WHEN Dr Kabir Mamun first told his wife Honey Hasan that he received a job offer from a university in Fiji, he wasn’t prepared for her outburst.
“My wife refused outright,” he said.
“It took me a month to explain where Fiji was and three more to convince her about the new job. She just started crying, she had an impression that we’ve stayed here for a long time, why should we pack up and leave? We had family here and were about to become citizens. So I made a deal with her, I said ‘I have a return ticket, we’ll go down to see what Fiji is like and if you don’t like it we’ll come back’. It was like a surety,” the PHd holder said with a laugh.
That was four years ago in 2013, and the couple have since adopted the country as their own.
Dr Kabir is a senior lecturer at the school of engineering and physics at the University of the South Pacific. His wife Honey, is a singer in her own right. According to the couple, Hasan’s first international gig was at Dublin University in 2008. She first released a single ‘Moja’ in 2007. The song became one of the top hits in Bangladesh for almost a year. In 2008, they released two singles which featured well-known musician Yosouf Mani.
After moving to Fiji, Honey released her first debut album ‘Arall’, which means to hide. The album contained eight songs, all composed by the singer and was released on the internet.
Despite his busy work schedule, Dr Kabir has worked to promote his wife’s singing career.
Despite not being able to speak English well, you could tell the singer has adapted well to life in Fiji. As we conversed at their home within the university campus, the mother of three said she loved the laidback lifestyle on the island and wouldn’t stop talking about the friendliness of the islanders.
“When we came, we were pleasantly surprised at the similarity between Bangladesh and Fiji,”said Dr Kabir.
“The weather was similar, and the environment even the fruits and flowers, it was a reminder of home. After six months here, Honey said we should stay here forever!”
If you follow Honey’s music then you would have come across a latest mashup video she collaborated on with Kula kei Uluivuya’s (KKU) Viliame Cokanauto, a local singer. The popular mash up titled ‘Pehla Nasha’ and ‘You’re still the One’ by Shania Twain was recorded by Solomon Islander Young Davie, a gifted artiste and producer. The song hit a chord among Fiji fans.
Since coming to Fiji, she has gathered many fans including on social media Facebook for her soothing melodic voice. While the songs are mostly in the Bengali language, Fiji fans say her music is appreciated for its authenticity and purity of sound.
“Although (Hindi) is not my mother tongue, I worked hard to produce a Hindi song because music over here is based mainly on spiritual songs or kirtan,” said the shy singer.
One of her major achievements was being nominated at the 2017 Fiji Performing Rights Association Music Awards (FPRA) in the Hindi category.
It was great recognition for the couple who had to go through many obstacles to establish themselves. While she did not win an award, the singer said she won’t stop producing music for the benefit of local fans.
Already she has more than 20,000 followers on Facebook and on YouTube.
Even then, they are still finding their way in the local music industry. The couple added getting support for their music has been challenging.
“The fact is iTaukei based music industry is quite rich and they actually spend time for music, the support from the locals is strong including English music,” Honey explained.
“But for the Hindi category there are gaps, it’s a bit challenging to organise live gigs, the people are a bit hesitant about supporting local musicians.
“There’s a huge following for kirtan events or spiritual songs but there’s no space for pop or modern songs … they don’t receive much attention,” said the mother of three.
At the moment the couple are working on a song with lyrics written by a prominent Indian poet Imran Pratap Ghari. After getting permission to use the lyrics, the couple are excited about composing the music to it.
“To the audience, please feel free to visit my page on Facebook under my name and YouTube. And if you like it, please share it. I do Hindi music only for Fiji … at least treat me as one of you,” said the passionate singer.
