Results for Opinion

Ko e lea tau e mala’e ‘o e politiki ‘i he fonua mo e kuonga kotoa pe ko e fo’ilea koia ko e .”KAKAI” (people). Ka ko e lea’ni ‘oku mafulifuli hono ‘uhinga, ‘a ia ko hono kakano ia, ‘o makatu’unga ‘i he va (relation) ‘o e “founga fakahoko ngaue’ mo e “kaveinga’ ‘a ia ‘i he faka-politikale ‘oku nofo kainga ai e ongo fakakaukau ‘e ua: -'Inoke Fotu Hu'akau

As I read the March 17th edition of The New Zealand Herald, I finally realized how close Tonga is getting to another "Civil War". Professor Futa Helu was quoted as saying, "The King is decrepit and the Crown Prince has no other interests but his own businesses. If the Prince continues to abuse his power, there will be a popular revolt, maybe bloodshed" These are strong predictions from Yoda, the wisest of the Jedis (masses of the Star Wars). -Tama Foa

Tongan juries often bring in verdicts of manslaughter (killing by an unlawful act such as assault, without the intent to kill) rather than murder (intentional killing of another, or recklessness as to the outcome of a grievous assault) when the facts clearly support a finding of murder. -David Garrett

As we are getting closer to Tonga's 2005 Parliamentary General Election on March 17 the idea of political change is still the popular campaign issue, and it is clearer now that we are looking at three different proposals, or models of government. - Editor's Comment by Pesi Fonua.

Although once touted as the country having the most PhD graduates/tertiary graduates per capita in the world, it remains puzzling how the Kingdom of Tonga has been lagging behind in so many aspects of government, society, law, business, religion and economics etc., for so long now.

When I became Minister, Kalafi Moala's little newspaper attacked me weekly for a period of nine years. These attacks have come in the form of nasty, personal letters to the Editor and articles which were all prepared by Kalafi Moala and his staff. ...His obsession for personal revenge is making him a fanatical campaigner. - Clive Edwards.

Kingdom Air Services Limited was a company formed by five local business men (including two former Royal Tongan pilots now both working overseas and myself) in conjunction with a significant offshore investor, to apply for a domestic air services license following the collapse of Royal Tongan Airlines in March 2004. The local shareholders were to hold only a minority interest (25% between them) in the company. -Steve Edwards

Why are we still exporting vanilla beans in its raw form, squash in green form, fish, seaweeds, Kava, and many more? We can easily process them and export to earn higher value (value adding). Why are we importing frozen fruits and vegetables, frozen meat, etc? Processing and preservation of these products can be easily done in Tonga. We need to invest more in applied research and product development.-Edgar Cocker

After Government had lost the first set of actions against it by the media, it looked at the Prohibited Publications Act and the Customs Act. I recall what was said and it’’s a matter of words whether it was proposed, suggested, implanted or hinted that Government should look at the American situation on the media and adopt it here. After that, Crown Law engaged Senior Counsel from overseas to put in place what would be appropriate legislations. - Clive Edwards