From The Crowd

1st April

OPINION: Managing boxing

Last week, I brought to you an article on Fiji boxing, a sport that has had its ups and downs over the years. This was not always the case. In the 1960s and ’70s, 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...

31st March

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...

30th March

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...

29th March

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...

28th March

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...

27th March

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...

26th March

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...