Results for 2001

Thousands of people are waiting for telephones in Nuku‘alofa and to get them all on line quickly means for the most part going wireless, and putting in some high tech cables for a small area of the Nuku‘alofa business centre. By Pesi Fonua. From Matangi Tonga Magazine, Vol. 16, no. 1, June 2001.

Dr Catherine Ripley from New Zealand has taken over the work of the Village Mission Clinic in Ha‘ateiho following the departure of Dr Glennis Mafi who lived in Tonga for over 17 years. From Matangi Tonga Magazine, Vol. 16, no. 1, June 2001.

The Millennium wake-up call for Tonga came at the end of 1999 when Crown Prince Tupouto'a announced that he was bidding for a licence to provide a second telephone carrier, and that he was going to introduce wireless technology where, "the customer should be able to buy a computer, plug it in, pull out an aerial and make a phone call. At the same time, he should be able to swipe a card on the computer, establish an account and switch to his favourite TCV channel while he is talking on the phone." A lot of work has been done since then to introduce wireless technology to Tonga, but finally a date has been set for July 2 when the newly formed Tonfön, a trade name owned by Shoreline Communications, will launch its telephone system in Nuku‘alofa. Tonfön also has a fibre optic cable system on the drawing board. Interview with Soane Ramanlal of Tonfön. From Matangi Tonga Magazine, Vol. 16, no. 1, June 2001.

FROM OUR ARCHIVES: There was no looking back for Betty Blake after she accepted a challenge to help the women and children in Tonga who were being treated badly. Betty, who has been working extensively with women in the villages throughout Tonga since 1996, is sure that the first step for women to gain equality is for women to know their rights. “About 95% of the women who filled the questionnaire did not know their rights. They assumed that once they were married their husband owned everything they had, and therefore they had to be obedient, they believed ‘it is alright if he beats me because I am his wife’.” Most of the women she was dealing with had been conditioned to think this way and it was very difficult for them to break out of it. Interview from Matangi Tonga Magazine, Vol. 15, no. 4, January 2001.

If the dawn can tell us what the rest of the day will be like, then the dawn of the 21st Century indicates that the new century will be bright and sunny for Tonga. From Matangi Tonga Magazine, Vol. 15, no. 4, January 2001.

Tonga hosted the 14th seminar of the Australian and Pacific Regional branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association in Nuku‘alofa from October 25 to November 3. From Matangi Tonga Magazine, Vol. 15, no. 4, January 2001.

In the past they kept their anger and sadness to themselves, but today if Tongan women are not happy, and if they are hurt, they will speak out because they have the right to do so, says international women’s leader, Princess Nanasipau‘u Tuku‘aho of Tonga. Interview by Pesi Fonua. From Matangi Tonga Magazine, Vol. 15, no. 4, January 2001.

Two of Tonga’s well-known writers who died shortly before the arrival of the 21st century. Dr Sione ‘Amanaki Havea translated the gospels. Patricia Ledyard (Matheson) wrote that she had learned from her Tongan neighbours that "gratitude is the proper attitude toward life”. From Matangi Tonga Magazine, Vol. 15, no. 4, January 2001.

Tonga’s new Prime Minister Prince ‘Ulukālala Lavaka Ata, at the end of his first 12 months in office, appears to be taking a tight control of everything from economics to controlling the pigs in the villages. From Matangi Tonga Magazine, Vol. 15, no. 4, January 2001.