rss feedDon’t live in the past. But certainly visit (1).
From 1998 to 1999, I worked as a newspaper reporter for The Pacific Daily News on Guam.
It’s a U.S. territory in the Western Pacific and where, as island residents will tell you, America’s Day Begins.
The newsroom had the nice feel of a coffee house with reporters thinking of ideas, chasing news and writing stories. And there was much news to be had out there.
Island politics, spending local and federal money, military affairs and a wave of illegal immigrants from China kept us busy to name some of the stories my colleagues and I covered.
In fact, the U.S. delegate to the House of Representatives at the time entered our writing about human smuggling – old and young from China’s Fujian province showed up on rickety, old boats – in the Congressional Record, which C-SPAN, for some reason, has in its online archives.
I made many friends there and I liked the fact that there was influence from the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and mainland China, as well as Hawaii and the continental United States.
Before I left, my friends gave me the Latte Stone replica that you see pictured above. I only came across it when I was digging around in some boxes at my parents’ house.
The Latte Stone was an important part of Guam’s history because they were used to hold up ancient houses, according to the island’s government Web site.
It brought back some great memories.
I never traveled to all the places that can fascinate in Micronesia.
The Federated States of Micronesia, as I recall, still have large round stones that were once used as money. The region is known worldwide for excellent scuba diving.
The U.S. government used the Marshall Islands, which are roughly in the region, as a testing ground for nuclear weapons.
But I did visit Tinian, which is part of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and was the launch point for one of the U.S. bombers to drop the atomic bomb on Japan during World War II.
Some Chinese investors around 1998 or 1999 had opened a casino for tourists.
Saipan, a larger island in the commonwealth, was home to controversial garment factories and housed numerous workers from China and other countries.
During Guam’s gubernatorial election in 1998, I had the opportunity to serve on a panel of journalists to question the candidates.
As I recall, the island’s government was spending money, which raised concerns about whether the rate of spending was sustainable.
So, I asked the candidates whether they would, as a measure of fiscal responsibility and a public example, state that they would give back part of their salary, should they be elected to the island’s highest office.
One person agreed. I forgot what the other two said.
Anyway, for some reason, I kept the name tag all these years that sat before me at the hotel that night.
By the way, Guam is a beautiful part of the world.
