From The Crowd

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...

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...

25th March

1953: A fateful year for Fiji

Greetings readers! Today I wanted to take you back in time to Monday, September 14, 1953, at precisely 00.26:34 the deadliest and most destructive earthquake seen in Fiji’s history struck our island nation, particularly Suva. The force was magnitude 6.8 with a depth of 10kms. Unfortunately, there were eight known fatalities that were reported, five...

Toward sustainable fiscal consolidation – Rethinking taxation and spending efficiency

Last week, I discussed how fiscal consolidation measures such as tax hikes and spending cuts could potentially be detrimental to an economy that is on a recovery path following a major economic crisis, and with dynamics such as Fiji’s. I had stated that there are other measures such as broadening the tax base, increasing spending...

Managing boxing

AT the outset, I would like to apologise to readers that this week we do not have an article totally focused on Citizenship and Belonging. Instead, it is being replaced by one on boxing in Fiji (interspersed with some crosscultural references) for a number of reasons. One, boxing returns to Suva this weekend with a...