Letters To The Editor
Use and abuse of yaqona
HOPEFULLY regular grog swipers will not take advantage to consume more grog on the findings of a chemical trial on kava for medical purposes by the University of Melbourne as highlighted in The Fiji Times yesterday (FT22/5/13).
For generalised anxiety treatment (GAT) using grog as tested may help the victims to recover but abuse may defeat the purpose.
There is a difference between use and abuse.
TAHIR ALI
Nasinu
Great cartoons
I READ The Fiji Times almost every day.
I must make sure that I will read the letters to the editor, sports, local news and overseas news and the cartoon that comes with it.
Your cartoonist deserves an award for always making a dull day bright with smile and laughter.
They say laughter is the best medicine and smile is like fever it spreads to the next person you meet. Your cartoonist is full of ideas regarding our daily life that will brighten your day just by seeing his drawings.
If you have been reading The Fiji Times, and you miss the daily cartoons on letters to the editors column, you're not reading The Fiji Times then.
Tagi Vonolagi
Nausori
Cat and mouse
THE Fiji Taxi Association Lautoka branch is again calling on authorities to deal with the increasing number of illegal operators in the Sugar City (FT 20/5/13).
I spoke to a few people regarding this and they all said they prefer the illegal operators.
One even said they provide a better service than registered taxis, they're cheaper and available 24 hours.
Isn't it ironic that the taxi association is complaining about the increase of illegal operators when after 8pm every day there is hardly any taxi in the Sugar City?
I know that after repeated crackdowns, this illicit business will continue to thrive.
These illegal operators are popular because their transportation service is valuable to their customers.
It's an ongoing cat and mouse game, a never ending cycle. You take a vehicle off the street, and another will replace it the next day.
A few weeks back I asked LTA through this column if seven-seater vans were allowed to operate from 2300 to 0600 hours. It was like talking to a brick wall.
Wise Muavono
Lautoka
Society minds
IN reference to Savenaca Vaka's letter dated 22/05 I would like to stress that we will always have a handful of negative-minded people in all societies.
These are the kind of people who don't have anything better to do.
On the other hand the current government of Fiji is doing a marvelous job taking Fiji forward.
We must remember that Rome was not built in a day.
Dharam Lingam
Sacramento
CA
Town facelift
BA Town, I would like to congratulate the CEO of Ba, Arun Prasad and his staff in giving Ba town a facelift.
Considering the resources available, the town has had a lot of changes over the past few years.
One would not be able to tell that this town was under water about a year or so ago.
I had an opportunity to speak with Mr Prasad one night for a brief period as he supervised construction of murals.
With these murals depicting the history and large signposts directing traffic, I am sure people driving on the Kings Rd will not miss this small town.
As Mr Prasad joked, there had been several instances in the past where his clients ended up in Tavua as there was no visible sign directing them to Ba town.
I also noted a hostel constructed near the Ba market which houses market vendors who travel from distant places to sell their produce on Saturdays.
In the past these vendors would have had to sleep outside and face the elements.
There are several other changes in the pipeline which Mr Prasad highlighted to bring in more tourists to this soccer mad town.
I however have one request of him.
If he could move the pedestrian crossing in front of the Ba mosque to its original place near the taxi stand because it creates a traffic nightmare.
Praneet Singh
Sacramento
CA
FEA bill payments
IT is humourous to know that the FEA personnel in Nadi expect their customers to go to Namaka MH to pay their bills which could be done at the FEA branch office in Nadi.
I'm wondering what would happen if Namaka MH suddenly burns down.
Are we to pay our bills in Lautoka which to me is absurd.
I hope the main branch in Suva fixes this dilemma and train their staff in the West on how to attain customer satisfaction without being rude.
ARUN RAM
Nadi
No more shine
WHILE I was always against the idea of replacing our two dollar notes with two dollar coins, I had never imagined that it would be replaced with cheap coins.
It hasn't even been six months when the new coins were rolled out by RBF but it's surprising to see all the glitter on the new coins already gone.
The new two dollar coin looks more like our old two cent coin now. As the saying goes "all that glitters is not gold".
Avineel Kumar
Nadi
Mood swings
THE comments by the FRU chairman in the FT ( 22/5 ) is interesting.
He says of the 7s squad: "They have won tournaments where they wanted to and likewise did not perform well when the mind seemed not there."
It appears that the squad suffers from mood swings.
A pep talk from the good Professor Deva from the sunny side hospital overlooking the Suva Harbour may be in order.
Korina Waibuta
Suva
Reverse beauty
A COUNTRY deported a man for being too handsome! To qualify for re-entry he has to be unhandsome. We are not aware of any beauty salon going in reverse direction.
Yes, there is a penalty for being handsome. Time for men's right!
JOE SMITH
Deuba
Ticket litter
NOW, I am witnessing this bus driver on numerous occasions that he is one of the few that toss out tickets from his bus contributing to litter on the road plus his fumes.
He has an empty carton behind him with three half empty bottles that he could discard the tickets to, but he leisurely looked at his rear vision mirror, squeezed the ticket and tossed it out the window near the US Embassy after a man boarded his bus from the Vodafone complex.
If this driver can read this, please respect schoolchildren and the public. I have got your name on my ticket too bro.
Joji O Toronibau
Tamavua
Grog power
SO recent research in Australia confirms that kava reduces stress and anxiety (FT 22/05).
I guess the above will put a smile on many anxious grog enthusiasts in Fiji and to reduce stress, taki sessions would now progress well into the wee hours of the morning.
I just hope some study in the near future doesn't confirm that cocaine cures headaches!
Nishant Singh
Lautoka
Kava findings
THE findings by the University of Melbourne on kava(F/T 22/05) is interesting.
I am beginning to think what will happen if more of the Aussies start drinking kava.
Our friends under the Sekoula tree may need to fork out more.
Rajnesh Narayan
Lautoka
Street threat
SOME of the streetlights in Nasoki St, Lautoka are not working. It appears to be a threat to people who frequent the street at night time.
I hope the authorities can please look into this and get it fixed as soon as possible.
Kirti Patel
Lautoka
Synthetic tracks
PRIOR to the Coca-Cola Games, all schools were training on grass turfs while some athletes including Ms Sailosi collected injury yet maintained their composure at the game day.
Eastern guidance throws in excuses after their loss when athletes from the West, North and rural communities blinked the eyes of many by winning events on both days.
Assumption creeps in pointing to the influence of Jasper's principal as the rock behind the success of the Jasperian roses however, on the balance advantage of preparation, do we think Western and Northern division athletes also deserve a synthetic track like the Eastern athletes did before?
AREKI DAWAI
Nadi
Cup squad
I AM quite happy with the selection of the 7s world cup squad announced today.
Fiji will bring the cup home. Go Fiji go.
Sometimes the fittest team would not bring glory home,but the most experienced team would.
I urge the coach, Alivereti Dere, to pick experience rather than the fittest.
The likes of Burotu, Matanavou, Votu, Talebula, Mulevoro and Sakiusa have a long way to go, they could wait for the Olympics, they would peak by 2016.
All the best to our gladiators in conquering back lost glory.
Suliasi Gukilagi Caucau
Ra
Players quality
I BEG to differ with Henry Robinson of New South Wales on FT 21/5/2013 wherein he commended Inoke Male for selecting his national squad for the Pacific nations games.
The FRU has to stop its policy of recruiting players from overseas and start believing in our own locally produced players.
I take nothing away from these overseas contracted players. The fact that they are engaged in overseas clubs reflects the quality that they are.
But these are almost the same set of players who disappointed us in the RWC 2011 and the recent northern hemisphere tour where our rugby was unfortunately branded as "rubbish" by the Irish rugby commentator.
The front rowers brought from overseas clubs continued to embarrass us during collapsed scrums despite hiring Cameroon Blade the former Wallaby. Are we going for further dongs in the head?
The FRU has to make up its mind as to whether local rugby is worth developing anymore because it seems that the cream of our local competition are always relegated in favour of overseas contracted players especially in key positions.
It is an established fact that overseas contracted players are products of overseas rugby competition. Their inclusion in international rugby games gives a distorted implication on the state of rugby development in Fiji.
The better evil is to select the cream of our local rugby competition even if we get thrashed we are aware of the state of rugby development in Fiji. They might also play a more gutsy game than their overseas brothers who obviously play mediocre games to avoid injuries and keeping their contracts.
After all, the RWC competition is where all rugby loving nations send the cream of their local competition to compete with each other.
The ratings given by the IRB is supposed to reflect the comparative state of rugby in each country. Samoa and Tonga have benefitted a lot from importing overseas players as witnessed in RWC11 but they have paid heavy price in the quality of their local rugby.
Let's give our local ruggers our confidence that they can make us proud again and put Fiji to where it really belongs.
I wish Male well in the next Pacific Nations Cup.
Go Fiji go.
Amenatave Malani
Delainavesi
LETTER OF THE WEEK
WEEK ENDING 13/5-19/5/13
7s pep talk
COACH Dere asks the boys, "e rawa se sega".
With his expertise he should not be telling the boys "e rawa".
Just imagine if one of the boys was to say, "sega ni macala".
ALLEN LOCKINGTON
Lautoka