Great Loss
THIS week, fans mourned the loss of another Fiji 7s star in Waisale Beci, who donned the national jumper in 2009 and 2010 under the then 7s coach Iliesa Tanivula.
Beci had speed to burn. He was nicknamed ‘Jet Shoes’.
Beci impressed Tanivula with his skills and ability to score tries. His lethal finishing was key element and Tanivula was blessed with a gem of a player.
Beci stood out during the Suva International 7s with the Fiji Babaas 7s team. He made an impact as a debutant for the national 7s team in the 2010 Wellington and Las Vegas 7s tournaments.
He was part of the team that won the Wellington 7s tournament for the first time since the 2006 victory over South Africa 27-22 in extra time.
In pool play, Fiji beat Scotland 36-5, PNG 41-0 and Australia 38-7. Fiji beat South Africa 21-5 and England 28-19 in the quarter-final and semi-final, respectively. In the final, Fiji upset a star-studded Samoan outfit 19-14.
Coached by the great Stephen Betham, Samoa had big names in Ofisa Treviranus, Alafoti Fa’osiliva, Mikaele Pesamino, Lolo Lui, nippy playmaker Uale Mai, who captained the side, Simaika Mikaele, and Reupena Levasa.
Fiji had big names in Seremaia Burotu, Pio Tuwai, Watisoni Votu, Emosi Vucago, who captained the side, playmaker Jiuta Lutumailagi, current 7s coach Osea Kolinisau, Josefa Bole, Setefano Cakaunivalu, towering forward lanky Apisai Naiyabo, Niumaia Rokobuli and the magic man William Ryder.
That final was one of the best 7s finals that the Cake Tin hosted, apart from the 2000 and 2006 finals which Fiji won. Vucago, who was named man-of-the-match, scored a try alongside Lutumailagi and Kolinisau.
Beci went into history books. The soft-spoken 7s star did his talking on the field.
His love for 7s did not finish after he hung his boots, as he coached the Draulu 7s team in local tournaments. Fiji has lost a player who had the nation at heart!
RAJNESH ISHWAR LINGAM Nadawa, Nasinu
What’s in a name
PRESIDENT Trump recently changed “Artificial Intelligence” to “Super Intelligence” for American documents, a change that most ignored as another silly statement but it’s not so simple.
The word ‘artificial’ has negative implications as being created rather than natural, whereas ‘Super’ is positive and conjures thoughts of Superheroes, basically powerful and good.
The switch in description from negative and concerning, to positive and beneficial is not a change that most support or accept and we must think about the politics behind it.
DENNIS FITZGERALD Melbourne, Australia
Online safety
ASSOCIATE Professor of Journalism Shailendra Singh recently raised pertinent questions regarding freedom of speech, robust journalism and the risk of self-censorship by the media.
I wonder, however, to what extent government funding of media organisations may also blunt critical journalism — an essential component of a healthy democracy — even without recourse and the absence of coercive media legislation.
RAJEND Naidu Sydney, Australia
Constitutional panacea
ONCE PM Rabuka and his gang in government, including those he lured with lucrative ministerial positions and privileges, put the new Constitution of Fiji in place, a full-size statue of Rabuka should be erected to honour him.
After all, now all Fijians — ‘Kai this’ and ‘Kai that’ — would be able to live happily ever after, without having to worry about all the social malaise that currently afflict them. Future generations must remember that this Fijian utopia was made possible by Rabuka. There was “No Other Way!”
RAJEND NAIDU Sydney, Australia
UN minority
ISRAEL, the only democratic middle eastern State, had always been the UN Assembly’s scapegoat, to all of its “genocidal” resolutions.
From the Arab League, until the present UN, I am certain, they still continue to belittle and defame this tiny State.
In fact, Israel has been supplying Jordan with 50 million cubic metres of drinking water annually, since 1994, in my opinion. Even electricity and water supply to Gaza and the West Bank, prior and after the 7th of October 2023 conflict.
So, why the hostility against Israel? Why does the UN focus so much against Israel?
Is it envy, jealousy, hatred or covetousness?
Realistically, with the Islamic states domination of the UN Assembly, all of their “resolution initiatives” against Israel, I am certain, guarantee their voting numbers.
And that has always been the “backlash”, to the only Jewish State within the UN, in my view.
However, it is unbelievable that some western and EU countries also have been tempted, I believe, to “vote trading” and even threatened by “terrorism”, to vote against Israel.
And this has been the “practice”, since the declaration of the State of Israel, in my opinion.
Although Israel is a “labelled minority” within the UN Assembly, it has defied all odds. God bless Israel.
SAMU SILATOLU Nakasi, Nasinu
Moving goal post
IT appears that the Prime Minister has a long list of propositions that involve continually “moving the goalposts.”
My two cents’ worth of advice — without adding any zeros — is that our Coalition Government should exercise caution.
If the goalposts are moved all the way to the far corner, the players will inevitably confine their game to that area.
Meanwhile, the rest of the playing field will be left unattended, allowing the grass to grow over it.
RAKESH CHAND SHARMA Nadi
Airline expands
FIJI Airways has announced new and expanded flights to Australia, NZ, Canada, Japan and the Pacific Island countries.
They forgot to mention what is happening with flights to the USA.
Was that an oversight or is that a national secret?
JAN NISSAR Sydney, Australia
Ratuniyarawa signs on with Drua
I WARMLY congratulate robust Nadroga forward Manueli Ratuniyarawa on becoming the latest Nadroga player to sign with the Swire Shipping Fijian Drua.
Manto, as he is known in rugby circles, played a crucial role in Nadroga’s success in provincial rugby.
Ratuniyarawa’s work rate, experience, versatility and ability to thrive under pressure will prove critical for the Fijian Drua.
Ratuniyarawa, who made his debut for the Fiji Water Flying Fijians in 2020 against Georgia, is an asset.
Nadroga’s go-to-man will be missed by the Stallions, but the Drua management has been blessed with a humble rugby player who does his talking on the field!
Ratuniyarawa’s potential makes him a contender for next year’s RWC tournament!
RAJNESH ISHWAR LINGAM Nadawa, Nasinu
Reality show
THE ‘Traitors’ reality TV shows, popular in so many countries, have a group of people who backstab each other and do everything they can to eliminate everyone else.
It shows the worst that people can be but with annoying ads.
If you want to see the same behaviour and without the ads all you need to do is watch and listen to your political representatives and see how they behave in their parliaments.
DENNIS FITZGERALD Melbourne, Australia
Constitutional amendments
I WRITE to express my profound disappointment and alarm over the government’s decision to table and fast-track Constitution Amendment Bill No. 32 of 2026.
While the ruling coalition frames this legislation as a necessary step toward cultural restoration, a rigorous examination of its contents reveals an authoritarian blueprint that fundamentally undermines democratic sovereignty, equal citizenship, and national stability.
At the core of this legislation lies a dangerous transfer of executive and legislative power away from the voting public.
Under proposed Section 103, the power to appoint both the Head of State and the Vice-President is stripped from Parliament and handed to an unelected, hereditary body — the Bose Levu Vakaturaga (BLV).
While the Bill promises “consultation with the Prime Minister,” established constitutional law dictates that consultation requires neither consent nor concurrence. Ultimate authority will rest entirely with traditional leaders, creating direct, structural friction with our elected representatives.
Even more troubling is the proposed restructuring of the legislative branch. By re-establishing a 23-member Senate where 14 members are appointed on the advice of the BLV, the council is granted an absolute, unelected majority in the upper house.
Coupled with a strict entrenchment mechanism requiring nine of those 14 senators to approve any future constitutional changes, this Bill creates an unassailable feudal veto.
No future parliamentary majority, regardless of how overwhelming its electoral mandate, will be able to alter these arrangements without the concurrence of the BLV’s own appointees.
This structure is a global anomaly. Nowhere else in the democratic world does an unelected, ethnically exclusive body hold the power to choose the Head of State, control a legislative upper house, and hold a permanent veto over the constitution.
Even in bicameral democracies like Australia, upper houses are chosen through direct, proportional elections by the voting public.
By abandoning these basic benchmarks, Fiji risks reducing national elections to mere showmanship—a hollow ritual where citizens vote for a House of Representatives while real legislative control resides in an unelected council capable of holding the government hostage.
Furthermore, presenting this reform purely as indigenous restoration systematically erases the foundational contributions of non-iTaukei communities.
From the Girmitiya who endured brutal plantation labour to generations of Indo-Fijian farmers, business owners, and professionals, non-iTaukei citizens built this nation’s economic foundation through sweat, blood, and tears.
Locking executive appointments and legislative power behind an ethnicity-based body creates an institutional hierarchy of citizenship that reduces tax-paying Fijians to second-class subjects in their own land.
We must also confront our own history. The perception that empowering the BLV ensures indigenous unity ignores deep-seated provincial divisions among the confederacies of Kubuna, Burebasaga, and Tovata.
Re-igniting these regional rivalries within state apparatuses creates the exact conditions of institutional gridlock that previously triggered military interventions and economic collapse.
When political paralysis inevitably occurs between an elected Prime Minister and an unelected BLV, we sow the seeds for future instability.
Parliament must defend the democratic sovereignty of the people, safeguard equal voting rights, and reject Bill No. 32.
Lawmakers who vote for this measure carry the heavy moral responsibility for the governance crises that will inevitably follow.
Dr Sushil K Sharma Lautoka
