Richard Ha writes:

When Leslie was putting together that post about our employee Susie White, she asked me whether she should include Susie’s quote—“I thought, ‘I don’t want to work on a banana farm’”—or whether it wasn’t what we wanted to portray.

I told her that it was very honest and to include it.

I told her that I tell politicians and business people, and everybody, the same thing—that we know our workers don’t want their kids to be banana farm workers. They want more for their kids.

I understand that and that’s why I try to do whatever I can to help the situation so their kids might have more opportunities. That’s why I push for economic development opportunities. Like when the brand new College of Pharmacy (at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo) came up and they were accepting testimony, I went and spoke in favor of it. I kept it light and humorous—I told them I wasn’t there to support the school of pharmacy because we were going to sell more bananas. I was there because it meant more opportunities for our banana workers’ kids.

Another example is the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) proposed for Mauna Kea. It gives economic opportunity; some of the kids might want to become astronomers. That’s my agenda, really. When I support something like the TMT, it’s with the thought of how this will help our workers.

What it really comes down to is if the kids can get good jobs, maybe they can buy their own piece of property. We can help them help themselves, without their having to leave Hawai‘i, or having to go get subsidies from the state.

I’m glad Susie made that comment about thinking we were just a banana farm, but soon realizing that we are much more than that. I don’t often get the opportunity to talk about this important subject.