Rumble In The House Of Gains And Pains in Samoa

Written by Pio Sioa
Monday, 10 March 2008
Parliament goes into session today (Monday 10 march ) like they always do in the House of Pains or Gains, depending on how you see it. Whatever is debated inside the domed building, it always translates into pain for some and gains for others. The debate this week is unlikely to decide whether more women should become matais – it is a boring issue anyway. Not worth the strain on the brain cells. We do however have several resident agitators for gender equity who would crave the publicity of the issue being debated in the House. Maybe if Parliament were to debate whether women should stop wearing bras, so we could save on the unnecessary expense, that would make all off us sit up. Women are after all not required by medical advice to wear them, so saving money is an important issue. How much Samoa will save if women are told not to wear those added pieces of clothing anymore, could turn out to be an interesting discovery also. An economic analysis of the savings to the national treasury will be a worthy challenge for Governor Leasi and his Central Bank analysts to dig into. Now that should be a real charge for anyone who gets off on the gender equity debate. Our Parliamentarians too will obviously relish sinking their teeth into the economics of braless women. Just to be fair to the ladies, the men should also be banned from wearing under wears. Surely the increasing number of women politicians, who are matais by the way, will love debating that. They will at least have something to throw back at their male counterparts in the House other than bras. Tit for Tat. For purely economic purposes, the ‘Viva la Bra and Underwear Liberation’ debate should be a worthy enough target for Parliament to delve into. There will be more gains than pains for everyone. The women will be able to finally celebrate by throwing their bras into the fires. The men will walk around ‘freely’ once again without getting dangled up in a squeeze. Imagine all the fun and excitement that will come out of this debate! Samoans were once ‘free’ before the missionaries came around and whacked them over the head with their heavy bibles. So it is likely that our God people will protest – again. Boy, when these people do, watch out. There will be an awful lot of bible bashing on the head, you would think you are in hell, rather than in Samoa arguing over bras and underwears. Fanning the fires of damnation from behind will be the lingerie sellers and fashion designers who will be put out of business, because this line of clothing items will be discontinued. So why are we discussing this issue, when it is not even likely to come up in Parliament tomorrow or anytime soon? Is this just to spite the gender equity agitators or rile up the God people? Nope! Tomorrow is when Government is expected to table its controversial RHD policy in Parliament. There is going to be an awful lot of pain in the House when the debate gets underway, that is a virtual guarantee. When that happens it is highly unlikely that any of the MPs will be thinking about freeing up our women folks from the clutches of their bras or the men from the discomforts of being caught in a ‘tight’ spot. The debate this week will be trying enough not just for the Parliamentarians but for everyone as well. Since every warrior deserves a lighter moment before the onset of battle why not divert the attention elsewhere? We already know the bill is about cars driving on the ‘wrong’ side of the road. There is nothing in it to do with women losing their bras or men hanging up their undies. The RHD debate has been raging for months so in a way, it is a relief to finally have what Government is proposing, brought out into open debate. The real drama will start to unfold when the Petitions Committee makes public their findings after weeks of hearing what public opinion holds for the proposed bill. The Committee’s findings will have to weigh strongly on the direction of the debate What is much more important, is if the PM finally pull the blinds off the real reason Government is so adamant on the RHD switch. Further intrigue will come from the threat of Government MPs threatening to cross the floor on the bill, even at the risk of being banished from the ruling HRPP Party. The emotions will undoubtedly be on edge throughout the thrust and parry of what promises to be a heated exchange, with the kind of build up the issue has received since last year. But it has been dragged along too long. Let’s just get into it. Time to rumble. Comments (4) Subscribe to this comment's feed ... written by oBserVer, March 10, 2008 hahahahaha..this is something good to sip a cup of coffee read the paper in the morning and to laugh about..and have a great attitude to start off the day with..anyway...just hopefully this RHD ... written by oBserVer, March 10, 2008 What i was tryin to say hopefuly this RHD thing won't go thru...have a great week Samoa So where are we going? written by Samoan fella, March 10, 2008 It truely seems like we are following, copying or evolving a western attitude whos foundations will never be strong enough to uphold Gender roles and responsibilities in Samoa culture. It can't even transition from one side of the road to the other without being able to prepare for the predictable and obvious backlash from the community! Like a writter mentioned above, it is a laugh a big laugh, our form of politics! I believe I have a system or voting process that would create a more and widely accepted means of Governing. Confidential, Honest and free from any outside influences within a village, regardless! My point is this!..........2 years ago I took my wife and family to a white sunday service here in New Zealand, we are christians. What happened through that service astounded me, my wife and my friends whom we brought along. They started reading out the amounts of money families within the church had given, Now if that isn't a sign or warning flag of "how wrong we do have it!" then I don't know what is? There are a lot of people who I believe can lead Samoa into a productive, confident and just future but unfortunately our culture has corrupted our thoughts, our actions and our beliefs into nothing more then a performance show! The biggest problem will be "Will the people be able to recognise and be prepared to take the risk" to acknowledge, vote and support new leaders! Don't be fooled by western academics or western theories as all will tell you.....it is only part of the picture. Well Samoa, To do it right.....we need to start with our individual villages first before taking on the world!! The Samoan Fella Open Debate Friend, Open Debate-- Start Now written by Sosefina, March 11, 2008 Open Debate is truly the way a society such as Samoa should operate-- Tell The Truth is the Next Thing--- So Tell the Truth People-- It is part of Open Debate's--- May Samoa Live Long Write comment Name Email Title Comment
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