Opinion
Learning Maori isn't easy
Thursday 12 November 2009 | Published in Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor, I was one of the lucky people getting my PR last time, and I’m grateful for that. I’ve been trying to learn Maori for many years and think it’s a great idea that you now have to learn Maori to get your PR, but…where do you learn it? It’s easy to say mingle […]
Report thefts
Thursday 12 November 2009 | Published in Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor, We have to agree with the points made by the Kiwi couple regarding thefts. After being robbed of a large sum of money, passports, credit cards, licences etc while we slept in a locked apartment, we too would never return to your beautiful island for a holiday. The crime level is ridiculous with […]
Fond farewell to Karen Galvan
Thursday 12 November 2009 | Published in Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor, I wish to acknowledge the great work of Karen Galvin (pictured) in her time on Rarotonga as the Clinic Manager for the Esther Honey Foundation. Karen has worked tirelessly, with huge amounts of energy to achieve a level of success not previously possible. Karen has made her passion of animal welfare her occupation. […]
'Honest Jim' in danger of drowning
Thursday 12 November 2009 | Published in Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor, The growing public outcry in relation to the country’s increasing dysfunctional political system is screaming testament of the very poor leadership that this country has had to endure under the Marurai Government. At a time when the economy is slowing down, Cook Islanders (our most valuable asset) continue to flock overseas to seek […]
Use skype and skip toll costs
Thursday 12 November 2009 | Published in Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor, In response to the letter about exorbitant broadband charges, here is some advice. www.skype.com is available completely free of charge for all computer users to download. Once you have this program loaded, paying premiums for international toll calls is but a memory. Although not entirely free (because of megabytes used), it helps to […]
Let him prove his worth
Thursday 12 November 2009 | Published in Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor, I’ve just come across the letter by a concerned Tereora parent regarding Teaea Parima’s appointment to that school next year, and while this is a late response on the heels of others I still think it’s better late than never. First, is ‘Concerned Tereora Parent’ implying that in Teaea’s years as principal in […]
Open door could close behind us
Thursday 12 November 2009 | Published in Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor. In the United States, to work and live there you are required to have a Green Card. If you happen to be away from the US for a period of time, you lose your Green Card and all its benefits, and to re-apply you are almost guaranteed to be UNSUCCESSFUL, hence Green Card […]
Keen to learn but
Thursday 12 November 2009 | Published in Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor, I agree with Sir Terepai Maoate and the language issue associated with applying for permanent residency in the Cook Islands. To be eligible for PR, applicants must now be able to speak conversational Cook Islands Maori. As a New Zealand papa’a privileged enough to be living in the Cook Islands, I feel the […]
Monday 24: ISLAND SALESMANSHIP
Wednesday 26 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
A smokesignaller said he loves the unique approach taken by island marketers. “I recall a shoe sale a number of years back that said: ‘Buy one shoe, get the other one free’! Another chuckled after hearing this radio advert: ‘Buy your loved one your love forever. Get her a washing machine… (price etc). Get one […]
Monday 24: CLASSMATES
Wednesday 26 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
A former Tereora College student was looking at a 1997 photo of her class online and counted that out of 22 students, three have died (just under 14 percent) since the photo was taken 12 years ago.
Monday 24: Our killer roads!
Wednesday 26 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
The Cooks has come second in the world, but it’s not a record we can be proud of. World Health Organisation figures confirm what the Cook Islands Road Safety Council has been warning all along – our roads are some of the deadliest in the world. WHO says the African state of Eritrea is the […]
Thursday 20: SHOPPING TIMES
Wednesday 26 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
A smoke signaller who claims to have been turned away from a supermarket recently – along with others – at 5.45pm when it’s advertised they close at 6pm – wonders if this is the result of there being a monopoly on supermarkets in town? Another signaller who has a very accurate watch commented that at […]
Wednesday 26: Road death stats table invalid
Wednesday 26 August 2009 | Published in Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor, The inclusion of the Cook Islands road death statistic in the WHO table is a classic example of using statistics in the manner of a drunk using a lamppost – for support rather than illumination. We should not even be in that table because we cannot supply a figure of deaths per 100,000. […]
Thursday 20: FAIR TAXI FARE?
Wednesday 26 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
“I had a great meal in town the other day with a friend from overseas,” one of our readers writes. “We decided we did not want to wait for the next bus, an hour away, so asked the waitress to organise a taxi. ‘Could you tell me roughly how much it would be to go […]
Monday 24: It's admirable, but
Wednesday 26 August 2009 | Published in Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor, It’s admirable what Gordon Sawtell is doing to advocate better conditions for prisoners. It’s hard to do things at the prison if there are no resou-rces and the political will is not there. But I think it is a bit low of him to criticise the appointment of past superintendents, most of whom […]
Thursday 20: ADOPTION COSTS
Wednesday 26 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
Great idea and very successful says one of our readers of the adopt-a-country programme for the netball champs. “Indeed the school visits were seen as highlight experiences for just about all the visiting teams. Just one downer in all of this…while a very limited number of t-shirts were sponsored, all the school children had to […]
Thursday 20: DPM must prioritise funds for prison
Wednesday 26 August 2009 | Published in Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor, There is an awareness among the general public of the need to upgrade the Arorangi Prison. Many people are asking when this can be achieved. Some people are interested from a moral point of view and others because of the threat it poses during an escape such as the wild rumour of the […]
Thursday 20: OCH AYE
Wednesday 26 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
On the subject of the netballers, judging by the close-up shots in the filler snippets played on CITV, the Scottish lasses sure know how to swing their bums in time to the local drums!
Thursday 20: Copycat crime story
Wednesday 26 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
A smoke signaller wonders whether two Polish prisoners who broke out of a German jail might have heard about our prison breakout on the coconut wireless. They escaped by tying their bed sheets together to abseil down a 15 metre wall. “The wall is pretty high,” a spokesperson for the prison in the southern city […]
Wednesday 26: RAINMAN FOR HIRE
Wednesday 26 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
A weather watcher remarked yesterday that we should loan the Cook Islands’ weatherman Arona Ngari to countries like Australia where they need someone to break the drought. “Every time Arona predicts a weather pattern, or pronounces such and such, we usually get the opposite weather pattern. Like the other day when he said we were […]
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