Words of wisdom for young doctors

Keynote address at the Fiji School of Medicine 2009 Graduation
By Sir Terepai Maoate KBE

Ministers of the Crown, Traditional leaders, distinguished guests and to the 2009 Fiji School of Medicine graduates to whom this day belongs – I bring you the greetings and best wishes of the government and people of the Cook Islands.
Kia Orana – which means may you live long. My wife Lady Marito Maoate and I would like to extend our deep appreciation to the Dean of Fiji School of Medicine and your distinguished faculty for your kind invitation to be here today.
It is certainly personally moving to be here to address the 2009 graduates of the Fiji School of Medicine. I must also confess, that for Lady Maoate and I, being back in Fiji is like a second honeymoon as just this past weekend we celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary in my wife’s home island of Aitutaki – said to be one of the most beautiful in the South Pacific.
From Proverbs 17.22 are these words of wisdom; A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
This reminds me of my own life struggle, and no matter how bad a situation was, always trying to remember that success starts with the determination to succeed. To try and keep good spirits in times of adversity, to remain humble and thankful to God during the times when things are progressing well.
I was born in 1934 into humble beginnings, we had nothing much and the Depression years made things that much tougher, we experienced very much hardship.
My beloved mother Mataina died when I was 10 and my younger brother Nooroa was just a 12-month old baby. We were raised by our extended family – parented by an aunt and uncle who were poor but kind. It was their island principles, faith and kindness that have guided my brother and I all our lives.
I remember we hardly had any clothes to wear, but that’s the way things were for most families in those days.
Those humble beginnings made me determined to do better, to give my own children some of the things that I was not able to have. One of the most important things about education is encouragement and I was fortunate to receive that generously from my surrogate parents.
I studied hard to pass exams to be selected for a scholarship to study medicine right here at the Fiji School of Medicine. I graduated in 1953.
After returning and serving in Rarotonga and Aitutaki as a medical officer, I realized that I needed to go back and do some more learning to improve my performance.
In 1973 I graduated with a Diploma in Obstetrics from Auckland University. But that still wasn’t enough – I was very ambitious.
Four years later I graduated from Amsterdam University in the Netherlands with a MA in Public Health. That degree has given me a broader view of what should be the overall approach to health.
I believe that broader view has also served me well as a politician. I entered Parliament in 1983 as newly elected MP and Cabinet minister.
Being in government is something I had to learn, although different from being a doctor, the principles are the same; you are dealing with people’s welfare.
Improving the welfare of my people has been my overarching vision; something I believe is achieved through creating earning capability.
You cannot promote health and a good standard of living for people without an economic base, and I have always made this a high priority.
I have to make sure that we set in place the infrastructure development needed to continue to grow our economy and protect our environment; so far we are heading in the right direction.
Even after all these years, I can honestly say the work is never completely finished, there is always more to do, but when I depart from politics I want to leave with a government that is doing well and knowing that my people are well served.
I would like to take this opportunity to share with you one of most moving, yet scary experiences of my life which happened in 2007.
In my time as a keen rugby player I have confronted very big, powerful men on the field, in my time as a politician I have met powerful world leaders, as a doctor I have confronted many challenging situations – yet none of them made me as nervous as meeting and being received by a small, elderly woman and herself a grandmother -- Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace – where she bestowed upon me the award of Knight Commander of the British Empire. The knighthood is in recognition of 50 years of service to medicine and over two decades as a politician.
That was an experience of a lifetime and very nerve-wracking. I have been through investiture ceremonies before being sworn-in as a Minister of the Crown and traditional leader and I had thought at the outset and probably a bit naively, that this would be a similar investiture. I was really humbled by it all.
I do recall HM Queen Elizabeth II asking how the Cook Islands is faring. I was so pleased to be able to tell her that the country is doing well, that we have political stability and good economic growth. That experience in London was certainly new and I learnt something from it – never give up the determination to try if you want to succeed. Who would have thought that the Rarotonga poor boy from the Depression years would one day be in Buckingham Palace to receive a knighthood?
Nelson Mandela once said education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world – I truly believe that.
I encourage all you graduates before me today to always keep your minds inquiring and curious – that way life will always be an upward learning curve for you.
I am certain that you men and women already know and appreciate that education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better places than you found it. Be committed to that vision.
On behalf of my wife Lady Marito Maoate and I, may I again express our thanks for the kind invitation to be here today and witness the dreams of all you young people being to unfold.
I leave you with this remark by Henry David Thoreau:
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.
Kia Orana e Kia Manuia

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