OPINION: Managing boxing

Vet corner: Tuberculosis threat – The danger is still very real after 200 years

This disease recognised in cattle and humans is caused by bacteria in a family called mycobacteria. This was the first organism found way back in the late 1800s to be a cause of a disease. It was called “consumption” and for good reason. The mycobacteria causing TB in cattle has the ability to infect an...

No trees after 12 years: A fascinating allegory

All environment conscious people agree that it is essential that we plant as many trees as possible if the world is to be saved from climate catastrophe. But whose job is it? The usual answer in an aid dependent Fiji is that it is Government’s job to do so. Just as Government is usually expected...

The GCC’s role over the iTaukei: Indigenous Fijians and the GCC or is Fijians and the GCC?

I write in response to concerns raised in The Fiji Times by Prof Narsey (Feb 25), Mr Sailosi Batiratu (Feb 11, 18 and 25) and Mr Graham Leung (Feb 18) on the Great Council of Chiefs and its role. I view this organisation as having two roles: to deliberate and advise the iTaukei people on...

Editorial comment – One down!

It wasn’t a beautiful start by the national side, but the win was savoured to the brim last night at the home of 7s rugby. It isn’t difficult to slap that tag on So Kon Po, or the Happy Valley in Hong Kong! It’s where it all started, and where the abbreviated version of the...

ICJ on climate change – Vanuatu says court’s opinion will be a ‘massive win’

The United Nations has adopted a landmark resolution asking the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to deliver an opinion on climate change and the legal consequences countries face for harming the environment. It is the culmination of a four-year push led by Vanuatu and other Pacific nations to get climate change in front of the...

Letters to the Editor – Friday, March 31, 2023

All for Fiji It is an excellent opportunity to take this moment to extend our sincere good wishes and best of luck to all our rugby teams this weekend. Away in So Kon Po, Hong Kong, both our women’s and men’s sevens rugby teams will play their hearts out in the HSBC 7s tournament. A...

Editorial comment – Positive growth in tourism

It is good to know that the tourism sector is projected to grow to a $3 billion industry this year as markets in Asia open up and new markets, including Canada, come on board. It is exciting news! Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica shared this development with stakeholders from the public and private sector who...

Surviving the pain of abuse – Why women need men to help end domestic violence

Warning: This story talks about experiences of domestic violence. In the Pacific, almost two-thirds of women and girls experience violence at the hand of a family member or intimate partner. In Papua New Guinea, the statistics are even more grim, with a woman beaten every 30 seconds. Lydia Gah was one of those women. Her husband...

Letters to the Editor – Thursday, March 30, 2023

A physical battle As predicted on the front page (FT 29/03), the battle between the Swire Shipping Fijian Drua and the Melbourne Rebels is going to be tough and physical. I’m expecting a jam-packed HFC Bank Stadium and the sea of blue to inspire the Drua to record another scintillating performance and victory at home....

Editorial comment – A welcome turn of events

You could feel the emotions in some of the leaders of Fiji’s newsrooms yesterday! Finally! After 12 years, it is happening! When Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka announced that Cabinet had approved a Bill to repeal the draconian media legislation, it was met with joy in newsrooms. Today we reflect on the Media Industry Development Act...

Call for rapid action

Pacific leaders are not surprised by the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report that says current action and plans are insufficient to keep warming below 1.5 degrees. The report said more than a century of burning fossil fuels and unsustainable land use has had led to global warming of 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial...

Letters to the Editor – Wednesday, March 29, 2023

Beautiful write-up of a mother’s rise to success Wata Shaw is congratulated for her beautiful write-up on the plight of a single mother’s rise to success – FT, Tuesday, March 28, 2023. Elisabeta Torava Waqa, the exemplary and determined single mother of nine, against all odds, is a huge success story that needs sharing. For...

Editorial comment – Attention to detail

Fijians and visitors to our shores deserve police officers who are professional, calm, and collected. That’s the point driven through at a two-day workshop in Suva by Acting Commissioner of Police Juki Fong Chew. Speaking at the closing ceremony of the Fiji Police Annual Consultative Workshop in Suva, Mr Fong Chew told senior police managers...

Letters to the Editor – Tuesday, March 28, 2023

Photograph of the year award Congratulations to my friend Sophia Ralulu for scooping the Photograph of The Year Award. I have had the pleasure of knowing Sophia for many years and I have always admired her talent and dedication to photography. Her passion for capturing the beauty and essence of the world around us is...

Editorial comment – A matter of life and death

A 53-year-old man died in a motor vehicle accident near Teidamu Hill in Lautoka on Saturday afternoon. He was from Barotu, Rakiraki. Police said the victim’s vehicle was hit by another vehicle driven by a 26-year-old tertiary student. The impact of the collision, we are told, resulted in a third vehicle sustaining damage and its...

Fijians hurt after big thrashing

The Swire Shipping Fijian Drua ignited hopes of a stellar year in Super Rugby Pacific after beating the mighty Crusaders 25-24 at Churchill Park. The boys lost to the Reds 27-24, and there were hopes the side was going to record another upset against the injury-hit Highlanders which narrowly beat the Drua 27-24 in Suva...

Honey industry struggles

A boom in beekeeping in the Pacific has helped improve yield and quality for more than 30 per cent of the country’s pollination-dependent crops, but it comes at an inopportune time as Fiji grapples with a varroa mite invasion and adverse weather events. It has presented beekeepers in the Pacific nation with a dilemma. There...

Letters to the Editor – Monday, March 27, 2023

Poor support for victorious Silktails I was blessed to witness Silktails win at Churchill Park on Saturday. While the focus is on our two Drua sides, I was offered an invitation by a significant personnel of the Silktails set-up, thanks to high school connections. Amazingly, the Silktails are made up of young blood who are...

Editorial comment – Consistency, intensity!

It was difficult for Fijian Drua fans to absorb that 24-57 loss to the Highlanders at the weekend. Trailing 12-33 at the breather, the Drua were expected to come back in the final quarter. They did come back, but it wasn’t good enough to overcome the Highlanders. We had gone into the game with high...

Managing depressions

Bula Fiji! Welcome to my new column where I will be sharing insights and practical strategies on mind wellness, selfcare, and self-awareness. The mind is a complex structure. We exist as mind-body-spirit beings and often our wellness emphasis is purely on the physical body. Our minds also go through changes in health. So today, I...

The giving tree

Some of you may have read this apparently simple story by Shel Silverstein. But it is much more than just a simple story. My wife used to read it to our daughters. Once there was a tree. And she loved a little boy. Every day the boy would come and gather her leaves, make them...

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