Tapunuu Niko Lee Hang (1953/1954 – 29 November 2022) was a

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

n politician and

Cabinet Minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

. He was a member of the

Human Rights Protection Party The Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP, sm, Vaega Faaupufai e Puipuia Aia Tatau a Tagata) is a Samoan political party. It was founded in 1982 and dominated Samoan party politics for decades thereafter, leading every government until their defea ...

. Hang was an

accountant An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certifi ...

by profession and a former Public Trustee. He was educated at

Waikato University , mottoeng = For The People , established = 1964; years ago , endowment = (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $263.6 million (31 December 2020) , chancellor = Sir Anand Satyanand, GNZM, QSO, KStJ , vice_chancellor = Neil Quigley , city ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and the University of New England in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. He was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Samoa as one of two parliamentary representatives reserved for Individual Voters in a by-election in December 2001. In January 2002 he was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary to Minister of Justice. In 2004 he was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary to minister of Revenue. He was re-elected at the 2006 election and appointed

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

. He was re-elected again in the 2011 election, but replaced as Finance Minister by

Faumuina Tiatia Liuga Faumuina Tiatia Faaolatane Liuga (born 19 September 1945) is a Samoan politician and former Cabinet Minister. He is a member of the Human Rights Protection Party. Faumuina was born in Papa i Palauli and educated at Leulumoega Fou College Malua ...

. From 2012 to 2014 Hang opposed plans to replace the individual voter seats with two urban seats. After serving a term as a backbencher, he was re-appointed to Cabinet following the 2016 election as Minister of Works Transport and Infrastructure. In September 2018 he claimed that the chief executive of the Ministry of Works, Afamasaga Su’a Pou Onesemo, had been fired for poor management. He retracted the claim two days later. Following the abolition of his urban voters seat he contested the new seat of Vaimauga No. 3 in the

2021 Samoan general election General elections were held in Samoa on 9 April 2021 to determine the composition of the 17th Parliament. In March 2021, Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa, a former member of the ruling Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) and a former Deputy Prime Minis ...

and was re-elected. Tapunuu died at Tupua Tamasese Meaole National Hospital in Motoʻotua on 29 November 2022, at the age of 68.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee Hang, Niko 1950s births category:2022 deaths Samoan people of Chinese descent Members of the Legislative Assembly of Samoa Finance ministers of Samoa Government ministers of Samoa University of Waikato alumni University of New England (Australia) alumni Samoan civil servants Year of birth missing 21st-century Samoan politicians