Ratu Sukuna Day
(Celebrated on the last Monday of the month of May)
Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna, KCMG, KBE (22 April 1888 - 30 May 1958) was a Fijian chief, a scholar, legionnaire, and statesman. He is regarded as the forerunner of the post-independence leadership of Fiji. He did more than anybody to lay the groundwork for self-government by fostering the development of modern institutions in Fiji, and although he died a dozen years before independence from the
United Kingdom was achieved in 1970, his vision set the course that Fiji was to follow in the years to come.
War hero and Scholar.
(Brief Mil/Edu background)
It was at this point in his life that the connections cultivated by Sukuna's father throughout his career proved decisive. No Fijians to date had graduated from a university, and the British colonial administration was unwilling to encourage higher learning for the natives. However, Ratu Madraiwiwi was personally acquainted with the
colonial Governor,
Sir Francis Henry May, and in 1911 asked him to try to arrange for his son to study at a British university on the grounds that he had passed the matriculation exams at Wanganui Collegiate School. May's influence persuaded the British Colonial Secretary, reluctantly, to grant Sukuna a one-year leave of absence from his responsibilities in Fiji to study history at
Wadham College,
Oxford, in 1913. Financial constraints had prevented him from realising his dream of pursuing a four-year law degree at
Cambridge.
Ratu Sukuna and other chieftains of Lau in Vanuabalavu, 1918 after service in France and Before he left again for England.
Ratu Sukuna had little time to settle down to his studies.
World War I broke out and Sukuna applied for enlistment in the
British Army. The British government, however, had a policy of refusing enlistment to
Fijians, a policy rationalised by a wish to avoid exploiting the native people. Believing that Fijians w
ould never gain the respect of their British rulers, without proving their worth on the battlefield, Sukuna enlisted in the
French Foreign Legion instead. He fought bravely and was wounded towards the end of 1915 and forced to return to Fiji. He returned to
France the following year, however, with the
Native Transport Detachment, a newly formed contingent assisting the British Army. Apparently, the British colonial authorities had had a change of heart about native participation in the war. For his wartime service, Ratu Sukuna was awarded France's highest military honour, the
Croix de Guerre.
Now a war hero, Ratu Sukuna had no difficulty raising funds for his return to Oxford. Towards the end of 1918 he graduated from the history course that was shortened for returned servicemen. He proceeded to the
Middle Temple in
London, and by 1921 had graduated with both a
BA and an
LL.B degree. He thus became the first-ever Fijian to receive a university degree.
Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna Day (commonly known as
Ratu Sukuna Day) was a national public holiday in
Fiji until the year 2010, when the Prime Minister, Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama, declared both Ratu Sir Lala Sakuna Day and National Youth Day to no longer be public holidays [opposition parties and many indigenous Fijians since then have been fighting to reverse this decision]. It was originally celebrated annually on the
last Monday of May, in honour of
Lala Sukuna (1888-1958), the
national father of modern Fiji, whose death anniversary falls on 30 May. The week leading up to Ratu Sukuna Day is marked by public celebrations with speeches and events, with an address from the
President of Fiji on the closing day. Members of the public enter
Parliament grounds to polish Rt Sukuna's statue.