Results for 1998

Tonga‘s 1999 parliamentary election is set for March 10 for the nobles and March 11 for the people. From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 13, no. 4, December 1998.

Europeans can't get enough of the South Pacific's natural tranquilizer. Kava, the root that makes an intoxicating beverage by the same name, and icon of the laid back lifestyle of the South Pacific Islands, has become a hot product. This year, 1998, the demand for kava could not be met by any of the kava growing countries in the Pacific. From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 13, no. 4, December 1998.

The Tonga Development Bank introduced a Venture Capital Scheme in 1993, but that is now on hold according to ‘Etikeni Samani, a senior assistant manager in human resource development and admini­­­­stration. From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 13, no. 4, December 1998.

Tevita Vaikona, the British Super League star player was in Tonga for 17 days during November. He did not waste any time getting home to ‘Uiha, in Ha‘apai, “where as soon as the sun sets, the only thing to do is to go to sleep, there are no night clubs and no bars.” Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 13, no. 4, December 1998.

Mr Justice Gordon Ward, who was Chief Justice for Tonga 1992-1995 will return as Chief Justice starting on November 16 under local appointment. When Mr Justice Ward left Tonga in 1995, it also concluded a 90-year working relationship between Tonga and the United Kingdom.

It was important for Tonga to make up its mind on whether to link its legal practices to the British legal system or to the Australian and New Zealand legal system, Laki Niu, the president of the Tongan Law Society told a dinner to mark the end of the 1998 Tonga Court of Appeal.

The musical works of Queen Salote Tupou III are being revived by four guardians of Tongan history and culture, Dr Melenaite Taumoefolau, Dr Adrienne L. Kaeppler, Princess Nanasipau‘u Tuku‘aho, and Dr Elizabeth Wood Ellem who are compiling all the poems and songs that were written by the late Queen.

With regards, to our declining economy, and the proposals that have been put forward for a recovery package, it appears that it will take a major crisis to turn these proposals into actions, because they are all tied up in a phenomena known in Tonga as, “fu‘u lahi ‘a e politiki”, or “too much politicking”. By Pesi Fonua. From Magazine Tonga Magazine Vol. 13, no. 3, October 1998.

Nuku‘alofa’s sole television broad-casting station, TV7, run by the Oceania Broadcasting Network, has declined to broadcast news items prepared by Radio Tonga staff.