Farewell Berenado
Frank Shaw, Lami
The passing of Berenado Vunibobo marks the end of an era.
He was the last of the great Fijian leaders following independence to overcome the trials and tribulation of colonialism and pave the way for a better future for us all in Fiji and indeed the Pacific region as a whole. (He coined the phrase ‘The Pacific Community’ which brought us all so much closer together.)
He not only contributed significantly in making our voice heard (and noticed) in the international arena, but also made Fiji a model country for the other smaller states in the Pacific to emulate. He was indeed a ‘Beacon of Hope’ for us all. (I feel he should have been knighted)
I remember conversing with Berenado (and Brother Wara) in Lambert Hall during our Diamond Jubilee celebration on October 16, 2012. He told me that at our age we should start taking things easy. (He had turned 80 earlier in the year). Little did I know that within three short years both Berenado and Brother Wara (one older, the other younger than me) would be gone.
Fate can be so unpredictable. So until we meet again, farewell Berenado!
‘OMG’ saga
Kirti Patel, Lautoka
OMG, what is so wrong about people saying “OMG”.
Mr Raniga very clearly is trying to make a point in his letter regarding the mobile internet data having short expiry dates which we don’t have any control over. But lo and behold Mr Tokalau has to pay more attention on Mr Raniga’s “OMG” than the content of his letter, which is the concern of many.
He is telling Mr Raniga to be man enough and accept this issue and move on rather than thinking of ways this particular issue can be solved. So basically he is trying to say that all the consumers who are not happy with whatever consumer issues they have, to be man enough and just “accept” the situations. Well thank you Mr Raniga, at least by you writing “OMG”, we say God’s name apart from our normal prayers. Besides I just hope that something is done regarding the main content of your letter, which is the main thing here.
Let’s hope Vodafone can show some improvements. It’s like showing us the free- bees which looks very enjoyable in the beginning, but is gone in just no time without our approval.
Who knows maybe your “OMG” can make things right. After all it’s just something holy to say.
Bio-fuel
Neelz Singh, Lami
I hope that one day Fiji will be manufacturing bio fuel to fuel its own economy. Cassava and coconut plant plans yet to take off. It seems there will be a way forward to generated fuel from other local resources that will be environmental friendly. What options are there? Any suggestions from the locals that could help benefit the industry as whole, and be an income-generator?
Sandals without socks
Amrit Singh, Nausori
It’s a shame that some schools are not allowing students to wear socks on sandals. We are in the cold season now and early morning students wear socks on sandals to keep their feet warm. Socks should be allowed during these cold times, but when students wear coloured socks teachers tell them only white coloured ones are allowed. One school I know of dictates to students what coloured socks or designed jersey to wear. Is this the mentality our teachers have now?
Fiji has dusty roads so wouldn’t wearing white socks get dirty? And by the way it’s the cold season.
Students should be allowed to wear the socks they feel will keep them warm either long or ankle socks. One more problem is that some schools I heard of late are not allowing students to wear designed or fancy jersey or jackets. It’s a shame and only in Fiji teachers are bothered about socks and what type of jersey students wear.
If such harsh rules are for students that do not wear socks on sandals during colder months then I ask the Ministry of Education to make rules for teachers attire as well. Long sleeve shirts and tie with dressing shoe, and ties during hotter months neatly tucked in for male teachers; for female teachers, long pants with tucked in shirt and no skirts but a tie.
I bet teachers will get a lesson in hotter months. Thus they will never ask students not to wear socks on sandals again.
Child labour
Narayan Reddy, Lautoka
Can the authorities concerned check on young children working around municipality markets around the country?
I have seen children as young as 12 years old working around different markets in our country who only earn $25 a week.
So much hype about the minimum wages guidelines, but I believe there is less enforcement on child labour.
Signed rugby ball
Sukha Singh, Labasa
Could the New Zealand High Commissioner ask Mr John Key, the New Zealand Prime Minister, to get another rugby ball signed by the All Blacks and present it to the greatest All Blacks fan from Ovalau?
Could you also send this letter “Just one simple, humble request to our most honorable PM. Sir, can I have the rugby ball that was gifted to you by the NZ PM? You know the one that was signed by the world champion mighty All Blacks? Areh, loloma mada mehn, kerekere. I bet you can’t” to the NZ PM? Anthony Sahai, Ovalau.
Sexual preferences
Savenaca Vakaliwaliwa, Canada
We are requested not to use religion as an excuse to judge those who have different sexual preferences like the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI) communities.
I find it interesting that the group activist speaker mentioned that “There are so many restrictions that God finds punishable by death,” and that we should not only focus on them.
When we believe in God and the Bible then we should know that we are moral beings and that He is a moral Creator who has given His creation a moral set of laws to live happily in.
When we use our freedom of choice to choose a sexual preference that He did not design or approve then we have breached His moral law and as judge, the death penalty is ours if we do not repent and get back on His moral track.
God loves all of us so much that He gave His Son to become a human being, walk this earth, tempted with all manner of sin, but was sinless so He could die a sacrificial redeeming death on the cross for us.
If God the Father is willing to sacrifice His Son to save a sinful immoral world then He is able to save us, no matter what our sexual preference is or situation we are in, if we choose to believe in Christ.
God as a just and merciful judge has already given the death sentence on all who willingly choose to disobey His moral law and this does not change even if the Fiji Parliament or Church Leaders say otherwise.
Sexual preference is the decision of the mind; submit to God in prayer and fasting to transform and empower the mind and one will be amazed that the sexual preference would change to be in line with God’s original intention of human sexuality.
False prophesies
Tukai Lagonilakeba, Lautoka
Bill Gavoka’s tsunami prophecy with his man of the cloth of 2010 was meant for the Japanese people and I fail to understand why he didn’t warn them directly.
The tsunami was never meant for Fiji but why did he wrongly warn the people of Fiji and subject our nation to his nonsense. I do not care if he and they prayed and fasted over it because if it was not the great Lord Jehovah’s will that it was never meant for Fiji than may his will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
Where was Gavoka’s prophetic intuition with his fasting and prayer group when the warning was in place following the devastation left behind by the Category 5 TC Winston and the preceding floods?
Why did you not foretell and precisely warn those Fijians badly affected from its devastation?
I guess God was not listening to your lot because that was his will.
His letter FS June 16th claims that a pastor and his church fasted over it for 42 days and he was grateful to the man of the cloth that courageously and relentlessly shared his vision with his brethren to seek God’s intervention. May I ask where all these buddies of his were? Were they sleeping on the job this time around when TC Winston was making its way to our country?
In his letter Gavoka claims SODELPA stood for free tuition for universities and technical college’s needs to be corrected.
Free tuition for universities is easier said than done but where is the evidence because our country’s economy is too small to sustain his ill conceived cheap politics, but please come up with something concrete and of the truth, and our smart caring government has got its priorities in the right place.
Do the Fijian people know that Gavoka was one of the first from the Opposition to speak out against the introduction by our Government through our Minister for Education, Mahendra Reddy, for some schools to be converted into technical colleges?
He even brought a petition from Nadroga to Parliament signed by the many that were ill advised by him in their rejection of this very noble idea. Where are they now? They have accepted the truth and appreciative aren’t they.
Please Gavoka, do not bulldoze your Christian faith to justify your wrong assumptions. Keep it to yourself, Fiji is a secular State. Accept it.
Feedback: jyotip@fijisun.com.fj