Kalounisiga ‘saved’ for greater things
RETIRED school teacher, Suliasi Kalounisiga escaped a near death experience in India in the ’80s when he and his son were nearly bitten by a deadly snake.
He said he believed that it was divine intervention that saved him that quiet afternoon in Bhilai City.
And he believes he was saved for greater things.
“If it wasn’t for God’s intervention on that day, I wouldn’t have been contesting the General Election for the Unity Fiji party this year,” the man from Naimasimasi Village, Tailevu, said.
“I was studying in Bhilai City, in the State of Madhya Pradesh pursuing a
Degree in English and Music.
“One autumn afternoon as evening was approaching, I was walking with my son to the university when we came across something that looked like a piece of log on the ground, it was black in color, we walked past it not knowing what it was.
“When we walked a little bit further in front, I could hear something moving through the dried leaves on the ground and when I looked back I saw it was a black cobra.
“If that snake had bitten me and my son, I don’t know whether we will be able to survive for 30 minutes because the venom is deadly.
“I just stood there and prayed to God and just thanked him for saving us.”
He said he faced a lot of life threatening challenges while studying in India from 1985 to 1988.
“I could have died in India, but I knew God was saving me all this time because I had a purpose in life and I believe it is to save my people from the economic hardships they are facing right now.”
Mr Kalounisiga began his career as a primary school teacher in 1981.
He rose through the ranks and became a secondary school principal and retired as a senior education officer in 2014.
He also pursued studies at Trinity College London.
“When I was in India, I was heavily involved in the cottage industry, these were people who conducted businesses at home and that’s where I learnt the tricks of doing small businesses.
“There are still a lot of things that we as iTaukei people need to learn from our brothers and sisters of Indian descent.
“It’s the art of saving money - for us iTaukei, we have that no care attitude because there’s always something to fall back on like our land and marine resources, but the question is, are we utilising them for our good?
“I believe that Unity Fiji party leader Savenaca Narube is the only leader who knows how to utilise the resources available in Fiji and who will save our economy from the situation it is already in.
“I urge voters to make wise decisions on elections day, look for a political party leader who has a clean track record.”
He is the father of famous local singer, Inoke “Knox” Kalounisiga.