Sunday, 07 September 2008

Samoan legend opens games

Samoa's South Pacific Games opening ceremony will challenge perceptions about the small South Pacific island nation.

The chiefly sea eel legend of Savaii, central to the opening ceremony, will ask guests at the opening ceremony on August 25 to consider the often quoted Samoan ideal "It may be little but it is a legamea" - in other words, consider the quality of small things.

South Pacific Games chairman, Tapasu Leung Wai says the opening ceremony has been finalised.

"It will be filled with cultural entertainment, we have a Samoan legend story, you may say the Chinese refer to the dragon but us we say it is the eel," he said.

"Our legend will be displayed during the opening ceremony."

The opening ceremony , on August 25, will be produced by Fiji-based Walter Frazier.