Start – Stop for the Tongan Parliament

Thank you for your informative coverage of the opening. Before I get back to social media to try and make sense of all the discussions going on, I have one suggestion and a response to one of the points raised in your informative coverage of the opening.

1. Can all the church leaders be invited through the Tonga National Forum of Church Leaders (based at the Ministry of of Internal Affairs) to put together an opening prayer/service (with a time limit of 30 minutes) for future openings and closing of Parliament? While I was christened in the Wesleyan Church, I have since come to appreciate other faiths. With the multitude of problems facing our beloved country, there is an urgent need to be more inclusive and recognize the increasing number of churches/faiths to which Tongans are practicing/adhering to and/or being influenced in their quest for spiritual fulfilment now and for the after-life. Leave no one behind is the mantra of the Sustainable Development Goals to which our Government has signed on to implement.
2. The revenue collected for the Pacific Games from the remittances, might be better utilized to fast track the development of sports facilities and support for the development of ALL sports (not to be swallowed up in general development projects, administration or ‘major’ sports such as Rugby!). The potential contribution of sports to the Economy through remittances, the health of the people and a source of inspiration to ALL Tongans needs to be realized and achieved … yesterday.

Respectfully