Split over rule!
Rugby lovers around the country have vented their frustrations over the decision by the Fiji Secondary Schools Rugby Union to allow qualified schools to register up to six players (three forwards and three backs) for the Deans U18 elimination and quarterfinal stages. I believe that the rationale behind the change is to give smaller schools a better chance of competing at the national level as it will help them strengthen their squads and give more students the opportunity to experience Deans rugby. While this news is taking time to digest, it has moved emotions and we can expect more opinions in the coming days. If this practice started with rugby, will it continue with the other sports like soccer! That’s to be seen! Rajnesh Ishwar Lingam Nadawa, Nasinu
Guest players
Trying to get six guest players from another school lowers morale, team spirit and pure stupidity. I guess, when any guest player represents another school and that school wins, they will say, ‘hey look, had it not been for me/ us, this school wouldn’t have won’. That’s my half cent point. It’s no harm in trying out the format or concept. Sir, that is only one side of the coin. But, please at the end of the day, let rugby win every time! Jioji O. Toronibau Navetau, Tunuloa
FIFA, UN and us
FIFA president Infantino has reportedly, well, probably jokingly, been touted as being good enough to be the next UN Secretary General, by none other than Trump. Plenty to think about. Infantino plans to create a $US20 billion subsidiary to run the FIFA World Cup and other events. Trump’s son-in-law Jared’s brother is in the mix. If Infantino does become a UNSG nominee, Fiji Football Association should vote for him. Ok, sorry, Fiji FA doesn’t vote in the UNSG election. But Fiji does. Fiji might support Infantino’s candidacy. After all, it is Infantino as the only FIFA president who is happy with Fiji’s soccer development! No other FIFA president (Sepp Blatter is the only other one I can recall) has ever expressed delight at our soccer, even when we were ranked around 100. He said it during his last visit here. Go Infantino. Maybe out the door! Donald Singh Nausori
Election date, please!
Currently, 10 political parties have already registered for the upcoming general election, and there is still room for this number to grow, potentially giving voters more choices. However, an increase in the number of parties can lead to a division of votes. When many parties are involved, votes typically get distributed among various candidates, making it challenging for any single party to secure a clear majority. This often necessitates coalition governments, as parties may need to collaborate to form a ruling majority. On the bright side, the presence of multiple parties provides smaller or newer groups with the chance to have an impact on the political landscape. Nevertheless, this can also complicate the process of forming a government. Looking back at Fiji’s political history, the country was under nearly sixteen years of single-party rule until the 2018 elections. Since then, a coalition government has taken shape, highlighting the effects such dynamics can have. As they say, a tough battle lies ahead. Before this occurs, let’s first confirm the election date. Suresh Chand Nadi
Selling your soul?
Surely it’s time for FIFA and Gianni Infantino to disappear from the news after the problem of the US-run world cup. The latest suggestion is that FIFA is planning to sell part of its responsibilities including world cups although the details are uncertain. Who would buy this poisoned chalice? Maybe throwing in an individual FIFA peace trophy might swing the balance. You will also get a red card reversal to use when your champion player needs it. Oh, the shame! Dennis Fitzgerald Box Hill, Vic., Australia
Think carefully
I’ve written an email to FRA about streetlights since March but until now, no update. An email sent to the Opposition which was instantly forwarded to Ro Filipe Tuisawau, the minister responsible — no reply from him, an email sent to the PMs Office — the reply came ‘will look into it’. From March this year and we are hitting August soon, nothing has been done. Imagine just for a streetlight which is off — no update from any relevant authorities. No wonder our country is not progressing for such small things. Think before you choose someone who thinks and listens to your words. Jaheed Buksh Korolevu
FSC boiler
Yesterday around 11am, I went from my home at Sangam Avenue to the main street where I saw the town covered with smoke. The wind was blowing westwards and was bringing the smoke from the FSC mill. They were trying to light up their boiler but why did it take so long that it polluted the whole town? Now we have a Ministry of Environment. Were they sleeping? To the management of FSC, if it takes more than 2 or 3 hours to fire up your boiler, some of you guys have to be fired! Sukha Singh Labasa
Inhuman AI?
The upcoming list of speakers at the AI Conference is lacking in essential input from the humanities, especially philosophy, sociology and psychology. It seems to be focusing on the business values of profit, efficiency, management and innovation with no concern for the implications and consequences. And who is going to present the results of recent research into the deleterious effects and consequences for human activity and development already authenticated? Fergus Garrett Vatuwaqa, Suva
Mass protest
The Cockroach Janata Party mass protest movement currently gaining momentum by the day against the Modi regime in India I have been able to get some insight into what’s driven the Indian youths to the street through what famous Indian movie stars and rights activists like Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah, and Diljit Dasanjh have said about their reasons for throwing their full support behind the protest movement. What I would like to know is what the self appointed unofficial spokesman of the Modi regime in Fiji Rakesh Chand Sharma’s take on the mass protest going on in India and even the Indian diaspora. Rajend Naidu Sydney, Australia
Extraordinary music
Fijian music
I’ve often wondered why I gravitate so deeply towards Fijian music. For many years now, my wife and I have had what we affectionately call our “Fijian night”. We’ll put on the beautiful songs of the late Lia Osborne and Mela Dimuri, the late Ofa Ali, the late George Fiji Veikoso, the late Sakiusa Bulicokocoko, Simi Rova, Black Rose, the late Danny Costello and so many other gifted musicians, then simply dance around our family room with smiles on our faces and laughter filling the air. For those few precious hours, we’re no longer in Melbourne. We’re “home” where the trade winds blow. The music transports us back to Fiji, to a simpler time filled with laughter, family, friendships, warm tropical evenings and the gentle rhythm of island life. It awakens memories that have been quietly resting in the corners of our heart, waiting for a familiar melody to ignite and bring them back to life. There’s something extraordinary about Fijian music. It carries a joy that seems effortless. A freedom that can’t be manufactured. A warmth that embraces you. It doesn’t merely entertain. It invites you in. It lifts the spirit, awakens the heart and somehow makes life’s burdens feel just a little lighter. At times, it feels as though the music itself has been breathed into existence by the goodness of our joyous islands and its people. Now here’s the interesting part. I’m an Indo-Fijian. My wife’s a kailoma. Yet whenever those songs begin to play, labels, backgrounds and ancestry somehow become irrelevant and fade into obscurity. We’re simply two people whose hearts are responding to something much deeper than ethnicity. People often ask where identity comes from. Is it determined by our DNA? Our surname? The colour of our skin? Or could it also be shaped by the land that nurtured us, the people who loved us, the culture that welcomed us and the songs that became the soundtracks of the heartbeat of our childhood? I honestly don’t know the answer. What I do know is that whenever I hear a Fijian melody, something stirs deep within me and touches me in places I can’t describe or express. It’s almost impossible to explain. Sometimes I feel overwhelming joy. Other times, without warning, I become strangely melancholy. A single song can leave me with tears in my eyes, even though I can’t identify exactly why. There’s no obvious sadness attached to it. No particular memory that surfaces. It simply touches something deep within my soul. Perhaps that’s what homesickness sounds like. Perhaps it’s gratitude. Perhaps it’s longing for a place that shaped who I became. Or perhaps music has the remarkable ability to reach places in the human heart that words can never fully describe or express in any meaningful way. Over the years I’ve come to realise that Fiji gave me far more than a birthplace. It gave me a way of seeing the world. It taught me the value of community, hospitality, laughter, resilience and the simple joys of sharing life together. Those values have never left me, even after decades of living in Australia. Maybe that’s why the music still speaks so powerfully to me. It reminds me of who I am. Not just an Indo-Fijian. Not just an Australian. But someone who was profoundly shaped by a unique little group of islands in the South Pacific where different cultures, traditions and peoples have lived alongside one another, each contributing something beautiful to the national narrative. I’ve come to believe that music doesn’t recognise the barriers we so often create. It doesn’t care about race. It doesn’t care about politics. It doesn’t ask where your ancestors came from. It simply reaches into the human heart and reminds us that, before we belong to any nation or ethnicity, we belong to one another. So when my wife and I dance around our family room to those beautiful Fijian songs, we’re doing far more than enjoying music. We’re honouring our memories and our ancestry. We’re celebrating a culture that enriched our lives. And we’re reminding ourselves that sometimes, home isn’t just a place you leave behind. Sometimes, home is a song that never leaves your heart. Colin Deoki Australia
