PACIFIC LEADERS’ REVEALING CLOTHES!
THE KINDS OF SUITS THAT ARE WORN REVEALS SO MUCH OF THE LEADER’S PERSONALITY. You can gain deep insights by ‘reading’ their wardrobes as it has layers of meaning on their leadership styles
Asuit is an extension of personality
There are two ways you can glean information on Pacific leaders; You can read state policies and plans including official biographies and media reports or you can closely observe the clothes they wear. You can gain deep insights by ‘reading’ their wardrobes as it has layers of meaning on their leadership styles. The kinds of suits that are worn reveals so much of the leader’s personality.
Admittedly, some leaders fashionsense often show idiosyncrasies such as the Prime Minister of a tiny country who attended a regional meeting in Port Moresby attired in a light grey oversized suit and white sneakers while all the other leaders were in their traditional dark suits.
I gather that he is popular with young millennial voters given his non-conformist fashion sense.
Many current Pacific leaders who are baby boomers still wear loose, boxy shaped suits that were all the rage in the 1980s. This is a subtle indication that they are conservative with the ‘business as usual’ attitude. Voters should expect policies to remain static and unchanged over their terms. It reinforces the adage that “clothes maketh the man.” Yes, their boxy suits may look stuffy but you get stability. What you see is what you get: a leader is the sum of his clothes!
Papua New Guinea’s O’Neill
Some years ago,
I had lunch at the
Waigani Parliamentary Complex in Port Moresby.
The parliamentarian who sat next to me was surprised at how I ate the medium rare steak that looked raw and bloody with relish. (His steak and that of all his PNG colleagues were well done). I had committed the cardinal sin of coming in a collared tee shirt and jeans while everyone else including my friend were in formal attire.
The friend who had invited me was chatting to a young woman in a designer dress representing the European Union. He was hoping to get additional project funds. I acted and sounded as cultured as possible in a Eurocentric way to mitigate my uncouth apparel. (He later got more funding!)
Walking out after the lunch session, I saw former Prime Minister Peter
O’Neill. For someone who had been issued a warrant for alleged fraudulent payments of about $30 million to a law firm, he looked outwardly calm and composed. He wore a bespoke welltailored suit. It conveyed authority, respect and legitimacy. His impeccable suit was like a figurative armour that was Teflon coated.
Accusations of the fabulous amounts he was alleged to have taken could not stick. They rubbed off him like things thrown into a Teflon coated frying pan that could not stick.
Solomon Islands PM
Colleagues in Honiara say that PM Manasseh Sogavare is strong willed and assertive. He often uses past experiences to make important state decisions. He is immaculate and strategic in his fashion wear.
His fashion sense is usually dictated by the events and situations he is confronted with. It is his fourth time being Prime Minister and he has learnt to survive in a cut-throat political landscape.
When Sogavare met Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing in 2019, he decided not to wear a Western suit but a Mao suit to emphatically emphasise that the relationship with China was very close, like lips and teeth.
In an earlier interview with Graeme Smith, Sogavare had declared Taiwan “is completely useless to us.”
Sogavare told Li Keqiang, “I am pleased to recognise the one-China policy ... We are pleased to be on the right side of history and normalise relations with the People’s Republic of China.” His Mao suit acted as the stamp of approval.
Samoan Prime Minister
Tuilaepa Aiono
Sailele Malielegaoi has held the
PM position since
1998 and rules over the most stable nation in the
Pacific with very strong cultural and Christian roots.
A self-made man, he has nothing to prove to the region and the world and his fashion wear reflects a relaxed, decisive leader who has the reputation of getting things done. He is witty, has a sharp sense of humour and speaks his mind freely.
PM Tuilaepa is also an important voice in Pacific regionalism as his discourses continue to shape Pacific policy narratives.
He has the talent for navigating the various external forces that compete for influence in our region.
PhD students of state policies might find all the ideas they need by talking to this Pacific icon who is also a living library of regional sustainable development.
New Zealand Prime Minister
If you Google Jacinda Ardern, you will find so many articles and reports about her fashion-wear. You’d be forgiven for thinking she is a celebrity model or Hollywood actress.
When she was in New York in 2018 for the UN General Assembly, the media there gushed over her ‘fashion diplomacy.’ In London, she wore a Maori cloak to Buckingham Palace.
She has even been gifted clothes by fashion luminaries such as Juliette Hogan, Ingrid Starnes and Maaike. She has appeared in ‘Vogue’, the American fashion magazine, which described her as having a ‘beaming smile” and being “elvish.”
She wore a pair of sage green Herriot pants and a flowing trench coat from Harman Grubisa. For the cover of TIME magazine Ardern wore a white silk top by Ingrid Starnes.
When PM Ardern came to Fiji in late February, the local press gushed over her humility and calm demeanour. She warmed hearts by sitting with the common people on the ground at Tamavuai-wai. In Nadi, she made cups of tea for the women who were supposed to serve her.
Her inner strength like Joan of Arc and her affirming demeanour like Mother Teresa made some people to ask if she had spent her formative years cloistered in a Convent for Carmelite nuns.
Australian Prime Minister
Whereas former
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had a patrician air to his wardrobe that included cashmere sweaters and Thomas Burberry-like suits, Scott Morrison’s fashion sense is more plebeian.
He has been in the political arena for 13 years and realises the importance of a ‘man of the people’ image.
His suits are off-the-racks, low key affairs with nothing off the swank of bespoke designer labels.
It is meant to blend with the rank and file, the hoi polloi who go to voting booths and remember the leader who dresses like them, talks like them and by extension identifies with their issues.
Morrison has a direct way of speaking that may seem blunt and unemotional although people who know him well speak passionately about his strong evangelical faith and affirming personality. Even Morrison’s wife has gained positive global media coverage for her thrifty fashion sense.
Turnbull’s nouvre riche clothes was perceived as a flaw by his competitors within his party in the sense that it was a subtle barrier to prevent them from gaining prominence.
Morrison has garnered viral publicity for his habit of being ‘water boy’ in games featuring Australian teams. In Australia, Sri Lanka, India and Fiji, he has handed out bottled water with the finesse of a mobile butler. And gained goodwill in the process!
Fiji’s Prime Minister
We will always be eternally grateful to Prime Minister Bainimarama for projecting iTaukei culture globally through his wearing of the Fijian kilt, the ‘sulu vaka taga’.
He has been trolled uncharitably during state visits to Kenya and Australia for wearing the Fijian skirt as a symbol of our Christian identity and cultural masculinity.
Skirts are worn in Scotland, Greece, Burma and Bhutan without the world complaining. It is only when Fijians wear it that there is so much spam! Wherever PM Bainimarama has gone, he has proudly worn the sulu vaka taga and projected Fijian culture to the world.
When PM Bainimarama goes out to communities, he does not wear suits. He is comfortable in Bula shirt and sulu vakataga. His humble, no nonsense affirming style resonates with the people.
Conclusion
To gain insights into our Pacific leaders, one can read official biographies or pore through policy papers and strategic plans. A more direct and effective way is to examine the leader’s wardrobe.
It speaks volumes of the leader’s worldview, personality and strategies. I would be severely reprimanded by Pacific islanders if I did not mention Winston Peters (NZ Deputy Prime Minister) as the very epitome of immaculate dressing and the dynamic leader that virtually everyone in the Pacific tries to emulate.
He has been in politics since 1979 and people believe that his political longevity is due to his excellent wardrobe! I, like many others, would be content just wearing one of his silk ties!