I CAN’T help myself adding to some of the recent articles in the paper. Everyone has their own opinions and I would like to share mine also. For what it’s worth, sometimes hearing the truth hurts, but hey! only those that really “care” would “care to tell you the truth.” Please allow me to share my thoughts with the commotion on the subject of federalization.
First of all, if we want to know where we are going, we need to know, first, where we came from. If we want to get somewhere, we need to know which way to go. If we want to know how to get there, we need to have a plan, a direction and a goal.
So let us ask ourselves, where did we come from? According to history, we were here long enough to be called the indigenous people of Natives of the CNMI. Thirty years ago we became the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Fifteen years ago we were a tourist hot spot. Five years ago we neglected many things and did not take care of ourselves, and today we are in an unhealthy condition in terms of our political and economic status. Surely, if we keep up with this down-slide we are going to hit the bottom of the Marianas Trench, and we will be the first ones to make it down there!
So, where do the people of the CNMI want to be headed to, or where to be in five years, ten years, fifteen years, fifty years? A ghost town? Another Guam? Another Federal Territory? An island we can no longer call our home because we no longer own our lands and be forced to live in apartments owned by rich investors who earned their millions by enslaving workers from other countries who came to the CNMI? Oh, by the way, is it really the locals that enslave nonresident workers, or the foreign companies that enslave them in our backyard? No excuses, we allowed them to enslave in our backyard, so therefore we are as much at fault.
Let’s give ourselves a chance, heck we give everyone else who come here a chance. We even changed our ways to accommodate our guests. Only on Saipan, the saying, “when in Rome do as the Romans do.” Here, on Saipan, “do as your guests do!”
I would like to know that the CNMI can still get up and pick up the trash, clean the yards and return whatever we owe to whoever, and rebuild ourselves back to who we used to be…if we can remember who we are. Then, we can start rebuilding what we didn’t do right. Only this time if we fail, then we need to admit that we are not equipped to take care of ourselves. Maybe if we don’t give up so easily, and be Mr. Nice all the time, we wouldn’t be in this mess. So, shame on you all those who have given up so easily and think that federalization is the answer. Maybe you already have your own plans that benefit yourself, not the CNMI as a whole.
Now let us see who is going where? I write against a federal takeover. Many voices being heard by U.S. Congress support the federal takeover, but listen closely, they are not our voices. They are the very voices of foreign guest workers whom we were nice enough to allow them to come to the CNMI to work and support their families back home. They knew the wages without complaining before they arrived. They made their choices because it is better here than there, or wherever they came from. Now, they want it all. Hold your horses ladies and gentlemen; we are not just going to give up just like that. As a matter of fact, we are not for sale, and if we are, we want to be the ones to name our price!
We the CNMI do not agree that a federal takeover is the answer. We the CNMI should correct our wrongs and continue as a commonwealth and be guided by necessary judgment to protect our people and the assets of our people. Let’s face it, the CNMI still needs a lot of work to be done, but if we work together nothing is impossible. When ever I read that word Impossible I read…I’m possible.
Ever heard that song that goes, “keep Hawaiian lands in Hawaiian hands.” Unfortunately, they did not have a strong enough voice and what they went through is just being repeated here. It’s happening to us! You would think that we can learn from them. They lost control of their own lands. The federal takeover must not happen to us.
To turn the CNMI the other direction will not be an easy task. It will take 10 to 20 years in my calculation, maybe more, hopefully not. I will require the CNMI to act as one, move as one and we need to give ourselves that one chance.
So how do we get there? Like any scholar, or businessman or professional would do, we need a plan, a direction, and a goal. I know many ideas are being thought of right now. I want to share mine.
First, we the indigenous people need to change the way we think, the way we act and the way we move. Everyone needs to think about tomorrow, next week, next year, next five years, next generations to come. An old native American once wrote, “the land that we use today is not ours, we are just borrowing it from our children.” Let’s not destroy that too. Let’s forgive ourselves for the mistakes we made and carry on.
A good example would be start voting for the right people. We need leaders, visionaries to get us to where our fore fathers have. they were visionaries! They were wisemen, who had a dream, a plan, and executed it, and we were recipients of that plan, until we got greedy. We need leaders, not cheap crooks!
Everyone deserves a second chance, maybe in the eyes of the U.S. we had too many chance, we can’t cry wolf anymore. Let’s start all over again, slowly this time! Make sacrifices. Work hard! What is wrong with sweating for money? What’s wrong with working for $4 or $3.50 per hour? It’s better than not working and not earning! $3.05 is better than 0. Isn’t it, or did we flunk math too! It is surely better than sweating under the sun outside your house with no job, and no pay.
Uncle Ben Kappon shared these words with me one day. It’s not exactly what he said (so if I misquote you Uncle Ben, I’m sorry), but I remembered he said something to this effect, “boy, 30 percent work, 30 percent play and 30 percent rest is all you need, but 60 percent work, 20 percent rest and 10 percent play and you’ll be better in the end.” I think that the other 10 percent is for us to have our sanity.
So how do we survive all this? What is our major industry? It used to be garment, and tourism, but now garment is heading to greener pastures. So what do we do with our major bread and butter? Everyone talks about upgrading our infrastructure on Saipan. What we need to do is maintain the beauty we have left. In other words, we now have the chance to recuperate. With the garment leaving our ocean make now have the chance to revive itself. The decrease of population should enable our nature to recover. Tourist don’t travel here to see what they have back home, (pollution, traffic, etc.) they want to see what we have, and that includes the beautiful and friendly people of the CNMI. Let’s not go into futuristic concepts such as monorails, etc. Capitalize on the nature trail down to the grotto. They can ride the bullet trail and monorails in the Japan, but how many of them can hike anywhere in Japan? Our leaders need to bring Japan back into the seen. We need airlines to bring the tourist in. We need to get act to at least 1997 level. We need to not bring in more industries that will destroy our environment. As President Roosevelt said, “Do what you can with what you have where you are.” No one cares about the CNMI, but the people of the CNMI including our brothers and sisters who have chosen the CNMI as their new home. I say let’s rebuild ourselves with our people right here in the CNMI, and pray to God, that the US government will give us one more chance. Federalization doesn’t end with immigration — our health care and educational system will eventually be federalized. Are we prepared for these changes? This time, we need to live up to our word! By the way, do we have this chance to vote on the issue on the next mid-term? Mr. Speaker? Mr. President?

ZENN TOMOKANE
Capital Hill, Saipan