Results for People

Dr ‘Ofa Keitu‘u of Tonga, has been appointed as Director of the Statistics for Development Division at the Pacific Community (SPC) based in Noumea, New Caledonia, taking effect on 1 July 2016.

"Turn your scars into stars," Vanessa Heleta tells abused women in Tonga. "Orange Day can be a day where we stand up and say enough is enough.”

Filming of new German feature film - a drama based on a true story, has started in Vava’u in April under the direction of a German film maker Florian Schewe, with a crew of about 20 people, mainly German, who have fallen in love with Vava'u.

New Zealand born actor Joe Naufahu made his acting debut for the popular HBO TV series, Game of Thrones. Naufahu featured in the first episode of season 6 of the series which was played last week. He acts as “Khal Moro” a ruthless warlord of a warrior tribe known as the “Dothraki”.

Tonga’s own ON THE SPOT Arts Initiative (Inc.) celebrated its 10th anniversary on Friday receiving a generous donation of $15,000 from the Bank of the South Pacific – Tonga.

One of Tonga’s greatest musicians, Bill Sevesi (born Wilfred Jeffs), passed away yesterday April 23. He was aged 92. Bill Sevesi was an early pioneer of modern Pacific Island Music and is credited with popularising and introducing the Hawaiian guitar key to Tonga and other Pacific Islands. Bill also introduced Tongan music to the airwaves for the first time. He was inducted in the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame in 2015.

Former Mate Ma’a Tonga winger Mateaki Mafi (43) was a prize winner at the 2016 Crufts dog show in Birmingham, England, according to local news media. One of his dogs a Neapolitan Mastiff won the best of breed award in the “working dogs” category. His dog is named “Freddo Dei Mastini Della Rupe”.

Thirteen Tongan New Zealand artists will showcase their artwork as part of the "Tonga ‘i Onopooni: Tonga Contemporary" art exhibition, the first to focus exclusively on the work of artists of Tongan heritage living in New Zealand. The exhibition opens tomorrow Saturday April 16, at the City Gallery in Invercargill, and runs until 4 June.

Rev Sione Pinomi (51) of the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga in Australia passed away on Thursday, 7 April. The reverend was a central figure in the Tongan community in Australia, estimated to be around 40,000, said Tonga’s Honorary Consul in Sydney, Louise Waterhouse.