The tree that giveth light, giveth delight (A Poem)

Michael Chambers,

Lautoka

As the sun sets in beyond the Malolo isles The darkness the night brings us was greeted with delight

Afar on a hill something lit up the darkened night

A relaxing sight was there to befriend me tonight Up in the Tavakubu ranges close to where I reside

I was truly blessed with the best view of the night Lit up was this artistically decorated pole A beautiful picture set of an emerging Diwali tree If I may ask whose bright idea was art thou? It sure was brilliant thinking as it just gave me a wow

All to enlighten the spirit that this annual Festival of lights bring us To share with love, true spirit and kindness Like that you must have already have known Areh soon it will be Diwali a time for sharing with everyone The thought just wheeled my calendar dates forward

Forever a blessing stating “Day out of the office” And in advance I therefore would like to wish The Kumar’s, the Chandra’s, the Prasad’s and the many more I cannot name A Happy Diwali May the spirit of this festivity bless Fiji

Fiji is signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and a training workshop was held at the Novotel Hotel, Nadi on October 13 and reported in the Fiji Sun the next day. A blind Professor in Law in New Zealand and Australia Ronald McCallum was a spokesperson at the workshop which was also attended by the UN Human Rights representatives with many from around the region. Professor McCallum had rightly pointed out in his speech that we “Fijians must not criticise government but thank and congratulate them for the political will, commitment, foresight and undertakings in their implementation through its ratifications of the above UN convention.”

It is very sad to note that it took a blind academic from a far to remind us Fijians of the above statement. Thank you so much Professor McCallum. There are so many in our country who will not fully appreciate the sentiments expressed from an individual such as he. A caring government indeed. medication and went over personally to Toorak and dropped off the note at Dinem House on Tuesday. I was informed that I could see a person who actually handles such complaint and issues. I went up to Level Three and met the lady and expressed my disappointment for the failure on the department to update me on the progress of my request. So many verbal explanations was forthcoming and she then made numerous phone calls to gather information from different people and she went on further confusing me in the process.

I tried to cut the lengthy conversation short and said the issues I had raised were of serious nature, which could prevent injuries and even save the life of a person.

Her reply startled me. She said that life and death depends on God only. The minister concerned should look into this.

To the Minister for Education, Mahendra Reddy - if certain parents and guardians disagree with the school zoning system, allow them to choose whichever school they prefer for their child, but this automatically makes them ineligible for the free school fees and free bus fare scheme. End of story! have the same calibre of teachers with a degree and all.

But going to school is just not about learning academically. It is also about enhancing one’s knowledge by preparing themself for the future.

So, it is all about the facilities that is available in the schools such as good playing grounds, science laboratories, computer labs, a library that provides a wide range of information, additional of extra curriculum and many more. These are some of the main reason as to why parents and children prefer to choose their own schools. And for zoning to be a success, all schools would have to have the same facilities as such, even the rural schools.

If zoning is good for the students then multiple constituencies is good for the voters and contestants. We hardly see Parliamentarians in Labasa. Yes, I have met the Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum and the Minister of Education Mahendra Reddy in Labasa and thank them for their time. But what of Member of Parliament Brij Lal and Opposition MP Biman Prasad, I am not sure if they know where Labasa is.