I wish you all the best to your 61 birthday today (May 4), even if you celebrate it now at the coronation day. - Thomas Hollenbeck
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Results for Opinion
Saturday 2 May 2009
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
'I he'eku lau hifo 'a e tohi 'a Piveni Piukala mo 'ene fakatangi ki ha taki fo'ou, 'oku foki 'eku manatuu ki he ki'i talanoa na'aku fa'alau 'i he'eku kei si'i. Ko e talanoa 'oku ou manatu ki ai mei he ki'i tohi ma'ae fanau iiki na'e ui ko e ngaahi feipale 'a 'Esope (Aesop's Fables). - D.K Fale

Thursday 30 April 2009
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Auckland, New Zealand
By chance I see it reported in the media this week that Tonga Power will spend 16 million dollars replacing rotten and leaning power poles in a network upgrading programme commencing from the "city". From where I sit, we will have spent these millions only to find that we will remain vulnerable to falling branches as well as hurricane borne damage and still wedded to non-renewable imported and expensive diesel, the price of which is expected to return to stratospheric levels once the world takes the crunch out of credit. In short, not a great deal better. -Sefita Hao'uli

Thursday 30 April 2009
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Kuo u fanongo 'i he ngaahi talanoa 'oku sasala 'o pehe 'oku fai 'a e fu'u fokotu'utu'u fo'ou 'o e kau Minisitaa pea kau ai pea mo e fokotu'u e Kovana fo'ou ki Vava'u. Ko e fokotu'utu'u foki ko 'eni ko e tupu pe mei hono faka'ataa 'e he Palemia 'a e ongo Minisitaa 'e ua ke na hiki atu ki muli 'o hoko ko e ongo 'Amipasitoa. - Piveni Piukala

Monday 27 April 2009
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Auckland, New Zealand
Weaning us off petroleum will take some time and the replacement technology to make that possible will still be imported and not home-grown. However what is needed now is a new and home-grown attitude and actions to lessen our dependence on imported energy immediately. - Sefita A. Hao‘uli

Monday 27 April 2009
Morgan Hill-California, USA
FROM OUR ARCHIVES: I am raising attention to the ranking of the winners of inter college sports in Tonga - a more real analysis of the individual schools performance will be more sensible and respectable if you consider the schools that have boys or girls only.- Siosaia Mila
Sunday 26 April 2009
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Sydney, Australia
We know that the situation in Fiji is both complicated and sensitive because of its racial implication and the tendency of outsider to oversimplify the issues involved. But more alarmingly when a PM of a Pacific Is nation issued a tirade to demean the leader of another such as PM Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi of Samoa on Bainimarama as reported by the Samoan government's newspaper Savaii 2¼/09. - ‘Inoke Fotu Hu‘akau

Monday 13 April 2009
San Francisco, USA
I strongly believe that the current system of government is the best for Tonga. All Tonga has to do is improving minor things here and there. Major changes to the current structure of government would bring disastrous consequences that the people of Tonga would regret and hope that they were not born to this earth. A new system would be disastrous to the nature of our religion and culture which are the corner-stone of peace and harmony in Tonga. - Siosaia Fatani
Monday 13 April 2009
Auckland, New Zealand
Thanks also for Senituli's input. But is it really that hard to understand that if the King retains the right to pick at least 4 non-elected ministers, as I said, it means he is not a ceremonial figure? - Josephine Latu
Friday 10 April 2009
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
I find it amazing, how the Tongan public in general are not fully informed of the actuality of what the temo's are asking for. Any form of government suggested for Tonga that has a cabinet picked from within the legislative assembly concentrates tremendous power in the hands of a few and paths the way for a dictatorship in Tonga. The current checks and balances that do currently exist between government bodies will deteriorate until they no longer exist. This means we are moving in the opposite direction of where we actually want to arrive at. Numerous articles on Matangitonga Online and letters to the editor have clearly pointed these obvious things out. For your reading pleasure and for the sake of being more informed please readers check them out. - Daniel K. Fale
Thursday 9 April 2009
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
I am relieved to read constructive and variety perceptions among author's of Letters to The Editor of Matangi Tonga (MT) regarding Reform in Tonga. This is vital as evidence for our achievement in life. - Kisione Taufa

Thursday 9 April 2009
New York, USA
I disagree with the Temos whole-heartedly on the fundamentals and agree with them in some of the peripherals, and on behalf of traditions, the simples, and the blinds, may I declare, "We want to retain monarchy, but have a democratic monarchy." A king without an absolute power is not a king, but a king who rules democratically is humanly divine. Any discontent with the government has to be legally expressed, and should resistance be needed, "Non-violent Patient Resistance" would be our peaceful war cry. Here is my starting point and our dividing line. - Senituli Penitani
Tuesday 7 April 2009
Auckland, New Zealand
Senituli argues for a "democratic monarchy" ... this is, in fact, what most believers in democratic reform want at the moment, i.e. King is still head of state, he has the right to pick the ministers, but he has to pick them from an elected pool. (For the demo. movement, they wanted 17 chosen by the people, 9 by the nobles). - Josephine Latu
Monday 6 April 2009
New York, USA
Her first point - "there is no such thing as an 'absolute democracy'" contradicts both reality and history of political philosophy. Plato believed there are five forms of government: one just (aristocracy) and four unjust (democracy, timocracy, oligarchy, tyranny). Democracy, according to Plato, is a "rule by the masses." Surprisingly, Plato did not like democracy because he believed it is "a rule by all the desires." Plato's definition and 16/11 prove that "absolute democracy" exists. - Senituli Penitani
Monday 6 April 2009
Auckland, New Zealand
Firstly, there is no such thing as an "absolute democracy". Neither the Greek, American, nor the Tongan version is "absolute" and perhaps the closest you can come to such an idea is socialism or communism (classless population equal under the state). - Josephine Latu
Thursday 2 April 2009
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NSW, Australia
As a qualified and experienced volcanologist who has worked in Tonga for almost 30 years I have had experiences and heard of many more, that indicated getting too close to erupting volcanoes is extremely dangerous and on many occasions life threatening. - Paul Taylor

Sunday 29 March 2009
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Alaska, USA
Ko e fehu'i ko 'eni 'oku ha 'i lalo' 'oku ne 'omai 'a e fo'i malie hange tofu pe ko e fakakaukau ki he fakamatala 'a e 'Etita ki he liliu ta'e fakalao koia 'o e fakalea 'o e tu'utu'uni 'a e Falealea 'a ia na'e 'osi kasete'i. Ko e fekumi 'a e fakafofonga (Sue) NZ 'oku 'ikai ke ne maumau'i 'e ia ha Lao he ko 'ene feinga kiha solova'anga 'o 'ene palopalema'. Kapau ko au 'a e fakafofonga NZ ko 'eni' te u fakahko pe 'a e fehu'i tatau ki he PM neongo 'oku 'osi 'i ai 'a e lao 'o e fonua.

Wednesday 18 March 2009
1 comment
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Following the posting of my Editorial, "Fresh new parliament needs fresh new members" on February 23, there has been some aggressive flak from a People's Representative and reactions from political observers that attempt to distract from the points that were made. I have consistently pointed out that if Tonga sets up a new parliament with such a composition of 26 members...it is clear to see we will put a dictator in power. The great challenge before Tonga now is to put a democratic government into place as soon as possible and to avoid allowing vested interests to create a dictatorship. Editor's Comment.
Friday 13 March 2009
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Nu'usila
Kou lau hifo ho'o ongoongo ki he kau fakafoki atu ki Tonga 'oku kau ai e kau faihia fakapo (convicted murderers). 'Oku ki'i taka fakalilifu hono tukuange atu e fa'ahinga pehe ni ki Tonga. Kapau 'oku nau lava 'o fai he fonua lahi pea huanoa hake ki'i Tonga. - Pola Loiti

Wednesday 4 March 2009
2 comments
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Salt Lake City-Utah, USA
Before anthropologists investigate the ancient past, they might want to consider a little history of recent past. -Sione A. Mokofisi
