Westfield Local Heroes Manukau is a collective of nominees put forward by the communities they serve, with the successful recipients the result of public voting. The vote will determine three successful nominees for every Westfield centre, with each of their affiliated organisations awarded a $10,000 grant to support their work to thrive. Voting closes 14th September. 

Joining Pacific Breakfast this morning is Emily Luatua, one of the nominees for Manukau Westfield Local Heroes. 

Emily Luatua was one of 10 young people who came together in 2016 to discuss how to collectively improve the health and wellbeing of young people in South Auckland. Four years later, with more than 15,000 hours of volunteer hours to her name, she is now a leader of Do Good, Feel Good, a youth-led movement under the umbrella of The Cause Collective. 

If Emily is successful, The Cause Collective (Do Good, Feel Good) will use its grant to publish a book about local social change and to buy merchandise.

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Samson Setu & Manase Latu are only two of fourteen successful applicants, chosen from thousands of applicants worldwide, to win a place at the prestigious New York Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program 2020/2021 roster. 

They are the first ever Pasifika or New Zealand singers to do so. 

Samson, a proud NZ born Samoan bass-baritone recently studied at the Royal College of Music, London, completing a post-graduate diploma. 

He is also a former student in the Dame Kiri Te Kanawa Programme for Young Singers, Freemason’s New Zealand Opera Artist, and the Dame Malvina Major Emerging Artist of 2018 for New Zealand Opera.

His most recent accomplishments include competing as a finalist in the 2019 IFAC HANDA Australian Competition, where he received awards of a three-week program at the State Opera House in Saarbrücken, a four-week intensive course at any Goethe Institut Centre in Germany, and an opportunity to participate in the International Vocal Arts Institute Summer Program in New York in 2020.

Manase, a proud NZ born Tongan tenor graduated from the University of Auckland. A previous Dame Malvina Major Emerging Artist, in 2019, he placed first in the Dame Malvina Major Napier Aria competition and was selected as the 2019 Circle 100 Scholarship recipient. Most recently, he won the IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition, arguably the most prestigious singing competition in Australia.

Other recent accomplishments include being a finalist for the Lexus Song Quest Competition and winning the renowned New Zealand Aria Competition, one of the biggest singing competitions in Australasia. 

In 2017, he was invited to join the Singer Development Programme run by the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation, and he recently pursued his master’s degree at London’s Royal College of Music as a Kiri Scholar under the tutelage of Russell Smythe.

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If you went to sleep last night or woke up this morning with a slight confusion as part of your breakfast regarding COVID testing, here’s some join-the-cue milk to go with it. 

As of Monday last week, august 24th to be exact, your radio station joined the pacific covid response team in pushing our Auckland Pasifika to say yes to the test and to head out to the nearest testing station for a free test. That was until the PM came out swinging yesterday advising the country that unfortunately that initiative was part of a miscommunication and that it was not something she approved, and reminding South & West Auckland communities of the right message; i.e. reserve the right to head for testing at either your GP or testing stations, only if you are symptomatic. The questions many in our Pasifika communities began asking is what happened, how was the message altered and who did it.

 

 

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Elijah Fa'afiu from our PMN Newsroom joins us on Pacific Breakfast for our daily COVID-19 update. 

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We’re joined now on Pacific Breakfast by General Manager of Wellington Rape Crisis is Kyla Rayner, to talk about their services, for our most vulnerable.

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We’re joined now on Pacific Breakfast by Former New Zealand Poet Laureate Selina Tusitala Marsh’s whose first book for children, was recently judged the supreme winner at the 2020 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.

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The Prime Minister of N.Z. Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern joined us live on Pacific Breakfast for an update on the fight against COVID-19. 

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We’re joined now on Pacific Breakfast by Brooke Fiafia Pao from Auckland Action Against Poverty (AAAP) to talk about the need for liveable incomes.

Photo: NZ Herald

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We’re joined now by Dr Stephen Hoadley, Associate Professor of Politics and International Relations at the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Arts for our weekly update on global politics. 

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We’re joined now on Pacific Breakfast by Dr George Ngaei, Chairman of the N.Z. Cook Islands Emergency Response Group, to talk about the work they do with the Cook Island community during COVID-19.

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