your views This poem is dedicated to all the wonderful TEACHERS in Fiji and the world on World Teachers Day on October 5, 2020. Transforming lives to think critically with fortitude Empowering students with knowledge, skills and attitude Articulating le

‘A good newspaper is a nation talking to itself’

Our decisions dictates our fate Timoci Gaunavinaka, Nausori

Just 12 months ago, if 50 people die in any country on a single day from the same cause, it makes world news headlines.

Today, hundreds and sometimes over a thousand people are dying regularly every day in some countries from the same cause (COVID-19) and it does not even make it to the news. Their citizens are slowly coming to accept it as the new norm. This also exemplifies how far the world has evolved in just a few months.

This new norm has come to dictate how foreign policies are implemented, how trade agreements are struck, how the movements of hundreds of millions of earthlings are monitored and restricted and even how we as people have come to hold and maintain or in some cases, change or discard our beliefs and faiths.

But this new norm varies tremendously from country to country. If we look at the two extremes, we have about 10 Pacific island nations that today records zero infections. On the other hand, we have the most powerful country in the world in the USA that records over 7.5 million infections and over 200,000 deaths. Even their president whose other title, “The Most Powerful Man in the World” is now infected and because of his age, would be rated in the high risk category.

Our beloved Fiji sits at the very top portion in a group of a couple of dozen countries who are rated to be among the very few safe places on earth to live in.

But to archive such highlights does not come by fluke. It demands very delicate assessments, accurate and careful analysis, bold and unbiased decision making and whole hearted commitments. Without all these, we would today be counting our deaths and many will be blaming Government for it, even though no one is congratulating or thanking them now for keeping us safe.

But there are also prices to pay to achieve the status and results we have. We have to ground our airlines like all other airlines around the world. We have to lay off workers from our tourism industry. We have to close down some industries and businesses that can no longer sustain themselves. We have to go back and plant or catch our own food to feed our families and etc.

But this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end as some faiths conveniently try to claim. Perhaps it is just the end of the beginning of a new chapter and how quickly we adapt to it and move on will dictate our fate.

Teachers Bhagwanji Bhindi, Suva