Chiefs prop Ben Tāmeifuna has withdrawn his pledge to represent Tonga in the ʻĪkale-Tahi’s End of Year tour and says he won’t make a decision on which national team he will play for in 2015 World Cup until April.
Tāmeifuna, 23, declared last month he would play for the Tongan team when they will play against Georgia, Scotland and the United States this month.
He said the change of heart came about after he agreed to fight rugby league figure Willie Mason in December’s Fight for Life.
“I pulled out of the tour so I was eligible to play for the All Blacks but who knows what will happen after April next year,” Tāmeifuna told TVNZ.
This means if he isn’t in the All Blacks plan by April he will instead represent Tonga at next year’s Rugby World Cup.
“I want to play the World Cup next year,” he said. “Whether it’s the black jersey or red jersey.”
A man from Pahu who stabbed his cousin with a knife – which lodged into his buttock – has received a suspended sentence in Nuku’alofa last week.
Fakaʻānaua ʻAlatini had pleaded guilty to one count of recklessly causing injury after he jokingly struck a knife on 23-year-old Viliami Koloamatangi’s butt during an incident on July 5.
The Magistrate Court was told the accused was consuming alcohol with the victim when they heard a disturbance from a party nearby.
Koloamatangi then went to his house and returned with a knife.
A party-goer intervened and tried to take away the knife from him at the same time ʻAlatini came from the back and knocked Koloamatangi to the ground.
ʻAlatini then jokingly struck the knife on Koloamatangi’s buttock but it accidentally injured the victim.
ʻAlatini asked the judge to have mercy on him saying he has 11 children to take care of, the court heard.
Koloamatangi told the judge he has forgiven ʻAlatini and that he has just found out later they were cousins.
Judge Mafi sentenced ʻAlatini to three months imprisonment.
Judge Mafi suspended that sentence upon ʻAlatini entering a two-year good behaviour jail sentence.
The Tonga Court of Appeals has today in Nukuʻalofa upheld the conviction of a Tongan former Police Inspector sentenced to 11 years in prison after killing the New Zealand Policeman Kali Fungavaka.
In sentencing Kelepi Hala’ufia at the Supreme Court in July, Justice Charles Cato accepted that Hala’aufia, using a black torch, had struck Kali with a heavy blow to the top of his head on the night of August 17, 2012 when police arrested him and brought to the Nuku’alofa Police station.
Justice Cato referred to medical evidence from a New Zealand pathologist which shows Fungavaka had a fractured skull.
Justice Cato said: “It is plain that this blow delivered from behind when Kali was held by two officers was with considerable force by Hala’ufia who did have had any regard at all for the wellbeing of his prisoner. I found that this was a material and indeed a substantial cause of his death.”
Sesilia Monalisa Lātū, the First Secretary of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Tonga, has been awarded the Part-time Professor by the Liaocheng University in China early this month.
In receiving this award, Mrs Lātū has become a special researcher for the Pacific island countries at the university’s Research Center.
The President of the university was quoted in a statement from the Tongan Embassy in China as saying that Mrs Lātū’s award would help “to accelerate the development of the scientific construction of our university, especially the construction of the Pacific Island Countries’ Research Center”.
Lātū was graduated from the South Pacific University in 1985 with a Bachelor of Arts and a MA degree in education from the Auckland University in 2006.
She worked at Tonga High School, Tonga College, Tongan Education College, Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate in New Zealand, and Tonga Extension Services of University of South Pacific as a senior lecturer.
She was also an academic Dean of the New Zealand’s Te Wananga O Aotearoa institute.
She married to Siamelie Lātū, Tonga’s current Ambassador to China.
Pasuka Mapakaitolo, 34, was arrested for the violent attack of a woman he lives with in Japan on Monday 20, it has been reported.
The Kobelco Steelers player is accused of punching the 30-year-old woman fracturing her face and she is believed to have suffered a broken rib. She was also hit in the chest.
The Japanball.com report says Mapakaitolo told Police he hit the woman.
He played for the ‘Ikale-Tahi in June when the national team competed in the Pacific Nation Cup.
His Majesty King Tupou VI sent the Prime Minister and soldiers to persuade his son, Prince Ata, to stop a baptism ceremony that would have made him a Mormon.
The baptism was to be held in the Havelu Stake Centre at the beginning of last month.
The Prime Minister was sent after the Prince sent away soldiers, led by Lieutenant Kiu Tu’ivakanō, the son of the Prime Minister, who were ordered by the king to intervene in the prince’s baptism ceremony in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS).
When the soldiers relayed the king’s message the prince refused to obey and told the Mormon leaders at the ceremony he wanted them to continue and baptise him.
Prince Ata is the king’s second son and fourth in line to the throne.
According to unconfirmed reports received by Kaniva News, His Majesty later warned Prince Ata he could have some of his princely privileges revoked if he was baptised into the Mormon church.
The Prime Minister’s office and the Palace Office did not respond to our requests for comments.
One of the top members of the Mormon Church in Tonga and also a Member of Parliament, Semisi Sika, who attended the
Prince Ata, the Guest of Honour at the Liahona and Sainehā Alumni Reunion 2014, in Hawaii. Liahona and Sainehā high schools belong to the Mormon Church.
prince’s baptism, spoke to Kaniva News about the ceremony.
Hon Sika told us the Prime Minister arrived and told the Prince the king had asked him to postpone the ceremony. The prince again refused to obey and told the Mormon leaders to go ahead and baptise him.
The Prime Minister asked the prince and the church leaders if they could wait as he wanted to go back and inform the king that Ata still wanted the baptism to go ahead.
The Prime Minister returned and told Prince Ata His Majesty asked to postpone the ceremony till they return from their overseas trips. With the help of the Nuku’alofa Stake President, ‘Alavini Sika, the prince finally agreed and he was not christened on the day.
Hon Sika said the prince was about to be baptised on a Friday and Their Majesties were on a planned travel to the United States and Europe on Saturday.
He said the Prime Minister had reported that Their Majesties wanted to attend Ata’s baptism ceremony after they returned from overseas.
Almost two months later Prince Ata has still not been christened, but attends the church’s regular Sunday prayer
Prince Ata (middle of the front row) . Caption on Facebook says – HRH Prince Ata attended the 5 Sessions of the October 2014 General Conference at the Havelu Mormon Church
programme and other activities.
It is understood Her Majesty Queen Nanasipau’u is currently in New Zealand and is expected to return to Tonga shortly.
The growth of the Mormon Church in Tonga has been dramatic. According to government statistics the church is now the second largest in Tonga after the Free Wesleyan Church. The Catholic church was previously the second largest church in Tonga.
Royals and church
The royal family and most of the nobility have been associated with the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga since George Tupou 1, the founder of modern Tonga, allowed Christianity into Tonga.
He was baptised as Siaosi, the Tongan for George, in 1831.
When the church elects its president every three years, the president has to be confirmed by the king.
The Free Wesleyan Church is often seen as the state religion, although this is not officially the case.
In 2008, when the late King George V was crowned, he chose to be anointed by the Suva-based Anglican Archbishop of Polynesia, Jabez Bryce, instead of a clergyman from the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga.
In 1989 Princess Fusipala was the first member of the royal household to be baptised into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was the first cousin of King Tupou VI.
The main points
His Majesty King Tupou VI sent the Prime Minister and soldiers to persuade his son, Prince Ata, to stop a baptism ceremony that would have made him a Mormon at the beginning of last month.
Prince Ata is the king’s second son and fourth in line to the throne.
According to unconfirmed reports His Majesty warned Prince Ata he could have his title revoked.
The prince agreed to postpone the ceremony, but two months later he has still not been baptised, even though he continues to attend the LDS church.
PNG Police are investigating after Tongan women national soccer team players were robbed at their Queen Emma Lodge in Kokopo, the capital of East New Britain in Papua New Guinea on Sunday 26.
Players had sporting gear, esky-cooler, two pairs of running shoes, two caps, a total of 18 team Adidas shirts (white in colour), two blue Adidas tops, five black shorts and one blue Puma short, and a bag of groceries stolen, local media reported.
Assistant Team Manager, Laite Tu’ivailala, told EM TV Online they had been told Kokopo was safe and friendly area.
“We were told it was safe so we did not expect this to happen to us. We thought that nobody would steal from us so we hung our things out to dry. We also had our blue esky-cooler stolen and groceries in a bag outside my room that were purchased earlier that afternoon. I put the bag outside my door with the groceries inside, these were all stolenâ€, said Tu’ivailala in a phone interview.
The Tongan team are attending the Oceania Football Confederation women’s soccer qualifier currently held in Kokopo.
Tongan taxpayers forked out about TP$30,000 to entertain and welcome the arrival of Hōkūle‘a and Hikianalia canoes in the Friendly Islands last week, a Cabinet document says.
The government allocated a total of TP$11,950 for the reception in Vavaʻu which included TP$1,500 for purchasing of T-shirts for the crew, TP$2,000 for a welcoming dinner, $500 petrol vouchers to be paid for two boats to pull the canoes to shore.
The cabinet decision shows similar expenses from the host fund were allocated for reception when the canoes arrived in Tongatapu on Thursday 23.
Hōkūle‘a and Hikianalia, which have been to 26 different countries and had been docked in 85 ports, have a mission of “supporting global movement toward a more sustainable world”.
The Hokule’a was, “founded on a legacy of Pacific Ocean exploration, the Polynesian Voyaging Society seeks to perpetuate the art and science of traditional Polynesian voyaging and the spirit of exploration through experiential educational programs that inspire students and their communities to respect and care for themselves, each other, and their natural and cultural environments”.
The voyaging canoes were in Pago Pago, American Samoa before they departed for Tonga and now heading New Zealand.
Silakivai Vaea, a male teacher at Tonga High School, took his own life last week.
Police have yet to release details surrounding the incident but a family member has confirmed Vaea committed suicide.
His brother Henelē Vaea told Kakalu-ʻO-Tonga newspaper, the family regret Silakivai’s death. He said the family should have provided more care to Silakivai’s life conditions because they knew he suffered from “puputuʻu” (depression) for about 10 years now.
Henelē rejected rumours that Silakivai committed suicide after his marriage proposal was turned down.
The deceased was described as good character, quiet and a loner.
Henelē and his brother ʻAuka flew to Tonga from Auckland on Monday 20 to attend Silakivai’s funeral, the paper reported.
