The first time I heard of George Speight's name was as husband of local
beauty queen Shauna Bull whose father had been an engineer at the then
Department of Post and Telecom.
It was years later that I heard that he was residing with his family
friends, the Greys (Hibiscus Queen Natalie Grey's brother) who were staunch
Seventh Day Adventist church members in Brisbane, Australia.
I saw George Speight again on television during a seminar at the Centra
Resort in 1998 and that was the first time that I heard the man speak.
The first impression that I got of him was that he was an unusually
articulate man because he spoke with such confidence and what he had to say
made a lot of sense. I instantly sensed that here was a dynamic man in his
prime who was going places. I was not wrong.
In 1998, I heard that he was a board member of Super League Fiji; one of the
two bodies of rugby league headed by Culden Kamea currently Marketing
Manager of Colonial National Bank.
Later, I learned that he had been appointed Chairman of Fiji Hardwood
Corporation and from newspaper reports discovered that he was member of
other significant boards such as Telecom Fiji. He was well on his way.
When the new Government was elected in the last general election, a handful
of people was relieved of their positions as board members. Speight was one
of the casualties. In addition, they also abruptly terminated his
appointment as Chairman of Fiji Hardwood Corporation (whose office was razed
to the ground on Wednesday night), a position that he held with much pride
and dreams. If there was someone who was well aware of the tremendous
economical potential of Fiji's mahogany resources, it would have been George
Speight.
Speight was no stranger to international dealing in his stints working
overseas. His education background also spoke of a man who was ahead of his
time as a graduate in business administration from Andrews University in
Michigan, USA, a prestigious Seventh Day Adventist tertiary body. His family
was SDA and it was through the church that the Ah Koys and the Speights
became close family friends. SpeightÕs childhood was spent with the children
of the Ah Koys, Kabus, Beras, Ratulevus and other prominent families of the
same church.
But lately, Speight seems to have denounced his association with the church
when asked during the takeover.
"I used to be SDA but I don't belong to the church anymore," he told
me when
I asked him at a press conference in the Parliamentary Complex on Monday
night.
There have been rife speculations as to how Speight became involved in such
a deed considering his overseas training and seemingly progressive outlook.
Nobody would have imagined that this poised and articulate man would have
harboured deep resentment for the People's Coalition Government as is now
common knowledge since he led seven balaclava clad and gun touting men to
take Government leaders hostage.
When I heard over the air that the man in charge of the takeover was none
other than George Speight, I was initially stunned. It was not after
pondering and considering his actions that I began to understand why he had
done what he had done.
I recall that he was supposed to have been under investigation for
allegations of misuse of funds involving the company that he was formerly
associated with, Heaths Insurance. Anglo Pacific, a company that evolved
into TRM was a client of Heath Insurance. TRM was an American funded bidder
in the former Government's tender to develop Fiji's hardwood resources. The
bid was understood by the company to have been secured when it was cancelled
by Chaudhry's Government after resuming power and along with the
cancellation was Speight's position as Chairman of Fiji Hardwood
Corporation.
When I walked into Parliament Complex on Saturday afternoon, the day after
the take-over, I was unprepared for the solemnity of the surroundings. I had
earlier surveyed the city escorted by Police Public Relations Officer, Sera
Bernard in the aftermath of the rioting and looting. I was shocked by that
experience and I was eager to ask him what his views were of the damage that
was incurred following the march of the Taukeis the day before.
"I had nothing to do with that. If anything the President should be blamed
for ignoring the cries of the people. That was the way that people wanted to
show their discontentment with the way things were going in this country and
in no way will I accept responsibility for what's happened," he said.
When I arrived at the complex, I saw people congregating on the roadside
before the driveway into the complex. Overseas journalists, cameramen and
photographers waited patiently to catch a glimpse and a word with Speight.
With their presence, I realised that what we had before us was of immense
interest to the international community.
For any reporter, being in the complex and to be present at the scene would
have been a dream come true and it was the stuff that most local journalists
could only dream about. Now the dangers had become a reality and I had to
question the part that I played in it as a journalist.
The atmosphere was tense and electric as those present waited in suspense
for the drama to unfold. At the gate to the complex, I prayed that I would
come out safely because for the first time, I was going to be exposed to a
hostage situation in which firearms were a threat. I had visited Papua New
Guinea and witnessed dangerous situations and the scene before me somewhat
reminded me of Port Moresby with its tight security and prevalent use of
firearms.
While the better part of me screamed to turn back, I reminded myself that
this was part of my work and it would help my writing to be right there
where the action was unfolding.
I thought I recognised a friend amongst the guards carrying a gun but he
turned away before I could speak to him. In retrospect, I considered myself
lucky that common sense prevailed. When I saw him, he seemed different ‹
tense and almost dangerous. Two days later, I witnessed him snap and become
highly confrontational, his colleagues had to pull him to safety before the
unruly mob that had gathered there to volunteer as additional security got
hold of him. A gunman later came to inform us that he was drunk and had been
subdued. The press's views were obviously important to Speight with the
volunteering of that information.
When I entered, I saw journalists sitting on the immaculate lawns of
Parliament; some taking much needed naps that they had missed the night
before. They were waiting for one of the many exhaustive press conferences
that Speight was convening. In all my naivety, I tried to talk to him when I
saw him standing at a distance (near a place I learned later was where
Fijian members were kept hostage). On my way to him, I was rudely ushered
back to where the other journalists were waiting. George Speight ordered his
men to remove me and there was something in his tone and eyes that told me
that he could be dangerous.
But I persisted and boldly called out to him my questions which I felt could
be a welcomed subject. It was about the promulgation of the six decrees that
he claimed legitimised their actions. It worked and he came towards me to
talk. He was back to his usual self and providing me with the necessary
comments.
Later, returning from the gate, we were taken aback when he casually walked
up and sat down right in the middle of us to join in and listen to the news
bulletin on radio. Ratu Mara was on the air denouncing his actions and
declaring a state of emergency asking the people to remain calm in light of
the unrest that had occurred in the city and other parts of Fiji.
Speight sat there calmly listening and when it was over, the radio was
turned off and to my surprise, he asked if anyone had any questions to ask
him. Right there on the lawn was the press conference and it was something I
had not expected because I was thinking that a press conference would mean
somewhere more formal with gun yielding guards standing by.
He answered our questions with the precision and command that I had expected
and my interest was piqued. Here was not a man that resembled anything that
some people were describing him.
He was a highly intelligent man and it was unnerving to watch how he
appeared to have the right answers for all the questions we bombarded him
with. It dawned on me that he did not regard local journalists as a threat
and I wondered how he would fare with the hard hitting questioning of
overseas journalists.
Hours later, my curiosity was satisfied when he agreed to talk to the
foreign press. He spoke to them from inside the complex and was separated
from his inquisitors by the gates of Parliament reminding me of a prison
situation. Again he pulled that one off. He handled all questions with such
finesse that I could actually see respect and something close to admiration
in the eyes of some of the overseas journalists and absolute disgust on
others.
From its intensity when the questioning commenced, it trailed off
until hardly anyone had anything to ask. He was a genius, some even called
him a madman because his casual demeanour belied the ominous situation he
had created.
We were well aware of the fact that he was in total control of the situation
and that we were on his turf. He did not let us forget this in all the time
we were interviewing him. He abruptly cut off anyone whose question he did
not welcome and with charm, handled the others. It reminded me of a
classroom situation where students raised their hands if they needed to ask
the teacher a question. He was enjoying and lapping up the media and I put
it down to his years in the US where he must have spent numerous hours
watching politicians and influential people dally with the media on
television.
He was asked about his alleged failed business dealings and the legality and
legitimacy of his actions. All questions were answered with the same
precision that he handled us, the local journalists. It was then that I
realised that there may be a chance that this man could emerge a winner in
the crisis. Of course it goes without saying that the most compelling draw
card up his sleeve were the hostages.
I also noticed that the only questions that he avoided were those in
relation to the hostages and the legitimacy of their being held against
their will. He clearly detested any reference to them and he said that the
guns were only employed to subdue anyone who attempted to intervene and for
security reasons.
As an indigenous journalist, I had to constantly remind myself that I should
be impartial and balanced but after a few hours of listening to him talk and
justify his actions, I could not help but feel akin to the cause that he was
pushing for. That was probably the effect that he had planned. He was a
master at toying and stringing along the media and would have made a good
psychologist or lawyer because of his almost uncanny ability to successfully
handle an awkward line of questioning with his choice of words and his
demeanour. This was a great source of frustration for most overseas
journalists.
"If people say I have the gift of the gab then I say to them that if I
have
it and I can put to good use, why not," he told us.
Another foreign colleague said that as much as he disapproved of SpeightÕs
methods, he grudgingly admired his style.
"In New Zealand, most of our leaders read off a piece of paper or avoid
the
media but this man is so good, he would have made a brilliant politician,"
he said.
Asked if he was a racist, Speight said that he was not but that he only
aspired to see Fiji governed by Fijians.
"I have a lot of Indian and non-indigenous friends and they know that
IÕm no
racist. I've done this because I feel that Chaudhry's Government was not
good for the indigenous people as their rights were being slowly eroded.
Despite widespread dissension that were voiced through the media and other
forums, he chose to ignore it and I felt that it was not in the interest of
the indigenous Fijians if Chaudhry's government was allowed to continue to
rule. The Fijians want a right to self-determination, which is enshrined, in
international conventions. I can't come to your country and tell you how to
live so why should this Government which is dominated by another race be
ruling us and telling us what to do," he said in response to foreign
journalists.
Asked about his failed business dealings and his alleged misuse of funds, he
said that there was yet to be leader in Fiji who had not been involved in a
shoddy deal.
"Fiji is a small place and everyone is connected. There is hardly any
leader
in this country that does not have any dark secret or hadn't been involved
in bad deals in some way or the other and I'm no exception. All the
allegations levelled against me were politically motivated and instigated by
those who thought I was aligned to this political party and that. All I can
say is that I have the mandate of the indigenous people to speak and act on
their behalf and that's exactly what I'm doing," he told another journalist.
And this was said effectively at press conference after press conference
that by the third day of being exposed to the intelligence of George
Speight, I was frustrated of hearing the same thing over and over again
albeit in different wordings. Someone called it propaganda. I called it
brainwashing to the highest degree because we were helplessly in his
control. I wondered how the situation would have been if he had been outside
of that complex. I began to question my presence in the complex and my role
in the whole process.
I also thought that my frustrations lay in the fact that I could not seem to
find any flaws in the man. He was too good to be true but I had to remind
myself that we were living in a cocoon. A foreign colleague begged to differ
and reminded me that a cocoon was a safe place so I chose the term glass
house instead.
The world of George Speight and his Government only existed within the walls
of his gun controlled environment, the Parliament complex, which to me was
ironic when one considered that it was also the workplace of those that
legitimately led Government and promulgated laws of the country.
I walked away from the complex thinking that as passionately as he may be
pursuing his cause with the support of those that had entered the complex to
show allegiance to him, George Speight was also a prisoner like his
hostages. His supporters could effectively be used as human shields and I
was reminded of the movie The Killing Fields.
"I will ask all of you to leave for your own safety even if you wanted
to
stay if the situation deteriorates and becomes dangerous," he told us.
But he said that he would not do the same to the supportive civilians in the
compound, because it was their prerogative to remain and sacrifice
themselves for the cause that they believed in.
I resolved that even if the man did not get his way, what Rabuka tried to do
in more than a decade of being in power, George Speight managed in a week.
That was to project the need of the indigenous people to their right to
self-determination nationally and at the international level. The face of
politics in Fiji has changed. Along with it would be the social and economic
norms, as people in Fiji knew them and sadly Fiji would never be the same
again whether Speight gets his way or not. Speight was articulating the
Fijian indigenous peoples' plight with better skill and art than any other
Fijian leader had ever done. As for me, three days on the complex was all I
could endure but I constantly experienced pangs to go back in and listen to
the gospel of the indigenous Fijian according to George Speight.
END
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