My heart still goes out to Fijians, as they slowly lose their paradise

From our regular contributor Mark Maning

I first got involved with Fijians a week or so before the first coup and thought what a nice, kind, fun loving, well dressed, well educated people they are.
Especially when I was comparing them to the Torres Strait islanders I had previously been involved with.
For years, Fiji had been described to me as a paradise, yet I didn't get the opportunity or desire to go there until 19 years later, in May, 2006.

It was during the 2006 elections and I wondered why many of the Soldiers would stare at me as I drove past them on a crowded bus and why they were on the roads.
I learnt later that they were expecting trouble on the streets and thought to myself, but the only trouble that is being caused, is their presence in the streets around Suva, blocking the traffic day and night etc.
At the same time I wondered, why is the military in control here, why hasn't the Government ordered it's Soldiers back to camp and just who is in charge ?

Anyway, then I was shown around Suva and the surrounding areas.
Given the stories over the previous 19 years of a paradise, I was shocked and disgusted at the filth of the area and the town of Suva, the poor public transport and the beggars on the streets and drunks rolling around the City, and my heart went out to these people at the same time, because I understood that the coup of 1987 and 2000, had helped destroy Fiji's soul, and that so much of the economy and political will had been sucked out of the Community and Fiji's people.
I felt powerless to help, I was angry that paradise has been turned into another Calcutta !
My heart still goes out to Fijians, as they slowly lose their paradise, their jobs, their homes, their livelihoods and their futures.

I feel sorry for the parents who wanted so much for their young children, now adults in their early twenties.
And as we see the trend of degradation continue to destroy that which was Fiji, I wonder how much more can you all take before you reach the point of no return.
The soul of Fiji, of Fijians is being destroyed by a handful, yet most Fijians have lost their will.
I wonder as I sit here in Sydney by my computer, what will Suva look like in
another twenty years and how many beggars will be on the streets, how many drunks will be roaming around aimlessly, how many of your Daughters will contract H.I.V. and A.I.D.S. , how many of your children will miss the opportunity to study at home, follow a career path and become successful in life ?

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<Epi.D
SWM
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