|
What do you tell people you do?
I’m a radio announcer on the Pacific radio station Radio 531 PI. It’s probably one of the oldest radio stations for Pacific Islanders in New Zealand. It’s also where Oscar Kightly started out.
What’s a typical day for you?
Getting up and going to the gym in the morning (on a good day that is) take my five year old daughter to school, and then head over to the radio station for prep before I go on air from 10:00 to 2:00, then prep a little bit for the show the next day before picking my daughter up from school, and then home to do whatever it is I need to do there before dancing in the evening. My husband and I have a dance company so we dance three or four nights a week.
Pacific Xpressions?
Yes we started that up when we moved here. In Samoa we would dance all the time. I know it’s a bit silly to say but we’d dance on the sand and under the coconut trees, so moving here and not having that was a bit of a culture shock. Rather than sitting around feeling sorry for ourselves we decided to do something about it. We decided to start up a dance group and teach young New Zealand Pacific Islanders what we’d learnt growing up in the islands.
And you’ve toured a bit with that?
Yes we’ve been all over the Pacific, Australia and even Dubai. And before starting up the dance troupe my husband and I had danced in America and Japan also.
You moved here in 2003 after growing between Australia and Samoa?
Yeah, well we moved here after Samoa started getting a bit small and my father is from Timaru so I wanted to live in the country that he is from.
Planning on sticking around for a while?
Definitely - I feel like I am part of this evolving thing in New Zealand, to be a part of a movie that brings out a Pacific Island story like this. A story about a group of Samoan boys who grew up in New Zealand, to bring that type of story out onto the big screen, to be a part of that is really cool.
Your character in Sione’s Wedding wasn’t, let’s say, all that innocent. How did that gel with your Samoan upbringing?
The cultural way of being brought up is that you’re a good girl, you’re pure, and you do as your parents tell you to do. But then, just like any society, there are the bad girls as well. Not every group of people is totally innocent and pure. Still, at the time I thought “oh no, what are my mum and dad going to think?” but it’s not everyday that you get to be a part of a movie.
How did it go down with them?
After mum saw the movie she got really upset and didn’t speak to me for two weeks. She was more worried when you are Miss Samoa you’re like a like tapu of the country. Tapu is a virginal, pure daughter of a high chief and I’ve always been looked upon in Samoa in this way - someone who’s there to be a role model for young girls. When my mum went to the film and saw her daughter on the big screen, naked on a bed, feeling up the different characters she almost couldn’t handle it. But she’s okay now and really proud. Now the film’s been released in Australia she realises what an achievement it is and that it is just a movie. Samoa is starting to understand it too, at first there were a few angry letters in the paper, specifically about me.
Tell us a little bit about being Miss Samoa?
It something that my Mum and my church entered me in, so I didn’t really get a say in that, but then again I didn’t mind it either. I realised that young kids looked up to me and I didn’t mind that either, I quite like that I like the whole role model thing. I’m really proud of who I am and my Samoan culture and that was really the main thing for me, even though half of me is European and half of me is Samoan.
You have been quoted as saying "It is important to bring out culture, among all this globalisation and westernisation," Do you think we do enough to maintain our multiculturalism?
That’s why I am here in New Zealand. You’ve got the best of both worlds. I recently had an interview with an Australian radio station and, as I was born there, they kept asking when I was going to come home, but I’m happy here because there is room for many cultures. I love that.
Who do you admire most?
My daughter, she’s just a gem. She’s the most honest person I know and she gives the best criticism when I need it and she’s only five.
What was the last CD you brought?
I bought two at the same time: Mills Brothers and Frank Sinatra.
What is your favourite movie of all time?
The Notebook. It’s terribly sad.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
Hmmm, I’ve been given heaps of advice. (A ponderous moment) Probably anything that Anthony Robbins has to say. I bought a whole series of his stuff when I first moved here from Samoa.
Still listening to him?
No I can’t find CDs, I’ve lost them somewhere. I wouldn’t mind listening to him again.
What inspires you?
Church inspires me. The sermons always have a knack of relating to whatever I am going through at the time.
What irritates you?
(Laughs) When I don’t get my own way.
What have you learnt about men?
Being married for 10 years I’ve found that rather than growing more like one another I find that we’re a lot more different from each other compared to when we were 22 and going out. Sometimes it’s quite a scary thing to wake up and think “Are we still the same people? Are we changing? Do we need some time away to find each other again?” Men really are just so different to women.
So the longer you’ve been together the more you realise how different you are?
Yeah, when you first fall in love you’re all mushy and you just don’t pick up on so many things. I think you have to go with the flow though. So many girls try to mould and change men but it just doesn’t work. And why should it?
What's next?
We’ve been invited by the Dubai government to bring over a Samoan, Fijian, Solomon Islands and Cook Islands dance troupe. Four dance groups, each with 15 people in them, which is a big thing for us to be in charge of. We’re going over for the Dubai Shopping Festival which has about three and a half million people going through each year. That’s the big focus at the moment.
Plus there’s work at the radio station, it’s something I’ve never had any formal training in so I’m trying to learn as I go - that, and just trying to be a good Mum!
Any more acting?
I’ve been to a few auditions but I’ve never trained to be an actress and never really aspired to be one either. If another role comes along I’ll be happy but if no roles come along I’ll also be happy because I have a lot of other stuff on my plate at the moment.
|
