| |
|
|
| |
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
(Photos:
verygood.com.au / New Zealand Ministry of Health) |
|
| |
|
|
| |
NEW ZEALAND: Pacific people recognised in
Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2009
Source:
Event
Polynesia News
A number of Pacific people have been
recognised in this year’s Queen’s Birthday
Honours List.
Included on the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM)
list is Che Kuo Eruera Ness (aka Che Fu) for
his services to music. Mr Fu is a New
Zealand hip-hop icon who is one of New
Zealand’s most successful male vocalists. He
has contributed to the New Zealand music
industry for more than 20 years by forging
and sustaining his music career in New
Zealand. He was a founding member of
Supergroove, who was responsible for many
notable classic kiwi songs and generated 6
top ten hits over a period of 10 years and
won many awards. In 1997, he released his
debut solo album, for which he received
Single of the Year, Songwriter of the Year,
and Male Vocalist of the Year at the 1997
New Zealand Music Awards. His single Chains
went straight to number 1 on the New Zealand
Singles Chart in 1996 and stayed there for
five weeks; one of the longest singles to
stay there. He formed a live band called The
Krates and toured the eight piece group to
outdoor music festivals, including Pasifika.
Mr Fu’s other albums include Navigator and
he was awarded the WPRA Silver Scroll award
for the albums songs; Misty Frequencies,
Beneath the Radar, and Hi Score- Best of.
More recently, he performed a show with the
Wellington Vector Orchestra which fused
classical music with hip hop.
Le’autuili’ilagi Taotua Malaeta Fa’asapisapi
Sauvao for her services to the Samoan
community and the community in Wellington.
Mrs Sauvao has been involved in the Pacific
Island community in Porirua for more than 30
years in many capacities. She is notable for
her research on the transition of Samoan
Aoga Amata children to primary school, which
is used in learning resources for early
childhood education. She also develops
teaching and learning resources in Samoan
customs, including the learning resource
Sulatoga: An Appreciation of Fine Mats,
which was launched by the International
Language Commission for the Samoan Language
in the United States of America. She is a
founding member of the organisation for the
teaching and learning of Samoan language:
FAGASA. She was the first national
treasurer, serves on the national executive,
and is the chairperson of the Wellington
branch of the organisation. She managed the
Pacific section of the Early Childhood
Development Unit in Wellington after
teaching at the Wellington College of
Education. She was the deputy director of
the Wellington Multicultural Education
Resource Centre and is the regional
coordinator for the Association of
Presbyterian Women. She was a founding
member of the Pacific Advisory Council who
established the Whitireia Community
Polytechnic and was the chairperson of the
polytechnic’s Pacific Advisory Committee.
Mrs Sauvao has also been involved in local
community issues, including advocating
against the additional costs of bigger
graves and supporting the establishment of
the Waitangirua Mall, and is actively
involved in all areas of her local church.
Niuean, Au’Birthly (Pefi) Kingi of Auckland
got a Queen’s Services Medal (QSM) for her
services to the Pacific Island community in
Auckland. Ms Kingi has been working with the
Pacific Island and Niuen communities
principally in the field of education in
Auckland for her whole life. She has also
been a leader in Pacific mental health and
pacific women and youth development. She has
initiated a number of community groups and
is a founding member of the Pacific Islands
Women’s Health Project, the National Pacific
Suicide Prevention Group, and the Aoga Niue
Language Nest. She also established the
Tialetafa Trust, with whom she has conducted
significant work, the Matakau Vagahau Niue/Niue
Language Committee, and the Tu Tagaloa
Trust. She was involved with the National
Pacific Advisory Committee to the
Ministerial Taskforce on Family Violence,
was an advisor to the Pacific Islands Youth
Leadership Trust, and a member of the
Auckland Safer Pacific Island Auckland
region. She has been involved with the
Auckland Secondary Schools Pacific Islands
and Māori Festival Polyfest and has tutored
Niue cultural groups at secondary schools.
Ms Kingi also established Vaka Tiale; the
International Niue Women’s Outrigging Canoe
Representative Team.
Mrs Mele ‘IIaisipa Robson also received a
Queens Service Medal for her work and
service to the Pacific community in
Blenheim. Mrs Robson has contributed to the
Blenheim community and worked with its
Pacific Island community for more than 25
years. She was involved with the Community
Workers Forum; a network for people working
in the community and has been a volunteer at
the Marlborough Community Centre for over 10
years, where she has been involved in all
aspects of its operation. She started the
Marlborough Multicultural Group and is a
volunteer with the Prisoners Aid and
Rehabilitation Society. She was instrumental
in the formation of the Pacific Island
Community Trust in Blenheim. She has
constantly looked after the welfare of any
new immigrants arriving to live in Blenheim
by helping them to find employment and
accommodation, sorting out cultural issues,
and sourcing interpreters if needed. She has
translated vineyard worker’s contracts into
Tongan for Tongans working in New Zealand
under the Government RSE Scheme. Mrs Robson
also organises cultural activities for
Pacific Island people and has been a
volunteer with many other community
organisations, including the Marlborough
Community Foodbank, the Marlborough
Budgeting Advice Services, the Community
Organisations Grants Scheme Panel, and the
Local Distribution Committee. She was also
involved with the St John’s Ambulance for
some 10 years.
Event Polynesia would like to congratulate
the most recent Queen’s Birthday Honour
recipients and pay tribute to their
contributions to the local community.
Photo Captions:
Photo 1 - Che Fu is an award winning, hip
hop, R&B, and Reggae singer and one of the
Pacific's most successful male vocalists.
Photo 2 -
Pacific advocate Au’Birthly (Pefi) Kingi, is
a recipient of the Queen's Services Medal.
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
(Photo:
Samoa Government) |
|
| |
|
|
| |
SAMOA: Parliamentary Updates
Source:
Government Press Secretariat Press Release
June Fuel Prices 2009
Cabinet has approved the retail petroleum
products prices for June 2009.
|
FUEL |
MAY |
JUNE |
DIFFERENCE |
|
Unleaded Petrol |
236.4 sene/ltr |
222.8 sene /ltr |
(13.6 sene/ltr) (6.1%) |
|
Diesel |
228.4 sene /ltr |
215.5 sene /ltr |
(12.9 sene /ltr) (6.0%) |
|
Kerosene |
212.1 sene /ltr |
198.2 sene /ltr |
(13.9 sene /ltr) (7.0%) |
As stated above, petrol price will be decreased
by 13.6sene per litre, 12.9sene per litre
reduction for diesel and 13.9sene per litre
reduction for kerosene.
The drop in the costs of petroleum products is
due to the decreased in the ocean freight and
the low rate of the American Dollar when
compared to the Samoan Tala.
The new costs will come into effect on the 1st
of June 2009.
Samoa to attend meeting in Washington D.C.
Cabinet has approved the participation by Hon.
Minister of Finance, Nickel Lee Hang and
Assistant Chief Executive Officer for the
Ministry of Finance, Iulai Lavea of the
Symposium on “Small States and the Financial
Crisis”, to be held in Washington D.C. on the 2
- 3 June 2009.
As the organizing Organization of the meeting,
the World Bank aims to find out the effects of
the financial crisis on the Small States.
Policies and regulations to help minimize the
effects will also be looked at.
Hon. Nickel Lee Hang will be presenting a paper
at the meeting on the selected theme. Among the
presenters, Samoa will be the only
representative from the Pacific Islands.
US$20,000.00 to be reimbursed
Cabinet has been informed of the outcome of the
Court Case between the American Samoa Government
and the Samoa Shipping Corporation, in regards
to the fine imposed on the MV Lady Naomi for
bringing in the Territory a Rugby Team without
permits.
The MV Lady Naomi was given a fine of $20,000.00
US dollars on the 18th October 2006, for
unauthorized entry of the Rugby Team from the
National University of Samoa into the Territory,
who were invited to take part in the Rugby
Tournament for the Moso’oi Day celebrations.
The Samoa Shipping Corporation took the matter
to the Court.
On the 19th May 2009, the High Court ordered the
Government of American Samoa to reimburse
US$20,000.00 to Samoa Shipping Corporation. In
addition, the American Samoa Government is to
pay costs of the suit brought by SSC and an
interest of 6% per annum from October 18th, 2006
until the judgment is paid in full.
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
(Photo: J. Kneubuhl) |
|
| |
|
|
| |
AMERICAN SAMOA:
ASCC/SSI Publications Combine Research and
Community Service
Source:
American Samoa Community
College Press Release
Thanks to a combination of research initiatives
and community service, the staff and students of
the Samoan Studies Institute (SSI) at the
American Samoa Community College (ASCC) recently
published two books created with the Samoan
speaking audience in mind. As SSI Director
Okenaisa Fauolo-Manila explained, “We hope these
two new books will reach all Samoans who have an
interest in Tutuila’s oral histories, and also
in Samoan medicine, healers and alternative
medicine. Both publications also include
translations to help people with limited Samoan
speaking skills.”
The first publication, Ua tala le ta’ui,
collects myths and legends of Tutuila from the
western villages of the Alataua district. The
SSI staff collected 15 stories initially written
down in Samoan by Teleiai Ausage and
subsequently translated into English by Tafito
Aitaoto. The book identifies proverbial
expressions (alagaupu) from the stories,
explains their meanings, and gives examples of
the application of these words of wisdom. Each
story has a Samoan glossary to help readers with
the meaning of any words they find unfamiliar.
The SSI hopes to follow this publication with
further volumes covering other districts of
Tutuila.
To create Ua tala le ta’ui, SSI researchers went
out to the community, collected stories, put
these in written form, and then gave copies to
the initial storytellers for their approval
before editing and publishing the final text.
“We relied on the elders and knowledgeable matai
of the villages as our main contributors,”
recalled Fauolo-Manila. Fauolo said the SSI
plans to use Ua tala le ta’ui as a textbook its
courses, especially the ones which focus on
writing, such as SAM 151 (Freshman Composition),
SAM 204 (Samoan Mythology), SAM 251 (Sophomore
Composition), and SAM 291 (Samoan Translation).
The second book, O le uta a le taulasea Samoa,
compiles students’ research conducted for SSI
courses SAM 204, SAM 251, SAM 111(ASTEP). The
students used Service Learning pedagogy to carry
out research on Samoa’s traditional healing and
medicine. The SSI funded O le uta a le taulasea
Samoa through a Memorandum of Understanding with
the American Samoa Community Cancer Network, an
agreement which mandates that SSI create
publications to raise awareness of medical
issues within the context of Samoan culture.
Students who worked on O le uta a le taulasea
Samoa first learned research skills from
instructor Tamari Mulitalo-Cheung, which enabled
them to apply a Service Learning approach to
collect the information the SSI later edited and
published. The resulting publication gives
credit to all contributors, except in some cases
where taulasea specifically requested they not
be named or photographed because of their belief
that their medicines carry spiritual taboos.
“Traditional Samoan culture had its own unique
approach to healing, which we wish to help
preserve,” said Fauolo-Manila. “While we do not
say that people should substitute traditional
healing for modern medicine, we think the two
can co-exist, once we have a better
understanding of how traditional methods can
safely provide the results we seek.” The SSI
plans to give out copies of O le uta a le
taulasea Samoa when it goes to villages to
conduct outreach programs.
Discussing the challenges faced by the SSI staff
in creating these two publications, Fauolo-Manila
recalled. “First and foremost, we took great
care to stay true to the SSI mission statement,
which is to perpetuate the faasamoa. With this
in mind, we feel that both publications should
provide a resource for the community, especially
the storytellers and healers who contributed. In
the editing stages, we had to struggle a bit to
make sure that the voices of both the
contributors as well as the student researchers
came through. Finally, we made the decision to
keep away from village salutations and stories
associated with these, because we recognize that
these are sacred knowledge and SSI does not wish
to overstep that boundary.”
Although community contributors and students
have received most copies of the first run of
the two publications, the SSI still has some
copies available for purchase. “We did not set
out to make a profit out of this project, just
enough to cover printing costs for future
re-printing,” said Fauolo-Manila. For more
information on these publications, phone ASCC at
699-9155 and ask for the Samoan Studies
Institute.
Photo Caption:
ASCC President Dr. Seth Galea'i (center)
congratulates Samoan Studies Institute Director
Okenaisa Fauolo-Manila (left) and staff member
Teleiai Ausage on the Institue's publication of
two new books, one on traditional Samaon
healing, and another on myths and legends of the
Alataua district of Tutuila.
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
FIJI: Forum Regional Security Committee Meeting
Source:
Pacific Islands Forum
Secretariat Press Release
The 2009 Forum Regional Security Committee (FRSC)
Meeting will he held at the Pacific Islands
Forum Secretariat in Suva, Fiji 4 - 5 June.
Official representatives of Forum Countries as
well as regional law enforcement and security
stakeholders will meet to discuss a wide range
of issues including but not limited to
Transnational Crime, Counter-Terrorism, Border
Management, Human Security Issues, Conflict
Prevention as well as contemporary political and
security challenges in the region.
Preceding the FRSC, a Working Group on
Counter-Terrorism Meeting which opened on 3 June
was jointly chaired by New Zealand and the
Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat to allow
detailed discussions on domestic and regional
counter-terrorism activities that have been
undertaken in the Pacific, as well as
implementation of legal regimes against
terrorism, including through accessing related
technical assistance. This meeting aims to
ensure that the Pacific region is successfully
contributing to international counter-terrorism
efforts in a coordinated, comprehensive and
effective manner.
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
(Photo:
National Aeronautics and Space Administration) |
|
| |
|
|
| |
TAHITI: Experience an astronomical
phenomenon in French Polynesia
Source:
Essential Travel
French Polynesia in the South Pacific will be
one of the only places on earth where tourists
can experience the 2010 total solar eclipse.
The eclipse, which takes place on July 11th,
will barely touch land as it casts the moon’s
shadow across the Pacific Ocean.
Travellers who want to experience the full
majesty of the astronomical phenomenon can take
part in the Solar Eclipse Voyage offered by
three UK travel operators.
During a 14-night cruise, the Aranui 3 will sail
from Papeete harbour to the Marquesas
archipelago, and will be positioned perfectly
during the solar event.
Bookings for the experience are being taken by
The Cruise People, Transpacific Holidays and
Tailor Made Travel; the voyage sets sail on June
29th, 2010, returning on 12th July.
The cruise costs 3,730 euros per person and will
also enable holidaymakers to view the rare
sights of Tuamotus, a scarcely populated chain
of coral islands.
Photo Caption: Experience the 2010 total
solar eclipse first in French Polynesia.
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
WORLDWIDE: Bank of the Marshalls seeks branch in
Hawaii
Source:
Marianas Variety via Pacific Islands Report
A Marshall Islands bank has been given the green
light to apply for establishing its first branch
in the United States.
Marshall Islands Banking Commissioner Ann Marie
Muller issued a letter Friday approving Bank of
Marshall Islands’ application to the state of
Hawaii for a banking license.
"There’s still additional work to be done for
the bank to qualify on its own merits as a
stand-alone bank with its own ABA (American
Bankers Association) routing number," Muller
said Friday. "But it shows significant progress
has been made for my office to issue an approval
for application to the state of Hawaii."
With stricter American banking laws going into
effect post-9/11, the U.S. bank Citizens
Security Bank terminated its relationship with
Bank of Marshall Islands in 2006, ending the
bank’s ability to negotiate checks in the U.S.
where most of the country’s commerce is
transacted.
The bank is the largest and one of only two in
the country.
Although the Marshall Islands and the U.S.
government have close ties — this western
Pacific nation is a former U.S. territory, gets
about 60 percent of its national budget from
Washington and is one of the few countries
globally that uses U.S. currency as its own — it
is classified as a foreign nation.
"The single most important aspect for a U.S.
branch is Ebeye Island has no access to
negotiate checks off-island," said Bank of
Marshall Islands’ chief information officer
James McLean.
"We’re they’re only bank. If this goes through,
it will give Ebeye banking services they need."
The bank is seeking to set up a "clearing
branch" to act as a way to clear its checks in
the U.S. Currently, individuals and businesses
with accounts at the bank can only transfer
money to U.S. companies by wire transfer — or by
opening an account with a U.S. bank.
The branch, if approved, would not handle
deposits or issue loans, McLean said.
The banking commissioner’s approval is the first
step in Bank of Marshall Islands’ application
process.
It must get approval from the Hawaii State
Banking Commission, and then get the okay from
both the U.S. Federal Reserve and the U.S.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Muller believes the country’s removal from the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development’s tax haven blacklist two years ago
will aid the application process.
"Being on the OECD’s blacklist was one of the
setbacks to the application process," she said.
The delisting by OECD "puts the Marshall Islands
as a nation on good terms in international
finance circles."
Government officials said the Marshall Islands
has a long-standing agreement with the U.S.
Treasury for exchanging financial information
and is negotiating a similar pact with
Australia, which is expected to improve the
country’s image.
Muller said establishing a U.S. branch for Bank
of Marshall Islands is important for the
economic development of the country, and she is
hopeful that the U.S. government will "help the
Marshall Islands achieve economic development
and progress. Helping our financial sector is a
major step toward that goal."
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
