Economic Impact of Tsunami on Samoa

Afioga Afamasaga Toleafoa shares his initial thoughts on the economic impact of the tsunami on the Samoan Economy.

An economist by training, Afamasaga served for 20 years as a diplomat for Samoa. After leaving diplomatic life, he served a term as Member of Parliament, and as a consultant in public sector reform, governance, including village government. Afamasaga is a regular contributor to print media and radio in Samoa and the region.

Masiofa Lauded As Pacific Government And Community Pioneer

(Counterpart International)

Her Excellency Masiofo La'ulu Fetauimalemau Mata'afa, who died in Apia, Samoa this week, was lauded as a pioneering parliamentarian who also championed the cause of women and of non-governmental organizations.

"She was known to most of the world as Fetaui Mata'afa and we will remember her as a key mover in the establishment and growth of the FSPI network, which now spreads across Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia and Southeast Asia," said Lelei LeLaulu, chairman of the Foundation of the Peoples of the South Pacific International (FSPI) adding, "Much of what we learned in our early days and applied in other parts of the world we learned at the feet of this remarkable women - who more than any other individual - improved dramatically the role of women in Pacific societies, governments and communities."

"Fetaui, who was elected for two terms to parliament, was a champion of the rights of non-governmental organizations like FSP, Counterpart International, and others because she recognized the value of communities in enhancing the health, wealth, education and culture of islands," said LeLaulu, who is also president of Counterpart International, formerly known as FSP.
Mrs. Mata'afa was a long-serving member of the Counterpart International Advisory Council and was a member of the Eminent Persons Group for the 1994 United Nations Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States in Barbados. "Her work on the world stage was recognised by the United Nations Secretary General who appointed her to the Eminent Persons Group which among other things placed the issue of climate change firmly on the international agenda in the early '90s," said LeLaulu.

"She will be remembered and revered for doing so much to empower women many years before it was acceptable and Fetaui always eloquently articulated the need to educate and train Pacific women. Her appointment as Pro-Chancellor of the University of the South Pacific recognised her tremendous contributions to education in the wider region," recalled LeLaulu.

Mrs. Mata'afa who held the Chiefly Orator's title, La'ulu, from the Lotofaga community, was the widow of Fiame Mata'afa Faumuina Mulinu'u II, who led Samoa to independence from New Zealand in 1962. Her father, Le Mamea Matatumua Ata, was a framer of the Samoa Constitution. Her daughter, the paramount chief, Fiame Naomi Mata'afa, was one of the youngest members elected to parliament and is now a senior cabinet minister. In addition to serving as the Samoa High Commissioner to New Zealand, Mrs. Mata'afa was also the leader of the National Council of Women for many years.

http://www.pacificmagazine.net/news/2007/11/23/masiofa-lauded-as-pacific-government-and-community-pioneer

Samoa ready for WTO

12:00PM Sunday November 11, 2007
By Cherelle Jackson

Rohan Ellis. Photo / Cherelle Jackson

New Pacific island countries ready to enter into the World Trade Organization.

This is according to Trade Representative of the Pacific Island Forum Trade Office in Beijing, Mr Rohan Ellis.

"Samoa has a strong government, is pro private sector and it has shown tremendous success in the reforms," Mr Ellis said.

Not all Pacific countries are ready for the move according to Mr Ellis, but Samoa is certainly poised to do so.

"In the long run, it is a great opportunity for Samoa as it is a stepping stone to better trade," he said.

All that Samoa is missing, according to Mr Ellis, is "innovation drive."

Convinced about Samoa's potential, Mr Ellis said Samoa needed to provide a product of difference to cater for a niche market.

"Samoa should make use of traditional and cultural products but create something that is different, that can be in demand," he said.

Currently Samoa is in accession status to the WTO, with negotiations currently underway at the national level.

A working party on the accession of Samoa was established on July 15 1998 and the Memorandum on Samoa's Foreign Trade Regime was circulated in February 2000.

A first revision of the draft Working Party Report was circulated in November 2006. Samoa submitted initial offers in goods and services in 2001.

The services offer was later revised in 2005 and 2006.

Mr Ellis said: "Not all countries are ready, but those who can afford to should enter."

He said although there was much to be gained through the WTO smaller islands also stood to lose if they were not careful.

"Samoa should make sure that the country is armed and ready to deal with the implications of the WTO," he said.

Mr Ellis, however, insists that the special privileges allowed by the WTO to smaller nations should give Samoa the chance to explore what the trade agreement has to offer.

He is one of the few who have expressed favourable support for Samoas accession to the WTO.

The last visit by the WTO to Samoa in June was met with scepticism by locals during a national level consultation.

Members from the Samoa Umbrella for Non Government Organization raised their concerns about the accession supporting notions by Oxfam New Zealand that Samoa may be taken advantage of by larger economies, once in the WTO.

Members of SUNGO expressed their concerns about the size, structure and strength of the Samoan economy to survive in the WTO.

Barry Coates, Executive Director of Oxfam New Zealand told Newline in an interview during the fifth Civil Society Forum in Samoa said that the decision to enter the WTO would have an impact on the independence of Samoa.

Mr Coates - who identified the islands need for "protection" - was adamant that there was more to lose than be gained from joining the organisation.

"Tough" was the word he used to describe the attitude towards new members of the WTO.

The demands include the observance of Intellectual Property (IP) rights and exercising Patent regulations whereby the entering nation will suffer strict policies by the WTO.

According to Mr Coates this would cause major problems Samoa.

"There have already been cases of new medicinal plants discovered in Samoa and once Samoa is in the WTO those plants can be patented by foreign companies."

But that's not it, when IP is observed many of the local bands, video stores and unsolicited content used on local TV stations will be taken out.

Samoans will face heavy penalties and repercussions for their actions.

"There's a lot that needs to be considered before Samoa moves into the WTO and everyone needs to be aware of the implications of it," Mr Coates said.

But WTO Counselor from Geneva and Coordinator for Asian and Pacific Economies Edwini Kwame Kessie, told Newline during the consultations that all trade negotiations are transparent in the WTO.

"Probably the most important of all principals is the accepted retaliation which consists in the cost of ignoring WTO commitments. It means that if a country chooses to ignore its WTO commitments, then those other members of the WTO whose trade has been negatively impacted can seek compensation."

The second central principle according to the WTO is non-discrimination which means that members of the WTO must treat all other members equally.

The most common example of this principle is the extension of most-favoured nation tariff rates to all members of the WTO.

A country that joins the WTO therefore agrees to extend the lowest tariff rate it charges any country on a particular customs category of goods to all other members.

But Mr Kessie said current Least Developed Countries (LDCs) members of the WTO have yet to benefit from the agreement.

"The share of LDC in world trade is 0.5 per cent, obviously the reason why they are not benefiting has got to do more with site supply constraints, most of them have not enacted the right economic and trade policies, they are unstable, the reality is, for most of these LDCs, it is not because of the WTO but due to current fundamental problems in those countries, that is why I stress that Samoa adopts the right economic and trade policies," Mr Kessie said.

The WTO was established in 1995, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) as the only international body with the global rules of trade between nations.

Mr Kessie reminded that it was a common misconception that WTO was a law-making and enforcement institution similar to a domestic legal system.

"It is not. It is an international organization that countries voluntarily agree to join. It has no coercive powers and all the countries that have chosen to become members have voluntarily accepted its rules."

According to him: "the WTO is therefore a political compromise."

Samoa sets up diplomatic ties with Cuba

Posted at 05:52 on 17 October, 2007 UTC

It has been confirmed that Samoa and Cuba have established diplomatic ties.

This follows reports from Havana which said Samoa had become the 186th nation to have diplomatic relations with Cuba.

The relationship was formally established last week in New York according to the acting chief executive officer for Samoan foreign ministry, Petina Sila.

Samoa was represented at the recent UN General Assembly by the Prime Minister, Tuila’epa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi, and some senior government officials.

http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=35816

related:

http://uriohau.blogspot.com/2007/05/mau-movement.html

http://www.michaelfield.org/black_saturday.htm

http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=71168

http://uriohau.blogspot.com/2007/08/acceding-countries-as-pawns-in-power.html

Life in Samoa - the Muliaga migration

Immigration, obesity, poverty, corporate greed - the Folole Muliaga story raised issues that divided New Zealanders. Tony Wall and photographer David White travelled to Samoa with the Muliaga family to better understand their lives, and Folole's tragic death.

Last week the office of the New Zealand Immigration Service in Apia was crowded with Samoans wanting to go to "Niu Sila".

Outside, the queue stretched for 20m. Two security guards maintained order; chairs were provided for relief from the sticky, 30 heat.

A sheet of paper containing hundreds of numbers was stuck to the front window, representing those who'd been accepted for permanent residency under the immigration quota system. Hopefuls crowded around, looking for their number, like school children jostling for exam results.

This year, 19,000 people - 10 per cent of Samoa's population - applied for one of 1100 available quota spots. But the quota, for those aged 18-45 wanting to work in New Zealand, is usually not filled. Some applicants drop out because they have trouble raising the 1200 tala ($NZ563) for a residency application, not to mention the cost of medical and police checks and airfares.

Others fail to meet criteria such as having a job offer, being able to have a conversation in English or health and character requirements.

For those whose number comes up, it's like winning Lotto, but are they really going to find a better life in New Zealand? This is, after all, a country where one of their own, school teacher Folole Muliaga, went in search of her dream, only to find poverty and an early grave. The victim, as some would have it, of a heartless corporation that put profit before the lives of its customers.

On top of that, there was a backlash against her family. Many New Zealanders believe they brought their troubles on themselves, by not paying their power bill on time or getting help more quickly.

One major newspaper polled its readers on who was to blame for the death: Mercury Energy, which switched off her power despite her needing an oxygen machine and left her family grieving in the dark for hours, or the family itself? Twice as many people said the family.

Hardly the type of community-minded society of which Samoans are so proud. But of course Samoa is not necessarily the Pacific paradise it seems at first glance.

Scratch the surface and you'll find pockets of third- world poverty, a scarcity of well-paid jobs, a lack of infrastructure and services and domestic violence.

The choices are stark for families like the Muliagas.

Stay in Samoa and live a simple, family-focused life in a tropical climate, but with nothing much to do and few educational and career opportunities; or migrate to somewhere like New Zealand, where the schooling is better and there are more jobs, but it's cold, you'll most likely end up in overcrowded, sub-standard housing and your children could fall in with the kind of criminal gangs unheard of in the islands

Folole Muliaga chose to migrate, once she had convinced her husband, Lopaavea (Lopa), who had been to Auckland before and found it too cold.

She wanted out of her family's village of Sogi, an inner-city suburb of Apia, and one of the poorer areas. Her matai (chief) father Lei'ataua Moresi Tokuma, 74, has a nice place there, with its carefully maintained patch of lawn and garden and western-style house.

A government clerk in Apia for almost 40 years, Moresi has family land on the island of Manono, between the main islands of Savai'i and Upolu, and rents his land in Sogi from the government for five tala ($2.35) a fortnight. He is secretary of the Congregational Christian Church next door, which is the centre of the community and takes tithes of around 20 tala per family ($9.40) a week. On top of that, it raised several thousand tala at a dance last weekend.

None of this money appears to be going on improving local housing. Behind Moresi's house is a collection of shanties, like something out of an African slum.

These are home to crab fishermen and their families, and are built in a mangrove swamp. When a king tide arrives, it brings in piles of plastic garbage, making the place look like a tip. People seem happy, but life can be brutal.

Photographer David White heard yelps of pain and turned to see a father holding his small son by the hair with one hand and punching him in the head with the other. "He's being punished," someone explained.

Samoans are perhaps starting to confront the domestic violence problem. The front page of the Samoa Observer on July 12 featured a story about Manu Samoa veteran Brian Lima becoming the only player to attend five consecutive World Cups - page two had a story about the same player appearing in court for assaulting his wife.

The court dropped the charge and Lima later appeared on TV news apologising to "all mothers and women of Samoa".

But old habits die hard and several people described the disbelief here at New Zealand's passing of the anti- smacking bill. "The elders are saying to their relatives in New Zealand, 'send your children to us, we'll discipline them'," one young father said.

When Lopa and Folole Muliaga made the decision in the late 90s to move to New Zealand, the first hurdle was Folole's weight.

The Tokumas are a big family, in numbers and physical size. Moresi Tokuma and his wife Fa'asalafa had seven children of their own and adopted an eighth.

Fa'asalafa, who died a big woman in 2003 of stomach cancer, aged 60, was a teacher. Three of her children followed her into that profession, including Folole's younger sister Suisala and brother Atapana.

Most of the Tokuma siblings are fat, Suisala, 42, particularly so. Her obesity has affected her mobility. In her classroom at Vaigaga Primary School, on the airport road out of Apia, she is rooted to her desk in a corner, from where she gives instructions to her 50 pupils.

"All of our family are fat people," Suisala says. "It's in the genes."

Folole's size and obesity-related health problems became an issue when she applied for the immigration quota. She was told she would have to lose weight before she could go to New Zealand, as she could become a burden on the health system.

It was not easy for her to lose weight at home in Sogi, where last week we were served a typical meal of boiled white rice, tinned corned beef, lamb flaps, baked banana and egg foo yong, washed down with raspberry cordial. Tasty, but hardly nutritious.

Samoa is the sixth most obese nation on earth, according to the World Health Organisation, with 80 per cent of people over the age of 15 having a body mass index (BMI) higher than 30, the clinical definition of obesity.

Obesity's deadly offspring, diabetes and kidney disease, have hit Samoans hard. In the past, the Samoan government has paid for patients to fly to New Zealand for dialysis treatment, but three years ago the national hospital in Apia was supplied with dialysis machines as part of a joint venture between the Samoa and Singapore national kidney foundations. The development has made a big difference to locals, as well as overseas-based Samoan kidney patients who need regular dialysis and had been unable to return home.

The government has also taken initiatives to get people's weight down. Frozen turkey tails are imported from the US and cooked on the barbeque with soy sauce and salt. They are popular with Samoans but are extremely high in fat. From November, they will be outlawed. This follows the banning of chicken backs a couple of years ago.

For Folole, help with her obesity was at hand in the form of her cousin's husband, Auseugaefa Poloma Komiti, who is high up in the Samoan government.

In his office on the fifth floor of the government building in central Apia, with a stunning view of the harbour, Komiti, the head of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, remembered the "challenges" facing Folole prior to the family's migration.

Komiti says Folole came to live with him and his wife so she could concentrate on her weight-loss. "We gave her advice and made sure she was taking up the regimen of treatment that the medical people were advising her to do. The bottom line was, she had to lose weight."

The couple put Folole on a fish- based diet and helped her with an exercise programme. She was given a weight goal, and achieved it.

The Muliagas were comparatively well off by Samoan standards. Folole, a primary school teacher for 15 years, would have been on about 24,000 tala ($NZ11,200) a year, while Lopa worked for his family's taxi company.

But Folole hoped that, by moving to New Zealand, her career options would be better and her children would get better schooling. The couple left in 2000, with children Ietitaia, then 13, Ruatesi, 11, Morwenna, 9, and baby Eden in tow.

Life for the Muliagas in Auckland was good for the first few years. There was family nearby: three of Folole's brothers were in New Zealand.

Lopa got a job as a kitchen hand at the Centra Auckland Airport, earning $470 a week after tax, while Folole retrained in early childhood education at Auckland University, gaining a diploma.

She was one of the founders of the Congregational Christian Church childcare centre in Mangere, and loved her job. Her three eldest children were enrolled in one of Auckland's top state schools, Onehunga High. The couple applied several times for a Housing New Zealand home but were disqualified because their combined income was too high.

They ended up renting a basic brick home in Mangere Bridge, an expensive suburb in real estate terms, paying $290 a week, rising to $300, to a private landlord. They received a family benefit, but Lopa says money was always tight. They had about $100 a week to pay for food, petrol and bus fare for the children.

Folole's weight had ballooned again, and her health was suffering. She had heart and lung problems and by February this year, she was no longer able to sit on the mat and read to the children at the childcare centre. She reluctantly agreed to take three months off. Lopa had to cut back on his hours to help look after her and the children.

Folole didn't tell many people about her problems. "I didn't know she was sick," says Orita Sione, a school teacher in Apia and Folole's best friend.

But she confided in her sister, Suisala.

"I talked to Folole on the phone, and she told me to search for help, for traditional Samoan medicine," Suisala says.

The plants and herbs used by traditional doctors could not be taken into New Zealand, she says, but were sometimes boiled into a liquid and smuggled in. But that did not happen.

"We were too busy here. It's hard for us here to prepare things to take to her. She said, 'it's all right, I'm in the hospital now'."

Folole, who spent a month in Middlemore Hospital, was not the first member of her family to receive hospital treatment in New Zealand. Her mother, Fa'asalafa, had three operations for the fatal tumour in her stomach, the first two in Samoa, paid for by the family, and the third at Middlemore, at the expense of the Samoan government.

Lopa says his wife received "very good healthcare" and she was "very strong" when she was released from Middlemore on May 11.

"I said, 'are you all right?' and she said, 'yeah I'm all right'. The doctor said, 'make sure you have your oxygen'."

Doctors had assessed her condition as chronic, in the mildly stressful category, rather than acute and life- threatening, and had given her a mains-powered oxygen machine, with a nose tube fitting, which was supposed to help her breathe rather than keep her alive.

But Folole saw it as her lifeline. Lopa says Folole "never missed her oxygen", using it around the clock.

The family had been getting behind with power and telephone bills. The phone was disconnected about a week before Folole died.

Lopa tried to sort out a payment plan with Mercury Energy, but it was not interested, a call-centre worker telling him they couldn't deal with him because his name was not on the bill.

On May 29, a contractor disconnected the family's power and within a few hours, Folole, who had been home with eldest son Ietitaia, was dead, aged 44.

"That never would have happened here," says Sione, Folole's school teacher friend.

"We can negotiate things with people."

Samoa's Electric Power Corporation provides some of the cheapest electricity in the islands. Householders purchase units of electricity in advance. "Three weeks ago I bought 100 talas' worth ($47) and I still have 40 units left," says Komiti, Folole's relative in the prime minister's department.

Komiti flew to New Zealand for Folole's funeral. "I heard the eulogies and that was the Folole I knew, who would not ask for help even when she was in dire need."

He says there were networks available to her and her family, "but she was a proud person".

Lopa says he and his wife didn't know where to turn for help. One place they could have gone was the Lafitaga welfare centre in Auckland, set up by Fa'amausili Tuilimu Solo Brown, who won a Queen's Service Medal in 2001 for her community work, but returned permanently to Samoa the following year.

Brown, also a justice of the peace in New Zealand, is one of only two women judges at the Land and Titles Court in Apia.

She says Lafitaga, which sees 70,000 people a year, could have helped the Muliagas with their power bill. She was shocked by Folole's experience.

"I can imagine that happening maybe in Papua New Guinea, but not New Zealand. It's appalling."

She believes Samoans who struggle in New Zealand should come home.

"When I was in New Zealand I was advising people to come back to Samoa, especially when they don't have jobs. Being on a benefit is worse, they might as well come home and work the land. It's a beautiful place, we can lead a good life here."

That was a theme common among Samoans who had returned home after many years abroad.

Eileen Taeleipu, who was raised in Christchurch but now runs her own business just out of Apia, says many of her countrymen and women go to New Zealand expecting too much and are shocked by the reality. "They go from a freehold piece of land with a house to staying in a garage in an overcrowded situation."

And many refuse to adapt to the New Zealand way of life. "My dad lived in New Zealand for 40 years and was still living like a Samoan. He would make us all live Samoan inside the house, and palagi outside, only because we had to."

This included a rigid attitude to discipline, Taeleipu says. "What you would call child abuse in New Zealand was just normal Samoan discipline."

She says that while women like Folole had to go to work to help support their families, and women's rights were progressing, "I don't think we're considered equal here. Typical Samoan women are selfless, their children come first."

Brown says too many Samoans rely on remittances from family overseas. "Instead of going to the land and working the land, they are just waiting for the money to arrive."

Despite the problems many of them encounter, a steady stream of Samoans continue to leave behind their homeland in search of opportunities overseas.

At Faleolo Airport, friends and family gather to farewell passengers on a 2am flight to Niu Sila. Two young women in traditional dress are in tears in the departure lounge and on the steps to the plane, turning to wave goodbye to their family.

Two men from rural Samoa who have obviously never flown before wear their anxiety on their faces. Lucia Filipo, 60, from Apia, crosses herself when the plane takes off and clutches rosary beads as it descends into Auckland.

Some of these people are visiting family, others are on work visas, while some are starting a new life. All have big hopes and dreams, some will achieve them. Hopefully, none will end up like Folole Muliaga.
Samoans in Aotearoa
# Samoans are the single largest Pacific ethnic group, comprising 115,000 or 50% of NZ's Pacific population.
# 58% of the total Samoan population in NZ was born here.
# Most Samoans (66%) live in Auckland, or Wellington (17%).
# 90% of Samoans in New Zealand speak English.
# 90% are Christians.
# 30% of Samoans in New Zealand live in an extended family situation, compared to 8% of the NZ population.
# 17% of Samoans hold a post-school qualification, compared to 32% of the total population.
# 56% of Samoan adults are employed, up from 43% in 1991. 16% were unemployed, compared to only 7% of the total population.
# The most common occupation for Samoans is plant and machine operators (19%), clerks (18%) and service and sales workers (16%).
# Samoans born here are more likely than their overseas-born counterparts to be employed in white-collar jobs such as legislators, administrators and managers (7% and 4%), professionals (10% and 7%) and associate professionals (14% and 7%).
# The Samoan adult population has a median annual income of $15,600, compared to $18,500 for the rest of the population.
# 60% of Samoans are in rental housing, compared to 33% of the total population. Of those, 46% are in Housing New Zealand accommodation, down from 60% in the mid-90s.
# 86% of Samoan households have telephones, compared to 96% of the total population.
# Figures are from the 2001 census, the most recently published census figures

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The report found the following, that the major impacts of globalization in the Pacific were, number one, rapid increase in extreme poverty; and number two, destabilization of governments. After decades of failed economic development and stagnant private investment, we see now the rapid rise of extreme poverty in the Pacific. 40% of the peoples of Vanuatu live in poverty. 48% in Samoa. Over 50% in Kiribati. “The Island of Hope” documented that the primary cause of poverty in the Pacific relates to globalization, and that this rise in poverty is interlinked with the adoption by national governments of liberal policies promoting investment and competition, and this has operated to the detriment of social services, including health, education, housing, and social welfare.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/11/23/1446238&mode;=thread&tid;=25#transcript

Samoa Mo Samoa

King Kapisi - Reverse Resistance

S.O.S Sons of Samoa-TATOU O....

Malietoa Tanumafili II dies aged 94

Sunday May 13, 2007

Malietoa Tanumafili II - Samoa's Head of State for 45 years and cousin
of the late former Fiji President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara has died at
the age of 94 according to reports.

Malietoa Tanumafili II was also the cousin of Tonga's late King
Taufa'ahau Tupou IV who died last year 88.

His death ends the last of a once powerful 20th Century Polynesian
triumvirate.

All three men were heads of state at times of independence and all
held powerful chiefly titles recognised as royal across the Pacific.

Malietoa Tanumafili II was born on January 4, 1913, the son of the
first Tanumafili.

The title Malietoa is one of Samoa's most powerful and gave the holder
title over much of Samoa.

Uncertain times ahead as Samoa deals with new order

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4058123a12.html

For at least the last decade Samoans have always offered a quiet
prayer when word came that Malietoa Tanumafili II was ill.

Samoa is a young nation and no one under the age of 45 had ever known
the country without the fatherly leadership of Malietoa.

Now he is dead and the question of succession arrives for the first
time in the history of the Independent State of Samoa.

But three years ago quiet measures were put in place to prepare for
the inevitable when two men were sworn in as members of Samoa's
Council of Deputies. One was former prime minister Tuiatua Tupua
Tamasese Efi, and the other, Tuimaleali'ifano Sualauvi II.

No one would publicly say that the appointment of these two men - who
would serve as deputy head of state - was about succession and Tupua's
family was deeply critical of a media report that suggested this. At
the time Tupua was refusing to join the Council but a curious
double-standard was involved.

Samoa's high chiefs do not like talk of succession and titles. But
they themselves over a lifetime fight through the Lands and Titles
Court in a manner that is barely polite.

As it is, the issue of who comes after Malietoa and how, carries
important historical significance while defining the way ahead for Samoa.

ne has to go back to the 19th century to see the last such battle, not
least because the combined longevity of the Tanumafili puts succession
beyond the living memory of any person now. Samoa has four tama-a-aiga
or royal titles, heads of extended families:

Malietoa, Tamasese and Tuimaleali'ifano. The fourth, Mata'afa, has
been vacant since 1997.

When Samoa was negotiating with New Zealand for independence and
drafting a constitution, the question of head of state, or the 'O le
Ao o le Malo', was potentially vexatious. But they came up with a
joint life-term Head of State. One was Malietoa, the other was Tupua
Tamasese Meole, the father of the current holder.

Under the constitution, the Fale Fono or Legislative Assembly, will
elect the next head of state for a five year term.

The presumption, not stated in the constitution, is that the post will
go to a 'tama-a-aiga' and a member of the Council of Deputies. But it
has never been tested.

Independence came in 1962 and a year later, Tupua Tamasese died.
Malietoa lived on as a very much-loved man, incorruptible, humble and
funny. With his death, his most likely successor as Head of State will
be Tupua Tamasese Efi. In the 1970s he served as prime minister, under
the Tupuola Efi title.

He has collected a slew of paramount titles-some following protracted
and unedifying legal battles. Although he says he does not want the
job, he is not his own man: he must serve the thousands who eventually
bestowed the royal title on him.

As a politician, Tupua enjoyed the cut-and-thrust of party politics
and political debate. He is also a stickler for fa'a Samoa (or Samoan
culture) and the Samoan language.

The various extended families under his titles though made no secret
they did not enjoy the vision of their prince engaged in the political
trenches, feeling he should be above the fray. An additional factor
for Tupua has been the problem that once a politician, always a
politician.

He lost his premiership to the Human Rights Protection Party, which
continues to reign in Samoa, and his personal animosity for the late
Prime Minister Tofilau Eti was strong.

In fact electing a new Head of State will be the easy part; head of
state is a ceremonial title in which the holder must act on the advice
of government.

Not so the next Malietoa, awesomely powerful with control of much of
Samoa's land. The title came about nearly a thousand years ago when
Samoa was under Tonga's suzerainty.

Led by two chiefs, Samoans were able to drive the occupiers off, who
left with a shouted chant across the waters: 'Malie tau, malie toa'
(splendidly fought, brave warriors!).

As a result, it became one of the central titles and when Europeans
showed up later, it was perhaps the most interfered with of them all.
The appointment of a new Malietoa will be a two-stage process. The
first will involve defining those who have the pule or authority
within the Sa Malietoa, the extended family, to name a successor.

By tradition, authority rests with the nine senior matai or chiefs in
the village of Malie, west of Apia, in the district of Tuamasaga, on
the island of Upolu. In theory, they must also consult the district of
Safotulafai in Savai'i and the island of Manono.

But it will not be simple as the Sa Malietoa is large and diverse, and
those excluded can be counted on going to the Lands and Titles Court
at Mulinu'u, on the western side of Apia harbour. There, some brave
judge will make the decision on who can make the next decision.

Thus empowered, the matai will go off and consider who will be so blessed.

Nothing is automatic, and titles do not always pass to the first born
of the next generation. It will, however, take many years.

Pacific: Samoa: New Zealand Regrets Abuses


By JOHN SHAW (NYT)
Published: June 5, 2002
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9507E2D91E3AF936A35755C0A9649C8B63

Western Samoa received a formal apology from its former semicolonial ruler New Zealand for a decade of deaths and ill treatment. The New Zealand prime minister, Helen Clark, made the apology in the capital, Apia, on the nation's 40th anniversary of independence. She said the apology was for negligence in an influenza epidemic in 1918 that killed 8,000 islanders and police suppression in 1929 of an independence movement and later banishment of island chiefs. John Shaw (NYT)

Senior Chinese official says to enhance cooperation with Samoa

Li said China places great importance on its traditional friendship with Samoa.
·Trade volume between China and Samoa reached 13 million U.S. dollars in 2006.
·Samoa is the last leg of Li's Latin American and Pacific tour.

APIA, April 2 (Xinhua) -- China will continue to enhance mutually beneficial cooperation with Samoa and push friendly exchanges forward, a senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) said here late Monday.

Li Changchun, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, said in a statement that China places great importance on its traditional friendship with Samoa.

The statement was released at the airport immediately after Li arrived in the country Monday evening.

In 1975, Samoa became one of the first South Pacific island nations to establish diplomatic ties with China.

Since then, bilateral cooperation has been progressing rapidly in such fields as culture, education, sports, public health and tourism, the statement said.

Li Changchun (R), member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, is welcomed by Samoan Vice Prime Minister Misa Telefoni Retzlaff upon his arrival in Apia, Samoa on April 2, 2007

Trade volume between China and Samoa reached 13 million U.S. dollars in 2006, a 116.7-percent increase over the previous year.

During the three-day visit, Li is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi and other high-ranking official of Samoa.

Samoa is the last leg of Li's Latin American and Pacific tour, which has brought him to Mexico, Venezuela, Suriname, Ecuador and Peru.