The Aloha State

Tourists from many countries go to the 'Paradise of the Pacific' to enjoy its lovely beaches. The place - Hawaii. It is a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean.

Aloha is actually a word used for friendly greeting in the islands. The movie, Hawaii Five-O promoted the Aloha State impressively although great numbers of people from Europe, America and Asia have been there since the islands was discovered in 1778.

The beats of the drums at the start of each airing over Radio Televisyen Malaysia or in short, RTM stole the hearts of many Malaysians during the 1970s. The name Steve McGarrett played by Jack Lord and Kelly played by Kam Fong Chun do not turn stale in us.

Another act that killed the watcher, is the dancers who wear skirts of green leaves with garlands of flowers around their necks and flowers in their hair. There are so sexy. The Hawaiian girls will twist their waists on the famous Honolulu's Waikiki Beach.


The drums and the sacred dance alone is enough to fix your ears and eyes at the black and white television screen before colour television is launched in Malaysia in 1985. The sacred dance is so impressive that some schools students in Melaka have practised it for in their presentations during the annual Teachers Day.

I was dreaming about Honolulu and wanted to be there. My dream was answered two decades later when an American-Hawaiian, Barry Hattori invited me to his home in Honolulu. He was a FedEx employee. Tourist business is a major income for Hawaii long before I met Barry. Honolulu is a port of call for most of the transpacific shipping and air lines.

These are some common words for tourists :

aloha love, welcome, farewell

hula a dance

luau a feast

mele a song