Lord Fusitu'a

Massive shout out to @suge.lex66 , @21district.official and all the young brethren at @returnza_records for hitting me up with some of their merch. Proud to rep you lads always. Always glad to support these young tokos making moves to bring our people up and provide them pathways in the music industry. I'll always be in the background to keep a lookout for you lads so keep bringing that heat 🔥 #NeverPelu #TapuTukulolo ✊🏽😤 ⚔️ 🦍 ⛓ 🇹🇴👑🇹🇴 “But in that coming day no weapon turned against you will succeed. You will silence every voice raised up to accuse you. These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the Lord; their vindication will come from me. I, the Lord, have spoken!” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭54:17‬. “‘Ilonga ha mahafu ‘oku fa‘u ke fai‘aki ha kovi kiate koe, ‘E ‘ikai sia‘a; Pea ‘ilonga ha ‘elelo ‘oku hopo mo koe ‘i he fakamaau, Te ke fakahalaia. Ko e ‘inasi eni ‘o e kau tamaio‘eiki ‘a Sihova, Pea ko ‘enau fakatonuhia meiate au– ko Sihova ia mei he Ta‘ehāmai.” ‭‭KO ‘AISEA‬ ‭54:17‬

A look into the rear view to a quieter time. And a place which still triggers the pangs of home for me. My mother's youngest sister Toa (@tupztah - aka "Boocha" @anau_ - aka "A-Train" and @tahitakiari_ - aka Sonny Bill) my cousin Kepueli Sitauti babysitting me at the Bateman's Bay retreat kept by New Zealand explorer extraordinaire Dr. David Lewis for family and friends such as my parents who were at Bruce Hall with him at the time at the Australian National University. I of course am the youngling devouring my own thumb and trying to get the best angle to the camera. Minus the digit munching many would say I am still doing the latter today. 😄

I was very humbled to be contacted by my cousin, albeit Radio 531pi Host & well known Tongan New Zealand media personality @johnpulu to make a recorded message to encourage & commemorate Tongan Language Week this week. To which I answered a resounding yes at the chance to contribute to the discourse on such a vital issue.. As an Australian born Tongan with English as my first & Tongan as my second language, I can relate very personally with this necessity with which I agree, for the diaspora to make a concentrated effort to maintain our language & culture amidst the jambalaya mix of so many different races and cultures in such wonderfully multicultural countries such as Australia & New Zealand. This makes the need to keep the ties of our diaspora to our language as strong as possible & from as early an age as possible essential. All the data shows us that the ability to learn languages is strongest in the human mind in the Pre-K to primary/early teen years & that students who are bilingual or even moreso trilingual, statistically out perform monolingual students across all the progress & performance indicators. I remember fondly (well perhaps less than fondly) being roundly teased and ridiculed when my family moved back from Australia, by my classmates at Tonga Side School & Tonga High School for my broken Tongan. That continued unabated until I eventually began winning the annual prize for the top student in the Tongan subject each year at Tonga High School. Unbeknownst to them I had a secret weapon. I had a maternal grandmother who read to me daily at least once & often twice a day from the Tongan bible. Making me then read back to her in return. So in a way every week was Tongan language at my house despite the first language of the household being English which is what my parents spoke to me. However, I still remember fondly how His Majesty the current King Tupou VI (when he was still HRH Prince Lavaka Ata & resided at Liukava at his estate in Kolovai) would arrange for 'Ahio, Masima & all the matapules of the Ha'a Ngata Motu'a clan, to which he and I & a number of our brethren Lords are members to gather & teach us our duties & ancient Tongan & refin

I just wanted to thank everyone who posted such thoughtful, generous and loving well wishes. And too many prayers to mention. I am so thankful, humbled and privileged to receive all this good will and love that all I can say is that I thank you all and I appreciate you so much. And as I have been to date, I will use all my energy and endeavours to serve God, His Majesty our King and the country and it's people as best I can. Oku hounga Aupito kiate au ae ngaahi lea 'ofa, poupou moe talamonu kotoa. Oku ou fktauange ke tokonia au e he Eiki ke fkhoko e fatongia i he lelei taha ma'a Tupou mo hono fonua mo hono kakai foki. Pea oku ou fktauange ke tapuekina ai pe kimoutolu e he Eiki. Oku ou Ofa lahi Atu moe hufia. ✊🏽🙏🏽💯🇹🇴🤎

I am extremely humbled and thankful to my brethren Lords from the Niuas to have been given their faith and trust to complete my term by re-electing me to our seat as the Lord Member for the Niuas at our by-election this morning. In particular I praise God and ask for His guidance to maintain the standard of work in the House which my brethren have come to expect. Especially I would like to thank His Serene Highness Prince Kalaniuvalu Fotofili for his steadfast faith and loyalty. I appreciate you and love you brother. Ofa lahi atu. “Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil.” ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭3:7‬

After nearly four whole days of constant birthday wishes, for which I am so thankful and appreciate so very much - I am able to finally thank you all who took time out of your day to wish me a happy birthday. Although I prefer no fuss, my closest friends who I have spoken of before: Our crew who went into university together, worked security together, partied just a bit too much together, attended one another's weddings, and became a part of one another's families - once again today gathered to celebrate one of our own. This time it was my turn - so my dear friend and Ha'a Ngata Motu'a relative (The Old Snake 🐍 Clan) @alatukef generously arranged for us to all link up. And so Alopi, Guy, Aaron (missing Timbo @elizabethn30 today but will catch you on the next one) and myself gathered, albeit digitally to celebrate my birthday. But also to reminisce about the good old days, and one thing that is often lacking these days but which we all agreed we must make a part of our routines - just checking in on one another. To touch base and see that each one is ok and travelling alright on his path, if he needs encouragement or someone to share with, and just generally check that everyone is doing alright all round. So we have decided to make this a regular occurrence, every week or so, much to the approval of all concerned. I think this is something that, especially now that the age of Covid has given us all the time to do so, we could all do more of. So thanks and much love to the brethren's for reminding me how crucial it is to check in on your loved ones, to share your stories and hear theirs and to generally be there for one another. So to my brethren and to all who wished me a happy birthday this week I thank you from the bottom of my heart. God gives us seasons in our life to balance our path & this season is one of change & renewal to streamline our lives "out with the old and in with the new". Again as on my previous post, Paul said it much more succinctly, this time in his 2nd epistle to the Corinthians: "This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new pe rson. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!" 2 Corinthians 5:17 I give thanks

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D) of the 14th District of New York calls out and exposes Facebook's inconsistent fact checking policy showing Zuckerberg's willingness to let pro-conservative pages post fake news such as fake election dates to fool minority voters without fact checking but will force more liberal pages to account for any claims they make. Zuckerberg in a word was - SHOOK. And for the first time his mile a minute mouth deserted him as he had nothing tangible to say. Moral of the story these techno-giants, along with Besos at Amazon and the guys at Google and even Apple have become so ubiquitous in basic human interaction that they require the regulation usually reserved only for major public service sector industries or private sector monopolies or oligopolies. A failure to do so may result in someone who the majority of registered voters..the people..did not vote for holding the most powerful position in the world and modern history. Wait ..what..already? Well then this needs to be remedied. If you have voting rights in the US in November and are able to do so. Do us all in the rest of the world a favour. 🖕🏽🖕🏽🖕🏽 to 45.

A dear dear friend asked me "If you could choose anything what would you like for your birthday?" Obviously my mind wondered. Day dreaming of the latest model Aventador, (google it) the latest Bugatti and the Bentayga (google it) for being the only SUV worth its salt today (google it) , the Cayenne and Range never even a part of THIS conversation. The Mclaren. She laughed. I said "Well if you're going to daydream you may as well day dream of the top shelf the top of the line right?: Then a funny thing happened. Another completely different dear dear friend of mine sent me a link via instant message with the simple message that just said click it - you will LOVE it. And Love it I Did, more than anything. But some back story. In 1993, before consumer internet or mobile phones or anything, a German funded British film crew came to film a documentary in Tonga. Apparently to show how Tonga had changed politically. This is a snippet of the whole file for which I am still searching. So they had the obligatory interview with the late Mr Pohiva to hear his tales of woe. It even had earlier in the piece, an interview with Lords Nuku and Luani. Younger and still learning politics. But the piece-de-resistance they saved for the end: and that is what's here - it was a back to back interview of HM Tupou IV and my late father Lord Fusitu'a (Alokuoulu) where they both debunked the current noise but also foretold of the chaos which would follow and the mire in which the country would find itself. You have to understand my father was my idol and it is he upon whom I model myself in my life of service. This clip is so valuable to me as it is a rare audiovisual recording of my father in his prime doing his thang - what he did best - and for that fact alone I loved it as a gift: But also, the irony is not lost on me, that the country did end up on the precipice, just as they had envisioned and predicted, and that it is thus ironic, that it is I, his son and a handful of others, who would take the 6 Unconstitutional Bills to the people and help save the nation from falling into the abyss. So in short - Best birthday present ever:

Such a lovely birthday tribute from my Aunt Ane Haungatau. Thank you Aunty that means the world to me ofa lahi atu @draculascountess @isagirl

My messages from my 3 baby Spartans are always my favourite. I love you son and your message means so much to me. Love you @fremch.fry and mum @treychin and miss you guys.

I was blessed to have our family cleric Reverend Vaka Si'i Loamanu come by to give me my sacrament for my birthday. No gathering, no fuss. Just a quiet prayer of thanks with my little family here in Auckland. And my boys (my lil nephews) sang a quiet happy birthday. Life tends to put things into perspective. This time last year I literally had one foot in the grave and was in hospital in a coma with no great prospects for survival. In fact I died once or twice during and in between my surgeries. But God knew better. He reached down and wrenched me from the grave and said "Not today Satan. Not this beloved son of mine". The prayers of so many and God's healing might. And so here I am today. Still in postop but progressing well healthier and happier than I have ever been with what a new future has to hold for me. Paul said it best: 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18, "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." Today I just give thanks. #SpartanHard #VolcanoStrong #GodsGotThis #TheKingsWarlords #IndestructibleWithGod

So chuffed today to receive my "Gotcha Back - F**k Suicide" Tshirt from @vilzzzzz_ and Nikki at @poly.kidz Apparel ( https://poly-kidz-apparel-pk-gym-apparel.myshopify.com) The Tshirts are high quality and stand out. Apart from the great anti-Suicide message it supports. With the following statistics being the current data we have this is a major killer of our people. "Pacific And Tonga -------------------- Suicide rates in the Pacific Islands are some of the highest in the world and have reached up to 30 per 100,000 in countries such as Samoa, Guam and Micronesia, double the global average, with youth rates even higher. 54 percent of people in the region now aged below 24 years and those aged 15-29 years are at the greatest risk of taking their lives, according to the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC). Australia ---------- Lifeline: Suicide remains the leading cause of death for Polynesian Australians aged between 15 and 44 New Zealand --------------- Pacific youth are three times more likely to attempt suicide than European youth and New Zealand Medical Journal, also found young people between the ages of 12 and 18 years had the highest rates of suicide across Pacific ethnic groups." Prayers and condolences to the family of young army Private Mengi Katea Tahaafe who took his own life by hanging himself just yesterday at the Taliai Military Camp at Fua'amotu. It's not weak to speak. Speak up. And check on your loved ones. As the life you save may be your own The @returnza_records toko @t_aytch 's "I Need Help" deals with this difficult and complex issue; Call 13 11 14 in Australia; 800 544 354 in NZ for Lifeline in those countries or 23000 or 25144 in Tonga.