Schedule reading, do not only recommend it
THE recent discussion in The Fiji Times about the literacy crisis and empty library shelves raises a practical question: Where in a child’s week is reading actually protected? Telling children to read more competes with homework, phones, television and everything else waiting at home. Schools can make reading less dependent on motivation by giving it a regular place in the timetable. Twenty quiet minutes, several times a week, would be enough to start. Students choose an age-appropriate book and simply read. No test after every chapter. No presentation. The first goal is to make sustained reading ordinary again. The books matter too. A locked library or shelves filled with titles children do not want will not create a reading habit. Schools can rotate small classroom collections so that books are physically close to students. Local stories, vernacular-language books, comics, biographies and short nonfiction should sit beside traditional literature. Parents can support the habit, but schools are the one place where every child can be given the same protected time. Literacy interventions are often discussed through curricula, assessments and large reforms A reading culture can also begin with something much smaller: A book, a chair and 20 minutes when nobody asks the child to do anything else.
SWAANSH MAHAT Kathmandu, Nepal
Element of trust
AS an ardent reader of the trusted brand, The Fiji Times, I salute the mainstream media for providing news and information. The Editor-in-chief, Fred Wesley, is in Savusavu attending the Climate Change and Corruption – Pacific journalists roundtable discussion at Daku Resort as part of the 8th PINA Summit. I thank him and Anish Chand for representing team The Fiji Times! It comes as no surprise that mainstream media remains a trusted source of information across the Pacific, despite the growing use of social media. Trust levels are still higher for established media organisations. Wesley’s editorial titled ‘Element of trust’ (FT: 23/09) was well-penned and a great piece of reading literature. I quote Wesley, “Trust is earned, not demanded. It is built story by story, fact by fact, and day by day. In an age where information can travel around the world in seconds, that trust remains one of the most valuable things mainstream media can have. And that is something worth protecting.” Well-articulated, Wesley! Kudos to The Fiji Times team!
RAJNESH ISHWAR LINGAM Balgovind Rd, Nadawa
Pirate taxis
THERE is an ever-increasing operation of the so-called “rova or pari” or pirate taxis in Martintar. On or about August 24, 2026, I had raised this matter with LTA via their help desk email address. Two tourists through a Martintar hotel booked one such “pari taxi” to go to Nadi Sports Club. This run should have cost maximum $8. The tourists were ripped off. Cyber driver grossly over-charged them $20. This is bad not only for Fiji’s thriving tourism industry, but for all paying passengers. What a rip-off! This is not on. It must not continue. The problem must be nipped on the bud immediately. Such illegal operations will damage Fiji touaIf such services are illegal and paying passengers are not covered by any insurance, why can’t this problem be fixed with immediate effect. Why are such services condoned? Why are legal taxi operators hard done by? Are our authorities so helpless. Legal taxi operators suffer much robbery of their daily incomes. This is mind-boggling. An official statement is awaited from LTA; the line minister for transport including the line minister for Fiji’s thriving tourism industry. They authorities must act now.
RONNIE CHANG Nadi
Where the GCC stands
THIS is my view on the Great Council of Chiefs. If the GCC wants to do things for the iTaukei people (I can’t think otherwise, since non-iTaukei cannot be part of it), then do so through the Ministry of iTaukei Affairs or at the village or communal level. However, if the GCC wants to push their agenda into how the country is run, they are free to stand in elections. They cannot be given superior unelected powers to dictate how the country is run since they represent a specific ethnic group only. Any additional legislative powers the GCC gets are undemocratic. The CRC’s proposal to give eight of the 17 seats in the proposed Senate does exactly that. Giving undemocratic legislative powers to a specific ethnic group. Are we not going backwards?
KIRAN KHATRI Samabula, Suva
Recognition at home
SAMOA’S decision to award Pacific Specialist Healthcare founder and CEO Parvish Kumar a chiefly title recognizes his contribution to health and wellbeing across the Pacific. In Fiji, chiefs have traditionally earned respect through leadership, stewardship and service to their communities. Kumar’s work can be measured against that same standard of service. This is not to diminish the contribution of Fiji’s chiefs, many of whom serve their people through cultural leadership, advocacy and community responsibility. It is to ask why comparable service in medicine and regional health has received no similar public acknowledgement in the country where Kumar’s journey began. Achievement should be judged by its benefit to people, not by whether someone is regarded as a vulagi who should know his place. Fiji should recognize his contribution on its merits and not allow prejudice to deny recognition where it is clearly deserved and without further delay.
JAN NISSAR Sydney, NSW, Australia
Ed Sheeran no show
THE corporate tax exemption an American billionaire was able to secure here in Fiji gives an insight into the power and reach of the ultra-rich.
RAJEND NAIDU Sydney, NSW, Australia
