Islands Business - Apia Diary: BELTS, BITES, BOOMBOXES

Dev Nadkarni
The seatbelt in my transport seems jammed. I give it a tug and then another. It won’t budge.
“Don’t even try,” laughs the young Samoa Tourism Authority official I am travelling with, eyeing my little over-the-shoulder struggle to buckle up. “You may be fined in these parts for wearing a seatbelt—welcome to Samoa!”

Brusque visual cues... keep order on Apia roads.

Apia’s traffic authorities obviously rely on brusque visual cues to help keep order on its streets. A sponsored billboard at a busy junction in the middle of town reprimands one and all: “Don’t speed, you idiot!” it screams in boldface.

Care for a bite?

But driving down Apia’s roads may be safer than walking on them, if you go by the screams of tourists in Samoa’s newspapers about the number of times they’ve been attacked or bitten by dogs. One Scandinavian tourist complained of two canine attacks –one of them resulting in a severe bite that was worsened by wrong medicine.

Dogs took centre stage at the tourism conference in Apia and the local industry debated how the menace be tackled. While one village has completely banned pooches, other suggestions varied—from keeping pets in confined areas to arming the local constabulary to shoot them.

The tourism minister has assured his department would work with the police to rein in the canines. Erecting idiot-proof signs for roadside dogs wasn’t one of the suggestions.

When it’s not the woof, it’s the woofer!

Beach Fales may be revolutionising backpacker tourism in Samoa with more and more taking to those very basic, wall-less accommodations lining the idyllic rural waterfront. But some Samoans’ celebratory spirit seems to be spoiling a few peaceful holidays.

Beach Fale owners made a fervent plea to villagers through the tourism conference to tone down the volumes of their boom boxes while they celebrate.

Many tourists are being rudely awakened by stereophonic blare piercing the soothingly peaceful sound of waves caressing the sparkling white beaches under the inky, star-spangled night sky.

Not sure if the villagers were taking a break from their celebrations to listen...

India Pasifika!

Driving on Cross Island Road, I stop at a small roadside shack behind Mount Vaea, past the beautiful museum that used to be author Robert Louis Stevenson’s residence. I pick up my six-pack of mineral water to last me on my trip to Samoa’s most beautiful South East beaches. A kind, elderly Samoan gentleman rises from his chair in front of the shack, asking me: “You Indian?”

“Yes.”

He then presents me with a choice of Indian greetings in good Hindi: “Namaste kahoon yaa Salam Aleykum?” (Shall I greet you with Namaste or Salam Aleykum?).

“Namaste would do fine, Shukriya.”

He says his maternal grandfather who came from Fiji had Indian ancestry and taught him Hindi when he was a little boy. He had lost touch with that distant tongue after his death, but his interest in it had been rekindled recently. All thanks to Bollywood films!

Bollywood is obviously hot property in Samoa like it is getting to be in some other countries of the South Pacific, notably Tonga and Kiribati. The charming front office clerk at Aggie Grey’s reels off the names of a galaxy of Bollywood stars enquiring if I knew or met any of them.

“No.”

What a disgrace: An Indian who’s never met a Bollywood star! She then goes on to list the Bollywood films she’s watched recently in her uniquely Polynesian Hindi accent.

There’s more. The flavour of Samoa’s Teuila Festival this year was Indian curry and Bollywood dances, says a tourism authority staff member. Surely you’re trying to humour me? “No,” he says, and then rattles off an entire Indian menu.

For this year’s festival, the Samoan girls gave up their gentle, graceful dance movements for the more aggressive and quicker-paced Bollywood versions, complete with choreographed dance sequences from Bollywood blockbusters.

In the wake of the doctors’ strike, the Samoan government has brought in a number of doctors from China and India. The papers have been quick to point out the difficulties of dealing with multi-cultural medicine men and women, especially whilst communicating with them.

But the Indian docs seem to have an advantage over their Chinese counterparts. “I’ve not had much of a problem,” one recent import from India told me. “My collection of Bollywood DVDs is a great hit with the staff!”

Finally, the chief of Samoa Broadcasting Corporation confided in me her little secret of a fabulous spurt in viewership ratings on Saturday afternoons: “We screen a Bollywood blockbuster at 2. And if I ever miss out on a single Saturday, we’re flooded with calls!”

Holy grounds

I stop by to watch a game of Kilikiti, Samoa’s version of that other Indian religion called cricket. Only, this is so much more colourful, lavalava and all. I wonder how they keep the lavalava out of harm’s way.

In the hope of sending some pictures to cricket-crazy friends around the world, I approach a member of the big Saturday audience for permission to click some and film a video.

Permission denied after a 30-second consultation with others in the audience. Reason? It’s a tournament and outsiders’ feet on the grounds would affect its sanctity!

Didn’t quite fancy the idea of filming from a coconut tree.