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Renowned artist Filipe Tohi works to translate Tongan art into computer software

By
Kalino Latu
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 Renowned Tongan artist and designer Filipe Tohi is working on a computer programme to reproduce Tongan fine artistic patterns into a software programme.

Tohi is collaborating with his cousin, who is a computer programmer, on the project.

The software, which has yet to be released will allow people interested in the Tongan art of lalava (lashing) to learn and comprehend the ideas Tohi believes have been embedded by Tongan ancestors in the kupesi (stencil).

Lalava is the art form where sennit (kafa) are wound and tied so they can create distinct geometric patterns that are meant to indirectly portray certain images through certain stencils.

Tohi said he was working on decoding these ideas from the patterns so he and his cousin could code the software.

“This would be a great benefit for our school children as they can learn the basics of lalava and anyone who is interested could learn the basic and can advance on them with their own idea of art,” Tohi told Kaniva News.

He said the software was the third project after two major exhibitions in which he displayed his artwork.

In the first one he used stones, while the second one was based on haukafa (tied and wound sennit), haukulasi (tied and wound coloured wool)  and haukamea (tied and wound iron).

Tohi created his works of art by following traditional Tongan patterns.

However,  he also created his own patterns, including about 200 pule (coloured patterns) he collated into a book. He then asked the famous and chiefly Tongan artist, Tamale to give it a name.

Tohi is one of only a few Tongan artists who have learned and received advice from well versed Tongan experts on Tongan arts such as the Late Professor Futa Helu and Tamale.

Tamale is the high chief of the village of Niutoua in Tonga and was given the hereditary role of taking care of the construction of the sacred houses of the Tu’i Tonga (king) where he was able to use his expertise in tufunga langafale (house-building) and tufunga lalava (kafa sennit-lashing) to build the royal structure.

Tohi said his expertise and experience was a combination of a natural gift and research he carried out in Tonga and the Pacific in 1991-1997.

From 1982 – 1992 he was enrolled at the Rangimarie Maori Arts and Grafts Centre in New Plymouth where he studied the tā tongitongi and tā fōtunga (sculpture).

He also undertook research at various museums in New Zealand about different types of haʻi (tie) including ties used for mātaʻu (fishing hook), toki (axe), tao (spear), pōpao (canoe) and fale (house).

He taught at the Maori Centre and learned from other well known Pacific artists including studying Te Rangi Hiroa also known as Peter Henry Buck in which he  has writing on art and crafts of the Cook Islands and Samoan material culture

He also studied  A. M. Hocart’s book about Fijian arts.

The main points

  • Renowned Tongan artist and designer Filipe Tohi is working on a computer programme to reproduce Tongan fine art patterns into a software programme.
  • Tohi is collaborating with his cousin, who is a computer programmer, on the project.
  • When it is ready, the software will help people understand the ideas Tohi believes have been embedded by Tongan ancestors in the kupesi (stencil).
  • “This would be a great benefit for our school children as they can learn the basics of lalava and anyone who is interested could learn the basic and can advance on them with their own idea of art,” Tohi told Kaniva News.

For more information

Filipe Tohi’s official website

Filipe Tohi at the 2008 Pacific Arts Festival (TV3 Beat street)

Tonga High School told to name dux for this year’s prize giving award

By
Kaniva Staff
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Government’s Tonga High School (THS) has been told to name a dux for this year’s prize giving awards, Tonga’s Acting Minister of Education Dr ‘Aisake Eke has told Kaniva News this morning.

Dr Eke was responding after it was revealed last week on media the school would not have a dux for the year 2015 because of a problem they attributed to the introduction of a new system of measurement to measure students’ performance.

THS officials said they fear that calculating who should become dux of the school using the new system would cause a problem because students’ marks were a result of an assessment previously assessed through the old system.

However a meeting with Dr Eke last week the THS officials agreed they will have a dux for the prize giving awards.

The new system for marking of students’ marks was introduced by the Prime Minister Hon ‘Akilisi Pohiva in his role as Minister of Education in what he believed to be the solution to a recently released report which showed that exam pass rates had declined dramatically.

Hon. Pohiva, a former government teacher and lecturer at Tonga’s Teachers Training College now known as Tonga Institute of Education, said one of the problems that contributed to the decline was the use of standardisation of results to improve students’ final marks.

This meant primary school students who failed the Secondary Entrance Examination (SEE), particularly in English and Mathematics, could still get into high school, but were ill prepared to cope with work at a higher level.

The scaling of entrance exam results had misled the public about student performance, the PM’s Office said in a press release obtained by Kaniva News last month.

Hon Pohiva wanted schools in Tonga to use raw marks when calculating students’ exam results and agreed a computer software by Tongan computer programmer expert Piveni Piukala be used for the new system.

The Prime Minister’s Office said a report was released on September 8 in which Hon. Pohiva pointed why students had performed poorly in the last decade.

The report

The report analysing the quality of education in Tonga showed that the rate of students passing their exams had been declining over the past decade, the Prime Minister’s Office said.

According to the report, the pass rate of students sitting for English and Mathematics in SEE in the period 2002–2014 was consistently about 30% or lower.

It said this level of performance was disappointingly low and nothing had been done to improve the situation, despite efforts to reform the education system.

In 2002, 23% of the students who sat for English passed. This pass rate dropped to 20% in 2014. In Mathematics, only 17% passed in 2014, a drop of 14 percent from 31% in 2002.

There was also a clear indication that the number of students passing popular subjects like Tongan Studies and Environmental Science with 50% raw marks or better had also declined.

Since taking office in January, Hon. Pohiva has attempted to find a solution to fix the declining trends of students’ performance.

The Prime Minister’s office said the public did not know how badly students had done because of the standardisation process and the way the results were reported.

“The scaling of results has misled the public about student performance against prescribed learning outcomes, thus allowing students to enter secondary school ill prepared.

“It infers that the scaling process has allowed students who actually failed in Mathematics and English to move on to secondary school alongside those who had passed legitimately.”

Former Tongan deputy police commissioner laid to rest

By
Kaniva Staff
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Former Deputy Commissioner, Taniela Faletau. Photo/ Lute Tonga (Facebook)

The body of former deputy police commissioner, Taniela Faletau, was laid to rest this afternoon after a service was held at the Centenary Church in Kolomotu’a.

Faletau  was  58-years-old when he passed away on Tuesday 10.

He was reportedly collapsed and died.

His former colleagues, family and friends took to social media to express their heartfelt condolence to him.

One of them was Lute Tonga, a co-worker while at Police and is now working in the Solomon Islands paid her tribute to Faletau on Facebook.

She said he remembered Faletau’s last day with Police and on the day he retired when she and another colleague went to say their farewell to him. He told them he did not want them to say goodbye and farewell him because he was not leaving for good as they might still see each other and meet up.

“But today he has gone”, Tonga wrote.

“Goodbye Taniela Faletau, you gone but never forget you”, she added.

Pōhiva approaches king with proposal to sack attorney general

By
Kaniva Staff
-

The Prime Minister of Tonga Hon ‘Akilisi Pohiva has approached His Majesty King Tupou VI with a proposal to dismiss the Acting Attorney General ‘Aminiasi Kefu local media have reported.

The Attorney General can only be dismissed or replaced by the King according to the constitution.

It was claimed the proposal was handed in to the king in a meeting with Pohiva last week.

The details of the submission was not immediately clear but Letio Tonga 87.5 said the Prime Minister obviously was still not satisfied with the performance of the Attorney General since the new government began this year.

Previous report:

In February Hon. Pohiva accused  Kefu of interfering in Lord Tuʻilakepa’s fire arms case.

Lord Tu’ilakepa was sentenced in January and ordered to pay fine of TP$10,000 within 14 days after pleading guilty to firearms and ammunition charges.

The offence carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and if Lord Tu’ilapeka had been  jailed for two or more years he would have lost all his noble privileges and title.

He escaped the jail terms and still holds his title.

In a letter released to the media, the Prime Minister said Kefu appeared to have interfered  “with the independence and impartiality of a pending decision by a Supreme Judge of His Majesty’s Judiciary.”

The Prime Minister has demanded that Kefu responds to what he described as his “grave concerns.”

Kefu told Kaniva News at the time he had just seen the letter as he was traveling overseas and would return and deal with the matter.

“I am fully prepared to answer and it is based on a total misunderstanding of judicial proceedings, and the role of the AG”, Kefu said.

Hon. Pohiva claimed Kefu, the principal legal officer who represents the Crown and the state in legal proceedings, appeared to have attempted “to reduce the severity of the case”.

He argued that Kefu failed in his role to bring full justice against Lord Tu’ilakepa.

He also accused him of trying to diminish the severity of the case in comments made on air.

The Prime Minister said  Lord Tu’ilakepa should have been treated the same way as the other people involved in the case.

Police laid firearms charges against Lords Lasike, Tu’ilakepa and Tuʻihaʻateiho, for illegal possession of firearms and weapons several years ago.

Hon. Pohiva said Lord Lasike’s case was heard four years ago. Lord Tu’ilakepa was only heard this year and Lord Tu’iha’ateiho’s case is yet to be heard.

He expressed concern about the different sentences handed down to Lord Lasike and Lord Tu’ilakepa, saying he found them “to be discriminating and excessive”.

According to the Prime Minister’s letter, only one bullet case was found in Lord Lasike’s residence while two caches of ammunitions were found at Lord Tu’ilakepa’s residences, in Longolongo and Ofu.

The Prime Minister said Kefu should have not pleaded for a lesser sentence for Lord Tu’ilakepa during his court prosecution hearing.

“Is it normal for a Crown Barrister like the Solicitor and acting Attorney General and now acting Attorney General, to be directly involved in seeking a lesser severe penalty for the defendant with the presiding judge of a case?” the Prime Minister said.

Hon Pohiva told Kefu his attitude may have been accepted by former administrations but it “has no place in my government”.

“The prolonged and unnecessary delay in bringing the case of Lord Tu’ilakepa to court baffled me,” the Prime Minister said.

 

PM Pohiva undergoes medical check up in Auckland

By
Kaniva Staff
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Tonga’s Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva was in Auckland Monday 9 for a routine medical check up his office said in a statement today.

“The Prime Minister’s Office hereby makes a formal announcement that the Prime Minister, Hon. Samuela ‘Akilisi Pohiva, is currently in New Zealand on routine medical check-ups”, the statement said.

It said the honourable Prime Minister, 73, was expected to attend the 2015 Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting in Malta and the COP21 Conference in Paris, France later this month.

The Deputy Prime Minister, Hon. Siaosi Sovaleni, was currently the Acting Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade.

It was understood Finance Minister  Hon. ‘Aisake Eke was Acting Education Minister.

Government clarifies plan to purchase local business’ heavy equipment

By
Kaniva Staff
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Tonga’s Ministry of Infrastructure’s plan to purchase used heavy equipment from a local business owner was made as one of the government’s move to increase road maintenance and construction.

The prices of the equipment were cheaper and affordable when compared to second-hand equipment in New Zealand.

The owner  has planned to give government free three heavy equipment if it purchased his equipment.

The Secretary for Finance Tatafu Moeaki has told Kanva News the government was in the process of procuring road maintenance equipment owned by Tomifa Paea.

Moeaki said they were waiting for the Ministry of Infrastructure (MOI) to provide them with ownership documentations of the equipment.

The cost was expected to be at TP$500,000 and Moeaki said it was above the thresholds and because of that it has to go through government’s procurement process.

He said his Ministry was ccurrently engaging ASCO Motors, a reputable local Toyota company to provide valuation of those equipment to consider against the value brought up by the Ministry of Infrastructure.

“As part of this work, we will be interested in the equipment utilizations to date, maintenance records and ASCO’s independent valuation.

“Our assessment will have to be satisfied with the value for money of the purchase, and that the purchase will be a good deal to commit Government to on the condition that, the Ministry of Infrastructure complies with our requirements by regulations,” Moeaki said.

In a statement MOI said road maintenance was one of the public huge demands that had been raised in Parliament from time to time and in letters of petition they received from the people.

In the past only Tongatapu the main island has proposed and regular scheduled road maintenance programmes and nothing for the outer islands, the MOI said.

The main problem the Ministry was currently facing was lack of equipment for the work and some islands including ‘Eua, Tongatapu and the Niuas have equipment but they were outdated and apparently no longer working.

MOI said they sent two mechanics to New Zealand last month to see if government could purchase second hand equipment for the work but they found out the prices were too expensive compared to the prices offered by Tomifa Paea.

If the government would go ahead and purchase Paea’s equipment he would give three heavy equipment free, the statement said.

‘Aisea To’a withdraws his lawsuit against Hon Lavulavu

By
Kaniva Staff
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‘Aisea Silivenusi To’a, one of two plaintiffs who filed lawsuits against Tonga’s Ministry of Infrastructure  and Tourism, Hon. ‘Etuate Lavulavu withdrew his legal action, a court document said.

To’a was plaintiff number two in the election petition “with prejudice” and his withdrawal was made on October 6, the document said. The first plaintiff was Dr Viliami Uasikē Lātū.

“That as of today that my decision and action to withdraw as plaintiff number 2 is independently sound to the best of my knowledge to this election petition,” the document said.

“That is only fair that I withdrew my lawsuit against Etuate Sungalu Lavulavu as I don’t have confident of this election petition”.

Dr Latu and To’a ran as candidates for Vavaʻu 16 last year but they were defeated by Hon Lavulavu.

In a press release released to Kaniva News this afternoon it said To’a was co-plaintiff with Dr Viliami Uasike Latu in launching the election petition alleging that Lavulavu breached the election laws.

To’a said he was approached by Dr Latu and asked  to join him in his attemp to sue Hon. Lavulavu after the election.

The statement said the trio all come from Leimatu’a in Vava’u and they are blood related.

Their case was believed to be the first in the history of Tonga to have three candidates from same village who competed as parliamentary candidates and eventually ended up in court because some of them did not accept the consequences of defeat they experienced after the election campaign.

Serious crash at Tufumahina royal residence, driver and passengers fled scene

By
Kaniva Staff
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The driver and passengers of a car that crashed into the fence of the royal residence in Tufumahina this morning had allegedly fled the scene.

An eye witnessed who did not want to be identified told Kaniva News the accident happened at about 11am when the car veered off and almost hit one of the two tiger statues that stand by the main entrance of the residence on Taufa’ahau rd.

It then flipped and rolled over landing between one of the statues and the fence.

Police have yet to respond to our request for comments.

Tragic teen Jessica Kiutau laid to rest in Manukau Memorial Garden

By
Kaniva Staff
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There were moving scenes today as the body of tragic teenager Jessica Kiutau was laid to rest in Manukau, Memorial Garden.

The 17-year-old was found dead at her South Auckland home in mysterious circumstances last weekend although the family have an explanation to those who attended her funeral about what they believed had caused their loved one to leave them so early.

Kaniva understands it would take time for the authority to officially determine the cause of Jessica’s death.

Hundreds of family and friends gathered to say their farewell to the young woman this morning in a farewell service that began with a Mass at the Holy Cross Church in Papatoetoe.

Laid to rest in a black coffin, a single picture of Ms Kiutau was placed by her coffin by her parents Ponita and Lolesio Kiutau.

Many of young teen’s schoolmates from McAuley High School held back their tears as her remains arrived at the church and at the cemetery.

Many wore their school uniforms and held up photos of the late teen. Some of them carried Jessica’s coffin from the church to a waiting black hearse before she was taken to the cemetery.

At the cemetery the students performed an emotional Maori Haka to honour their school mate while families and friends wept the last moment before Jessica was laid to rest.

Many took to Facebook including friends and relatives who said the family were trying to come to terms with their loss.

Jessica’s death has left a huge void at the heart of our whole family, one family commentator said on Facebook.

Seini Vito Wairasi said Jessica was a “quiet and well-behaved girl”.

Government saves TP$1.6 million of King’s coronation celebration by careful cost cutting

By
Kalino Latu
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King Tupou VI and Queen Nanasipau’u on their coronation day. Photo/Edwina Pickles (Fairfax Media)

The coronation of King Tupou VI cost taxpayers TP$1.6 million (NZ$1 million) less than expected, the Prime Minister’s office has announced.

The savings were the result of careful cost cutting on everything from free travel to flowers.

The Prime Minister’s Office said King Tupou’s coronation had been expected to cost TP$5.2 million (NZ$3.6 million), but had only cost TP$3.6 million (NZ$2.5 million).

The savings contrasted with the TP$10 million (NZ$7  million) spent on the coronation of the  late King George VI.

The money spent came from TP$1.9 million (NZ$1.3 million) from the Palace Office and TP$1.7 million (NZ$1.2 million) from the government and Cabinet Coronation Committees, which were chaired by the Prime Minister.

Tonga Revenue, Custom and Immigration Ministry’s CEO ‘Anisi Bloomfield told Kaniva News the coronation had been widely seen as a success and an encouragement to the government’s policy of cutting as much as possible unnecessary spending of public funds.

Bloomfield was a member of the committee which monitored the funding of the event. He said the government’s partner organisations and businesses worked very well together to make the event a great success.

He said the government cut funding for matters they believed would not affect the coronation.

Overtime payment for drivers was cut and petrol use was recorded and closely monitored.

Vehicle rentals were reduced and for the most part government vehicles were used instead.

Free travel for people from the outer islands was restricted to a certain number of travellers and other travellers had to pay for themselves.

During the coronation of George VI the government gave outer islanders free travel to Tongatapu to participate in the celebration.

The government also reduced spending on the renovation of the Centenary Chapel where the crowning took place and agreed to equally share the costs with the Free Wesleyan Church,

They also cut the spending on certain occasions, including the special dressing for those who were awarded medals. For instance, the kahoa kakala (necklaces of flowers) given to guests at royal events normally cost TP$200 (NZ$140) each.

They also reduced spending on communication and media and the amount of fireworks used.

“The success of the Coronation is due to the effective collaboration between Government Ministries and the public at large from Tonga and abroad,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.

The main points

  • The coronation of King Tupou VI cost taxpayers TP$1.6 million less than expected, the Prime Minister’s Office has announced.
  • The savings were the result of careful cost cutting on everything from free travel to flowers.
  • The Prime Minister’s Office said King Tupou’s wedding had been expected to cost TP$5.2 million, but had only cost TP$3.6 million.
  • The savings contrasted with the TP$10 million spent on the coronation of the late King George VI.

For more information

Tonga crowns King Tupou VI in lavish public coronation, parties (ABC)

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