Mala’e Telekava

“Isn’t this Mala’e Telekava a solemn place?” This grassy field called Mala’e Telekava has a unique place in Tongan history. It serves as a reminder of the lives lost during a devastating epidemic that swept across the nation in 1918. The “Spanish” influenza, a global pandemic, reached Tonga’s shores through the steamer Talune. It arrived in Nuku’alofa on 12 November 1918, having already left a trail of sickness and death in Fiji and Western Samoa. The virus spread rapidly through the three main island groups of Tonga, and the Mala’e Telekava, near the Tupou College in Nuku’alofa, became a sorrowful scene. The cemetery at Mala’e Telekava, usually a place of quiet remembrance, was overwhelmed by the sheer number of dead. As the death toll rose, the usual tolling of church bells ceased. An unsettling quiet fell over the capital. At the height of the epidemic, the head Tongan dispenser at the hospital in Nuku’alofa fell ill. The hospital closed its doors, leaving the sick without access to medical care. People, accustomed to working in their farm allotments, lay helpless in their homes, unable to provide food for themselves or their families. As the days passed, the sick became the dead. The few remaining able-bodied individuals, mostly sailors from a British ship then in Nuku’alofa harbor, found themselves digging graves, then a long trench for those whose families were too sick or too few to bury them. Tongan ministers remained at the cemetery, offering prayers for those whose souls were passing. Everyday life came to a standstill. Carts carrying bodies wrapped in bark cloth were the only signs of movement on the streets. The impact of the epidemic was deeply felt across the entire nation. An estimated 2,000 people, approximately 8 percent of the total population, perished. The young and healthy were particularly vulnerable as they succumbed to pneumonia, a frequent complication of the influenza. The Queen herself lost family members, including both of her parents and a half-sister and a number of uncles. It was a tragedy that left a lasting scar on the hearts and minds of the Tongan people. The Mala’e Telekava, with its cemetery, became a somber reminder of a time of incredible loss.