Culture meets technology: UH Hilo business professors improve data processing system for Merrie Monarch hula competition
In the spirit of tradition, continuity, and service, two UH Hilo business professors implement a data processing system this year that improves accuracy, speeds up processing of judges’ scores.
By Susan Enright/UH Hilo Stories.
“It is a fascinating story of how tradition and technology have worked together over time,” says data analyst Sukhwa Hong about the scorekeeping process at Hilo’s annual Merrie Monarch Festival hula competition.
Hong, an associate professor of data science and business administration at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, explains that in the early years, Merrie Monarch Festival scorekeeping was done entirely by hand by local accountants.
This led to Joel Peralto who did the Merrie Monarch scorekeeping for some years. Peralto taught accounting at Hawaiʻi Community College and was eventually joined in the work by a UH Hilo business professor.
“If memory serves, I started doing it with Joel in 1998 or 1999,” says now-retired UH Hilo College of Business and Economics professor Terrance “Terry” Jalbert. “We did it together for a couple years before I took the lead.”
Hong explains that Jalbert then developed a sophisticated Excel-based system that translated the festival’s complex scoring rules into a workable scorekeeping process. He was assisted by UH Hilo business professors Kimberly Furumo and Gene Johnson, both now retired. That spreadsheet-based scorekeeping system served the festival for many years.
“As Jalbert began preparing for retirement, he worked to ensure that this very specialized scorekeeping process would continue in good hands,” says Hong, now part of the Merrie Monarch scorekeeper team along with colleague Amir Mohammadian, an associate professor of economics.
“We have now carried that work forward together, with me serving for four years and Amir for three,” says Hong. “We also had the privilege of working alongside Terry for three years before he retired last year after decades of dedicated service. We are very grateful for all he has done for Merrie Monarch, and we deeply appreciate that even in retirement he still helps us one or two nights during the festival.”
2026: An improved data processing system
This year, building on the strong foundation Jalbert created, Hong and Mohammadian used a technology-assisted workflow that helps process the judges’ scores more accurately and efficiently. The system improves both worksheet and workflow to help reduce errors, improve accuracy, and speed up the processing of the large volume of scores submitted by the judges.
“The judges make the decisions, and the scorekeeping team carefully records, checks, and processes those scores,” describes Hong. “The newer system does not replace human judgment in any way. It only helps reduce clerical mistakes and improve accuracy in handling a very large amount of numerical information more efficiently.
“What makes this especially meaningful is that Merrie Monarch is one of the most important events in Hilo and in our wider community,” continues Hong. “It is an honor for us to contribute behind the scenes to something so respected and culturally significant.”
“We also think it is a good example of how technology can transform work in a positive way by assisting people, not replacing them,” adds Hong. “It’s all about tradition, continuity, and service.”
Story by Susan Enright, public information specialist for the Office of the Chancellor and editor of UH Hilo Stories. She received her bachelor of arts in English and certificate in women’s studies from UH Hilo.
