New era in Ba sporting history
A new dawn rises at Govind Park in Ba. Despite the recent floods that entered Govind Park, the spirit of Fiji’s rich rugby heritage remains unshaken After years of waiting, Govind Park is now ready to host one of the world’s toughest rugby union competitions in its own backyard. Let the roar of the crowd echo across Ba and remind the world who we are and why we deserve to compete on the biggest stage. For the people of Ba, this event brings a glimmer of hope — an opportunity for the town to revive and rebuild through major sporting events that will uplift the region and stimulate economic activity. However, the responsibility lies with the Ministry of Waterways and the Ba Town Council to work together to ensure that Ba remains flood-free. Proper planning, monitoring, and collaboration are essential so that this iconic venue can thrive. Let us work together to revive Ba as a sporting hub that welcomes people from all walks of life, while allowing the local economy to breathe again and sustain itself in the years to come. Toso Drua. Toso Ba! Pranav Chand Nakasi, Nausori
Travel issues
The Brumbies are reportedly facing travel, training and recovery issues for the Ba game. This could go two ways. If they lose to the Drua in Ba, it will be blamed on travel issues. If they beat the Drua, they will make long speeches about how they beat travel issues and won. DONALD SINGH Nausori
A suggestion
Last Sunday, I attended an exciting National League match at Prince Charles Park with thousands of soccer fans, where Nadi faced off against the visiting team, Ba. I noticed that Nadi soccer has upgraded from having just one main ticket booth to now having two cashier booths at the pavilion entrance. Personally, I believe this is a positive change. However, I strongly recommend that a separate entry point be established in the future for fans who purchase tickets in advance. It’s unfair for these fans to stand in the same lines as those buying tickets on-site, as it undermines the purpose of buying tickets early. This situation is acceptable if the crowd is not too large. Another issue I observed was the congestion around the ticket booth area. When the lines are long, anyone trying to exit has difficulty doing so. The venue needs to be designed to minimise or eliminate such problems for attendees. Your events attract supporters from other districts who will likely notice these issues. Therefore, it is the organisers’ responsibility to provide a well-organised and enjoyable experience for all attendees. Suresh Chand Nadi
High-income nation
Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has unveiled an ambitious vision to transform Fiji into a high-income nation by 2050 (FT 10/03). Well, at least on paper for now. But such grand declarations trigger a strong sense of déjà vu. We were previously treated to similar fairy tales by that former “minister of everything”, (Aiyaz) who once confidently proclaimed that Fiji would surpass Singapore, New Zealand and Australia. I am still laughing at those pie-in-the-sky promises. If memory serves me right, there was even talk of a rail network linking all our towns and cities, perhaps powered by imagination rather than economics. Before we start celebrating our supposed arrival into the league of wealthy nations, perhaps our leaders should first confront the grim realities staring ordinary Fijians in the face. The escalating cost of living is crushing households. Poverty is rising, wages remain painfully low, unemployment persists, and homelessness is no longer something we pretend not to see. Meanwhile, our infrastructure continues to crumble, violent crime is becoming disturbingly common, drugs are eating away at communities, and our healthcare system is in such a deplorable state that even those who once boasted about it seem reluctant to rely on it. In fact, the same Aiyaz had once proudly declared that Fiji possessed the best medical facilities in the Pacific. However, he himself made repeated attempts to fly to Singapore for treatment. That alone speaks volumes. If we cannot even get the basics in order, safe streets, decent healthcare, reliable infrastructure, jobs and fair wages, then all this rhetoric of becoming a high-income nation by 2050 sounds less like a serious national strategy and more like political theatre. Until then, dreams remain free “Stee!” Nishant Singh Lautoka
Be brave
Donald Trump tells oil tanker captains and crew to be brave and cross the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, but he himself walks around with many security personnel. What nonsense! Rakesh Chand Sharma Nadi
Income tax
The Lands and Mineral Resources Minister says that under the Fairshare of Mineral Royalty Act 2018, the state has received $4.97million and $21.52million was distributed to Land Owning Units. (FT: 10/3). I wonder whether land owning units pay any income tax on this $21.52 million income. BHARAT MORRIS Gold Coast, Australia
e-Ticketing issue
The current system is not working. Why don’t they try to utilise the Singapore system where both e-Ticketing and/or cash payment are utilised when boarding a bus. Cash is put into an enclosed till and not handled by the driver. He merely verifies the amount. Dan Urai Lautoka
Slap on the wrist
LTA’s CEO Irimaia Rokosawa in speaking of the increased maximum fine for speeding, (FT 10/3) seeks to tell us that government is getting really tough on speeding drivers. This rings hollow. The maximum speeding fine is the same fine as issued for illegal parking or stopping! Equating a breach of parking regulations with dangerous driving is just plain wrong. Terry Hulme NSW, Australia
Fuel options
Iran has reportedly announced that only China, Pakistan and Russia will be permitted to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. I believe India too as they are the world number one in international diplomacy. So, before the price of our fuel is allowed to skyrocket, Fiji must look at the above supply channels. But if someone like me sipping ginger tea and still laughing at Rakesh Chand Sharma’s Tamil joke can think of our looming fuel supply issues, the actual people in the business would know better. Donald Singh Nausori
Missing revenue
We read in The Fiji Times that “The Government’s coffer will be deprived of up $100million in net revenue, and potentially up to $700-$800m in gross revenue if some 3000 VAT-registered taxpayer organisations who have been identified for failing to meet their VAT lodgement obligations do not pay up” (FT 10/3). I wonder how much state revenue we have been deprived of through the granting of a 7-year tax exemption to a foreign-owned corporation. I take it this is in context a legitimate question to ask. Rajend Naidu Sydney, Australia
Languages
Decline in English
Your feature writer Arvind Mani (8/3/26) points out that there were many spelling and grammatical mistakes in the ‘IQ Active’ TV program and in Social Science textbooks prepared by the Ministry of Education. I recall a similar observation in your paper by the Prime Minister last year, saying he was astonished at the number of grammatical mistakes in school test papers. Fifty years ago, there were no English mistakes in The Fiji Times, now there are scores every day, and the same applies to other media, members of Parliament etc. Indeed, many specialists over recent years have stated that the standard of English in Fiji is going down – and, having taught English and other languages in Fiji for over 50 years, I agree. So what are the causes and what can we do about it? One obvious reason is that we no longer have teachers who are first-language speakers of English and trained to teach it. In New Caledonia, the standard of French in schools is very high, mainly because the teachers are trained first-language speakers of French from metropolitan France. Clearly importing large numbers of English teachers would be prohibitively expensive, so we need to look elsewhere for a solution. Simply put, we must teach English. Are we not already doing that? No, what we have is teachers, most of whom speak only Fiji Pidgin English, standing up in front of a class and speaking in pidgin. Nobody is trained in language-teaching and we fail to teach English in the way that languages are taught all over the world: in the child’s first language. In Japan children learn English and other languages through the medium of Japanese, English is taught in France using French, and so on throughout the world. The only reason we don’t do it is tradition: we have no tradition of using vernaculars in Fiji for any form of education, let alone language teaching. Now is the time to change. We also need to change the age of introduction to English. The current trend of introducing English teaching from class one or even earlier is a disaster, instilling mistakes at an early age. We must ensure first that a child is competent and literate in their own language, then introduce them to other languages such as English, Fijian, Rotuman, Banaban or Fiji Hindi, using the medium of the child’s mother tongue. Finally, we need to tell parents that speaking to them in ‘English’ may be a good way of showing off, but it’s not going to improve the child’s English, which can only be achieved by trained language teachers. What we are seeing increasingly is children who are semi-lingual – speaking both English and their mother tongue imperfectly. Fiji Pidgin English is fine for intercommunal communication in Fiji, but useless in communicating with English-speakers outside Fiji. In my long experience, the best English speakers I have taught at USP are not those who were denied their mother tongue as children, but those who grew up in remote rural areas, spoke their own language well, and learned English at secondary level by reading a lot and learning from committed and competent teachers. That is what we need. Paul Geraghty USP, Suva
Tamils and Aborigines
Brother Donald Singh, in 1997/98, the head of Hindi Department, the late Professor Vivekanand Sharma had mentioned to us about Aboriginal and Tamil relationship. While in India, he had accompanied a group of Indian linguists to Australia to study Aboriginal language, culture and traditions. Since the internet, Google etc, wasn’t easily accessible, people were not aware of such research. But during a Deepawali speech in 1999 at Sangam College, Nadi, when I mentioned this and how sea levels were low, the shifting of Earth’s tectonic plates, Australian continents contours fitting well under the Indian sub-continent and Africa created excitement among students and teachers. There is a huge continental shelf submerged in the Indian Ocean where Maldives and Chagos Islands sit. This shelf averages 122 km in width and wider extensions of Mumbai and Northwestern Australia. I also told my students, “please, do not consider the “evil Ravana” of Ramayana fame to be an Australian”. Google for detailed research on the relationship between Tamils and Aborigines. Rakesh Chand Sharma Nadi
