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Deported: An interview with Sione Ngaue in the Kingdom of Tonga

By
Kaniva Staff
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By courtesy of:  Todd Henry

Ever since my first visit to Tonga in 2007, I have noticed an ever growing population of American accented and often heavily tattooed residents that appear to have just arrived in the islands from places such as inner-city Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, or Dallas.  In fact, these places are where many of them actually did come from before being sent back to Tonga as the result of their own criminal convictions.

These deportees make up a subculture of sorts within Tongan society, and the way of life they grew accustomed to in the United States, or other large industrialised nations, is in stark contrast to the way of life that is customary in the islands.  The vast majority of deportees that I have met in Tonga were deported from the US, and while I have heard about some who were deported from places such as New Zealand or Australia, I have yet to meet them face to face.  The fact that so many have been deported from the US when compared to other locations where large populations of the Tongan diaspora reside is both compelling and concerning at the same time.

Despite being born in Tonga, the deportees live almost as if they are exiles in their own land.  Many were raised in the US from a very young age after emigrating with their parents or other family members, and they may not have any recollection of life in Tonga before moving abroad.  Many of the deportees identify as being American, which they are in terms of their overall appearance and conduct, but not in terms of legality.  Their chances of ever being permitted back into the US are very slim, and those who realise this are generally able to at least partially integrate back into Tongan society through learning the language, culture, and utilising existing family connections.  Other deportees, however, choose to continue on the very path that got them sent back to Tonga in the first place, and inevitably find themselves in and out of the Tongan prison system as a result.

On my most recent trip to Tonga I met a man named Sione Ngaue.  He is an American deportee who now resides on his family land in the village of Nukunuku on the island of Tongatapu.  Despite his history, Sione is an example of a deportee success story.  He has managed to start a new family back in Tonga, and he works as a freelance artist and tattooer, specialising in traditional Tongan designs.

I cycled out to Nukunuku from Nuku’alofa one afternoon to visit Sione in his traditional Tongan fale, which is one of the few left standing in Tonga. We talked at length about his own personal experience of being deported from the US, and about his new life in the Kingdom of Tonga.

The following is a transcript of our conversation recorded on July 14th, 2015:

Todd: What is your name and when did you get deported back to Tonga from the United States?

Sione: My name is Sione Kihe Kai Ngaue, and I got deported from America to Tonga in 2008.

Do you want to talk about why you got deported?

There were several things that led up to it, but in the end it was vehicular manslaughter.

What was the deportation process itself like? How did you first find out that you were going to be deported?

You usually know that you are going to be deported when you are like a year into the system, your prison term you pretty much know the warrants you have and things like that, you know you have an INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) hold real early. So when you are doing your time you know that you’re going to get deported.

So you serve the whole sentence and then you go?

That’s the way it is. Everybody who gets deported has to serve their time in America before they are deported.

How does the process of actually being deported go, do officials actually escort you?

Yes, you get out of prison and when you come out the gates you have INS officers waiting for you, you know, with cuffs again. So you come out of cuffs, to get put on cuffs. You know, they take the state cuffs off, and the feds put their cuffs on you and put you in their bus. So you go through the process all over again with the INS, but the one thing good about INS is that you know the longest you’re going to be there is three months and you will be sent home.

So do they fly with you on the plane?

They have to escort you, they make sure. The judge tells you, “you will be escorted”. Especially if you have a heavy record. Some have a lesser record only get escorted by one (INS official), and some will even get escorted by three. I was escorted by two, my older brother was escorted by three.

When you land in the destination airport, do they just take the handcuffs off of you and you go?

There is no cuffs on the plane, it’s against federal law and international law. You just give them your word and they’re like “I’m taking you home”, if you try anything you will go back to prison in the US and you will never get out. Behave and you will go home.

So when you land in Tonga, then do they have to release you over to the Tongan police?

No, if I wanted to I could have just walked off but I hung around the airport immigration for a minute and the guy told me that he saw me get off with those guys. Actually when we went through New Zealand they (the INS officials) bought me duty-free two bottles of whiskey and two cartons of cigarettes. Them guys, they were happy that I was a good guy, you know? I was happy to go home.

So did you have any family in Tonga when you arrived back after being deported?

I didn’t have a visitor for the thirteen and a half years I served, so I didn’t let anybody know that I was getting deported. I got out of the airport and I walked all the way home, my Mom was here, and my brother but they didn’t know. It was just all of a sudden, and here I am.

How old were you when you originally left Tonga for the US?

I left when I was four.

So in your mind you were American?

Yes.

What was it like essentially being an American by all accounts minus the legal side of things, and then having to integrate back into Tongan society? Was it a hard transition?

It wasn’t as hard for me as it is for some other deportees because I had family here already. I can speak for some of my deportee brothers and sisters who get sent down here, and who don’t have family. They have a harder transition. I had family here at the time when I got here.

Did you speak the Tongan language at that time?

Very little, very little. I could pass, just barely make it through. It wasn’t until I had been here for like six years that my Tongan really evolved.

Do you think that some of the deportees who are sent back try to continue with the gang lifestyle in Tonga that they left behind in the US?

Yes, a lot of them. Dozens. And they are now in the Tongan prison system, you know. Right out of the US system, and they didn’t learn. Coming with the same lifestyle from the US to Tonga, you can’t do that. Tonga is laid back slow man, you gotta go with it. You gotta go slow here.

How many deportees from the US would you estimate are here in Tonga?

Man…hundreds. I think there are over 400. I don’t think it’s reached the thousands, but when I was here there was like 300 or 400 from the US alone. That was six years ago.

Is there a reintegration program, or other support network for deportees when they arrive back in Tonga?

No, the worst part is that the ones that come from America, out of that system and they do long terms, you know ten years, 15 years. And they were taking some kind of psychological medication and then they sent them here to Tonga without it. When I came to Tonga, all I had was a picture ID, a passport. It was a piece of paper, that was my passport they brought me with. So I didn’t have any kind of medications or anything. A lot of these deportees, they’ve been on medication for all their lives and they get down here and just kind of let loose and that’s where they roam around going crazy. Tongan society ain’t gonna help them too much. People here won’t know what’s wrong with them to help them.

With all the deportees coming from the US who have essentially no support network in Tonga, are they essentially reforming the same gangs here?

It’s basically not like that anymore, I think it’s more like a of a single-man game. You know, you come down here, you start your little crew of three or four people and you do whatever you do to survive. Like I said before, they haven’t figured it out so a majority of them are in Tolitoli prison now.

I have been seeing TCG (Tongan Crips Gang) graffiti around, is that something that is currently active here?

It is, it is active in Tonga, but they really don’t know what they meaning of TCG is. You know, a lot of the local kids are getting involved in the painting and stuff on the wall but they don’t know the concept behind it for real. That’s the good part.

If you were given the opportunity, would you go back to the US tomorrow?

No, I wouldn’t. I would never go to the US, never again in my life do I want to see the US. I’m not angry, and I don’t have anything bad to say about it. I am the pilot of my own plane, you know. I have lived it, and I know America but I love Tonga. I love not having money and things like that, it makes me who I am and it’s no big deal.

Can you explain what you do now to survive here in Tonga?

As you know, I was incarcerated for thirteen and a half years and within that time I tightened up my artistic skills and I am a tattoo artist. I am slowly getting into paintings and everything else. I believe that when a man tells himself that he is a professional or a master in something, he ceases to learn more so I am an apprentice and I will be an apprentice until I die. This is what I do, I am a freehand tattoo artist. Always learning.

Is there anything at all that you could say you miss about the US?

The only thing I miss is a greasy cheeseburger, you know. That’s basically it. And it miss my brothers that are incarcerated right now, but they are still alive. That’s it. Other than that it’s all good.

Thanks for taking the time to talk today Sione. Is there anything else you would like to say about life in Tonga?

Life in Tonga is about one love, that’s it. That’s it. Laid back. If you ain’t got funds here, it’s not the end of the world. We eat coconuts, bananas, and papayas all for free. That’s what we say, ofa atu!

Malo Sione! Ofa Atu

Typhoid alert in Tonga

By
Kaniva Staff
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Tonga’s Ministry of Health has issued an alert about typhoid fever in the kingdom but did not say whether or not any cases of typhoid were diagnosed.

According to a report by Radio FM87.5 this afternoon  a restriction on social activities and movements of locals has been declared at the town of Vaini so that medical officers could be able to medically sort out the infectious disease in the community.

The students of Beulah College boarding school, situated at Vaini,  have been sent home to their families amid fears of an outbreak, the radio reported.

The principal of the school Mele Vaihola was reported as saying students were sent home as they thought that might be safer for them.

Dr Seini Kupu, a Senior Medical Officer at Vaiola Hospital, was reported by the radio as saying the ministry was facing a big challenge when there was  typhoid outbreak.

Typhoid fever is an infection that causes diarrhea and a rash. It is most commonly due to a type of bacterium called Salmonella typhi. Typhi is spread through contaminated food, drink, or water.

Christ’s University in Pacific opens in Tonga

By
Kaniva Staff
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The Tokaikolo Church in Tonga has opened a new university in Nukuʻalofa today known as Christ’s University in Pacific.

The new Christian campus is operated at the church’s Maseia Plaza building.

It  was previously named as Lavengamalie Christian University (USA) after it was first established  in Palo Alto, USA in 2003.

“The mission of the university is to provide a tertiary education program with a Christian world-view which will equip students for future Christian service”.

The founder is president of the church, Rev. Dr Liufau Vailea Saulala and CUP is a division of Tokaikolo Education System with a history of 36 years since  it was first established in 1979.

The word “Tokaikolo” was coined from the Bible, “The Lord is in your midst” (Zephaniah 3:15).

‘Ikale Tahis move up to 10th in world rugby rankings

By
Kalino Latu
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Tonga have moved up to 10th place in the World Rugby Rankings following their performance in the Pacific Nations Cup early this month.

The ‘Ikale Tahis climbed two places from 12th into the top 10 after winning three matches in the PNC.

In other Pacific teams, Samoa dropped to 11th below Tonga while the Flying Fijians hit new heights after becoming the World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup 2015 champion .

Rankings:

1 All Blacks
2 Ireland 
3 Australia 
4 England 
5 South Africa
6 Wales 
7 France
8 Argentina 
9 Fiji 
10 Tonga

PM Pohiva knew about magazine payment,  Dr Eke claims, as interview row heats up

By
Kalino Latu
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Tonga’s Minister of Finance says Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva knew in advance he would pay  for an interview with Forbes magazine.

And he confirmed that the Cabinet approved a payment of nearly a quarter of a million pa’anga for the interview and a double page spread in the prestigious American business publication.

Kaniva News has obtained a copy of the contract between the Tongan government and the magazine.

We sent it to the government’s Chief Secretary for confirmation. In response, Dr Palenitina Langa’oi  said she copied our e-mail to Finance Ministry’s Secretary.

We are still waiting for a response.

Finance Minister Dr ‘Aisake Eke denied reports that he was the one who organised the agreement with Forbes representatives before contacting the Prime Minister.

Dr Eke was responding to an article in Taimi-‘O-Tonga newspaper by editor Kalafi Moala which accused the minister of arranging the interview without letting Hon. Pohiva know about it first and later defending the payment.

Dr Eke said Moala’s accusation against him brought into question his appropriateness as an advisor to the Prime Minister as he should have talked to the former secretary to cabinet and the Prime Minister to get his facts right before publishing a story.

In a statement released today in Tongan by the Ministry of Finance and National planning, Dr Eke said he did not know about the interview as the whole set up was done by the Prime Minister’s Office and he was only contacted by two Forbes representatives after they interviewed the Prime Minister.

The Finance Minister said when he met with the magazine’s representatives he was asked to check on the cost of paying the magazine for the interview.

Dr Eke said that was the first time when he knew about the payment. He said he was initially told  it would cost US$150,000, but he told them it was too expensive and the price was reduced to US$130,000.

Dr Eke claimed former  Secretary to Cabinet  ‘Aholotu Palu made the deal with Forbes, which was endorsed by the Prime Minister.

He said after the interview was approved the Prime Minister’s Office processed the visa applications for the magazine’s staff to come to Tonga.

Dr Eke said Moala accused him of defending the payment by saying it was a good marketing approach because Forbes had millions of readers.

However, Dr Eke said it was the Prime Minister who first informed the House about the benefits Tonga would receive from the interview. The Finance Ministry later released the details of the payment and a statement about its benefits for the nation.

The Minister also hit out at the newspaper editor’s question about how the Minister of Finance arranged the interview and paid for it from the Tourism vote without the minister of Tourism’s knowledge.

The Finance Minister said the Tourism Minister was a member of Cabinet which passed a resolution to pay for the interview from Tourism’s vote.

Dr Eke claimed Taimi-‘O-Tonga’s publisher had misrepresented his involvement in the Forbes interview and raised questions about his fitness to be a media advisor for the Prime Minister‘s Office.

The minister said Moala’s action had breached the government’s pledge to live by one of the core principles of the mechanism of good governance, which was to tell the truth.

The minister revealed the total amount of money eventually paid to Forbes was T$233,044.04 (US$109,612.26 or NZ$167,486.31) after a deduction of a 15 percent withholding tax.

Forbes interview

In February the Prime Minister’s Office released a statement saying Hon Pohiva had been interviewed by the magazine on February 11.

It said the magazine picked Tonga because of the appointment of Hon. Pohiva as Prime Minister and the upcoming coronation of His Majesty King Tupou VI.

The press statement claimed the interview would also appear in the Chinese edition of Forbes because of China’s investment in the kingdom.

There was no mention of any payment for the interview.

The government signed a contract with Forbes two days after Hon. Pohiva was interviewed.

Contract

The contract was made between the Minister of Finance and Forbes on February 13. It said: “The cooperation undertakes to include an advertisement on report on Kingdom of Tonga which is to be published in Forbes magazine, with the following characteristics: Double page spread.”

A payment of US$130,000 was also noted to be paid by the Tongan government, in which 50 percent must be paid before March 13 and the remaining 50 percent to be paid on publication.

According to cabinet decision 444, the Chief Secretary and Secretary to Cabinet Dr. Palenitina Langaʻoi told the Ministry of Finance the recommendation for the payment was approved by Cabinet on April 27. She confirmed that the payment had to be paid from the Tonga Tourism Authority vote.

The Prime Minister said at the time he was unaware that the interview would cost so much amount of money.

He defended the payment by saying the government spent a lot of money on tourist promotions each year and that the interview with Forbes was worth it because of its target audience.

The main points

  • Tonga’s Minister of Finance says Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva knew in advance he would pay for an interview with Forbes
  • And he confirmed that the Cabinet approved a payment of nearly a quarter of a million pa’anga for the interview and a double page spread in the prestigious American business publication.
  • Finance Minister Dr ‘Aisake Eke denied reports that he was the one who organised the agreement with Forbes representatives before contacting the Prime Minister.
  • Dr Eke was responding to an article in Taimi-‘O-Tonga newspaper by editor Kalafi Moala which accused the minister of arranging the interview without letting Hon. Pohiva know about it first and later defending the payment.

For more information

Hon. Prime Minister’s Interview with the Forbes Magazine (Prime Minister’s Office)

Tonga pays thousands to Forbes for PM interview (RNZI)

Forbes magazine

Rebuild of Pangai Siʻi  site underway for new St George Palace

By
Kalino Latu
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Construction workers are gearing up to build the St George Palace at Pangai Siʻi with preliminary works started yesterday ahead of construction towards the end of this month.

The $25 million pa’anga (US$11.7 million) project funded by the Chinese government will be spent on a four-storey Government office building which it  would accommodate the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Finance and National Planning.

A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office says the staff of the Ministry of Infrastructure have started clearing the site by cutting down the trees and removing other objects in the area.

The containers of building materials for the construction will start arriving on Tuesday 11 August 2015 and a  ground breaking ceremony to mark the beginning of the construction will be held toward the end of this month.

The construction was originally planned to start in November 2014 but was delayed until  this week because of the coronation of  His Majesty that was recently taken place in Nuku’alofa.

Vavaʻu suspect named and arrested after stabbing leaves man fighting for life

By
Kalino Latu
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A man has been arrested after a stabbing in which Taniela Loloma, 22,  from Holonga, Vavaʻu was stabbed in the buttocks and was fighting for his life in hospital Saturday 8.

The injury was described as ‘severe’ after about a 30 cm long kitchen knife allegedly caused a deeply penetrating stab wound to the victim’s body, Vavaʻu Police Superintendent  Netane Falakiseni told Kaniva News.

Police arrested Manuekaho Funaki, 38, of Tu’anuku,  in relation to the incident and he appeared in court yesterday. He remains in Police custody and  was due to reappear in court next week, Falakiseni said.

Police also confiscated the knife believed to have been used in the stabbing.

The victim has been drinking  with friends and they were visiting  the capital Neiafu during Vavaʻu Royal Agricultural and Fisheries Show.

A brawl erupted between them and a group of men from Tuʻanuku, Falakiseni said.

Local media report said the victim was supposed to be flown to Tongatapu on Monday due to the severity of his injury and after he had suffered heavy bleeding but was cancelled because there was no scheduled flights due to bad weather.

One report said medical instruments were flown from Tongatapu to Vavaʻu yesterday to help with Loloma’s treatment.

Falakiseni said that as of yesterday the victim was still in critical but stable condition.

Tongan-born band leader Bill Sevesi earns a place in New Zealand Music Hall of Fame

By
Kalino Latu
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In the picture: Bill Sevesi, 92, with his home made steel guitar by his left. Photo/Kalino Lātū/Kaniva Pacific News

Bill Sevesi will become the first Tongan to be inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame.

Sevesi, one of New Zealand’s most famous musicians, was nominated for the honour to be awarded next month because of the impact of his musical talent on New Zealand life and culture.

Sevesi and his band, The Islanders, were a fixture in Auckland for many years and in later life he became a mentor to many young musicians.

He also played with many mainstream, artists, including Neil Finn and Dave Dobbyn.

Speaking to Kaniva News this evening, he said he was “shocked” when he was told that he would be awarded the honour next month at the Vector Arena in Auckland.

“There were better steel guitarists than me like Bill Wolfgram,” he said.

Born Wilfred Jeffs in Nuku’alofa, Sevesi was passionately in love with music as a child.

He grew up in Ma’ufanga in Tonga and even though he could not play or sing, wherever there was music he was attracted to it.

“I did not learn music in Tonga, but whenever or wherever I hear it no one could stop me. I would go there,” he told Kaniva News at his Mt Roskill residence.

“I would just go there and watch and listened to the music and the players.”

At the age of 92, Bill Sevesi has a really good memory. His interview with Kaniva News was mostly conducted in Tongan. Even though he moved to New Zealand when he was 11, his Tongan was still perfect.

He said that when he was growing up in Tonga, string bands visited villages at Christmas time and played their music to entertain locals. He also remembered when men played the music to accompany kava drinking at night while an unmarried woman served their kava.

“I followed them around and in the faikava I just went and sat there and passionately listened to their singing and playing,” Sevesi said.

Move to New Zealand

Sevesi was born in 1923 and in 1934 his family sent him to study in New Zealand.

Although his father was British and his Tongan mother was half English, Sevesi did not speak English in Tonga.

“I could not speak English when I come to New Zealand from Tonga. I just spoke Tongan,” he said.

“When I arrived here I went to school and the teachers talked in English. I did not know what they were talking about.”

He said he was told by the school to stay home and study English before he continued on his study.

Sevesi remembered he and his cousins stayed on a farm at what is now known as Manukau City.

He said after about two to three months he started to understand English language and then he returned to school at Old Papatoetoe.

The owner of the farm at Manukau sold the farm and they moved to Mt Eden Rd where he learnt how to play the ukulele from a Samoan woman who played at the neighbour’s place.

Later on he learned how to play Spanish guitar and steel guitar and met another Tongan steel guitar player, Oscar Witzki.

“He was Polish, but as far as I know he was born and grew up in Tonga. He spoke Tongan really well,” Sevesi said.

“He was outstanding in playing the steel guitar and we played together”

The idea to set up a group that would bring the name of Bill Sevesi to popularity in New Zealand and in the Pacific was born.

Bill Sevesi and the Islanders

Sevesi and Witzki were joined on piano by a woman called Doreen who was staying across the road . They also acquired a drummer.

Doreen had a boyfriend who played basketball. He was fascinated by the band’s music and encouraged them to play at the night clubs.

“We started playing at night clubs and it was not long before we attracted a lot of people to wherever we played,” Sevesi said.

“We were popular at the time because I believed we could sing and Island music was popular with people at the time.”

Sevesi grew up and started playing at a time when Hawai’ian music was a global phenomenon and the sound of lap steel guitar evoked a Pacific of palm trees, warm breezes and the exoticism of the islands.

As a boy in Auckland he tuned his crystal radio set to hear Sol Hoopi and other legendary Hawai’ian guitar masters and learned to play lap steel by listening to 78rpm records on a wind-up gramophone.

In the early 1940s he watched band leader Epi Shalfoon at the Crystal Palace in Mt Eden week after week until eventually he was invited up to play.

Bill Sevesi and his Islanders became increasingly popular at dances in the days before television. In 1954, after being invited to play at the Orange Coronation Hall in Auckland’s Khyber Pass (which he renamed, giving it a little more sophistication) Bill Sevesi and His Islanders became an Auckland institution and would remain there until the mid-1970s.

The Royals

Sevesi said he was once invited by the late Queen Salote of Tonga to play at a residence she was staying at in  Parnell.

He said Queen Salote was a great composer of Tongan songs and when he went to her he was well aware of the protocol and how he must address the Queen with the proper Tongan formal language.

Because he had stayed in New Zealand for a long time and there were not  too many Tongans in Auckland in the 1960s and 1970s he had begun to forget how to speak Tongan.

“I just told the queen I found it difficult to communicate with her and Queen Salote just told me: ‘Bill, my name is Salote and you just call me Salote,’ ” Sevesi said.

He played some music for the Queen before he was given food and returned home.

He said he was regularly invited to Tonga by Queen Salote’s son, the Late Prince Fatafehi Tu’ipelehake, for dinner.

“I and my friend Michael attended the dinner and the prince brought musicians to play to us while we dined,” he said.

Tongan players

Apart from Oscar Witzki, Bill Sevesi assisted Lisiate Sanitosi, Mele Nau Lino and Sione ‘Aleki, a well-known ukulele player in Tonga and the Pacific.

After 34 years in New Zealand he returned to Tonga and it was a visit he never forget.

“When I stepped down and walked on the land of Tonga I felt something very special in me,” he said. “This is the land I was born in and I can tell you I felt I was reincarnated. I would not forget Tonga.”

While in Tonga he was introduced by a cousin to Sione ‘Aleki. Bill said when he listened to ‘Aleki playing the ukulele he thought he had never heard such a brilliant performance before.

He invited Aleki to New Zealand and not long after Sevesi returned to New Zealand, ‘Aleki arrived from Tonga and joined his band.

He said there was a problem with ‘Aleki’s playing because he could not keep to the timing of the music and he helped him with that.

“I just told him that whenever he played he has to count 1, 2, 3, 4 or whatever time the music was assigned with and he did it,” Sevesi said.

His music

Bill said his band could play any style of music and that was why he thought it made his band really popular at the time.

“I am a firm believer in doing what our followers were asking for,” he said.

“When they requested songs we had to play it and if we did not know it we had to study it for the next time we performed.”

Sevesi and His Islanders made a number of records, sometimes under pseudonyms. His first recording was with country singer Tex Morton in 1949 with the band credited as The Rough Riders.

When they played with Canadian-born hillbilly singer Luke Simmons they were the Bluemountain Boys.

He recalled that when they recorded with jazz singer Mavis Rivers they were credited as “the Astro Trio or some damn thing.”

In 1959, when they recorded the song Bye Bye Baby Goodbye, he was Will Jess. The song – recorded in half an hour of studio downtime – was the country’s best-seller for four weeks.

In the early 1970s he left the Orange Ballroom and increasingly turned his attention to the modest home studio he built and to nurturing and encouraging the talent of others.

He recorded and encouraged numerous singers (among them the Yandall Sisters and Annie Crummer), played with fellow steel guitarists Trevor Edmondson and Bill Wolfgramm, and has appeared with Neil Finn and Dave Dobbyn.

His health

While Bill was being interviewed by Kaniva News his wife Vika Siola’a fetched him a cup of coffee and joined in. She said she was grateful that Bill was going to receive the great honour of being inducted into the New Zealand Hall of Fame in Music.

She said Bill had been to the hospital regularly and at some stages they did not believe he would make it back home.

Bill abruptly revealed that he once felt sick and was rushed to hospital.

“I felt I was dying, but a Japanese doctor was there with me and he was just playing around with things and he suddenly revived me,” Sevesi said.

“I had several strokes and heart attacks and a tumour in my head and I do not know why I was still alive.

“Maybe I still have great things to give to the community as I did with my music talent.”

Sevesi congratulated his wife Vika for looking after him, saying she was doing a really good job.

“She was much younger than me when we were married,” Bill said.

They have two daughters, Lauren and Tania and a son.

The main points

  • Bill Sevesi will become the first Tongan to be inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame.
  • Sevesi, one of New Zealand’s most famous musicians, was nominated for the honour because of the impact of his musical talent on New Zealand life and culture.
  • Sevesi and his band, The Islanders, were a fixture in Auckland for many years and in later life he became a mentor to many young musicians.
  • He also played with many mainstream, artists, including Neil Finn and Dave Dobbyn.

For more information

You can see a full length documentary about Bill Sevesi, Bill Sevesi’s Dream, here:

You can see another documentary about him, Song of the South Seas – the life and music of Bill Sevesi, here:

Quake rattles Haʻapai Islands

By
Kalino Latu
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A moderate earthquake with magnitude 5.6 rattled Haʻapai Islands shaking buildings and houses last night August 10 but no tsunami warning issued.

There were no immediate reports of damages or casualties.

The tremor, which struck at 7.43pm, was 57.17 kilometres deep and was centred near Pangai in Lifuka.

Earthquakenewstoday described its intensity as “moderate”.

Vailotolangi ‘Alatini reported on Facebook that while she was talking to her sister in Haʻapai over the phone she abruptly fell silent.  Her sister later explained an earthquake rocked her house and she ran outside with her grandson.

Police called in after aviation Minister claims MP Vaipulu attacked him and swore at him

By
Kalino Latu
-

Police were called in to remove MP Samiu Vaipulu from the Minister of Infrastructure, Hon. ‘Etuate Lavulavu’s residence, after he allegedly attacked and swore at the minister.

However, when police arrived Vaipulu has already left.

It is not clear how Police handled Lavulavu’s complaint or what actions they took on it. The Police did not respond to requests for comments from Kaniva News.

The fighting between the two Vavaʻuan politicians is believed to stem from Vaipulu’s resentment at the way Lavulavu, who is responsible for Civil Aviation, has allegedly treated his application to run an airline in Tonga.

Vaipulu is the Member for the Vava’u 15 electorate. The Minister is Member for Vavaʻu 16.

Hon. Lavulavu claimed Vaipulu swore at him, kept going to his house and kicked the door.

Vaipulu, who is Tonga’s former Deputy Prime Minister, told Kakalu-‘O-Tonga newspaper that Hon. Lavulavu was lying. He said he only went to Hon. Lavulavu’s house because he had been waiting for a long time for his license application, but Hon. Lavulavu called the Police.

He claimed Hon. Lavulavu delayed approving his application because he had a grudge against him.

During a meeting to discuss his application, Vaipulu is reported to have  hit a table, walked out and slammed the door of the minister’s office because he was not satisfied with what the minister told him.

Vaipulu, who was the minister responsible for Civil Aviation in the government of Lord Tu’ivakano, said his company has already fulfilled the government’s requirements.

However Hon. Lavulavu told the paper he was assessing Vaipulu’s application according to the government’s policies and laws and he put public safety first.

In 2012 the Democrat Party claimed during a vote of no confidence against the previous government that Vaipulu had been drunk and swore in a cocktail party in Vavaʻu. It also claimed he breached the Sunday taboo by dancing and singing hiva kakala (love songs) with others while it was Sunday.

Complaints to Commissioner of Public relation

In e-mails seen by Kaniva News, the Acting Director of Civil Aviation, Vinolia K. Salesi, wrote to Vaipulu and Vili  Cocker,  the CEO of Royal Tongan Airlines Ltd on July 24 and said the ministry had received information that raised concerns about their employment relation with the airline.

Miss Salesi said in her emails that Vaipulu and the  Royal Tonga Airlines had complained to the Commissioner of Public Relations regarding the delay of approving its license.

Miss Salesi asked Vaipulu and Cocker to submit documents detailing their employment agreements with the Tongan Royal Airlines and its shareholders.

She said the Ministry had been summoned by the Commissioner of Public Relations ‘Aisea Taumoepeau to meet with him regarding the company’s complaints.

Vaipulu left Royal Tongan Airlines

Vaipulu has revealed that he is leaving Royal Tongan Airlines to set up his new airline company, Tonga Airways Ltd.

The new company was set up by Vaipulu and four others. Vaipulu is the sole director while he and the other four are shareholders.

Royal Tongan Airlines Ltd was a company owned by Chinese national Sien Lee who was the director of another business company known as Sovereign Group Investment Ltd.

The main points

  • Police were called in to remove MP Samiu Vaipulu from the Minister of Infrastructure, Hon. ‘Etuate Lavulavu’s residence, after he allegedly attacked and swore at the minister.
  • When police arrived Hon. Vaipulu has already left.
  • It is not clear how Police handled Lavulavu’s complaint or what actions they took on it. The Police did not respond to requests for comments from Kaniva News.
  • The fighting between the two Vava’uan politicians is believed to stem from Vaipulu’s resentment at the way Lavulavu, who is responsible for Civil Aviation, treated his application to run an airline in Tonga.

For more information

Another Tongan Airline Proposal (RNZI)

Return of Royal Tongan airlines

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