Polynesian
p. 33 · Read in the full issue
When a Polynesian goes 'deadpan'
From a Wellington correspondent When a Polynesian—apparently in perfect health—becomes totally withdrawn, develops a deadpan look, will say nothing and give no reaction, what is wrong?
The probable answer, according to a booklet called Understanding Polynesians—and published in New Zealand to help European employers understand their Polynesian staff— is that he has gone into a state known as Musu, and is suffering from sheer fright or nervousness.
Musu is common among Samoans and Niueans and relatively common among Cook Island and NZ Maoris.
The booklet was prepared by the Polynesian adviser to the NZ Voca tional Training Council, Mrs Margaret Lee, and co-authored by the Secretary for Maori and Island Affairs in New Zealand Mr J. M.
McEwen, and Mr C. Macpherson, a senior lecturer in Sociology at Auck land University.
It is designed to help employers understand Polynesian staff and their reaction to varying situations.
“One of the more evident features of the changing face of New Zealand industry is the increasing number of Maoris and Pacific Islanders em ployed in that sector”, the introduc tion states. “Race relations will play a growing part in industrial relations in New Zealand”.
As well as discussing fully the difficulty of Musu, the booklet also looks at language, reaction to insults, negative questioning, working with Polynesians, involvement in decision making, work rewards, work r hythms, and work language.
It has earned the personal support of the NZ Minister of Education, and former Minister of Island Affairs, Mr P. A. Amos, who said he had been most impressed with the publication, which set out the differ ences in attitude and behaviour which arose from the cultural back ground of the various Polynesian groups.
Commenting on positions occu pied by Polynesian workers, Under standing Polynesians said: “Jobs held by Polynesian migrants Jo not generally permit any great feeling of achievement, do not offer
any intrinsic satisfaction and permit little room for individual expression.
“They hold little prestige and do not invite any great interest from busy management.
“This is quite different from the working situation migrants have been used to in which members of work groups are bound to one another by personal relationships.
“Their interests are represented at the top levels of decision-making; decisions result from discussion and consensus, rather than handing down edicts from a production office.
“The average rural plantation agri culturalist does a complete range of productivity activity: he clears, plants,
tends and crops his product. He is involved at every stage of the process and he exercises control over cause and effect.
“In New Zealand, it takes some time for a person to adjust to the idea that work is of little interest to anyone other than himself and that its rewards are solely economic.
“ ‘lt’s not like the Islands’, runs a typical view. ‘You work hard here and no one takes any notice. Nobody cares about that, but they start to squawk the moment something goes wrong with the machine.
“ ‘Half the people with whom I work don’t care about what they are doing—just the money’