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Snuffed out in Sydney Adi Cavora Tavuki had just turned 22 the morning she was found stabbed to death in her bungalow
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INSIDE
November 2012
Vanuatu votes Why Fijian should but is it for be our national change? language By Ricardo Morris
By Pio Tabaiwalu
Fiji’s position on China’s strategic map By Arthur McCutchan1
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Leading the hybrid revolution, and shaping the future of cars, the new Prius is unlike any other. Its Hybrid Synergy Drive gives you three independent driving modes - Eco, Electric, and Power. Advanced features like Electronic shift lever, Smart entry with a push start, Traction control, High fuel efficiency, Low CO2 emissions and many more. No wonder the planet loves it. republikamagazine.com | Repúblika |
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/republikamag Vol 1 | No 3 | November 2012
COVER 14 | Tragedy of a life unlived
It was the cruelest of fates: on the day she turned 22, Adi Cavora Tavuki was found stabbed to death in her Sydney bungalow. The suspect: her husband. November 2012 | $3.95VIP
republikamagazine.com
Snuffed out in Sydney Adi Cavora Tavuki had just turned 22 the morning she was found stabbed to death in her bungalow
Volume 1 | No 3
INSIDE
November 2012
Vanuatu votes Why Fijian should but is it for be our national change? language By Ricardo Morris
By Pio Tabaiwalu
Fiji’s position on China’s strategic map By Arthur McCutchan1
republikamagazine.com | Repúblika |
What could possibly have gone wrong in the hours after a happy barbeque to celebrate Adi Cavora’s birthday?
In this issue we look at the life Adi Cavora had lived and what she meant to family and friends.
FACEBOOK.COM/CAVORA
Even Adi Cavora’s family in Fiji remain in the dark about the true circumstances of her death. Adi Cavora’s husband Ratu Joji Bakoso Serutawake, 29, is set to go on trial for her murder.
Victim of violence Adi Cavora Tavuki with her husband and son earlier this year.
FEATURES
DISPATCHES GRAHAM CRUMB/IMAGICITY.COM
26 | Tribute to Susan Parkinson Matt
FWRM
Wilson on the celebrated nutritionist
23 | Out of the mangroves Ernest
28 | Vanuatu Ricardo Morris on the country’s national election
Heatley profiles artist Rusiate Lali
30 | China Arthur McCutchan on China’s motives in Fiji
REGULARS
OPINION
SALON
7 | Briefing News from Fiji worth
12 | The F-Word Roshika Deo on the culture of violence
36 | They’re back Rajan Sami reveals
noting
10 | Pasifika Post Regional current
13 | The Rising Ape Alex Elbourne
affairs worth knowing
on why he’s choosing to be positive
42 | The Last Word Pio Tabaiwalu on
34 | Politika Aman Ravindra-Singh
why Fijian should be our lingua franca 4
| Repúblika | republikamagazine.com
the return of Fiji 90s supermodels
38 | Our picks What caught our eye at Fiji Fashion Week 2012
on the Christian state debate
November 2012
editor’snote republikamagazine.com/editor
@RicardoMorris
Because she’s a woman
E
ach November in Fiji and around the world, women and women’s rights supporters unite in just over two weeks of action to highlight the persistent, global problem of violence against women. The 16 Days of Activism of Violence Against Women campaign was conceptualised by women’s rights activists in 1991. From the start Fiji has been represented through the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre, supported by other women’s rights organisations in the country. The dates of the campaign are symbolic: 25 November is considered to be the International Day of Protest of Violence Against Women, in memory of the three Mirabel sisters, murdered on 25 November 1960 by state authorities in the Dominican Republic for their part in a political movement against the Trujilo dictatorship. The campaign ends on 10 December, International Human Rights Day. This symbolism of 25 November lies in the political edge that feminists consider to be at the forefront of any debate or forum, especially when it comes to violence against women. The two dates symbolically link violence against women to human rights, emphasising that such violence is a violation of human rights. During those 16 days, fall other important days such as International Women Human Rights Defenders Day (29 November), World Aids Day (1 De-
cember) and 6 December, the anniversary of 1989 Montreal Massacre in which a 25-year-old Canadian shot dead 14 women at an engineering school claiming he was “fighting feminism”. This year the global theme asks us to think about the links between militarism and violence against women: “From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Let’s Challenge Militarism and End Violence Against Women!” It marks the third year of advocacy on the intersections of gender-based violence and militarism, the glorification of the ideals of a professional military class. By coincidence, our cover story this month highlights just one of the countless stories that abound of violence against women. Adi Cavora Balemaimaleya Bole Tavuki did not have the chance to see her 22nd year of life. She was found dead from numerous stab wounds on the floor of her bungalow in Sydney on the morning of her birthday on 21 October. Her partner was arrested as a suspect in her death. As ever, in such a story, nobody wins. Adi Cavora had only been living permanently in Australia for two years and 10 months, having left in late 2009 after passing form seven. In a sense she was determined to make a success of her life, different from that in which her mother struggled as a market vendor. During that short period Adi Cavora had managed to make a living for herself and help her mother, sisters and brothers
back home improve their standard of living. She had given birth to a son who had just turned a year old in September and will now be the subject of a custody ruling. But perhaps even as she worked to support her young family and those back in Fiji, in other areas all was not well. Adi Cavora’s mother Salanieta recounted incidents in which her daughter told her on the phone told of leaving home to escape violence. Unfortunately, Adi Cavora’s story is not unique and it will never be the last. Not until society challenges and changes the systems of male power and privilege that help perpetuate violence in all forms against women and girls. Simply put, women face greater discrimination and violence on all levels just because they are women – and just because men have since time immemorial enjoyed the privileges that came with their power. The millions protesting across the world these 16 days are doing so against patriarchy and its entrenched attitudes and behaviours. They are rising up against the institutionalising of these attitudes into systems like militarisation and they are protesting how men benefit from male power and privilege. If women do “hold up half the sky”, they certainly are not getting even half R the benefits of their contribution.
Vol 1 | No 3 Publisher & Editor Ricardo Morris ricardo@republikamagazine.com
ADMIN MANAGER Asena Camaivuna asena@republikamagazine.com
Roshika Deo Save Waqainabete
We welcome your comments, contributions, corrections, letters or suggestions. Send them to ricardo@republikamagazine.com or leave a comment on our social media pages.
Australia CONTRIBUTORS Arthur McCutchan Fiji Alex Elbourne The opinions expressed in Repúblika are the authors’ Aman Ravindra-Singh own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Ernest Heatley SALON EDITOR publishers. The editor takes responsibility for all nonLaisiasa Naulumatua Rajan Sami rajan@republikamagazine.com attributed editorial content. Matt Wilson Published by Repúblika Publishing | 8 Mitchell Street, Peace Embassy Suite A107, Suva | PO Box 11927, Suva, Fiji | Phone: +679 3561467 | Mobile: +679 9041215 | Email: info@republikamagazine.com | Printed by Bluebird Printery, Suva, Fiji | ISSN: 2227-5738 DEPUTY PUBLISHER Aman Ravindra-Singh aman@republikamagazine.com
November 2012
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Your letters, feedback and viewpoints
The Christian state debate Is it really a necessity for Fiji to be a Christian state as some Christians believe? I am a Christian and nowhere in my Bible does the scripture encourage, teach or command a believer to enforce Christianity in the land. Rather it commands believers to share and talk about the gospel to the ends of the earth. As a Christian, I’m responsible through my actions and words to share and talk about the good news. Nothing further. It’s the Holy Spirit who does the convincing and the changing of one’s life; it is not a responsibility given to people. The last time Christians pushed for a “Christian state initiative” they became murderers (during the Crusades period). Why declare Fiji a Christian state when you will always have other religions and faiths living amongst us? Jesus did not come for the state/government/land and its assets. For when he was asked about taxing, on whether one should pay his taxes or serve the Lord, He said: “Give unto Caesar what belongs to Caeser and to the Lord what belongs to Him.” For God has given men dominion over the earth, he did not want it back but he came for your heart, your mind and your soul. So on the same note I ask of the necessity for the common Fijian name? Will it really change Fiji for the better? When we have a multicultural society, why do we have to relegate their uniqueness to a common name? They are what they are, you are what you are. Why do you want to be something you’re not? It only brings you a false sense of equality when you are called something else. I am a Kailoma, vasu ni Bua and a citizen of Fiji; that’s my heritage and portion, it’s who I am and I am proud of it. I do not want to be labelled anything else. Esa Wise via Letters to the Editor Uncensored Facebook page
TALK BACK TO US 6
Temporary special measures for women I do not agree with the (constitutional) submission that 50 per cent of seats be given to women in parliament just to make up the numbers. Why should we be spoon-fed? Why not ask for seats to be given to people based on merit – qualifications, integrity, etc, regardless of gender, religion or race? In my opinion reserving half the seats for women will not empower us, only demean our accomplishments because we will be there to meet the status quo not because of what we bring to the table. Equality means that just as I would hate to be passed up for a position based on my gender, so would I hate seeing a male better qualified or more experienced passed up because of me. Genevieve Michelle Sukhdeo via Letters to the Editor Uncensored Facebook page Sometimes it is confusing to understand (temporary special measures for women’s participation in parliament). But often it is easy to assume that because we have more women in society more women should be in decisionmaking positions. But in reality, that is not the case. Our society is so fixated on rituals, rules, customs, religion and tradition that for many women these have become barriers. Also understand that many other things in life has its pros and cons, so does temporary special measures (TSM). TSM isn’t is only for women. TSM is to ensure that women at least have seats
in parliament. (And in this case at least 30 per cent. It’s not much that is being asked.) If men felt that they were marginalised they can request the same too. Such was the case of the militants in Bougainville (yes, men who killed and very much took part in the Bougainville “war”) making decisions on behalf of the citizens (which I am personally against anyway) TSM is to ensure that women make up a certain percentage in parliament, and they will have to represent the people for sure (I hope anyway). TSM is about increasing the number of women in formal decision-making processes/ parliament. Patriarchy is much more complex, then just equal treatment of women and men. It is deeply rooted in how we do things, how we view things and how we carry on with our day-to-day activities. Women have their opinions and ideas and choices but it is naïve to think that is always the case. We still live in a society where many women cannot or are not supposed to speak of their needs or to show their needs; men are to think for women and women cannot access the basic of resources and information to be able to make decisions on behalf of themselves. They need to be supported and empowered to be able to feel confident that they can elect or choose a leader to their choice. That is the gap. Veena Singh Bryar in response to Sukhdeo
We want to hear from you Repúblika was founded on the premise that our readers should act as our ‘editorial board’. We value your feedback and suggestions on what is important to you. This being our third edition, we would like to hear from you on how you think we’re doing. Of course we have ideas for coverage over the course of the year which we hope will provide fresh, stimulating reading.
But we also want you to have your say. Tell us what issues you want us to cover or ideas to make Repúblika better and you could win a year’s free subscription or $20 credit for any mobile network (indicate your choice should you win).
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November 2012
briefing
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News worth noting
LAISIASA NAULUMATUA
LIFE THROUGH LAI’S EYES
Clergymen’s names cause Catholic consternation I
t seems the minor saga over Repúblika’s publication of the names of Catholic priests who are likely frontrunners for the post of Archbishop of Suva in our inaugural edition is not over yet. Word reached us not long after we published our September edition with the article by Netani Rika, that some priests were indignant we had published the names of three potential candidates. Ten copies put on sale at the bookshop at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Suva were seized by a senior priest and only returned – minus one copy – after our October edition was published. Rika’s main story focussed on the long process of choosing a replacement archbishop four November 2012
years after outgoing Archbishop Petero Mataca announced he would be retiring. It featured an interview with Mataca who spoke of his career in the priesthood and on his plans for retirement. Most controversial was the sidebar to the main piece in which Rika drew up ‘pen portraits’ of three priests he thought stood a good chance of being elected archbishop. The now notorious
list consisted of Fr Rafaele Qalovi SM, Fr Peter Loy Chong and Monsignor Eremodo Muavesi. It was scandalous enough to feature as the lead story on the front page of the monthly Catholic iTaukei language newspaper Domo ni Ekelesia (Ecclesiastical Voice), pictured. Editor Ivo Nainoka wrote that Repúblika had no business reporting on the process of selecting an archbishop, urging the flock to just pray about the election of their new leader. Nainoka said it
was wrong for us to have named the three priests, reminding parishioners that Canon law 375-380 of the Roman Catholic Church applied in the secret election of a new archbishop. In fact, much of Rika’s main story described the process of selection and qualification of candidates outlined in that section of the Canon law, but it appears that some priests are angered at not being in Repúblika’s line-up. Hopefully the Vatican puts these priests out of their misery – and allows Mataca to go fishing as he longs to do – by naming the new leader of Fiji’s Catholic faithful without further delay. Or maybe the search for a blameless and pious leader is not as straightforward as expected. n RICARDO MORRIS
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briefing
FIJI TIMES
The hearings by the Constitutional Commission ended on a sour note after Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama became embroiled in a public tit-for-tat with the commission chairman Professor Yash Ghai. Bainimarama had objected to the hiring of former Vice President of Fiji Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi as a legal consultant in October. While working with the commission Ratu Joni was part of a delegation from Bau which had called for Fiji to be declared a Christian state. Bainimarama said this was “in direct contravention of the non-negotiable principles”, which include Fiji remaining a secular state, and provisions in the commission’s decree that staff and consultants must be politically neutral. “Accepting a paid consultancy and then arguing against the non-negotiable principles was a clear conflict of interest on Ratu Joni’s part as a consultant,” Bainimarama said in a statement. “It also leaves open the perception, at the very least, that the Commission has compromised its impartiality.” In reply, Ghai said the attack on Ratu Joni was unfair and that he was an appropriate person to assist the commission because of his practical experience in local law. “Questions of local law crop up all the time as we decide on the content of the constitution. The lack of submissions from relevant government bodies has made expert guidance on law more necessary, a task that Ratu Joni fulfilled admirably,” Ghai said in a statement. Ghai said when he first approached Ratu Joni for assistance he readily agreed and did not want to be paid. The commission insisted he be paid for any days on which he did work for it. Ratu Joni also told them about the submission he would be making with his people from Bau and they concluded it would not create a conflict of interest. Ratu Joni
RICARDO MORRIS
The chairman and the commodore
Professor Yash Ghai, and Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi and Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama in 2006 watching the annual army-police rugby match days before Bainimarama took power.
did not claim payment for the day he appeared with the Bau delegation, according to Ghai. A further issue that has brought Bainimarama and Ghai head-to-head has been another amendment to the Constitution Commission decree that removes the requirement to hear the public’s views on the draft document. Ghai expressed concern at this development. Bainimarama said in a statement: “This constitution is not for the government, as Professor Ghai appears to believe. Nor is it for the self-gratification of the Chairman of the Commission. It is for the Fijian people and the process of formulating it needs to be transparent. “Professor Ghai is complaining that there is not enough scope for public discussion after the Commission produces its document. But there will be ample scope for public discussion once the Constituent Assembly starts its deliberations – once a document is ready.” In an interview with Radio Australia Ghai said there had been “massive interference” in the commission’s work. “Now I get emails from the PM to do this or not to do that, and this is a kind of harassment. We’ve also been now told to publish any newspapers ads for which we pay, every single expense we have incurred since the beginning of
July. “Now while we greatly welcome transparency and indeed there’s a provision in the decree for which I’m responsible, which commits the commission to account to the people a report of our processes and funding, as well as a very professional audit of our finances before we are formally wound up in December. And it’s also a little bit puzzling that a government which is so wedded to secrecy should suddenly be converted to transparency,” Ghai told Radio Australia. Bainimarama rejected Ghai’s claims of harassment saying it was “totally without foundation.” “No one person is more important than the task of producing a constitution for the Fijian people and our future generations. Yash Ghai can decide for himself whether he wants to be part of this process.” A draft constitution is expected by December after which President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau will send it to a Constituent Assembly to discuss, and if necessary amend, the draft. Initially, it was supposed to have been put in front of the public before the assembly debates it, but this was changed in late October to remove the requirement to hear further views by the people of Fiji on the draft document. n RICARDO MORRIS
ON THE RECORD “This is totally contradictory to what Bainimarama has constantly proclaimed this process to be - free, transparent and for the people.” ~ Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre coordinator Shamima Ali quoted in a statement on behalf of the NGO Coalition on Human Rights expressing concern on an amendment to the Constitution Commission Decree. (12 November)
“It is because of what happened on November 4, 1848 that the whole of Sigatoka has become so blessed.” ~ The Methodist Church’s Nadroga deacon Orisi Nabekasiga on the 164th anniversary of their paramount chief accepting Christianity. (The Fiji Times, 13 November)
“He also said that Shamima Ali thinks that she is too important but she is not important at all.” ~ Communications Fiji Limited news director Vijay Narayan quoting Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama in response to Ali’s statement. (FijiVillage.com, 12 November)
“Despite the increasing global uncertainty, our monetary policy objectives remain at comfortable levels.” ~ Reserve Bank of Fiji governor Barry Whiteside in a speech at the opening of Bred Bank’s first Fiji branch. (The Fiji Times, 10 November)
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| Repúblika | republikamagazine.com
November 2012
briefing COURT WATCH
PROMINENT evangelical preacher Reverend Epeli Ratabacaca was jailed for two years on 14 November for sexually assaulting a woman who went to him for spiritual help. Ratabacaca, the founder and general superintendent of All Nations Christian Fellowship, was convicted of sexually assaulting the woman last year. Prosecutors alleged Ratabacaca, 54, had assaulted the woman on 22 June 2011 at a spa at the Sports City shopping complex at Laucala Bay in Suva. Ratabacaca was tried on two counts of rape and one of sexual assault. He was found not guilty of the rape charges by the three assessors. Two assessors found him guilty of sexual assault and he was convicted by Justice Paul Madigan who agreed with the assessors. Police officers had to escort the complainant, a married mother of four, out of the courtroom with her husband after scores of Ratabacaca’s congregation had gathered outside and were agitating to see her. The woman is a member of the Seventh-Day Adventist church and had a history of mental health problems linked to childbirth. Justice Madigan said Ratabacaca had “engineered” circumstances to allow the woman to be alone with him at the spa. Ratabacaca, the judge said, had abused his authority and betrayed the woman’s trust. “I am sure that you would say you extend your agape love to men, women and young people alike but that love is meaningless if you seek out an opportunity and location to sexually abuse a troubled woman asking you for help,” Justice Madigan told Ratabacaca in sentencing him. The maximum sentence for sexual assault is 10 years, but Justice Madigan gave Ratabacaca the minimum sentence of two years, with a non-parole period of 15 months, because of his “exemplary record”.
RICARDO MORRIS
Epeli Ratabacaca
Reverend Epeli Ratabaca leaves court after his mitigation hearing on 11 November.
Fiji Times Limited Fiji Times Limited was found guilty of contempt of court on October 1 for publishing a report the court said brought the independence of the judiciary into question. Justice William Calanchini found the publisher and editor of the newspaper guilty for the report it published in November 2011. The contempt proceedings arose after a sports article, first published in a New Zealand newspaper about former Fiji Football Association President Dr Muhammad ShamsudDean Sahu Khan, was reprinted the next day in the Fiji Times. The article discussed Sahu Khan’s continued role at the time with the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) in New Zealand despite his conviction by the Fiji Independent Legal Services Commission of professional misconduct and his disbarring. Justice Calanchini said words attributed to OFC secretary Tai Nicholas amounted to contempt of court because a “fair minded and reasonable person reading those words would conclude that the words must mean that those who claim to be performing judicial functions in Fiji are not in fact a judiciary at all”. The judge said the words created a “real risk to the administration of justice in Fiji by undermining
the authority, integrity and impartiality of the court and the judiciary”. A sentence is yet to be handed down. In January 2009, Fiji Times Limited was fined $100,000 by the High Court for publishing a letter that criticised the court’s validation of the 2006 military coup.
Mahendra Chaudhry Fiji Labour Party leader Mahendra Chaudhry will go on trial in September next year on three charges of violating tax laws. His lawyer – and son – Rajendra Chaudhry is no longer able to represent him after the lawyer was disbarred for professional misconduct. Justice Paul Madigan has set 23-27 September 2013 for the trial. Prosecutors say they expect to call five witnesses.
Suresh Chand A welder who strangled his girlfriend and made it look like a suicide by hanging was jailed for life by the High Court in Suva on 8 October. Suresh Chand, 33, was convicted of the murder of Farzana Begum on 15 January 2011. He was sentenced by Justice Paul Madigan to a minimum of 18 years. The pair was drinking with Begum’s landlord on his balcony when they had an argument. Chand hit Begum in the face and she left and locked herself in her flat. Chand later went downstairs and was seen by the landlord through a hole in the kitchen floor with his hands around Begum’s neck. He then “calmly returned to drink with the landlord upstairs,” Justice Madigan said. On returning downstairs later, Chand later called for help saying he had tried to save Begum who had committed suicide. A post-mortem examination ruled out death by hanging, instead saying Begum had been strangled. n RICARDO MORRIS
16 Days of Activism Against Violence Against Women November 25 - December 10
Since 1991, we have joined millions of people across the world for 16 consecutive days at the end of the year to keep the spotlight on the violation of women’s human rights. This year, the global theme for the 16 Days of Activism Campaign is:
‘From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Let’s Challenge Militarism and End Violence Against Women!’ It marks the third year of advocacy on the intersections of violence against women and militarism.
JOIN US THESE 16 DAYS AS WE RISE UP AGAINST VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN! Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre | 88 Gordon St, Suva | Phone: 3313 300 / 9209 470 (24hrs) | www.fijiwomen.com November 2012
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pasifikapost Regional current affairs worth noting
republikamagazine.com/pasifikapost
The High Court of the Solomon Islands overturned a law which gave husbands the right to rape their wives in October, finally bringing the country into agreement with international women’s rights norms. Provisions in the penal code stated that men had an implied and irrevocable consent to sexual intercourse without consent through the contract of marriage. The Director of Public Prosecutions had charged a man with the rape of his estranged wife in 2009. The man’s lawyer argued he had no case to answer because under the common law of England, which applied in the Solomon Islands, it had generally been accepted that a man could not be guilty of raping his wife. Justice James Apaniai, in a judgment handed down on 8 October 2012, said the previous legal precedent condoning spousal rape “has run its course and is no longer applicable nor appropriate in the circumstances of Solomon Islands. The proposition should now be confined to its grave.” He continued: “The time when women are considered as sex objects or as subservient chattel of the husband in Solomon Islands has gone. “In my view the time has come for this court to take a hard look at this old marital exemption rule and see whether its terms accord with what is now regarded generally in these modern times as acceptable behaviour. “If the court considers the rule as no longer applicable then in my view it has a duty to change it. That is what I now do... “I therefore reject the submission that a husband cannot be convicted of rape upon his wife and rule that the accused has a case to answer.” n RICARDO MORRIS
n To read the historic judgment by Justice James Apaniai, visit http://tinyurl.com/MaritalRapeCase 10
| Repúblika | republikamagazine.com
RICARDO MORRIS
Solomons court outlaws marital rape
Editors Ian Johnstone, left, and Michael Powles, right, with Pacific Forum SecretaryGeneral Tuiloma Neroni Slade.
Voices from the past documented Forty-two years after achieving independence on 10 October 1970, Fiji saw the launch of a new book looking at Pacific independence – New Flags Flying: Pacific Leadership – edited by veteran journalist Ian Johnstone and former New Zealand diplomat Michael Powles. The book provides an insider’s view of the journeys to independence for 14 Pacific nations from 1960-1990. The book is based on interviews with key Pacific leaders over the last 30 years, including Fiji’s first Prime Minister Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, who were involved in the lead-up to and achievement of independence of their respective nations. “The path since independence for some of these countries, particularly Fiji, has not always been smooth and so it is fitting that this book launch is held in Suva as an opportunity to revisit the hopes and fears of great Pacific leaders of the past,” said Michael Powles. These ‘voices from the past’ provide a rare insight into each country’s internal struggles and achievements to gain independence and so present a nation-by-nation history of the
change from being colonial subjects to citizens of Pacific nations. Accompanied by maps, photographs and background information about the Pacific nations, the book provides a rich source of independence stories and material. The book also has an accompanying audio CD which contains excerpts from the original interviews. The book launch was hosted by Tuiloma Neroni Slade, SecretaryGeneral of the Pacific Islands Forum, at the Forum Secretariat in Suva on 9 October. Ian Johnstone is a former East West Center Senior Jefferson Fellow and has reported on South Pacific matters for the Secretariat of the Pacific Commission, TVNZ, Radio New Zealand, UNESCO and print media. Michael Powles is a former New Zealand high commissioner to Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu. He writes and lectures on international relations and is currently a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Strategic Studies, Victoria University of Wellington. n Huia Media
n The book is available at USP Book Centre in Laucala Bay, Suva November 2012
November 2012
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OPINION
Scared of this violence The F-Word with ROSHIKA DEO republikamagazine.com/opinion/fword
I
am scared. I am scared that violence in all forms is prevalent and increasing in our society. I am scared that people are losing sensitivity to violence and accepting it as norm. I am sacred that violence and use of fear is becoming a horrific reality in all facets of life, be it in political, economic or social spheres. I am scared that people are not speaking out against violence but finding ways to justify its existence and infliction. I am scared that when someone speaks out against violence there is retaliation and resistance, instead of solidarity. I am scared that it is mostly boys and men that are inflicting the violence or justifying it. Prison escapees are assaulted. Military officers are involved in police service and duties. Students are bullied and assaulted in schools. The military is running the government. Suspects are tortured by security forces. Bouncers shove, scream at and punch patrons. Parents scream at and hit their children. Military cadet training is on the increase in schools where aggression is prominently used. Hate messages and homophobia is present in the media. Advertisements portray violence. Corporal punishment is being looked upon as a form of discipline. The list goes on. Not only in our country but around the world, violence and the values of militarism permeate our society. However what is interesting is that how some say that these incidents and matters are not women’s rights issues; that women’s activists should focus on their “work” and not become “political”; that the people subjected to the violence deserved it; and many more continue to say that “boys will be boys”. What nonsense! Any form of violence affects girls and women, directly and indirectly. It in12
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creases the vulnerability and risks faced by girls and women. It affects society as a whole. It affects all our daily lives. And it will continue affecting future generations. Violence is a women’s rights issue. Violence functions to allow one person to control or exert power over another. Militarism values which thrive on violence are premised on the fact that someone needs to be the powerful one and someone the weak one; someone is the protector and another is the protected. In our culture and around the world, we are socialised into being masculine and feminine. The general characteristics that we expect from masculinity are aggressiveness, dominance, strength, courage and control, whereas femininity is associated with weakness, gentleness, tolerance, passivity and emotion. So who in society have less power (actual and perceived)? Women, children and vulnerable groups (such as the LGBTI community)! Who do we “naturally” assume to be the weaker and needs to be protected? Women and girls! Who does social and cultural values generally socialise to be weaker, and needing protection? Girls and women! And the common underlying cause of gender-based violence is the unequal power relations among men and women. So why is it that people think that violence of any form does not affect girls and women? If we create a culture of violence, women, men and children will be affected BUT girls and women will be disproportionately affected. If we continue to condone a culture where people, especially boys and men think that it is in their right to be aggressive, violent, dominant and in control then how will we break the cycle of violence? If society continues to justify violence by saying he or she deserved it or “boys will be boys”, then we are encouraging a culture of violent and harmful values. Let’s dismantle and change the construct of masculinity and femininity through our own thoughts, action, behaviour and perceptions. A simple example is instead of handing a toy gun
to a two-year-old boy, give him a teddy bear or a cooking set so he can start cultivating at a very young age attributes of caring, giving and gentleness. Remember, violence dehumanises boys and men. And no one benefits from a culture of silence, a culture of violence, and a culture of intolerance and lack of accountability. Numerous times, people (usually men) ask where is the evidence of this violence impacting women and girls. Listen to the girls and women when they share their experiences, realities and perceptions. This is evidence. Deconstruct patriarchy and power and relate it to actual situations. This is evidence. And for want of other forms of evidence, read the newspapers, look at police statistics, look at national budgets and get statistics from the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre. Around the world it is documented and recognised that an increase in a culture of violence or militarism leads to increase in violence against girls and women. In the Sierra Leone conflict, 64, 000 women were raped – the conflict perpetuated a culture of violence, impunity and masculinity in which girls and women were disproportionately affected and targeted. In the 2009 US national budget over 40 per cent of spending was allocated to the military, with health care receiving only 20 per cent and education 2 per cent. The military budget has increased every year since then. On the other hand, four to five women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends each day in the United States. Women experience two million injuries from intimate partner violence each year. Every two minutes, somewhere in America, someone is sexually assaulted. This is evidence. I am scared that we are creating a culture of tolerance to violence. I am scared that violence and fear is being used to make political, economic and social decisions. I am scared that we look to violence as a way of resolving R conflicts. I am scared. n Roshika Deo is a feminist and human rights defender. November 2012
OPINION
I’m choosing positivity The Rising Ape with ALEX ELBOURNE republikamagazine.com/opinion/risingape
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omeone asked me after reading the column last month on how I felt about my father (I use the term loosely, since one has to be around to, well, father) and his apparent abandonment of me. I chose to reply the best way I knew how: by launching into a long-winded explanation on how I feel about life. I was a breech birth, when the baby comes down the birth canal feet first. And yes, it’s a bad thing. My mother was in labour for 36 hours. At one point I almost drowned. I was supposed to be adopted since my mum was a single mum but for whatever reason, maybe because of all she had been through to give birth to me, she changed her mind. According to her, I was a headache from the word “go” or in her case “push”. Sometimes I wonder just how much the way I came into world influenced me at some level. I mean, birth is a traumatic experience for any child even under normal circumstances. Under abnormal circumstances is it strange to think that the experience would shape, maybe warp the child’s mind in some way? So, that was my entrance into the world, my addition to other billions of human beings alive at the time. Just another baby, nothing special in the big scheme of things. Another member of homo sapiens. Another tool-using ape. At the end of the day, despite how our brains are structured to say it ain’t so, the fact of the matter is that we are an insignificant species on the third planet orbiting a highly average yellow star on the spiral arms of the galaxy. And you, you as an individual are less than nothing. Our lives are fleeting, less than dust on the wind. We are born, we live, we love, we shit, we bleed, we breathe and one day we will cease to be (in this world anyway). So with all that in mind, why do we waste so much of our time? Why do we fritter away our moments? Why do we sweat the little things? Think about November 2012
it. We worry so much about irrelevant things like whether or not some sports team we support is going to do well. Then we worry about whether or not someone is being faithful or not. Then we start judging people by our standards and then are surprised when all that causes is more tension and heartbreak. We fight about religion and peoples’ sexual orientation like it really matters. We fight about which politician will screw us less. We argue about money and whose turn it is to change the baby’s diapers. We focus so much on how people are f***ing us over we forget to see the people who help us, whether it’s the checkout woman at the supermarket or the doctor that just cured you. We bitch and whine and moan about how hard things are at work forgetting the billions who would love to be given the chance to do the exact same thing but cannot because there are no jobs and now their kids are starving. We complain about how naughty the kids today are and don’t think about the hundreds of thousands of child soldiers in Africa who would probably love for a parents loving hand to guide them. We worry about where we’ll get the money to buy that new TV while there are people in this world – in this country – who are worrying right now about where they’ll get the money for their families’ next meal. We grumble about how expensive our children’s things are while there are mums and dads sitting in hospitals all over the world hoping against hope, grasping at straws that the doctor will walk into to the room and tell them there’s a chance for their child. In the midst of all this grumbling is it any wonder then that the number of unhappy people is on the increase? It’s a time when, technologically, we’re making leaps and bounds, and it seems our brains just can’t handle this information overload. So we succumb to the anxiety and worry, worry, worry. Well, I’m done with that. I’m 32 years old and I’ve spent too much time worrying. I’ve had enough. I don’t know about you but I’ve had enough of being
cynical. I’ve had enough of acting like other people are “out to get me”. Enough with being angry. I’m not saying for us to all be like hippies. What I am saying is: would it really be that hard for us to focus on the positive for once? It’s not easy, we’re wired in such a way that our brains make us the centre of the universe, so seeing other people – truly seeing them – is a hard thing for any of us to do. The ability to empathise with another person is one of the greatest gifts of the human species but most of us (especially men) get told from when we’re young, “Don’t be too nice, they’ll walk all over you…” So we build our walls and we refuse to see that another person is having just as many problems as you are. I’m not saying for us to be happy all the time because someone who is happy all the time cannot be trusted (Ha!). But a little empathy would be nice. The truth of the matter is that despite its hardships, besides the struggles, besides the bone-deep sorrow we are subjected too; despite the sadness and sometimes despair that threatens to bash you to the ground and choke the life out of you; despite all this, it is still a beautiful life if we just allowed ourselves to see it. Even though I don’t remember it, the knowledge that I could have died before taking my first breath makes me grateful for every breath since. I could stay angry and I could keep on bemoaning the fact that my dad did a runner. I could keep on feeling like there’s something wrong with me. Yeah I could do all that. But I’d rather not. I would rather look at the fact that I’m with someone who understands me. I would rather be thankful for the lives of my two kids. I would rather like to send all my love to all my family. I’d rather look at the fact that I drank grog on Saturday and laughed so much I almost pissed myself. At the end of the day, sometimes you just have to choose. My name is Alex Elbourne and I’m living from one moment to the next. R n Alex Elbourne is the Breakfast Show host on Legend FM. The views expressed are his own. republikamagazine.com | Repúblika |
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FACEBOOK.COM/CAVORA
COVER
November 2012
COVER
A life unlived She had what looked like a promising avenue out of hardship. Instead, on her 22nd birthday, Adi Cavora Tavuki was found stabbed to death on the floor of a bungalow far from the place that was her home for most of her short life.
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t was a perfect Saturday in October How and when things turned tragic By RICARDO MORRIS at the Sydney holiday park where Adi after what should have been a happy ocEditor Cavora Tavuki lived with her huscasion is still unclear. band and 13-month-old son. The sign But something went so wrong in the above the barbeque where Tavuki’s husband grilled prawns hours after the birthday celebration and until Ratu Joji goes for her birthday party read: “Just another day in paradise”. He on trial, details may remain unknown. was happy, she was happy and so was their son. That’s what it Ratu Joji was remanded in custody by a Hornsby magislooks like in the pictures. trate until 18 December, when he is due to appear at the SydLess than 24 hours later, that paradise was shattered. Early ney Central Local Court for mention. on the morning of her 22nd birthday, Adi Cavora Baleimaleya Northern Beaches police said Ratu Joji had called his relaBole Tavuki lay dead on the floor of her bungalow at Sydney’s tives in a distressed state between 4.30-5am on 21 October. Lakeside Holiday Park on the stunning Northern Beaches When his relatives arrived they found Tavuki on the floor. from two dozen stab wounds. Her husband Ratu Joji Bakoso They called the emergency services but she had already died Serutawake, 29, was arrested at the scene and charged with when the ambulance arrived. her murder. The toddler, according to media reports, was Repúblika has tried to piece together what we can of the asleep in the next room and was not awoken. all-too-short life of Cavora Bole, as she was known to friends. November 2012
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A family in grief It is one of those slightly morbid and voyeuristic things that journalists do: go knocking on the door of total strangers’ homes to inquire about the death of a loved one. But despite their loss, Adi Cavora’s family opened their doors and their hearts to us when we arrived at their Tacirua home. They willingly shared what they could about the life of their daughter and sister. Her mother, Salanieta Taka from Matuku in Lau, had her suitcase packed for the flight to Sydney two days later. She seemed alert, prepared and willing to talk. It may seem odd but it was probably the shock as well. Perhaps the pain came later as she buried her eldest child in a cemetery in a city far from the place she called home. Even at this point, a week after her daughter’s death, Taka was still in the dark about what transpired. She said she was only informed of the death by a relative of hers three days later after Adi Cavora’s husband was identified in the media as the suspect. Also at home that day were Adi Cavora’s maternal grandmother, her halfsisters Rachael and Salanieta and her half-brother Malakai. Another halfbrother was in Taveuni where he was attending school. Adi Cavora’s youngest sister Salanieta was the one who chatted regularly with Adi Cavora online and last spoke to her on the Friday before her death. The younger Salanieta accompanied her mother to Australia for the funeral. Adi Cavora had also spoken to her mother that Friday and had sent her money. That was to be the last they spoke. Taka said: “I waited for her call on Saturday and the next day. I thought she was tired from work and would probably call on Sunday but I knew it was also not like her because she would call every day. Little did I know she was lying dead there.” It was not until Wednesday that she found out about Adi Cavora’s death. “When I heard something had happened to her, I first thought she was punched or had an accident. But when I heard she was stabbed in that way, I thanked God that he took her life because otherwise she would have been left in a pathetic state,” Taka told Repúblika in the Taukei language. Greener pastures Adi Cavora left Fiji in late 2009, im16
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Brother and sisters in arms Cavora,
centre, with brothers Malakai, left, and Jone right,along with youngest sister Salanieta.
“I blame my relatives for telling her about her father and leading her to go to Australia.If she hadn’t gone, we may still be struggling, but at least we would still have each other.” mediately after finishing form seven at Indian College (now known as Jai Narayan College). The year before that she had become aware that her biological father, from Nakini in Naitasiri, Ilaitia Tavuki, lived in Australia and she was soon in contact with him. Immediately after completing high school she left on a permanent residency visa and settled in Australia. She was brought up, along with her half-sisters and brothers by their father who was from Somosomo in Taveuni. It was not until she was in form six that
she was told by a relative of her mother that the man she called “Dad” was not her biological father. Adi Cavora confronted Taka and insisted she be told about her father’s family. Taka took her to her father’s village of Nakini and introduced her to her family there. “I blame my relatives for telling her about her father and leading her to go to Australia,” Adi Cavora’s mother says. “If she hadn’t gone, we may still be struggling, but at least we would still have each other.” Despite leaving her family and friends behind, Adi Cavora made a point of returning every year since she left to visit them and to reunite with a closeknit group of friends from school who called each other GG – short for gigi or sister in Hindi. Elina Ranadi, 22, knew Adi Cavora from when they were children, having been together since class five at Tacirua Primary School. Ranadi and Adi Cavora went on to Indian College together where, along with the others, formed the GG crew. Now a tertiary student, Ranadi says Adi Cavora was “an outspoken person” who took her opinions seriously. “She didn’t take kindly to people treating others unjustly” and counted among her friends people of all walks of life, from market vendors to those higher up in the social stratosphere, said Ranadi. She never hid the facts of her humble upbringing and for that her friends loved her. From their time together, it was clear to Ranadi that “family was her first priority” and she would ensure those she had left behind in Fiji did not lack the necessities. However, when asked if Adi Cavora had ever discussed her relationship with them, none of her friends had done so in any depth. All she would say when they asked about her partner was “everything’s fine”. Ranadi said she would sense when Adi Cavora was stressed out but she often attributed it to her work as a caregiver. This care-giving work aligned with her interests while in high school of taking a profession in the nursing or medical field. Another friend and GG, Luisa Lagilagi, 21, last spoke to Adi Cavora in the early morning of Thursday 18 October after she had finished her shift. Lagilagi said Adi Cavora would often chat with her as she walked home from her shift November 2012
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Left behind Adi Cavora’s family. From left to right, brother Malakai, mum Salanieta, sisters Salanieta and Rachael, and Rachael’s daughter and Cavora’s namesake at their home in Tacirua outside Suva.
and she looked at these chats as a way for her friend to talk her stress out. If she had been encountering problems, she did not mention anything about it. It would turn out to be the last time they spoke. Getting hitched Her school friends know little about the man she hitched up with, Ratu Joji Bakoso Serutawake, a former aviation student – seven years her senior who was in Australia on a temporary visa. The only thing they know is that the pair met on her first trip in December 2010 between Fiji and Australia, a year after she left Fiji. Jay Ba or Bucks, as he was known to family and friends, did not work as far as Adi Cavora’s family and friends knew, because of visa conditions. Adi Cavora and Ratu Joji immediately became an item on her return to Australia, and nine months later, their son was born. This past September they celebrated their son’s first birthday with friends November 2012
and relatives, and photos on Adi Cavora’s Facebook page show it was a happy occasion. On arriving in Sydney Adi Cavora only spent a short while with her biological father’s family before venturing out on her own, getting a job and finding a flat. Taka says her daughter and partner at first never had problems that she was aware of, but she said Adi Cavora would tell her that her in-laws disliked her supporting them back in Fiji. Later on, when they would have arguments, sometimes when Ratu Joji was drunk, Adi Cavora would leave the house with her son until her husband cooled down. After Adi Cavora’s death, a close relative of Ratu Joji’s posted angry messages on photos of Adi Cavora’s son and her three-year-old namesake in Fiji. Taka says Adi Cavora’s father had objected to her relationship with Ratu Joji because they were related, although the couple were not aware of this beforehand. That could have been another
reason for some animosity between the family. Birthday barbeque The Friday before Adi Cavora’s barbeque, she spoke to her youngest sister Sala and they talked about what she should wear. Sala’s ticket had already been paid for by Adi Cavora and she was to fly out the next month. They joked that she would help babysit her toddler nephew. That Saturday, the day before her birthday, Jay Ba cooked in the caravan park’s barbeque bungalow, with his son in a stroller close to hand. Adi Cavora snapped shots on her mobile phone and uploaded the photos to Facebook. What transpired between then and the early morning when Adi Cavora met her brutal end remains unclear. From the postings on Facebook, Jay Ba and Adi Cavora were awake in the early hours before her death - or at least 4Continued on page 18 republikamagazine.com | Repúblika |
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Friends forever Three of the five GG girls,
front second from left, Ilisapeci Fei, Elina Ranadi and Luisa Lagilagi, along with other schoolmates of the class of 2009 of (the former) Indian College in Suva.
A Facebook comment by suspect Ratu Joji in the hours before Adi Cavora’s death.
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The men in her life A Facebook com-
ment under Cavora’s name on a photo of her husband and son four days before her death. 18
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postings were made in Adi Cavora’s name. At 2.26am, two hours before Jay Ba called his relatives in a distressed state, a comment below a photo of his son read: “My baba is a big boy now.” Around the same time, a post under Adi Cavora’s name appears commenting on the prawn skewers they had had for lunch. She tells a friend who admires the food not to worry as she would prepare some for her. Later that morning, after Adi Cavora’s death, the friend comments again saying she was waiting for the barbeque and wondered when it would arrive, apparently unaware of what had happened. The food would never arrive. Two different police reports put the
time Ratu Joji called his relatives at 4.30am and 5am. When Ratu Joji’s relatives arrived at the bungalow they called the emergency 000 number. Paramedics tried to revive Adi Cavora at the scene but were unsuccessful. Ratu Joji was arrested at the house, charged by police with murder and appeared in court the next day. The couple’s son, who slept undisturbed in another room during the incident, was taken into the care of NSW Department of Community Services before being given to his father’s relatives while awaiting a final custody decision. Community support In the days that followed, the Fijian community in Sydney was in shock. They tried to grasp what had happened. November 2012
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SUPPLIED BY Monnette Ngwetarihune/INDIAN COLLEGE FORM 703 OF 2009
The sisterhood Adi Cavora, back right,
with her form seven colleagues of Indian College in 2009. She left for Australia not long after this photo was taken. At right is Adi Cavora pictured in July.
Police contacted Tia Roko, the executive officer of Auburn Diversity Services Inc, an NGO focused on services to migrant communities, to ask for help locating relatives of Adi Cavora. November 2012
FACEBOOK.COM/CAVORA
Postings on Adi Cavora’s Facebook account in the hours leading up to her murder.
Apart from social media, Radio Skid Row was the natural place to turn. The community radio station broadcasts to Sydney and the suburbs targeting minority ethnic communities and each Wednesday carries three hours of Taukei language programmes, It fell to Fipe Howard, a volunteer broadcaster on Radio Skid Row’s Domo-i-Viti programme, to announce the tragic news during her time slot from 10pm on Wednesday evening to 1am the next morning. Howard told Repúblika this was her first experience on air with something so tragic. “My heart went out to Adi, her little boy and Adi’s family, even to her partner in custody. He also needs some kind of community support,” Howard said. Within 10-15 minutes after the announcement, a call came through from Ilaitia Tavuki’s uncle, a regular listener to the show, asking Howard to return Tavuki’s call. 4Continued on page 20 republikamagazine.com | Repúblika |
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FACEBOOK.COM/CAVORA (2)
candm.com.au
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When she did, Tavuki was a “very emotional and at the same time a very, very angry man.” Howard says the Sydney Fijian community came together to support Adi Cavora’s mother, father and the rest of the family during the days leading up to her funeral. “From day one after it went out on radio, to the funeral, the community held meetings and tasks were handed out to each person,” Howard said. Together with Victims of Crime Support Services, the Fijian community working with the Fi-
jian Consul General in Sydney raised the au$16,000 (fj$29,123) it cost to bury Adi Cavora. Air Pacific stepped in too with complimentary flights for Adi Cavora’s mother. Her funeral service took place at Lakemba Christian Fellowship Church on 3 November before her burial at Rookwood Cemetery. Taka and Tavuki met with the Department of Community Services to decide on the custody of the child, although Salanieta had indicated before she left Fiji that she wanted Ilaitia Tavuki’s family to R take care of the boy.
On location The entrance to Sydney Lake-
side holiday park where Adi Cavora celebrated her birthday.
Before the end Adi Cavora and her husband Ratu Joji Bakoso having a barbeque the day before she died.
n Adi Cavora’s family would like to thank Tia Roko, Vivita Fugawai, George Fonmoa, Joweli Ravualala, Fipe Howard, Talatala Viniana Ravetali, the Fiji Consul General in Sydney and Air Pacific for their assistance during this tragic time.
GOOGLE STREET VIEW
To help support Adi Cavora’s child, a welfare account has been set up at an ANZ branch in Sydney. Account name: Aussie Fiji Volunteers, BSB 012010, account number 484726237.
Shattered peace The holiday park where Adi Cavora met her end. 20
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November 2012
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Happy days Cavora and her husband Ratu Serutawake Bakoso at their son’s first birthday
SUPPLIED/FIPE HOWARD
party in September.
Community support Adi Cavora’s dad Laitia Tavuki (fourth from left) with members
of the Fijian community in Sydney at her graveside. From left to right, Vivita Fugawai, Litia Roko, George Fonmoa, Fipe Howard, Ray Fugawai and Joweli Ravualala.
In a faraway place Adi Cavora’s
FIPE HOWARD
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mum Salanieta Taka, who travelled from Fiji for the funeral, carries her grandson by Cavora’s grave at Rookwood Cemetery. Carova’s paternal grandmother Nanise Tavuki who lives in Campbelltown, Sydney is beside her.
November 2012
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November 2012
PERSONALITY
Out of the mangroves
SUPPLIED BY RUSIATE LALI
From a Suva shoeshine boy, Rusiate Lali is now an accomplished artist recognised in Australasia
Original ‘gone sisi’ Artist Rusiate Lali on
his farm in Rewa.
By ERNEST HEATLEY
T
he road to success in life is fraught with obstacles and struggles along the way and for the victors it often involves self-belief, self-discovery and a willingness to think outside the box. This could well apply to Rusiate Lali, one of the finest contemporary artists to have emerged from Fiji in recent times. Although the name Rusi Lali may not ring a “bell” for many in the country, he is quite renowned in Australasia for his visually arresting abstract work. “Repetition, persistence and, as my bubu would say to me ‘never, ever give up,’” offers the chatty 38-year-old on the maxim he attributes to his accomplishments. In the Rewan dialect this saying is translated “na qai qo ena qai ga, na kai November 2012
Rewa na kai vanua ca.” It is basically an axiom urging Rewan people never to give up their dreams and to push on no matter what, something Lali is quite familiar with, given that he has been overcoming barriers his whole life. If you ever need proof about the power of art and how it can transform a person’s life consider the story behind Lali’s rise from virtual obscurity to become an accomplished contemporary artist in the Australasian region. A high school drop-out with a rebelliousness that belied an innate but untapped reservoir of artistic talent Lali was down and out in the streets of Suva during the 1990s shining shoes for a living while a “gone sisi’’ or street kid. Constantly moving from place to place and staying with relatives and friends he was convinced by his maternal grandmother to resume studies at Marist Brothers High School. A free-spirited lad, Lali lasted only one term before ditching the classroom
for his mother’s village of Nasilai, Rewa and it was there that he started immersing himself in drawings and searching for the artist within while solitarily confined to a small tin shack next his uncle’s house. This is largely where the artistic magic started. Due to a twist of fate, a run of good luck and the influence of a few good friends, Lali was exposed to Suva’s vibrant visual art scene which basically steered him into a new direction in life. Armed with his natural Rewan charm, street smarts, a positive mental attitude and blessed with artistic leanings from his maternal side, Lali made quick headway in his chosen vocation. The rest, as they say, is history. Lali’s journey of self-discovery and success as a contemporary artist extraordinaire has taken him to locations such as New York, New Caledonia and 4Continued on page 24 republikamagazine.com | Repúblika |
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the Australian outback. Fast track several years down the line and Lali, aka Richard Bell, is now perhaps the most successful of the young group of painters who embraced the Red Wave art style which individuals like New Zealander John Pule helped nurture at the University of the South Pacific’s Oceania Arts Centre. Having lived and worked in Australia for the past 15 years, Lali has returned to Fiji for personal reasons for a year but art lovers can only be the richer for it. He is primarily in Fiji to legalise plans to take his aptly named one-andhalf-year-old son, Picasso James Lali, to Australia. We spoke with “Rusi” about what inspires him as an artist and the development of his style over the years to incorporate both Australian aboriginal and Fijian concepts. Lali’s abstract style is quite distinct compared to other contemporary artists from Fiji and defined by strong earthy colours and tones. His paintings have been well received in Australia and countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore and he is making serious inroads in other overseas markets. With his quick Rewan wit (Lali is the creator of the hilarious locally produced comedy films Three Funny Rewans ) and talkativeness, he had initially harboured dreams of becoming a lawyer but they eventually gave way to art. “I always wanted to be a lawyer but my imagination and my desire to paint took the upper hand,’’ admitted the strapping outdoor enthusiast. “The attitude problem and being a rebellious teenager was expressed in my art. Any anger and frustration had an outlet.” Interestingly Lali started developing a positive mental attitude after picking up a leaflet about PMA that was tossed down a building by a student of Sir James Ah Koy’s PMA School in Suva sometime during the late 1990s. “It was a hot day and I was sitting on the sidewalk shining shoes and taking a break. I picked up this crumpled up piece of paper and decided to shade my face from the sun with it. On closer inspection I began reading what was written and began to adopt the principles of PMA in my life,” he recalled. Lali credits his maternal grandmother, Taraivini Wati for nurturing 24
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and developing his artistic spirit along with the late Professor Epeli Hau’ofa of the USP Oceania Arts Centre. The apple never falls far from the tree and fortunately for Lali artistic excellence was always in the blood as Wati was a famous Rewan potter whose original saqamoli pottery water vessel design would later be used for the Fiji dollar coin. In fact story has it that when Lali was an infant, his hands were smeared with clay from Nailili in some sort of early initiation into the world of art and craft. “Grandma was a great storyteller, a prolific raku potter, a great chef in Rewan cuisine and an ambassador for Rewan culture and as I grew up with her this was my life,” he explained. “They say great art imitates life. Her sister Makereta was married to Tua Lepani Vakalololoma from Moce Lau where she learnt traditional tapa making which she passed on to me when we lived in Toorak, Suva (these are the parents of the recent Miss World Fiji contestant Koini Vakaloloma).” “Others who have inspired me are my mother Koini Raiviuviu for deep spiritual understanding, my father Ratu Dovi Mataitini who believed he could do anything and which has shone through his ambition.” Behind every successful man is a successful woman and this holds true for the passionate family man. Wife Roslyn Premont has been the bedrock of support for Lali, given that she owns galleries in Australia, is well connected and has been instrumental in getting the artist’s work recognised in Australasian. “Being married to Roslyn, a leader in the field of Aboriginal art, has no doubt opened my eyes to the inside running of a busy art gallery,” said Lali. “Those who imagine being the director of a large gallery or two is about sitting back and admiring the paintings should think again. It takes a lot of work and skill to promote artists and have a vibrant and interesting exhibition schedule.” The artist also acknowledges his wife “for the university of life” which he believes is the most challenging “as the journey takes many turns.” As a child growing up in Naselai village, Tailevu, Lali out of curiosity used to flick through a number of art books which eventually developed into a fullblown interest, particularly when con-
“I always wanted to be a lawyer but my imagination and my desire to paint took the upper hand.” fronted with the intriguing work of cubism master Pablo Picasso. “Picasso’s paintings jumped out of the art books I saw when I was in class five and I adore his work to this day.” So much so that Lali named his youngest son after the Spanish great. “He was an innovative and challenging artist who broke many boundaries. He had great respect for tribal art and took much inspiration from it,’’ he said. Living and working in Australia has been an eye opening experience and has allowed Lali to witness firsthand the best of Aboriginal talent. “I have been very fortunate to live in the heart of Australia and know personally some of the great desert Aboriginal artists of our day including Dorothy Napangardi and Mitjili Napanangka Gibson,” said Lali. In Fiji, he names renowned talents like Josie Crick, Josaia McNamara and Irami Buli as some of the artists that have stimulated his artistic growth. However it was the Red Wave movement and learning surroundings at USP that played a powerful role in developNovember 2012
RUSIATE LALI
PERSONALITY
A study in abstract One of Rusiate Lali’s pieces titled Propoganda.
ing Lali’s passion for his chosen genre. “I was so tuned in to the environment and creative surge of Red Wave Group at the University of South Pacific that I never wanted to leave the artists’ studio and go home! Professor Epeli saw my passion and would play Enya music to soothe my soul,” recalled Lali. Lali initially travelled to Australia in May 2001 and was practically taken aback by the backdrop. “When I flew across Australia from Sydney to have an exhibition in Alice Springs I was blown away by the different landscape. So much space and the countryside appeared dotted like the Aboriginal paintings.” “The earth was red and sparse and the sky enormous – rich blue and cloudless. Here in the heart of Australia the nearest big town is 1500 km away – equal distance to Darwin in the north and Adelaide to the south. “On my first bush trip I had a very special encounter with a wedgetail eagle whose wing span is around 1.5 metres. He had stopped to eat a road-kill kangaroo. He gorged himself and was so heavy he could no longer lift himself up! “When we opened another gallery in Sydney we lived initially in the CBD area surrounded by sky scrapers and had a spectacular view of the iconic Harbour Bridge and the nearby Opera House. Here I became fascinated by shadows and shapes the buildings made and became fascinated by architecture.” Lali believes that artists in Fiji have November 2012
a lot to learn from their counterparts Down Under in having a ready support system available to nurture talent. “The art scene in Australia is quite vibrant and has a lot of support. As a practicing artist, I have had the opportunity to observe the market as I have had many solo and group exhibitions and been represented in major art fairs. “I recognise the importance of being represented by a dealer and understand that collectors like to see a body of work.” Lali believes the Red Wave movement in Fiji was a great example of how young artists can grow and become successful. “We need an art movement. We need to bring more talented people across, like John Pule who came to Red Wave from New Zealand, to lecture, teach artistic practice and techniques. “I have often thought how beneficial it would be to bring across people like Australian artist Linda Jackson who has helped many Aboriginal artists work with fabric and their local designs to make the product their own. “I’m sure if there was funding we would have various artists interested in coming to Fiji to share their knowledge and understanding of the market.” Being recognised in the extremely competitive aboriginal art scene has not been a walk in the park for Lali but he has persevered nonetheless. “Although I am fortunate to be represented amongst the best, from my perspective, it hasn’t always been easy being compared with Australian aboriginal artists,” he said. “Many times, people would be drawn to my work and then change their mind when they found out I wasn’t an Australian aboriginal. I have really had to stand my ground and keep going. Now, however, people know me for who I am.” Lali’s fervent love for life is reflected by his diverse interests that range from deep sea diving, writing movie scripts, classical baroque music and farming to debating and cooking. Some would describe him as a man for all seasons but essentially he is just a typical Fijian guy who made good and developed a few hobbies over time. A farm boy at heart, Lali is happiest toiling the earth when back in Fiji and typically soaks in the easy going Rewan banter during his early morning gardening sessions with fellow villagers.
Despite hobnobbing with the crème de la crème of Australian art society, at home he is the archetypical village boy keen to attack the most physically demanding tasks. “First of all, I grew up in a farm. I had the privilege of milking cows and drinking fresh milk. I love to know that I can grow what I eat. I like the physical activity of doing the chores,” Lali explains. “My daily regimen involves waking up at 5am in the morning, having my coffee, going to the farm, producing food for my family. It’s all good for the mind, body and soul. “Also it is for my son, Picasso James Lali to have the opportunity of appreciating what I enjoyed so much as a child. “Strategic alliances with my tavale Ilaitia Seruvatu has helped create a winwin situation for us both with vegetable farming. I also have a cow farm. I love breeding and watching things grow.” A keen philanthropist, Lali likes giving back to the community and earlier this year financed the construction of houses for people in Lomanikoro whose previous abodes were inundated by floodwaters. This largess was financed from 10 percentage of every painting that he sold. For now Lali is busy working in the farm preparing the soil for the next crop prior to returning to Australia for work commitments in his other business he shares with his wife which is property managing their exclusive self-catering apartments. The artist is excited about his immediate plans in Fiji, particularly as it involves merging elements of Fijian culture into his work. “Often misunderstood these days, traditional Fijian legends carry so much cultural learning and heritage like the dreaming stories of the Australian indigenous people.’’ “It will be the new year that I settle into painting. I am interested in pursuing the cultural heritage studies I am doing on Fiji and incorporating this into my painting (primarily on masi) for an exhibition planned in Paris,” he states. In the meantime, Lali plans to establish a studio and gallery in Fiji that will allow locals to admire or purchase his stunning collection. It will offer locals a chance to witness a true great of Fiji art and rub shoulders with someone who has proven that life is what you make of it and success only comes to those who dare to dream. R republikamagazine.com | Repúblika |
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TRIBUTE
Susan Parkinson The celebrated Pacific nutritionist and women’s rights advocate who refused to conform to stereotype
Susan Parkinson OBE, OF 26 July 1920 – 7 October 2012 By MATT WILSON
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usan Parkinson, celebrated South Pacific nutritionist and a pioneer of women’s rights in Fiji died in Suva on Sunday 7 October after a short illness. She was 92. Parkinson was brought up on her family’s sheep farm, Te Hopai, in New Zealand’s Wairarapa Valley with her late younger sister Betty. Their father, Edward Carlton Homes, formerly of Matahiwi near Masterton, was a leading figure in the community. He had strong links with local Maori as a benefactor and friend. Young Susan’s future seemed to point in one direction. She would become a farmer’s wife and raise sturdy children who would continue in the agrarian traditions of the Holmes family. But she had other ideas. Susan said she had no desire for what she described as routine domestic life. She was interested in science and wanted to attend university. When she was 21 she graduated from Otago University with a diploma in home science. She then became food supervisor at Masterton Hospital before 26
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completing studies as a dietician student at Wellington Hospital. It was the start of a stellar career that would take her round the world and bring her to Fiji and the island nations of the South Pacific. Fiji would be her home for 62 years. She became the acknowledged regional authority on food and nutrition preaching the gospel of healthy balanced diets, based on local foods. Susan saw that this was critical for avoiding the lifestyle diseases that would inevitably accompany the growth of consumerism. She wrote and taught on dietary issues, visited remote villages, made numerous radio broadcasts, delivered lectures and contributed to columns in the Fiji Times. Her cookery book series, A Taste of the Tropics (later Taste of the Pacific), is widely acclaimed. Susan won many accolades and awards. She was a leading figure in the inauguration and development of the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) of Fiji, and the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement (FWRM). In those early days in New Zealand, as Susan was preparing to spread her wings, her gaze turned to Great Britain, the land of her ancestors. So she boarded a ship and was UK-bound.
In 1946 she began dietary work at Leeds Infirmary in the North of England and then joined the Ministry of Food in London. She qualified for an international scholarship that took her to Cornell University in the United States to study for a Masters Degree in Public Health and Nutrition. Her thesis was on the nutritional trends among Navajo native Americans living on an arid reservation in Arizona. This gave her an acute awareness of the dangers of rapidly changing diet amongst indigenous people and the need to combine the study of anthropology with public health. Based on her unique background she was recruited to become the first nutritionist to be employed by the colonial era South Pacific Health Service headquartered in Suva. For four years she travelled to regional countries studying and surveying food and nutrition issues in villages, schools, hospitals and other institutions. She developed educational material and specific programmes to promote healthy eating. The emphasis of her efforts was often on infant and maternal nutrition Susan travelled regularly by boat and canoe, and on foot and horseback where there were no roads. Later she said these were November 2012
COURTESY SHIRI/WWW.IMAGINESOUTH PACIFIC.COM
TRIBUTE
Ahead of her time Pacific nutritionist and feminist Susan Parkinson. among her happiest times. In 1956, in Suva, Susan married Ray Parkinson, from Melbourne, the Fiji government statistician. He passed away suddenly in 1969. Susan endowed the Ray Parkinson Lectures at the University of the South Pacific in his memory. The new Mrs Parkinson had become a lecturer at the Fiji School of Medicine (FSM) where she developed dietetic and public health nutrition training. A Parkinson diploma course for medical, nursing and agricultural students may have been a first for developing countries. Susan resigned from the FSM in 1972 to take on voluntary work with a wide November 2012
range of organisations, and was closely involved in the formation of the Fiji National Nutrition Committee. The Committee convinced the Fiji Government of the importance of nutrition in national development. This led to the adoption of a food and nutrition policy. It was in this phase of her career that Susan wrote and published her first handbook on nutrition for the Pacific Islands. There have been a number of editions. It is still in use as important reference. In the 1980s Susan conducted research, in association with the University of the South Pacific, into traditional uses and preservation methods for sta-
ple crops. This attracted great interest at the 1989 Seventh World Congress of Food Science and Technology. Susan was a shrewd and sometimes critical observer of the colonial system. One of her more caustic comments from her correspondence reads: “One gets very tired of the English civil servants whose only ambition is to do the right thing socially and politically in order to get promotion in another colony. One has the feeling that many of these people have not much interest in the ultimate future of Fiji.” Susan’s experiences in colonial Fiji sparked her interest in feminism. She wrote that neither the social or professional systems of the time knew where to place her because she was not a nurse or a teacher. Among the medical profession and agriculturalists, she said, there were a few men with postgraduate degrees. They mostly belonged to The Fiji Society that had a membership of elite male scientists. “It was at this stage,” she wrote, “that I became a feminist and stormed the Society!” For many years she was a trustee of the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement that used her home in Vuya Road for their early meetings. Susan earned awards and recognition for her career accomplishments from the Commonwealth Foundation and the Asia Pacific Clinical Nutrition Society. She was made a member of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and the Order of Fiji (OF), and received an Honorary Degree from the University of the South Pacific. For over 50 years, Susan lived in her beautiful Vuya Road home. The carefully tended fertile gardens, and her pets, were an important part of her life. “Marama” as she was known in the neighbourhood, was a great supporter of the many educational institutions based close by, including the Pacific Theological College. She also helped a number of community organisations, particularly the SPCA. She was an instinctive environmentalist with an intense dislike of litter. Susan leaves a son William, daughter-in-law Sufi and grandchildren Farah and Shavez, as well as many relatives in R New Zealand and Australia. n Matt Wilson is a former journalist and veteran public relations consultant. republikamagazine.com | Repúblika |
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DISPATCH
Much of the same After all the talk of change, Vanuatu votes back in many of the same leaders it crticised By RICARDO MORRIS in Port Vila
he streets of Port Vila were quiet as we drove through from the airport on 30 October, it being a public holiday on account of the general election that was taking place. Much of the activity, we expected, was concentrated at polling stations across the 17 multi-member constituencies. The social media was abuzz with hopes of change for the better. But several weeks later, after the political wrangling was worked out, Vanuatu got pretty much of the same, returning many of those MPs they previously criticised. Vanuatu has one of the region’s most unstable parliamentary systems with no one party able to rule without a coalition in the 52-member parliament. Votes of no confidence and floor-crossing have plagued Vanuatu and they are regularly used to bring down governments. Since 1996, five prime ministers have been defeated by motions of no confidence. Edward Natapei (elected again this year) became prime minister in 2001 after a confidence motion ousted Barak Sopé, retained the prime ministership after an election in 2002. However Natapei lost to Serge Vohor, back for a third term, in a 2004 election that Natapei had called. Vohor later that year was ousted in a confidence motion. In his second term as prime minister in 2008, Natapei survived two no-confidence votes not long after taking up the post. He was to go on to face five more motions before finally succumbing two years later. Natapei was succeeded by Sato Kilman, himself the victim of a confidence vote on Easter Sunday in April 2011. Kilman was succeeded by Vohor but Vohor’s election was declared invalid the next month. In June 2011, Natapei launched a legal challenge against Kilman’s election in December 2010 and Chief Justice Vin28
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Having her say A woman lines up to vote at a Port Vila polling station. cent Lunabek annulled Kilman’s premiership and restored Natapei before a fresh election for prime minister was held. Ten days after the judgment, Kilman was voted back as prime minister by the parliament. It was against such a volatile backdrop that the people of Vanuatu went to the polls for the ninth time since independence on 30 July 1980 from the United Kingdom and France. Of the issues concerning voters, getting rid of corruption and installing leaders who would care about the people were high on the agenda. There were calls to vote for change and for the inclusion of more women in parliament. However when the official results were announced a week after the election, Vanuatu had gotten much of the same leaders, and none of the 10 women candidates were elected. Five days after the vote, I asked a niVanuatu man, a former civil servant, why the results were taking so long to be confirmed. Jokingly he replied: “Oh, that’s so it gives them more time to manipulate the results.”
Even before the elections, questions were being raised about the validity of electoral roll data. The Vanuatu Electoral Commission had given a figure 192,632 registered voters when official figures suggested there should be only 120,000 people of voting age. This would mean that with an estimated population of 260,000, some 74 per cent of the country had registered to vote. Commission chairman John Taleo later admitted there were problems with the electoral roll which needed to be completely redone before the next election. He told Radio New Zealand the inflation of eligible voter numbers is partly explained by the fact that changes in voter circumstances such as migration or death were often not recorded properly. Graun Mo Jastis Pati (Land and Justice) leader Ralph Regenvanu called for an investigation of the validity of all proxy votes cast because of the impossibly high number. And Natapei later described the election as the worst he had ever encountered. A commentator in the Vanuatu DaiNovember 2012
ly Post outlined several issues brought to the fore in the 2012 election, the first of which was the unusually early announcement of election. Using the byline “Samuel LJ”, the commentator drew attention to announcement by electoral officials in February, a full eight months before the election. The early announcement, he said, could have been the catalyst for a corrupt election with many politicians and intending candidates able to use the long lead time to cultivate their constituencies. This “scramble to regain credibility” would have been well and truly completed by the time the official two-week campaigning period began on 10 October. This period “did very little to change the minds of the voters” who may have already received assistance from one candidate or another and had decided to vote for them. Nationally there was a 63 per cent voter turnout but in the two main urban centres of Port Vila and Luganville only half of those registered to vote did so. The national voter turn-out was less than the 70 per cent recorded in the 2008 election. Thirty-two political parties put up representatives in the election, with a number of independent candidates. Eventually 16 political parties and four independents secured places in the 52member parliament. And almost all of the ministers in the Kilman-led coalition government which had led for the previous two years had been re-elected. The party to win the most seats (8), Edward Natapei’s Vanua’aku Pati, came second in the popular vote taking 12.2 per cent. The Union of Moderate Parties under Serge Vohor got the most popular votes but won only five seats. Prime
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DISPATCH
Card-carrying voter A Vanuatu man shows his electoral card. Minister Kilman’s Peoples Progressive Party won six seats and eight per cent of the popular vote. As ever, this fracturing of votes has consequences for the formation of a government with incumbents working hard to hold on to power in the days after the results were announced. At the end of the horse-trading, Kilman was able to form a coalition and retain the prime minister’s position. The Vanuatu Daily Digest, a blog written by journalist Bob Makin and commentators, asked if Kilman’s election would signal change. “Kilman’s last government plumbed new depths in the annals of Vanuatu democracy. Will it be business as usual for Kilman, or will the considerably strengthened Opposition keep him in check?” the bloggers asked.
Shock and frustration at the results soon followed when it was clear many of the old guard had returned to power. Our blogger on Vanuatu Daily Digest recounted a story of his bus driver stopping for 10 minutes to decry the loss of capable leadership in Vanuatu since independence. But perhaps, the people of themselves know the answers to their political woes. As the Daily Digest bloggers suggest, the loss of leadership has been because the caring religious leaders who led the country to independence in 1980 had now become “comfortable MPs, salary beneficiaries and residents of town”. And if the people of Vanuatu keep returning these “comfortable” people to power, nothing is likely to change now R or in the future.
16 Days of Activism Against Violence Against Women November 25 - December 10
At least one of every three women globally will be beaten, raped, or otherwise abused during her lifetime. In most cases, the abuser is a member of her own family.
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IS A HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION JOIN US THESE 16 DAYS AS WE RISE UP AGAINST VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN! Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre | 88 Gordon St, Suva | Phone: 3313 300 / 9209 470 (24hrs) | www.fijiwomen.com November 2012
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29
DISPATCH
The hidden dragon Why is Fiji so important to China?
From ARTHUR McCUTCHAN in Brisbane
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hina must have a significant role in mind for Fiji in its attempts to strengthen its position and contest America’s primacy in Asia-Pacific. How else can its diplomatic efforts in Fiji be explained, particularly when the vigour with which it is being conducted is at odds with a country of Fiji’s size. All indications are this role will be a strategic one although the extent remains a mystery to outside observers. After Australia, New Zealand and the United States relinquished their positions of influence in Fiji following the 2006 coup, China not only stepped in to fill the void but has maintained a flow of high-level visits that have exceeded what those three traditional allies ever managed in recent history. The latest influential visitor to Fiji was China’s foremost legislator and chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress Wu Banguuo, who upon his arrival in Nadi said the two countries had maintained “close communication and coordination on major international and regional issues”. “To further consolidate and grow Fiji-China relations is not only in the fundamental interests of our two countries and peoples, but also conducive to stability and development of the AsiaPacific region,” Wu said. One argument for China courting Fiji as it has been is that it is seeking diplomatic support for Taiwan’s even30
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tual re-absorption into China. If this was the case China would be replicating this effort with as many nations as possible, not just in the Pacific but all over the world. It clearly isn’t; not on the same level as its endeavours in Fiji. China is also approaching the threshold at which it will be able to unilaterally act to take Taiwan back and there will be nothing the US can do to halt it, short of declaring full-scale war. Weapons China has developed have been designed with the United States in mind and with the solitary purpose of denying or at least limiting America’s use of its most potent means of projecting influence – its carrier strike groups. These modern-day armadas are usually composed of a supercarrier and between 100 and 200 aircraft, one or two guided missile carriers, two or three guided missile destroyers, two attack submarines and an oiler and supply ship. Whenever China has dared to make its presence known, the US would dispatch a couple of supercarriers and their various support vessels to suppress Beijing’s aggressive urges. China now has the capability to negate this. Its anti-ship ballistic missiles can penetrate the defensive rings surrounding carrier strike groups and sink these most valuable of vessels with a single carrier-killer missile. Any engagement to this end will also logistically favour China because it will occur closer to the Chinese mainland. Considering the price it has paid in Afghanistan and Iraq, it is doubtful the US
has the appetite for another war fought so far afield. All this rules out Taiwan as the rationale. Perhaps China requires access to Fiji’s natural resources. Unless they’ve discovered some rare and priceless resource in the archipelago, China would have more to gain from countries in Africa, South America and friendly nations in South-East Asia. Fiji’s stocks of mahogany, valuable as they once were, also would not justify that level of interaction. Tuna? Other Pacific Islands nations north of Fiji have considerably greater reserves. Whichever resource we can think of, China can procure more of it, cheaper, from anywhere else on the globe. Which leaves us with a military/strategic or even space-related alternative. Vessels which China employs to monitor satellites and intercontinental ballistic missiles already use Fiji as a hub so it is much easier now for Beijing to secure greater concessions on the use of Fiji territory to further Chinese objectives. It is possible Beijing is intensifying its interest in Antarctica with Fiji as a staging post. It is blocking efforts to create the world’s largest marine parks in the oceans surrounding Antarctica and just recently sent its research vessel and icebreaker Xuelong on the country’s 29th scientific expedition there. With Fiji featuring so highly in China’s Pacific plans, it should not be a surprise if China’s new aircraft carrier Liaoning called into Suva on one of its November 2012
first official forays to foreign ports. That would be another logical step in the relationship between the two countries and would lend credence to the notion of a Chinese strategic outpost in Fiji. Such a foothold that deep in the Pacific would help China bypass US efforts to surround and contain it. To counter any Chinese military projections into the North Pacific and South-East Asia, America’s bases in Guam, Hawaii and Alaska are being complemented by expanded military links with countries such as Philippines, Singapore and Australia. Fiji still sits outside that enclosure. One way America can seal off that loophole is to make common cause with New Zealand. It looks like it is initiating such a move with Washington recently lifting its ban on New Zealand warships visiting US military and coast guard bases. The ban was put in place in response to Wellington’s decision over 25 years ago to prohibit all nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed craft from entering New Zealand territory and airspace. This antinuclear stance severely hurt relations between the two countries and led to America also suspending its treaty obligations to New Zealand under the ANZUS security pact. With Fiji, China has taken a calculated approach to harness the situation
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DISPATCH
Keeping watch Chinese satellite tracking ship Yuan Wang 6 at anchor in Suva harbour. there to fulfil a grander objective of undermining US influence in the region. After all, it was a division on how to deal with Fiji after the 2006 coup that created fissures in the Pacific Islands Forum and in the process undermined the positions of Australia, New Zealand and consequently the United States. The 2006 coup played a massive role in allowing China to strengthen its position in the Pacific. It changed the geopolitical landscape of our region but this is an issue worthy of its own analysis. China views America’s continued efforts to maintain primacy in Asia-Pacific as a destabilising influence. To be fair, the United States also sees a more assertive China in the same light. From China’s perspective then, anything which undermines the United States in the region would be “conducive to the stability and development of Asia-Pacific”. Fiji provides that opportu-
nity and China would not be investing such a degree of effort without expecting significant returns. Whatever it is that China has in mind for Fiji, it is taking a long-term approach. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao encapsulated this policy in his paraphrasing of an ancient Chinese expression at the First Ministerial Conference of the China-Pacific Islands Economic Development and Cooperation Forum in Nadi in April 2006. “Just as distance tests a horse’s strength, time will show a person’s sincerity,” he said. Time will also lay bare China’s ultiR mate objectives. n Arthur McCutchan is a Fiji-born journalist who resides in Brisbane. He works as a subeditor for News Limited. This article reflects his personal views and not that of his employer. It was first published on his blog, An ocean, A part, at niuviews.wordpress.com
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INDUSTRY
Looking to Korea for hope Tuna Talk with SAVE WAQAINABETE swaqainabete@gmail.com
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t is a remarkable achievement that Korea is the first country in the world to graduate from donor recipient to full donor provider. Korea has proved to the world that being a victim of foreign invasion and colonisation does not restrain its exhibition of strength and capabilities. It reflects the level of economic development and the commitment of its human resources in the feasibility, planning, assessment and appraisal of its projects, and a water-tight national plan of action. Associate Professor Joeli Veitayaki, the head of maritime studies at the University of the South Pacific made these remarks in October as he co-chaired the Korea-South Pacific Fisheries Forum (KOSOPFF) 2012 Fiji Symposium at USP’s Japan-Pacific ICT Centre. The forum was an initiative of the Korean Maritime Institute (KMI), a state-sponsored research organisation. Its role is to foster global competitiveness for Korean maritime and fisheries industries, and promote mutual cooperation with emerging economies. KOSOPFF was established in Seoul last year as a non-governmental global fisheries forum. Besides engaging in cooperative projects in the South Pacific, the KMI has already engaged in Africa and held four Korea-Africa Fisheries Forum (KORAFF) symposia in the region. The KMI has established a broad, region-specific network based on regional characteristics and circumstances to provide the platform required to raise regional fisheries issues and discuss solutions. Veitayaki described the role of KOSOPFF at this preliminary stage as one 32
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The onus is on the region to come up with a fisheries development model that will fit appropriately with the Korean development sculpt for the Pacific region. of facilitation between Korean sectors, through the KMI, and Pacific island countries. A memorandum of understanding executed last month outlines the standing agreements and requirements between the two academic institutions – the Korean Maritime Institute and the University of the South Pacific in what is seen as the pillars of future cooperation between Korea and the Pacific region. Seeds of renaissance Notably, Korea has yet to make a substantial sponsorship in fisheries in the Pacific and the presentation during the KOSOPFF Fiji symposium signals their interest. At a regional level, a viable fishery project should be determined to profit this Korean excursion. We talk of substantial opportunity of investment that might be the very catalyst for an industry renaissance in the region. The onus is on the region to come up with a fisheries development model that will fit appropriately with the Korean development sculpt for the Pacific region. This could be the moment where the region could rally together and make a joint submission of development models that will lead us towards the domestication of the tuna industry. Will this be the answer to the Pacific dream?
One thing is certain and that is the solution to address regional tuna issues by coastal states is in demand. And one of the long-standing issues in the regional tuna quest is the need to domesticate the industry. Dr Transform Aqorau, the successful chief executive officer of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) and former deputy director of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) advocates western and central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) region as donors to the developed countries in terms of tuna resources. “We are not poor but are donors in our own right as tuna resource owners for the substantial exploitation of tuna resource in our waters,” he says. The domestication of tuna has been an on-going pursuit for the region as developed states continue their campaign of goodwill payments through facilitating development funding in return for the use of the region’s resources. Onshore fishery facilities such as fish canneries and cold storage were amongst the first assistance given to the region, and to some, vessels are also part of the package of assistance. However, for some reason the recipients have enrolled negative results, and a history of ‘failures’ subsequently painted a negative image. Failure has become November 2012
INDUSTRY
Korean search The Korean deep-sea fishery catch volume in the Pacific Ocean in 2011 was 380,000 tons, and the overall fish catch is on the decline. The current deep-sea fishery industry accounts for only 12 per cent of the total fisheries production volume in Korea. It is this predicament and the overall Korean food security obligation to its people that opens up this opportunity to the region. And according to the president of the Korea Maritime Institute, Hak-So Kim, Korean deep-sea fishery companies are hoping for substantial development of the industry in South Pacific countries as well as more enhanced mutual cooperation with the region in the private sector. The two areas which are now the focus of the Koreans are development and cooperation. The vast exclusive economic zones of Pacific island countries, which are larger than their land areas, means that development and protection of the ocean are directly related to the development of the national economy. The fisheries industry is at the forefront of such maritime economic growth. However, considering the immense fisheries resources and the vast size of the fishing grounds, the fisheries industry in the South Pacific is still underdeveloped. The best way to accomplish economic and social development through the enormous potential of fisheries resources is to learn from the experience and know-how of advanced countries that have a long-term vision and have developed strategies for their fisheries industry. The transformation of Korea from a donor recipient to a donor source is an indication of their ability to learn from advanced countries and implement policies that are conducive to growth. For this reason the Koreans believe the extensive fisheries-related experience and technical capabilities accumulated in Korea will be effectively used for fisheries development in the South Pacific. This exchange of knowledge creates a November 2012
George Stoyle/Marine Photobank
one of the persistent risks factors. But it is uncertain whether or not an assessment has been conducted of what went wrong in the past. Assuredly we cannot live in our past failures or bring it to our current stance in our attempt to develop the industry. Failures have been made, lessons have been learnt and remedies are known. It is time to put those plans into action.
Ice cold Tuna is off-loaded in mid-ocean from a long-line vessel in the Indian Ocean.
cooperative system and a win for both the Koreans and the fishery industry in the Pacific. The issue of conservation and management of tuna resources is one of the ongoing trials of the region as stakeholders cling to their comfort zones for economic reasons. Will KOSOPFF be the
seed that sparks a renaissance of the regional tuna industry? The willingness of Pacific island nations to respond to the R call will be the determining factor. n Save Waqainabete is senior partner with Wenna Economic Development Opportunities Consultants Fiji. republikamagazine.com | RepĂşblika |
33
OPINION
A black comedy Politika with AMAN RAVINDRA-SINGH republikamagazine.com/opinion/politika
T
here have been calls recently from certain quarters for Fiji to be declared a Christian state. I am astonished by this call for a variety of reasons. What exactly will we gain as a nation by declaring Fiji a Christian state? What are the benefits or the lack of benefits in doing so? What are the positives and the negatives? Unfortunately I can see too many negatives and cannot point to one single positive. This is how one-sided this issue is in my mind and I can positively say that Fiji should never be declared a Christian state. I go a step further and say that religion and politics should be separate and we should not see another replay of religion and politics getting into bed together as was witnessed in 1987 when the Methodist Church came out and openly supported the 14 May coup and demanded the dreaded Sunday ban be imposed by the coup leaders. For those not in the loop, the Methodist Church was behind the imposition of the Sunday Observance Decree which banned people from certain activities on Sundays. Section 5 read: “For the avoidance of any doubt it shall be unlawful for a person to do any of the following on Sunday … (c) operate buses, taxis or other means of public transport.” The initial reaction in the community was total shock while most supporters of the ban toasted victory. However this victory was short-lived once the reality on the ground was seen and felt by the imposers. One of the industries hard hit by the Sunday bans was the public transport sector. No public transport was allowed to operate on Sundays – a total ban on all buses and cabs. The flip side to this was all persons travelling to church on Sundays suddenly could not reach church by public transport. This caused hardship to 34
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many and it common to see devoted churchgoers walking for many miles to reach their places of worship. After some weeks the regime in power realised their stupidity and allowed public transport to operate on Sundays. Within our multicultural society we also have the Seventh-Day Adventist church whose day of worship is Saturday and for whom Sunday is an ordinary day. When the Sunday bans were imposed, this was another religious group that fell victim to the Methodist-backed decree. What we had was one Christian denomination imposing its practice and belief on another Christian denomination. The decree also banned people from attending picnics and or any gathering in a public place or participation in any sporting activities anywhere, engaging in commerce or trade for profit and performance of professional services wherever for a fee or levy; and operate a hotel, restaurant, cinema or nightclub and related activities or businesses. It should not be difficult to imagine what life was like with all public transport banned from operating and all shops closed on Sundays. You could not buy sugar or tea on a Sunday since all shops were shut thanks to the Sunday Observance Decree. This ban on shops was also quickly eased since the public backlash quickly reached the coup leaders and little shops were allowed to operate to service the community on Sundays. All this happened in our recent history and we experienced firsthand what religious bodies are capable of if certain bigoted church ministers are allowed to impose their agenda on our nation. Today the call for a Christian state is once again on the national agenda with certain churches, groups and persons recently submitting this view before the Constitutional Commission during hearing of public submissions. Will declaring Fiji a Christian state provide this nation with a newfound
sense of honesty, integrity and ethics? Will there be fewer prisoners in all our major jails from the Christian faith? Will there be less home invasions, beatings, murder, rapes and theft in our society should Fiji be declared a Christian state? The short answer to these questions is an earth-shattering NO! If declaring Fiji a Christian state would have produced more citizens who were honest and displayed integrity and ethical behaviour, I would be among the first citizens to openly campaign for Fiji to be declared a Christian state. Unfortunately this will never be the case. So why all the fuss about wanting to declare Fiji a Christian state? If we are not going to become better citizens, reduce the number of criminals filling up our jails and experience less crime, I really cannot see what all the fuss is about. If Fiji was ever declared a Christian state, there would then be a tussle among certain Christian denominations as to which one of them would be the state religion. It will be a never-ending story and there will never be peace and harmony among the Christian religious order if the actions of the Methodist Church and the Sunday Observance Decree were used as an indicator of what more could happen in the future. I do not hear other religions in Fiji asking for this nation to be declared a Hindu state, a Muslim state, a Buddhist state or a Sikh state. No other religion in this country wants to impose their set of beliefs or practices on the rest of the population except certain elements within the Christian faith. I view the call to declare Fiji a Christian state more as a call of hypocrisy, selfishness and bigotry of the highest R order. n Aman Ravindra-Singh is a barrister and lecturer in law. The views expressed in this article are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of his current employers. You can contact him on: aman@republikamagazine.com November 2012
salon
Editor | Rajan Sami
Cultural stimulus for the curious mind
Ones to Watch Andrew Powell, Joseph
PHOTO ADRIAN ALI
Lesi and Sonam Sapra are three designers who caught our attention at Fiji Fashion Week 2012. Each showed a remarkably polished debut collection on the final, emerging designers’ night and holds the promise of bigger and brighter things to come. Page 38
Style Sisters Sandhya (Dusk) Nand and Zelda Thomas (pictured here in a 1994 shoot for Image, Zelda’s label and Tradewinds boutique of the same name) are two of the famous faces that graced Fiji’s catwalks in the late 80s to the mid 90s. They make a highly anticipated return, along with other famous models of the era, at Style Fiji, the annual charity fashion show in aid of Nadi hospital at Sheraton Fiji Resort on Saturday 1 December. Page 36 November 2012
republikamagazine.com | Repúblika |
35
salon
LOOKING BACK The Supers Are Back! From the late 80s to the mid 90s, this gaggle of beautiful, long-limbed women, each as different to the next, ruled Fiji’s runways. Even today, some 20 years later, people still remember their names.
Here Come The Hotsteppers
The 90s birthed the ‘Supermodels’ – international stars like Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford and Linda Evangelista – women who were known by their first names and whose fame extended far beyond the catwalk. Seen here backstage at the Wella Awards in 1994 wearing Tanya Whiteside are our homegrown supers: Standing, left to right Priscilla Singh; Sandhya Nand; Sunita Devi; Zelda Thomas; Melinda Marriott; Zena Jenkins; front: Marlene Vuniwaqa; Grace Buinimasi and Eileen Sinclair – as they were known then. (Inset) With designer Tanya Whiteside and UKbased Kiwi hair stylist Patrick Cameron (who conducted an on-stage hair show for Wella, then a major sponsor of fashion shows).
36
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And even though the women themselves have “gotten married and moved on with different lifestyles and careers,” there’s been an overwhelming call for their return to the catwalks, says Zelda Thomas, one of the originals. She and another famous face from yesteryear, Marlene Blake (who is now a successful fitness instructor in Nadi) are two of the people behind Style Fiji – an annual charity event that benefits Nadi Community Hospital. “After the [inaugural] 2011 show, there were a lot of people in the audience that expected to see us,” says Zelda. “I was shocked. This is like 20 years ago and some people thought we were supposed to come out. It’s like you’re not supposed to age.” “I thought they were having me on and I got told off once or twice,” adds the motherof-three, who sells a clothing line called Exotica through Aladdin’s Cave in Suva. November 2012
1
2
Fashion Forward (1) Zelda models her own design at the Project
ALL IMAGES ON PAGES 41-43 UPPLIED BY DUSK DEVI
91 Designer Awards in 1994, its thigh-baring slit an early precursor to the leggy, full skirted looks of late. (2) Likewise, Grace’s ankle-length gown touches on the cutout and sheer trends of today. (3) Long before Fiji Airways went looking for masi kesa motifs for its rebrand, local designers were putting it on the runway. Priscilla still has this smart suit by Glennis Lane and Doreen Erasito, who ran the label/boutique Glendor (an amalgam of their first names) on the ground floor of Honson Building in Suva back in the day. “That particular outfit was a lovely combination of cultures and they made it to my specific measurements so I could have it,” she says. “And then Marlene got told off wherever she was. We didn’t know people expected us to come out. Not when you’re fortyplus! Hello!” “So that is when Marlene said: ‘Okay if they really want, we can make a short appearance – the shorter the better.’” And so on Saturday December 1, several of the ‘girls’ from the original line-up – Zelda and Marlene along with Sandhya Nand, Grace Buinimasi-Dunn, Zena Jenkins and Ema Volavola – return to the Style Fiji 2012 runway at Sheraton Fiji Resort in Nadi. Zelda, who is working back-of-house at the event and whose youngest daughter Morgan Rose (17) is modeling, hopes to get it over with quickly, saying: “I don’t want to look like I’m hogging the catwalk – not at this age. Do you know how embarrassed my daughters will be?” n RAJAN SAMI
3 November 2012
n For information on the event, visit facebook.com/StyleFiji republikamagazine.com | Repúblika |
37
salon Jah Rules Twenty-six-year-old Joseph
FJFW 2012
Lesi, formerly of the design trio Second Chance, is behind the new Jahead label, which features hand-painted designs that call to mind the gauzy, muslin offerings of Vanuatu and New Caledonia. The Garden Island lad, who’s had a hardscrabble past D (Second Chance was founded by three JAHEA youth offenders trying to make good via fashion) says the theme of his debut collection is “Rags to Riches”, adding: “I want my label to make me rich”. To buy, contact the designer on +679.8338183 n RS
ORRIS
CARDO M
PHOTOS RI
38
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November 2012
Red Carpet Ready As the very last dress to hit the 2012 Fiji Fashion Week runway, this chartreuse silk gown (with its spellbinding, sequinned lace bodice) literally brought the style event to a standstill - even drawing a few audible gasps from the audience. Its designer, Suva-born Andrew Powell, who scooped both the emerging and designer of the year awards, had the Academy Awardwinning Aussie thespian Cate Blanchett in mind. “She is a muse I would undoubtedly love to dress,” he says, citing her “classic elegance, strong artistic choices and her ability to turn conformity on its head and convince everyone it is chic”. Fresh off the back of a 360-degree fashion design course in Brisbane, Powell put his 18-piece collection together painstakingly by hand. It’s been a long road to the runway for the thirtysomething designer, who is, at last, pursuing his teenage dream. n RS
ANDREW POWELL IMAGE FIJI FASHION WEEK
W ANDRE
November 2012
L
POWEL
SONAM Runway to Resort Sonam Sapra’s entire
12-look collection, featuring neon-bright hand-rendered prints inspired by beetles, could have walked straight off the catwalk and right into Fiji’s resort boutiques. Which is just what the relative newcomer to fashion intended. For the last four months, Sapra worked with two Fijian factories to put her signature doodles on chiffon, silk satin and monroe before transforming them into highly-covetable bathing suits, kaftans and slips. (For context, most designers showing at Fiji Fashion Week produce collections through small tailoring outfits and therefore struggle with post show production.) Born in Labasa and raised around the world Bangladesh, India, Iran, Kenya and the United States (thanks to a parent in the United Nations), Sapra recently returned to Fiji to set up shop, armed with a communication design degree from Parsons, the prestigious New York design school that counts Marc Jacobs and Donna Karan among its alumni. Sapra, herself, is not short on ambition, saying: “The real vision is to be the Gucci of Fiji”. To purchase, contact the designer on saprs891@gmail.com n RS
republikamagazine.com | Repúblika |
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41
thelastword Comment is free*
By PIO TABAIWALU
L
anguage is central to the culture of an ethnic community and it is important that the language of that community is promoted as a means of communication and preservation of a culture. For national cohesion, Fiji needs a national language; one that identifies all of us as belonging to this country. And the logical language to adopt is Fijian. There are several arguments in support of this proposal. Firstly, a national language, particularly if it is the host language, would become a strong unifying factor for a multicultural Fiji. If every Fiji citizen is able to converse and communicate in the Fijian language it is likely that its impact on interpersonal relations, multiracialism, and national cohesion would be far-reaching. This is crucial in our national endeavour to forge a cohesive multi-racial Fiji. Successive governments have recognised this and have at various times advocated the learning of the Fijian language in educational institutions and many political and social commentators have agreed that it has proven to be a strong unifying factor. Secondly, the Fijian language as the national language should be the language of our national anthem. And third, the use of the Fijian language as our national language will ensure its promotion and consequently advance the development and protection of indigenous Fijian culture. If this proposal is accepted then it would be important to make it compulsory for all primary and secondary school children to learn, and be conversant in, the Fijian language. The University of Fiji, the Fiji National University and the University of the South Pacific should have courses dedicated to learning the Fijian language. It should also be a requirement that trainee teachers receive training in the language. These would attest to the recognition of the importance of 42
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strengthening the Fijian language and its role in nation-building and the creation of a national identity. It is a well-known fact that in parts of Fiji (parts of Nadroga, Ba, Vanua Levu etc) where ethnic Indian Fijians have learnt to speak the local dialect they have enjoyed more vibrant and tolerant inter-cultural relations with their indigenous Fijian neighbours. They have been known to participate in elaborate presentations of the sevusevu and the qaloqalovi in fluent local dialect. These examples of ethnic Indian Fijians engaging in the local language has not in any way diminished their strong and proud adherence to their own Indian heritage and culture. To the contrary, it has made them more appreciative and more dedicated to its own survival and development. Quite naturally indigenous Fijians in these areas have also gone out of their way to be able to converse in the Hindi language. These pockets of meaningful cultural appreciation and tolerance are already showing the Fiji that we are all striving for. There is nothing new to this proposal. Colonial civil servants were required to learn the Fijian language thoroughly as a condition of employment. These colonial public servants took these regulations seriously and evidence of their writings, lectures and their addresses show a high level of understanding not only of the language but also of the Fijian way of life. Some such examples are Sir Ian Thomson, Sir Robert Sanders, GK Roth and Philip Albert Snow, Joseph W Sykes among others, as far back as the 1930s and 40s. Recently graduate volunteers coming to Fiji through the American Peace Corps, Volunteers Abroad Australia, and the UK’s Voluntary Service Overseas were also able to learn the Fijian language with a high level of proficiency within one or two years when there was a requirement set for them to speak and understand the local language. Between the 1950s and 70s, the same thing hap-
pened with those coming in through the New Zealand scheme of cooperation with Fiji. Therefore, Fijian being proposed as a national language is not an argument for cultural supremacy and being “racist”, but for inclusivity. Learning Fijian would be the glue to hold together the rich and diverse cultures of people who call Fiji their home. It also inculcates a sense of belonging and identity. If we can all speak Fijian then we can truly feel nationalistic about our country. We can speak freely with our neighbours and it takes away misunderstanding and suspicion. English as the present lingua franca will never inculcate the same sense of belonging. It is a foreign language to these islands and to the two dominant cultures. The added advantage is that if we all speak Fijian it will solidify its development and survival. No one would like the demise of the language of a unique race of people with their rich cultural heritage and proud history. There is sufficient research to show that language is at the core of cultural identity and cultural preservation. Once a culture loses its language, it loses a central pillar of its cultural ethos. As Tongan linguist Dr MelenaiteTaumoefolau once said at a Pacific postgraduate symposium: “Our language is like a container; inside the container is a set of values and beliefs that make us what we are as a people. Our behaviour, customs, traditions, our ways of thinking, our fa’a Samoa, our angafaka Tonga, are all package into this container called language. We lose the container, we lose also the contents. We lose our language; we lose also our distinctive ways that define us to R ourselves, and to the world.” n Pio Tabaiwalu is a trade policy specialist and a contributor to the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua think tank. This is an edited version of an article first published on the SDL website – www.sdl.org.fj – and was part of the party’s submission to the Constitution Commission. November 2012
*But facts are sacred. ~ CP Scott
Why Fiji needs a national language
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