Up and Down, Dude!

Written by Seuamuli Des Bentin
Tuesday, 18 November 2008
A couple of Sundays ago, I happened to see a bit of the very popular “Toe Sasa’a le Fafao” television program. It was a very small bit because I didn’t see enough to know what the subject of the discussion was, but was very interested in what a gentleman of the panel said about their village council of chiefs banning all village people from going into town for their shopping. Unfortunately, I had to leave my vantage place at the window to serve some young people who had heard from very reliable sources that I offered the best deals when bartering with empty bottles for cigarettes. Colored glass for tobacco. We haven’t come very far from when John Williams the missionary guy recorded trading practices with our ancestors as reprinted in the Sunday edition of Newsline, except that it was probably more like colored glass and tobacco for a major part of an island back then! I did not see the rest of the television program but thought that the young guys with their empty bottles would be very hard pressed to find a shop in town to trade their colored glass for tobacco with anyway, if the village ban on going into town to do your shopping became a nationwide phenomenon. They could take their six large empty Vailima bottles to the SBL distributors in Apia who would give them ST2.40, which is less than what the four of them would need for bus fare. So what does the ban include or extend to? Can you say that you needed to buy some material for a Bingo dress, that was only available from a shop in town, and then do your shopping for other groceries from the Wholesale stores in town while you are there as well? Would the village council of chiefs make sure that the shops in the village had everything that anyone would ever need so that they wouldn’t ever have to go into town? How about trips to the Bank or that foreign exchange place, the travel agent’s, Immigration both Samoan and New Zealand, Customs and shipping agents or a visit to see the son who has not been home for months after moving to live with Aunty Sasa in Apia after landing that job washing second hand cars at the new dealer’s? I think the ban is a bit harsh but the idea behind it is brilliant. The G20 meeting of world leaders trying to hash out a way to soften the blow of the world wide recession, some have finally admitted is going to affect all of us regardless of where we’re living in imagined isolation, should tap our village matai for some ideas. Imagine how many problems this would solve or go some way to reduce or eliminate? With all goods being available in the village shops, fewer people would have to travel to town reducing the need for and dependency on petroleum products and there will be less vehicles on the roads. The police would have fewer buses to pull over for being in grave danger of exploding with the number of people crammed into them to get into town every morning and back out again in the evenings. And you have a double winner right there. Travel would be safer and the police would have fewer cases where they would be tempted to take the fiver from the bus driver to look the other way or let him go! The shops would have to embrace technology or be left behind with all transactions being paperless with the use of EFTPOS and ATM’s which in turn would mean meaningful employment for technology students graduating from the National University of Samoa’s Institute of Technology. They could become self-employed and employ other village members. Decentralization would reduce the load on the utilities suppliers in the urban areas in general and the Central Business District in particular and the EPC for one would be relieved to have some of the pressure taken off its stock of excuses which is running as low as its Afulilo storage dam. The list of advantages goes on and on. Of course you must balance things out by looking at the down side if there are any. I don’t know about you but I have never been comfortable with people having power that could be easily abused. But it has been proven far too many times that the majority of us need a law, regulation or ban of some sort before they would comply with any directions, mainly beneficial for the general population, and I think having a system where people are issued with a permit to leave the village after satisfying border control requirements would be necessary to make this whole proposal work. So it really is an up sort of down side which is all good. Isn’t it? Have a nice one folks! Comments (6) Subscribe to this comment's feed ... written by magaia, November 18, 2008 Kafefe alii i le magaia o ga ideas fou!! Anyway, whatever happens, it would still be tainted with corruption. Motives have to be checked because many villages in Samoa are still exercising the pule-faa-sao where the main chief's opinion is law which has to be obeyed at all costs. So we will have king dictators running some villages but then I guess that is where the competition will be as successful villages will shine as they are filled up by the inhabitants of the others. ..... written by Name, November 19, 2008 Sole. kusa lava pe maua uma mea i faleoloa i kua, e kaugofie lava Apia, asiasi ia Frankie, Molesi, Amau, kaugofie koe kele kufaaga, ia uma loa ka fai le faakau, alu e faakali le pasi i le RSA, faga se polo, ma igu se kasi.... ma vaai i misi le pasi... Going to Apia for some is not just for shopping, its also a melting spot for the tupulaga tafafao vale, and those who just want to go to Apia. Anways makua splendid lava o ideas, e kakou ke oo lava iai ae fai muamua pe RHD pe LHD? faalavelave written by magaia, November 19, 2008 E mafai foi ga fai melting pots i ku'a mo le kupulaga malo vale e sisiva ma kaa kaa ai,,e iloa ai le lelei o ideas a makai o le guu,,e kaga le siva ae sa le koso keige,,mafai foi ga fai ai ma le RSA a le guu lakou,,,fai ai ma se pa puaa uamea a le guu lakou e sui ai Kafaigaka, e velo uma i ai le au solikulafogo,,o le a koe maua le upu foi lea o le "lokoguu" aua e iu mai kama fagau mai fafo ma alu le malosi o le kagaka lakou e kaukua ai loga guu. Fai le afi uila a le guu lakou pe fai gi a lakou paoa e alu i le nuclear,,sa ga ulu fua le isi i le guu o le isi seiloga e i ai se pemika,,o ga o lea o le PM ma le HRPP e sue se guu e faaofi i ai a lakou faiga,,pe o uma e kaukua lo lakou akuguu mogi o Saiga,,faikalia oukou, ae o a'u ma lo'u guu o lea o le a amaka ga lau a makou kama fagau e kolegi e Ghadafi ma le vaega. ummm written by mino, November 19, 2008 Banning the village from going to town is a bit harsh, even the person with the store at the village need to go to town. It's not a good idea when recession takes it's place, when apia is not in business the village will not be in business as well. It sound like (le pule fa'a sao) is trying to create his own village to hit recession first. LOL Nao ni manatu ale fai ai. Are you for real?? written by Plato, November 20, 2008 Dang sam, whats Samoa coming to? I thought people were free to do what ever the hell they wanted to do? lol Sounds more like Communist China to me. Sounds like some one or the Govt. wants to control everybodys movements, what they can eat and cant eat etc etc, Oh yeah sure, they don't want you to get cancer and all that. lol don't be surprised if you wake up one morning and Samoa has changed to Samwung.. LOL Saiga Komigisi written by Mel, November 24, 2008 Hi folks,in the Middle Kingdom you are free to shop anywhere.They do ask you do go to join the Threeself Church,just like some village in Samoa aye.Communist alright,but hey they have a state church hahaha... Write comment Name Email Title Comment
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 18 November 2008 )

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