Now that the Australian Government has gifted Samoa with a mulit-million tala Police Headquarter, should we feel more safer?
Will we soon see a dramatic drop in the national crimes rate, with all the modern gadgetry and support services now available to our police officers to dapple with?
Well, we would all like to hope it turns out that way.
Nothing wrong with wanting to bask in the notion that our law enforcers are living up to the promise of providing a ‘Safer Samoa.’
Just before the big opening last week, a warning went out to families around the Apia town area to be more vigilant, about the security of their homes.
Apparently, more homes were being broken into. Our law enforcers felt compelled to let us the people know that the stats were showing an alarming increase in the incidence.
Why thank you very much, so neighbourly of them to tell us about it.
So it frightened people into locking up their houses with themselves inside – so what? As long as we are safe that is what matters most.
Hang on! Run that through again – we lock ourselves in to be safe? Please say that is not where our general wellbeing is headed!
Heck, if we start doing that, are we really a ‘Safer Samoa’?
In a ‘Safer Samoa’ environment, are we not supposed to lock up the bad guys?
How come the good guys have to barricade themselves inside their own homes. What wrong have they done to be denied the assurance of freedom of movement?
Ever heard of the pig and the mesh wire story?
Once upon a time, Government decided to subsidise the cost of mesh wire so the villages can pen up the pigs, and encourage vegetable gardening.
The theory of course was sound! Hundreds of tala worth of mesh wire started pouring into the villages.
Several months later, it was discovered that the pigs were still roaming like they always do – it was the vegetable gardens that were fenced in.
Of course we are not vegetables!
This is just a comparative analysis, wether or not it is the right one or the most effective, to differentiate between fact and fiction.
The point is, let us not delude ourselves about what a ‘Safer Samoa’ is really all about. It is just a public relations slogan that was designed to romanticise the appeal of our law enforcers to the community.
If you think a ‘Safer Samoa’ is anything to do with slamming the door on the bad guys –you are delusional.
Personally conjure yourself a mesh and wire analogy of your own, where the good guys are locked up and the bad guys roam at will. Ask yourself, is this the kind of a ‘Safer Samoa’ the protectors of the law wants us to live in?
After investing millions in our law enforcement services, will there be a reciprocal role required from us in return, by our generous donor?
Or are we already under instructions from Canberra to directly or indirectly play a greater role in policing the ‘backyard’ of our more affluential neighbour and benefactor? Kind of like, ‘we are bankrolling you into the modern age so we can have our backside covered.”
Interesting to note why such a thought should wander into the mind so quickly.
Of course we should be appreciative of having an ‘Aid Paid Police Station” according to the screaming headline in one Australian newspaper last week.
But if ‘aid’ is the operative word in the newspaper headline, it does allow the mind to wander into more interesting perspectives.
Should we also be appreciative of the contribution by Osama Bin Laden? How about President George Bush?
The fact cannot be denied that the two gentlemen influenced so much change around the world after September 11, they too should be acknowledged for contributing to our new police station – indirectly of course.
How? Australia’s former Prime Minister Howard will be the best person to offer a detailed answer to the question.
Other than sending Australian troops to Iraq, what better way for ex-PM Howard to demonstrate to Washington how Canberra is ready to load up the carrot wagon to charm his increasingly disruptive ‘backyard’ into a farm of docile rabbits?
The political turmoils of the once peaceful South Pacific rattled the ‘big boys’. If allowed to fester it could become fertile grounds for the Osama Bin Laden gospel to spread and take roots.
Fiji is now the land of coup de tats, Tonga is all fired up, Solomon Islands is on a cleansing crusade and Papua New Guinea is yet to emerge from the wilds.
….and Samoa is ‘a shinning beacon of stability’ says the visiting Aussie MP who was here for the opening of the Police Headquarters. Was that supposed to be complimentary or patronising – hard to tell with politicians.
Anyway, the visit was part of a nose fixing trip, according to the Australian media. So many small island noses were allegedly out of joint with Canberra, the sweet talking MP and his party were reportedly on a mission to crack the joints back into place.
PM Clarke did that a while back, didn’t she!
Well! Well! Are we talking co-incidence or is this part of some kind of drawn out diplomatic initiative starting to become more visible? Why?
Funny that we never heard the Chinese or the Japanese forced to make surgical visits around the region. Maybe nose fixing is not their speciality.
So what should we call this new thrust of diplomacy by our rich cousins who once paid us token attention in the past?
WAKE UP SAMOA. THIS IS THE WORLD OF THE GREEDY MAN. INJUSTICE IS EVERYWHERE, SAD TO SAY BUT CITIZENS NEED TOBE AWARE OF THEIR OWN SAFETY.THE GOVERNMENT ARE NOT GOING TO PROTECT US WHEN THE CRIMINALS ATTACKED.
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