Translation from Horvat's book Besa ...

... Commonly used words are often difficult to translate - Polynesian way of thinking is different from ours. Loosely translated, Fiu means 'it is time for change, got enough of everything, stuff it'. When Islanders are Fiu nothing matters, there is no force that will move them, change their mind. Some unexplained 'force' is telling them to quit, change, move from the current state. As dreamers they are used to do only what they like to do. They can't understand Westerners who are able to spend a lifetime doing something that is boring, or something they don't like doing. Fiu is irrational and has an immediate effect. If someone is working on a project, say building a house, he/she will just quit the job, at any stage, and follow the dream - even if it is just a day or two before the pay-day, they simply don't care, Fiu is stronger than any money, stronger than the obligation to complete the job! He/she will just leave the job undone and go, ... go fishing, go surfing, go to visit a relative for a couple of months or do anything else.

As such, Fiu is a state of mind that is not really desirable in the capitalist, money-minded culture! We are taught to SERVE! To serve the Family/ Company/ Nation/ Mankind to the fullest! We are taught to work hard, to deliver, to produce .. to go all the way to The End, to explore the limits of our patience, perseverance, ..until 'The System' squeezes the last atom of our energy. Until we are old, dry, broken down! Islanders live 'here and now', and just like Buddhist monks, they possess Nothing and Everything!