“We are not scattered, but big and huge”: Funaki Speaks of Island Identity and the Art of Reciprocity in Second SDRC Anniversary Webinar

Sustainable development can only happen if we see not what we lack, but how we can be solutions.

This was a central point in the presentation made by Dr. Kaitu’u ‘I Pangai Funaki on the “Art of Reciprocity (Fefoaki’aki) in Oceania: Gross National Generosity (GNG) as a Sustainable Model for a Post Covid-19 Society” on August 7, 2020 via Zoom and Facebook Live. Founder of the Dignified Pacific Initiative (which seeks to empower communities in the Pacific region through GNG to rearticulate the role and worth of their cultural and natural resources toward global prosperity) and a director of the Royal Oceania Institute (dubbed as Tonga’s new, independent think tank), Dr. Funaki was the second speaker in the Social Development Research Center’s 41^st Anniversary Webinar Series.

His home country, the Kingdom of Tonga, shares much in common with the Philippines, as pointed out by College of Liberal Arts Dean Dr. Jazmin Llana and SDRC Director Dr. Melvin Jabar in their opening remarks.  They noted that both are island nations in the Pacific, and that both share common notions of human relations such as “kapwa,” “damay,” and “utang na loob,” which has similarities with the Tongan practice of fefoaki’aki. Dr. Funaki acknowledged that this commonality stems from the “Sea of Islands” philosophy, which espouses that our countries are not separated but rather are connected by the ocean.

Blending economics, psychology and anthropology in his study, he emphasized that island peoples carry in them a particular knowledge passed down by their ancestors. When added to formal education, citizens can create a future that is workable for everyone. Dr. Funaki expanded this notion to the system of ODA, or Official Development Assistance, in which institutions see what they do as a form of “gift-giving.” In place of this top-down approach, he recommended that they engage in partnerships that would restore equilibrium and thus make reciprocity possible.

With regard to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, which were referred to in questions raised by attendees during the open forum, Dr. Funaki proposed an alternative set of six “SDG” sectors. These six sectors exhibit what Pacific Island countries have to offer that the world needs. Through these sectors, GNG can simultaneously heighten dignity and self-worth. The proposed “SDGs” are cultural heritage (to which each nation’s elders will have much they can contribute), global security (a paradigm that is reframed to demonstrate how it is PICs that actually assist bigger nations), humanity and livelihood (which will introduce traditional practices such as in healing), global governance (in which authority rests in the ability to achieve the greater good), sports and research (whereby islanders bring their knowledge to developed countries to improve athletics and scholarship), and peace and prayers (too long neglected, this will bring attention back to the spiritual self as a guide in times of crisis).

Dr. Funaki concluded his presentation by suggesting that the present time brings the chance to “discover who we are, who others are, and what they need.”  In a world where people are taught to think and function to give and take, it can be a moment instead for learning to give, and to give more.