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Cyclone Gita, tensions between palace and government marked beginning of 2018 

By
Philip Cass
-


January – 2018 Round-up

Outrage

The year began with outrage on social  media after Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva and his caretaker cabinet ministers were reportedly not invited to the king’s 2018 New Year reception.

Kaniva News was reliably informed the proposed Deputy Prime Minister, Semisi Sika, was turned away from the palace by the royal guards.

It is understood Hon. Pōhiva and his ministers have been invited to the King’s party every new year since they took power in 2014 until the January’s incidents.

Relations  between the king and Hon. Pōhiva remained tense after he returned to power in a crisis fuelled election at the end of 2017 after he and the cabinet were dismissed and Parliament dissolved.

The events pitted Hon. Pōhiva and his reformers against the nobility and entrenched power interests in the kingdom, but the people put the democratic reformers back into power.

The Prime Minister had been expected to announce the new cabinet before Christmas, but said he had to delay naming Ministers until he had been officially appointed by the king.

The new government of Hon. Pōhiva became official on January 5, the day the king appointed Hon Pōhiva’s cabinet ministers.

The Prime Minister’s health was a central point of interest during January, with one newspaper claiming he had cancer.

The Ministry of Health denied the reports and said the Prime Minister had been cleared of prostrate cancer.

He had been in the Intensive Care Unit at Vaiola Hospital for observation and monitoring.

Controversial judge retires

A British judge who gained notoriety for sentencing two Tongans to be flogged retired.

Judge Robert Shuster gained international notoriety when he sentenced two teenage boys in Tonga to be whipped.

In 2010 MPs ‘Akilisi Pohiva and ‘Isileli Pulu, moved in Parliament to have Judge Shuster impeached on the grounds that he was incompetent.

Many of his judgements in Tonga were overturned by the Court of Appeal.

Shuster was also the presiding judge at the Royal Commission of Enquiry into the sinking of the MV Princess Ashika.

Shuster has been a judge in the Turks and Caicos Islands since March 2015 when he retired from the bench.

February

For Tonga the chief story of February was the assault on the island kingdom by Cyclone Gita.

Two people died during the category four cyclone, including an elderly woman who was in her house when it was blown away.

Police also confirmed three major injuries and 30 minor injuries on Tongatapu as a result of Gita.

Gita flattened Parliament House, brought down power lines and caused widespread destruction in the kingdom.

Electricity lines were downed, roofs were torn off houses by the high winds and crops were destroyed.

Roads were blocked by debris and downed power lines.  

The lack of power also affected water supplies and communication.

The town of Houma in Tongatapu lost its water supply after the their two-tank water supplier was destroyed by the Gita.

The government declared a state of emergency as the cyclone bore down on the kingdom, bringing high seas and destructive winds.

Cyclone Gita had already caused major flooding in Samoa and American Samoa, where there are fears about the spread of dengue.

The storm centre also brought heavy rain to southern Fiji.

Corruption

The Prime Minister launching a stinging attack on government officials he accused of corruption and not liking him.

He told Kaniva News there was no use in the government having good policies while those who were required to implement those policies in the ministries were corrupt.

He said it was clear that in the past two years the only successful projects his government had launched were handled by senior officials who were not corrupt and did not have a political vendetta against him.

Dengue

A dengue outbreak claimed the life of 10 year old Toafei Telefoni from New Zealand, who died in Vaiola hospital.

Medical authorities confirmed there were 19 other cases of the disease.

CEO of Tonga’s Ministry of Health, Dr Siale Akau’ola,  told Kaniva News the influx of returning students and visitors to Tonga during the Christmas Holidays had brought in a large pool of dengue viruses which caused the outbreak.

Dengue is being closely monitored in several Pacific states.

An outbreak of dengue in 2017 killed five people in Samoa and infected 2500 others.

China

Tonga’s often controversial relationship with China came into focus after a report in the Australian newspaper attacked Chinese investment in the Pacific.

The report followed claims the previous month by Australian International Development Minister Concetta Fierravanti-Wells that China was funding “roads to nowhere” and “useless buildings.”

In response, the Tongan government said it was “exceedingly grateful” for all Chinese loans and grants.

“The Kingdom of Tonga continues to value deeply and mutually its friendly and strong ties and cordial relations with both the Government of Australia and the Government of the People’s Republic of China,” the government said.

Fashion

A design by a Tonga fashion designer was displayed at Buckingham Palace as part of the Commonwealth Fashion Exchange.

The event was hosted by The Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton.

Bou Fonua Tanginoa, who designed the work, said the experience was priceless. She said she met some great designers from around the world and had more potential to participate in further events.

She said her design represented the cultural wealth of Tonga.

March

Adern visits Tonga

In March Tonga welcomed New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Adern.

While in the kingdom Adern said New Zealand would provide an extra NZ$10 million for post cyclone reconstruction.

The New Zealand Prime Minister visited the Fasi moe Afi primary school and saw children learning in the tents they have been using since the cyclone destroyed several classrooms.

Girls and rugby

Prime Minister Adern was caught up in a sporting controversy in Tonga when the Ministry of Education and Training told the principal of Tonga High School, a government sponsored institute, that the Director of Education had decided to to ban its girls from participating in rugby and boxing.

The ban did not affect the majority of school girls in Tonga, especially the church and private schools which are attended  by 90 percent of all students in the kingdom.

Ardern, expressed her disapproval of the ban. She said that while New Zealand’s aid support for sports in Tonga would not be threatened, she disagreed with the directive.

“As a school student I played touch rugby and I would encourage all young women to engage in whatever sporting code they are interested in,” she said.

Seasonal workers

Tongans employed in Australia’s Seasonal Workers’ Programme should have access to three year visas.

This was one of the recommendations from an official visit to Australia to investigate the programme led  by Minister for Internal Affairs by Akosita Lavulavu.

A three year visa has been piloted for workers from Kiribati and Nauru.

The Ministry report said a three-year multiple visa would reduce the cost and time of having to do health and police checks every year.

The Ministry’s official report on the  visit also recommended changes in the way Tongans are recruited. It said workers were often ripped off by labour agents. They should avoid using middlemen, contractors or labour hiring agents.

Caldwell

Police Commissioner Steve Caldwell came under sustained attack by the government in March.

Caldwell, who has run an anti-corruption campaign and suspended a number of officers, was criticised by Hon. Māteni Tapueluelu, who openly sided with a number of suspended officers protesting about their treatment.

The Police Commissioner’s position is largely funded by New Zealand.

A Police spokesman said officers had been suspended for “very good reasons.”

“The Commissioner is confined by what he can say publicly on individual criminal and disciplinary cases currently under investigation,” the spokesperson said.

Tonga’s police force has a troubled history of corruption and abuse.

It also has a history of New Zealand police officers working in Tonga being faced with entrenched opposition from police opposed to attempts to clean up the force.

Commuters could soon travel from Sydney to Melbourne in 40 minutes

By
Kaniva Staff
-

By AIDAN WONDRACZ FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA  

Commuters could soon travel between Sydney and Melbourne in as little as 40 minutes in a new ultra-high speed tube.

The ‘capsule’ in the tube-based system would run from Adelaide to Brisbane at around 1,1223 km/h and pass through major cities along the way, The Herald Sunreported.

Travelling from Adelaide to Melbourne or Sydney to Brisbane would take just over 30 minutes.

A trip from Melbourne to Canberra is expected to take 23 minutes, and passengers could travel from Canberra to Sydney in only 14 minutes. 

The proposal for the ‘ultra-high speed, tube-based inter and intra-city’ transportation system was presented to the Federal Government.

Big shot Elon Musk first pitched the land-based technology known as the ‘Hyperloop’ back in 2012.

This time around, Los Angeles-based Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (Hyperloop TT) submitted the plan in response to a government inquiry into automation and land-based mass transit in October this year.

‘A Hyperloop serving Australia’s Eastern seaboard and connecting Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane addresses a population of over 10 million people,’ the submission read.

‘Adding Adelaide, Canberra, the Southern Highlands and extending the route to the Gold Coast increases the number to well over half of the Australian population, in a 2000km stretch of relatively flat, seismically stable terrain and creating new business, passenger and freight transport opportunities to millions of Australians each year.’

According to the submission, the tube will be optimised to transport freight and better connection regional towns. 

‘When offered in combination with the HyperloopTT passenger system, freight and cargo operations supplement the needs of regional freight systems.

‘Moving people and goods at ultra high-speed enables people to be more mobile between population centers.’ 

The futuristic transport system comprises of capsules magnetically levitating in a tube on pylons, the ground or underground.

Air pressure is lowered to reduce friction and allow the capsule to move at high speed.4

The entire system would also run on solar power. 

As far as the submission goes, Hyperloop TT did not predict how long the tube would take to construct or how much it would cost.  

Though the company seems certain in its ability to deliver the out-of-this-world system.

They plan to have a full-scale prototype operating in France in 2019.

According to its website, the company already has 11 global government agreements. 

However, just last year the Queensland government rejected a proposal from Virgin Hyperloop One. 

Hyperloop TT’s rival company proposed a route from Sydney to Tamworth to Toowoomba to Brisbane and even the Gold Coast. 

Their proposal was dismissed as it had no ‘business case’.

Hope for breast cancer patients as scientists make new discovery

By
Kaniva Staff
-

By SAM BLANCHARD HEALTH REPORTER FOR MAILONLINE

A protein which allows aggressive breast cancers to grow and spread has been discovered by scientists.

Experts hope finding out more about the protein will lead the way to new therapies for hard-to-treat cancers.

Triple negative breast cancer, which affects around one in seven breast cancer patients and is resistant to hormonal drugs, was the focus of the study.

Researchers found too much of a protein named LYN could help cancer cells grow and multiply, and reducing levels of LYN could slow breast cancer down.

A protein named LYN by scientists could be the key to slowing down aggressive triple negative types of breast cancer which occur in around one in seven people with the disease

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A protein named LYN by scientists could be the key to slowing down aggressive triple negative types of breast cancer which occur in around one in seven people with the disease

The Cardiff University scientists said the findings could be used to develop treatments to control levels of the protein and suppress cancers.

Professor Matt Smalley, from Cardiff University’s European Cancer Stem Cell Research Institute, said: ‘There are 150 new cases of breast cancer diagnosed in the UK every day.

‘To achieve better outcomes for people facing this disease, we need to better understand how it develops so we can improve therapies.

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‘We wanted to understand what drives an aggressive type of breast cancer called triple negative, which is resistant to hormone therapy and occurs in around 15 per cent of breast cancer cases.

‘We looked at a protein called LYN, which is involved in keeping cells alive and allowing them to divide.

‘And [we] found it was no longer properly controlled in aggressive breast cancer cells and could drive the cancer cell growth, spread and invasion.’     

Around 55,000 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed each year in the UK, with more than 260,000 in the US. The 10-year survival rate is around 78 per cent. 

Professor Smalley and his colleagues also discovered a link between LYN and the BRCA1 gene mutation.  

The BRCA1 gene mutation, which accounts for a majority of hereditary breast cancer cases, can leave women with an up to 90 per cent chance of getting cancer.

BRCA1 genes are tumour suppressors which keep cancer cells under wraps – if the gene is faulty or missing women are at higher risk of dangerous tumours.

The Cardiff researchers found in some cases of triple negative breast cancer in women with a BRCA1 mutation, the gene could increase LYN activity.  

In this way the gene mutation could directly improve the cancer cells’ ability to survive and keep spreading.

Interfering with LYN function in lab experiments killed these BRCA1-mutant cells.

Professor Smalley added: ‘Now that we understand the role LYN has in aggressive forms of cancer, we can start to think about developing targeted therapies.

‘In the future, we could potentially identify patients with increased levels of LYN or a BRCA1 gene mutation and design their breast cancer therapy to suit their type of cancer.

‘We could target LYN to improve therapy options for aggressive breast cancer.’

The research was published in the journal Cell Reports. 

WHAT IS BREAST CANCER, HOW MANY PEOPLE DOES IT STRIKE AND WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS?

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. Each year in the UK there are more than 55,000 new cases, and the disease claims the lives of 11,500 women. In the US, it strikes 266,000 each year and kills 40,000. But what causes it and how can it be treated?

What is breast cancer?

Breast cancer develops from a cancerous cell which develops in the lining of a duct or lobule in one of the breasts.

When the breast cancer has spread into surrounding breast tissue it is called an ‘invasive’ breast cancer. Some people are diagnosed with ‘carcinoma in situ’, where no cancer cells have grown beyond the duct or lobule.

Most cases develop in women over the age of 50 but younger women are sometimes affected. Breast cancer can develop in men though this is rare.

The cancerous cells are graded from stage one, which means a slow growth, up to stage four, which is the most aggressive.

What causes breast cancer?

A cancerous tumour starts from one abnormal cell. The exact reason why a cell becomes cancerous is unclear. It is thought that something damages or alters certain genes in the cell. This makes the cell abnormal and multiply ‘out of control’.

Although breast cancer can develop for no apparent reason, there are some risk factors that can increase the chance of developing breast cancer, such as genetics.

What are the symptoms of breast cancer?

The usual first symptom is a painless lump in the breast, although most breast lumps are not cancerous and are fluid filled cysts, which are benign. 

The first place that breast cancer usually spreads to is the lymph nodes in the armpit. If this occurs you will develop a swelling or lump in an armpit.

How is breast cancer diagnosed?

  • Initial assessment: A doctor examines the breasts and armpits. They may do tests such as a mammography, a special x-ray of the breast tissue which can indicate the possibility of tumours.
  • Biopsy: A biopsy is when a small sample of tissue is removed from a part of the body. The sample is then examined under the microscope to look for abnormal cells. The sample can confirm or rule out cancer.

If you are confirmed to have breast cancer, further tests may be needed to assess if it has spread. For example, blood tests, an ultrasound scan of the liver or a chest x-ray.

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How is breast cancer treated?

Treatment options which may be considered include surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormone treatment. Often a combination of two or more of these treatments are used.

  • Surgery: Breast-conserving surgery or the removal of the affected breast depending on the size of the tumour.
  • Radiotherapy: A treatment which uses high energy beams of radiation focussed on cancerous tissue. This kills cancer cells, or stops cancer cells from multiplying. It is mainly used in addition to surgery.
  • Chemotherapy: A treatment of cancer by using anti-cancer drugs which kill cancer cells, or stop them from multiplying
  • Hormone treatments: Some types of breast cancer are affected by the ‘female’ hormone oestrogen, which can stimulate the cancer cells to divide and multiply. Treatments which reduce the level of these hormones, or prevent them from working, are commonly used in people with breast cancer.

How successful is treatment?

The outlook is best in those who are diagnosed when the cancer is still small, and has not spread. Surgical removal of a tumour in an early stage may then give a good chance of cure.

The routine mammography offered to women between the ages of 50 and 70 mean more breast cancers are being diagnosed and treated at an early stage.

For more information visit breastcancercare.org.uk or www.cancerhelp.org.uk

Second tragedy hits late musician Feleti Kaufusi’s family after wife dead

By
Kalino Latu
-

The wife of renowned Tongan singer and composer Feleti Kaufusi has died after about two weeks following his death on December 10.

A funeral service will be held for her in Tongatapu on January 7.

Losaline Lupe Kaufusi was a public health officer at Tonga’s Ministry of Health.

She died last Sunday, December 23. The cause of her death has yet to be officially released.

She is survived by two children she bore with Feleti.

It is understood Feleti had a total of 10 children, including the offspring of a previous marriage.

Call for help

The double tragedy has left local musicians and business community reeling.

Business man Faka’osi Maama was devastated.

He quoted on Facebook a lament by the couple’s son Semisi which said: “…mo li’aki pehe’i mai pe ‘e kimoua mautolu….”.

This translates into English as: “You abandoned us like that.”

Maama has asked his 5000 friends on Facebook to help him create a trust fund to raise funds to help Kaufusi’s children.

Maama’s post received 1400 reactions, 166 comments and 157 shares. 

In response, the Director of Fly Niu Airline, ‘Atu Finau, told Maama to let him know when the Trust was set up.

Musical talent

Feleti’s musical talent has kept his followers’ interests in his music and songs alive and kicking even after his death.

Many shared some of the numerous video clips in which he was featured singing either with his electric band or in acoustic performances during kava social sessions. 

The emergence of his musical talents can be traced back to early 1980s when he played bass guitar for the ‘Iongi Brothers.

Feleti, 55, later established his own electric band with his four young brothers in the late 1980s. They performed as the Kaufusi Brothers.

They released more than a dozen albums. His songs included ‘Tangitangi.’

All his compositions were in Tongan and he either originated some of his music or rearranged  popular western tunes with his own lyrics.

He played a key role in supporting national entertainment and fundraising activities which required music to be played. His band toured New Zealand, Australia and Hawai’i regularly.

Feleti’s cause of death was not known, but his wife reportedly said he appeared exhausted after being getting ready for a performance the day before he died.

The main points

  • The wife of renowned Tongan singer and composer Feleti Kaufusi has died after about two weeks following his death on December 10.
  • A funeral service will be held for her in Tongatapu on January 7.
  • Losaline Lupe Kaufusi was a public health officer at Tonga’s Ministry of Health.

For more information

‘Ofa’anga – Feleti Kaufusi

Requiem mass to be held on Monday for priest who coached Tonga’s national team on ’69 tour

By
Philip Cass
-

Former coach of the Tongan rugby team, Fr David Mullins, has died.

A funeral service will be held for him in Auckland next Monday.

The Marist priest was coach of the Tongan team, which became the Ikale Tahi,  during its tour of New Zealand in 1969.

His involvement with the team began when he was a teacher at Apifo’ou College, the largest Catholic school in Tonga.

He later became the school’s principal.

Fr David Mullins (2nd to the left 2nd row) with his ‘Apifo’ou College team which won the intercollege rugby tournament in 1961

His Apifo’ou 1st XV senior team won the intercollege rugby tournament in three consecutive years including 1961.

Tonga’s national team made its New Zealand debut in the 1969 tour against Hamilton Bays and lost by only one point in a game played in fog.

Despite the 22-21 loss, the team was praised for its skills on the field and its courtesy off the field.

The team went on to defeat New Zealand Maoris in two tests.

Fr Mullins also contributed to the formation and establishment of the Tonga Rugby Board.

He spent 35 years in Tonga in all.

He was a director of Catholic education and Vicar General of the diocese for a time.

He was also deputy editor of Taumu’a Lelei, the Catholic church’s newspaper in Tonga.

Later he spent seven years working as chaplain to migrant Tongans in the United States and New Zealand.

He moved to the Our Lady of Lourdes parish in Glen Eden in late 1998, becoming its second longest serving parish priest.

Fr Mullins’ links with sport in Tonga were not forgotten after he left the kingdom. In 2014 he was guest of honour at a reception hosted by the 2019 Pacific Games Organising Committee.

Fr Mullins was born in Christchurch on September 29, 1930 and ordained at St Mary’s Church, Christchurch, on July 15, 1956.

His father, Jack, was a World War One veteran who captained Canterbury in rugby and was a long serving sports editor at the Christchurch Press.

Fr Mullins died at the Little Sisters of the Poor in Ponsonby, Auckland, on Monday.

A vigil service will be held at the Little Sisters of the Poor, 9 Tweed Street, Ponsonby, Auckland this Sunday, December 30, at 4pm.

A requiem mass will be celebrated at St Patrick’s Church, 19 Sunset View Road, Panmure, Auckland next Monday, December 31, at 11am.

The main points

  • Former coach of the Tongan rugby team, Fr David Mullins, has died.
  • The Marist priest was coach of the Tongan team, which became the Ikali Tahi,  during its first tour of New Zealand in 1969.
  • Fr Mullins also contributed to the formation and establishment of the Tonga Rugby Board.

For more information

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Parish of Glen Eden

History

Tongan rugby team in Nelson

Rev. Father David (Society of Mary) Mullins

Search continues for father who rescued wife at Laulea

By
Kalino Latu
-

A search at sea at Laulea Beach, Fatumu, for the father who hasn’t been seen since Christmas day continued today.

Viliami Vaka’uta, 24, is presumed dead after he attempted to save her wife in the water at about 2pm.

Police reportedly said a palangi man was also rescued after he attempted to help save the wife.

The incident devasted the family.

A relative claimed on Facebook this evening December 27 Police and the rescue team have not found him.

“The divers and the rescuers are still out there searching for his body. It has been the worst Christmas ever for his families and our families,” she wrote.

 “My heart breaks for my niece and I can not begin to imagine how she feels and listening to my sister crying out to me makes it much even harder !!!”

“I felt so helpless that I cant even hug her and her daughter and be there to comfort them. My heart goes out to his mother and his father and all his families.”

 Laulea beach is one of the most dangerous places in Tonga to go swimming due to powerful rip currents and waves that are known to sweep people out to sea.

In 2017 Soane Tangipa ʻAtaʻata died after he went swimming at the beach.

In 2015  ‘Inoke Mapaleve Mo’unga, 32,  of Kolonga drowned at the beach after  visiting there with his wife and friends.

In 2012   Catholic priest, Father Mikaele Mateo , 37, died at Laulea Beach while helping to rescue his five young nephews who were swept out to open sea by strong currents.

Fire commissioner Lofia Heimuli reportedly dies

By
Kalino Latu
-

Tonga Fire Service CEO Lofia Heimuli has died in Australia, reports said this afternoon.

It is understood Heimuli was currently on holiday leave when he died.

He was expected to retire from his job in March 2019, a reliable source told Kaniva news.

This is breaking news. More soon.

NZ fashion show picks contestant for 2019 Miss Heilala pageant

By
Kalino Latu
-

Tonga’s Miss Heilala 2019 pageant kicked off in New Zealand last week with Tuitui and Brilliant Star Fashion Show selecting its contestant for the kingdom’s beauty competition.

Miss Soana Falahola ‘Aleva, 23, will represent the Fashion Show in Nuku’alofa in about seven months time.

The double major Bachelor of Arts student works as a creative member for Do Good Feel Good, a dance tutor for Selwyn College and the Youth Town Parnell. She is a professional hip hop dancer, a youtube vlogger (as ‘Jojo’) and a krump dancer.

‘Aleva also worked as a radio announcer for Niu FM and is a Tongan youth show host for Radio 531PI. She also worked as a Youth Co-ordinator for the Tongan Youth Trust and graduated from Radio Training School with a diploma in Journalism, Multimedia and radio broadcasting.

The daughter of Tongan choreographer and Radio 531 PI Tongan producer Losalio Milika Pusiaki, ‘Aleva was selected during the Fashion Show’s catwalk exhibition which was held at the Otara Community hall on Friday night.

Brilliant Star Fashion Show is not new to the Miss Heilala competition and other New Zealand and international beauty pageants.

The first time it participated in the Miss Heilala competition in 2017, its contestant, Miss Titania Tiara Monic Matekuolava, became the first runner up.

She came second to Ophelia Kitiliti Kava who was crowned Miss Heilala 2017.

Matekuolava later in 2017 was sponsored by the Tuitui Fashion Show to join New Zealand’s Face of Beauty International Ltd’s Super Model competitions in which she was crowned as Miss International Supermodel Tonga 2018. This gave her an opportunity to travel to Thailand and represented Tonga during the Face of Beauty International 2018.

The Fashion Show sent another contestant to Miss Heilala 2018, but she was unsuccessful.

Fashion designer Tuitui Folauhola Tonbar, the Director of Tuitui Fashions Show and Brilliant Star, said she willingly supported beauty contests and fashion shows because they helped her talent and her business a lot.

The main points

  • Tonga’s Miss Heilala 2019 pageant kicked off in New Zealand last week with Tuitui and Brilliant Star Fashion Show selecting its contestant for the kingdom’s beauty competition.
  • Miss Soana Falahola ‘Aleva, 23, will represent the Fashion Show in Nuku’alofa in about seven months time.

For more information

Miss Heilala runner up to represent Tonga in world competition

Man injured in Papatoetoe stabbing

By
Kaniva Staff
-

(Stuff, Fairfax Media) A man has been taken to hospital after being stabbed at a south Auckland address.

Police were called to a “disorder” at a property in Wyllie Rd, Papatoetoe at 1.30am on Boxing Day.

When police arrived quite a few people were drinking at the address, a spokeswoman said.

The injured man was taken to Middlemore Hospital in a moderate condition. 

A police spokeswoman said inquiries were ongoing and police were talking to multiple people, but no one had been arrested.

Stealing at PM’s wife’s grave “disrespectful,” daughter says

By
Kalino Latu
-

The alleged theft of two decorative lights from the grave of the Prime Minister’s wife’s Neomai Tu’itupou Pōhiva was disrespectful, a daughter of Hon. Pōhiva said.

The incident occurred just four days after the body of Tonga’s First Lady was buried on December 19.

The Prime Minister’s daughter ‘Ana Koli Fifita said the family had decided not to lodge a complaint with the Police.

She said if such robbery had happened while her mother was still alive Neomai would not complain, implying she was a woman who had a great sense of patience.

Koli said she went to the cemetery early on Sunday morning, December 23, and realised the lights had gone.

She told Kaniva news the lights had been put on top of the grave as a dedication by Neomai’s grandchildren.  

She said she regretted this kind of disrespectful behaviour.

As Kaniva news reported last week, Neomai  was laid to rest at Telekava 1 community cemetery in Kolomotu’a, Nuku’alofa.

The Prime Minister’s 70-year-old wife, who bore him seven children, “died peacefully” after a long battle with cancer.

Koli also posted her complaint on Facebook.

A commentater on her post said the same thing had happened to her husband’s father’s grave after July.

She said they installed a memorial stone, a banner and decorated the grave with lights but when they visited the cemetery again in September the lights had all gone.

Another online writer said the same thing had happened to a relative’s grave nearby.

Another person said Neomai had suffered during the political struggles she and her husband had gone through during her life and now she was dead some unscrupulous people continued to harrass her.

Online comments have denounced the theft of the lights as “evil.”

The main points

  • The alleged theft of two decorative lights from the grave of the Prime Minister’s wife’s Neomai Tu’itupou Pōhiva was disrespectful, a daughter of Hon. Pohiva said.
  • The incident occured just three days after the body of Tonga’s First Lady was buried on December 19.

For more information

Queen Nanasipau‘u leads mourners at First Lady of Tonga’s funeral services

Queen Nanasipau‘u leads mourners at First Lady of Tonga’s funeral services
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