Mr Reece Discombe hemi bin lus long eli moning long namba 2 Jun 2007.
Reece Discombe hemi wan blong olgeta strong sapota blong wok blong Kaljoral Senta stat long ol yia 1960s kasem taem we hemi lus.
Reece Discombe, wan man Niu Silan we i kasem Vanuatu long 1947, hemi bin fes man blong wan narafala kantri we hemi kam wan naturalaes sistisen blong Vanuatu afta long indipendens. Tastawe hemi stap draevem wan trak wetem namba plet we i talem “1”.
Kolonial Gavman i bin apoentem Mr Discombe i go long “Bod blong manejmen” blong Port Vila Cultural Centre long 1960s, afta we Kaljoral Senta i jas bon long 1961. Hemi bin stap long Bod blong Kaljoral Senta taem we oli apoentem fes Kureta blong hem, Kirk Huffman, long medel blong 1970s mo taem oli apoentem fes man ples i kam Jeaman blong Bod long 1970s tu, hemia Godwin Ligo. Fulap taem Kondominium Gavman i bin askem Reece blong kam Jeaman blong Bod be hemi no bin wantem, from hemi talem se wan stret man ples i mas holem hae posisen ia. Reece i bin stap long Bod tu taem oli agri blong stanemap filwoka netwok blong Kaljoral Senta, we naoia i gat bitim 100 filwoka long kolosap evri aelan blong Vanuatu. Taem we Vanuatu i kasem indipendens blong hem long 1980, niufala Gavman blong Walter Lini i bin kipim Reece i stap long Bod, mo hem wan nomo hemi bin wan waet man we i stap long Bod blong Kaljoral Senta afta long indipendens. Fulap taem, taem we Kaljoral Senta i bin shot long mane blong pem bil blong laet o samting olsem, hemi bin yusum own mane blong hem blong pem. Hemi bin spendem bigfala mane blong hem blong sapotem Kaljoral Senta. Reece hemi stap long Bod taem oli apoentem fes man ples i kam Kureta long let 1980s, hemia Jack Keitadi. Taem we Gavman i pasem wan niufala loa blong stanemap Vanuatu Nasonal Kaljoral Kaonsel (blong jenisim Bod blong Manejmen blong Kaljoral Senta) long 1988, Reece i bin wan blong ol fes memba blong niufala Kaonsel ia. Reece i bin stap long Kaonsel taem oli stanemap ofis blong rejistarem mo lukaotem ol olfala ples blong kantri (VCHSS) long stat blong 1990s, mo tu taem oli apoentem Ralph Regenvanu i kam niufala Daerekta blong Kaonsel mo Kaljoral Senta long 1995. Hemi bin stap long Bod taem oli stat blong mekem rod blong bildim niufala Nasonal Miusium, mo taem oli openem niufala Miusium long Novemba 1995, Reece i bin givim fes “Visitor’s Book” we ol big man we oli kam long ol narafala kantri long taem blong opening oli bin saenem. Hemi bin finis long Kaonsel long en blong 1995, afta we hemi bin stap long bod blong Kaljoral Senta bitim 30 yia.
Mr Discombe hemi bin man we hemi bin save moa abaot histri blong ol waet man long New Hebrides mo Vanuatu bitim evri narafala man. Taem eni man i wantem save abaot histri blong wan Inglis o Franis famli long New Hebrides bifo (olsem ol bisnisman o ol misnari), Reece nao hemi save talemaot histri ia long olgeta. Mo hemi olsem wan waes olfala blong kastom, from we hemi save evri samting long hed blong hem nomo mo hemi no nid blong luk long buk blong faenemaot. Reece i bin kolektem ol buk, ol foto mo ol film abaot Vanuatu, mo hemi bin gat wan blong olgeta gudfala koleksen blong ol olfala buk mo foto mo film abaot Vanuatu long wol.
Long fored blong Port Vila Pablik Laebri long taon, i gat wan angka blong ship mo wan aean sospen we Reece i bin givim long Kaljoral Senta. Angka ia hemi blong ship “L’Astrolabe”, we wan man Franis we nem blong hem La Perouse i bin draon wetem long Solomon long 1788. Reece nao i bin daeva mo faenem ship ia bakegen long 1958, afta hemi bin faenem narafala ship blong La Perouse, “Boussole”, long 1962. Aean sospen ia hemi blong sam blong ol fes waet man we oli kam long New Hebrides, we oli bin stap long Aneityum mo lukaotem welfis blong kukum skin blong olgeta long ol sospen ia blong mekem oel we oli stap sendem i go long ol bigfala kantri blong oli mekem sop mo sam narafala samting olsem long hem. Reece i bin karem sam blong olgeta las sospen ia we oli stap yet long Aneityum blong holem taet olgeta long Vanuatu, from we ol waet man oli bin stap karemaot fulap blong olgeta blong tekem i go bak long ples blong olgeta. Long 2002, Kaljoral Senta i bin save givim wan blong olgeta aean sospen olsem we Reece i bin holem taet i go bak long ol man Aneityum, mo naoia oli stap yusum wetem ol turis long Mystery Aelan.
Mr Discombe hemi bin mekem wok blong lukaotem Kaljoral Senta andanit long Kondominium Gavman go kasem Gavman blong Walter Lini (1980-1991) go kasem Gavman blong Maxime Carlot Korman long 1995. Las Minista blong Kalja we hemi bin wok andanit long hem hemi bin Sethy Regenvanu, mo Sethy Regenvanu i talem toktok ia taem hemi harem se Reece i lus:
'We extend our most sincere condolence to the family of the late Reece Discombe who has departed this life which he has lived to the full. His life has been a celebration of the two cultures - that of white man's way of life and that of the life of man Vanuatu. Reece will be long remembered as human museum of the Vanuatu's important history dating back to the time most of us living today were not around. His life spanned some of the most important and critical periods and events that have contributed to shaping the modern nation of Vanuatu, namely, the Second World War, the Colonial Period and the Transition to the Political Independence.
If knowledge of a country's history and respect for people and their culture is what makes a person 'a man ples', then the late Reece Discombe is truly the 'Man Ples' blong Vanuatu.
I had a privilege of working with him as one of the pillars of the Vanuatu Cultural Centre in the last government I served in between 1991 and 1995 as the Minister for Cultural Affairs, and through that memorable association, we worked together to build and to eventually celebrate the opening of our National Museum. In fact, Reece arranged to get the first visitor's book for the Museum. The Museum houses all that Reece and others like him have guarded and treasured - our way of life, our story, our vision and our values.
Thank you Reece for having been who you were to this country and its future'.
