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From The Crowd
16th May
The 1987 Coup – Catharsis or diseases
This year marks the 34th anniversary of Fiji’s first military coup on May 14, 1987 — an event that changed the country’s direction, destiny and destination. The coup, instigated by the third ranked military officer,...
Hints for the home-bound
We of your so-called civilised world who have already undergone community isolating and lockdown situations during the past year or so, thought to pass on a few tips to help you pass the time until the uncivilised Covid virus loosens its grip. We understand that there has already been a certain amount of panic buying,...
15th May
Holocene or Anthropocene
The term Holocene appears to have been first suggested by Sir Charles Lyell in 1833 and taken by the International Geology Congress in Bologna in 1885, in post glacial geological era in the past 10 to 12 thousand years of history. The Anthropocene has come to replace the Holocene as the latest geological epoch. Since...
Let’s fight this virus together – Nation plunges further into uncertain times
As the nation plunges further into uncertain times, we are all anxious at the handling and what direction we will be going towards as the pandemic continues. By outlining a few areas that are being discussed in the public arena I thought we could bring a little clarity and conversation to these topics. This article...
Heart-wrenching loss – Diaspora, loved ones and COVID -19
Alongside the myriad stories of closed borders, unemployment, struggling health systems, surging COVID cases and accompanying increase in poverty, there is another heart-wrenching COVID-19 experience – not being able to be with loved ones in their last days on earth. This is a Fijian story, but applicable across the globe to diaspora who left their...
Time is of the essence – How to respond to Fiji’s COVID-19 health crisis
By NEELESH GOUNDER and NEIL SHARMA On April 18 2021, Fiji marked 365 days since the last case of COVID-19 “outside of border quarantine transmission”. Just when the pandemic seemed to have come under control, a new positive case of a security personnel working in a border quarantine facility detected on April 17 2021 has...
Look after your diet – Health and wellbeing during the pandemic
With the presence of COVID-19 more prevalent than ever, there are millions of families affected by this world-wide. With the new wave of COVID-19 in Fiji and that too being the Indian variant, it is a serious concern for our country Fiji. COVID-19 is a highly contagious virus that is most easily spread from person-to-person...
Contact tracing apps – Critical infrastructure cyberattacks
Last week, we saw a real-world consequence of a successful cyberattack clearly highlighted with the closure of one of the US’ largest trans-continent fuel pipelines (from Texas to New York) because of ransomware. Last Friday, Colonial Pipeline said a cyberattack forced the company to proactively close down operations and freeze IT systems after becoming the...
Taiwan model against COVID-19 – ‘No one is safe, until everyone is’
While Fiji was moving on the path of preparedness for border reopening and quarantine-free travel bubbles with Australia and New Zealand, with no transmission cases for a year, the Indian B1.617 variant suddenly attacked the borders and force lockdowns across the Viti Levu last month. Lautoka, Nadi, Suva, Nausori and Lami were established as containment...
Special moments – Mandali members reach out to the needy
Last Sunday, Mother’s Day was celebrated in Fiji. Facebook was flooded with beautiful moments between a mother and her loved ones despite the COVID-19 crisis. However, those whose mothers had passed away had to cling to the beautiful memories from the good old days. I was one of those who reminisced the good old days...
14th May
Australian global aid – Land Down Under almost rock bottom in global rankings
New OECD aid data for 2020, from the organisation’s Development Assistance Committee or DAC, shows that Australia’s aid performance has never been worse in global terms. We started the decade above the global aid average: in 2011, our aid-to-income ratio (the measure of aid generosity) was 0.34 per cent of GNI, and the OECD average...
13th May
Fiji left out – Sakul: Marshall Islands and New Zealand were invited
Fiji was recently excluded from the Leader Summit on Climate, to which only the Marshall Islands and New Zealand were invited, notwithstanding the fact that Fiji was the first island nation to raise the battle against climate change to the global stage. The issue of excluding Fiji seems to be analogous to a phenomenon observed...
