Student shows

the Pacific way

The South Pacific has thrust its perceptions into the hallowed halls of Ox ford University debate.

A New Zealander of Tamil extraction and Western Sa moan upbringing has ascended to the presidency of the world famous Oxford Union Society.

This exclusive club, often thought of a breeding ground for the world’s top politicians, is best known for its regular de bates which attract big names from all over the world.

Now, for the first time in its 163-year history, the society’s top three positions are all occu pied by women.

At their head sits Jeya Wilson.

She was bom in Sri Lanka but her parents, being of the Tamil minority, thought their children would have better opportunities elsewhere and when she was still young the family moved to Western Samoa.

Her father was assigned to help establish the first secondary teachers’ college in Apia where the family remained for 10 years.

Jeya’s mother is buried there.

Her parents’ decision to emi grate was, she said “a bit of foresight on their part.”

Some of Jeya’s schooling took place in Apia. She attended the Samoa College when Albert Wendt was principal.

“I really love that country very much,” she said.

Had she had to overcome many male barriers? “Yes, all the time. It’s a case of trying to take disadvantages and work them into advantages.”

Jeya is only the sixth woman president of the society and the first married woman to reach that office.

She wants to take the society out into the international sphere. “I suppose it’s become a cliche to say that the future lies in the Pacific, but I actually believe it and have done for a a long time.

“The place is vibrant. I love Britain, I’m an unashamed anglophile, but this country lacks the vitality I feel in the Pacific. That to me is the difference between the old and the new.” Edward Peters.

Jeya Wilson President of the Oxford Union Society. Photo Edward Peters.