I have deliberately held off on commenting more on the Mary Anne Thompson saga. One because of the links she had with building Pacific public service professionalism and secondly because I know some of the personalities involved in what appears to be even bigger than the media reports of Taito's alleged immigration 'wheeling & dealing' for some in his community. Strangely, I remember when underground murmurings in the migrant community were popularly rumoured with Taito as the man who helped 'the illegal underdog". I often listened to friends and family refer to Taito as a "good man" to fear stricken over-staying illegal residents. Now as Taito heads off to face the allegations against him in court, he is now one who many believe ought to be shunned. Human compassion can be so expensive. In his case the issues are far more complex.
Similar issues occur again in the Mary Anne Thompson affair. Yes her dishonesty around the non existence of a PHD qualification she claimed as an achievement, deserves the current attention she is getting - but the real losers here are the Pacific community. Once again Pacific people are portrayed as incapable of dealing with great responsibility because of all sorts of pressures - not only internally within the public service but also from friends and family who may perceive some Pacific high risers as all powerful. Unless we are trained to focus on codes of conduct and ethics above the strong arm of our personal cultural environments we will succumb to pressure and take the broad hopes of our communities down with us. That to me is the fallout upon Pacific communities when Pacific leaders do not abide by the rules.
Technorati Profile
