By JO GILBERT - The Press
16 October 2010
St Thomas's College Young Enterprise Pasifika team, from left, Jordan Koloamatangi, Mathew Elia, Thomas Scott and Charlie Latulipe.
An award ceremony host's remark to a group of Pasifika pupils that "they can all read and write" has sparked anger.
The Oceanic Fusion team from St Thomas's of Canterbury College, made up of mainly Samoan and Tongan pupils, won a regional award in the Young Enterprise Scheme (Yes).
After announcing their success, host Tom McBrearty said: "I can assure you they can all read and write."
The remark was reportedly met with gasps and silence by the audience at Wednesday's ceremony at the New Zealand Institute of Management (NZIM) in Christchurch.
McBrearty, a former NZIM chief executive and current director and a Yes judge, said he had "engaged my tongue before my brain" and had not meant to say it.
One audience member, Community Law Canterbury manager Paul O'Neill, whose organisation mentored the St Thomas's team, said he was so disgusted he walked out.
The comment angered him because it was "a relatively small event that had a big issue around it", he said.
"It was a racist comment based on ignorance, I'm not saying it was done with maliciousness," he said.
"The worst thing was that when a St Thomas's teacher apologised to the boys afterward, they said, `That's all right sir, we are used to it'."
A member of the Oceanic Fusion team, Jordan Koloamatangi, 17, said the statement was distressing, but the boys could see McBrearty was genuinely sorry when he apologised afterward.
"It hurt us quite a bit," the year 13 pupil said.
"We, as individuals, have faced these stereotypical comments before, but having it come from someone like that, and at that level, we took it more heavily."
Maori and Pasifika pupils all across the country were trying to overcome the "stereotypical barriers", Koloamatangi said.
"We still hurt about it, but it makes us stronger and gives us more reason to work hard and strive for excellence in whatever we do."
McBrearty said his statement was "not at all" what he meant to say.
"What they've done is achieve amazingly well and they're an example to all young people, that's what I was aiming for.
"I meant they've read up their briefs, written really good reports, and there's an absolute connection between them, their product and their business practice, but it didn't come out that way and it was an absolute tragedy."
As well as apologising at the time, he had sent a written apology to the pupils and their school.
Do Math in the Head - Click Here!St Thomas's principal Christine O'Brien said the comment was highly offensive and disappointing, but McBrearty seemed genuinely apologetic.
St Thomas's was in the process of organising a restorative justice conference with McBrearty, the pupils and their families. It was reviewing whether to participate in the scheme next year.
Ali Hughes, chief executive of Core Education, which administers Yes in the region, said McBrearty's remark was distressing and disappointing, but out of character.
He did a lot of good work with young people in Canterbury, she said.
OCEANIC FUSION
The six members of Oceanic Fusion are set to wing their way to Wellington after collecting the Young Enterprise Scheme's Canterbury regional award. Charlie Latulipe, Caleb Reweti, Kasiamo Petelo, Mathew Elia, Thomas Scott and Jordan Koloamatangi will attend the national awards on November 3. Reweti said the group, which included Samoans, Tongans, a Maori and a Pakeha, was proud of its achievement. Their company sells luxury soap with ingredients sourced from Samoa, with plans to donate profits to aid assistance in the country. The team is aiming for the Pacific Achievement Award.
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