04 September 2022
We are gathered here this evening, to participate in the commemorative events planned for the celebration of the 60th independence anniversary for Samoa,
I extend warm greetings to Her Excellency – The Rt Honourable Dame Cindy Kiro, Governor General of New Zealand our special guest this year. Welcome to Samoa. Your presence makes the celebration of 60 years of Samoa’s Independence more memorable, as it also marks 60 years of the Treaty of Friendship between our two countries, a landmark of the unique association we have shared since the establishment of our diplomatic relations.
As has been in the past, the first week of September marks the beginning of the Teuila festival in Samoa, however the programme for this year has been integrated and coalesced to reflect the spirit of the year-long celebrations of the 60th Independence anniversary. And it is fitting to begin this week’s programme with our praise and worship to our God – the foundation of Samoa.
King David declared in Psalms 103 – “Bless the Lord; O my Soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name”. These inscriptions form the basis of our journey as a nation over these many years, as crafted and shaped by our ancestors through the divine guidance and the ever presence of the Holy Spirit.
We all love to sing as music is part of our lives. We hear it in the lullabies of the ocean and mountains, feel it in the lilt of our oratory and the unaccompanied chants of our ancestral ditties waning with the tastes of modernity. But we are proud of the talent thriving among the sons and daughters of Samoa some of them having broken frontiers of the global music fraternity.
This evening we will hear from five choirs. Four of these are from the Theological Colleges of Malua, Piula, Moamoa, and from the Church of Nazareth. The fifth choir is from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We look forward to the beautiful singing this evening and invite you to join the music festivity of praise.
The theme of our celebration this year is ‘to sail with faith’. Let us continue on our journey with faith, to serve the purposes accorded to each one of us. I now declare the programme for the celebration of the 60th Independence Anniversary of Samoa for September open.
SOIFUA
