Dear Editor, I am a University of the South Pacific (USP) student currently taking the Bachelor of Law programme. 

There was an incident in Samoa where a Samoan man who was selling food and drinks harassed a South Korean tourist who was walking around and minding his own business. 

This specific incident highlights that even in proud and loving nations such as ours speaks that discrimination in society does exist and is also present.

Those of different nationalities may have faced and seen discriminative acts against them. This can occur to foreigners visiting, tourists sightseeing and even those who live here. 

The South Korean man who was harassed at a marketplace place was told that this wasn’t his country with his Samoan abuser implying that he did not belong here. there was another case of a Chinese woman being attacked in her store and robbed.

This issue should be publicly discussed and more attention should be given to it. 

The proper penalties for these offences should be applied and those guilty should face the consequences and get to recognise and understand that their actions are discrimination. This includes strict policy-making in accordance with minimizing such issues and reducing this by good upbringing and proper education of children in the Pacific.

I would like to see more of these issues brought up and discussed. There should be more focus on the provision of security and safety in all our Pacific nations and for their people so that not only are our islands beautiful on land but also beautiful by heart.

Lewis Lang Siu

USP Student