A happy New Year to you! Once again, we celebrate life! We celebrate the opportunity for a new beginning, and we celebrate friendship.
As we look forward to a brand-new year, let us be reminded about the year that was, and the challenges we faced.
We should remind ourselves about life changing moments, and how they have defined us as a people, and a nation.
Unfortunately, many Fijians never got to see the break of dawn in 2023, and many couldn’t welcome this new year.
We should reflect on the year that was to ensure we have a strong base from which to work towards a better and more fruitful 2024. There are many lessons we can consider as important guidelines for us.
We should remind ourselves that we live in a multi-racial country, and irrespective of ethnicity, gender, and religion, we live together in peace.
We keep saying this. We are far removed from the ethnic violence that permeates some societies and nations abroad, where killings are a fact of life.
We are readily accepting of one another in Fiji and New Year celebrations should remind us of who we are. In saying that though, we realise a few events will define how history looks back at 2023.
The war in Ukraine continues to be thorn on the side of world peace and there is the war in Gaza. We are reminded about the frailties, or the cruelty, or meanness of mankind.
We are reminded about how fragile life is, and about advancements in weaponry and technology, and death and destruction. These are events that stood out in 2023.
The war between Hamas and the Israelis has attracted worldwide attention. A lot of discussions have focused on the deaths that have happened on both sides.
On the homefront, the big one had to be the General Election 2022 and the turn of events following that in 2023. Understandably a lot of discussions have focused on the Coalition Government’s first year in office.
For whatever it is worth, it isn’t going to be a stroll in the park when you have three political parties forming a coalition. We still look up to the powers that be to make critical decisions that are good for us all.
We realise the importance of a vibrant economy, climate change and its impact on our nation, and we embrace the fact that life is precious!
We reflect on how sports continues to be like a bridge that connects us all regardless, again, of ethnicity, gender and religion.
We reflect on the achievements of the Flying Fijians at the Rugby World Cup in France in September, and the performance of the Fijian Drua in the Super Rugby Pacific competition and in the Super W.
We reflect on those impressive results at the Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands.
However 2024 pans out for you, The Fiji Times family takes this opportunity to thank you for your support, and we hope there are good things ahead for you and your family, and for our nation.
Hope can be a very powerful motivation for anyone! We wish you all a happy New Year!
