Voices
Survivor Fever
A Game Played From Time Immemorial
This is nothing new. Pacific Islanders have been playing "survivor" since time immemorial. No people in the world are more adept at squeezing the most out of the environment, plotting against each other in small groups sometimes called tribes and in being scantily clothed. This new group of Caucasians (well, not all of them) arriving on Pacific Island shores have absolutely no skills when compared to Pacific Islanders in adapting, maximizing and exploiting the natural surroundings. Moreover, the interpersonal skills needed to deal with rivals have no equal when it comes to Pacific Islanders. I guess the only new wrinkle is democracy. In the Western version of Survivor, we get to vote each other off the island. In the old days, we drove the rivals into the sea. Nowadays, we hope they just figure out that there is no room for them here and move on or go to the nearest airport and take off. If not, they just have to get over it. Whether we win or lose with rivals, all of us in the Pacific Islands are survivors. Seeking employment, particularly government employment, requires the most sophisticated survivor skills we can muster. We have to think about relatives, whom the boss may be related to, who our spouses may be related to and what favors our relatives have done for the boss, the agency director or anybody in the personnel office. This requires a keen memory, sophisticated relatives and an intelligence network about key people who make employment decisions. You also should be qualified and bring a good resume. Getting a higher education, especially in another country or in the "mother" country requires a similar approach. You have to think about political allies, friends who work in education and, of course, good grades are a plus. If you survive this gauntlet, you not only get the scholarship or tuition assistance, you have merited a degree in understanding the ways of the Pacific world. Obtaining health care in most Pacific Islands is more than a test of survival skills; it could prove to be a torture test. Health care is problematic and many hospitals are clearly inadequate. Pacific Island survivor skills call for going to the nearest clinic or hospital and then praying that everything works out well. You usually go with a handful of relatives and if admitted to a hospital, you need a constant stream of relatives to ensure your survival there. The survivor skills necessary for becoming a political leader in the Pacific Islands are well known. They require an ability to cook for and feed thousands of people. They require an extensive network of relatives. They require an ability to look like a simple fisherman while speaking like an Oxford scholar. They require the good old boy approach to things on Saturday night while looking like a solid citizen on Sunday. None of these castaways on the Survivor programs have half of the kinds of skills that most of us Pacific Islanders take for granted in surviving the challenges that we face on a daily basis. Of course, very few of us would trade in the lives we lead for any other life. Life in New York City, Honolulu, Auckland or Los Angeles looks much more dangerous and requires survivor skills without relatives. I can't imagine how any self-respecting human being can do that and still be called human. The writer is a professor at the University of Guam, and Guam's former Delegate to the U.S. Congress. |
