01-28-2008, 09:12 PM
Dear Minister Utoikamanu,
Closure of Tonga Now:- Communication and media is central to social and economic development
After hearing the unkempt interview of the Prime Minister of Tonga on 19th January 2008, I was saddened to hear that Tonga Now was being transferred to the Information Unit, part of the move to synchronise information outlet of government. Reading the newspaper, and asking questions reconfirmed my suspicion that Tonga Now was closed down, on the insistence of the Prime Minister !..
In his dismal oratory skills, the Prime Minister conveyed Government policy to control information released to the public. At a time when the public confidence in government, both domestically and externally is at low ebb, such an announcement has reinforced the urgency to progress political and constitutional reform in the Kingdom.
Minister ‘Utoikamanu, Tonga Now was an important vehicle in serving the public interest. This, you may have overlooked in advising the Prime Minister and Cabinet !. Government’s decision to terminate Tonga Now has shattered the remaining infinitesimal confidence viewers had in the Tonga Government.
Minister ‘Utoikamanu, you have denied the right of millions of viewers of Tonga Now to be informed of the status of Tonga Now. At the very least, you have denied the right of the public to be informed, and you have failed to honour government’s reform objectives, of communicating to the public !.
It is now apparent that the website is non-operational, virtually obselete !
Government claims to be moving towards a democratic government !. The concept of democracy is that a democratic society is one in which the public has the means to participate in some meaningful way in the management of their own affairs and the means of information are open and free. It now appears that government policy requires the public to be barred from access to reliable information and/or information be kept narrowly and rigidly controlled.
The PM’s recent TV charade was no more than an effort to redefine the art of democracy in order to bring about consent from the public on his alleged corrupt and sexually perverted behaviour. One ponders the question “ Is this the technique of propaganda the Sevele Administration has imposed on the Government of Tonga to be conveyed through the Information Minister ?.”
The Prime Minister’s TV exhibition was only successful in mobilizing community opinion in favour of vapid and empty concepts like monarchist, and Tongan-ism.
The Tongan public is no longer conformist, the Prime Minister’s presentation of reality to the public has only the remotess relation to reality. The Prime Minister’s misconstrued facts on the economic performance of Tonga, is an embarrasment to the Tongans aboard and yet Sevele claims himself to be a PhD graduate in economics !!. If he was, he would have understood the key indicators that measures economic growth !.
It seems that any truth of anything in Tonga is buried under edifice after edifice after edifice of lies !
Minister Utoikamanu, difficult as it is to admit, Sevele’s cabinet is nothing short of hysterics, but whom have more credibility and confidence of the public to lead Government. Sevele’s only success in government is engineering dissenting opinion against his own administration!
If Government think it can pacify the Tonga public with its propaganda, recall the event of 16th November 2006. Post 16/11 to date, the reconstruction effort has been dismal. Lack of leadership, unity and harmony amongst Cabinet ministers underlie the delay in rebuilding Nuku’alofa. The petty jealousy orchestrated by Sevele and his minions, only caused more chaos, aggravated dissidents, and dissipated remaining confidence in the royal family.
As I said in my earlier communication to you relating to the impending closure of Tonga Now in July 2007, “why the whims of a few results in policy decisions that have far reaching consequences for the development of the Kingdom…”
Minister ‘Utoikamanu, without doubt, I am now convinced that you have allowed a bunch of vampires to impose their self motivated political agenda on your promise to the public on what the public sector reform programme was going to achieve for the mass.
The millions of readers of Tonga Now, found it a reliable and a well-balanced source of information. One would have thought that the minimum standard for reporting established by Tonga Now would provide the benchmark for other government media outlet such as the Tonga Chronicle. Reading Tonga Now was also encouraging, as I am informed that the professionals managing the website were all Tongans!. It seems that Sevele cannot even acknowledge nor value local contribution, but prefers to employ long expired and incompetent spongers from the Solomon Islands whom are well known throughout the pacific to being unsympathetic to local needs !
The decision ratified by government to terminate Tonga Now operators, will now compel readers to go elsewhere for information and not necessary those released by the Information Unit.
I certainly hope that government and the royal family can get its act together and commit to a political reform roadmap that is satisfactory to the public, and not focus on petty politics that have detrimental impact on the economic and social development of the Kingdom.
Fervent Tonga Now viewer!
Yours faithfully,
Mounga. K. Johnston
Greystanes
NSW
Closure of Tonga Now:- Communication and media is central to social and economic development
After hearing the unkempt interview of the Prime Minister of Tonga on 19th January 2008, I was saddened to hear that Tonga Now was being transferred to the Information Unit, part of the move to synchronise information outlet of government. Reading the newspaper, and asking questions reconfirmed my suspicion that Tonga Now was closed down, on the insistence of the Prime Minister !..
In his dismal oratory skills, the Prime Minister conveyed Government policy to control information released to the public. At a time when the public confidence in government, both domestically and externally is at low ebb, such an announcement has reinforced the urgency to progress political and constitutional reform in the Kingdom.
Minister ‘Utoikamanu, Tonga Now was an important vehicle in serving the public interest. This, you may have overlooked in advising the Prime Minister and Cabinet !. Government’s decision to terminate Tonga Now has shattered the remaining infinitesimal confidence viewers had in the Tonga Government.
Minister ‘Utoikamanu, you have denied the right of millions of viewers of Tonga Now to be informed of the status of Tonga Now. At the very least, you have denied the right of the public to be informed, and you have failed to honour government’s reform objectives, of communicating to the public !.
It is now apparent that the website is non-operational, virtually obselete !
Government claims to be moving towards a democratic government !. The concept of democracy is that a democratic society is one in which the public has the means to participate in some meaningful way in the management of their own affairs and the means of information are open and free. It now appears that government policy requires the public to be barred from access to reliable information and/or information be kept narrowly and rigidly controlled.
The PM’s recent TV charade was no more than an effort to redefine the art of democracy in order to bring about consent from the public on his alleged corrupt and sexually perverted behaviour. One ponders the question “ Is this the technique of propaganda the Sevele Administration has imposed on the Government of Tonga to be conveyed through the Information Minister ?.”
The Prime Minister’s TV exhibition was only successful in mobilizing community opinion in favour of vapid and empty concepts like monarchist, and Tongan-ism.
The Tongan public is no longer conformist, the Prime Minister’s presentation of reality to the public has only the remotess relation to reality. The Prime Minister’s misconstrued facts on the economic performance of Tonga, is an embarrasment to the Tongans aboard and yet Sevele claims himself to be a PhD graduate in economics !!. If he was, he would have understood the key indicators that measures economic growth !.
It seems that any truth of anything in Tonga is buried under edifice after edifice after edifice of lies !
Minister Utoikamanu, difficult as it is to admit, Sevele’s cabinet is nothing short of hysterics, but whom have more credibility and confidence of the public to lead Government. Sevele’s only success in government is engineering dissenting opinion against his own administration!
If Government think it can pacify the Tonga public with its propaganda, recall the event of 16th November 2006. Post 16/11 to date, the reconstruction effort has been dismal. Lack of leadership, unity and harmony amongst Cabinet ministers underlie the delay in rebuilding Nuku’alofa. The petty jealousy orchestrated by Sevele and his minions, only caused more chaos, aggravated dissidents, and dissipated remaining confidence in the royal family.
As I said in my earlier communication to you relating to the impending closure of Tonga Now in July 2007, “why the whims of a few results in policy decisions that have far reaching consequences for the development of the Kingdom…”
Minister ‘Utoikamanu, without doubt, I am now convinced that you have allowed a bunch of vampires to impose their self motivated political agenda on your promise to the public on what the public sector reform programme was going to achieve for the mass.
The millions of readers of Tonga Now, found it a reliable and a well-balanced source of information. One would have thought that the minimum standard for reporting established by Tonga Now would provide the benchmark for other government media outlet such as the Tonga Chronicle. Reading Tonga Now was also encouraging, as I am informed that the professionals managing the website were all Tongans!. It seems that Sevele cannot even acknowledge nor value local contribution, but prefers to employ long expired and incompetent spongers from the Solomon Islands whom are well known throughout the pacific to being unsympathetic to local needs !
The decision ratified by government to terminate Tonga Now operators, will now compel readers to go elsewhere for information and not necessary those released by the Information Unit.
I certainly hope that government and the royal family can get its act together and commit to a political reform roadmap that is satisfactory to the public, and not focus on petty politics that have detrimental impact on the economic and social development of the Kingdom.
Fervent Tonga Now viewer!
Yours faithfully,
Mounga. K. Johnston
Greystanes
NSW