Your views

‘A good newspaper is a nation talking to itself’

Mis(chievous) reporting Inoke Vakalabure, Nadera

Journalist Nemani Delaibatiki, in his piece “Analysis” (Page 2, FS 11-Jan) laments about media freedom stating that his reporters were denied an interview with Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka by the PM’s staff. Considering the title of his piece is ‘Analysis’, Mr Delaibatiki should do just that – analyse why Fiji Sun journalists were likely denied the interview. He only has to look at Josefa Babitu’s interview of Fiji Roads Authority chief executive officer, Kamal Prasad, on the very next page of the same edition to get some answers.

Nowhere in his interview has Mr Prasad said that the future of FRA is “bleak”, yet that is what Mr Babitu’s headline screams. “Bleak” is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “not hopeful or encouraging, depressing”; nowhere has Mr Prasad said that. It is misreporting like this that will create more risk to Government employees than any governmental action to remove consummate professionals like Mr Prasad.

Similarly, it was seen that while Mr Rabuka expressly acknowledged “...the Ratu Josaia Bainimarama government...” for starting the construction of the bridge he opened, Fiji Sun conveniently left that portion out. Reporting such facts can help unify a country and assist in nation building. Mr Delaibatiki, as Managing Editor-Training of Fiji Sun, surely has his task cut out in training his team.

Selecting parliamentarians Kiran Kapadia, Suva

The criteria used in selecting our parliamentarians after the general election does not seem to be fair.

Candidates with as low as 631 votes, like Mosese Bulitavu, have won a seat in Parliament while deserving candidates like, Savenaca Narube (6845 votes) and Mahendra Chaudhry (5760 votes), failed to make it into Parliament. In all fairness, the 55 candidates with the highest votes should be elected! We have the ‘One man one vote’ system, where, I believe, candidates should not be elected according to the party percentage, as per the current system. I hope the current Government can look at this matter for future elections.

It would be interesting to read and hear the views of other readers and politicians on this matter.

Provision of educational support Susana Tuisawau, Wainivula Rd

I do not wish to throw cold water on the initiative by Government to assist parents because I know that the costs of putting children at schools can be formidable for a good percentage of Fiji’s parents. However, if we really want a safer and surer way to fairly distribute the assistance towards the purchasing of school learning resources so that every child that truly needs the assistance receives the resources, then I feel the aid should be directed to the schools.

This means that the schools should be the distributors of learning resources such as exercise books, rulers, math-sets, etc. I know, as a teacher, that all schools have all their students’ data.

Class teachers always know and document the background of their students and their siblings in other classes.

Even incoming students into class one (Year One) or Year 9 in secondary schools, will be known to the head teacher/principal as they would have received applications beginning in September 2022 for the 2023 intake.

The other way, but which will be more costly for Government, is to better resource the schools so that every student is supplied with exercise books and textbooks. However, the textbooks are returned at the end of each year and should a student fail to do so, the student pays for the replacement cost. Alternatively, the schools can only be given grants to buy exercise books and other learning resources to distribute to needy students who qualify. In the past, when there were school fees paid for secondary education, each school handled the School’s Free Tuition Grant recommendations for the Ministry of Education.

Distributing through the schools can avoid this much needed assistance being called a “freebie” given for other reasons.

Vernacular in the House Ecelini Naivadra, Namadi

Can all Members of Parliament clearly understand the Hindi and iTaukei languages?

Is there an immediate translation technology available for those who don’t?

Parliament is for debate by elected members who must clearly understand the issues involved.

Priority must be language that all parliamentarians clearly understand, regardless of ethnicity. Pleasing listeners is not!

$200 assistance Vijay Madhavan, Suva

My plea to both parents and students who qualify for the generous $200 handout for ‘back to school’ purchases by the coalition Government is, if possible, to use the “handme-down” bags and shoes if they are still in a reasonable state for re-use.

The savings from this could be used for other needs in the future. There is no need to buy new things, just for the sake of it!

We were required to do this when we went to school in our early childhood years.

And yes, as stated by Mr Nilesh Lal, The Dialogue Fiji Executive director, “there should now be no excuse not to send children to school”.

Education help Sukha Singh, Labasa

It was so nice of our new Government to provide the $200 per child education assistance. To me, it is the same as giving someone fish. I know that it is still early days, but please, strengthen our dollar or bring down the prices on food items.

Also, can the Government send someone to Malau, Labasa, and see if the biggest timber and veneer mill on Vanua Levu can be reopened?

Election day Ajai Kumar, Nadi

It was good that the previous Government had declared December 14, 2022, a public holiday to facilitate Fijians to cast their votes. Can the new Government also ensure that, except for emergency and essential services, all other businesses must close office so that voters can be free to vote anytime within the time prescribed by the Supervisor of Elections (SOE), and not ask their respective bosses for time off ?

If people turn up for work on election day, most will not have the urge to take time off to vote then return to work!

If the SOE wants a good turnout, follow my advice, close all businesses completely.

Congrats, Mr Rokovada! Tomasi Boginiso, NSW, Australia

Vinaka vakalevu to the coalition Government for appointing Luke Rokovada for the position of chairman of the Public Service Commission.

Having served in the public service for 44 years, being a permanent secretary for several Government ministries, being the first resident Fiji High Commissioner in India and having served under the previous Rabuka Government, he was the best choice. Compared to the previous Government, bringing an expatriate who has never worked in the public servant sector and living overseas does not seem to add up, in any way. These are the people that Voreqe Bainimarama had completely forgotten about, and there are more around.

Mr Rokovada, who is experienced, mature, humble and is from Nakelo, Tailevu, will, no doubt, perform to the best of his abilities, as always. I wish Mr Rokovada the best in his chairmanship position and our support and prayers will be with you always.

Nadi Hospital SOPD clinic Ronnie Chang, Nadi

The Nadi Hospital Town SOPD clinic is located at a bad place – at the banks of the Nadi River and is prone to every flooding.

Retirees, like me, in our 70s, find it a gross inconvenience especially when I discovered the clinic and pharmacy closed yesterday morning.

For us, the handicapped, the more senior citizens and those with physical disabilities, it is of greater inconvenience and added taxi expense having to “divert” to the Nadi Hospital. Most of us depend on public transport and taxis out of sheer necessity.

For the aged, walking up the hill to the hospital is quite a feat. It can be challenging, at best. Even more challenging for those with major cardio-vascular issues.

There are many who are totally dependent on buses and walking up the hill.

Can our plight be heard at the highest levels, please?

I take this moment to thank Dr Imtishal, the former SDMO, for all his courtesy and wish him well in his new post in “greener pastures”. Thank you, Doc.

May I also welcome Dr Shah to the Nadi Hospital as the new SDMO. Welcome back, Dr Shah.

Spreading the love Jan Nissar, NSW, Australia

There seems to be a fixation in the current Government about civil servants, members of statutory bodies and ambassadors.

I believe this fixation is the result of the background of the people in Government, the vast majority of whom are ex-civil servants and unions; very few are from businesses. There is very little concern about the people of Fiji.

I think the logic behind this fixation is that they wish to replace senior positions in all these sectors with their “yes” people. Just look at the number of people who lost in the election from all the three parties that form the coalition and who will be appointed to these positions?

We already have the Speaker of Parliament, so let the rest of the count begin. It is all to do with “spreading the love”, to those who are loyal, I believe, is a major Government policy.

Every dog has its day! Tukai Lagonilakeba, Nadi

The FijiFirst Voreqe Bainimarama and Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum leadership came into power and had their fair share of calling the shots, as and when it suited their agenda and party manifesto and reinvented many achievements, including our 2013 Constitution.

Majority on the ground did not like Mr Sayed-Khaiyum for whatever reasons known to them although they loved and respected the former PM and FijiFirst team, and that may have confused the many voters who did not cast their votes.

But Mr Sayed-Khaiyum grossed the second highest votes in the 2022 election, and it does not translate to what was mentioned above. Now, our three-way party coalition Government leadership, led by Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, is calling the shots with his three well balanced deputies.

Call it whatever, they are now very busy putting to fruition their many promises for the first 100 days in office. And accordingly, they are getting there with some glitches, in the very same election technological terminology that got the Rabuka coalition into Government.

Surprisingly, Viliame Gavoka of SODELPA and National Federation Party (NFP) leader Biman Prasad never seemed to see good with each while in Opposition, but together they have always promised never to work with a coup maker.

But fast tract to the post 2022 national election, hooray, Mr Gavoka and Mr Prasad have joined forces with our former coup maker and who is now the PM. What a coincidence! It’s a marriage of convenience, only to gang up and oust the FijiFirst Bainimarama leadership. Every dog has its day!

Education Prameeta Chand, Suva

Schools, be it primary or secondary, are the foundation for knowledge after a child step out of home. Education is not only about the various subjects taught in classrooms but also about how to make children understand and apply in daily life.

For this to happen, a child’s mind needs to be able to understand, maintain and express information. Thus, teachers need more than one way to relate to students. All do not carry the same intelligence quotient (IQ), so the time frame to understand differs!

Patience is vital because after parents it’s the teachers that students look up to for knowledge. Corporal punishment for lack of understanding or not doing homework does not apply.

Negativity from teachers in verbal, physical or sexual abuse does not put things right. Even seeing teachers smoking and drinking kava on the premises frays respect for them. The idols (teachers) need to portray a right image via their own performance. Some form of discipline is essential to keep a balanced control thus when issues arise, students, parents, guardians and caretakers should be informed accordingly and meet for discussion. The mind is a powerful tool, which needs to be trained for which “corporal punishment and negligence” is not the answer, but “patience and guidance” is needed!

Lost and saved Shariff Shah, Savusavu

All classes of people were on board the Titanic before its demise – the wealthy, famous, highly educated, illiterate, poor, ship’s crew and captain.

But a few hours after they posted the list in the Cunard Office in New York, U.S.A., there were only two categories – the ‘Lost’ and ‘Saved’.

The same class of people, including the thieves, con artists, inmates, disabled and people of all races and colour, holy and not holy, fortunate and not so fortunate, are all on board the vessel we call Fiji. To ‘lose’ or ‘save’ is left entirely in the hands of all those onboard.

If not, then we must seek help from outside. You decide, not only for the present but the future as well!

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