Point of Origin: Sewing through the toughest of times

Vaccinating our children

Love for one’s children is altruistic in most individuals. Our genetics and survival as a species dictates that we have built-in protective instincts for our progeny. Biologically speaking, human beings, similar to some other mammals care for their young for almost a quarter to a third of their lifetimes. This longevity of caring is seen...

Letters to the Editor – Monday, September 27, 2021

Role of the media WE learn from The Sunday Times editorial “Role of the media” (26/9) that the Assistant Minister for iTaukei Affairs Selai Adimaitoga said “dishonest media had played a role in every troubling event in Fiji’s history”. That is clearly a case of not putting the blame where it rightly belongs. Anyone who...

Editorial comment – A reminder for us

When permanent secretary for Ministry of Health and Medical Services Dr James Fong made his daily COVID-19 announcement on Saturday, there was something that stood out. He highlighted another new border quarantine COVID-19 positive case. The patient, he said, was a 23-year-old man from Tokyo, Japan who arrived in Fiji on September 12. He said...

OPINION: A series of unfortunate accidents

I know there may be mixed reactions to the recent easing of restrictions on Viti Levu, but I can’t deny that spirits have been lighter down in Darkest Flagstaff. They were positively beaming at me over the video chats these days, and they’ve even started changing out of their pyjamas sometimes. It seems that just the idea that you can hit the road...

Letters to the Editor: Sunday, September 26, 2021

Voter card If an amendment needs to be done on my voter card, I shall get it done ASAP, come hell or high water, I will be ready to exercise my right to cast my vote. Nigel Fiu Owls Perch, Lautoka When in Fiji When one gets sick— consult a doctor. When one has...

Editorial comment: Role of the media

The Assistant Minister for iTaukei Affairs Selai Adimaitoga said quite a lot on Friday in her end of week statement on the Media Industry Development Act 2010 in Parliament. She blamed reckless reporting by journalists as “one of the causes of violence and economic destruction over the past years”. She said dishonest media had played...

A historic 100th test

The All Blacks and Springboks, two of the sport’s most decorated nations, meet for the 100th time. A century on from their maiden meeting in 1921 in Dunedin, which was won by the All Blacks 13-5, rugby’s fiercest rivals reignite their feud tonight. The All Blacks lead the all-time head-to-head record with 59 wins from their 99 encounters to date, while the Springboks have...

OPINION: The identities of our fellow Fijians

SOME of you may have read a tongue-incheek letter I wrote to the editor of this newspaper that was published last Saturday (September 18th) with the heading “A modest proposal”. It was, of course, satirical after the manner of my compatriot Jonathan Swift’s synonymous essay of about 300 years ago; but like all satire was intended to raise, among the laughs, some serious...

OPINION: Fever is a sign

Fever is a sign that is wrongly interpreted by many individuals. This is something commonly not corrected. Usually temperature checks are routinely done in hospitals or medical centre when we go and see a doctors. Now having temperature taken is part of daily requirement in life. To understand what fever is, you will need to understand what is the normal body temperature,the difference...

OPINION: Aspects of Hinduism

Prashneel Goundar’s Pursuing Divinity in Paradise (2020) is an alluring piece of work, which entails the morals written in simple words from the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. As the reviewer of his highly compelling piece I strongly feel that this book deserves an enormous commendation as it touches on the core values of Hinduism for the current generation and beyond. All...

OPINION: COVID-19 and international travel

Bula readers! This week, I thought I would take you with me on my personal overseas travel experience from Suva to Brisbane during the pandemic with some staggering revelations. The trip has come about after I had been strongly advised by doctors to get a sports medical procedure taken care of on my neck where a nerve is being compressed by my spinal chord and reducing the...

OPINION: Managing COVID-19

The Ministry of Health and Medical Services has indicated that it expects COVID-19 to become endemic in Fiji, suggesting that it does not plan to pursue a zero COVID-19 strategy. With the prospects of attaining herd immunity through current generation COVID-19 vaccines now looking bleak, COVID- 19 becoming endemic (at least for the medium term) now seems almost an inevitability, however, this will come...

OPINION: Indigenous Fijians in business

Historians believe that indigenous Fijians (“taukei”) arrived in Fiji more than 3500 years ago. The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sighted Fiji in 1643, followed by Captain James Cook in 1774. About 100 years later, Ratu Seru Cakobau and other chiefs, ceded Fiji to a reluctant Great Britain. Sir Arthur Gordon, the first governor of the new colony, saw himself as the “protector” of the...

OPINION: The epic clash

The shift from Wellington to Hamilton has proven to be fantastic in terms of crowd and getting a party atmosphere, but for me the yellow seats at the Cake Tin bring back epic memories of sevens battles in the windy capital of New Zealand. Way back in 1999 when the International Rugby Board (IRB) decided to have a WRSS circuit, the rivalry between...

OPINION: Boxing in the doldrums

Boxing’s glory days remind me of a famous line “once were warriors” some of my friends use even today. I still remember my early primary school days when I used to read about Sakaraia Ve, known as Fiji’s golden boy of boxing. Ve was a class act. In those days in the late ‘70s and ‘80s a boxer could fight up...

OPINION: How to vote twice; It turns out there’s one place you can do it

A few columns ago, I commented on how Parliament’s new method of “votes by acclamation” had left my head spinning. As Parliament ended this week my head is no better. Suddenly, on a vote rammed through “by acclamation”, thousands of us now risk of being put through a tiresome and complicated process, just so that we can exercise our democratic right to vote next...

Letters to the Editor: Saturday, September 25, 2021

Brave journalism! Journalism is about ethics. It is about reporting accurate, reliable and trustworthy information. It is not about pleasing those in authority, but giving a voice to the voiceless. With the words, ‘Your Voice Since 1869’, The Fiji Times continues to preach the ideals of good and brave journalism. Reading the people’s newspaper makes readers realise what’s happening locally and internationally, as The Fiji Times...

Editorial comment: Where we stand

We may not share the views of others about important issues. In fact we differ in our opinions on various matters, and that’s a fact! Different people will have different views about what constitutes good news. We may differ in our opinions about scenarios and events that happen around us. Some events will prick at...

Wallabies to front Pumas in round 5

It’s hard to believe that the 2021 Rugby Championship is almost coming to an end. Fans have seen four weeks of exciting, enterprising and bruising rugby. This weekend on Saturday night in Queensland, fans will see the penultimate round of matches, and although the All Blacks are running away with the Rugby Championship trophy, there...

Letters to the Editor – Friday, September 24, 2021

Litter prevention campaign The two placards, which were on display in yesterday’s The Fiji Times, had simple messages. The first one read, “You are the only cure for litter”, while the second one read, “Proud Fijians don’t litter”. I agree with the short phrases that captured the gist of the message. No amount of litter...

Editorial comment – Cut out littering, please

It was encouraging to note that the Ministry of Forestry staff members relaunched their Forest Litter Prevention Campaign. This comes in the wake of what it says was the increasing household rubbish dumping at the Colo-i-Suva Forest Reserve. Forestry Officer Parks and Reserves Unit Forest Resource Assessment and Conservation Division Apisai Moce is quoted saying...

Aussie and NZ aid

Last week the Centre for Global Development (CGD) released its 2021 Commitment to Development Index. The CDI has, for the last 20 years, been comparing rich countries in terms of their “policies that affect the development prospects of countries beyond one’s own borders”. It has had a rest for a few years and has come...

Letters to the Editor – Thursday, September 23, 2021

Sadrugu’s cane fields dream! Thank you so much Waisale Koroiwasa for sharing Taniela Sadrugu’s rugby journey. I’ve been following Sadrugu since he was roped into the Suva provincial rugby team, and from an unknown player in the Skipper Cup, he made a name for himself as a result of his hard work, vigour, discipline, determination...

Editorial comment – Staying safe for our children

The permanent secretary for Health and Medical Services Ministry Dr James Fong announced 118 new cases of COVID-19 for the 24-hour period ending at 8am on Tuesday. He said there were 113 new recoveries which meant there were 12,948 active cases. When you consider the figures, we have actually had very high numbers. There have...

Mind of the historian – COVID-19: Value of historiography

COVID-19 has changed the world entirely and historians have compared this with all the pandemics that occurred in history. Historical evidence indicates many pandemics have changed the discourse of history, be it a plague, smallpox, cholera, influenza, malaria, leprosy, tuberculosis. Scholars look at the historians to present the causes, impact and remedies of pandemics adopted...

Letters to the Editor – Wednesday, September 22, 2021

Stats on ethnicity I am surprised that no one has pointed out that we need ethnic stats on poverty, not for immediate relief, but for investigation into the very different types of poverty being experienced and their very different causes and their very different remedies. FERGUS GARRETT, Vatuwaqa, Suva Frustratingly slow I WELCOME the move...

Editorial comment – Backing our Drua

A lot of interest is slowly shifting to the resumption of sporting events around the country. In fact there is quite a bit of interest on how soon active competitions can start again. For now though, attention is focused on the Fijian Drua Super Rugby franchise, which has signed up 20 players out of its...

Offer finally rejected – What’s next?

This week, PNG’s Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (ICCC) rejected the acquisition of Westpac PNG by Kina Securities (the owner of Kina Bank) in its final determination. Since the ICCC had already rejected the acquisition in its draft determination, and for good reason, it is no surprise that it did so in its final determination....

Letters to the Editor – Tuesday, September 21, 2021

Vaccination program for children! THE vaccination program for schoolchildren between the ages of 15-17 was launched at Gospel High School by honourable PM yesterday with the belief that the vaccine would keep children from getting severely ill from COVID-19. The Fiji Medicinal Products Board authorised the use of Moderna vaccine and it has been recommended...

Opinion