KEY POINTS:
Mana Latu, a gardener, wears a pair of thick socks and is toe-deep in the soft, dark Tongan soil.
He leans on a long stick among the rows of cabbages, behind him the distant but grand residence of King George Tupou V, and flashes a huge smile.
Latu laughs as he refers to his "gentlemen's agreement" with the monarch which allows him to cultivate the land in return for stocking the royal larder with fresh produce, including English potatoes.
The vegetables thriving around him bear witness to Latu's green fingers and more than 30 years of work.
But he is not just a market gardener. The 72-year-old was a school teacher and later the deputy secretary of education.
He, like thousands of Tongans this week, is thinking about change in the Pacific kingdom after the new king announced he was relinquishing many of his absolute powers, perhaps marking a fresh political direction.
Latu wants to see Tonga progress but naturally - rather like his vegetables. He does not want a repeat of the November 2006 riots, considered by some to have been a turning point for change, but which gutted the capital of Nuku'alofa, claiming eight lives.
"They were a total disaster. Things could have been achieved in a much more peaceful way."
Latu, a Christian, believes human nature needs to be changed "in a more fundamental way" for lasting results.
As to his friend up the hill, Latu says King George will make a good king.
"He has very progressive ideas. It is not good to discredit the monarchy, because it is an advantage for Tonga."
If the Oxford and Sandhurst-educated king is true to his word, the reforms will bring an end to Tonga's status as one of the few countries in the world where the monarch almost single-handedly runs day-to-day Government.
The proposed changes will see the 60-year-old king relinquish his role in day-to-day Government affairs.
Under the current constitution, drawn up with British advice in the 1870s, only nine of Tonga's 32 MPs are elected by commoners. The rest are appointed by the king and a group of nobles.
The constitutional reforms are likely to be enacted in time for national elections in 2010, when ordinary Tongans will elect the majority of MPs.
King George acceded to the throne after the death in 2006 of his 88-year-old father, Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, whose enormous bulk once qualified him as the world's heaviest monarch.
But the coronation was delayed until this week because of the Nuku'alofa uprising.
Support for the king in his coronation week are now coming from previously unlikely sources.
Dr Tevita Tui Uata, an outspoken past critic of the Tongan monarchy's historic resistance to democratic change, is rather pleased that the new king signed a bill legalising his commitment to future democracy.
"It took a lot for the King to have done this and allow it to happen."
Dr Uata, chairman of the Tongan Business Association, said everyone now was happy.
"We are all on the same page so it has brought stability."
In appreciation, he and his father, a people's representative in Parliament, had decorated the family's building in downtown Nuku'alofa to celebrate the royal occasion.
Tonga's most famous democracy campaigner, Akilisi Pohiva, feels like a huge weight has come off his shoulders.
Pohiva has been pushing for change for 25 years which has seen untold marches, demonstrations and a seven-week strike by 3000 civil servants.
Now he, too, is celebrating the coronation, going out of his way to remove signs reading "stop dictatorship in our country".
Pohiva said the king had been talking about change in the past few years but that was not concrete until he signed the bill to guarantee reforms by the 2010 elections.
"His Majesty recognised the importance of the people's will.Generally speaking, we are all happy."
Prime Minister Helen Clark, who attended the ceremony, said the coronation came "at an important juncture" in the country's political growth.
The new law, expected to be passed next year, "to enable Tonga to make the next step in its democratic transition is important for Tonga and a wonderful thing for the Pacific", she said.
In the capital yesterday, after King George's coronation, feelings were animated. School students said the king was "cool'. Others, like Tupou Fakatou, felt his mana was enhanced by the coronation.
"He will be a good leader for our country."
Katalina Lea'aetoa, a mother of eight, hoped King George would change.
"Hopefully he will start acting like a king and love his people."
Lea'aetoa said her family struggled with no jobs, and relied on family in New Zealand to send them money to pay for things like school fees.
The centre of Nuku'alofa was colourful this week. Marquees added a cheerful air to what had previously been a somewhat grotty retail sector.
With the ruins of the fire cleared away, its devastation is hard to fathom for those who had not seen the bustling hub before. The fires destroyed about 15 buildings. Just three have been rebuilt - a two-storey commercial building on the main street, a large Chinese supermarket on Salote Rd, and a Chinese shop near the hospital.
Dr Feleti Sevele, Tonga's Prime Minister, was among those harmed by the riots.
His large supermarket was razed.
Now Sevele is looking to the rebuilding, which he expects will take a couple of years.
"It is an opportunity to do it properly, with vision ... something our children are going to be happy with."
Sevele said the centre had previously developed haphazardly.
"Always out of the ruins of something you can build something better, more lasting."
This should not, however, be read as a metaphor for the effect of the riots on the political reforms.
Sevele says the need for change was agreed well before the riots. "And some of these changes are quite revolutionary in the context of Tonga."
As to the criticism levelled at the cost of the coronation - about $3.6 million - Sevele says it will reap twice that in tourism revenue. (The costs included $574,000 on royal robes made in London, $50,776 on the newly minted sceptre - similar to that of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II - and 1000 new chairs embossed in gold lettering with the monogram GVT.)
But the Prime Minister is defensive when asked about poverty, and how ordinary Tongans have fared in recent years.
King Tupou, who ruled for 41 years, appointed as his court jester an American who allegedly swindled the kingdom out of millions of dollars.
His son established a reputation as a playboy prince and was criticised for grabbing stakes in Tonga's few profitable business enterprises.
Perhaps aware of these feelings, the king last week made good on promises to dispose of some of his business interests, selling his share in the national electricity utility Shoreline Power. The Government is paying Shoreline for the business.
Still, many of his 110,000 commoner subjects struggle to make ends meet, with the average wage $50 to $75 a week.
An Asian Development Bank report in 2006 found 40 per cent of Tongans lived below the poverty line.
Sevele said: "Do we have homelessness? Do we have starvation? I've seen homelessness in Australia and New Zealand."
When pressed, he admits there is hardship in Tonga but says it is minimal: "You tell me a country that doesn't have hardship."
Sevele says the Government is addressing issues of poverty, the last budget removing duties on meat, and also for diesel used by the inter-island ferries which reduces the price of shipped commodities.
"Our healthcare is better than anywhere in the Pacific - we have free medical treatment."
He adds the community also has a role to play in maintaining a decent standard of living.
Sevele also pointed to Tonga's 55th ranking in the United Nation's human development index for 2007/08, compared to 77th for Samoa.
"That covers health and life expectancy, education and living standards."
The Weekend Herald met Tongans seriously worried about the rising cost of living driven by high fuel prices, petrol already over $3 a litre. These are people already living on the edge and especially burdened at times like these with the pressures of ceremonial gift giving.
That has been an area of interest for Paul van der Grijp, a French professor of anthropology, who has been studying Tongan society for nearly 30 years.
He first visited Tonga in 1982 while researching his doctorate and his arrival a week ago marked his 12th visit.
Van der Grijp says some Tongans have bankrupted themselves through gift-giving to their extended families and for ceremonial purposes.
There was a dilemma, as increased entrepreneurial success meant Tongans were expected to give more.
"It makes them look important, but they can end up bankrupt."
Van der Grijp said increasing numbers of Tongans were able to deal with it, but for many there remained a fundamental problem.
"People will continue to give despite any resentment. It's like breathing."
To not share one's wealth was seen as anti-social. Van der Grijp said the tradition of giving was tied up with a perceived debt to God, that one owed one's life and land to God. "Churches play on that line."
Of King George, van der Grijp noted how he was not married, was not church-going, and was not a traditionalist - but was still accepted. "He is able to rule despite the criticisms - and it could even be seen as a sign of mana that he can get away with it."
