Dear Editor,

Listening to HRPP die-hard supporters argue that HRPP did everything under the sun that Samoa now enjoys is a bit far-fetched. 

Here is the thing: when the HRPP came into office, Samoa was a young nation, full of promise yet in need of development. That much is true, and yes, they built roads, hospitals, and established a national university. But let us not romanticise the past or pretend that this was done out of sheer benevolence. They were fulfilling the basic responsibilities of government, not performing miracles.

You don’t earn a knighthood for doing your duty, and you certainly don’t get to hide four decades of political decay behind the glow of the 1980s.

Let’s get one thing straight: a hospital is only as valuable as the care it provides. A road is only useful if it leads somewhere meaningful, and a university degree is just a piece of paper if there are no jobs for graduates. HRPP didn’t just build; they also mismanaged, overextended, and overlooked the long-term well-being of the people they were elected to serve. Yes, foundations were laid, but cracks quickly followed.

You speak of your lived experience of hardship, sacrifice, and determination. And that is something many of us can relate to. But personal struggle does not excuse political failure. The fact that you carried buckets and worked on plantations is admirable, but it doesn’t justify a party’s refusal to evolve, listen, or govern transparently.

Now, you champion Cola Pelega ma Supa as though it’s the answer to Samoa’s every challenge. But where was this vision during your 40 years of uninterrupted power? Why did this grand idea only emerge after losing the election?

Let’s be honest, this is not a bold new solution. It’s a reactionary tactic, a patchwork response from a party scrambling to remain relevant.

And while you dismiss million-dollar projects as gimmicks, let’s not confuse investment with vanity. Infrastructure is not the enemy; corruption is. We need quality hospitals, clean energy, resilient schools, and technology infrastructure to prepare our people for the future, not just to keep repeating slogans about the past.

You accuse others of not knowing how to do it properly, but what exactly was done properly under HRPP in the end? During HRPP, public trust eroded, the judiciary was challenged, and the democratic processes almost derailed. If that’s your definition of leadership, then we must aim higher.

And this idea that struggling families simply need to work harder is not only dismissive,  it’s deeply offensive. Our people are already working themselves to the bone. Farmers, drivers, market vendors — they carry the economy on their backs. What they need is not patronising advice, but a system that values and supports them with dignity and fairness.

So yes, you were raised by a hardworking generation. So were we, but we don’t honour their sacrifices by staying loyal to a party that squandered its moral compass. We honour them by demanding better.

This generation is not just thankful, we are alert, informed and unafraid to challenge the status quo.

We’re not interested in living off nostalgia. We’re interested in building a Samoa where the child of a farmer has the same chance as the child of a politician. Not because someone handed out COLA, but because the system was fair, the opportunities real, and the leadership just.

The HRPP had its moment, and yes, it did some good. But that moment has passed. Samoa is not a museum. We don’t need caretakers of history. We need architects of the future.

So, thank you for what was built, but we won’t be shamed into silence. Not now. Not ever.

Umi Fuimaono