Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Selau Mailata's first taste of the food industry was through a work experience program at a baked beans factory.

Over 27 years later, he's still in the kitchen, now as a private chef and working in cafes.

"Who would have thought, you know, 20-plus years ago [I'd be] where I am today… and I still love baked beans!"

Growing up in a large family in Grey Lynn, Auckland, food played a central role in his upbringing.

Sundays were a special occasion, with big family lunches featuring traditional Samoan dishes like chop suey, taro, coconut buns, and roast pig. 

To this day, the chef still makes sure to buy the same brands of ingredients and sauces to replicate his mother's cooking. 

"I have to go and find those particular brands because it's just not the same, you know?" he said.

"I think making the chop suey is always nostalgic for me; anything she makes, she loved baking too."  

Mailata's passion for cooking led him to MIT in South Auckland, where he trained as a chef.

"We're always just evolving as a person and as a chef, and that's one thing I love about cooking and being in the industry ... you never stop learning."

He loves creating farm-to-table dishes and likes incorporating elements of Samoan culture into his cooking.

Reflecting on his journey, Mailata advises young Pacific Islanders to dream big and work hard.

"You got to sacrifice a lot, but in the end, it's all worth it."

(ABC Pacific)

TONGA CRACKS DOWN ON ORGANIZED CRIME

Two deportees affiliated to the Australian outlaw motorcycle gang, Comanchero, have been arrested and charged for "participation in an organized crime group" in Tonga.

Tonga Police say the two men, aged 35 and 44, have been charged by the country's counter terrorism and organized crime laws, as they continue to make arrests of gang members to tackle transnational organized crime.

Both men are alleged to have been the sergeant-at-arms and the treasurer of the Comanchero branch in the Kingdom, the police said in a statement Thursday.

"During the arrest, Police also seized cash, Comanchero t-shirts, hoodies and vests," the statement said.

Tongans have been told to stay away from getting involved in gang activities.

"Not only are these types of groups unlawful in Tonga, but they also involve themselves with organizing and committing a wide range of illegal activities that have a detrimental effect upon our communities and our culture."

The arrest came after 17 people were arrested and several kilograms of methamphetamine as well as firearms and ammunition were seized, in raids across Tonga's main island of Tongatapu, last month.

The raids, conducted in August by the Police Drugs Squad, included the arrest of a customs officer, a prison officer, as well as a prominent businessman.

"There is no place in the Kingdom of Tonga for gangs, and those who associate with these types of gangs and their illegal activities," police said at the time.

Tongans with information about illegal activities and gangs have been encouraged to contact the police.

(RNZ)

MEDIA RESTRICTIONS AT COMMONWEALTH SUMMIT

Restrictions on journalists covering an upcoming summit of Commonwealth nations in Samoa are "ridiculous" and at odds with a government that purportedly values democracy, the Pacific island country's media association said Thursday.

The Samoa Observer newspaper in an editorial also condemned the government's attempt to limit coverage of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), calling it a "slap across the face of press freedom, democracy and freedom of speech."

The Commonwealth association, whose 56 members range from the world's most populous nation India to Tuvalu in the South Pacific, covers some 2.7 billion people. The summit in the Samoan capital Apia in October will be one of the biggest events ever held in a Polynesian nation.

"I find the committee's stance ridiculous," Lagi Keresoma, president of the Journalist Association of Samoa, or JAWS, told BenarNews. "We have written to the prime minister who is the head of the CHOGM task force regarding these restrictions.

"We are also trying to get a copy of the Commonwealth guidelines the committee chairperson said the decision is based on."

The restrictions were very disappointing for a government that claimed to believe in democracy, transparency and accountability, Keresoma told online news portal Talamua.

On Wednesday, local journalists who attended a press briefing by Lefaoalii Unutoa Auelua-Fonoti, co-chair of the CHOGM media sub-committee and CEO for the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, were alarmed to hear of the stringent media rules.

The guidelines, endorsed by Cabinet, prevent photographers and videographers taking pictures, put restrictions on journalists covering side events unless accredited to a specific pool, and stop reporters from approaching delegates for interviews, Samoan media reported.

(RNZ Pacific)

WHALE LEGACY

The residents of the Tonga island group of Vava'u are promising to honor the late Māori King's call for whales to be given personhood.

Vava'u is one of the few places in the world where tourists can swim with whales.

Earlier this year, Māori and Pacific leaders signed a declaration called He Whakaputanga Moana, giving whales rights, including the freedom of movement, a healthy environment and the restoration of their populations.

"The sound of her song is getting weaker, and her way of life is under threat, which is why we must act now," the late Kiingi Tuheitia Te Pootatau Te Wherowhero tetua fitu said in April.

Just a few months before his death, Kiingi Tuheitia stood with indigenous Pacific leaders, explaining why He Whakaputanga Moana (the Declaration for the Ocean) is so important.

"The sounds of the Tohorā now are under attack, pollution, ship strikes and the changing tides of our planet," Kiingi said.

A whale watching guide in Vava'u, Siaki Siosifa Fauvao, told RNZ Pacific his community was committed to safeguarding the mammals.

"We will protect the whale, the whale is like a family to the Tongan people," Fauvao said,

He said the operators will honor the king's call.

"For as long as we live that's what we [are] going to do, that is the King's order and that's what we are going to do."

(RNZ Pacific)

PNG COMPLETES PROBE AFTER 8 YRS

Papua New Guinea's Ombudsman Commission has completed an investigation into the police shooting of students at the University of PNG eight years ago.

Police had opened fire on students when they prepared to march on Parliament, leaving dozens hurt.

Among various issues, the students were calling for the then-prime minister, Peter O'Neill, to step down.

The investigation was held up partly by police claiming they could not obtain witness statements.

The Ombudsman's conclusions have gone to the Speaker, who was expected to present the full report to parliament within eight sitting days.

(RNZ Pacific)

UNDERWATER FORESTS THREATENED

Seagrasses, corals and kelp are crucial to Australia’s marine ecosystems. But they are under pressure. With the help of communities and traditional knowledge, scientists are striving to restore these underwater forests to protect carbon stocks and marine wildlife

Shark Bay, in Western Australia, attracts tourists for its stunning scenery. Here, red rocks meet white sands meet blue waves. Perhaps the region’s greatest asset, though, is hidden beneath the waves: one of the world’s largest seagrass meadows.

Spread across more than 180km2 (69 miles2) of seabed, this underwater forest is home to sea cucumbers, snapper fish, the endangered dugong sea cow and more.

Such marine forests form gigantic stores of ‘blue carbon’, but they’re threatened by rising sea temperatures fueled by climate change, pollution, dredging and other human-inflicted harms.

Together with the Great Barrier Reef, these forests act as natural fortifications against rising seas and erosion.

New funding will allow for computerized systems that automatically produce changes in water depth, to mimic tides and create the right conditions for flowering, so that she can collect seagrass seeds.

Volunteer organizations such as OzFish, which aims to restore fish habitats across Australia, also collect seagrass seeds to resew thinning seagrass meadows. At OzFish’s ‘Seeds for Snapper’ project in Cockburn Sound, just off the southwest coast near Perth, volunteer divers help by picking the ripe, green fruits that contain the seeds straight from the plants.

The seeds are released into water tanks, then thrown into the sea from a boat at a seeding location, where they’ll sink to the seabed and, hopefully, germinate.

At the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), Dr Annika Lamb is aiming to bolster coral’s resistance to increasing temperatures through breeding.

(BBC)