THE 9th Kokonut Cup competition was successful held at the Coconut Café in Honiara yesterday.
Japanese International Cooperation Agency Volunteer Ms Yukie Miyano said the competition is aimed at encouraging Solomon Islanders to look after their health and also to communicate with other people from Pacific and other countries.
“Sho and I who are JICA Volunteer have held on the 9th Kokonut Cup successfully today. The Kokonut Cup has started in March last year,” Ms Miyano said.
“This event’s purposes are to give Solomon Islanders the opportunity to communicate with other pacific countries people during sports.
“To encourage Solomon people in health, to give them an opportunity to compete and hopefully see them making it become one of their aim in life.
“It was last event that Sho and I will do together because Sho is going back to Japan after completing his work in the country.
“Sho had swimming lesson first and we had swimming race for individual and then had the water polo game,” she said.
Meanwhile Ms Miyano said after yesterday’s competitions a good number of participants have now passed executing the freestyle, breast stroke and butterfly style swimming events.
“Many participants who from Solomon, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia have enjoyed and excited very much.
“We are very happy to many people has interest to this event and continue to participate and also cooperate us.
“I will effort to hold the Kokonut Cup again with locals and who will help me,” she said.
G-Camp FC Eddie Konde tries to go past Royals Charles during their opening
match of the SIFF Futsal Championship yesterday. G-Camp won 12-4.
By Taromane Martin
SOLOMON Islands Ports Authority (SIPA) will be the major sponsor for this year’s national futsal league competition.
The national futsal league will be completed by 12 teams and is set to kick off this Thursday at the Multipurpose Hall.
Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF) Development Officer Mr Jerry Sam said they are expecting all participating teams and players to be ready for the futsal league.
“I want to call on all team managers to hand in their Team Registration by at 5:00pm today. If any team are late with their team registration they will fined for being late,” Mr Sam said.
“I want to remind and urge all 12 teams for the competition to be prepared because futsal is a very, very fast and entertaining game.
“Players and officials must be mentally and physically ready for this championship. On this note I just want to wish teams and players all the best for the tournament.
“I also want to thank the Honiara City Council for understanding and allowing us the one and only venue the Multipurpose Hall to host the league,” he said.
Meanwhile, the 12 teams confirmed to take part in the competition are
John Aeta of Marist FC (Right) goes past a FC Guadalcanal player during their TSL Championship Round 2 clash at Lawson Tama. Marist FC are through to the competition semi final after defeating FC Guale 5-0 yesterday…Photo Taromane Martin
Four teams remaining
By Taromane Martin
SEMI-finalists for the Telekom S-League Championship are set after the completion of round two at Lawson Tama Stadium yesterday.
Semi-finals for the competition will start on Wednesday with Marist FC taking on an improved Malaita Kingz FC followed by the second semi-final match between Solomon Warriors FC and KOSSA FC on Thursday.
This was after KOSSA FC eliminated Western United FC despite a 3-3 draw while Malaita Kingz FC had to come from behind to eliminate Henderson Eels FC 2-1 on Saturday.
Marist FC secured their semi-final spot after defeating FC Guadalcanal 5-0 while Solomon Warriors FC defeated Real Kakamora FC 3-1 yesterday.
“They performed well today than last weekend. Like I told them the result does not matter getting organised is what matters because we have two weeks to prepare for the OFC Champions League quarterfinals,” Marist FC Head Coach Jerry Allen told SunSPORTS yesterday.
“It’s good because we gave our young ones match time. I’m happy we got five goals. It shows the boys are doing what we’ve been practising on this area which has been a real issue for us.
“Hard work will be the key for us. Each day we must work hard if we want to get the result we want, hard work that is the key,” Coach Allen said.
FC Guadalcanal Head Coach Martin Hiti was disappointed with the number of wasted opportunities but says he is happy with what he has seen from his young side so far.
“I’m happy with what I’ve seen from our two games so far and I’m optimistic for the new season of the TSL which we will now focus for,” he said.
Meanwhile, Malaita Kingz FC Head Coach Rence Talo was pleased with his boy’s performance on Saturday adding their club is trying to give their young players the experience of playing in the highest football competition in the country.
“Most of our players are in the U-19 training squad so we want to give them exposure and experience so they can be ready to represent the country with the squad.
“I’m pleased with the result. We stuck and played together as a team. We are ready and look forward to meet whoever we will play in the semi-finals,” Coach Talo said.
Henderson Eels FC Team Captain Freddy Kini accepted the loss saying some of their players lacked concentration but hopes to do better in the new TSL Season.
“We knew we had to win but unfortunately we lost focus and conceded those two goals in the second half.
“I think the missed penalty and the red card discouraged us as a team but that is football,” Kini said.
The PILP participant in group photo with leaders from Taiwan and East West Centre at the Taiwan Technical Mission farm at KGVI School
BY LYNTON AARON FILIS
The PILP participant in group photo with leaders from Taiwan and East West Centre at the Taiwan Technical Mission farm at KGVI School
TAIWAN and East West Centre (EWC) is extending the Pacific Islands Leadership Programme (PILP) for another five years.
A new MOU was signed earlier this year between Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and EWC after seeing strong positive feedbacks from the PILP participants that the arrangement has been benefitting for the participating countries for the last six years.
The new agreement extends the PILP initiative until 2022; with the aim to empower a further 102 young leaders over the five years.
Following the PILP’s successful visit to Solomon Islands last week, EWC President PhD Richard R Vuylsteke said said EWC wants to support the programme because there is positive feedback from participants and successful stories about individuals’ development in their respective countries and workplaces.
Mr Vuylsteke also adds, Taiwan has been doing this programme for more than 20 years now particularly in South America, Central America, Africa and Pacific, and they are totally dedicated to helping people.
“I think Taiwan is doing a great job here and other places and I’m excited EWC can partner with them to do more,” Vuylsteke said.
Deputy Counsellor for Taiwan Embassy in Solomon Islands Mr Oliver Weng said the PILP has impacted many Pacific islands young leaders thus has impressed MOFA to extend the programme to 2022.
Taiwan’s Ambassador to Solomon Islands His Excellency Roger Luo said 23 applicants from Solomon Islands are applying for the training this year.
He also adds, interest to apply for the PILP training is growing each year.
“We wish PILP programme will facilitate cordial corporation links among our Pacific allies, USA, and Taiwan which could benefit development of the pacific countries and their people,” Mr Luo said.
Luo said the PILP is a good initiative and useful programme which built capacity building of many young leaders and envisions new generation’s future across the pacific nation.
PILP was proposed by Kurt Campbell, then assistant secretary for the US Department of State’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, in November 2011.
Later the same year Rajiv Shah, then administrator of the US Agency for International Development negotiated to run this programme.
The programme comprises courses spanning such topics as education, green energy, health care, industrial development and international cooperation.
A series of articles as told by Loretta Manele about life in Taiwan
I first visited Taiwan in 2015. My visit there was purposely for studies. In August of 2015 when I headed to Taiwan under the Taiwan MOFA scholarship, I could tell that the country was filled with people who were always busy. Even the pedestrian crossing was always filled with people and at the traffic crossing whenever the green light came on, crossing paths would be crowded with university students, working class people, families and a few foreigners. The most popular transport in Taiwan is by scooter.
Sun Moon Lake in Taiwan. Picture by PAC TAIWAN
The main road would also be crowded with scooters that hurriedly scrambled off when it was their turn to move along the road. In Taipei alone, the capital city of Taiwan, it is estimated that there are more than 1 million motorcycles on the road. The constant buzz of scooters can be heard everywhere and the expression of seriousness on their faces told me that they were people who wasted no time in going about their business when they set their mind to it. They are serious in how they use their time.
Another thing I noticed was how friendly they were. From 7-11am shops, shopping areas, restaurants to bus and train stations, they served customers well and are very kind. They are also very respectful.
Chinese NY dance.
As a foreigner and a first time student, it is a must that we must learn Mandarin. Mandarin is the basic Chinese language. I started Mandarin classes at Fu Jen Catholic University which is located in Xinzhuang District, New Taipei in September of 2015. The Taiwanese teachers are very nice and some are strict. During my one year of Mandarin study at Fu Jen, we performed a cultural item.
Because the university has many foreign students from different nationalities, during the year there was a programme where each country would showcase their tradition, usually by performing a dance item. For the people of Taiwan, culture and tradition plays a very important part in their society and they expect us to know about our own culture and traditions as well.
2015 MOFA scholarship recipients ready to perform a cultural dance item at the school.
As part of our orientation, we also travelled to a place called “Sun Moon Lake” which was a very nice experience. Sun Moon Lake is a lake in Yuchi Township and is the largest body of water in Taiwan. The area around the lake is home to one of the native tribes of Taiwan, called the Thao tribe. Sun Moon Lake surrounds a tiny island called Lalu. The east side of the lake resembles a sun while the west side resembles a moon, hence the name. The bus ride to Sun Moon Lake was quiet long but worth it.
Thereon, I slowly adjust and adapt to the Taiwanese culture and lifestyle. I came to find out that Taiwan has four seasons. Summer begins in June and ends in August. During this period, it is very hot and humid and it is when most people enjoy bubble tea, a popular drink in Taiwan that comes in different flavours. By September, fall arrives and this time it is less humid and a great time to visit different places in Taiwan.
When fall ends in November, winter approaches in December and it is when the weather will be much cooler, mainly at night than during the day. It also rains from time to time in winter. The winter season is when people will be prompted to purchase more clothing until the season ends in February.
Spring arrives in March and at this time of the year the city will be filled with beautiful flowers and plants decorating parks and urban areas. I also noticed that flowers or plants are situated in balconies of most apartments in and around the city.
ON the second day of the next month, White River’s St Francis Parish will host a cruise trip to Gela purposely to raise funds for their new church building.
Chairlady and member of the Parish committee organising the trip, Mrs Joycelyn Manele expressed this to the paper yesterday.
She said that as a first time around initiative, the aim of the trip is to help them raise money that will go towards establishing a new church building.
Moreover, Manele explained that for those who wish to join the cruise, tickets can be purchased at the Parish assistant rector’s house at White River.
She added that for those aged 12 and older are tickets $250, for those under 12 years, tickets are $100 and 4 year olds can get on board for free.
Manele noted that food will also be on sale during the cruise.
Furthermore, she advises that people who have already paid for their tickets or are planning to should arrive around 5 or 6am to board Anavon that will kick off the cruise at 8am and return around 5pm or earlier.
THE workshop to report on the progress of the present constitutional reform process on federal government system in Solomon Islands will be held in Gizo, Western province.
The two-day workshop will be held this week, beginning on Thursday, March 22, 2018.
Following the change of leadership by the Solomon Islands Democratic Coalition for Change Government (DCCG), SIDCCG recently, no clear mandate has been given in terms of policy direction by the Government pertaining to the present constitution reform which have led to this important national agenda being silenced and relegated a peripheral standing in terms of public policy.
Western province principal administrator Gideon Tuke told Island Sun Gizo yesterday that this raises eyebrows especially by leaders of Western province, whose aspiration and determination for an autonomous system of government remain uncompromised.
Mr Tuke said there is a need for collaborative effort through this workshop to help rekindle and reignite its significance as a national agenda by leaders and people of Western province.
Tuke said the purpose of this workshop is to inform and update leaders of the Western province of the need to demand of the national government its policy position on this important national obligation.
EWC President Vuylsteke arrived in Honiara part of the PILP delegation
BY LYNTON AARON FILIA
EWC President Vuylsteke arrived in Honiara part of the PILP delegation
THE President of East West Centre in Hawaii arrived in Honiara last week to encourage progression of the Pacific Islands Leadership Programme in Solomon Islands.
EWC President PhD Richard R Vuylsteke arrived two days after PILP celebrated its first alumni in Honiara and community workshop last week, where more than 30 participants attended.
Mr Vuylsteke said he came to Solomon Islands is because it’s his job as president of EWC to make sure PILP have good staffing, monitoring and look for opportunities to run the training effectively to Pacific islanders including the Solomons.
He adds, coming to Solomon Islands as part of the PILP delegation is to support the sequence of PILP training which will see Taiwan and EWC work together and building up things really needed in various islands they deal with.
In addition, Vuylsteke said other reasons of coming here is because Solomon Islands is in his bucket list which he would like to visit.
Meanwhile, opportunities young generation of Solomon Islands needs to tap in is the PILP trainings which covered important topics ranging from community development, disaster management and education.
Young leaders also undergo trained in environmental protection, green energy, health care, indigenous culture, industry revitalisation, international cooperation, nongovernmental organisations and vocational training.
With such training opportunities, Vuylsteke said they are looking at increasing the use of social media and information technology (IT) connectivity.
“One interesting thing is, I will try to encourage progression of the programme and increasing use of social media and IT connectivity,” he said.
He said this will boost interaction and connectivity among PILP participants to communicate and doing projects in their home countries progressively and effectively.
“The idea of EWC is, if you going to address agricultural, health and urban problem, we need to work together not just in your home country but learn lesson from different places,” Vuylsteke said.
On Friday, the PILP participants visited the Taiwan Technical Mission farm at KGVI School.
They were introduced to three main projects run by Taiwan through TTM which comprise of crops, horticulture and piggery.
THE national government is faced with a dilemma especially with antagonism coming from all directions including from its own provincial government from the proposed budget cuts. And it couldn’t get any worse.
Now our country’s only financial institution, Central Bank of Solomon Islands (CBSI) has narrowly escaped being in the blacklist by the Reserve Bank of New York, but not for long.
The talk for Solomon Islands to phase out from timber export is not a new one.
Of course timber export is the most important course of government revenue but current turbulence in the world economy is now pressurising Solomon Islands to cut down on logging activities.
Indirectly, the marching order by the Reserve Bank of New York is a signal that Solomon Islands needs to find alternatives or increase its support to other economic activities other than logging.
However, timber export continues to be the number one income earner for the country.
From previous years, talks were for the government to focus on other industries plus other sectors to fill in the gap which will be felt once export of timber declines.
To this date, nothing much has been achieved. With that, it is no secret that the government and our leaders knows what and where our problems really are.
But something much more than the welfare and wellbeing of the people they represent is preventing them from doing what is right.
Please, for our children and grandchildren and our future generations, it is time we put our own interests aside and move Solomon Islands and its people as a country forward.
Grace is surrounded by community and church members after being presented with free
items to help her settle into her new home in Canada.
Grace sits before a cake that was prepared to welcome her to her new home in Canada.
THE Canadian community in which Guadalcanal’s Ms Grace Delight will live in have welcomed her with gifts to help her settle in her new home.
“We are a great nation that is built by people from around the world. Each year we welcome thousands of new immigrants who come to Canada with one dream and that is to call Canada their new home. Grace Delight we welcome you to your new home and we are proud that as a new immigrant you have already started to contribute to our economy, community and country by providing and adding your skills to our labour force. Welcome to Canada,” CITREC Chairman Ashwant Dwivedi said reacting to the surprise event organised by Church members, community and Grace Delight’s employer who all gathered to give free items to help Grace settle her into her new home in Canada.
CITREC-Guadalcanal Graduate, Ms Delight, who recently arrived in Canada under permanent residence nomination a few days before Christmas of last year, was surprised by her employer, community and church members as everyone gathered to help Grace settle into her new place of residence. They provided her with almost everything she needs to begin her new life in Canada for free.
From groceries to even light bulbs and lamps were provided to Delight by the community and Church members and her employer.
“The table was over flowing with groceries. I was really surprise. I never expected this. Canadian people are so kind and helpful,” Delight said.
Delight said that “My Boss and workmates, the Anglican church, my first land lord, some friends all put up their time and effort to help me set up my new place. She said that after the church service she was surprised when a cake was brought out for her and then she was presented with household items as gifts.
“I surprised them and said thank you in Solomon Island Pidgin and when I translated what I said into English they were really amazed and excited. They all gathered to welcome me to their community, province and country Canada,” Delight said.
Delight said that she explained to them why she was here in Canada and how the CITREC partnership is changing the lives of people in Guadalcanal province.
“Everyone was really excited and very happy to have me here with them in the church and community,” Delight said.
“I was requested to get a Solomon Islands Pidgin bible for the church as a present, which I already arranged for my husband to bring when he travels to join me in Canada in the coming months,” Delight said.
“I really want to thank the Chairman of CITREC Mr Dwivedi and the Provincial government of Guadalcanal, for this great opportunity. Without CITREC-Guadalcanal partnership I could have never been in Canada. Thank you, Canada, and thank you All. Thank you CITREC,” Delight said.
Grace is surrounded by community and church members after being presented with free items to help her settle into her new home in Canada.
Early this year Canadian Immigration authorities approved another Guadalcanal person into Canada under the Permanent Resident nomination programme.
Mr Thomas Tangithia Mike is in Canada under the Permanent Resident Programme.
Mr Mike said this is a dream come true for him and his family.
“I have never thought that I will be able to come to Canada. Few years back Canada and America were only a dream. Then came hope through the CITREC programme. Today because of CITREC and its partnership with the Guadalcanal Provincial government I am here,” an emotional Mike said.
He told Dwivedi that he has always prayed to be given an opportunity to be one of those to be chosen by God to work in Canada under the GP-CITREC partnership.
“Every morning in my prayers I would ask God to make me the chosen one to be selected. Today when Canadian officials stamped my passport and handed me over the immigration documents I was in tears. I thanked God for all that I have achieved to-date,” Mike said.
He thanked the Provincial Government of Guadalcanal and its Premier Anthony Veke and current GP executives and GP Education authority for its support.
“I know this is a new beginning for me and my family members. I will always remember that I am here today because of opportunity that was presented to me by the GP Provincial government. I will always promote GP and make sure that I perform to the best of my ability and make GP and Solomon Islands proud,” Mike said.
