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
The Hawaiʻi that Neal Milner says never existed
Retirees in an Oregon care home keep their aloha shirts, but a Civil Beat columnist says the Hawaiʻi they remember was never real. ASD opinion columnist Sterling Higa on why willful forgetting is the one thing we can’t afford.
Sterling HigaOctober 27, 2026
Lāʻie teacher’s viral Columbus lesson shows why teachers shouldn’t be social media influencers
A Lāʻie elementary teacher filmed her lesson, posted it, and watched it go viral for the wrong reasons. ASD opinion columnist Sterling Higa on why public classrooms are no place for content creation, and how the algorithm rewards the habits teachers are supposed to train out of children.
Sterling HigaOctober 22, 2026
Jasmynn Nakasone, Lāʻie Elementary viral video: What Hawaiʻi classrooms get wrong about history
A Lāʻie Elementary teacher told her class that European sailors were “lost in the ocean” and that newcomers take while Indigenous people keep. ASD opinion columnist Sterling Higa on the oppressor-and-oppressed history that Hawaiʻi’s classrooms now teach by default — and the facts cut off to fit it
Sterling HigaOctober 19, 2026
Civil Beat’s meth survivors have one thing in common
Kēhau Manijo went to a prison church service because it was something to do. She walked out saved. ASD opinion columnist Sterling Higa on the four lives in Civil Beat’s meth series, and what the two who lived have in common.
Sterling HigaOctober 17, 2026
Maui’s Prosecutor Defends Mayor Bissen: What his press release leaves out
Three weeks before the election, Maui’s prosecutor put out a statement defending the mayor. But read the body, not the headline. ASD opinion columnist Sterling Higa on what Andrew Martin’s release says once you look past its title.
Sterling HigaOctober 14, 2026
Maui mayor’s race: Pelletier’s unproven claim about Bissen
Two days after he was put on paid leave, Maui’s police chief stood beside his lawyer and said the mayor is under criminal investigation. ASD opinion columnist Sterling Higa on why an unproven claim is one more thing for voters to weigh, beside a record they already have.
Sterling HigaOctober 13, 2026
