BULA readers, this week I thought I would give you a little insight into some of our local and very much loved influencers located in our beloved Fiji.
These individuals are not your run of the mill people who are pushed by a certain brand product or political party to try and gain popularity, rather they are people who are popular with the general public for being successful in their given fields of interest.
Today, let me give you a few names of individuals, who are well respected and admired Fiji wide, by a wide spectrum of society.
There are so many to choose from, and it is always a danger to forget or leave people out on a list, but I know the majority of you will celebrate the 20 people on this list as leaders in the public eyes and winners in their chosen fields.
Sports personalities
Everybody loves rugby; both 15s or 7s and we are all passionate fans and armchair critics. Having traveled the length and width of Fiji there are three names (excluding Serevi) that appeals across various ages, they are Dan Lobendahn, Seremaia Bai and Jerry Tuwai.
All three have certain affiliations with different groups and the public respect them all for having integrity, good sportsmanship as well as a caring heart for the people.
Women’s rights
As we all know there is one person who stands head and shoulders above all others in this category and that of course is Shamima Ali, strong, fearless, courageous, brave are just some of the accolades given to her and rightly so.
There is also another individual who is as an influencer and that is Nalini Singh who represents the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement and working together they make a formidable team indeed.
Media influencers
This category is for people who are liked for who they are and what they stand for, whether it is funny, witty, quirky or entertaining; this trio is made up of political commentator and senior lawyer Richard Naidu, the elegant and graceful Bernadette Rounds Ganilau and of course the ever stylish and popular Jon Apted
Religion
When it comes to religion, you can’t look beyond a person who is involved with over 100,000 worshippers Fiji wide, and I recently had the pleasure of having an in depth interview with him for television. I found him to be down to earth and also a man of action and not just words and that is His Reverency Archbishop of Fiji Peter Loy Chong
Music artists
When you mention artists, you have to include the Vude Queen Laisa Vulakoro as a gold standard for performers. Not only has she been performing for decades , but is still as popular as ever. Her voice is getting better with age and she still has that stage presence. Knox is also another performer who has excelled and with his Knox Entertainment Company he is certainly applauded by the masses.
Community workers
I may have mentioned her name before but Sashi Kiran has been working and assisting the grass roots communities for so long now she is the gold standard benchmark if you want to know what the state of the common person is. There is another individual who is a retired gentleman and regardless of what time it is, he and his friends have been going out to serve the poor and needy, through his stories we have also learnt about the plight of others in our nation, his name is Allen Lockington.
Tourism sector
In the tourism sector look no further than Lance Seeto and Fantasha Lockington, who are two very engaging and popular personalities, one who promotes and shows us beautiful ways to cook and enjoy local places and another who promotes, but can also act as a watchdog for our tourism industry.
News anchors
These three individuals have been on television for many years now, even though the popularity of television is decreasing as people move to Netflix, Sky Pacific and social media, the news is still watched by certain individuals and Viliame Leqa, Jacqueline Speight and Cheerieann Wilson are all important influencers in one way or another.
International Influencers
Finally the international influencers, I have large families in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, US and India who are descendants from Fiji and when I put the question to them do they know any important figures in Fiji, these two names where the ones they knew of, and that is the King of 7s rugby Waisale Serevi and golf legend Vijay Singh.
Well there you have it folks, these are 20 very credible influencers who continue to keep the general public captivated on all media platforms including newsprint, television and social media.
Mistakenly people have introduced me many times as an influencer in our beloved Fiji, but in reality I don’t think that is true.
In fact maybe my only claim to fame here might be that I am on first name basis with almost all of these very special and caring individuals who like me have Fiji in there hearts.
Adios readers until next week.
* Ajay Bhai Amrit is a freelance writer. The views expressed in this article are his and does not necessarily reflect the views of this newspaper.
