Briefs
People
Three Federated States of Micronesia citizens graduated from the University of the South Pacific’s law school in Port Vila, Vanuatu in December. Lorrie Johnson of Pohnpei, and Johnson Asher and Alik Jackson, both of Kosrae, were recognized for their accomplishment by Kosrae State Chief Justice Yosiwo George, who attended the ceremony.
—GJ
Samoa painter/poet Momoe von Reiche is one of a number of local artists pushing for more children’s books on Samoan themes. Her work will be showcased along with other artists in nine books due for publication in 2003. “It think it’s all right to get books from overseas because we have no other resources here,” she says. “But it’s really essential that we do our own books because we illustrate from the view of our own children here in the country.”
—FS
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Solomon Islands solo musician Sharzy has become the first non-Papua New Guinean to win the Yumi FM annual Rookie of the Year music award. Producer of the Yumi FM Top 100 hits, Justin Kili, says that Sharzy, whose real name is Samson Allan Saen, was consistent in placing singles on the national weekly top 20 list throughout 2002.
—PINA
Yan Xiaq Hua, the so-called “Mafia Queen of Fiji,” has been charged with larceny in a Fijian court. The 44-year-old was charged after she withdrew most of the $10,200 that had been mistakenly credited to her account by the ANZ Bank. Although attempts were made some years ago to deport her from Fiji, Yan Xiaq Hua has remained in the country, allegedly because of her “connections.” The media has linked her with a number of criminal activities from money laundering to people smuggling. She was released on bail, and a special tribunal is to assess her application for citizenship.
—ND
Former Papua New Guinea government chief secretary Robert Igara and National Provident Fund inquiry chairperson Thomas Barnett were both made Companions of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George as part of PNG’s New Year honors.
—PINA
Rosemary Taufatofua, of the South Pacific Tourism Organization, is coordinating a study of the impacts of tourism on social and gender issues. Vanuatu, Samoa and Fiji are the three countries forming a pilot project which is part of a larger study relating to tourism’s environmental and social impacts in the Pacific as a whole, conducted under the collaborative effort of UNIFEM, which is the United Nations women’s program, and the South Pacific Regional Environment Program.
—ND
Three students from the Federated States of Micronesia were awarded full scholarships to study in Australia. Maria Falmad and Eileena Mangar, both from the State of Yap and Perry Pedrus from Pohnpei State received Australian Development Scholarships. Falmad is aiming for a bachelor’s in Information Systems at Swinburne University of Technology; Mangar will be studying for a bachelor’s in Media and Communications Studies, also at Swinburn and Pedrus is enrolled in a master’s program in economics at the University of Sydney.
—GJ
Jacques Lafleur, New Caledonia’s outspoken anti-independence leader announced shortly after Christmas that he is retiring from the political arena after more than a quarter century, reported Oceania Flash, a new service of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community. Lafleur, 70, founded the pro-France Rally for New Caledonia party in 1977. He is a member of the French National Assembly and president of New Caledonia’s affluent southern province.
—GJ
Dropped Cabinet Minister Norman George has rejoined the Cook islands Government side as an ordinary member in a move which could enable government reforms. Prime Minister Dr. Robert Woonton said George’s return would give government the two-thirds majority in Parliament necessary for constitutional changes. “We have not yet sat down to discuss what role he will have in government,” Woonton said. “But he has given us an undertaking that he will support reform and do whatever he can to assist us.”
—PINA
Murray Smith, Member of Parliament for New Zealand’s United Future Party, has claimed that clauses in the Local Government Bill relating to Maori are inadequate, and display a condescending attitude to indigenous New Zealanders on the part of the Labor Government. The government, says Smith, “sees Maori as a minority group to whom deference must be paid because of the historic relation there has been between the Crown and Maori. I believe that is a very paternalistic approach.” The 684-page bill provides for separate Maori wards in local councils and requires councils to set up procedures for consultation with Maori.
—ND
As the first alumnus to be elected a head of state, Palau’s President Tommy E. Remengesau, Jr. was recently invited by Grand Valley State University in Michigan to give the keynote commencement address. While there, Remengesau was presented with a memorandum of understanding that will provide a scholarship to one Palauan student per year as part of the university’s effort “to continue the growth of its international population and in recognition of the relationship between Remengesau and Grand Valley University.” The scholarship will compensate the difference between the student’s in-state and out-of-state fees.
—NC
Shital Ram, Fiji’s contestant in the recent Miss South Pacific competition held in Rarotonga, was the victim of racism, according to her supporters. Ram, an Indo-Fijian, was treated unfairly by the organizers of the contest, say members of the Fiji delegation, having been insulted at the closing ceremony when judges awarded consolation prizes to all unsuccessful contestants with the exception of Ram.
—ND
Chairman of Vanuatu’s Financial Services Commission and manager of the country’s ship registry, Robert Bond, was arrested at the end of December by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation during a business trip to New York. PACNEWS reported that Bond has been on the FBI’s wanted list, and was arrested for allegedly being involved in an international money laundering scam. The Vanuatu government has asked the FBI for an assurance that its ship registry company funds, held in a U.S. bank, which have been frozen by the FBI, will not be confiscated. Vanuatu also expressed concern in early January that it had not been able to communicate with Bond, despite attempts to do so.
—GJ
Palau remembers its native son, Father Felix Yaoch, who died on December 17 after becoming ill in the Philippines with longstanding heart and kidney ailments. In his years of service as a Jesuit priest in Palau, Father Yaoch held the post of Jesuit Superior of the Pacific Region, helped frame the Palau Constitution, acted as the first Chairman of the Palau National Communications Board, helped organize the Palau Community Action Agency, was a member of the Board of Education, and, in the 1970’s testified in the United States Senate against the proposed oil superport in Palau. The gentle and kind Badrei Belix—called “the conscience of Palau” —will be missed.
—NC
Dr. Colin Aikman, an internationally known jurist from New Zealand, died in Wellington at the age 83 just after the New Year. In 1993, the Samoan government honored Aikman with its highest decoration for his advise in drafting Samoa’s constitution. Radio Australia reported that New Zealand Foreign Minister Phil Goff praised Aikman for his contribution to the country’s legal profession and constitutional development in the South Pacific.
—GJ
Contributors: Giff Johnson, Fili Sagapolutele, PINA Nius Online, Norman Douglas, Nancy Chism
