morality and powerful vested interests that form the basis of all cultures but are particularly pronounced in conservative Pacific communities.

Moral value
“The media moral value of full, accurate information can never be satisfactorily accommodated to these vested interests.

“Such interests have, over the centuries, developed a protective, radiant shield called tabu – an institution whose sole function is ensuring that the demands of the ‘priviligentia’ are made good, but not understood.

“This political tool of tabu has been appropriated by European cultures too.”

'Atenisi students in the Pacific studies room - 'Anaseini Lauaki (from left), 'Ofa Funaki and Paea Lelenga. Rear: Heamasi Vaioleti. - Photo: PMC

‘Atenisi has now branched into the communication studies and Pacific studies fields, broadening out from its traditional liberal arts curriculum.

Education for journalists, well grounded in the liberal arts, is essential in Tonga and the Pacific. For too long, journalism has been treated as merely a craft with a series of skills being taught. This is not enough in today’s complex challenges.

A problem-solving ability along with critical and analytical skills – strong characteristics of university journalism and mass communication courses – is also seriously important.

Education for journalists and a professional ethos are a vital part of empowering the public in a democracy. Educated journalists are more likely to offer fresh and sustainable solutions.

Such was the remarkable vision of Futa Helu, he was able to inspire and influence many disciplines far beyond his own. His lifetime’s contribution to critical thinking and education in Tonga and the Pacific is truly unique.

Dr David Robie is director of the Pacific Media Centre at AUT University. This commentary is drawn from comments made at Professor Helu’s 75th birthday at ‘Atenisi.

Robie, David (1995). Nius Bilong Pasifik: Mass media in the Pacific. Port Moresby: University of Papua New Guinea Press. Foreword by ‘I Futa Helu

‘Atenisi University and Professor Helu’s 75th birthday
Tongan philosopher Futa Helu dies, leaving Pacific-wide legacy