by Jasmine Koria As journalists, poets, coffee-fueled thesis draft writers…anyone who picks up a pen and dares the world to read their thoughts, I think we’ll all always have a special kind of love for the first platform that gave our work any kind of mainstream exposure. For me, it was the Salient. The official …
An Ode to Salient and the Friends Who Believed in Me Read More »
by Jasmine Koria My name is Jasmine, which in Anglicized Mandarin is mo li hua. I learned this on a recent visit to China, a few years after I finished processing the fact that my great, great (great-great) grandfather came to Samoa from Northern China to work a job he never left. There are days …
by Jasmine Koria Twenty-five-year-old Vensel Margraff has always been a high achiever. In his school years, he was Head Boy and dux (Valedictorian, highest-scoring senior student) of Robert Louis Stevenson Secondary school, and then also dux of the National University of Samoa’s foundation year program in 2017. As an undergraduate student in 2020, he won …
by Jasmine Koria On the 27th of May 2025, the government of the Independent State of Samoa announced to a stunned public that it had, for the first time in at least four decades, failed to pass a national budget for the new financial year. This comes after months of tense exchanges on the floor …
by Jasmine Koria Miki Magasiva’s 2025 dramady TINA impacted me in a way not only befitting of its simple, bold, Samoan title, but also in a manner that no other Samoan film had managed to do yet: It forced me to just be still. The film takes its title from the Gagana Samoa word which …
TINA: An Ode to Our One Common Family (Film Review) Read More »
A conversation between Commonwealth Correspondent Jasmine Koria and her Commonwealth Youth Forum International Taskforce Colleague, Johannes Uili Johannes Uili is a man on many missions. He is an educator, youth community practitioner, public servant, sportsperson, international development volunteer and, when we first met in October 2024, he was adding ‘Member of the Commonwealth Youth Forum …
by Jasmine Koria Despite its distance from both Europe and the continental United States, the Commonwealth Pacific has consistently yielded small but high-achieving cohorts of United Kingdom (UK) postgraduate scholars over the last few years. Samoa, in particular, has been privileged to put forward between two and four candidates annually to study in the UK. …
Commonwealth Scholarships: Closing Equity Gaps by Sharing Our Commonwealth Read More »
by Jasmine Koria The Commonwealth Youth Forum in Apia, Samoa opened on October 21 with an engaging Plenary Session on Leveraging Youth Leadership for Strengthening Democracies and Youth Engagement and Participation. Moderated by Prof. Luis Franceshi, Assistant Secretary General of the Commonwealth, and coordinated by Jasmine Koria of the Commonwealth Youth Forum International Taskforce, the …
A short bio of yourself My name is Best Apisit Uthakhamkong, and I am 29 years old. I hold a Bachelor of Brand Communications and a Graduate Diploma in Design, and I live in New Zealand. Currently, I serve as the Communications & Public Relations Coordinator for the New Zealand Commonwealth Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs …
A Year of Youth Spotlight Series – Best Apisit Uthakhamkong of New Zealand Read More »
Photo credit: Shelley Addison-Bell by Shelley Addison-Bell, Communications and Brand Lead, Ocean Youth Working Group The waves of change are being led by youth all around the world who are echoing the urgent call for action against the climate crisis. The Ocean Youth Working Group of the Commonwealth Youth Climate Change Network (CYCN) hosted a …
Diving into Action: Empowering Ocean Youths for a Sustainable Future Read More »
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