Rabitu’s rise prophesied!
The Super Rugby Pacific Games Guide in yesterday’s The Fiji Times was a delight for rugby lovers. The literature presented in the booklet provided an insight into the Swire Shipping Fijian Drua side this year. The coverage on the Drua and the Rooster Chicken Fijiana Drua was superb and indepth. A look at the coaching team and their expectations show that they mean business. The message from the Editor’s Desk set the platform and hats off to the staff for the stories on Mick Byrne, Kele Leawere, Naca Cawanibuka, Seremaia Bai, Selita Koroi, and the players! The player profiles stood out, just as the wonderful piece on rookie Ratu Isikeli Rabitu whose rise in rugby was prophesied by a church minister according to his father Snr Misi Rabitu who was a former rugby player and donned the Maroons, Tailevu, Rewa and Suva jumper in provincial rugby. Misi saw from an early age that his son was gifted as he possessed the natural talents of a rugby player. As the 19-year-old unravels his rugby journey in the Fijian Drua colours, he is expected to be the star in the making. All the best to Rabitu! RAJNESH ISHWAR LINGAM NADAWA, NASINU
Constructive solutions
Couldn’t help laughing out loud when I read Inia Seruiratu’s statement about cronyism in the Coalition Government. Seriously bro, you and your FFP colleagues are the masters of cronyism and you have the temerity to point the finger. Sobo sobo. What did you and your party achieve for the nation during your term but the biggest debt burden the country has ever faced and will have an uphill struggle to overcome. Bro, come up with more constructive solutions then making useless hollow statements that paint you and your party as has-beens. Colin Deoki Australia
Fight predictions
Upcoming local boxer, Ali, has predicted that his opponent, Nathan Singh, “will die from my hand, and he will wake up in hospital”. Fantastic! Even if it sounds out of order there. Coincidentally, the weatherman says to expect a stormy match night of “heavy” drizzles and lightning without thunder. Hey! Samu Railoa Nadi
He has charisma!
The Prime Minister has the charisma of a diplomatic person unlike his predecessor. AREKI DAWAI Suva
SODELPA woes
Problems with the unstable SODELPA is never ending and there are always power struggles with its many failures and indiscipline. The latest, I believe, being sabotage by some of its management board members who refused to attend their meeting on Friday, February 23, resulting in them not achieving their quorum requirements of 50 per cent. What a mess. Tukai Lagonilakeba Nadi
Drug penalties
In regards to hard drugs in the country such as meth and cocaine, I plead with the Government and Opposition to quickly meet and pass a bill to toughen the current penalties against drug users, peddlers and kingpins. Singapore has some of the toughest drug penalties in the world, including death and it does not have drug issues as other bigger countries have. Although, I don’t advocate for the death penalty, I believe that increasing the severity of our penalties will go a long way towards cleaning up our drug problem. Otherwise, just catching the offenders and giving them a few years in prison is like giving them a slap on the wrist. After that, it’s back to business for them. So if we are truly serious about fixing the drug issue, then it should start at Parliament House. Conan Hatch Nadi Airport
Woman of courage
Opposition leader
Alexei Navalny’s widow has vowed to continue to fight for freedom in Russia. She said she will not be intimidated into silence by Putin and his henchmen (DW News 20/2/24). She demonstrates true courage in the face of ruthless tyranny. All freedom loving Russians would be inspired by Navalny’s fearless widow Yulia Navalnaya. Rajend Naidu Sydney, Australia
FHL appointment
Anare Jale, a senior SODELPA stalwart member, has been appointed a FHL director, representing the iTaukei Affairs board. I believe that the FHL was primarily created under the GCC endorsement, to be owned by the 14 provinces and the Fijian institutions (NLTB and FAB). The appointment was rightly so, as the iTaukei Affairs board is the majority shareholder. Today, are the FHL’s initial vision and values purposely adhered to? Or are they boosting only the elite limited liability family companies? When there is no enemy within, the enemy outside cannot hurt you. Samu Silatolu Nakasi
Support for Israel
I thank the Fiji Government and the United States for supporting Israel. If people like Professor Wadan Narsey, human right activists, protestors, United Nations are concerned about civilian casualties in Gaza, why are they and United Nations not calling for Hamas, who started the war to surrender and unconditionally release all hostages? The war would have been over months back. This is plain common sense. Israel has not stolen or colonised any Palestinian land. The God of the Holy Bible gave Israel the land they are currently occupying including Gaza and West Bank. In fact much more than that if one cares to read the biblical history of the land of Israel. All the land Palestinian are occupying belongs to Israel. I believe Israelis are the indigenous people of the land of Israel and have the right to live in the land God gave them. Raj Kumar Vinod St, Vatuwaqa
Bad outing
In the 2024 HSBC Vancouver 7s it was a bad outing for our Fijiana 7s team. One bad day in the office, in many eyes. Poor management cost us dearly in the two opening pool matches. Fijiana has all the talent. Somehow, we failed miserably. This is disappointment. Ronnie Chang Martintar, Nadi
Tough Vancouver 7s!
While Ratu Napolioni Bolaca’s return intensified the performance of the Fiji Airways Fiji men’s national 7s side, the side has a mammoth task on hand. The 27-year-old joined the national 7s side after eight months of recovery from a knee injury and his combination with deadly Terio Tamani was a delight to watch. Bolaca captained the 7s side, and his leadership qualities stood out. The boys arrived in Canada a week before the kick-off, acclimatising to the weather conditions. Head coach Ben Gollings, Viliame Satala and the boys must prove critics wrong. Teamwork rather than individual play must always be emphasised. Communication, making the right decision during crunch time, taking opportunities, and maintaining their cool, composure and discipline when under pressure will be critical for the boys. I’m excited, anticipating a tough battle, but the boys to top the pool of death. We have a formidable squad and I’m looking forward to a solid display from Ropate Rere, Solomoni Rauqe and Viliame Naikausa. Rajnesh Ishwar Lingam Nadawa, Nasinu
GCC meeting
While the commoners are working hard day to day to make ends meet, the Great Council of Chiefs decides to hold their upcoming meeting in an extravagant venue. Why couldn’t they humble themselves to ask and use the facility of the RFMF, Fiji Police, church or community hall for their meeting? “Humble leadership doesn’t mean you think less of yourself, it means you think about yourself less and you think of your people more.” – Clive Lewis. AREKI DAWAI Suva
Another plane
We now have another plane donated by big brother Australia together with pilots and fuel. A C27 military aircraft this time which has the capability to land and take off from short runaways. It is ideal to go to remote places where there are hardly any runaways, like the maritime islands and normally inaccessible places. This is an ideal opportunity for our politicians, especially in Government, to take families and friends from their villages in remote islands for shopping trips to Suva and Nadi. They can do some drug surveillance while they go on shopping trips. Kill two birds with one stone, I suggest for no additional cost. I have always maintained that a plane is only useful when it is in the air. It is useless when it sits on the tarmac gathering dust. I have wondered how much the other private jet donated by our USA friends has been used by the Government. I hope it has not been sitting on the tarmac gathering dust for the past few months. The poor pilots would be bored shirtless sitting around doing stuff all. I have suggested that government ministers come to Sydney for shopping trips with their families, and I can always send things back for my club in Lautoka, just so that the plane does not start rusting. Please let me know. Perhaps the minister can tell us how this plane has been used in the past few months, if at all. JAN NISSAR SYDNEY, NSW, AUSTRALIA
