Celebrations welcome 2017

By Vatapuia Maiava 04 January 2017, 12:00AM

Whether you celebrated the New Year in church, in the comfort of your home, or you maybe you enjoyed the company of your friends counting down with others at one of Samoa’s hip watering holes, welcoming the New Year was a joyous occasion in Samoa.

On Saturday night, Apia was the place to be with the clubs pumping, people saying goodbye to 2016, police officers making sure everyone made it home safe, and yes, let’s not forget all the many resolutions and promises for 2017.

For some who celebrated at the Edge Cocktail Lounge, they kept their resolutions simple.

Some just wanted to be kinder, others aiming to work harder and then there were those who just simply wanted to enjoy life.

For Mary Tiumalu who is based in New Zealand, and works as an advisor for the Ministry for Pacific People and is also a solicitor for the High Court, she wants to just be more kind towards others.

“I haven’t had much time to think of my new year’s resolution,” she told the Samoa Observer.

“One thing I know, is I will be more kind to people. I feel like sometimes, being in my industry, you have to be quite direct and I want to be more empathetic and compassionate towards others.”

She explains 2016 as a year full of challenges but looks forward to hopefully a great and prosperous 2017.

“My New Years is great, Samoa has put on quite a good show and we are enjoying it,” Ms. Tiumalu said.

“To be honest, 2016 was quite a rough year, I didn’t really enjoy it, and there were a lot of challenges that I wasn’t able to overcome but I look forward to the New Year.”

As for Darren Mauiliu, a hard working staff member of Tanoa Tusitala, he has decided to take a wiser approach to his resolution.

“My New Year’s resolution is simple; I just want to continue my hard work,” he began.

“Many people want to lose weight, others want to change their lives for the better but I believe that if we just focus on what we do best and just build on that then you will improve your personal life eventually.

“So that’s all I want to do, I want to continue to do what I do best and allow God to do the rest.”

And for one of our guests from Australia, Toni (last name withheld), enjoying Samoa and welcoming the New Year with the locals is all she wants to do for now.

“I just want to be healthy, wealthy and wise,” she explained.

“My night in Samoa has been very good, I love Samoa. The highlight of my trip is just being able to relax here with the people; they are beautiful.”

By Vatapuia Maiava 04 January 2017, 12:00AM

Trending Stories

Samoa Observer

Upgrade to Premium

Subscribe to
Samoa Observer Online

Enjoy unlimited access to all our articles on any device + free trial to e-Edition. You can cancel anytime.

>