Back in time

Arvind Mani ,

Martintar, Nadi

Back in Time is a fascinating programme that is aired every Thursday on Fiji One TV at 7:00 pm. It is produced by the Department of Information that features events and moments that have defined and shaped Fiji’s rich and diverse cultural history. The programme is targeted at encouraging viewers to learn and appreciate the nation’s history.

Each time, I watched it, I am filled with a tinge of disappointment and sadness at how much we have regressed in our values, ethics and wisdom.

When you listen to the people in the 50s, 60s, and 70s, you can’t help but be impressed by how smart, articulate and eloquent they are. And they did not have internet then. These days, many students who have graduated from high schools and universities cannot even a write a proper Curriculum Vitae or effectively “sell themselves” in a job interview. As a former Human Resource Manger for one of the largest retailers in Fiji, I have seen so many substandard CVs and dumb applicants that you wonder what is being taught in high school these days. Or how much effort is being put in by teachers to ensure that a student has actually learned the necessary skills that will help them in life rather than just cram answers and pass their exams. In the 1960s, QVS students would tour the country staging Shakespearean plays with such aplomb and amazing props. Nowadays the millennials do not even know who Shakespeare is. No one reads the timeless classics because everyone has a Smartphone (the irony of that word always make me grimace) and