Results for Tonga

"I have never understood what too advanced means," says Crown Prince Tupouto'a, who believes that wireless telephones and a fibre optic internet connection will provide liberation for the common man greater than that originally given him by the automobile. He says that governments all over the world will have to downsize and become much smarter at collecting their revenue... and tax people when they spend and not when they earn. Interview: HRH Crown Prince Tupouto‘a. By Pesi Fonua. 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.

FROM OUR ARCHIVES 2001: Name two institutions where Tongan households invest most of their money, and the answer, without a doubt, is the church and the schools. From Matangi Tonga Magazine, Vol. 15, no. 4, January 2001.

The Tonga Sumo Federation is starting off the 21st Century with a big bang. Two young Tongan wrestlers Tevita Taufa of Nomuka and Minaminoshima Falevai of Ha‘ateiho in early January joined professional Sumo wrestling stables in Japan, and at the same time a Japanese Sumo coach, Mr Miyazaki started coaching future Tongan Sumo wrestlers in Tonga. From Matangi Tonga Magazine, Vol. 15, no. 4, January 2001.

Tonga is expected to have a new 8000 tonnes container ship by January 2002, according to Erwin M. Ludewig, Tonga’s Honorary Consul to Hamburg, Germany. The new ship is a replacement of the container ship, MV Fuakavenga. From Matangi Tonga Magazine, Vol. 15, no. 4, January 2001.

The wish of the Tonga government to have one body to run Tonga’s overseas and national telecommunication services, comes true in February when the Tonga Communications Corporation will be formally established. From Matangi Tonga Magazine, Vol. 15, no. 4, January 2001.

Polynesian Airlines has increased its service out of Tonga from two to three flights a week, as from December 2. The new service on Saturdays is a direct flight from Tonga to Sydney in the morning, returning in the evening. Polynesian’s other services out of Tonga include a flight to Wellington on Thursday and to Auckland on Friday. 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.

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.