Opinion

Letter: The menace of fake customs in Cook Islands

The Cook Islands, with its rich cultural heritage and pristine natural beauty, has long been a beacon for tourists and researchers alike. However, in recent times, the islands have been plagued by a disturbing trend: the proliferation of fake customs and traditions.

Letter: Parliament calendar: 42 days pledged,12 delivered

Dear Editor, I must thank Mr. Moekaa for his recent reminder that our Parliament continues to dazzle us with its efficiency – or lack thereof – despite its ever-generous budget allocation and the ambitious calendar of sitting days it adopted with such gusto last year … the calendar that was supposed to keep Parliament glued to their seats for 42 days in 2024. I’m sure the MPs had every intention of working those days … until, well, they didn’t.

Kata: Parliament session

Letter: Constitution Amendment Bill

I’m sure that Leader of the Opposition Tina Browne in her observations of Niue’s recent referendum was being sarcastic, when she said: “Sadly the article does not give reasons why more than double the voters voted against increasing the term of Parliament.”

Letter: Only in the Cook Islands

Dear Editor, On Monday, September 16, after starting at 1pm, Parliament adjourned around 1.27pm to allow MPs to attend the opening of the netball U20 qualifiers. Maybe you should ask your MP whether s/he attended the opening.

Letter: ‘It’s time we listened to the science’

I write with a heavy heart, disappointed by the narrow-mindedness I see in some of my fellow Cook Islanders when it comes to seabed minerals exploration.

Letter: SBMA ‘losing control’

I would like to speak as an environmentally concerned Cook Islander, hearing concerns raised by Dr Teina Rongo on Temu Okotai’s radio show yesterday morning (Monday).

Letter: Deep sea treasure or trouble?

Dear Editor, Ocean Ancestors is a home-grown collective deeply rooted in our communities. We’re NGOs, businesses and individuals united by a shared passion for protecting the ocean ... together raising the concerns of our people as the demand for resources, including deep sea minerals, overwhelms.

Kata: Metallic nodules

Letter: ‘Trust in God, not money’

Dear Editor, I see in various forms of media, including Letters to the Editor and the Ocean Ancestors Facebook page, discussions and arguments that refer to the Bible.

Kata: Seabed minerals conference

Letter: Nodules: ‘Our underwater Amazon’

I thank Ms Alex (Herman) for her reply to my previous letter regarding DSM (Deep Sea Mining) or SBM (Sea Bed Mining) which is what some are hoping to do in our EEZ.

Letter: Water reform: One bite at a time

Dear Editor, Changing the To Tatou Vai Act 2021 must be a priority for our MPs.

Ruta Mave: ‘You can only help those who want to help themselves’

If you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it is yours. If it doesn’t come back, it never was. The narcissist version is if it comes back, it is yours, if it doesn’t then go out and hunt it down because if you can’t have it then no one else can either, writes Ruta Mave.

Virtues in Paradise: Virtues retreat for helpers

Are you a community leader, a counsellor, police or probation officer, teacher, orametua, physician or nurse? Are you one of the frontline folks who help paddle the vaka of social services in our Cook Islands community? writes Linda Kavelin-Popov.

Thomas Tarurongo Wynne: Honouring the unsung heroes of home

For the many at home who keep the fires burning, who keep the economy going, and who maintain the family homes and land – clean, trimmed, and functioning – I just want to say meitaki maata, meitaki ranuinui, atupaka, korereka, ngao, and atawai wolo, writes Thomas Tarurongo Wynne.

Letter: Paruru i to tatou moana

E tika rai, na te Atua te’ia au mea katoatoa i anga. Te vaira ta te Atua i tuku mai kia ta anga’anga tatou.

Letter: Muffin eaters

Diane Charlie-Puna’s carefree insult to the idea that no one is above the law brings to mind the persistent story that the National Environment Service, under husband Ngatokorua, ran up a tab at a certain popular Arorangi café in the tens of thousands of dollars.

Letter: Vodafone ‘seize the opportunity’

Dear Editor, Starlink is here officially, YAY! And of course it is the most expensive in the Pacific, yet still better than Vodafone Cook Islands. Not yay!

Letter: Vote buying and corruption

Dear Editor, I am deeply moved by a letter to the editor and an opinion column by two brothers, Te Tuhi Kelly in the CI News on 9 September and Steve Boggs in the Cook Islands Herald on 4 September.