Unplanned: Sneak Peek on new movie...

When I opened up my Facebook account to catch up on various news items etc. I came across a Facebook news item regarding banning 'Hate groups' like the ones that are associated with the Christchurch slayings. They were even named and I guessed shamed.

It was interesting to read in the comments that people left on the feed that there should be an outright ban on any groups that posted or boasted hate messages against any peoples regarding religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation etc.

A few news items later, I came across a news item about a movie in which the trailer was being banned in different states in the US. I decided to find out more information and came across a new movie that is being promoted this month in the States called "Unplanned".

In watching the trailer and some of the background information about the movie I realised the reasons regarding why such a movie and trailer would be controversial in that it deals with the stark realities -surrounding abortion with many sides to it but the main being either: pro-life (anti-abortion) or pro-choice (pro-abortion).

I think it's a movie that I'll be taking my older children to watch and hope it comes to NZ too. I remember in being a high school teacher, many moons ago, that I'd hear about some of our young Pasifika women going to have abortions and then returning to school to finish off their education. The reasons were numerous but always the young women was changed for life.

In most instances the families never found out about it as parental permission was not and is still not needed although schools won't allow a student to go on a school trip without a parental permission slip. This movie reminds us that there are other human beings suffering violence in a society that is too blind or deaf to even realise what's going on behind the scenes of abortion clinics.

This movies is based on the true story of an 8 year pro-abortion clinic worker and later, director (Planned Parenting) and the change of mind she has when she witnesses an actual abortion procedure by a new doctor in the clinic in the first trimester (3 months).

This movie will definitely trigger many angry and emotional responses especially for women who have had abortions and have healed and those who still haven't healed. I think the line that stays with me from the trailer is that although one might have an abortion, it never takes away the memory of the baby, often our most vulnerable humans on earth...

R&R at our youngest's birthday celebrations...

 Last weekend, we had a special lil' 8th birthday party for our youngest at our local pool and park facilities. It was definitely a reminder to me about how important it is to meeting regularly with family for family celebrations rather than being reminded at funerals or when dire circumstances happen.

I was also grateful that our youngest's friends also came to join in the celebrations and we had a ball in seeing her having a neat relaxing time, in fact, we decided to all jump into the pools ourselves, at the end of the day and made it quite a day of R&R (rest and relaxation) after the run around to get things ready.

Suffice to say that having family was wonderful, the food was delicious and the fun was plentiful, so much so, that we almost went at the same time as the pools closed. So when we went home it was in a relaxed state that we took into the rest of the weekend.

I'd definitely recommended a lot of R&R and especially whilst the weather holds out as we approach our season of autumn with it's beautiful March cooler breezes, some sun and golden hour receding to a close...

'Fighting with my family' movie...

Last night I got to watch 'Fighting with my family' a movie about the backstory to 'Paige' a WWE professional wrestler's debut into the professional world of wrestling. It tells the story about how her family ran a wrestling business that her parents owned and that her older brothers had been a part of but neither of her brothers had made it big and it became her wish to "fight for her family."

It was an interesting movie in light of the recent events in Christchurch in that this movie promotes the use of violence for entertainment purposes and also as a business. The interesting part about the movie was that her parents discussed how having a wrestling business kept her father out of a life of crime and it became their 'salvation' in being able to pay their bills and bring food to the table.

They were also able to assist other young people in their community by offering wrestling classes for those who were interested. In fact, a blind wrestler that they worked with became a professional wrestler as credited in the movie.

I remember growing up in the 70s and 80s, with my dad as a big wrestler fan having been a boxer in his younger days and we'd watch 'On the mat' which was one of NZ's first wrestling programmes with some early Samoan wrestlers like Peter Maivea (Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson's grandfather), Samoan Joe. Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka (Fijian) etc.

In fact, I remember my dad buying our family tickets so that we could go to the YMCA in town and watch some matches which had few people and nothing like the mass audiences and atmosphere now seen on TV all over the world but especially in USA where it's a mega multi-million dollar business.

My favourite wrestler of recent times although now turned actor has got to be 'The Rock' Dwayne Johnson being part Samoan, that was definitely a no-brainer for me and he also starred in the movie in recognising that he too came from a family of wrestlers.

So although it was an interesting movie that condones violence for entertainment purposes much like how World heavy weight boxing matches are a drawcard for sport fans and families with Samoans like David Tua and Joseph Parker getting into the mix. It's definitely a movie that got me thinking...

Pasifika 2019 at Western Springs this weekend is cancelled...

The annual Pasifika Festival set to open this weekend at Western Springs has been cancelled. This is the second largest festival of it's kind to be cancelled following in the footsteps of the last day cancellation of the Polyfest of last week.

This was after some speculation, on social media, that the Pasifika might still continue as a festival of bringing diverse people groups together in celebrating Auckland's diversity but the Auckland Tourism bureau has since made the call in discussion with the Police for the safety of the Public.

This is quite understandable in the aftermath of what happened in Christchurch last week. In passing the two local Mangere Muslim schools i.e. a co-ed primary school and a girls' high school there were heavily armed police carrying firearms at the gates of the school and armed police outside the mosque gates where many flower tributes had been lain. This is unprecedented in our local community in not having ever seen this type of police presence ever outside a school or place of worship.

I remember a couple of years ago asking our local institution security team about whether there were lockdown procedures should something happen similar to the shootings in education institutions in the US in our local communities. It was never believed that such a scene would ever reach our shores but now, people are having second thoughts.

Despite cancelling a much loved Pasifika event, the outpouring of love and hope in sharing this sorrow as a nation through vigils, corporate prayers, meetings in parks, candle lightings in homes, outside mosques, sharing in songs, online discussions etc. shows that so much good can come out of so much evil because in darkness even a small light can shine so much brighter...

Happy Birthday to our lil' runner...

 A very BIG happy birthday to our youngest child of whom turns 8 years old today. Here she is pictured with her very proud father, sharing a birthday breakfast which is a tradition in our family as they share a wonderful Daddy/daughter relationship being the youngest in our brood.

All our children have been gifts from God, each with their own personalities, talents and dare I say 'quirks' just like their parents :) And all of our children, somehow, didn't go through the natural progression of crawling then walking as they went from stepping to walking and missing out on the crawling phase.

So much so that with our youngest her Dad wrote a poem that was later published online (in this blog: 6 Dec 2014) called "Little Runner" as she so inspired him with her quick feet that had us running after her as well.

Her maternal grandparents also returned from Samoa to spend this special day with her and we're all looking forward to a small birthday party this Saturday that she's invited family and friends to as well.

A real blessing from God as we wish her and our children well in all their future endeavours. A special reminder that God has more love than we could ever imagine when we are gifted with children ...

Polyfest cancelled in show of solidarity against Hate crime in Christchurch...

Yesterday, was called the darkest day in NZ's history, by the Prime Minister - Jacinda Ardern) in the worst mass murders - shootings committed against Muslims, as an act of terrorism in Christchurch, New Zealand.

To date, some 49 people have been killed and still many remain in critical conditions, in Christchurch hospitals, as a result of a shooting rampage at two mosques but it also seems that the gunman, an Australian citizen, had sprayed bullets around the city before shooting his victims in the Mosques.

Many people have since been sending messages on social media, thoughts and prayers to the devastated communities of Christchurch. Others have lit candles, dropped off flowers to the various spots around the city and visited churches for prayer vigils for the victims and the friends and families.

Yesterday, during the height of the scare, schools were on lock down and mosques were too as the authorities tried to get a sense of what was happening in Christchurch while the rest of NZ and the world stood on alert as the story unravelled.

This senseless act of killing, or hate crime, has taken NZ by surprise as the first major act of terrorism of it's kind to reach the shores of NZ, in having prided itself as a haven for multi-ethnic communities and seeing such attacks happening overseas.

It's now come to light that the gunman may have taken at least two years to plan this attack and may have shared his views but wasn't on a possible terrorist watch list and probably choose NZ to make a statement of his own kind as many victims were Muslim immigrants seeking refuge from overseas situations.

As an unprecedented move and outpouring of support to those effected in the communities of Christchurch, it is believed that the organisers of the largest Pasifika festival in the world i.e. the 'Polyfest' (Polynesian cultural dance Festival) in it's 44th to date, has cancelled the festival in it's fourth and final day in paying respect to grieving families and friends of the victims.

It demonstrates solidarity in standing with the mourning communities of Christchurch against this violent act of terrorism that an individual (with probable accomplices) felt that it was their right to act out. It is with much hope and prayers that it was the first and will be the last of it's kind to ever be felt on our shores.

Although I feel for performing students, parents and schools who've put in so many hours of rehearsals and effort into each performance. It would have been inappropriate to continue on with festivities when in another part of NZ, mass funerals are being organised and families are still awaiting for the outcomes of hospital surgeries etc.

Our eldest was affected by this in now missing out on performing on the Tongan stage in her final year at high school and many youth around Auckland will now be waking up to the fact that our country is in a state of mourning and grieving for the loss of loved ones instead of celebrating our cultural diversity upon five main stages (Maori, Samoan, Cook Islands, Tongan and Niue) with 20 plus other cultural performances that won't be staged today.

It is a sad day indeed for many reasons but a sobering thought that there are people out there in our communities who harbour such evil that they would feel the right to act out such hatred on innocent people that would affect a nation. May God be with us in times like this...

Learner driver initiatives with Auckland Transport (AT) ...

Check out: https://at.govt.nz/driving-parking/road-safety/young-drivers/your-teenager-and-driving/

Yesterday, I took our middle child to a 'learner driver' education talk that was held at our local movie theatre. It's a new initiative, through Auckland transport (AT), that I've just been made aware of for teens between the years of 15 - 19 who are interested or have already started their learner driver education.

The neat thing was that I heard about the event on a Facebook Ad that linked to the Auckland Transport website that had all the information for me to take Register and take our teen to listen to an interesting talk from a guy from 'Attitude' (neat organisation that works with youth) with the added bonus of: either a free popcorn or double chocolate ice cream; an information bag and a free movie to watch.

I thoroughly enjoyed the evening and would highly recommend it to other parents/caregivers who have teens who are keen on learning to drive and need the information to either support them whilst being behind the wheel and all the different avenues out there that can provide support.

Back in the day, I had a full license at 15 years where it could all happen on a single day: i.e. the theory exam(multi-choice), eye examination, oral exam (3 questions from anywhere in the Road code) then the practical exam.

Nowadays it's very different but it's good to know that places like AA can support with 3 free practical lessons if the parent/caregiver is an AA member, which is what I will be insisting for our teens and other 2 day workshops are also offered in different suburbs of Auckland.

I've copied the link below and thank for parents for taking the time to support me those many years ago when I couldn't wait to be behind the wheel. Of course, I passed the driver ed exams and then had to wait a few more years before I passed my father's test but that's another story.

https://at.govt.nz/driving-parking/road-safety/young-drivers/your-teenager-and-driving/

Suffice to say that I wouldn't recommend you put your daughter onto the motorway when you're first teaching her to drive, at 15, in a column gear, blue and white Zephyr Mark II, as she could do worse things than to drive onto the roadside ditch...

Pasifika month with Auckland City Council...

Auckland Town Hall, the official venue for Auckland City Council meetings

Have been so busy this past few weeks that I haven't had the chance to blog as frequently as usual and last week I attended our first Auckland City Council Pacific Advisory Panel meeting, at the Auckland Town Hall meeting rooms, for the month with so much planned to happen for our Pasifika communities.

In fact, it's known as Pasifika month with many big events happening like the Polyfest (Polynesian dance festival) held at the Manukau Velodrome around mid month i.e. the largest in the world where high schools come together to compete in various Pasifika and other cultural dance competitions over a 4 day period i.e. 13 - 16 March with cups to be presented on the final day.

This year our eldest is competing in the Tongan section which is pretty good in developing dance skills in another culture. The most competitive are probably the Samoan, Tongan and Cook Islands sections as well as the Niuean but the Indian/Bollywood section has become quite popular too.

Pasifika is the other festival which will be very popular and held over the weekend of 23 - 24 March at Western Springs Park with many bands and cultural dances etc. featuring 10 villages where you can buy food, cultural items, clothing, paraphenalia etc. Our Pacific panel group has been invited to the opening and looking forward to this event as well.

There are also a lot of Auckland City Council and local board funding available for Pasifika arts groups to apply for and am at present going through funding applications in being an arts assessor for arts funding in the South Auckland area. It's so neat to see so many Pasifika groups and talent applying and being awarded arts funding to share their arts projects with the community as well as other ethnic groups and it's so neat for me to be a part of this in supporting our communities

Am also looking at launching a book this month as a part of my contribution to the Pasifika arts focus for later this month. So will keep you in touch with the developments and looking forward to blogging about what's happening in our Pasifika communities for Pasifika month.

Ia soifua ma ia manuia (goodbye and be blessed)...

5 features of diaspora Samoan women's identity markers...

'Return to Paradise' Resort beachfront in Legafa, Samoa

Today I decided to change tack in my PhD studies and reach out to other diaspora (living overseas from a point of origin) Samoa women via social media (and in this case Facebook) to ask about ideas or thoughts regarding what the top 5 features for identifying as Samoan women including rites of passage in our communities i.e. what sets us apart as uniquely Samoan women from other indigenous women groups?

In formal studies there's usually an ethics committee at the tertiary institution that one would have to go through to check on issues of privacy, the types of questions asked, storage of data, that would be asked that weren't offensive or leading, that the research undertaken would be dealt with ethically etc.

The Ethics committee is still a part of this study but I see this as a conversation starter through a social media platform to enable diaspora Samoan women to discuss this topic and if there is interest to be a part of my formal study then the opportunity will be there too.

I definitely have my own views but instead of launching directly into writing about them, I thought it best to consider a range of perspectives from women who identified as Samoan women whether they lived in Samoa or outside of the motherland.

For me I have particular interest in the views of those who live as diaspora Samoan women living outside of the motherland and particularly those living in New Zealand but views from other countries would also be interesting to learn about.

So you are most welcome to list your top five and give reasons for your answers on this website or via through the Facebook thread that I will begin. I guess for me the importance of having public engagement earlier on is that it will allow for women to discuss 'our' own issues or ideas genuinely without having pressure of being a part of a university study.

So what are your top 5 features and why?
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'Green Book' movie review...

Last week I had the opportunity to watch the movie 'Green Book' which is currently playing in Cinemas based on the real-life story of two people: a world class African American concert pianist, Dr Don Shirley (has 7 PhDs and speaks 8 languages) and a working class Italian American driver who both make a journey and build a friendship between New York and the Southern states of American to play concerts over a 2 month period.

I highly recommend this movie as one that discusses race relations and homophobia in the US during 1962 around the time with Martain Luther King had started his support of openly protesting against prejudice, racism and the many challenges that African Americans experienced at the time.

The actual name of the movie is named after a 'Green Book' that was compiled by an African American post office worker, years earlier, who was aware of the dangers where apartheid-like laws operated in many of the Southern States.

It also assisted many black travellers by giving names in the book and the locations where black travellers could stay for the night or for a few days at hotels, motels or itinerate places that they would be welcome to stay when travelling for funerals or across state as this could mean the difference between life or death in some states as demonstrated in the movie.

A tremendous performance by both actors: Mahershala Ali, who plays Dr Don Shirley and Viggo Mortensen who plays the Italian American driver with the possibility of winning an Emmy in the upcoming awards...

Best Oka (raw rish in coconut cream) in Vaigaga...

Best fresh 'oka' in Vaigaga 

 One of the best places in Samoa to pick up Oka (raw fish in coconut cream) is in one of my Aunty's village of Vaigaga. You have a choice of many fresh fish to purchase daily or you can buy a cup of delicious spiced oka worth SAT$6 with or without bones.

So everytime we pass close by we, when we get a chance, we buy some oka in which you can taste the lime/lemon, cucumbers and hot pepper to either consume on their picnic tables with a SAT$1 boiled green banana, or we take it home to place in the fridge to eat with the next family meal.

You gotta believe that it doesn't last long in our family ie. it doesn't last to the next day and then we're craving for more. So no fancy restaurants for us (except we we're out visiting on a special occasion) as when we go to Samoa it's just at the local markets to support our local families or the local supermarket.

So if ever you're in Samoa and you're wanting to check out some fresh oka, don't go past the village of Vaigaga which is only a 5 - 10 minute drive (depending on traffic conditions) as it's sure to whet your 'oka' wanting appetite...

In memory of the devasting 1918 Influenza epidemic...

Mass graves at Vaimoso from the 1918 Influenza Epidemic and commemoration stone

 Last week I was able to take my family to Vaimoso in Samoa to view the commemoration stone erected by the NZ government some years ago and the lines of concrete depicting the mass graves of the 1918 Influenza Epidemic.

It is understood that within villages, some were able to bury their dead on their own lands but so many Samoan were effected at the time that the epidemic was at its peak, that the NZ Garrison got involved in burying the dead who lived close by to Vaimoso in a bid to contain the epidemic spreading further.

It's part of the indigenous research that I'm doing for our next book soon to be released in commemoration of now over 100 years since the fatal influenza epidemic reached Samoa's shores back in the year 1918.

The research for this book has been a couple of years in the making in wanting to get the story right and also in trying to understand the circumstances that lead up to what happened and the aftermath which is still being felt today.

I know that the effects of this devastating event still affect some of the families that I am connected to in not knowing or having gaps of knowledge in their genealogy because significant family members who held that knowledge died during the epidemic and those family connections and stories were not passed on.

I must say that even for many Samoans, this part of their history is unknown to them and I most recently found out where the mass graves were located because this part of our history has not been taught well inside and outside of Samoa and for me, our books are a part of encouraging the education of our children to know about their history that informs their past, present and future...

'Return to Paradise!'... Samoa e...

Looking out at the lush beauty of 'Return to Paradise' Resort from the welcoming reception area

 Just back from a quick trip with the family to Samoa i.e. Returning to Paradise and had an absolute great time visiting family, some indigenous research on three books that I'm currently working on and celebrating our middle child's birthday at my Aunt and Uncle's (and co.) 'Return to Paradise' Resort in Lefaga.

It was the dream of my Aunt and Uncle's family, with the help of my maternal Grandmother, to develop this dream resort which many are now able to enjoy, not only as patrons but also as it brings income through employment and leasing to local villages when in days of old were seen as being quite remote in their locations but are now thriving.

It's also a part of the story in a book that I am working together with family to collate in my grandmother's biography and many adventures that she took part in even as late as in her eighties. She was still up for an adventure and we hope to share that pioneering spirit that she had which influenced us growing up will be shared in a book with our next generations, especially those who never got to meet her.

In fact, a very big CONGRATULATIONS! to the 'Return to Paradise' Resort team for winning the Samoa 2018 Excellence in Tourism trophy recently which is an amazing feat as you just have to check out the other contending resorts in Samoa to see the competition that they were up against.

And a big thanks for making our birthday special with such tasty cuisine, yes, a little unimaginative as we kiwi's all ordered the fish and chips; the yummy smoothies with my favourite being the Pineapple Hula drink and an amazing birthday cake with frosting that melted in your mouth.

So I would most definitely highly recommend the 'Return to Paradise' Resort as the go to resort for those special occasions of birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, vow renewals, or just to relax complete with several pools (3 for children) that we really enjoyed, a beach that you just have to keep an eye out on wave action etc. a wedding chapel and beautiful grounds to just walk through. They even had a crab race that was fun to watch as well.

We're looking forward to our next Ah Siu Family reunion being booked at the resort in January of 2021, with some already booking well ahead to avoid being disappointed in missing out (that's a reminder to me too). It'll be a place that that we can relax and enjoy together and still be able to special make memories that will last a life time...