Pacific health advocate and champion Dr Collin Fonotau Tukuitonga heads the list of Pacific recipients in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for 2022.

This year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours coincide with the celebrations of Queen Elizabeth’s 70 years as monarch, so have been renamed the Queen’s Birthday and Platinum Jubilee Honours.

Associate Professor Tukuitonga, a Niuean, and the the inaugural Associate Dean Pacific and associate professor of public health in the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, has received the Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Pacific and public health.

• READ MORE: New Zealand Queens’s Birthday Honours – the full list

“Over the past two years he has been a calm and steady voice for immunisation in the Pacific,” said Pacific Peoples Minister Aupito William Sio.

Sir Collin joins 17 other Pacific people also recognised for their contributions to health, education, sport, the arts and many other sectors.

Sir Collin has been active in the covid-19 response information, particularly for the Pasifika community.

He said he was humbled to have been nominated.

“I wasn’t aware that this was happening, so it’s a humbling experience,” he said.

“I’m thankful to be acknowledged, I should also say that it’s not just myself, I think it’s an acknowledgement of all the people involved and I’m just fortunate to have been nominated — there are lots of people in our community who do the work day and day out.”

Sir Collin plans on celebrating his achievement with his children but hopes to be able to visit Niue soon.

Sports
Leaupepe Luteru Ross Poutoa Lote-Taylor has also been honoured for services to cricket and Pacific communities.

Leaupepe retired from cricket and signed off as New Zealand’s most successful test batsman, with 7683 runs including 19 centuries from 112 matches between 2007 and 2022, with a batting average of 44.66 runs.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to play cricket for the Black Caps for several years and thoroughly enjoyed it, and being able to help others both on and off the field,” he said.

Leaupepe said contributing to the Pacific community is something he wants to continue doing.

“I’m a proud Kiwi and I’m a proud Samoan as well. I’ve been fortunate to have the platform to give back throughout my career and now that I’m retired I look forward to giving back more.”

Having received numerous awards throughout his cricket career, Leaupepe said being honoured by the Queen was “extra special”.

“As a cricketer, you want to do your best to your ability but to be recognised like this — it’s not just for me, it’s my teammates who have helped me out and my family and friends who sacrificed a lot for me.”

Arts
New Zealand-born Samoan opera singer Jonathan Lemalu is in disbelief after being made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to opera.

Lemalu is a Grammy Award-winning bass-baritone who has been performing internationally for more than 20 years.

He said it was a complete surprise to be awarded the honour.

“I honestly didn’t believe it. I thought it was a joke,” Lemalu said.

“Hilarious in a way because it didn’t sound like something that would be happening to me. Mum got a Queen’s Honours in 2006 for services to the Pacific community. It felt cool in a way to follow in her footsteps.”

Education
Mangere College Deputy Principal Melegalenuu Ah Sam was also in shock when she found out she was on the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2022 list.

Melegalenu’u Ah Sam has become a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Pacific language education.

Beginning in the mid-1990s, Ah Sam established Samoan language teaching at the college, later driving the addition of Cook Islands Māori and Lea Faka-Tonga.

She led the establishment of the Languages ‘L Block’ at the college in 2012, as a hub for Māori and Pacific learning in language and culture.

“I paused — and then I read the email again,” Ah Sam said.

“And then I just said a short prayer. I feel humbled, I just want to thank the people that recognised the work that myself and my colleagues and everyone else in the education sector are doing.

“For me personally I’m not expecting any rewards, I’m not expecting anything like this, I do it because I love working in education and I love teaching. So to be nominated is a privilege and an honour.”

Ah Sam said growing up in Samoa, her parents were her best role models.

“My parents played a huge part in my life. They made sure that we strived to be the best we can be — my mother was a nurse, and my dad was a Samoan judge,” she said.

“I didn’t feel that I wanted to get into nursing, but they allowed me to come to New Zealand on a scholarship and they instilled in my sisters and brothers the importance of achievement and success in whatever field.”

Other Pasifika people recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for 2022:

• Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit: Bridget Snedden, for services to people with learning disabilities
• Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit: Lesi Atoni, for services to the Tokelau community
• Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit: Sandra Borland, for services to nursing and the Pacific community
• Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit: Matthew (Mataio) Brown, for services to mental health and the prevention of family violence
• Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit: Siaosi Fa’alogo, for services to the New Zealand police and the community
• Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit: Dr Linita Manu’atu, for services to Pacific education and the Tongan community
• Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit: Tolupene Peau, for services to the Tokelau community
• Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit: Bill Urale, for services to music and the community
• Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit: Kiriovea Jasmin McSweeney, for services to the film industry
• Queen’s Service Medal: Gabrielle-Sisifo Makisi, for services to Pacific communities and education
• Queen’s Service Medal: Reverend Salafai Mika, for services to church ministry and the Samoan community
• Queen’s Service Medal: Reverend Hiueni Nuku, for services to Tongan and Pacific communities
• Queen’s Service Medal: Vaipou Saluni, for services to education and the Pacific community
• Queen’s Service Medal: Luther Toloa, for services to the Pacific community

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

The Pacific Media Centre’s weekly radio programme Southern Cross made its 2020 debut today featuring Sri Krishnamurthi talking to 95bFM presenter Sherry Zhang and PMC director Professor David Robie.

The trio covered wide-ranging topics such as the tragic death last week of exiled Black Brother musician and political activist Andy Ayamasiba who has left a strong legacy in his adopted country Vanuatu – but never lived to see an independent West Papua.

The programme was introduced with a soundbite from the legendary song “Lik Lik Hop Tasol” (“Little Hope at All”), regarded as a sort of autobiographical lyrics about Ayamasiba’s life.

LISTEN: Southern Cross at 95bFM at the PMC’s Soundcloud channel

Ironically, the popular “Lili Lik Hop Tasol” was originally written in mourning for the death of fellow Black Brother guitarist August Rumwaropen.

Ayamiseba was the Black Brothers band manager and founder.

The song, with its clear political imagery and simplistic evocation of strength in adversity, is clearly autobiographical. It is, arguably, the anthem which animated Ayamiseba’s lifelong pursuit of freedom,” wrote former Vanuatu Daily Post media director Dan McGarry in a tribute.

“Andy Ayamiseba aged gracefully. Encroaching frailty complemented his unassuming, soft-spoken manner, but it masked a dynamism and fervour only visible to his trusted friends and confidants.

‘Jazz-funk rebel’
“Once lit, however, that spark provided a glimpse of the man as he was, the jazz-funk rebel, walking in his exile hand in hand with equally youthful – and equally naive – leaders. Together they redefined the Melanesian identity.”

Krishnamurthi, Zhang and Dr Robie also spoke about a media controversy over a screaming New Zealand Herald banner headline, “Pandemonium”, at the weekend that was not backed up by the story – an unconvincing report about “panic buying” in supermarkets in the wake of New Zealand’s first case of coronavirus – and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s visit to Fiji last week.

But the most poignant story discussed was Krishnamurthi’s own very personal account of the “frightening and challenging” time he had had recovering from a stroke more than two years ago and trying to regain his journalism career.

Read his story here.

• The Pacific Media Centre’s Soundcloud channel for Southern Cross podcasts
• Black Brothers founder’s message to PNG musicians: ‘Keep committed’

Auckland’s popular Silo Park will come alive to the sounds of the Caribbean next week.

Part of the Summer at Silo Park events, the Aotearoa-New Zealand Steelband Festival on Saturday, February 24, will bring together seven local steelbands and feature two special guest steelbands from Australia.

It is the first event of its kind to be held in New Zealand.

The festival is being organised by the first steelband to be established in New Zealand, the CaribbeaNZ Southern Stars.

Band manager Camille Nakhid says the event has been a longtime coming.

“CaribbeaNZ Southern Stars formed in 2005 and have played at festivals and private events all over New Zealand.

“With a number of other bands established in recent years we felt the time was right to bring us all together and stage the country’s first ever steelband festival.”

With a history stretching back to African drumming practices, the modern steelpan evolved in Trinidad during World War II, when industrious musicians with little resources refashioned disused 55-gallon drums into a range of instruments.

New musical identity
Initially stigmatised as unsophisticated music of poor communities, the image of steelpan music changed after Trinidad gained independence in 1962 and set out to define a new musical identity for itself.

Today, steelbands and Calypso music are globally recognised and synonymous with the Caribbean and the vibrant sights and sounds of carnival season, which has just finished.

“Carnival is the real annual party for Caribbean communities,” said Nakhid.

“Steelbands practise for months to prepare for the Panorama competitions. With our festival, we’re hoping to bring that same atmosphere, the Caribbean love of music and festivity, to downtown Auckland.”

As well as the nine steelbands, the festival will also feature guest performances by other drumming groups, and food – including lip-smacking Caribbean favourites – will be available throughout the day.

At 2.30pm, the bands will dress up in costumes for the festival parade and traditional massed-band finale performance.

‘Feelin’ de riddim’
Any members of the public who are “feelin’ de riddim” will be invited to take part in the parade, dance and join in the carnival atmosphere.

The festival is free to attend and opens at 9.30am.

It is being supported by Silo Park and the Auckland Council Creative Communities scheme.

A carnival night is also being held on the same day at the Fickling Centre, and will feature the CaribbeaNZ Southern Stars performing with exciting newcomers The Panimals (Bream Bay College) and special guest singer Errol Renaud from Sydney’s Caribbean Soul.

Limited tickets will be available on the door, and cost $20.

Contacts: Tish Viljoen 021 025 27616 or Camille Nakhid

• NZ’s first steelband festival to be held at Auckland’s Silo Park

DropVkal Family, a local ni-Vanuatu band made up of unemployed male youth living in the same neighborhood, is making its mark in the music and social activism scene.

They play mainly acoustic reggae, rock and roots music.

Their vision is for the group to promote local vernacular languages and be an alternative to mainstream full-set band reggae popular among youth groups in Port Vila and throughout Vanuatu.

DropVkal Family has been performing at bars and restaurants around Port Vila.  They play regularly at Coconut Palms Resort on Saturday nights and Anchor Inn on Sundays.

“We’re a group of friends from different islands of Vanuatu that have come together because of our love of music, and our interest in contributing to the development of Vanuatu and its special local culture,” says musician Carlos Noronha.

“The band is evolving and is inclusive. It is a product of the merging of the bands DropVcull Groove and Family Roots.”

The name DropVkal resembles the word Tropical, the climate associated with Vanuatu. But DropVkal has a deeper meaning comprising three themes:

Drop – “Tears of the pain suffered by our ancestors who were kidnapped or tricked into leaving home to work as indentured labourers on plantations in Australia. This practice, called Blackbirding, is a terrible chapter in Vanuatu’s past.”

V – “Vision, the Future, with a focus on Actions to build a better society. DropVkal Family wants to share ideas through our songs, which are ready to record, about violence against women and girls, corruption, appreciation of the environment and nature of Vanuatu and West Papua. We are always thinking about what will be our next project? How can we use our music for positive social change?”

Kal – “Culture. We aim to incorporate local instruments, especially the bamboo flute, in all of our original songs. This symbolises the respect and admiration that we have for Vanuatu’s indigenous culture.”

The group has supported several fundraising initiatives – such as in Port Vila Central Market to enable the purchase of 17 water tanks to send outer islands of Vanuatu to help communities suffering the effects of the climate change phenomenon El Niño in 2015.

DropVkal Family

The choir which includes members from Fiji and the Solomon Islands is led by well-known performing arts creative, Igelese Et, who is also the Head of Performing Arts at the USP Oceania Centre in Suva.

An elated Ete said this contract is a feat of great magnitude and acknowledgement to the talents of the people of the Pacific.

“It is fair to say that a Hollywood Disney animation is the ‘olympics’ of the entertainment world,” he said.

The choir will attend the global premiere of Moana in November-“rumour has it the Hollywood megastar Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson will be attending,” Ete said.

Pasifika Renaissance, an NGO dedicated to Pacific oral histories, has appealed to groups documenting traditional knowledge to upload stories to their YouTube channel.

Among recent collaborators are Papua New Guinean journalist and community worker Milton Tyotam Kwaipo, from Rabaul, who runs a multimedia studio in Madang Province.

After earning a BA majoring music, journalism and public relations at the University of Papua New Guinea in 2006, he later worked for NGO World Vision International in PNG, Timor Leste and Vanuatu from 2009 to 2015.

He also earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Community Development in 2014.

In 2015, he started Milate Multimedia Produxion that focuses on using multimedia (music, audio, radio programs, video and photography) for social empowerment through sharing of ‘positive stories’, focusing on local communities developing themselves rather than waiting for outside sources to aid them.

He is also a musician, playing a flute, saxophone and other instruments.

Pasifika Renaissance’s appeal said:

Since many interested and motivated people have asked us about possible participation in our NGO’s activities, we decided to invite you to document oral traditions from knowledgeable elders in your village or island by a video/digital camera, tablet or cellphone to upload your videos on our YouTube page.

The topics of your elders’ narrations include legends, folktales, colonial histories, experiences of WWII and dying cultural practices.

Narrators can speak in their languages or English in your videos, since the target of your videos is younger people on your island.

This project will primarily enable you to record disappearing oral traditions of your home island and share them with your people.

Furthermore, through this project, we seek your active involvement in revitalising your island’s traditional culture and creating a larger “renaissance” movement in a wider Pacific region.

In addition, if you have an opportunity to take videos of cultural practices (e.g. fishing, festivals, rituals, dances) on your island, please share them with us to upload them on our YouTube page.

If you are interested in this project, please send us a message on FB or at pasifika.renaissance@gmail.com, so we’ll send you more detailed info. We are very looking forward to your participation in our endeavor!

We are very keen to collaborate with a researcher, government official, and interested community member of the Pacific islands to pursue our common goals. Please contact us to discuss possible collaboration. Thank you!

The latest upload to the channel has been a “Western-style” dance “Kahlek Dil” from Pohnpei.

In addition to earlier Western influence in island music in the 19th century, Pohnpeian people learned several forms of foreign dances during the German administration (1899-1914).

One of them is marching dances, which were created through interactions with foreigners in the Marshall Islands and spread throughout Micronesia in the early 1900s.