Hawai’i is famous for its beaches and spectacular oceans, however, one of the concerning environmental issues is water quality 💧. As I have slightly mentioned in a previous blog post(Honolulu Street Art: POW! WOW!), marine debris are affecting the waters surrounding the islands and it is definitely needed to be aware of.

Marine debris is the human-created waste that has deliberately or unintentionally been released in the marine environment (lake, sea, ocean, waterway)💔. It is not exclusively limited to waster from the islands but also sources washing onto shore from other locations around the world. The majority of the issue is related to the increasing human population and urban expansion (both indirectly and directly), which may includes pollution, climates change, urbanisation and tourism. 

As an anthropology student who has a high interest in cultural studies, to focus on tourism in Hawaii could make a possible contribution. Observing and analysing the set of common activities performed by people who travel and stay in Hawaii could conclude some factors that degrades the island ecosystem. The workload may be large at the moment but it is definitely practical. Starting with Hawai‘i, O‘ahu and Maui, as they are the sites of major tourism industries.

Reality may tells me that in my current stage of study, I might not be able to make visible impacts on the water situation of Hawaii instantly, but raising ocean awareness is the first step, and acknowledging everyone the unsustainable lifestyle of plastics could influence largely on local basis. For example, we could simply start from bringing soft plastics to Woolworths/Coles to recycle, eliminating plastic straws and bringing KeepCups!!!

Nobody in Australia and Hawaii wants to surf and snorkel in water that could cause skin infections, not to mention fresh drinking water. About 71% of the Earth surface is water-covered, our oceans hold about 96.5% of them, this is not just a Hawaiian issue, but simply a global one. 🌍

Thanks for reading!

Hula girl! Yes THE hula girl!

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Perhaps the image of hula girl is the most affiliated with the Hawai‘i perceived by tourists. You’ve seen her bobbing and playing ukulele on the dashboard of cars, you’ve seen her wearing a skirt made of grass, a bra made of coconuts, and with tropical flowers in her hair. She graces the cover of Hawaiian tourism brochures and more media! She is also found on a range of different product labels, where companies are trying to market their products as ‘Hawaiian’ as possible. Tourism and commercials employ place essentialism by generalising Hawaiian females as all-day-dancing-in-grass-skirts figures, without giving due respect to Hawai’i’s racial diversity, and the image has created a stereotypical view of Hawaiian identity.  

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Although many resorts in Hawaii are hoping to change those images, partly driven by economics, in the needs to compete with other 🌞 +🏄‍♀️ 🌊 🏄‍♂️ destinations.  What we need is having the sense of place, to understand the past, ancestors, histories, and that now there’s more, there’s revival resurgence, the culture is an on-going construct. 

Certainly, hula is an actual traditional Hawaiian dance form, but when the hula dance image is popularised to the point it is deviated far from the origin, and affecting perceptions of Hawai’i, it is important to showcase the real-life Hawaiian traditions, and make the islands truly special for travellers. 

However, I do understand it is not my place to criticise how one region chooses to project its own image to the outsiders.  But, lets get clear about 3 symbols (that aren’t Hawaiian but thought to be!!) today: tiki bars (Californian), grass skirt (introduced by Gilbert islands), coconut bras (pacific islanders didn’t wear tops at all).

Thanks for reading 😊

I’m sure we all have seen Lei somehow – either from the television, or when you were greeted by some tropical hotel? I want to write about Lei because flowers are often delightful 💐🌼🌷And while lei is regularly seen, its far-reaching history and significance are not commonly known by foreigners.

Lei is one of the ancient Hawaiian customs which subsist and flourish 🌺 It was first introduced by Polynesian explorers from Tahiti, besides flowers, leaves, shell, seeds, feather or even bone of animals could be incorporated in these garlands. They represented beauty, rank and distinctiveness. It is said that in early times, commoners giving lei to royalty must present through an intermediary with a bow, complying with a taboo against raising their non-royal hands above the head of an ali’i (a hereditary noble). With western influences and development of tourism, this tradition has been tempered.

Trace back to the more recent times, In 1927, poet Don Blanding initiated an annual holiday in an effort to preserve the rich lei-making custom, since 1929, May Day (1st May) is Lei Day!! Each Island is represented by one type of lei. There are many many styles of lei today, from plumeria or ti leaf lei we familiar with, to the less traditional candy or money lei, but in all, they all symbolise the spirit behind aloha – love, friendship, celebration, greeting and honour. In any occasion, such as birthday, graduation(where you receive so many lei from families and friends that your face could be covered!), wedding, funeral or simply enjoy the flowers, lei can be worn, received and given! **One offence to notice is that it is considered rude to remove a lei right after it has been received. As travellers we should pay more attention to the dos and don’ts, click here to see more:)

Lei has intertwined with life in the islands, any occasion is one that can be made more special by lei 🌈 It is such a beautiful culture and i cant wait to make some leis myself!!

Thank you for reading! 😊