Funeral Director Backs Samoa Head of State on Rethinking Costly Funerals
Posted: November 6, 2009 Filed under: Analysis, Breaking News, Business, Community, Current, Earthquake Tsunami Samoa/AmSampa 09, NZPacific, South Pacific Region | Tags: AMERICAN SAMOA, funeral homes, funerals, memorial american samoa, New Zealand Families Commission, Nick Bakulich, samoa tsunami, Samoa’s Head of State, tonga, Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi, undertakers Leave a comment[picapp src=”9/3/6/7/Clean_Up_Continues_7678.jpg?adImageId=7127195&imageId=6701059″ width=”500″ height=”333″ /]
PAGO PAGO, AMERICAN SAMOA – OCTOBER 03: A memorial in the village of Nuan Seetaga to a child lost in the Tsunami is seen following the 8.3 magnitude strong earthquake which struck on Tuesday. The quake triggered a tsunami wave up to 1.5 metres across areas of the island, with the official death toll in Samoa, American Samoa and Niuatoputapu near 200. Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)
The low-key funerals held for tsunami victims in Upolu’s South Coast outer villages are a testament that dignity and reverence can exist without expensive fanfare, says New Zealand-based Samoan funeral director Nick Bakulich.
Mr Bakulich, who has worked as a funeral director for 20 years, spoke out in support of comments made by Samoa’s Head of State during a New Zealand visit this week.
Speaking at the New Zealand Families Commission conference, His Highness Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi:
“The seeming ordinariness of the tsunami funerals, with the minimum fuss and bother that surrounded them, did not, however, lose any face by their simplicity. Instead, they gained in that they reminded us of what really mattered. In this instance, rather than raging menace, the tsunami chastened and cleansed.”
Those sentiments touched many Samoans in the audience, including Mr Bakulich, who says past and present community leaders have been working hard to encourage families to be practical when it comes to funeral spending.
“I welcome what Samoa’s Head of State had to say regarding ‘how much of it do we really need’ when it comes to the paraphernalia sometimes seen at Samoan funerals,” he says.
“That can place families into financial hardship, all for the sake of keeping up with the ‘Joneses’.”
He says, “if money is no object to a family then that’s fine, but we live in times where we need to be a bit more careful and find that fiscal balance to really help each other.”
He is hoping that people will take on board the wisdom shared by Samoa’s Head of State and not be undone by “funeral homes who offer expensive caskets, modern mourners vehicles and visual paraphernalia that can be easily purchased when people are consumed by grief.”
Funeral homes and other providers need to show more social responsibility as opposed to finding ways of furthering their profit margins, says Mr Bakulich.
“Thank you Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese for your leadership, wisdom and vision.”
Related Story: Tsunami Prompts Rethink on Costly Fa’aSamoa Funerals
Editor’s Note: Nick Bakulich is also a regular contributing writer for pacificEyeWitness.org
Samoa’s Tsunami Tragedy Binds The Hearts of Samoans & NZ
Posted: September 30, 2009 Filed under: Breaking News, Business, Community, Current, Earthquake Tsunami Samoa/AmSampa 09, Environment, NZPacific, Politics, South Pacific Region, Tourism, US & Foreign Affairs | Tags: His Highness the Head of State of Samoa, Labour MP for Mangere Su’a William Sio., Prime Minister of Samoa, Rt Hon. Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, Samoa’s Tsunami Tragedy Binds The Hearts of Samoans & NZ, Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi Leave a commentMedia Statement
30 September 2009Samoa’s Tsunami Tragedy Binds The Hearts of Samoans & NZ
Today many Samoans in New Zealand, and around the world, have kept their ear close to the ground trying to reach family in Samoa and listening to any news reports for answers related to missing family and friends, says Labour MP for Mangere Su’a William Sio.
“Many Samoans, and people of other nationalities who have strong bonds to the people and the islands of Samoa, will be affected by this tragedy.
“The final death toll is yet to come in so I say to the Samoan community living in New Zealand: be strong in your hearts, be courageous, be of good cheer, and keep the faith in the difficult days that lie ahead.
“To those who already know they have lost a loved one, or have suffered injury, or loss of home, or livelihood, I extend my families’ love and our prayers to you.
I extend my heartfelt sympathies to His Highness the Head of State of Samoa, Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi and to the Rt Hon. Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, Prime Minister of Samoa for the tragic circumstances they and the people of Samoa find themselves in.
“Our thoughts are with all those suffering in the aftermath of the tsunami and earthquake on all the islands affected,” says Su’a William Sio.
“I also reflect to New Zealand the deepest appreciation of Samoan communities feel towards the country, knowing that the Government and New Zealanders, as individuals, local councils and many community organisations, are prepared and willing to step forward and help out.
“To New Zealanders, your unselfish actions lighten the burdens on the minds of Samoans and provide much comfort to the Samoan community both in New Zealand and Samoa.”
“Words can’t fully express what many of us are feeling at this time.”
Archives to March 2010 - PEW 
Unemployment Highest Among Maori and Pacific Job Seekers; Still Worst Hit By Recession
Posted: February 9, 2010 | Author: PacificEyeWitness.com | Filed under: Analysis, Breaking News, Business, Community, Current, education, Fono Notices, Jobs In The Pacific, NZPacific, Opinion & Commentary, Politics, South Pacific Region | Tags: adults only, Apia, Arrival, bankruptcy, Bronagh, Bronagh Key, celebration, ceremony, Close-up, color image, copy space, dawn, Diplomacy, food, Georgina Te Heuheu, government, Head of State, Highness, hold, Hon Georgina, horizontal, Human Hand, Human Interest, ideas, indoors, inside out, interest, joblessness, John, john key, Kava Kava, key, labour party, lifestyles, Maori and Pacific jobseekers, Maori unemployment, midsection, national party, new zealand, no money, NZ European unemployment, one man only, One Person, Pacific unemployment, People, phil goff, photography, Pita Bread, pita sharples, pocket, Politics, poverty, Prime Minister, prime minister nz, samoa, serving, Sharples, statistics NZ, Traditional Culture, Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi, UE rate, unemployment, visit, Waitangi, watch, welfare, Whare Runanga, work policies, worst hit by recession | Leave a comment[picapp align=”center” wrap=”false” link=”term=unemployment&iid=5285562″ src=”6/d/5/b/Hand_holding_out_d925.jpg?adImageId=10045614&imageId=5285562″ width=”500″ height=”333″ /]
No pretty picture here. Statistics NZ shows the unemployment rate has risen again for Maori and Pacific job seekers. They represent the worst hit groups normally resident in New Zealand. The unemployment rate for Pacific has almost doubled from 7.8 percent unemployment (December 2008) to 14. percent, as at December 2009.
Unemployment among Maori has risen from 9.8 at 15.4 percent. This does not include the figures for European/Maori which is 13.6 percent. Asian unemployment stands at 9.2 percent. The unemployment rate for those who identify as European is 4.6 percent.
MP for Mana Luamanuvao Winnie Laban says the rate should shame the Government into action.“Just over three months ago unemployment rates among Pacific Islanders was 12.3 per cent and we were being promised by the Government it was working to get people back to work, “she says.
The Labour Opposition Spokesperson for Pacific Island Affairs says this latest increase shows their policies are not working. “In just one year, 5000 additional Pacific Island people have lost their jobs. Pacific Island people, who are overrepresented in lower paid jobs, were also bitterly disappointed at the miserly rise in minimum wage announced last month.”
Luamanuvao says many in the Pacific community are saying they are disappointed with a lack of action from the Minister of Pacific Island Affairs Georgina Te Heuheu.
Te Heuheu, who is the second Maori woman to gain election to the National Party, is widely criticised within the Pacific community for her lack of action on Pacific issues.
Luamanuvao on Te Heuheu:
“She is virtually invisible in the portfolio and offering no support or ideas. I am deeply saddened that the Government is failing so many families and that the Minister of Pacific Island Affairs has sat back and done nothing.”
[picapp align=”center” wrap=”false” link=”term=georgina+te+heuheu&iid=5330621″ src=”0/3/0/5/John_Key_Embarks_207b.jpg?adImageId=10046208&imageId=5330621″ width=”500″ height=”353″ /]
NZ Pacific Affairs Minister Georgina Te Heuheu(right), during a visit to Samoa with the Prime Minister John Key(next to her) and Maori Affairs Minister Dr Pita Sharples (left), July 7, 2009 in Apia, Samoa.
Opposition Leader Phil Goff says unemployment in New Zealand is now at the highest level it has been in 16 years and is growing at the highest rate in a decade.
“168,000 Kiwis are now unemployed. The total number of jobless is more than 275,000,” says the Labour Leader.
“The Government’s stimulus package has produced just 2300 jobs. That is a lot less than the 3500 people who queued for hours last month for the chance to grab just 150 jobs at a new South Auckland supermarket.”
Goff, who is highly critical of Prime Minister John Key’s Job Summit for producing few results to help those who need it the most, says more and more people are struggling to make ends meet, with the young, the less well off, Maori and Pacific communities and other ethnic groups especially hard hit.
Single/combination unemployment rate (unadjusted) by ethnic group
quarter (percent)
quarter (percent)