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Paradise of Disappointment
15.10.2005

For years, U.S Government have painted a glowing picture of Pacific Islanders living in continent as highly educated, high-wage earners. But the reality has been recognized different.

"Right now I think we're in our fourth generation here, and we're worse off than when we first came," said June Pouesi of the Office of Samoan Affairs in Carson, a nonprofit social services organization. "You find our people in high-crime, depressed areas throughout the county. There's a consistent downward spiral because there's really no understanding."

Thanks to changes in how government agencies collect ethnic data, new studies offer a more accurate view of Pacific Islanders in California than ever before. The emerging image shows a community in distress: In five Southern California counties, Samoans and Tongans have per capita incomes lower than any other major racial or ethnic group.

It showed that in every city in San Mateo County, according to one 2002-03 study, Pacific Islander youths were over represented in the number of petitions filed by the district attorney. Filing a petition in Juvenile Court is similar to filing criminal charges against adults.

Only 6 percent of Tongans in the San Francisco Bay Area have a college degree; just 9 percent of Fijians and 11 percent of Samoans there have graduated from college, compared with 34 percent of the general population.

Also nearly a majority of Pacific Islanders in San Francisco County live in poverty.

Over the years, Pacific Islanders have been classified by various government agencies and private groups as "Asians" or "Others."

There are about 246,000 Pacific Islanders in California, with about half in Southern California. They make up nearly 4 percent of Carson's population, giving the city the highest concentration of Pacific Islanders in the region.

By Los Angeles Times

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Tonga: Strike ends, debate begins
Tonga's public service strike is officially over, with an agreement reached late on Saturday night between the strikers and a government negotiating committee. The strikers had widened their demands for pay rises of between 30 and 80 percent, to include a push for political reform. However, the final agreement offered no firm commitments on the issue of reform.