By Tupuola Terry Tavita

If the actions of the flag burner this afternoon wasn’t bad enough, the inactions of a certain radio host on the scene defies logic.

Recapping, a male who appeared to be in his mid-thirties calmly lowered the flag in front of the government building at Eleele Fou, untied it, dragged it up the steps to the entrance, sat down, took out a lighter and started setting it on fire.

This newspaper’s layout artist, Mr Adolf Ioane, who was with the radio host – who had just conducted an interview with the Prime Minister – approached the flag burner and asked what he was doing.

The flag burner stood up and swung at our layout artist.

A bloody fist fight then ensued.

Did the radio host jump in to help?

No. Instead he took out his cell phone, dialed his station manager, and demanded to be put on air. For the next ten minutes, he gave the listening public a running commentary of the fight.

So while the pair were scrapping and rolling around on the concrete, the radio host – whose burly stature could have come in handy – did absolutely nothing.

The fact that he was on the air giving a second-by-second description of the brawl is absolutely disgraceful and dangerous. The heavily-built flag arsonist – who reportedly spent some years in prison in New Zealand – could have easily overcome Mr Ioane, or worse, produced a knife.

It wasn’t until a motorist from Lauli’i -  a woman who was witnessing the brawl ran and stopped on the road – came over and laid out the arsonist did the fight abruptly end.

Sadly, this is not the first time this has happened in this country, and the media profession Journalists are continuingly putting their ego ahead of any social responsibility.

Share This

About the author

Adolf