Three Fijians leave their legacy as they depart from mortality
In the past eight days, the country lost three prominent Fijians.
On September 16, Ratu Jone Kubuabola, 72, a former Governor of the Reserve Bank of Fiji and former Minister of Finance, died after an illness.
He was followed by Vincent Lobendahn, 81, who was a former Minister for Telecommunication, Minister for Public Works, Infrastructure and Transport and Minister for Labour and Industrial Relations in the SVT Government under Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka. Then last Sunday, Jai Narayan, 93, died.
All three contributed immensely to the development of this nation in their own unique ways.
Former Fiji National Provident Fund chief executive officer, Lionel Yee, paid tribute to Ratu Jone. He said Ratu Jone was a quiet achiever and left a legacy of contribution to Fiji.
He was widely respected for his humility and recognition of others who battled through life’s many trials to succeed in their areas of expertise.
A chief in his own right, he never used his traditional position to garner support for a seat in Parliament. He placed himself like everyone else and was prepared to give way for somebody else when he realised that his failing health would jeopardise his activities and undermine his chances.
He accepted the realities of his personal circumstances and his eventual death.
Mr Lobendahn, like Ratu Jone, was a down-to-earth person. As a minister and trade unionist, he was one of the first former Government ministers to explore the Singapore model. He liked the idea and believed that some of the provisions in that country’s labour and industrial law would be useful to adopt in Fiji.
He believed in merit-based initiatives such as the productivity clause in an employer-employee agreement. It means pay increases are based on production increases.
As a trade unionist, he fought for workers’ rights, pay and conditions of work. He did it in a peaceful way through dialogue.
The measure of a person is indicated by the messages of sympathy flowing to the family of Mr Narayan. Many have spoken about his invaluable contribution. He was not only an icon to Jai Narayan College, renamed in his honour, but also to education as a whole. For more than 50 years, Mr Narayan was principal and manager of Jai Narayan College.
He was an inspiration to teachers and students and became a legend. Just as his wife, the late Irene Jai Narayan did as a pioneering woman in politics.
Ratu Jone, Mr Lobendahn and Mr Narayan may have left us, but their legacy lives on.