It's fascinating to see the vast outpouring of obituaries, profiles, 'life and times' accounts, photographs, funeral preparations and personal reflections, all responding to the death of Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, late King of Tonga.
Internet reportage has transformed the way global events are covered. Forty one years ago, when Queen Salote died, the only media were the conventional press, radio, print media and national television services. Now the minutiae are spread via the internet, satellite television and radio, print media and their internet outlets.
I particularly like the Fiji Times reports, which give response to the present events, and reproduce their reports of the late King's Coronation in 1967.
Images of people's mourning is posted almost as it occurs, and one can only expect a further deluge of postings as the funeral approaches. For those of us who cannot get back to Tonga to be there, this is as good as it gets, and in some respects, the coverage is very, very good.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Sunday, September 10, 2006
In Memoriam: King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV of Tonga
Sunday 10th September, 2006.
I learned via a prompt email from a friend in Fiji, that the King of Tonga had died, aged 88 years. He had reigned as king of the South Pacific Island Kingdom since 1965, when he succeeded his mother, Queen Salote Tupou III, who had been queen from the age of 18, in 1918.
Taufa'ahau, who was educated in Australia, and was the first Tongan to gain a university degree (BA LLB, from the University of Sydney), contributed greatly to the development of Tongan society, both while he was Crown Prince, and Premier, and after becoming king.
He was the moderniser,the innovator, attracted to novelty and grand schemes, some very practical and beneficial to improving the Tongan economy, and the lot of ordinary Tongans, and some not so practical or beneficial. A big man in all respects, Taufa'ahau Tupou IV will be missed, and his passing will allow for further democratic changes, long awaited.
The King's funeral will doubtless be a grand affair, possibly the last of its scale that Tongan society will see. It will be fascinating to watch how the kingdom develops under the next king.
[I have a lifelong connection with Tonga, having been to school in New Zealand with the late Prince Tu'ipelehake, and the Hon. Ma'ulupekotofa Tuita, having taught as a volunteer teacher in Tonga in 1969, and visited several other times, for study and for pleasure. I speak Tongan still, and would like to visit gain in the future, possibly for the coronation of the next king]
I learned via a prompt email from a friend in Fiji, that the King of Tonga had died, aged 88 years. He had reigned as king of the South Pacific Island Kingdom since 1965, when he succeeded his mother, Queen Salote Tupou III, who had been queen from the age of 18, in 1918.
Taufa'ahau, who was educated in Australia, and was the first Tongan to gain a university degree (BA LLB, from the University of Sydney), contributed greatly to the development of Tongan society, both while he was Crown Prince, and Premier, and after becoming king.
He was the moderniser,the innovator, attracted to novelty and grand schemes, some very practical and beneficial to improving the Tongan economy, and the lot of ordinary Tongans, and some not so practical or beneficial. A big man in all respects, Taufa'ahau Tupou IV will be missed, and his passing will allow for further democratic changes, long awaited.
The King's funeral will doubtless be a grand affair, possibly the last of its scale that Tongan society will see. It will be fascinating to watch how the kingdom develops under the next king.
[I have a lifelong connection with Tonga, having been to school in New Zealand with the late Prince Tu'ipelehake, and the Hon. Ma'ulupekotofa Tuita, having taught as a volunteer teacher in Tonga in 1969, and visited several other times, for study and for pleasure. I speak Tongan still, and would like to visit gain in the future, possibly for the coronation of the next king]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)