Jet

Long Post Alert!

(The) Jet is the first community newspaper in Fiji, published monthly from Nadi and my springboard to dive into the media scene in the country. I'll be focussing mostly on the print media, getting into TV and radio would make this too cumbersome for even the most patient A-Zer. 

Morning papers off the newsstand in early Aoril

The print media in Fiji is overwhelmingly English based, considered by some to be elitist. There are hardly any newspapers published in standard Fijian or in Fijian Hindi that have a comparable circulation. 

The Landscape

Incidentally, when I first came, I searched for Fijian literature - the names that came up were few, authors and poets writing mostly in Hindi and English, I could not find anyone that wrote in Fijian. The only playwright/screenwriter of note is Vilsoni Hereniko, who writes in Rotuman, the language of Rotuman islands, also part of Fiji and the Fijian language-scape. Mary Rokonadravu, a Fijian author of mixed Indo-Fijian and Fijian heritage, has won the Commonwealth Short Story Prize twice in the regional category, writing in English. Read her award winning short stories here and here. The few Fijian books that I have found online are all texts used in high school. Not much available for grown ups' leisure reading to begin with, so forget about any translations. 

In other words,  the linguistic landscape in Fiji, like everything else, is massively complex and a complicated product of its colonial past. Vastly different from the places I have inhabited so far -  Egypt and the Gulf countries, with their unifying and rich tradition of Arabic literature going back two and a half millennia, established literary awards and celebrated authors, including a Nobel Laureate in literature. India with a huge diversity of languages, 22 recognised scheduled languages but nearly 400 listed by Ethnologue. Even the newest among those 22 is nearly a millennia old and each one has its own unique literary traditions, which most native speakers take great pride in and which form a part of their identity. And of course any number of established national book awards, literary festivals, a hugely celebrated Nobel Laureate in Literature and now also a vernacular Booker Prize awardee. Additionally, both the Arabic and Indian vernacular media go back to the early 19th century. 

Of course neither Indians nor Arabs are free from the snobbish perception that equates the acquisition of a foreign language (usually the language of the colonists in countries with a colonial past) with being well-educated. But there is also a robust attachment and celebration of the vernaculars alongside, a history of active development and promotion of the native tongue(s). 

That feels vaguely different in Fiji. Sure, the constitution is available in three languages, but the road signs, the names of buildings, the hoardings - except for an occasional bula, vinaca,  are all in English. There are very few bilingual signages, leave alone trilingual. This perception also bolstered by the fact that Fijian uses the Latin script with some modifications. 

Fijian literature has developed only after Fiji became independent, from 1970 onwards, before which the story-telling traditions were predominantly oral. After independence, the USP offered creative writing courses, the Commonwealth Foundation conducted workshops - in English. It is possible that the population of native speakers/the level of interest did not support designing courses in the vernaculars? Fijian schools mandatorily teach both Fijian and Fijian Hindi to all children, but that policy was set only in 2014. Therefore, it is not surprising that the vernacular press is still in a nascent stage and English dominates everyday life and also the media.

To sum up then, the Fijian population 1) is small, 2) is linguistically diverse, because Fijian itself has several dialects, and the Indo-Fijian community speak Hindi, Gujarati and Punjabi. That diversity is under threat and narrowing - Fijian dialects are being lost, Nepalese, Malayalam and Tamil spoken by the Indo-Fijians have already been lost, 3) though literacy rates are high in Fiji, it is not known with any certainty how much of the population outside the tourism sector actually reads English (I can tell you that there's a noticeable lack of any worthwhile bookshops!) 4) it is scattered across a hundred odd islands, often inaccessible due to weather or terrain 5) internet penetration is around 75% in Fiji, but usage is restricted to main cities mostly, networks are poor in the interiors and connections/speeds are often slow even in urban areas. 

Thus the media market in Fiji is fragmented and different outlets target the different segments. Radio with its access across the islands is probably better able to serve the public as far as news goes. Now that the backdrop's established, let's get into the media scene. 

The Dailies

There are three main English dailies - The Fiji Times, Fiji Sun and Fiji Village. The first, The Fiji Times, set up in 1869, is the oldest, with a circulation of around 28,500 from Monday to Friday, going up on the weekends.  The web version has around 700,000 hits a month.  It has other ancillary publications, some in the vernaculars. Individual circulation figures for their entire product basket is not available.  Like all pioneers in any market, they have the highest awareness and the largest share.

Fiji Sun, privately owned by Sun News Group, is a daily newspaper set up in 1999. Specific circulation figures are not available, but they claim to have a share that 'will work the hardest' for advertisers. Fiji Village is an online news site, it operates several radio networks also in English, Fijian and Fijian Hindi. All media houses are privately owned and have been accused of political bias sometime or another. Read more here and here.

MIDA

Predictably, the media environment has not been characterised by its freedom in Fiji, what with the history of coups d'état and fiddling the constitution at the drop of a hat.  In 2022, Reporters Without Borders ranked Fiji at 102/180, the worst among the South Pacific nations. 

(Just as a point of offhand political interest and vague unease, Fiji actually did better on press freedoms than all the other countries I've lived in, as shown in their ranks below -  

Nigeria = 129/180,  UAE = 138/180,  India = 150/180, Bahrain = 167/180 and Egypt = 168/180 

Clearly, it matters not a whit what system is in place - military regime, absolute monarchy, authoritarian rule or democracy, freedoms are being carpet bombed indiscriminately, so is there some misery-loves-company type solace in that?! Seriously though, I still can't process that India with a duly elected government has managed to drop lower than the UAE, a federation of absolute authoritarian monarchies, in just a few short years!)

Anyway, to get back to the point, why? Why was Fiji ranked the worst among the South Pacific? That's because in 2010, after the 2007 coup, several harassed journalists and one constitutional crisis later, the Media Industry Development Authority of Fiji unilaterally passed an Act that severely curtailed journalistic freedoms. The Act prevented foreign ownership of media and also imposed pretty stiff penalties on individual journalists and media organisations for content deemed to be "against national interest and public order." It is claimed that no one was prosecuted or even booked under it subsequently, but as you can imagine the existence of the Act itself was enough to shut the press up pretty quickly. The Fijian Media Association which represents journalists' interest has repeatedly criticised the Act as being unduly restrictive and interfering. 

After the new government was formed in December 2022, new PM Rabuka announced that the Act would be reviewed and replaced if necessary. Subsequently, the Minister for Communications announced a review of the Act, and the Attorney General (who formally appoints all the office bearers of the Media Industry Development Authority) apologised to the Fijian journalists for the injustices they have suffered. PM Sitiveni Rabuka later committed to end the era of media oppression. 

Accordingly, a draft bill was released which ended content restrictions but held on to restrictions on foreign ownership.  This was rejected by media organisations which wanted the Act to be repealed in its entirety. Therefore the government tabled a bill to repeal the Act on 3rd April. Listen to it being tabled by Attorney General Siromi Turaga in the clip below:  

And on 6th of April the bill was passed by 29 votes to 21 and 3 abstentions. Read about that here and here. At least one media related story with a potentially happy ending!

All this month I'll be writing about Aspects of Fiji, which is where I'm at the mo. And where the sum of its constituent parts is justifiably greater than the whole!

Did you know that Jack's of Fiji was named after its founder-owner Jekishan Khatri? The store was opened in 1969 in Nadi to market Fijian handicrafts and souvenirs for the tourists but has now diversified to many other products, including jewellery. It also has outlets outside Fiji in the South Pacific. Find out more here. 

~ Thank you for reading this extra long entry! :) ~ 

Posted for the A-Z Challenge 2023   

iTaukei

iTaukei is a term meaning ‘owners of the land’ and is used to denote the indigenous Fijians, the descendants of the original Melanesian settlers who first peopled Fiji several thousand years ago. It is also used to refer to the language the indigenous people speak. 

This term was mandated for use by the government in 2010, as the demonym 'Fijian' was broadened to include all citizens, both of Melanesian descent as well as the descendants of the immigrant Indian indentured labourers.

Indo-Fijian children walking home in Lautoka. Indo-Fijians form around 35% of
the population of Fiji.

The Indo-Fijian and iTaukei together make up 97% of the population, the balance are Chinese, Europeans, Australians, New Zealanders and settlers from the neighbouring South Pacific island nations. It is interesting to note that though intermarriage is accepted within the various islander communities,  iTaukei people do marry into Tonga, Samoa, Vanuatu etc, but the Indo Fijians and iTaukei do not commonly intermarry.  So the two communities that make up Fiji form relatively isolated and discrete groups in terms of  religious observances, familial and marital traditions, though they might live and work alongside and interact freely everyday.

iTaukei father and son at the Lautoka waterfront. The iTaukei form the majority 
with a 62% share of the population. 

The iTaukei identity is closely linked to the traditional tribal hierarchies and land ownership. Being a colony by cessation and the initial Crown policies of protection offered to the indigenous peoples have preserved the integral iTaukei values, based around land,  community and village collectivism. More than 95% of the land in Fiji is iTaukei owned and sale to outsiders is prohibited. Read more here.

On the one hand, the iTaukei have had rights to the land, undisturbed ways of traditional life ruled by chiefs -  supported by the Crown, and a share of the political voice. On the other, there is this massive segment of immigrants whose ancestors had no rights and no voice, and had to struggle incessantly. The tension and this contrast between the two communities has been of crucial importance in shaping the culture and politics of Fiji. 

The share of the iTaukei has been steadily increasing since Fiji's independence - as the Indo-Fijians have emigrated in waves of huge numbers coinciding with the political upheavals that the country has gone through. In 1970, the Indo-Fijians and iTaukei had almost equal shares in the population, the former had a marginally higher share of voters in fact. By 2007, the iTaukei population share had become more than 50%, growing rapidly to 62% at present. However, emigration has occurred among the iTaukei also, albeit at a lower rate.

As a result of such migrations, there is a large Fijian diaspora (both iTaukei and Indo-Fijian), right round the world. The countries/regions with hefty populations of expatriate Fijians are : Australia, USA, Canada, New Zealand and UK. 

All this month I'll be writing about Aspects of Fiji, which is where I'm at the mo. And where the sum of its island parts is inexplicably greater than the whole!

Did you know that not all Indo-Fijians arrived as indentured labourers? Some of them, mostly from Punjab and Gujarat regions of India, came as free migrants and set up businesses in Fiji in the early 20th century. Many continue to be part of the Fijian industry and influence the business culture.

And did you know that i-sala is the word the Fijians use for the ceremonial headdress worn by the nobility, made out of a very special cloth? What kind of cloth? Coming imminently. Watch this space...

~ Thank you for reading ~ 

Posted for the A-Z Challenge 2023   

Heavy

 

One of the factors that makes Fiji a great holiday destination is its mild climate without extremes of heat and cold. Fiji has a tropical maritime climate characterised by heavy rainfall, particularly in the eastern side of Viti Levu. The western sector falls on the dry zone of the Nausori Highlands and therefore receives less precipitation. 

Rainbow over the Pacific. Tropical showers are common in Fiji.

Even on the hottest day temperatures remain at around 31/32 deg C. Sea breezes are typical in the coastal regions of both the main islands of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. Through out the year, there are trade winds over Fiji blowing from south east to north west.  

 

Overcast sky in Lautoka. 

However, some areas are flood prone, and Fiji does get severe weather from time to time. Cyclones occur about once in two years and can cause extensive damage - severe tropical cyclone Harold, for instance, happened in April 2020 and damaged nearly 2000 buildings, and destroyed a further 575 completely, mainly in the Eastern division.  

It did not just affect Fiji but the entire South Pacific region, starting off in Papua New Guinea and passing through Tonga, Vanuatu, Fiji and Solomon Islands. The damage was huge and ran into many million dollars. The cyclone season lasts from November till April, coinciding with the wet season. 

The most recent one was cyclone Cody in January 2022. Also wreaked havoc and damages were massive. 

Clear weather over Fiji in March at the end of cyclone season.

All this month I'll be writing about Aspects of Fiji, which is where I'm at the mo. And where the sum of its heavenly parts is greater than the whole!

Did you know that the weather phenomena classified as a hurricane in the Northern Hemisphere, it's called a cyclone in the South Pacific? While the hurricanes spin in a counterclockwise direction up north, in the south the direction of spin changes to clockwise due to the Coriolis effect. 

And did you know that Fiji has a heritage of the most astounding handicrafts? Wood carving, mother-of-pearl, shell, bark-cloth, baskets, masks, clubs, fishing tackle and a whole heap of other, superbly crafted articles the skills handed down from one generation to the next? Find out more here.

Now that the A-Z sign up list is finally closed, I'm happy to say I've started reading in earnest and gosh, the bad links make it heavy going! There are invalid ones and those that require me to subscribe before I comment or sign in with Facebook or some others I've never heard of. Makes me ache for the days of the helpers and hosts, old timers will know what I mean. :)  But heigh-ho, onward and upward...here next cometh I! - hope that's grammatically shipshape...or hunky dory if you prefer...

~ Thank you for reading ~

Posted for the A-Z Challenge 2023  

Girmitiya

The project was underpinned by greed on a global scale, because girmitiyas weren't just a feature of Fiji, but of many other countries right round the world. Many routes, many ways, many dodgy practices building towards the same exploitation of fellow humans. You've read about it before too, over here. 

Grasses, both yellow and green. View from the lookout point in the Garden
of the Sleeping Giant. Sale of indigenous land to outsiders is prohibited.

.

To give a gist of the background - by mid 1830s slavery was abolished through out the Western world. The resultant shortage of labour led to the cunning repurposing and renaming of 'slaves' as 'indentured labourers.' They were recruited from various parts of the of the world, from India, from China and from the South Pacific Islands to work in far away lands, as taking slaves from Africa was no longer legal. 

The first such bonded labourers came to Fiji from Bihar and the United Provinces of British India. Most of them were illiterate farm workers, from areas prone to natural disasters and therefore without a steady source of income. They were rich pickings for this exploitative practice - recruited through local Indian agents who were paid a commission per recruit. The new recruits were taken to a magistrate and duly signed a so-called 'agreement' to work for a specific number of years in a distant foreign land. Many had no understanding of how distant and their exact terms of service. Most thought they were escaping their poverty stricken, precarious lives at home for a steadier, more prosperous life and much lighter work. A few wanted criminals thought to avoid the police, some might have wanted to avoid family feuds and  violence/persecution. 

The word 'agreement' was broken down to 'girmit' in their local dialect and they called themselves 'girmitiya' or 'the ones of the girmit.' Today the exact spot where they embarked on a hazardous journey in search of a better life is marked by the Mai-Baap (Mother-Father) Memorial at the Suriname Jetty on the river Hooghly, Kolkata. From this jetty, the first ship carrying indentured Indian labourers had departed in 1873 for Suriname, then a Dutch colony. A similar monument stands at the other end of the voyage at Paramaribo in Suriname.  

Gorgeous! - wherever and whenever you look...

The first shipload of 463 girmitiyas arrived in Fiji in May 1879, the initial  of the 61,000 migrants who sailed to Fiji and whose descendants today form the Indo-Fijian community, nearly a third of the population. Their journey from Calcutta on Leonidas had not been smooth, marked by epidemics on board - cholera, smallpox and dysentery had affected many and already killed 17. The ship was quarantined when it reached Levuka. The conditions upon disembarkation finally were unspeakably abysmal. 

They were asked to work from before dawn to late in the evening in the sugar cane fields with pay so meagre that many couldn't scrape together enough for the fare home after their term of servitude was over. The shanties they were put up were known as 'coolie lines' - unsanitary, cramped quarters without privacy - disease and death by suicide were common. 

The idea of getting bonded labourers from India was the brainchild of Fiji's first governor, Sir Arthur Gordon. 

Upon assuming the post, he had formulated his 'native policy' to preserve the Fijian's way of life. The three basic premises of that were 1) Fijian land sale was not permitted 2) The Fijian social hierarchy of clans and the rule of the chiefs was to be undisturbed and 3) A taxation system that required Fijians to work their own lands rather than settler plantations and so provide the government and themselves with an income. In effect, he concurred with Colonial Secretary Thurston and the Great Council of Chiefs that 'no indigenous Fijians will go from home to be worked from morning to night, upon paltry pay, indifferent fare, and anything but mild treatment, if they can avoid doing so...' 

Remember that indigenous Fijians were members of a rigid clan system and also formidable, fierce warriors unhesitant to take up arms and kill at the merest pretext. Disrupting their ways of life might have created much violence and little profit - this also could have played into Gordon's policy decisions. At any rate, he decided to preserve the Fijian's ways at the cost of the Indian's. 

Initially neither the European settlers nor the Fijian press liked the idea of importing migrant labour from India. The plantation owners were loath to pay the expenses to bring the labourers out to Fiji, after having been done out of what they felt was a cheap and abundant source closer home. The press felt that Fijian interests would be better served by bringing Polynesians from similar geographical environments, social systems and with shared values rather than a group of complete strangers who knew nothing of the country...

However, Gordon's policy won in the end and there were 85+ voyages made to Fiji bringing in a total of 61,000 girmitiyas. Deprived of their unique caste identities, their social leaders and elders, their traditional belief systems, these Indian labourers were to become marginalised and vulnerable - outcastes and adrift from their own homeland and unacceptable as equals, unable to fit in their new environment. They were always radically different, kept isolated from the indigenous Fijians who perceived their numbers, their sudden influx as a threat.

By the time the indenture system was abandoned in the 1920s due to public outrage in Britain, the Fijian society was rigidly stratified into indigenous Fijians with rights to land ownership,  traditional ways of life and crown protection, a small highly privileged foreign settler class who supported the indigenous Fijians, and a marginalised girmitiya population without any rights or political voice. As can be easily imagined, this was to have far reaching consequences  for the country.

All this month I'll be writing about Aspects of Fiji, which is where I'm at the mo. And where the sum of the constituent parts is gloriously greater than the whole!

Did you know that the GINI index in Fiji was 30.8 in 2019, down from 38.1 in 2002? The GINI index is a measure of income inequality, with 0 being perfectly equal and 100 being perfectly unequal. Historical data shows that Fiji is moving towards a reasonable level of income equality in the 21st century. The pandemic however, may have had an adverse impact, data for the period is not yet readily available. 

And did you know that the Fiji Girmit Centre was established by the Fiji Girmit Council in Lautoka in 1979 to mark the centenary of the arrival of the indentured workers? It was built on prime land given by then Prime Minister of Fiji Sir Ratu Kamesese Mara and the first stage of the project was inaugurated by the Indian Prime Minister Mrs Indira Gandhi. The Girmit Centre promotes, preserves and propagates the Indo Fijian culture. Recently, a Girmit exhibition has been opened in the Fiji Museum in Suva also.  Girmit Day is marked in Fiji on 14th May every year on the anniversary of the landing of the first 463 Indian indentured workers brought in by Leonidas in 1879.  

~ Thank you for reading ~

Posted for the A-Z Challenge 2023 

Fast...

 ...well, what do you think I am? Flat out of my mind? Fast is not a word you'd associate with Fiji. Everywhere you'll hear the term "Fiji time" and what that means essentially is that "there's no rush." Most people are not stressed about schedules here, life is laid back, things will get done eventually, don't worry, be happy. Go with the flow and have fun!

Btw, the speed limit in Fiji is 80 km/h so anyway no-one's getting anywhere fast. Sit back and relax. Take in some of the views. And mull over some facts about Fiji. 

 

Sunset over Nadi, with palm fronds in the frame.

Fiji is one of the few nations to have three official languages - Fijian (iTaukei), Fiji Hindi and English. iTaukei is spoken by the indigenous Fijians, Fiji Hindi is the language of the Indo Fijians, quite distinct from the Hindi spoken by native Hindi speaking Indians. Fiji Hindi has evolved from two different dialects of Indian Hindi - Awadhi and Bhojpuri. English came with the British, it's widely spoken/ understood and the language of business. The Fijian Constitution is available in all three languages. 

Creek from the bridge. 

Firewalking is a fascinating cultural tradition in Fiji. The Sawau tribe of Beqa, an island off the western coast of Viti Levu perform firewalking. The legend goes that an ancestor of the tribe while fishing for eels freed a trapped spirit who then rewarded the warrior with this unique gift - the ability to walk on fire without being burnt. Only the descendants of this warrior perform firewalking today. The practitioners walk on wood fired white hot stones after a period of ritual abstinence. The heat does not burn or mark them. Tourists may witness this ceremony in Beqa and also at some of the resorts in the Coral Coast area.

There is also another tradition of firewalking in Fiji among the Indo Fijians, which has come to Fiji from South India. It is a Hindu temple ritual of purification and prayer for rain addressed to the Goddess Kali. The supplicants observe a period of abstinence and walk on to burning embers accompanied by chanting and drumming on specific festival days. This ceremony is performed in some temples in Viti Levu. 

Shimla - a fancy residential area in Lautoka.

Fiji is an eco-friendly single use plastic shopping bag free zone since 2020. Plastic bags less than 50 microns thick were banned by the Fijian government due to their negative impact on Fijian waterways, rivers, oceans and wildlife  - to protect these from plastic pollution. The compliance with the ban has been excellent according to the Minister of Environment. This is corroborated by my own shopping experience over the last year -  shops do not bag their products in single use plastic bags, all shops visited use non-woven reusable bags (sometimes charged to customers) and/or paper bags. Shoppers can also bring their own bags if they prefer.

Non woven reusable shopping bag from a bookshop in Suva.

There are an estimated 556,300 Facebook users in Fiji as of 2022. FB's ad reach according to their own estimates was over 60% of the population. But given that FB restricts its audience/users to 13+ age groups, the penetration would be somewhat higher. Fiji's internet penetration is more than 75%. The total number of social media users is estimated at 649,100 in January 2022 or about 71% of the population. Fiji is a digitally connected nation!

Young teen with phone on beach and fisherfolk with nets out at work in Suva. 

All this month I'll be writing about Aspects of Fiji, which is where I'm fiddling around with the keys at the mo. And where the sum of the constituent parts is fabulously greater than the whole!

Did you know that Fiji is also a favourite vacation haunt of film folk, bigwig celebrities and even royalty? Bill Gates honeymooned in one of its exclusive island properties. Vacationers here include the Crown Prince of Spain and Oprah Winfrey, from Melissa Roxburgh to Celine Dion, Anthony Hopkins to Mel Gibson, Fiji is the preferred spot for some RnR for the rich and famous. Not just a favoured vacation destination, it is also popular as a filming location because of its scenic beauty and variety of locales - beaches, oceans as well as the inland forest and rugged volcanic terrains. Many well known films and TV series have been shot in Fiji, just two of them being The Blue Lagoon and The Castaway.  

~ Thank you for reading ~

Posted for the A-Z Challenge 2023  

Earnings

Fiji has a market economy and had a total annual GDP of around 4.3 billion USD in 2021. It had reached a high of 5+ billion USD before the pandemic made it nosedive in 2020, as tourism is a significant contributor to the overall GDP. Since 2022 it has rebounded strongly as travel restrictions have been progressively eased. The Reserve Bank of Fiji has issued a press release revising the growth figures upwards as tourists have flocked back to the islands. Credit rating agencies have also revised their ratings from negative to stable and positive in late 2022. 

Young tourists going riding on Natadola beach at sunset. Tourism is a major
earner in Fiji

Apart from tourism, the other main sector is agriculture, it has been the primary vehicle of growth for the Fijian economy traditionally. The ancestral Melanesians who came from Asia and settled Fiji 3500 years ago, had brought with them a whole heap of food plants and were known horticulturists, remember?  

The agriculture sector is dominated by subsistence farming, essentially by the indigenous Fijians who cultivate crops like cocoa,  pineapples, copra and cassava for some extra income. Fishery is also an significant activity and Fiji is an exporter of  fish and seafood. Timber products make a contribution as well - large scale pine forests were planted systematically last century. Uniquely developed palmwood and palmwood furniture forms part of the export basket. Read more here.

Traditionally, Fiji's economic development has been on the back of agriculture.
 It remains a paramount sector even at present. 

The commercial sector consists of garments and sugarcane, mostly by independent Indo-Fijian farmers on leasehold lands. There is also some light manufacturing catering to local Fijian demand as well as exports to surrounding Pacific island nations, such as paints, brewery, boat building and furniture. As these sectors have grown the importance of sugar refining has naturally declined. Bottled water has emerged as a growth area in recent years. Fiji also has mineral resources - gold, silver and copper are mined, though output fluctuates and some mines have closed down in recent years. Read more here. 

Fiji is a net importer of energy. However, it is the Pacific island nation with the highest share of renewables. More than 55% of Fiji's energy requirement is supplied through hydroelectricity (50%), while solar, biomass and wind have a share of 5% at present. Fiji's 20 year National Development Plan has the objective to generate all energy from renewables by 2030. Read more about Fiji's energy situation and objectives here. 

Pines near the coastal road near Natadola. Forestry is a small but significant
contributor to the economy.

All this month I'll be writing about Aspects of Fiji, which is where I am at the mo. And where the sum of  the constituent parts is emphatically greater than the whole!

Did you know that Fiji is the most developed economy among the South Pacific islands? It is also an educational hub - the University of the South Pacific, jointly owned by the South Pacific island nations, has three campuses in Fiji and draws students from all over the region. 

~ Thank you for reading ~

Posted for the A-Z Challenge 2023  

Density

 

Young couple taking a selfie at sunset on Lautoka waterfront.

As we've just seen yesterday, Fiji itself is a young country politically, having got its independence in 1970, just above half a century old. The projected current population is around 914,000. Fiji has a share of 0.01% of the global population and the population density is about 49 people per sq km. It is not a crowded place! Off season you could walk for large stretches of coastline in complete solitude. A different matter in the tourist season, though.

Driftwood on a deserted beach. 

Not just Fiji is young, its population is overwhelmingly so. The median age of the population is about 28 years, and almost 70% of its population is below 40 years of age. Children below 15y make up around 29% of the population, while 65+ age bracket makes up around 5%. Male population share is 51% while female population has a share of 49%. The sex ratio in Fiji is marginally higher than the global average of 50:50. 

Most of the population is settled in the cities. Nearly six out of ten people live in urban areas, mostly concentrated in Suva, Nadi and Lautoka. An important town in the smaller Vanua Levu Island is Labasa. 

Indigenous Fijians are of Melanesian origins with some Polynesian influences. They comprise the majority of the current population roughly about 62% and Indo-Fijians, the descendants of the indentured Indian labourers are about 34-35%. Other ethnicities - Chinese, Europeans, etc make up the balance 4%. 

Total life expectancy at birth is 71.3 years, marginally higher than the global life expectancy. Infant mortality is 18.2 per 1000 live births, lower than the global rate at 26.7/1000.  The fertility rate in Fiji has declined from more than 3 in 2000 to 2.8 in 2020 in a span of 20 years. 

A youthful demography has its own set of unique advantages (future human capital) and challenges (dependency rate, education, accommodation, upskilling, employment generation, prevention of brain drain). 

Fiji's political situation and its unique demographics has led to waves of migration out of the country, especially of Indo Fijians. That diaspora is found in Australia, New Zealand, United States and Canda, to a lesser extent in the UK and European countries. It is estimated that 100,000 Indo Fijians have left Fiji after the upheaval of 1987.  Migration of skilled people out of Fiji does pose a serious setback for some sectors of the Fijian economy. 

All this month I'll be writing about Aspects of Fiji, which is where the derriere is parked at the mo. And where the sum of  the constituent parts is definitely greater than the whole!

Did you know that indigenous Fijians had strong boat building skills? The traditional crafts used by them was a double hulled canoe called drua. The term canoe is a misnomer because druas were not dugouts but regular sailboats made by joining planks of wood together. 

Credit

~ Thank you for reading ~

Posted for the A-Z Challenge 2023 

Complex

 

Cane train tracks in Lautoka. Cane sugar is a major contributor to 
the Fijian economy.

Long post alert!

Wide choice today - a whole heap of words :

Colony

Commonwealth

Cakobau         Chief

Clans    Conflict    Christianity

Cannibalism   Cession   Community   Coup d'état  

Crops      Cocoa      Coffee     Chocolate      Cotton     Coconut

What they all add up to is that, in spite of its minute size and population, Fiji is a super complex country.  

Finding Fiji

The first Melanesian settlers arrived in Fiji at least 3500 years ago - the archaeological evidence shows they came from south east Asia through the Malay peninsula and carried with them the pig, many different food plants and a certain type of pottery called Lapita ware. Traditional Fijian society was hierarchical and characterised by clans, chiefs and continuous conflicts. There was much bloodshed and cruelty to the underprivileged was a way of life. Wars were commonplace and the vanquished were clubbed to death, then cooked to horrific recipes and consumed by the victors. Ritual cannibalism within the clan was carried out too, as were human sacrifices - required for everything from launching of boats to raising a roof. Killing was a coming of age rite and a badge of honour. This everyday-a-bloodbath-type traditional lifestyle continued till the islanders were converted to Christianity in the 19th century. 

Fiji was first sighted by the Dutch explorer Abel Janzsoon Tasman in 1643 - he passed on the north eastern side of the island group. Captain James Cook came by more than a century later in 1774 and sailed through the south eastern fringe. Capt William Bligh passed through the islands after the mutiny on the Bounty in 1789 and returned again to explore them in 1792. His is the major credit of the discovery and recording of the islands. However, the first Europeans to actually land and live in Fiji  among Fijians were shipwrecked mariners and escaped convicts from the penal colonies in Australia. 

In real terms, Captain Cook's expedition to Tonga was the first point of contact between Fijians and Europeans - members of the expedition wrote about Fijians who were perceived as formidable warriors and ferocious cannibals, skilled boat builders but relatively poor sailors. The goods they produced, the bark cloths and clubs, were much in demand and the Tongans held them in great awe. The Fijians called their home Viti, the Tongans pronounced that as Fisi and that pronunciation was taken up by the Europeans and so the islands came to be known as Fiji to the wider world. Read more here and here.

Here come the Europeans 

By the mid-18th century commercial interest in the island's sandalwood forests had brought Europeans to Vanua Levu. Once that got over, it was the turn of sea cucumber trade. The foreigners brought tools and muskets to Fiji in return for trade, which items the chiefs used with great alacrity and to their own advantage. On the back of this new routes to power, wealth and glory, rose the kingdom of Bau, a tiny island off the coast of Viti Levu, which grew to control Western Fiji - ruled first by Naulivou and later by Cakobau his nephew. 

On the heels on the explorers and traders came the Christian missionaries. Cakobau (pr Thakobau) converted to Christianity in 1854 - cannibalism and bloodshed stopped quite abruptly as Christianity spread, European dress was adopted, the Fijian way of life changed to a less violent, more sedate one. 

By 1860s Fiji had attracted European planters looking to cash in on the cotton price boom after the American Civil War. However, the conditions in the various Pacific Islands gradually drew in the European governments, each of which felt some responsibility towards its citizens and their property. Some of them appointed consuls, but often the consuls and the settlers were at loggerheads, and the former's powers to establish order was limited and unenforceable so remote from their motherland. Consular officers also tended to become drawn into Island politics. Therefore, imperial control seemed the best solution. And so Fiji was ceded to the British on 1874 by Cakobau and became a British crown colony. Sir Arthur Gordon was appointed Fiji's first governor and his policies shaped the coming centuries for Fijian society. Read more here. 

Late 19th and 20th century 

Gordon had much experience of crown colonies, having been Governor in Trinidad and Mauritius both. He was familiar with the conflicting objectives of plantation owners/settlers, with their commercial development agendas and those of the native populations. Equally, he knew the issues surrounding freed slaves, black labourers and shortages of plantation workers - he had overseen some of the solutions himself in his previous governorships. He knew from experience that the first prerequisite of a plantation economy was ample agricultural labour, without which no development would happen.

The question as he perceived it was - whether it was possible to make Fiji attractive to settlers, a worthwhile investment option and reconcile that with the protection of the indigenous Fijian way of life? His policies struck a balance between the two. Accordingly, the sale of Fijian lands were banned. Fijians were taxed in agri produce and not in cash. And finally, they were left to themselves in the matter of chiefly hierarchies and were ruled indirectly through the same traditional political structure.  No indigenous Fijian was to be recruited as a plantation worker. The  requirement of labour was met through indentured labourers from India.

These workers were brought in on contract for a fixed term after which they were free to go back. However, often the pay wasn't enough for them to save the return fare. They were kept segregated from both the European plantation owners/settlers and the local Fijians, generally treated abysmally and had practically no rights. They were housed in shanties known as coolie lines, worked unconscionably long hours, paid a poor wage. Public outrage back in the UK brought the indenture system to an end, and all indentured workers were freed from their contractual obligations in 1920. A few went back, most stayed. Some became land owners or tenant farmers. There was still no mixing between ethnic groups.

And so, even as Fiji developed on the back of sugarcane and other plantation crops in the 20th century, the country remained rigidly stratified three ways - indigenous Fijians with rights to their lands and protection from the crown, outnumbered by shiploads of indentured Indian labourers  and a tiny elite of privileged European settlers. It was, as you can imagine, a tinderbox waiting to ignite. Read more here. 

Mixed clouds over Fiji...

Post independence

Fiji gained its independence from Britain on 10th October 1970. Prior to that in 1966, elections were held in Fiji where all Fijians including women got the vote. Note that in this election there were 74,575 Fijians, 75,768 Indo-Fijians and 6,340 general electors (other ethnicities) registered to vote. In short, the Indo-Fijian population was marginally higher than that of the indigenous Fijians. 

As per the constitutional conference held in London the previous year, the Fijians were to have a total of 14 seats, of which 2 were to be nominated by the Great Council of Chiefs. Indo-Fijians were allocated 12 seats and 10 seats were allocated for all other ethnic groups. So while the population of Indo Fijians was higher, their share of voice in the parliament didn't match. The minority European elites had a disproportionately higher share and their support of the Fijian chiefs meant that the Fijian voices dominated. 

The Alliance Party, the political vehicle of the traditional Fijian chiefs, was formed in the early 60s and bagged a major share of the vote. The AP had a some significant support among the ethnic minorities  who accounted for less than 5% of the population but were over represented in the parliament with 10 seats. The other main Indo Fijian rivals, the Federation Party got 9 seats and 27% of the vote and forced a byelection by staging a mass walkout. Those were marked by inter ethnic violence and the relations between the Fijians and Indo Fijians were at a new low. Ultimately, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, the leader of the AP became the first PM. 

In 1985, the Fiji Labour Party was formed with the support of the labour unions by Timoci Bavadra. An Indo Fijian dominated coalition was led to power by Timoci Bavadra in the 1987 elections, ending the rule of AP after 17 years. A month later however, the army seized power in a bloodless coup with the objective of ensuring political dominance for the indigenous Fijians and Ratu Mara was appointed PM again. Britain, New Zealand and Australia withdrew aid and Fiji was suspended from the Commonwealth. There was an exodus of Indo Fijians - thousands left. 

Fiji has till date gone through several cycles of this - election of leaders/party reversed by coups d'état and/or imposition of martial law, repeal of the constitution, followed by suspension from the Commonwealth and other regional bodies and a mass exodus.  Fiji has witnessed four coups (1987 May, 1987 Sept, 2000, 2006) and four constitutions (1966, 1990, 1997, 2013). The Indo Fijian population has been diminished by migrations so that their current share has fallen to 35% at present from nearly 50% at independence. 

The latest election in Fiji was conducted peacefully in December 2022, notwithstanding calls to mobilise the military, hiccups in the counting processes, fear of racial tensions and the sitting Prime Minister Bainimarama refusing to concede. No one party won a clear 50% majority but a coalition came together for Sitiveni Rabuka to become the current PM of Fiji. Read more about the elections here and here. And watch this video which presents a view of the historical factors that shaped Fijian politics.

 

Most of my sources are embedded in the post above. Here's another one that I've referenced through out - Fiji's Heritage by Kim Gravelle.

All this month I'll be writing about Aspects of Fiji, which is where I am at the mo. And where the sum of  the constituent parts is definitely greater than the whole!

Did you know that Fiji in its short life as an independent nation has had to draw up four constitutions? Something to consider and be thankful for if your country has had the same one all through, no? - minor tweaks excepted...

~ Thank you for reading ~

Posted for the A-Z Challenge 2023 

Bad Bird!

Bula! + a wide smile is the standard greeting in Fiji, it's heard all the time and everywhere. I could say with perfect truth that Fiji is breath taking. Beyond beautiful - the blue skies and the deep Pacific blue of the oceans and a few more true but bland things like that. 

On the road, somewhere before Sigatoka.

I could pick some birds even, write reams about them, because there are nearly 200 species found on these islands. Or basket weaving - a traditional craft here, made from pandanus leaves. I could even tell you about the local brewery - it produces a top quality and uber popular brand of beer. There you go, B done and dusted.

Beautiful sunset over Suva.

But no, because there are other sides to Fiji, not always beautiful. In fact, quite the opposite, ugly and complicated. Difficult to find the right words to frame them - the awful widespread, global nature of greed, a terrible web of exploitation and cruelty leaving no corner of the world untouched. It's mind boggling.

Blackbirding is used to refer to the once common trade in which the South Pacific Islanders were tricked, coerced and/or abducted into slavery to work on plantations and mines far away from their homes. As USA and UK abolished slavery legally in the 19th century, there arose a huge shortage of labour to work in the various colonies. Blackbirding involved  the capture or recruitment of South Pacific Islanders along with the First Nations Peoples' from Australia to meet that shortfall of cheap labour. Sometimes entire villages were taken away from their homelands, decimating centuries old kinship structures and depopulating whole regions. From 1840 to 1950, it is estimated that about 1.5 million indigenous people in the South Pacific were subjected to this abuse and exploitation. 

The ships, captains and crews involved in the practice were called blackbirders. Fiji was both a source for blackbirders as well as a major destination. Island peoples from Rotuma, Solomon Islands and New Hebrides were brought to work the cotton and sugar plantations in Fiji first in 1864. Sometimes people were kidnapped outright, but more often they were 'recruited' into the work by deception and had no idea of what they were getting into.  Many did not understand the 'contract' or their 'terms of service' signalled to them by hand gestures. It was common practice to make the blackbirding ships look like missionary ones and lure the villagers onto them to meet the 'bishop' and hold them captive. This led to repercussions against the true missionaries sometimes. 

The demand for blackbirded labourers (called Kanakas then, now considered pejorative) came from the European colonies in New South Wales, Queensland, Samoa, Fiji, Tahiti, Hawaii and New Caledonia as well as South America - Guatemala, Peru and Mexico. The so called recruitment happened in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Island, Vanuatu, Rotuma (Fiji), Niue, Easter Island and Gilbert Island. In the Americas, they provided labour for the haciendas and to mine guano deposits. Elsewhere, they worked in various plantations, pearling, mining, railway and road construction. Read the story of the descendants of some blackbirded workers in Fiji here.  

Fiji was also a major destination for Indian indentured labourers whose descendants form a major demographic here today, but let's leave that for a different day and letter. 

Unfortunately, a practice similar to blackbirding continues even now in many parts of the world. Labourers are recruited by force or lured by false/misrepresented remuneration, taken away from their homes to work in distant places, kept in squalid conditions and paid a pittance.  According to this UN report, at least 18% of human trafficking is for the purposes of forced labour (the rest are sex slaves, even more disturbing!) It is estimated that around 25 million people are trafficked annually by Disrupt Human Trafficking (DHT), that means nearly 5 million people are exploited as forced labour annually. Sobering thought, isn't it? 

All this month I'll be writing about Aspects of Fiji, which is where I am at the mo. And where the sum of  the constituent parts is mind Bogglingly greater than the whole!

Were you aware of the history of blackbirding? I hadn't heard of the term till I came to Fiji. Forget me, it seems awareness of it in Australia/New Zealand is low too, even though it is part of their own history! 

Did you know that the Backbone of the Fijian economy was built by Blackbirded and Bonded labourers in the 19th century? The cotton, coconut and sugar plantations all employed these workers Brought in from distant lands.  

~ Thank you for reading ~

Posted for the A-Z Challenge 2023