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‘A good newspaper is a nation talking to itself’

Cheap Shot Amrit Singh, Nausori

Under the 2013 Fijian Constitution, everyone has the right to religion and cultural beliefs.

It is a cheap shot by Ben Padarath to tell the Minister for Education, Heritage and Arts Rosy Akbar of a Muslim head boy having beard in school, while other students have to be clean shaven.

Well, Mr Padarath, if you go to New Zealand then tell that to the Maori.

Many of the males have long hair and attend school. If you are a Punjabi or Muslim you can keep beards in school, just as a Samoan can have tattoos on their bodies and attend schools and more so like our fellow iTaukei who wear sulus to school and an Indo-Fijian can wear

pooja thread on their wrist to school or around their neck. Learning takes place in your brain and the soul recreates it to knowledge. Having a beard, a tattoo, a fancy hair is just an old set of laws which needs to be changed.

A student will only learn things in school as to how much their brain can take. Does Mr Padarath enjoy going to court for his misery? Cheap political shot indeed.

Befriend your tongue Dharmendra Kumar, Suva

National Federation Party Leader Professor Biman Prasad has filed a defamation suit against the Fiji Sun.

He is claiming that the article which said that all civil servants pay should be reduced by 35 per cent, was false and defamatory.

He says he has suffered loss and damages because of this and still continues to do so. I believe he is worried that the 2022 elections is fast approaching.

Mr Prasad knows civil servants will remember this and he will be accountable for what he says in the other newspaper. To control the damage, he later said that it was a typing error.

When the tongue slips it speaks the truth, but it’s always better the foot slips than the tongue.

Sometimes words are costly mistakes. If he is fortunate then I’m looking at another four years in Opposition.

My advice to all is befriend your tongue.

USP Salaries

Sukha Singh, Labasa

Jone Maritino Nemani, USP’s executive director for people and workforce strategy, took up the post in September 2020 on an annual salary of about $250,000.

This was stated in the Fiji Sun. Now could somebody tell me how complicated this job is to command a $250,000 salary?

Well it is better than a minister’s salary and now I know why USP has been wanting the grants so desperately . I am just wondering if the new FSC CEO is getting above or below $250K!