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Leimatu'a Remittance Fundraising Sylvester Palu Tonga

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Leimatu'a Remittance Fundraising Sylvester Palu Tonga “Manatu ‘Ofa ki ‘Api” (Remembrance of Home in Love): Home and Diaspora – Leimatu’a Remittance Fundraising Sylvester Palu Tonga A thesis submitted to Auckland University of Technology in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Communication Studies (MCS) School of Communication Studies AUT 2020 Page ii Table of Contents List of Figures v Glossary vi Dedication viii Acknowledgements ix Attestation of Authorship x Ethics Approval x Abstract xi Chapter One: Introduction ......................................................................................... 1 1.1 Overview .................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 The Research Context .................................................................................................. 2 1.2.1 The Kingdom of Tonga .............................................................................................................. 2 1.2.2 The Leimatu’a Community/Village ............................................................................................ 5 1.3 Research Questions ..................................................................................................... 7 1.4 Structure of the Thesis ................................................................................................ 8 Chapter Two: Literature Review ............................................................................... 11 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 11 2.2 The influence of remittances in countries’ economies ................................................ 11 2.3 Tonga has the largest remittance economy in the world ............................................ 14 2.4 The use of remittance funding in the development of Tonga ...................................... 15 2.5 The question of sustainability of a remittance economy in the Pacific ........................ 16 2.6 Poirine’s theory of Implicit Family Loan Agreement ................................................... 19 2.7 Brown’s decay hypothesis .......................................................................................... 19 2.8 Lee’s consideration of the second-generation Pacific diaspora ................................... 20 2.9 Tongan concepts sufficient to maintain sustainable remittances ................................ 21 2.10 Summary .................................................................................................................. 24 Chapter Three: Research Design and Methodology .................................................. 25 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 25 3.2 Methodological Framework ....................................................................................... 25 3.3 Research Methodology .............................................................................................. 26 3.3.1 Indigenous Research Methodology ........................................................................................ 29 3.3.2 Tongan Research Methodology .............................................................................................. 30 3.4 Research Design ......................................................................................................... 35 3.4.1 Talanoa Faka’eke’eke (semi-structured interview) ................................................................. 35 3.4.2 Recruitment Process ............................................................................................................... 37 3.4.3 Transcription of Data .............................................................................................................. 40 3.4.4 Data Analysis – Thematic Analysis .......................................................................................... 41 3.5 Summary .................................................................................................................... 42 Chapter Four: Findings ............................................................................................. 43 4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 43 4.2 The significance of the kalapu kava-Tonga (kava club) ................................................ 43 Page iii 4.3 Kalapu kava-Tonga is the main source of remittance fundraising ............................... 44 4.4 The motives of the Leimatu’a remittance fundraising success – Improving quality of life. .................................................................................................................................. 46 4.5 A sustainable remittance economy ............................................................................ 51 4.6 The future of remittance economy in Tonga ............................................................... 55 4.7 Summary .................................................................................................................... 58 Chapter 5: Leimatu’a kalapu kava-Tonga and community fundraising ..................... 59 5.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 59 5.2 What the kalapu kava-Tonga groups are and their history ......................................... 59 5.2.1 The Legend of Kava ................................................................................................................. 59 5.2.2 Five Types of Kava Ceremony ................................................................................................. 61 5.3 The significance of the kalapu kava-Tonga (faikava) ................................................... 63 5.3.1 Kalapu kava-Tonga is a common place for men to socialise and promote the Tongan way of life (anga faka-Tonga) ...................................................................................................................... 63 5.4 How these kalapu kava-Tonga function in New Zealand now? .................................... 64 5.4.1 Kalapu kava-Tonga is the main source of remittance fundraising’s success ........................... 64 5.4.2 The changed of Leimatu’a traditional fundraising method into kalapu kava-Tonga and community fundraising .................................................................................................................... 67 5.4.3 Kava club fundraising is a toungaue fetokoni’aki (cooperative fundraising task) ................... 70 5.4.4 Kalapu kava-Tonga have different goals and purposes for fundraising ................................. 72 5.5 How remittance fundraising is done in the Leimatu’a community .............................. 74 5.5.1 The Community Fundraising ................................................................................................... 75 5.6 Summary .................................................................................................................... 77 Chapter Six: The motivations for Leimatu’a remittance fundraising ......................... 79 6.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 79 6.2 Improving quality of life ............................................................................................. 80 6.2.1 Looking for a better life ........................................................................................................... 80 6.2.2 The desire for a better life for our children ............................................................................ 81 6.2.3 Seeking for better job to help parent and kin at home ........................................................... 83 6.3 The importance of anga faka-Tonga (Tongan way of life) as a motivation for remittance fundraising ..................................................................................................... 85 6.3.1 The concept of ‘ofa (love) ....................................................................................................... 88 6.3.2 The concepts of faka’apa’apa (respect) ................................................................................. 90 6.3.3 The concept of anga fakatokilalo (generosity/humility) ........................................................ 94 6.3.4 The concept of tauhi va (gratitude/patriotism) and fetokoni’aki (reciprocity) ....................... 96 6.4 The anga fakaleimatu’a (Leimatu’a way of life) as a motivation for remittance fundraising ...................................................................................................................... 98 6.5 Summary .................................................................................................................. 103 Chapter Seven: Remittance Money & Sustainable Tongan Economy ...................... 104 7.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 104 7.2 The Theory of MIRAB economies and how it applies to Tonga .................................. 105 7.3 The importance of fatongia (obligation) and its influence in sustaining the remittance economy ........................................................................................................................ 111 Page iv 7.4 The cultural practices of the lotu faka-Tonga
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