Sterling Higa
Sterling Higa is a servant of Christ, husband, and father to four. He is a columnist for Aloha State Daily; the views expressed are his own.
As founding executive director of Housing Hawai‘i’s Future, Sterling helped pass Hawai‘i’s most significant statewide housing reforms in 40 years. Previously, he was a lecturer and debate coach in the Communications Department at Hawai‘i Pacific University, winning the Golden Apple Award for distinguished teaching. His writings for Honolulu Civil Beat and Hawai‘i Business Magazine have been recognized with awards from the Society of Professional Journalists.
Sterling is a Roosevelt High School graduate and holds a bachelor's degree in Speech from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and a master's degree in education from Harvard University.
Latest from Sterling Higa
Pamela Cisneros, Lindsay Clancy, and the voice that said ‘kill’
A woman pulled two kitchen knives from a shopping bag on Seventh Avenue and used them on two strangers. By nightfall everyone knew why, and no one argued. ASD opinion columnist Sterling Higa on the explanation for mental illness that every culture but ours took for granted.
Sterling HigaSeptember 06, 2026
Hawaiʻi brain drain: How discrimination kept talent in the Islands, and why it doesn’t anymore
In February 1954, Nisei veterans who bled for their country couldn’t get a loan from Hawaiʻi’s banks, so they opened one of their own. ASD opinion columnist Sterling Higa on how the discrimination that once concentrated talent in the Islands has faded — and why Hawaiʻi must now compete for people it used to keep by default.
Sterling HigaSeptember 02, 2026
Hawaiʻi meth deaths and the wrong account of human nature
A state planner earning $139,860 a year was found dead on his apartment floor, a glass pipe in his lap. ASD opinion columnist Sterling Higa on how every remedy for meth rests on some account of the man being remedied.
Sterling HigaAugust 28, 2026
Ige wasn’t an insurgent. He was next in line.
A senator who chaired the most powerful committee in the Capitol waited quietly while a governor burned through every ally he had. ASD opinion columnist Sterling Higa on what Hawaiʻi’s most famous “insurgency” proves about governing.
Sterling HigaAugust 25, 2026
The $88 billion bill we agreed to ignore
Seven years ago, a room full of Hawaiʻi’s most powerful executives agreed the state faced an $88 billion problem in investing for the future. Then everyone went back to work. ASD opinion columnist Sterling Higa on why the maintenance never comes.
Sterling HigaAugust 21, 2026
Hurricane Lala was a warning: Is Hawaiʻi ready for a direct hit on Honolulu?
In Nāʻālehu, floodwaters swept homes off their foundations; in Kaʻū, bridges were destroyed. ASD opinion columnist Sterling Higa on why a storm that spared Honolulu should serve as a warning.
Sterling HigaAugust 18, 2026
