NEWSPAGE 02 January
2012

(Photo: eventpolynesia.com)

(Photo: eventpolynesia.com)

SAMOA: Samoa and the new sequence of days in 2012‏
Source: eventpolynesia.com

Samoa's shift to the west to align with days in New Zealand and Australia also saw a change in the sequence of days of the week according to the new calendar being adopted by the Seventh-day Adventist church in Samoa, with Monday becoming the first day of the week to Sunday starting in 2012.

The new version by the SDA church in Samoa will differ from the normal weekly sequence starting with Sunday to Saturday. Saturday being the seventh day of the week is fundamental to the reason why Seventh-day Adventists worship on Saturday as their Sabbath.

Last week, the Samatau SDA church rejected the direction of the Samoa church administration to keep Sunday as the new Sabbath; whereby confirming a division in beliefs and convictions of Seventh-day Adventists not only in Samoa but also overseas regarding the new Sabbath day in Samoa.

According to Pa'u Fereti Puni, a member of the Samatau parish, "We remain Seventh-day Adventists. But the Samatau church worships on Saturdays of the new reckoning and not Sundays in 2012 as per decision of the Samoa church adminsitration".

A huge number of Samoans who worship on Sabbath, the seventh day of the weekly cycle or Saturday belong to the Samoa Independent Seventh-day Adventist Church or SISDAC as they are better known. It has been confirmed that SISDAC will be keeping the Sabbath on Saturday in the new reckoning and not Sunday according to the position of the main church.

The change in Samoa's position according to the International Dateline will not result in a change in the sequence of days in a week. This differs from the position of the Samoa SDA church with its new sequence of days, making Sunday their new Sabbath in 2012 and into the future; the reason why the Samatau SDA church have rejected the new calendar.

Photo: Members of the Samatau SDA church Malia, Teleiai Pepa and Pa'u Fereti Puni.
 

(Photo: T. Fa’alogo/CNR)

AMERICAN SAMOA: ASCC CNR Seeks Community Input on Promoting Healthy Lifestyle

During Christmas week Community and Natural Resources (ASCC CNR) staff held the first two of four community meetings to discuss ways to promote healthy living habits. The meetings took place on Tuesday at the Fagaitua Congregational Christian Church of American Samoa (CCCAS) hall and at the CCCAS hall in Tula on Thursday. The purpose was to give parents, teachers, and community leaders a chance to express their input on encouraging families to eat more fruits and vegetables, drink more water and less sugar-sweetened beverages, exercise more, and get enough sleep. Participants came from villages stretching from Laulii to Onenoa with clergy representatives from the Catholic, CCCAS, Latter Day Saints, and Methodist faiths.

These meetings are an important part of a US Department of Agriculture grant called the Children’s Healthy Living (CHL) program, which aims to combat childhood obesity. Knowing that “it takes a village to raise a child,” CHL wants to engage the whole community in helping prevent healthy weight children from becoming obese adults. Serious, debilitating ailments such as heart disease, stroke, type-2 diabetes, certain cancers, and high blood pressure are linked to obesity. These non-communicable diseases, or NCDs, shorten lives and place heavy physical, emotional, and financial burdens on families and on the health care system. To prevent these diseases, we must first prevent obesity.

Most children are at a healthy weight, but as they age many gain excessive weight quickly owing to diets of too much soda, candy, and chips and too little pak choi, breadfruit, and papaya. And instead of getting at least an hour of vigorous outdoor play each day, they spend too much time watching television and videos and playing Nintendo. And because lack of sleep has been shown to lead to overweight and poor grades in school, children need at least nine hours of uninterrupted sleep nightly to develop well.

To tackle this problem, ASCC CNR is working with researchers and Cooperative Extension Agents in Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas. Under the leadership of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, CHL will test the ideas gathered from such community meetings, both here and at these other jurisdictions, to devise possible interventions to prevent children, aged 2 to 5 years, from gaining excessive weight during the two-year study.

In addition, CHL is sponsoring two candidates from each jurisdiction with full scholarships to earn degrees in a health field to continue the effort once the grant ends in 2016. Many other agencies and departments in American Samoa, public and private, are doing all that they can to educate the public on healthy living. CHL hopes that its contribution will provide the extra effort needed to make the Territory a leading success in the global fight against obesity and its attendant NCDs.

The ASCC CNR CHL team comprises Tapa’au Dr. Daniel Aga (Dean/Director), Aufa’i Apulu Ropeti Areta (Associate Director), Don Vargo (Site Principal Investigator), Siaunofo Logologo (Co-Site PI), Sharon Fanolua Sunia (Research Assistant), Rebecca Fiame (Cooperative Extension Agent, Nutrition), and Agnes Vargo (Intervention Specialist), with the assistance of Helen Lago, Marie Chan Kau, and the Expanded Family and Nutrition Education Program staff. The team is aided by a 15-member Local Advisory Committee composed of knowledgeable and influential members of the health, medical, education, and business communities.

For more information about the CHL program, visit http://chl-pacific.org or contact Don Vargo (699-1394 x 234, [email protected]) at ASCC CNR.


Photo 1 -  Mrs. Lagi Seakerise of Alofau, a parent of an ECE student, signing in at the CHL Community Meeting in Fagaitua with the help of ASCC CNR Research Assistant Marie Chan Kau.

Photo 2 - Satele Lili’o Ali’ita’i, Tiapula Imo Mamea, and the Rev. Dr. Leanaotaua S. Seva'aetasi of Tula participating in a discussion on childhood obesity prevention.
 

COOK ISLANDS: Mike Pero Real Estate Expands Into Cook Islands In Time For The New Year
Source: Mike Pero Press Release via Scoop Independent News

Last Friday Mike Pero Real Estate (MPRE) officially opened its first offshore office, in the Cook Islands. The newest national real estate brand in New Zealand, MPRE only began listing homes eight months ago and has already defied the odds given by its industry competitors.

“We’re absolutely delighted with our progress to date and adding our first Pacific Island Office, in Rarotonga, to our 23 franchise operators in New Zealand is a fantastic way to start the New Year,” says Pero.

The Cook Islands was a logical step for Mike Pero, who says being part Pacific Islander had a big influence on the decision to open a branch in Rarotonga. “Seeing how many Kiwis enjoy the island is another factor. I’ve been going there since 1972 and can honestly say it’s my favourite holiday destination.”

In Rarotonga, MPRE will work in with an existing real estate operation, known as Cook Island Real Estate.com Limited. “Carey Winterflood and Peter Heays run an excellent business and have a reputation for their honesty and the quality of their service. They have decided to re-brand and join us as Mike Pero Real Estate - Cook Islands. This means the Mike Pero brand will not only increase its presence up in the ‘Cooks’, but we’ll also be able to promote investment opportunities to Kiwis,” explains Pero. The Mike Pero brand will also extend to home loan advice and funding for Kiwis against their New Zealand homes.

New Zealand currency, a common language and a similar culture make Rarotonga a very popular Pacific destination for Kiwis. “They also like the idea that a four hour flight out of Auckland can land them in a climate often 10-15 degrees warmer in the winter months,” says Pero.

Rarotonga is one of 15 Pacific Islands that form the Cook Island Group, which are positioned about 3000km north nor-east of Auckland. Rarotonga is the capital of the group and is about 32 kilometers in circumference. The island’s main income earner is tourism, with 120,000 visitors each year. Approximately 65% are New Zealanders.

“While there are a number of common factors in law and real estate there are also a number of differences. Our objective is to make property ownership for Kiwis easier - in fact, it’s likely that you can own a Pacific holiday home for much the same cost as one in New Zealand, with prices starting below $500,000. Typically you can buy a $1.5million luxury home, with a beach-front view overlooking a lagoon, so I consider Raro to be excellent value for money. I think it’s one of the best kept secrets,” says Pero.

CEO and founder of the Mike Pero Group, Pero explains that the company’s foundation of more than 80,000 Kiwi homeowners from its mortgage book has been a major component in the extraordinary growth of the real estate company.

“We also appreciate the value of our brand, which Kiwis have embraced for over 20 years. Now we’re into the next generation of customers, who continue to use our mortgage, insurance and now real estate businesses.”

Properties in the Cook Islands will begin appearing on the MPRE website at www.mikepero.com early in the New Year.

For more information, phone 0800 500 123 or visit www.mikepero.com
 

(Picture: Jai Prasad)

FIJI: New Year celebrations
Source: Fiji Times Online

With New Year's Eve parties raging in many centres across the Western Division, 2012 was welcomed with good music, drinks and fun with family and friends.

Leading the charge were the sugar city of Lautoka and the jet-set town of Nadi Town with council-initiated alcohol-free street parties along main streets.

Adding flavour to the festivities, the Nadi Farmers Club featured performances from renowned local artists - Seru Serevi and Friends, Soul Transit featuring Malakia Raoma, Buli Ratu and drummer Ponijese Delai, former Rootsrata bassist Claude Larry's Reggae Vibrations, the evergreen Gilman Lasaisuva and Yavusa Band, Fam Band and the Farmers Club house band.

Nadi Farmers club co-owner Tracey Farrington-Liu said: "We had a sensational line-up of seven local bands comprised of great musicians. We had a fireworks display. And our bar was a big hit for those who chose to have a few drinks and opted to sit and relax and enjoy the great music that was playing all through the night."

Photo Caption: Family day, prisoner Eremasi Vesikalou enjoys lunch with Cilavi Kepa, from left, Solomone Masi and Taniela Kepa at the Natabua Prison in Lautoka.
 

TOKELAU: Samoa, Tokelau cross international dateline, ring in new year
Source: Chicago Sun Times
 
Sirens wailed and fireworks exploded in the skies over Samoa as the tiny South Pacific nation jumped forward in time, crossing westward over the international date line and effectively erasing Friday, Dec. 30, 2011, from the country’s calendar.

Samoans who had gathered around the main clock tower in the capital Apia cheered and clapped as the clock struck midnight on Thursday, Dec. 29, instantly transporting the country 24 hours ahead to Saturday, Dec. 31. The switch, also being observed by neighboring Tokelau, is meant to align the islands’ time with key trading partners in the Asia-Pacific region.

The time jump means that Samoa’s 186,000 citizens, and the 1,500 in the three-atoll United Nations dependency of Tokelau, will now be the first in the world to ring in the new year, rather than the last.

The moment was greeted with celebrations across Samoa. Fireworks danced across the sky and police, ambulance and fire truck sirens wailed throughout Apia to signal the change. Drivers circled the clock tower blaring their horns, and prayer services were held across the country.

The date line dance comes 119 years after a group of U.S. traders persuaded local Samoan authorities to align their islands’ time with nearby U.S.-controlled American Samoa and the U.S. to assist their trading with California.

But the time zone has proved problematic in recent years, putting Samoa and Tokelau nearly a full day behind neighbouring Australia and New Zealand, increasingly important trading partners.

In June, the Samoan government passed a law to move Samoa west of the international date line, which separates one calendar day from the next and runs roughly north-to-south through the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Under a government decree, all those scheduled to work on the nonexistent Friday will be given full pay for the missed day of labor.

In addition to the economic advantages, the time jump is also expected to make the everyday rituals of family life a little more pleasant. Like many small Pacific island states, more of Samoa’s people live permanently in other countries than on its islands; Around 180,000 Samoans live in New Zealand and 15,000 in Australia. The date line switch means that families split between the island nation and Australia or New Zealand can now celebrate important events such as birthdays at the same time.

“We’ve got to remember that over 90 percent of our people emigrate to New Zealand and Australia. That’s why it is absolutely vital to make this change,” Prime Minister Tuila’epa Sailele Malielegaoi told The Associated Press just hours before the country catapulted into the future.

Officials have begun work on changing maps, charts and atlases to reflect Samoa’s new date line position. A postage stamp, featuring the phrase “into the future,” has also been created to mark the switch.

Although generally embraced by most Samoans, the date change wasn’t expected to happen without a few little glitches. Digicel, the most popular mobile phone service provider in Samoa, said the company would have to update its systems immediately after the time jump, leaving phone service dead for about 15 minutes.

“The interruption will only take a few minutes so we can adjust our system,” CEO Pepe Fiaailetoa Fruean said. “So I would like to inform all of our customers to have alternative communication means available in case of an emergency.”

Being a day behind the rest of the Asia-Pacific region has meant that when it’s dawn Sunday in Samoa, it’s already dawn Monday in adjacent Tonga and nearly dawn Monday in nearby New Zealand, Australia and increasingly prominent east Asian trade partners such as China.

The original shift to the east side of the line was made in 1892, when Samoa celebrated July 4 twice, giving a nod to Independence Day in the U.S.

The date line drawn by mapmakers is not mandated by any international body. By tradition, it runs roughly through the 180-degree line of longitude, but it zigzags to accommodate the choices of Pacific nations on how to align their calendars.