Results for People

A study of the level of corruption in Tonga is expected to be completed before the end of the year, and made public by March 2004. From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 18, no. 3, December 2003.

British High Commissioner to Tonga, Mr Paul Nessling: “It is great to have a degree in molecular biology but out there, we are desperate for nurses, teachers, youth workers, social workers, plumbers, carpenters, electricians, cooks, IT engineers and many others with skills.”

Human smuggling in all it forms remain an unforgivable crime, according to Denis Nihill, the regional Representative of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). Denis visited Tonga in September. - Matangi Tonga, Vol. 18, No. 3

2,000 to 3,000 Freedom Marchers gathered at the Catholic Basilica of St Anthony of Padua, Nuku'alofa, the capital of Tonga, at mid-day today, and marched to the Tongan Parliament (below) to present petitions calling for protection of Freedom of Speech, which is threatened by a Government Bill to change the Tongan Constitution. - Photos by Pesi Fonua, Linny Folau, and George Cocker.

A Centre for Women and Children that was started by the Catholic Women’s League in Nuku‘alofa, has became a National Project of Tonga, in order to survive and to grow, the CWL Annual General Meeting was told in April. From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 18, no. 2, August 2003.

Arriving in Tonga immediately after being released from foreign jails is often a traumatic experience for young people, who have spent most of their adult lives in the metropolitan centres of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sydney and Auckland. Many of them know very little about Tonga, excepting for the fact that they are of Tongan origins. From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 18, no. 2, August 2003.

The secret to success for Tongan immigrants is to be able to maintain their identity as Tongans, at the same time absorb and take advantage of the opportunities that are available to them in their host countries, said Dr Helen Morton Lee, a lecturer on anthropology at the La Trobe University of Melbourne. From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 18, no. 2, August 2003.

Richard Stanley, Tonga’s new alternative executive director to the Asian Development Bank, visited Tonga at the end of April. From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 18, no. 2, August 2003.

New Zealand’s Maori Queen, Dame Te Arikuini Te Atairangikaahu visited Tonga twice recently to attend a wedding in the Tongan Royal Family, and the King’s 85th birthday. She was amazed at how well Tonga has held together its traditions, but also expressed concern about the need to make the young people of the Pacific aware of their unique heritage in a world that often does not understand their cultures. From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 18, no. 2, August 2003.