Deafening silence
Jan Nissar, Australia
It is amazing to see that the words of an idiot have united the country in an unprecedented manner.
But the silence from the leadership of SODELPA especially the Leader of the Opposition and other MPs from his party is deafening.
Bulitavu comment
Dewan Chand, Suva
I write to express my disgust at the most despicable comment made by Mosese Bulitavu, a SODELPA Member of Parliament, despite his public apology.
I understand that this was done under duress.
The newly-elected president of SODELPA must have sensed the irretrievable political damage this has done to his party.
I am pleased that the spontaneous statements of condemnation erupted, beginning with Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama, other Government Ministers, the heads of the NFP and Labour parties, the Director of Human Rights and Anti- Discrimination Commission, NGOs and Jyoti Pratibha of the Fiji Sun.
They all had one thing in common, to call out a so-called educated person, a member of Parliament and a Christian who has put all Fijians to shame through his venom against Indo-Fijian women.
Bulitavu must have had a very poor breeding in race relations.
Mosese Bulitavu and other Fijian leaders who have called the Indo-Fijians vulagi have conveniently forgotten the contributions of this community towards the development of Fiji since 1879.
Indentured labourers gave blood, sweat and tears for this country and made it into what it is today, a shining example of a success story.
Fiji is a beacon of hope and glory and the way the world should be.
I wonder what happens to the often-taught Christian Biblical dictum: “Love thy neighbour as thyself” or is it just plenty of lip service and empty air!
I was taught at All Saints Anglican Mission Primary School that “to err is human but to forgive is divine”.
I rest my case.
Stray dogs
David Chand, Lautoka
I have been following the stray dog saga in Fiji and it seems that the momentum is dying down.
I have just learned that the MOA has issued a TNR (Trap, Neuter and Release) order to the respective municipal councils.
My thinking here is that yes it might have an impact on the number of dogs on the street in the next few years.
Just to put things into perspective a survey taken by the Lautoka City Council two years ago states that it has 2000 stray dogs in its municipality. The numbers now? we can only guess. But the whole issue is about people getting attacked by these dogs.
I would hate to be the person who gets bitten by a dog and then say: “Oh, it’s ok, the dog is neutered.”
We do not have a problem if the dog can reproduce or not, it’s the potential for harm to the public which is the main concern here.
Whoever gave this order has completely ignored the safety of the general public and has not even informed the public on what they are doing.
So let’s look at it this way, the child that got hurt has had the dogs that attacked her neutered and released back into the same neighbourhood.
Wow, if that happened what a smart move it was. Hopefully someone comes up with a better solution than this.
Trains and ferries
Tomasi Boginiso, Nasinu
There was so much talk about trains being used to service the Suva-Nausori corridor as a means of public transportation.
A lot of ideas and thoughts sprang up and people were right into it. There were even people who came over to look into it.
And suddenly it faded away.
Then now there is talk of ferries being used to service Suva, Nausori and Lami.
A lot of ideas are floating in the air and even a shipping company is looking forward to undertaking the operation.
More ideas seem to be flowing in.
What’s next? An underground tunnel or a bullet train or maybe an overhead bridge from Suva to Nausori?
Maybe one day one of these dreams may turn into reality.