From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 13, no. 1, April 1998.

HRH Princess Salote Pilolevu Tuita (46) is the chairperson of Tongasat, a private company which is the agent of the Tongan government, for managing its satellite slots in space. Tongasat is responsible for negotiating with organizations to launch and operate communications satellite systems in the orbital arc positions held by the Kingdom  of Tonga.

Princess Pilolevu granted this interview to the Matangi Tonga in early February, and talked about the operation of Tongasat, their initiative to form a new satellite communications consortium for the Asia Pacific region, and the new Pacific Asia Global Holdings company that she has established with its headquarters in Hong Kong. The Princess also talked about her other business interests, as well as her views on the status of Tongan women in modern Tonga.

Princess Pilolevu is the only daughter of the King and Queen of Tonga, and she is the mother of four daughters and an adopted son. Apart from being a business woman, at times the Princess is also called upon to fulfil her responsibilities as a high ranking member of the Tongan Royal Family. For a week early this year Princess Pilolevu was appointed Princess Regent, becoming Head of State while the King and other senior members of the Royal family were away overseas.

Story & pictures by Pesi Fonua

Pesi Fonua: There has been talk about Tongasat’s new initiative to form a consortium, the Asia-Pacific Global Telecommunications Network, to launch a fleet of telecommunications satellites into space to serve the Asia Pacific region, and perhaps the entire world. Can you tell us a little bit more about this initiative by Tongasat?

Princess Pilolevu: Yes, we have been talking to a number of telecom­munications companies in the region, and the 20th Pacific Telecommunications Conference that was held in Honolulu (PTC ‘98 January 11-14) was a very good venue, and an opportunity for us to make a presentation. My managing director, Sione Kite, and my marketing officer, Anna Tupou, made a presentation. The whole idea is to attract regional tele­communications companies to form a consortium to use the orbital slots owned by the Tongan government.   

We are still talking to these companies to find out what they would like to get out from such a project, and together we are hoping to structure a consortium that is going to suit all the parties involved.

When do you think this new consortium will be up and running?

Good question [laughing]. It is difficult for me to put a date on it because we are still at the early stages of it, but all the companies that we have talked to have registered a genuine interest in it. There are many possibilities, but obviously the most important thing for us is to provide a service at a cheaper rate for the regional telecommunications needs. We are using Honolulu as the hub, because Honolulu is the American gateway to Asia and the Pacific.

Recently Tongasat has set up another company in Hong Kong, the Pacific Asia Global Holdings Ltd. Who are the shareholders in that company?

I am a shareholder, but Tongasat is not involved, except that I have used some Tongasat staff to set up the company. Tongasat was involved in Rimsat litigation in Fort Wayne, [Indiana, USA.] . In order for the people involved in that Rimsat litigation not to harm any of Tongasat’s work and customers I set up this Pacific Asia Global Holding in Hong Kong in order to do more business and more work along the same line as Tongasat. In the future I would like Tongasat to concentrate on co-ordination work. A lot has been said about Pacific Asia Global Holdings, because Tongasat is a known company but it has restrictions in that its headquarter is here in Tonga. Having the Pacific Asia Holdings in Hong Kong has attracted all our new clients, all the joint venture partners that we have had so far, because most of the major telecommunications companies have offices in Hong Kong.

So you are the major share holder in Pacific Asia Holdings?

Yes, I am the major shareholder.

With the Rimsat case, what are the outcomes of all those court cases?

Basically there were two court cases, one was the bankruptcy, and the other was the securities, and we’ve finished with the bankruptcy, which was supposed to have been the most harmful one to us, and could have got us into a lot of problems, and just now is the security litigation.

Rimsat was said to owe Tongasat a substantial amount of money, has that been settled?

Unfortunately we will never know the amount of money due to us, because the money that was left in the Rimsat bank account, and I am not sure exactly how much there was, has been worn down by litigation costs. All the clients pay for their own attorneys, and we did the same.

There was also a counter charge that was brought by Tongsat against an Asian interest, it was all related to the Rimsat bankruptcy case and it was reported in an Asian Telecommunications magazine?

Yes, it was in the Asia ink. Yes, my good friend, the red-headed Australian reporter, I think he called me the “Pumpkin Princess”. Well, I wish he could read what has happened now, Kauthar (a Malaysian company), has lost out in the bankruptcy case, and they are appealing. The most complicated thing I found in the US courts, specifically in Fort Wayne, is that there is no really final “no”. You may lose your case but you can appeal and reappeal, several times, and in this case Kauthar is reappealing. But as far as I can tell, it will be very difficult for them to have a whole new court case built on their appeal. Sometimes when you have court cases like that, it is like a competition to try and dry out the money that is left there so that if ‘A’ can’t get the money, then nobody is going to get any money out of it. It is not very good, I have learnt a lot from this litigation, and it is an experience that I do not look forward to going through again. In fact I go out of my way to avoid any kind of litigation overseas, because at the end of the day nobody wins in a court case.

It has been reported that the Rimsat litigation was a set back for Tongasat, and it affected its future development program, was that a fair comment? (See box this page)

The Rimsat litigation has affected Tongasat financially, but we are hopeful that Tongasat will be able to make more money in the future, especially with the joint venture partners that we are talking to right now. I will admit that it was a financial set back for Tongasat. It slowed down our progress but it has not stopped us, it is going to take something catastrophic to stop Tongasat’s work, because we have a good reputation overseas now, among the satellite industry. If you remember a few years ago we were being called the up-start, the pirate. We are no longer called that in the satellite industry. Having a good reputation is due to the hard work of the present management, and to their fastidiousness in paying attention to ITU regulations. I am very happy with the progress that we have made so far. But we have had to cope with a lot of negative influences, and also set backs because of this litigation, it has taken a lot of time, and financial commitment from Tongasat, but it hasn’t in any way stopped our work. This is why I established Pacific Asia Global Holdings in Hong Kong because this court case had a tendency to tie our hands behind our back. We also have started reaching out, doing business with some of our orbital slots that we had formerly contracted out to Rimsat. Having a completely different company established in Hong Kong gave us a chance to try and recoup our losses and carry on with business.

There were a number of slots that were on lease to Rimsat, about five. Have you taken them all back following the litigation?

Yes, we have taken them all back.

You mentioned the co-venture projects that you are working on, what state of development have you got to with them?

We have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with many of our co-venture partners, and they are waiting for us to come back with a proper contract drawn up. We give each other a time frame to draw up a contract and agree to the terms and, of course, all these contracts have to be rectified by government.

How many of these co-venture partners are very close to the signing stage with Tongasat?

We already have one contract which is under consideration by government. They are taking a little bit too long to look at it, but it shows the good faith in our co-venture partners, that they are waiting for us.

And that has come through the Hong Kong Holding company?

Yes, it did. That involved primarily our Russian partners in the space industry.

There seems to be a lot of interest from Asians?

It is primarily Asians at the moment. I think it is because Asia is well known as the fastest growing area in telecommunications, and also our orbital slots are ideal for Asia. And it is a funny industry, because once one party hears that another party has signed with us, he wants to sign too, because he feels that it is a good deal and he wants to get into it. It is not that simple, but we are attracting a lot of interest in Asia, because we have something that they need, but it is a two way traffic. We need them, because without the end users, and the people to put up the satellite, we are left with slots which will run out in nine years time, and ITU will take them back.

Initially I thought there were only seven slots that the Tongan government had registered, but recently I read that there are two more slots, so there are now nine slots?

Yes, there are nine, but we have not entered all the nine to what the ITU calls the Master Registry. They have been filed but have not been registered. Tonga was the first country that was in line for those two slots when they became available.

And once they are on the Master Registry, what does that mean for Tonga?

It would be under Tonga’s guardianship for the next nine years. Not being in the Master Registry does not restrict us from doing business, it all depends on perhaps you completing all the co-ordination meetings necessary for that particular orbital slot. Once you co-ordinate an orbital slot then it is clear to be used. I am using here the layman’s language, I am still learning.

Here in Tonga there are a lot of negative stories about Tongasat, so maybe there is a need to get down to layman’s language for the sake of better understanding?

I think we have a better name overseas than we do in Tonga. But, of course, what we do not understand we fear. It is a basic human feeling, and what you fear you can say a whole lot of negative things about. It is one of the problems that Tongasat has had, we really have not made the ordinary person understand. The problem is because it is difficult for people to understand what orbital slots are, and I know some Members of Parliament have likened it to an ‘Api tukuhau, a tax allotment, or ‘api kolo, town home, but it is not exactly like that, because an ‘api, once registered, is for life and it is handed down from generation to generation. Not so with an orbital slot. With an orbital slot, ITU gives it to you for nine years. If at the end of the nine years you don’t have a satellite in that slot, you lose it to the next country in line, and that is why we are working against time because we are trying to move ahead to having these joint ventures. We do not only have joint ventures with users, we have joint ventures with satellite manufacturers, and also we have to talk to financiers, and financial institutions, because it still costs basically US$250 million for a satellite to be manufactured, and it is still takes between 18 months to two years to manufacture a satellite.

An article in the Satellite News, mentioned that beside this consortium, Tongasat was also looking at the possibility of launching its own satellite into space?

There is always a possibility.

So the consortium first, and then the satellite next?

Yes, after the consortium then we will look seriously at that.

Again, all these negotiations and the forming of new companies have to take place within the time frame of nine years?

Yes definitely, in fact it is going to be much less than nine years. We are trying to work as quickly as possible. There are setbacks and delays but I think the most important thing for us is to create a sense of security for our joint ventures partners. I just want to say, that the Tongan orbital slots maybe the most valuable, but it is not the only slots out there. If any thing happens to signify to our joint venture partners that we have an unsympathetic government, or any kind of instability in government, they are going to go elsewhere, because with the amount of money that I quoted to you it involves a lot of money. They are also racing against time. A lot of these joint venture partners want to be up there before everybody else. Some people have a satellite but have nowhere to put it. Some people have a customer but they do not have a satellite. So our job is to get these people together because they have to agree among themselves what their needs are, and what their costs are. It is co-ordinating, and getting everybody to work cohesively together, and to go into a venture.
Sometimes people are asking why is it taking so long? It takes an awful lot of money because we have to travel and go and see these people, and that is the primarily reason for having the office in Hong Kong, because most of these people already have offices in Hong Kong. We have been taken more seriously because we have established a little office in Hong Kong, they know that we mean business. Ours are not the only orbital slots up there, this is what people must realise, there are thousands of orbital slots, and hundreds of unused satellites floating up there. What we do we take a look at the availability of unused satellites up there. If it means that it will take less time, less effort, and less money to use a satellite that is already up there in space, instead of building and launching another satellite, that is what we will do, that is another option.

Tonga somehow ended up owning what appears to be some of the most valuable orbital slots?

Ten yeas ago when it was just an idea, Dr Matt Nilson, who is still a minority shareholder, came to Tonga looking at the possibility of retiring here. He had worked for Intelsat and Comsat, two of the very large telecommunication companies based in the USA. He met another American who was living here at the time, Jerry Fletcher, and also the late Kelepi Tupou. Kelepi then introduced Matt and Jerry to me. We spoke about the idea. Ten years ago I did not know anything about orbital slots, I’d never heard of it.
After talking to Matt, Kelepi and Jerry for a few months, I took Dr Matt Nilson and introduced him to His Majesty.
Tonga being a member of the International Frequency Regulatory Board was entitled to apply for the use of these orbital slots. And the concept that Matt Nilson had in those days was not too different from the concept that Tongasat and Pacific Asia Global Holdings are working on now. In those days Dr Nilson had an
idea of a Regional Consortium as well, but nobody was interested.
Things are really changing, and now people are interested and are wanting to talk about it. In those days only a few people recognised the importance of having a regional telecommunications consortium. He also tried to talk to some of the island nations but they were not interested. It was a fairly new field in those days. We learnt a lot from Dr Nilson, and then we set up the company, Tongasat, and the government agreed for Tongasat to become its exclusive agent for 50 years with a renewable contract. So government said they would assist Tongasat in the filing but all expenses were to be born by Tongasat alone, and that government wanted a share of the profit.

The consortium, there was a reference, likening it to Intelsat?

I think they likened it to Intelsat because Intelsat is the largest telecommunications consortium, and it is easier for people to understand.
But with Intelsat the shareholders are countries, where as with your proposed consortium, the shareholders are companies?
Yes, but in most of these consortiums, government has a shareholding in them.

The Pacific Island nations, have they shown any interest in joining?

There has been interest shown by Fiji, and Papua New Guinea which is the only other Pacific Island nation that has orbital slots, but they have not been able to launch any satellite yet. I have spoken to some ministers of the government of Western Samoa, and I have been told that it would be wise to have a proposal drawn up because their government is running their overseas service.

In a previous interview with the Matangi Tonga you mentioned the possibility of Tonga securing slots at LEO or lower earth orbital stations?

Tongasat has looked into securing 12 slots and we have also secured a partner for that operation.

How much work has been done?

Under this management, a tremendous amount of work has been done. Against all odds this management has done a lot. Tongasat has had a few problems with its past management, but this present man agement has gone full steam ahead, securing the joint venture partners that we have, and also letting out our orbital slots, and making it known within the satellite industry the availability of our orbital slots. It has not been cheap securing these joint venture partners and attending various ITU meetings and so forth, but that has to be done.

Have there been any changes to the founding shareholders of Tongasat?

Tongasat’s original shareholders were myself, Dr Nilson, the late Kelepi Tupou and Jerry Fletcher. A few months before Kelepi passed away he gave me his shares, and I am in the process of buying out Jerry Fletcher’s shares. Although I have 80 per cent of the shares in Tongasat, Dr Nilson still has 20 per cent.
I just want to mention something, because some people may think I also get 80 per cent of the income of Tongasat. But that is not true, I don’t. In fact, I have never ever received any dividend in all these years, none of the share holders have ever received a dividend. As chairperson I get a salary from Tongasat.

I wonder if you can briefly explain how the revenue of Tongasat is divided?

I don’t think government will be pleased if I reveal the percentage that they take, but when we receive our income the government is entitled to a certain percentage of the gross revenue from us, and the amount that is left is used for the running of the company. That has been our understanding from the beginning and it is our Agency Agreement. We adhere to this agency agreement that we have with the government. Tongasat is a legitimate Tongan company, just like any normal company.
All I can say is that government takes their percentage of the gross profit. I have agreed to many things that no normal shareholders would agree to, and I’ve tried to please government and I’ve tried to be sympathetic to government, but government is very fond of saying, “those orbital slots are government’s property”. But I say, who gave you those slots? Who showed you those slots?
Government has an opportunity to review its agency agreement with Tongasat, so we are meant to be in very close touch with each other. Government as the principal, with Tongasat as its agent, has a responsibility to assist wherever possible with the work that Tongasat does in co-ordination meetings and so forth.
I think the Tongan government is getting a very good deal out of this.

Are they thinking of nationalising Tongsat?

No, they can’t because of this agreement. We have not breached that agreement and hopefully government will not breach their agreement. It has not been an easy partnership with government, and I am sure government will only be too happy to say so. A lot of the work has been done by Tongasat.

Is it possible to put a figure on the total revenue that government has received from Tongasat?

[Tongasat staff were unable to provide the figures].

Who staffs Tongasat?

All our full-time staff are Tongans, and we have a managing director, and a marketing officer. Our marketing officer is seconded and not full time. There are ten including myself, because I am here everyday.

Equal opportunity

At home in Tonga the gender issue has became topical, and emphasis has been placed on the importance of having equal opportunity for men and women. Tongasat on the other hand is the most adventurous business venture in Tonga and it is lead by a woman, I wonder what you have to say regard ing the gender issue?

Well, looking at it from a cultural and social point of view, the women of Tonga have a special position.

I always like to say with all the businesses that I am involved in that God is the head of my businesses, then I take direction from there on. An opportunity has been given to me by the Lord in order to help and develop the unique quality that Tonga has, and the Tongan people have, and I truly believe in that, and I try to promote that with my own staff.

The unique position of the Tongan women I think is something to be admired in our culture, and as such I find it natural that I head Tongasat. I know there has been criticism in the past saying that I have taken every business opportunity in Tonga— the best opportunities that should have been open to the public. But in the satellite industry, the credibility of Tongasat—and I know that it sounds that I am praising myself—but the credibility of Tongasat has been primarily because of myself as a Tongan princess and a member of the royal family. When I get criticisms like, “why doesn’t she let someone else do it,” I feel that even if I wanted to let someone else do it, perhaps they would not have that momentum and credibility overseas that I as a member of the royal family have, especially when you are dealing with Asians.

As a woman, although I did not have any formal training in business, I think I started in Tonga like the satellite industry, from the bottom, and ten years has taught me an awful lot. Of course, I have consultants and I have trained staff on the day to day basis of running the company, but I make the last decision and that is why I like to come to the office every day, just to see what everybody is up to and to see if they need my assistance.

I can also say that being a woman is an advantage, because among the people on my decision making level in this business, I have met only one woman, in China. Most of the people involved in the satellite industry are men.

Can you explain why you took those business opportunities, and why it was not given to any one else in Tonga?

Yes, can we just touch on those businesses that I have been continuously criticised for. I think the next thing is the Leiola Duty Free. Before I came into the scene it was owned and operated by government, called the Dateline Duty Free Shop, and managed by the Dateline Hotel.

I have a business, called the Sovereign Distributors, and I import most of my goods from the United States. My suppliers also supply their own duty free shops in the United States and other countries.

I asked Anna Tupou and my US colleagues to look at the possibility for the government to make more money from duty free, because when I looked at duty free in our neighbours in the Pacific they were making an awful lot of money. We came up with this interesting concept of corporatising the Duty Free Shop, and giving the major share holding to government, which they still have to this day. But also being able to increase the money that all the outlets made with the same number of tourists, and it has been so successful. We had to increase the number of goods that the people could buy, instead of one litre, and one carton, they would be allowed two. At first Cabinet threw it out. Then we came back and worked on it and after a lot of hair pulling by Cabinet they decided that the Duty Free shop would be the first Tongan government corporate.

Government decided to remain the major share holder and offered 20 per cent for someone else, anyone to buy. The management wrote letters to all the businesses in Tonga, including Sea Star and most of them did not reply and the few that did reply said that they were either not inter ested or did not have the capital. So I was offered 20 per cent. It was all done legally and above board.

So I only own 20 per cent, I don’t own Leiola as some of the newspapers said, I wish I did. We got a dividend. Oh, that is one little company that I got a dividend from, but most of my dividends I put back into the company. In the future, government may want to sell some of their shares, but I think they are waiting, they want more money, see, I bought my shares when the price was low. So that was the basis of that project, it was my idea and Government is still making a profit, from it.

The board members of Leiola Duty Free are, the Minister, myself, the secretary manager ‘Etoni Tonga, and Semisi Taumoepeau, ‘Aisake Eke and Ross Chapman.

What are your other business interests?

I am a 50 per cent shareholder of Sovereign Distributors.

With most of the companies that I am involved in, I am not the sole shareholder, except for Makaha‘a Island Resort, but we are still on our knees at Makaha‘a, we have not been able to do much about that, except day tours.

What else, Sovereign Travel, that is probably the best kept secret in Tonga. We don’t advertise on principal because we want to give the opportunity to other travel agents. So Sovereign Travel just handles my travel and my company’s travel.

But you know most of the time I don’t go out looking for business, they come to me, and I just wish that they would stop knocking on my door, making all sorts of proposals for me to look at.

Oh, and insurance, the Insurance Corporation of Tonga, which is affiliated with MMI. I am a shareholder. There are only two shareholders, and I hold 51 per cent. That is a very good company because it has been able to corner 75 per cent of insurance business in Tonga in a matter of six years. That company was set up by Kelepi Tupou.

Going back to the gender issue, concerns have been expressed by some people over the fact that the women of Tonga have been deprived of certain rights, such as the right to hold hereditary land titles, and some women have not been able to climb the ladder to the top of their profession, for example in some ministries, apparently because of their gender?

The land rights I have not really thought deeply enough about it to comment on it, but I realise that in Fiji and Samoa, women can own land. I cannot deal with the land issue, which is something that I do not know much about.

As to opportunities within government, I would like to say that there are capable women out there who would make fine heads of departments, who would make excellent ministers and, I say, better ministers than some men; and who are very qualified, if not more qualified, then some of their seniors who are men. I say that in all truth, and I will support the day when government will have its first woman minister. I know there have been rumours that I was going to be made a minister, and if the day dawns I will politely refuse. I am the most unbureaucratic person in Tonga. You need to be a bureaucrat to be a minister.

In that regard, I think women have been dealt with unfairly in the government picking code. I think there are very capable women, and I don’t want to name them because it will cause embarrassment, but they are in all departments. Let’s face it, the women in Tonga have a very responsible position, and I think it is unfair that departments and businesses look at the woman’s gender before looking at a woman’s capabilities.

I like to see more business opportunity for women in Tonga, and last year with a group of women I formed the Women’s Business Federation. I am the president and we are still setting up our constitution. This federation is supposed to assist and direct women who are interested in doing business for themselves. Generally speaking, women have a lot more patience in business than men. Tongan women tend to have this free thinking mind, they are not sort of boxed in, they do not limit themselves, they look for opportunities, alternatives and avenues, and they are very good at that. I think it comes basically from a woman running a home and being able to keep to a budget. Some of these budgets are very small, and when this budget is not able to stretch they have to think of other ways of getting from one pay day to the other.

But traditionally, I thought that women always had a special privilege in the Tongan society and they are not in any way being suppressed?

Well, I think as a Tongan man you would like to think that.

I don’t think it is true, there is a certain amount of suppression of women in Tonga. I think because Tongan society always has women staying at home and the average Tongan man is bought up with that idea, unless he has been exposed overseas, he thinks a woman’s place is at home. But now you see it is a social necessity for women to become a bread winner, and as a bread winner the woman is actually on a similar role with the men, and I think that makes the average Tongan man slightly uncomfortable. Especially when it comes to the point where the man may not have a job, so tradition is reversed, and I think it is very difficult for the average Tongan man to accept that.

In the Tongan society women are higher in rank than the men, if the social situation is reversed would that also mean that men will become of higher rank than women?

Well, it is not possible, because the highest social position in our culture can only be occupied by a woman. (Laugh).

Actually, there was one case, perhaps 200 years ago. Both my grandmothers and my mother talked about it. The highest ranking person at that time was a man. He was the son of a tamaha, I think he lived in Vava‘u, and his name was Maka Malohi. And in his life time he was considered to be the highest ranking human being. But only once—it was the only time in history that a man out-ranked a woman.

On your trip to Niuafo‘ou, it was the first time that you became the Princess Regent?

No, it was the second time, the first time was seven yeas ago, I was a Regent for a week, because the Tu‘ipelehake was not here, His Majesty was away, and the Crown Prince was away.

This year was the second time, and I hope it will take another seven years, because I tell you, it really prohibits me from all my work.

Well, it was difficult for me because I am a business woman. What happened was in that whole week, the period of five working days that I was Regent I stopped myself from making any serious business decisions. I came in [to the office] for five days to read the papers and various things that my staff had given me, but I stopped myself from making any kind of business decision. Because I thought it would be a conflict of interest to being Regent.

But at the same time, I felt a very hefty responsibility, although this time when I was Regent I did not have to preside over Privy Council, while last time I did. I think the Ministers made sure they would be out of the country when I was Regent.

Kingship is away of life, whereby your personal needs come secondary to the needs of the people one serves. It is also a life long commitment and dedication to God and your people. One must have a balanced outlook, be fair and objective towards everyone. During the week that I was Princess Regent, I found myself thinking mostly about my grandmother, Her Majesty the late Queen Salote, and what her outlook on her peoples’ daily life would have been. She was, and still is my role model, and although it is unlikely that I will be a monarch, I was born to support and to assist the monarch. I have always felt double my responsibilities, for my father is also my king. I believe that a monarch’s success, will depend on his spiritual state, and his degree of obedience to God.

During my regency, I kept remembering one of my favourite verses in the bible, which has never failed to encourage and inspire me: Joshua 1:9. “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

The trip to the Niuas was the focal point of my being Regent, that I was able to go to the Niuas as the first member of the Royal Family to go there after the cyclone. It was heartening for me to see people, although their houses had collapsed and they were under a tent, but the children were still cheering and waving, such a wonderful Christian spirit that was in this people, and I learnt an awful lot. I think I cried from one end of Niua to the other and back, but I was so happy to see that my aid—my flour, sugar, salt, toilet paper and so forth had arrived, and both the government representatives of Niuatoputapu and Niuafo‘ou were only waiting for my direction, who to distribute to and when. The wonderful morale that people have, especially at Niuafo‘ou is something that I shall never forget.

The Millennium celebration is being prepared. You were involved in tourism a few years ago, is there any Millennium project that you are involved in?

I don’t personally have any involvement in the millennium celebration as such, but I came across a project proposal which is still being put together by a group from the U.K., and I met two of the members, Hussein Khashoggi and Joan Wier, we talked about their project which is exciting, to me. It is exciting because it starts with the Millenium, but it is an on-going project, for beautification, and also establishing opportunities for Tongan students to study overseas. They are still in the final stages of doing their project, and I will be seeing one of them in Sydney soon to check up on how they are getting on with their project.