As Samoan Language Week starts Monday, concern was raised with Deputy Prime Minister Tuala Ponifasio Tevaga about the language used in parliament last week.

Tuala said it was concerning that such language was uttered in parliament.

Tuala was asked that with the celebration of Samoan language week around the corner, the language used in parliament meetings was quite heavy, and students looked at the government to learn about the language and culture.

"That is where the values and ideals of parliament lie. The Speaker manages that language situation. If the language is heavy or foul, he is the one who makes the decision on that. But what now? He is allowing people to speak out in such language. They are bringing up inappropriate words, and that's not the kind of parliament I wanted to sit in," he said.

"No, our Samoan culture is permanent, but this is a case of the elected representatives of districts in parliament. It is also the decision of the district for their representative. He is speaking on behalf of the district so they decide what to do. But the permanent laws of Parliament are written in the language used, through Samoan traditions and customs. The laws are also accompanied by cultural wisdom and judgment."

Speaking to this newspaper a few students shared how they felt about hearing the exchanges in parliament sessions. They were quite surprised by the language used by some of the parliamentarians. 

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education and Culture during their Faailo Ao program last week announced the Samoan Language Week celebration starting Monday.

Under the theme "Living in the language and culture". There will be two days in Savaii and three in Upolu. It is the third year since a Samoan Language Week is being celebrated in Samoa.

During their program, Sala Delphina Lee explained that the program will start from 10 March to 14 March. 

"The ministry has decided that this year will have some small changes to the program. For this year, we are going into interpreting songs and anthems of villages. The aim is to record the lyrics of the songs and the idioms found in the village songs, also the melody and who composed the song, and when was the song composed," she said.

"The aim is to reveal your heritage and identity as these are your gifts from God. Revitalise and maintain, protect and preserve our language and culture."