Tongan Olympian Paea Wolfgramm has denied that he told the Prime Minister that members of the committee organising the 2019 South Pacific Games were not productive.

Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohva recently said that GOC members were not productive, despite being paid a monthly allowance.

Wolfrgramm, who won silver in the Super Heavyweight boxing division at the Atlanta Games, said he had written several letters over the years expressing his concerns and suggesting ways of supporting the kingdom’s athletes to various government figures.

He said he had also discussed the issue personally with Prime Minister and that perhaps the Prime Minister had drawn his own conclusions from what he said.

“I am deeply concerned for 2019,” Wolfrgramm said.

“I apologise for any offense they may cause, but not for the truth and  sentiment they contain.

“Perhaps the PM picked-up on that sentiment, and understood the sum of it as a ‘launga.’ We may debate the rhetoric. But the reality is our troubled preparation lie around us like fallen snow. For each passing day, it is hardening and compacting.”

Wolfgramm told Kaniva News he retained his long standing and very deep concern at the problems surrounding the preparations for the 2019 Games.

The Olympian has left Tonga .

“I have been designated to no longer play a meaningful role within the 2019 Games. I have accepted that,” he said.

“In doing so I also sincerely wish you the GOC, the chairman and secretariat all the best.”

In an article written for Spasifik magazine after his departure, Wolfgramm said his hopes that Tonga would continue to enjoy international sporting success had died as the kingdom’s Olympic organisation slowly imploded.

“It seems as if Atlanta had never happened,” he wrote.

“No one seems interested to ask why.

“I think Tonga’s Olympic administrators just do not care enough for our athletes.

“Athletes are optimistic by nature. They readily substitute meagre resources for the abundance of spirit. But even that runs dry when they see tens of thousands of dollars spent on administrative travel.

“Meanwhile, they hitchhike or scrimp a dollar for a bus fare to get to training. That is why very few sports in Tonga retain their athletes. And fewer still have athletes that return to give back to their sport.”

A canoe in the sand

A canoe is safe in the sand, but it is not what canoes are made for.

With that metaphor, Olympian Paea Wolfgramm expressed what he thinks is one of the most serious problems with Tonga’s preparations for the 2019 Games – an unwillingness to try anything new.

Instead, the Tongan organising committee was trying to do things the same way, with the same mindset, and hoping for a different result.

Wolfgramm’s comments were contained in a letter he wrote to the Solomon Islands National Olympic committee after that country was awarded the 2023 SPG.

He advised the Solomon Islands committee to cherish its athletes and remember that the games were about people and participation more than making money and erecting new buildings.

In his letter, Wolfgramm said: “You may have heard there is great discord in Tonga’s lagging preparation. As the first to host outside the ‘Big Five’, we are a litmus test and are being watched with interest.

“It is regretful to say, that we are struggling in our test. The expectation placed on us by our peers is at this point not bound to be realised. In my opinion we will still see our obligation through. But the positive social impact I had hoped for with TONGA 2019, has sadly been squandered.

“Our first mistake was failing to embrace our people from the beginning.   I implored our team to set the tone with a public launching and official acknowledgement. Unfortunately I was ignored and I think some problems we have now, can be traced back to that first mis-step.

“Along with the embracing of your people, hold your athletes dear. They are your ‘army’ for 2023.  They draw strength from the land and its people. How you make your people feel towards 2023, is what the athletes will feel towards 2023 also.

“Make them feel valued and embed Team Solomon with the culture that 2023 will be their celebration for all their sacrifice. Show them, that as administrators, you will sacrifice right alongside them.”

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The day Muhammed Ali gave Tongan boxing champ Wolfgramme a word of advice

The day Muhammed Ali gave Tongan boxing champ Wolfgramme a word of advice

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An Italian girl has recorded a stunning rendition of Tonga’s national anthem on video.

The 42 second recording has been uploaded to Facebook by the Chair of the Tonga Rugby Board Fe’ao Vunipola.

It has been accompanied by a caption that goes like this:

“Italian girl singing our National Anthem in one of the November function and in preparation for the match between Ikaletahi and Italy on Saturday.

Vunipola has confirmed the singer will perform the kingdom’s national anthem at the upcoming match.

The video was uploaded about three hours ago and it has already shared 38 times and had about 200 likes.

Most of the commentators on the post praised the girl’s vocal and were stunned by her ability to pronounce the Tongan language almost perfectly.

Tonga faces Italy in Padua at the Stadio Euganeo.

Young Prince Tāufaʻāhau Manumataongo was all smiles as he took the wheel of a solar powered vehicle in Nukuʻalofa last week.

But while the little Prince looked as if he wanted to drive off, the keys for the vehicle were kept away from him.

The solar powered tuk tuk’s owner, Dr Luka Mueller, appeared excited to see the Prince sitting on the steering wheel.

Prince Taufaʻāhau, who turned three in May this year, will become king of Tonga one day.

The Prince was with his mother, Crown Princess Sinaitakala, who was the guest of honour at a ceremony launching a dozen locally assembled tuk tuks last week.

As Kaniva News reported recently, the Solar Island Technology and Kirchner Solar Group have begun a project to reduce the kingdom’s reliance on imported fuel.

The German Government agreed to fund half of the project.

Prince Taufaʻāhau and his mother were seen traveling in one of the tuk tuks as part of a cruise through Nukuʻalofa last Saturday to launch the solar powered tricycle before they are released to the public.

The solar powered vehicles are being sold for TP$15,000 each.

Tuk tuks are widely known under different names throughout Asia, including Bangladesh, China and Indonesia.

The 400kg three-wheeled vehicle has a battery and can travel as fast as 40km an hour for as long as four hour when the battery was full.

The vehicles can be bought in three types. One has an insulated box for carrying frozen food, one for carrying passengers and one for carrying goods.

The main points

• Young Prince Taufaʻahau Manumataongo was all smiles as he took the wheel of a solar powered vehicle in Nukuʻalofa last week.
• The Prince was with his mother, Crown Princess Sinaitakala, who was the guest of honour at a ceremony launching a dozen locally assembled tuk tuks last week.
• The solar powered vehicles are being sold for TP$15,000.
• There are three versions: One for carrying frozen food, one for carrying passengers and one for carrying goods.

Police have arrested and charged a 52-year-old Vavaʻu man after a 4-year-old boy was hit by a vehicle on Maiva Road in Leimatuʻa yesterday morning.

He has been charged with reckless driving causing death after ‘Isileli Moli was rushed to hospital where he later died.

Vavaʻu Police Superintendent Nētane Falakiseni said the victim and five others travelled in a van with his father to their plantation.

The father and others got off the van and walked across the road to the plantation which was situated closed by while the boy was staying in the van.

At one stage the boy got off the van and attempted to cross the road when an oncoming vehicle driven by the accused allegedly hit him.

The accused will appear in court tomorrow at 10am, Falakiseni said.

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A Tongan woman who claims she is the true Prophet of God and His new messenger has gained growing band of followers.

Esita Smith, who lives in Australia, began her religious mission about a year ago, but has been widely mocked on social media.

She told Kaniva News she was sick of being attacked by people who called themselves Christians.

Smith has gathered a strong following among people she calls her apostles.

These apostles imitate her video preaching style when they preach and claim God has made a change in their souls through the Prophet.

In a video she released on Facebook on November 10, Smith said she had received a new command from God to reveal to her followers.

“I am the new Word of God and the new Old Testament version,” she announced online in Tongan.

She said people believed in the Old Testament and the work of prophets like her, but had never seen them first hand.

“That is the difference between me and those prophets because you are seeing me and what I am preaching to you,” she said on the video.

The Tongan Australia resident has faced strong criticisms from a Tongan church minister in Australia and some Tongan Christian followers on social media.

Rev. Semisi Kava of the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga in Australia lashed out at Smith and labelled her as

“manufekai” (beast) “fie-Kalaisi” (Anti-Christ) and “vale” (ignorant).

When asked about the motives behind his reaction against Smith, Rev. Kava said it was because she departed from the teaching of the Bible and claimed she was Christ.

Rev. Kava claimed he discovered through his Facebook messenger that some Free Wesleyan Church members have left the church and followed Smith.

He did not give the exact number of those people.

However, he claimed they included a church steward couple who had separated from their children after they chose to follow.

Rev. Kava said the couple had left Christ and moved into fire.

In an emotional statement he called on all Christians to stand together for the real Jesus the Christ.

Response

Smith told Kaniva News she was fed up with people who regarded themselves as Christians and at the same time they showed hatred against her and swore at her and her followers.

She said she ignored them because what she did was what God had told her to do.

“Remember our people, they do not want others to have anything better,” she said.

“I told you they could not defeat me”, Smith said.

Some of the Tongan community said they found Smith’s preaching and behaviour unusual.

She did not wear pastoral or formal attire, but instead dressed casually.

In one of her videos she wore a singlet and while preaching she referred to her golden necklace and ring.

She said she told her followers to make sure they appeared clean and beautiful whenever they preached online.

The language she used was very informal and she did not appear to have based her preaching on a religious book or referred to church teachings.

She did not preach using references to the Bible but on one video she strongly criticised church leaders for collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars from their poor church members.

She told church leaders God wanted them to stop it immediately.

The following videos were recorded by some of Smith’s apostles

The apostles openly declared how they believed in Smith’s preaching and teachings. Some of their videos viewed more than 20,000 times and shared more than 200 times on Facebook.

The main points

• A Tongan woman who claims she is the true Prophet of God and His new messenger has gained growing band of followers.
• Esita Smith, who lives in Australia, began her religious mission about a year ago, but has been widely mocked on social media.
• She told Kaniva News she was sick of being attacked by people who called themselves Christians.
• Smith has been criticised by Rev. Semisi Kava of the Methodist Church in Australia, who has labelled her as the “anti-Christ” (fie Kalaisi).

A 52-year-old man died in Hunan province of China Friday 18.

Kisina Takau was in the country on a two-month training courses as part of his role at Tonga’s Ministry of Agriculture.

He was expected to return to Tonga this Thursday.

Dr. Viliami Manu, CEO of the Ministry said Takau allegedly collapsed before he was rushed to hospital where he later died.

His body was expected to be returned to Tonga this Saturday.

He is survived by his wife Melepua Takau and two children.

Meanwhile his family friends and co-workers offered their condolences online.

Her daughter Pricella Takau posted on Facebook how she struggled to come to terms with her father’s sudden death.