Page 36 - IB May 2021

Culture

COLLECTED CONVERSATIONS

ILIESA SAMU LALA’S THEY SAID

By Iliesa Tora that can be enacted as part of the Tonga Tourism attraction.
That got me putting together some thoughts towards writing
First it was Sandalwood Blood. Now it’s They Said. Two stories.
books in a space of seven years, authored by a Fijian in Tonga, A paragraph from the writing of Monsignor Blanc, a Roman
Iliesa Samu Lala. Catholic priest (1838), attracted my attention. The paragraph
Now 72 years old, the almost-7-foot giant of a man’s recent was so capturing that sent me searching for supporting ar-
work, They Said, collects discussions and conversations he ticles and I visited the ‘Atenisi University of Tonga, the Royal
recorded over the years as he travelled the globe. Palace Library and the Australian National Library in Canberra.
These adventures include a revelation about the ill-fated I also visited the New South Wales Library and the Maritime
RMS Titanic’s voyage at an international poetry meeting in Museum in Sydney, Australia. I also wrote to people in South
Philadelphia to sitting next to a world-famous astronaut high Africa and Manila, Philippines and interviewed locals in Tonga
above the clouds; witnessing the best in human nature while and New Zealand, [it] got me really involved.
escorting a sick stranger to London from the Pacific Islands to Thus the writing of Sandalwood Blood. There was also inter-
innocently picking up two hitch hikers on the road from Mace- est expressed from Beverly Hills for a possible movie script.
donia to Greece; and being asked the question, “Do they still Also on the suggestion of the then Australian High Commis-
eat people in Fiji?” at Wembley Stadium in London. They Said sioner to Tonga, a description of the book was sent to the
describes these unique encounters as they are experienced Australian Film Commission.
and felt in each location, situation, space and time. The positive review shared in the Pacific Island Business
Iliesa Samu Lala or Sam Lala, as he is known in Tonga, has and Tales from Pasifika, and the current state of Sandalwood
been residing and working in the island Kingdom since 1985. Blood, which is still listed on Amazon books, along with the
After a year as a teacher in Fiji, Lala has held various roles in greatest of support from Her Royal Highness, Serene Princess
the airline sector spanning a good 40 years in Fiji, Australia of Tonga, Princess Salote Mafile’o Pilolevu Tuita, these gives
and Tonga. A keen singer, throughout that period he has been me strength and determination to continue.
deeply involved in youth ministries, writing numerous plays,
skits, cantatas and musical dramas. He talked to our corre- IB: They Said is totally different writing and angle. How
spondent, Iliesa Tora at the launch of They Said. did that idea start?

Islands Business: Who is Iliesa Samu Lala? Can you explain ISL: I had commenced writing a possible sequel to San-
where you are originally from and your ties in Fiji? dalwood Blood but was halted when asked by the Second
Secretary to the former High Commissioner for India to Fiji to
Iliesa Samu Lala: I was born on April 22, 1949. I am from write something regarding the relationships between the Indo
Lami Village, but the original village was Waiqanake, in the Fijians and the Indigenous [people] of Fiji.
Tikina of Suva and the Yasana o Rewa. I am from the Mataqali Whilst searching for a title to that subject, I stumbled on
Natodre within the Yavusa of Navakavu. My mother is from a paragraph relating to the experience of Mariner, the young
Kavula village in the district of Lekutu in the province of Bua. British survivor from the boat Port Au Prince, captured and
My name is taken from my mother’s village in Bua. wreaked in Ha’apai here in Tonga in 1806.
I received my primary education at the Lami Primary School The statement was: “I saw Indians come on board.”. The
before I moved to Ratu Kadavulevu School for my high school. statement got me doing some research in how Indians came to
Then it was to the University of the South Pacific then on to Tonga and their various influences, [and] a statement uttered
Hawthorn Institute of Education at the Melbourne University from the lips of a very sick Indian gentleman who said, “I
before I also attended the Faith Seminary in Tacoma, Wash- have so much in my brain that I don’t know how to get rid of”
ington, facilitated here in Tonga Facilitation, studying for my stirred my mind to ask, “why do people say such things?”
master’s in theological studies. I drew back from memories of my own experiences where I
hear such statements that require some thinking, and I chose
IB: How did your interest in writing start and how have to entitle my book They Said. After all, most of what we
you managed to nurture that interest? inherit today, even believe, are based on what someone said.
Topics in my books such as ‘The Human Brain is too small’,
ISL: [It started] at the encouragement of the then-Director ‘Christianity is not for the Fijians’, ‘Do they still eat people in
for Tonga Tourism, who requested I find a Tongan history Fiji?’ and others can be very arresting in ways.

36 Islands Business, May 2021