Happy New Year! We all look forward to a new year filled with worry-free days. The leeward coast of Oahu is made up of diverse but unique towns – Ewa Beach, Kapolei, Ko`Olina, Honokai Hale, Nanakuli, Maili, Waianae, and Makaha. While Kapolei is considered the second city of Oahu, Waianae is known for its farmlands. Despite this difference, our neighborhoods have similar wishes for the new year. Let’s consider our communities’ hopes for a better way of life. Because of our mobile society, we see new and different Asian and Pacific Islander cultures fill our neighborhoods. These diverse lifestyles have added color and spice to our foods,customs, and entertainment. We appreciate the benefits of such lifestyles despite the social conflicts that may occur in the schools or at the workplace. Because problems can arise when immigrants and newcomers live differently and speak oddly, we must work for more compromise, tolerance, and compassion to help maintain peace in our neighborhoods.
As we begin the year 2013, we expect more development with the construction of the rail and the start of additional businesses in Kapolei. We expect better opportunities for education with the expansion of the new West Oahu campus of the University of Hawaii and with the start of the rail which will allow high school graduates to reach quickly a variety of schools in Honolulu. These wishes for securing educational endeavors will not be forthcoming immediately, but we expect a reasonable pace of improvement. We anticipate spending less time on the freeway since we consider Kapolei as the commercial spot for our shopping and as a government center for our legal matters. Residents on the West Coast look forward to finding more employment and recreation as this city continues to develop.
Leaving this city and heading west to the country, we embrace rural Waianae, the last bastion of hope for farmers. We want to preserve and use more intensely our farmlands for dairies, chickens and egg production, piggeries, vegetable and fruits, and flowers. And the biggest wish for our leeward coast is that we do not lose that aloha spirit which is characteristic of people from our West Side. Keep on showing those easy smiles, shaka signs, and friendly acts, especially on the road!
