WORDS FROM THE WEBMASTER & THE THSESWS NEWSLETTER EDITOR:

Welcome to the THSESWS monthly newsletter for the month of August 2000. The major news of course is in regards to the THSESWS hosting. Our site has been online since July of 1999 and all that time, the THSESWS has been using the Lavalink server just like any other web site typical of any home user. What Lavalink did not contemplate was the massive traffic the THSESWS generates each month. It got to a point where the Lavalink administration could not turn a blind eye to the cost of hosting such a dynamic web site. THSESWS was then informed by Lavalink that they could no longer cover for the costs of serving out files from the THSESWS to its various users. This meant that some other means of funding our site had to be addressed. THSESWS then went on a "rescue mission" starting with a plea for all ex-students to provide donations in order to keep our site online.

Lavalink in consultation and negotiation with THSESWS could not provide an acceptable deal and the best they could offer is a hosting fee of $500 per year (up front) plus extra costs on the amount of hits and file transfer. The required fund was not met and therefore an alternative server had to be used. At the mean time a front end link from Lavalink had to be maintained for file manipulation while the rest of the files had to be uploaded to Tripod which is our new server. The down side of such a hosting alternative is the fact that Tripod must have their advertising logo and other advertisement on top of every page. This has slowed down the loading of our site but this is the only viable alternative at the moment. As you all know, having a site like the THSESWS is not a cheap venture by anyone's standard. Money is the key to anything on the internet. What the THSESWS can do on the internet is only limited by available funds.

Faka'apa'apa atu
Loseli M Hafoka & 'Amelia Piutau

NEWS

As appeared on the "Lalo Kasia Forum", the Auckland chapter had their meeting on July, 28 and the minutes of their meeting was kindly posted by members of the Auckland Chapter for others to share. Thank you Auckland!

LEISURE WORSHIPPERS:  Writes Lucy Wilkins, Herald Sun - Melbourne

As most of us are sometimes longing for any news from our homeland, the article below will surely provide some comfort and a reminder of what is going on back home!

Oils drips off the arms and shoulders of the Tongan dancer as she sways to the men's singing as they sit around a bowl of kava. Members of the audience approach her and slap money on her shinny arms. Above, the leaves of coconut tress gracefully sway, too, in the warm breeze as a brilliant orange sunset lights the sky.

Feasts, church singing and village women weaving are some of the other typical Tongan experiences in this island nation that proudly proclaims on an archway near airport on the main island of Tongatapu: "Welcome to the Land Where Time Begins."

With the leisurely pace of Tongan life, it is no surprise the speed limit in villages and towns is a sedate 40 km/h, and in less populated areas 65 km/h. But even that can be slowed by village pigs oblivious to the honks of the drivers of rusty cars and utes.

In Pangai, in the Ha'apai island group, you are likely to see a pack of dogs yapping at an enormous sow, or a chicken scurrying across the dirt road as a horse and a cart laden with taro and bananas meanders into town.

Tonga's 98,000 people live on 36 of the 170 islands. The kingdom's location a little west of the International Dateline meant it was the first to see the millennium dawn. Although the introduction of daylight saving last year heralded New Zealand and Fijian claims to be the first to 2000.

The three main island groups, Tongatapu, Vava'u and Ha'apai, are spread over 362,500 sq km. Flying between them offers a view of countless coral reefs, sandy beaches and palm-covered islands dotted throughout clear blue waters. Most visitors come for the water activities - yachting, diving, kayaking and whale-watching.

In this devout nation, almost everything stops on Sundays. There are no flights into the kingdom, nightclubs close at midnight on Saturdays and shops are shut. Hotel restaurants operate, but sport is discouraged. While at first this shutdown seems a drawback, it allows outsiders to take part in a church service and feasts.

Villages have one, if not two, churches around which life revolves on Sundays. An English service starts at 8 am, followed by a Tongan service at 10 am, Sunday school at 1 pm and a final service at 4 pm. The choir practises in the evening. Sunday best for men and women is a finely woven ta'ovala worn around their waists and over long skirts. This tradition is thought to have originated long ago when men returning from long sea voyages would cut their canoes to cover their naked bodies before appearing before their chief.

A congregation of 40 can raise the roof with their beautifully harmonised a capella singing. A bigger group will drown out a torrential downpour on the church roof. The pastor gives a passionate sermon, all the while mopping sweat from his face, as people fan themselves. If the king is in residence, he attends a nearby church. He drives the short distance between his palace in the capital, Nuku'alofa, and the church in a black stretch limousine with an entourage of army trucks and police cars flashing their lights. Drivers must pull over and stop when the king's motorcade approaches.

After church a traditional feast is often prepared. The menu can include lobster, snapper, roasted whole pigs, seaweed, chicken, breadfruit in coconut milk, as well as taro, the staple of Tongan's diet. Food piled high on long tables and covered in banana leaves to keep off the flies, is eaten with the hands.

It is customary to swim after a Tongan feast, but after eating in the heat of the day, a nap in the shade is more appealing

ARTICLE BY 'AMELIA FONUA(HELU):

It all began when . . .

It all began when I was in Form 1 in 1985, my teacher Mr Sione Kupu gave me a chance to read aloud part of a play in one of the school's School Journal. I still remember it was after lunch and to avoid sleeping, we all went to the 'lalo kasia' opposite 'Mala'ekula' for our English lesson. I can still picture Mr Kupu's laughter when I read out my assigned section. I continued to like reading plays from School Journals.

My interest in literature developed from then on until I reached Form 5. My English teacher was Mr Peter Hind. Whenever he sees anyone in the class look away from him, the duster and the chalk does not go up onto the board but flies up onto that person's lips, if you are talking or to your forehead if you are looking somewhere else and not at him. Peter Hind always want everybody's attention on him. No matter how sleepy, tired, lazy, hungry, or sick you are, you must still force yourself to pay attention otherwise instead of sleeping on the pillow, Hind's duster lies on your head or instead of eating 'keke fakalanu' from the store opposite TTC, you swallow Hind's coloured chalks. Peter Hind scared me and so no matter how I felt during his class, I really paid attention.

Peter used to read aloud plays and novels while we had to sit up straight and listen from the beginning to the end, but no one felt sleepy because Peter acted as narrator and also acted out other characters including animals. He made us do a lot of narrative writing. This made me write up an interesting piece of work in the literature section of the examination paper. I continued on writing few articles for the Tonga High School Magazine. I competed in few public essay writing competitions and won them. I continued studying, taking up literature papers then ended up doing a teaching job for four years but my interest in literature kept coming into my mind.

To date, I am on completion of a graduate degree in the field of literature at Auckland, hoping to meet Mr Peter Hind some day where everything for me all began.

Until next time, see you later !

WEBMASTER 

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Copyright ©:  Loseli Ma'ukie Hafoka 2000.