Leva’a Lokeni, from the village of Faleasi’u, wants Samoa to return to the basics.

Aged 64, he is concerned about the changes due to the high cost of living and foreign influences.

At home, Leva’a admits that his family relies a lot on his plantation.

“I have two daughters and they’re at work but as a father, I have to work on my plantation to help them (family) out.

“My plantation provides both a source of food and income for my family to survive.

“We sell so that we can buy other things we need within our family.

“We all know that life is too hard to deal with now, the price of goods and services have increased from time to time.

“But we need to stay focussed.

He told the Village Voice that ‘life is all about hard work’

“I think this is the only way to tackle the struggle that we’re facing now.

“To me, this isn’t the right time to just sit around and expect a miracle...that is why no matter how old I am, I have to work hard and help my family.

 “We need to help ourselves first; we need to work together for our family especially our children.

“There’s no need to wait on the government this time, they’re too busy collecting taxes to build massive buildings, roads...

“They don’t really care about us and how we’re trying to deal with the high cost of living every day.

Aside from the high cost of living, Leva’a told the Village Voice that ‘Samoa has also experienced many changes from overseas’

 “You know back in the day, everything was cheap, sometimes we can get everything with a ‘please’...just a very simple please.

“But that’s not today, even your own sister or brother you have to buy everything...see how European lifestyles have influenced us and our culture?

“But that’s not us; my point is that we need to go back to our own roots and where we belong – the fa’aSamoa.

“We need to bring back our children to learn on how to use the word ‘tulou’ – those basic words... sometimes we think it’s not that important, but they truly are.

“Nowadays we are witnessing a shift in the role technology is playing in Samoa and this may continue to play for generations to come.

“We need to take action!”