The Fiji Times » Opinion

Letters to the Editor – Wednesday, October 20, 2021

152 reasons to smile! I read Sekaia Waqaniburotu’s story titled ‘152 reasons’ (FT 19/19) with great interest. Sekaia, who is a retired schoolteacher, never missed a day reading the newspaper, and now that he is retired, he asks his family members to buy him a copy of the newspaper on their way back home. Sekaia...

Editorial comment – Road to big things

TREKKING through rugged terrain for hours by foot to catch public transport will soon be a thing of the past for villagers of Nakida in the district of Nagonenicolo, Naitasiri. This follows the construction of a new road linking them to Nawaisomo Village. As our report on Page 2 yesterday pointed out, Minister for Infrastructure...

Letters to the Editor – Tuesday, October 19, 2021

‘Surprise’ win for Saratibau! Vasiti Saratibau, who is an avid reader of The Fiji Times and was among the 10 winners of The Fiji Times 152nd anniversary promotion September draw, was on cloud nine. She shared that she never missed out on buying the newspaper every morning. She shared that she never missed a day...

Editorial comment – A reminder for us all

The fact that four people are recovering in hospital after they were involved in three separate road accidents at the weekend should attract attention. In fact it should keep us on our toes. It should encourage us to be proactive whenever we are out on the road. Any accident on our roads must raise concern....

Point of Origin: Brothers part ways – Two districts believed to be from the same family

Descendants of the two districts of Tunuloa and Natewa in the province of Cakaudrove are believed to have come from the same family tree – two brothers who arrived in the area in the early days before Christianity. When the brothers arrived, they settled at Naqarautu, now known as Naqaravutu or Qaravutu Village. According to...

Letters to the Editor – Monday, October 18, 2021

Our days in the sun DOES it not feel just a bit lighter? The days also seem kind of brighter Are these our days in the sun? Let’s just hope that the very next day won’t be darker and grimmer than today Let’s all make “hay” while the sun shines that is to plant and...

Editorial comment – Special day for Muslims

Today Muslims around the world, will celebrate the birthday of Prophet Mohammed. It is a special day for them. They believe the prophet was a perfect example of being upright, merciful, compassionate, truthful, brave, and generous. These are qualities many people place great value on. Wherever you are, and whatever you plan to do on...

Letters to the Editor: Sunday, October 17, 2021

‘Don’t get your ears punched’ Mike Tyson said everybody has a game plan until you get punched on the face. So did Wilder until Tyson Fury punched his left ear. Wilder can still knock Tyson Fury out for good if he can land his punch on Fury’s jaw. Only advice I would give Wilder is...

Editorial comment: Early detection important

Minister for Women and Poverty Alleviation Rosy Akbar made an interesting point yesterday. While speaking at the Pinktober and International Rural Women’s Day celebrations in Ba yesterday, Ms Akbar said women hide their problems. She stressed the importance of women coming forward to seek help for their needs. Women hide their problems, she said, because...

Opinion: A.D.Patel’s significance in Fiji’s political history

As a long-time observer of Fiji’s political scene and the person who took that group photo in part 1 of his article and recorded the speech quoted in part 2, I would like to comment on Kamal Iyer’s tribute to A.D.Patel (The Fiji Times October 2, 2021). Having known MrPatel, observed him at political rallies, and interviewed him on several occasions in 1966, I can partly endorse...

Regional Focus: Fiji set to open international borders

Fiji sets the date for the reopening of international borders IN Fiji, there have been further relaxations to domestic public health measures. This includes a return to school for students in Years 12 and 13 from November 1st. In addition, the government has announced that the reopening of international borders will be brought forward to November 11th. Prime Minister Bainimarama announced that people arriving from...

Opinion: Rabuka, a force to reckon with

On Monday, October 11, 2021, The People’s Alliance, Fiji’s newest political party was formally launched in the Western Division of Fiji. The location of the launch was not in one of the many glamorous five-star hotels dotted around the region, but in the humble and tranquil setting of the beautiful Nawaka Village in Nadi. This in itself set the tone for a quite remarkable speech, which was delivered...

OPINION: Movement for change

We desperately need to live in a country that respects our rights and freedoms. We desperately need a government that champions good governance and listens to us, the people. We desperately need a prudent and experienced economic leader that will give us hope that we will solve the crisis we are currently facing and once again live in peace and prosperity. We desperately need to protect our...

Opinion: Exciting end-of-year rugby

After watching some champagne rugby where South Africa fought out a close series win over the British and Irish Lions, Australia saw off France in dramatic style, New Zealand’s triumph over Trans-Tasman rivals Australia to keep the Bledisloe on way to setting records and the highly competitive Rugby Championship, we look forward to more rugby during the Autumn Nations Series starting next Saturday. The only downside of the games played...

Fiji: Where things fall apart

Fiji is a bit like Churchill’s Russia, a “riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”. Here is a beautiful country full of a talented population, sophisticated infrastructure and abundant natural resources which is sadly prone to debilitating self-inflected wounds that hobble its present and dent its future. One coup is bad enough for any country, but three (or four) in short succession is sheer madness. Yet, despite the...

OPINION: Beating bigger parties at poll

Recently the Fiji Labour Party, Unity Fiji Party and the Freedom Alliance Party signed a memorandum of understanding to work towards a united front in the upcoming general elections in 2022 or 2023. Such an MOU is of limited effect in a proportional representation system where the electoral success of a party is incumbent on...

Opinion: Fighting together to win

There has been a growing cry from the people for the Opposition parties to unite to fight the general election to bring about a change in government. The past several years have inflicted untold misery and suffering on the nation, made even worse by the COVID-19 crisis. Thousands of families were deprived of their normal...

Letters to the Editor: Saturday, October 16, 2021

Passionate reader Habits and attitudes define the personality of a person. Added to this are the values one gives to values that are real values for a valuable life. At an age of 68, Sharma Nand (FT October 15) is continuing with his self-determined habit of reading The Fiji Times daily. As a person promoting...

Editorial comment: Staying safe on our roads

Within the 12 hours that ended yesterday, we are told police booked 128 drivers for speeding in the Western Division. There were 93 bookings in the Southern Division. There were 24 bookings in the Eastern Division for speeding, and the North recorded six bookings. We raise this as we head into the long weekend. We...

Opinion: Get serious about global vaccine equity

On Monday, the ‘End COVID for All’ coalition launched its report Shot of hope: Australia’s role in vaccinating the world against COVID-19. Authors of the expert report came from international development agencies, the umbrella organisation Australian Council for International Development (ACFID), global health advocacy groups and a medical research institute. On the same day, the New York Times reported that around 48 per cent of...

Letters to the Editor: Friday, October 15, 2021

Trust in the paper Sotiana Cavora, one of the winners of The Fiji Times 152nd birthday promotion, spoke for many of us when she said, “We trust the paper” (FT14/10). I wonder how many people would say that of their government? In Australia, many Australians do not trust the government on its commitment to climate...

Editorial comment: Big things afoot for our rugby

Exciting times are afoot it seems for sports fans around the country. The general manager high performance for Fiji Rugby, Simon Raiwalui, is adamant the Fijian Drua are going to be very competitive when the Super Rugby Pacific competition starts next season. Raiwalui believes the Drua’s participation is an important step in the development of...

Growing women leaders in the Pacific

It is a commonly held view that gaining access to leadership positions for women in the Pacific can be challenging. This view is, in a large part, because much of the discussion on women’s leadership has focused on the region’s extremely low representation of women in politics. But a new study by the Pacific Private...

Letters to the Editor – Thursday, October 14, 2021

Reward for ardent reader! Apart from the monetary reward of $152 each, The Fiji Times has gone a step up by publishing their stories on the front page – hats off for this initiative as we can read the views of ardent and passionate readers about their newspaper. Via Tuesday’s edition, winner Mosese Tavutu shared...

Editorial comment – Cyclone season warning

We have been warned to expect being hit by one to three tropical cyclones from November 2021 to April 2022. One of these systems, we have been warned, could be a severe system. This is the warning the Fiji Meteorological Service in its 2021/22 Tropical Cyclone outlook released on Tuesday. The Western Division, we now...

Opinion

Political crises in Vanuatu and Samoa – Tells us about their past and future