More Top Stories
‘Nothing to worry about’: Prime Minister Brown on China agreement
16 February 2025
‘Serious questions’: Opposition challenges China partnership
15 February 2025
No-confidence motion against PM and his Cabinet faces delays
15 February 2025
Ruta Mave: People’s Republic of China red flag
10 February 2025
No debt in China deal
8 February 2025
Thomas Wynne: Haka with the taniwha or dance with the dragon?
8 February 2025
‘Paedophile’ gets 13 years in prison
22 January 2025
Thomas Wynne: Where were our leaders while children suffered?
25 January 2025
$541.7m tourism earnings
25 January 2025
Cook Islands passport proposal
6 January 2025
Top cop position advertised
7 December 2024
Police need numbers and bigger budget
9 December 2024
Niki Rattle: A call for stronger human rights protections
10 December 2024
Solid and Hazardous Waste Bill referred to Parliament committee
10 December 2024
DPM defends CIIC finance and travel policies
6 December 2024
Cook Islands has its first mosque
14 November 2024
CI Muslim opens up about her faith and journey
16 November 2024
RAC to address mosque legality
19 November 2024
I don’t expect much change: PM Brown on US Elections
6 November 2024
Fifth weekly Sydney flight to Rarotonga announced
23 October 2024
CIIC directors seek $350,000 in damages over defamatory claims
21 October 2024
Man found guilty of rape, burglary
24 September 2024
Tenants face water bill burden
8 October 2024
Concerns over Minister’s role in inmate work releases: PAC
5 October 2024
Tourism contribution set to surpass half-billion dollar mark
25 September 2024
Parliament Clerk sparks outrage over deep sea mining statement
23 September 2024
Deep sea dilemma: Cook Islanders weigh the cost of mineral riches
21 September 2024
Anxiety on the rise: Cook Islands faces mental health challenge
7 September 2024
Cook Islands deep sea mining poll sparks controversy
7 September 2024
MCI rejects ‘dark fleet’ label
3 August 2024
Articles by Ruta Tangiiau Mave
RUTA MAVE: Deaths, taxes and sabbaticals
Monday 16 January 2023 | Written by Ruta Tangiiau Mave | Published in Editorials, Opinion
We may not wish to lose our close ones but we less wish to hold onto them if it means a living death.
RUTA MAVE: A promise to love and to hold until death do us part
Monday 9 January 2023 | Written by Ruta Tangiiau Mave | Published in Editorials, Opinion
With the statistics of marriage these days saying only 55 per cent remain married, the average length of time for a marriage is around 20 years.
RUTA MAVE: Yesterday is gone, tomorrow never comes, today is a gift because it’s the present
Wednesday 4 January 2023 | Written by Ruta Tangiiau Mave | Published in Letters to the Editor, Opinion
As children we make impressions of the world from how we saw it or interpreted it growing up. As adults we have the ability to make decisions about life different from what we experienced, writes Ruta Mave.
RUTA MAVE: Thoughts on the life journey of Jesus
Thursday 29 December 2022 | Written by Ruta Tangiiau Mave | Published in Opinion
Christmas marks the birth of a son. A journey that starts with a family as diverse and interesting as any family around the world, writes Ruta Mave.
RUTA MAVE: Attitude of gratitude
Monday 19 December 2022 | Written by Ruta Tangiiau Mave | Published in Opinion
The Christmas lights came on around the island this past weekend. The simple coloured lights strung across from pole-to-pole zig zagging around the Are Tapu. It is magical to drive home from work at night and have them shine in the night sky. They remind me of our tree lights made to look like flowers, they always heralded the anticipation of the arrival of Santa.
RUTA MAVE: ‘This is the cultural issue that needs attention’
Monday 12 December 2022 | Written by Ruta Tangiiau Mave | Published in Opinion
There has been a lot of talk about culture lately and what constitutes how it defines us, as a society. If we accept culture is the ideas, customs and social behavior of a particular people, then we accept wearing ei katus and the giving of eis at the airport and award ceremonies as one of our more lovely cultural practices. If social behaviour defines us, then eating and drinking is foremost our larger problem of culture as we battle a health crisis of obesity and NCDs. Domestic violence and abuse are cultural too.
Gossip – is it true, is it kind, is it useful?
Monday 5 December 2022 | Written by Ruta Tangiiau Mave | Published in Opinion
There are no good ends to those who like to gossip with unconstrained conversation about other people without confirming if they are true, writes Ruta Mave.
‘Fighting for what is right, writing to make things right’
Monday 28 November 2022 | Written by Ruta Tangiiau Mave | Published in Opinion
Good people who see bad things and say nothing are as bad as the bad people doing them. We need people to stand up and say ‘The emperor is wearing no clothes’, writes Ruta Mave.
Man’s best friend
Monday 14 November 2022 | Written by Ruta Tangiiau Mave | Published in Letters to the Editor, Opinion
It’s been a hard day’s night and I’ve been working like a dog (Beatles) – this has been a phrase used for ages to describe where an employee is at the mercy of the employer and is made to work on a task without taking any breaks, writes Ruta Mave.
RUTA MAVE: Climate change or ‘pyramid scheme’
Monday 7 November 2022 | Written by Ruta Tangiiau Mave | Published in Opinion
It is obvious the extent of Government’s promise to be transparent does not extend to letting the public know how much is being spent on the COP27 trip to Egypt, writes Ruta Mave.
LETTER: We are all equal in the eyes of God
Monday 31 October 2022 | Written by Ruta Tangiiau Mave | Published in Letters to the Editor, Opinion
Today is October 31st or Halloween where the ghosts and spirits are said to walk amongst us and to help them blend in, people dress up in costumes of the dead, writes Ruta Mave.
Ruta Mave: Homecoming
Monday 17 October 2022 | Written by Ruta Tangiiau Mave | Published in Opinion
I did not feel welcomed as similar, related or one people growing up in South Auckland. We were referred to as coons, bunga’s or coconuts by others including Maori and we in reply called them hori’s and kumara’s. Maybe Minister Nanaia Mahuta is right, the mana of the Cook Islands has matured. We hope it has for them too.
RUTA MAVE: ‘We ask others what we as nation are not prepared to do ourselves’
Monday 10 October 2022 | Written by Ruta Tangiiau Mave | Published in Opinion
We may be small and unremarkable but we know how to punch it out to the big guns to stand up and call the large nations of the world to attention, to take heed and stock of themselves and look at us small minions.
RUTA MAVE: Challenging the legality of Queen’s Memorial ‘day off’
Monday 3 October 2022 | Written by Ruta Tangiiau Mave | Published in Opinion
Government is the largest employer in the Cook Islands so are they paying everyone to have the day off? Are they paying double time for all those employees who worked on September 30 for the opening of the Cook Island Games? Ruta Mave writes.
RUTA MAVE: ‘Don’t blame the Russia-Ukraine war, the shame is ours’
Monday 26 September 2022 | Written by Ruta Tangiiau Mave | Published in Opinion
The food freight subsidy offered by government is not going to save the outer islands from an empty bank account, not when the same government sold our precious tuna to the European Union purse seine fishing boats for a lame $0.16 per kilo while we are expected to pay $30 per kilo for tuna caught in our own waters by our own fishermen.
Learning life’s lessons through travel
Monday 19 September 2022 | Written by Ruta Tangiiau Mave | Published in Opinion
Travel is the only thing we can buy that gives us nothing in our hands but can truly make us richer beyond material wealth, writes Ruta Mave.
Preserving historical and culture treasures
Monday 12 September 2022 | Written by Ruta Tangiiau Mave | Published in Opinion
We have an award for a new designed waterfront area of climate change calculations that promises future protection, one hopes this is the case. We have a sad history of building buildings that don’t build confidence in this sector, writes Ruta Mave.
OPINION: Smallest room with the biggest arguments
Monday 5 September 2022 | Written by Ruta Tangiiau Mave | Published in Opinion
If there is one room in the house that causes more marital discourse than any other it is the toilet. The most common arguments are the lid up or down, the loo paper falling to the front or the back of the roll, reading the paper, basically taking too long when others are waiting, leaving […]
OPINION: Follow the rules or follow the fools?
Monday 29 August 2022 | Written by Ruta Tangiiau Mave | Published in Opinion
“Rules were made for fools to follow and wise men to be guided by,” said British statesman Winston Churchill.
OPINION: Recognising opportunities
Monday 22 August 2022 | Written by Ruta Tangiiau Mave | Published in Opinion
Opportunities seldom come when you are most ready, organised or feeling comfortable or sane. Opportunities have the tendency to come at the most inopportune moment.