Sticks and Stones

J. Roughan

17 March 2009

Honiara

 

As a kid back in New York City many years ago, the small crowd of young boys that I hung around with would chant these words against those who were yelling bad things about us. Not that it did any good! The older kids still kept yelling at us but chanting back our own words made us feel a little bit better some how.

 

However, here in the Solomons things are different. Really a great deal different! Yes, the bit about 'sticks and stones' breaking bones remains true but using bad. ugly or offensive words against another causes a great deal of pain. A sure way to get fists flying, for instance, is to curse someone, his relatives or his family in public. That's true even when the things said are among friends!

 

Using ugly and bad language becomes much more serious when it happens between an employer and employee especially if the 'boss' is of another race. It becomes much worse, however, if the confrontation happens between a male boss and a Solomon Islands woman. For a Solomons woman to answer back to a whiteman boss who has insulted, degraded--black swine--or publicly humiliated her takes tons of courage.

 

The woman thinks twice before daring to answer back. Her hard won job is put in danger and such a loss would really affect the lives of her  whole family.   The woman's silence in such a case does not mean that the insult was not understood, that the public humiliation has been quickly forgotten or things will quickly and quietly go back to normal. No, like deep pain she will never forget what has been said. As one woman recently confessed after being on the receiving end of a humiliating public tongue lashing: "I have been scarred for life!"

 

Last week the newspapers informed the nation that an overseas company, Getax Australia, hopes to open up a new tuna cannery in east Malaita in the near future. The company has rightly identified a tuna expert as well as appointing senior managers to help it with its investment. If the proposed new tuna factory follows the lead of the Noro cannery, many local women will work in the cannery. May I make a suggestion?

 

As important as the tuna expert is, the social relations between women workers and the overseas boss will in time be even more critical. Creating a fruitful and dynamic interaction between employee and employer is crucial to the success of any local enterprise. In the Solomons, moreover, treating staff members fairly, well and sensibly pays off handsomely in the company's 'bottom line'. This would mean engaging a local woman who has the insight, expertise and training in custom and traditions to pass this knowledge on to the company's senior staff especially if from overseas.

 

What one says, how one says it and the body language used while saying it are important aspects of strong management practices in these islands. Perhaps the employee is barely literate, speaks his/her mother tongue haltingly and doesn't have much schooling to speak of. But make no mistake about it, their eyes, ears and minds are fine tuned and I have found them much more receptive and attentive than my own.

 

Village culture lies at the heart of 90% of Solomons women. They insure that village life is kept ticking over creatively. To enhance village peace and harmony requires its citizens to learn early on the meaning and importance of body language. We from the west may have lost this human art long ago but it's one of those cultural traits we could re-learn for our own well being while living in this country for the next few years.

 

Business houses to insure success must incorporate the foundations of Solomons life into the heart of their enterprises. Senior managers and immediate line bosses would do well to learn the customs and traditions of the people they are employing. Language and its proper use in the work place are high on the list of things to do or not to do. An ill chosen word said in the wrong place at the wrong time can destroy as deeply as any stone or stick.