Tongan Update, 11 July 2008, I Wonder What the King is Doing Tonight?
The tour book describes the topography of Tongatapu as flat as a pancake with an elevation of only sixty meters. The king’s palace rests pompously on the summit of the lone hill on the island which is probably at that sixty meter elevation. There is a gate with a guardhouse ,which is manned by a couple of military soldiers, that sits in front of a quarter mile driveway which leads up to the mansion. Because the palace can be seen from the main road,
Elder Thompson and I view it frequently as we run our errands about the island. Often we sing the words from the musical, Camelot, “I wonder what the king is doing tonight” as we drive past the estate mocking the king’s extravagant life style compared to his lowly subjects.
The king is quite an eccentric fellow who talks with an affected British accent and actually hasn’t been crowned the official king yet.
King Tupou IV, his father, died about two years ago. Because of political dissension in the country, Tupou V decided to put off the coronation until this month. Now, with heart-felt concern for his people, he is cutting the ceremonial activities to three days instead of a full week. He is only going to spend seven million dollars for the shindig. (Can you feel my sarcasm?)
Each village is expected to contribute some kind of offering for the occasion. The Church is also expected to donate to the cause. Yesterday the senior missionaries were invited to join the LDS delegation to meet the king at his palace and present him with our contribution for the coronation. We were told that John needed to wear his suit (which he hasn’t worn since the dedication of the temple), and I needed to show respect for the king by wearing a kiakia. I ran to market and spent forty dollars buying a woven skirt-type thing that fits over my own skirt. So now Elder Thompson and I were ready to show proper respect when we met the king.
The common people are expected to arrive two hours earlier then the king and an hour earlier than the nobles when the king is to attend an event so fifteen to eighteen car loads of people waited at the guard station for the expected two hours. Finally at 1:00 the cars and a couple of trucks paraded up the king’s driveway,
and parked close to the mansion.
We had heard about the king’s compound with its octopus-shaped swimming pool, garages, horse stables, and gazebos.
But we were totally amazed at how decrepit and worn the place looked. Moss was growing on the outside of the house, shingles were coming off the roof, grass was growing up through the asphalt driveway, and there was no water in the swimming which was not shaped like an octopus. Why did everything look so dilapidated? The only reasons that we could figure out was that the king is rarely in Tonga. He is a jet-setter, and he seldom jet-sets to his own home land. Another important element is that he doesn’t have a wife. Surely, she would demand that the estate be in better shape.
All of the gift-bearers sat on the grass in front of a gazebo overlooking the farm fields and the lagoon.
Again we were amazed, when a young girl walked stately out to the gazebo, sat serenely cross-legged on a large pillow which was placed on the floor, and seemed to be waiting for the presentation of our gifts.
NO KING! This was the king’s brother’s daughter—the princess. Sitting on the lawn in front of her were her two “talking chiefs.”
There were conversations back and forth between our representative and the talking chiefs. The missionaries and stake presidents were then instructed to move forward and shake hands with the princess. After shaking hands with us,
she simply turned and walked back to the palace. She didn’t utter a word. No “thank you”-- just a smile as we shook hands. The ceremony was over!
Afterwards, the senior missionaries went for lunch at a place called “Two Sisters.” As we finished eating, who should walk into the eating establishment?...the princess. Without the ceremonial dress, she looked like a commoner, very plain and unassuming. Had we not just seen her at the palace, we never would have guessed she was part of the royal family.
Speaking of royalty, we have a new senior missionary, Sister Vuki, who is related to the king. Her companion, Sister Kinikini, says she can’t understand Sister Vuki because she uses the “royal” language. “I’m just a commoner and I don’t know what she is saying,” contends Sister Kinikini. It’s amazing that there are three different Tongan languages—one for the king and his family, one for the noblemen (the chiefs of each village), and one for the common people. CRAZY!
Well, at least we know what the king was NOT doing tonight—meeting with our gift-giving committee!
“Ofa ‘atu, John and Diane
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