Sofi Pua

Sofi Pua, as he was known popularly to his family and friends, was a typical leader in the traditional Samoan mould. He worked hard to get his family established in Auckland, but he was also concerned for the advancement of his own Samoan community in Auckland. In those days, in the early 1960s and 1970s, the Samoan community was not a large community. Thus, a Samoan Advisory Council was set up to coordinate issues and matters that the community needed answers and solutions to. These were basically the issues of resettlement etc. Sofi Pua became the chairman of that Advisory Council and with others, tried to get the Auckland City Council and government to listen to what they had to say.

There were many issues that Sofi Pua was involved in, ranging from immigration,community projects, to church development. He was a Samoa trained teacher, but his qualifications were not recognised so he worked in the post office mailroom for his whole working life.