Results for Opinion

With respect to Mr Ivan Simic's freedom of speech rights, his last two letters of 12/01/08 and 12/08/08 to the Matangi Tonga were, in my opinion, very sad and unfortunate. I felt that they had some reflections of anger and hatred, especially towards the United States of America. Although I was reluctant and forced to be impressed by the details and statistics of his letters, I frankly gained little but mostly pains and regrets from them. As I was pondering over his letters, I also was wondering if he really knows that the United States of America did some good deeds to his country and people. -Siosaia Fatani.

would like to use this opportunity to reply to the letter "US saved Serbia from tyranny" written by Mr. M.T. Tuaileva.

Since World War II many things have changed in the world, both in economy and warfare. - Ivan Simic.

I just wanted to say Congratulations to Matangi Tonga Online photo-journalist and 2008 Sasakawa Pacific Islands Journalism Fellow, Linny Folau, for the wonderful articles. - Monalisa V. Palu

The proverbial undertaking of why do climbers climb a mountain can be examined again in this situation. It has been said that a climber climbs a mountain for this simple reason, because the mountain is there. By the same logic, can we say that the United States of America joined a conflict simply because it is there? - Mafi ‘o Amerika Samoa

In our contemporary world there are 245 entities, which include; countries, independent states (both internationally recognized and generally unrecognized), inhabited dependent territories, and areas of special sovereignty. Almost, all of these entities have fought some kind of war and battle in their history for various reasons, such as: independence, religion, revolution, liberation, occupation, among others. According to war history, over 365 million people lost their lives in these wars, including ongoing ones. - Ivan Simic

I opened a bank account with Bank of Tonga sometime in the 1980s before I emigrated to the United States of America in 1986. I left my bank transaction booklet (tohi pangike) with my mother so she can conduct all my banking activities for me. Bank of Tonga eventually changed its name to Wespac Bank of Tonga which is the current management. Unfortunately, my mother misplaced the booklet along with the account number and she can no longer make any deposits to the account. WBT started a policy which allow them to charge a large amount of penalties to any account that is not active. - ‘Aisea T. Tu‘ikolovatu

A golden opportunity seems to be intentionally flushed down the drain. As our Parliament closed for the year, it is sickening to read about the charges and counter charges by both sides of the aisle. Of all the issues that are crucial to the kingdom, personal vendetta seems more important than setting the foundation for the Year 2010 political change. If there is corruption in Parliament, it is the corruption of broken promises during the election campaign; the corruption of leading the public to believe they have a plan regarding transition to democracy, yet they have none; the corruption of giving themselves a huge pay increase without blinking an eye and still call it pitiful compensation. - Tama Foa

I recently visited Tonga and was surprised to find out that our very own 'Tonga Visitors Bureau' and Ministry of Tourism, had taken the lead in misguiding our visitors arriving in our poor Kingdom, with the map displayed out in their front yard. - Leonaitasi Taukafa