The Jet Volume 4 Number 8

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For daily updates click www.thejetnewspaper.com tomorrow’s news today Issue:36 JUNE 25 - JULY 24, 2012 PRICE: 50 CENTS VIP The story of a Kai Nadi who comes home to make a difference By RINIKA PRAKASH Dr Kamlesh Sharma, left, hands over a brand new laptop to the manage- ment of Korovuto College recently. Receiving the laptop are school presi- dent Jitendra Kumar, second from left, principal Sanjesh Chandra and manager Pravin Singh. INSET: A truck full of rations which was distributed to flood affected families in Korovuto last month. Photos: SHALENDRA PRASAD. Former Korovuto resident Dr Kamlesh Sharma is a shin- ing example of how generos- ity and a will to assist those in need can help make a differ- ence in the community. Since January 2011, Dr Sharma has donated comput- ers, flood relief items and cash around a tune of $150,000. Last month the Canberra based philanthropist who is a qualified lawyer and ac- countant was in the country to give out computers to needy schools and also donated $10,000 to the Sugar Festival Association to assist families severely affected by the re- cent floods with food items. Dr Sharma is also an avid writer and has published many books with the sales of the most recent ones being di- rected towards the Sugar Fes- tival charity chest. “Your good deeds will always be cherished,” said Sanjesh Chandra, principal of Korovuto College after receiving a brand new laptop for the school last month. A small function was held at Korovuto College where the management, staff and students thanked Dr Sharma, his family and the board members of the Sugar Festi- val Association. “We are really exhilarated by Dr Kamlesh Sharma’s presence. Dr Sharma has at- tended Korovuto Primary School and Korovuto Col- lege,” Mr Chandra said. “Despite becoming a very learned personnel and hold- ing a very high position, Dr. Sharma has not forgotten Fiji and especially Korovuto where he grew up and was educated. “He is a highly educated person but his nature and ac- tions are very simple, gener- ous and humble. “In February 2012, through the Sugar Festival Associa- tion, Dr Sharma donated five sets of computers, a server, a projector, five laptops and flash drives to our college. “In April 2012, after the recent floods, Dr Sharma through the Sugar Festival Association donated uniforms for twenty boys and fifteen girls from Korovuto College.” Mr Chandra said uniforms were also donated to fifteen boys and seventeen girls from Korovuto Primary School. The students were badly af- fected by the recent floods which hit the western divi- sion and had lost most of their school belongings. “The students expressed their heartfelt gratitude for the assistance that has been rendered during their difficult time.” “Dr Kamlesh Sharma is an ardent writer and has written a number of books based on his island home – Fiji. “Korovuto has always been in his heart and is central in the stories that he writes. His struggles and village life stories are portrayed in the books that he has already written.” Some of Dr Kamlesh Shar- ma’s publications include ‘Golden Years of Generous Giving’ - A publication dedi- cated to the Sugar Festival Association, ‘Rahul’s Road, Community Service - the Fi- jian way’, ‘Gulaami – Slav- ery in Fiji’, ‘Fiji - My Island Home’ and his latest publica- tion to come is ‘Chal Akela’. “I feel very humbled with the comments made about me but I don’t like to listen to my own praises and feel a little embarrassed with that,” Dr Sharma said while addressing students in Korovuto. “My message to the stu- dents is to work very hard and excel in studies. Also when you become something after achieving the necessary edu- cation and do well in life, do not forget those who are not that fortunate as you are. “No matter where you end up in life, never forget your roots, your struggles, that has been the motive in my life and I will continue to carry on the work as long as God allows me to do so. “Always think about peo- ple who are not as fortunate as you are so I urge you to go out and make a difference in the community when you can. “We had delayed the dis- tribution of rations until this time as there were many agencies carrying out dona- tions immediately after the floods so we did not want to duplicate the process. “I have also asked the school management to let me know if more students need uniforms so we can work at getting it for them,” Dr Shar- ma said. Dr Sharma also thanked the Sugar Festival Associa- tion for coordinating the relief efforts – with the distribution of uniforms, computers and food rations. Korovuto to Canberra

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Fiji's First Community Newspaper

Transcript of The Jet Volume 4 Number 8

Page 1: The Jet Volume 4 Number 8

For daily updates click www.thejetnewspaper.com tomorrow’s news todayIssue:36 JUNE 25 - JULY 24, 2012 PRICE: 50 CENTS VIP

The story of a Kai Nadi who comes home to make a differenceBy RINIKA PRAKASH

Dr Kamlesh Sharma, left, hands over a brand new laptop to the manage-ment of Korovuto College recently. Receiving the laptop are school presi-

dent Jitendra Kumar, second from left, principal Sanjesh Chandra and manager Pravin Singh. INSET: A truck full of rations which was distributed

to flood affected families in Korovuto last month. Photos: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

Former Korovuto resident Dr Kamlesh Sharma is a shin-ing example of how generos-ity and a will to assist those in need can help make a differ-ence in the community.

Since January 2011, Dr Sharma has donated comput-ers, flood relief items and cash around a tune of $150,000.

Last month the Canberra based philanthropist who is a qualified lawyer and ac-countant was in the country to give out computers to needy schools and also donated $10,000 to the Sugar Festival Association to assist families severely affected by the re-cent floods with food items.

Dr Sharma is also an avid writer and has published many books with the sales of the most recent ones being di-rected towards the Sugar Fes-tival charity chest.

“Your good deeds will always be cherished,” said Sanjesh Chandra, principal of Korovuto College after receiving a brand new laptop for the school last month.

A small function was held at Korovuto College where the management, staff and students thanked Dr Sharma, his family and the board members of the Sugar Festi-val Association.

“We are really exhilarated by Dr Kamlesh Sharma’s presence. Dr Sharma has at-tended Korovuto Primary School and Korovuto Col-lege,” Mr Chandra said.

“Despite becoming a very learned personnel and hold-ing a very high position, Dr. Sharma has not forgotten Fiji and especially Korovuto where he grew up and was educated.

“He is a highly educated person but his nature and ac-tions are very simple, gener-ous and humble.

“In February 2012, through the Sugar Festival Associa-tion, Dr Sharma donated five sets of computers, a server, a projector, five laptops and flash drives to our college.

“In April 2012, after the recent floods, Dr Sharma through the Sugar Festival Association donated uniforms for twenty boys and fifteen girls from Korovuto College.”

Mr Chandra said uniforms were also donated to fifteen boys and seventeen girls from Korovuto Primary School. The students were badly af-fected by the recent floods which hit the western divi-sion and had lost most of their school belongings.

“The students expressed their heartfelt gratitude for the assistance that has been rendered during their difficult time.”

“Dr Kamlesh Sharma is an ardent writer and has written a number of books based on his island home – Fiji.

“Korovuto has always been in his heart and is central in the stories that he writes. His struggles and village life stories are portrayed in the books that he has already written.”

Some of Dr Kamlesh Shar-ma’s publications include ‘Golden Years of Generous Giving’ - A publication dedi-cated to the Sugar Festival Association, ‘Rahul’s Road, Community Service - the Fi-jian way’, ‘Gulaami – Slav-ery in Fiji’, ‘Fiji - My Island Home’ and his latest publica-tion to come is ‘Chal Akela’.

“I feel very humbled with the comments made about me

but I don’t like to listen to my own praises and feel a little embarrassed with that,” Dr Sharma said while addressing students in Korovuto.

“My message to the stu-dents is to work very hard and excel in studies. Also when you become something after achieving the necessary edu-cation and do well in life, do

not forget those who are not that fortunate as you are.

“No matter where you end up in life, never forget your roots, your struggles, that has been the motive in my life and I will continue to carry on the work as long as God allows me to do so.

“Always think about peo-ple who are not as fortunate

as you are so I urge you to go out and make a difference in the community when you can.

“We had delayed the dis-tribution of rations until this time as there were many agencies carrying out dona-tions immediately after the floods so we did not want to duplicate the process.

“I have also asked the

school management to let me know if more students need uniforms so we can work at getting it for them,” Dr Shar-ma said.

Dr Sharma also thanked the Sugar Festival Associa-tion for coordinating the relief efforts – with the distribution of uniforms, computers and food rations.

Korovuto to Canberra

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THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER 2

FROM THE DESK

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE

“Fiji - the way the world should be”“ Being the hub of the Pacific, Fiji has everything that a spectacular tropical paradise has to offer - from private island resort accommodations, top class restaurants to white sandy beaches, inbound tours, jet boat rides, hot air balloon rides, mountain trekking, inland tours, eco tourism, sky diving, helicopter rides, cruise trips, scuba diving, massage and beauty parlours, vibrant night life and a lot more than any other

destination in the world offers ”

THE JET is Fiji’s first community newspaper published monthlyby SHAMBU ADVERTISING from Nadi - the tourism capital of Fiji.PUBLISHER : SHALENDRA PRASAD Cell: 9232073PHONE OFFICE : (679) 6264424 / 7767574/ 6708188 FAX : (679) 6728353EMAIL : [email protected] : [email protected]

www.epapergallery.com/thejetwww.thejetnewspaper.com

LAYOUT BY SHALENDRA PRASAD. PRINTED BY MAX MARKETING LTD.

COMMUNITY NOTICE BOARDPACIFIC COUNSELLING AND SOCIAL SERVICES provides private, confidential

counselling on depression, family/marital, stress, grief, abuse, suicidal thoughts, STI’s, drugs, alcohol & be-havior lifestyle changes. Opens 8am – 3pm, Monday – Friday. Call us on 6708169 Located at Nadi old hospital

road.

ROTARY CLUB OF NADI is currently on a membership drive to increase members who represent all sections of the community. Nadi Rotar-ians meet every Wednesday at Sitar Restaurant in Martintar

at 6.30pm. Interested people can call club treasurer Krupesh Patel

on 6700478

SOROPTIMIST INTER-NATIONAL is a vibrant, dynamic organisation for today’s professional and busi-ness women, working through projects to promote equality, development and peace. We are seeking members to join our club. Interested ladies can call SI Nadi president Irene

Chand on 9921090

FIJIAN WRITERS ASSO-CIATION which has been recently established to form the first ever formal body rep-resenting writers, poets, jour-nalists and everyone who has a passion for writing is seek-ing new members. Interested people can contact Professor

Subramani via email:- [email protected]

Finally, world’s largest film

industry comes to our shores... Fiji’s former deputy prime

minister Pandit Harish Chan-dra Sharma launched a col-lection of poems which were written by his late father Pan-dit Pratap Chandra Sharma many years back in form of a book at the Fiji National Uni-versity (FNU) Namaka cam-pus on Friday, June 8.

Called ‘Pratap Kavitanjali – Voices from Sawani’, the book contains hundreds of poetries of different catego-ries that had been written by Late Pandit Pratap Chandra Sharma during his days as a farmer in Sawani, Nausori.

Dedicating the book to his late mother Phul Mati Shar-ma, Mr Harish Sharma said his father’s poems were writ-ten in pieces of paper which he had held close to him for many years.

Mr Sharma said he had always wanted to publish his father’s collection of poems in form of a book but it was

A rare collection of poems launched in NadiBy SHALENDRA PRASAD

By RAJNEESH LATAof the Golden Age Home

only after he discussed this with Professor Subramani of FNU, things started to slowly take shape in the right direc-tion.

“I wish to sincerely thank Professor Subramani who has time and again inspired and at times pushed me to get things in order and here we are launching the book today,” Mr Sharma said.

According to Mr Sharma, the book is suitable for ev-ery age group and has poems based on children, politics, religion, leaders and society at large.

The book was officially launched by Indian High Commission consular Ajay Sharma.

FNU’s acting vice-chan-cellor Doctor Mahendra Reddy while addressing the large number of guests pres-ent to witness the occasion said the university is proud to be playing a facilitating role in the promotion of art and literature.

Chief guest Ajay Sharma, left, of the Indian High Commis-sion with Pandit Harish Sharma during the launching at FNU Namaka Campus. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

Golden Age Home residents learn craft work

Residents of the Golden Age Home have been busy learning craft work. This be-came possible through the initiative of a Board member, Mrs. Elina Saurara. Some of the residents are really tal-ented and it only takes initia-tive to tap on their talents. The residents with help from Mrs. Saurara managed to produce some beautiful craft works.

The Board plans to host an open day later in the year where the residents will be able to display their creativity.

Meanwhile the Vuda Ma-rina Management and Staff hosted thirty-five residents of The Golden Age Home of Natabua, Lautoka at the Ma-rina for an afternoon tea re-

cently.The residents were re-

questing for an outing as they got bored being in the same environment. They were taken for a day out on Sat-urday, May 19 to the airport for a "sarasara" around there and later taken to the Marina for an afternoon tea. Tak-ing into account their dietary concerns, the residents were provided with afternoon tea consisting of draunimoli or green tea, pawpaw scones, banana cake or muffins (with low sugar of course), tropical fruits, cakes and the good old "tavioka yaca".

According to the Man-ager of the Marina, Milika Marshall, the staff at the Ma-rina was overwhelmed with the visit and the chef was so happy that Vuda Marina was able to do something for the

group of special visitors from the Home.

She further said that, “I am so glad that my staff had the opportunity to put some-thing out for the lovely resi-dents. How truly blessed we are to host the senior citizens. That’s the satisfaction I get, the residents had a good time and enjoyed themselves and as a result my staff got inspi-ration for doing something for the community.”

The residents really en-joyed the beautiful environ-ment, warm reception and the afternoon tea itself. The resi-dents always look forward to such opportunity and this one came in time when they really needed an outing.

The Management, Board of Visitors and the residents of The Golden Age Home are really grateful for this kind gesture provided by the Ma-rina Management and Staff.

Residents of the Golden Age Home seen having a good time with the staff at Vuda Marina recently.

FOUR-years-ago I asked Bollywood stars Lara Dutta and Ku-nal Kapoor if there were any plans of shooting movies in our beautiful country – immediately the room full of jour-nalists and invited guests at Radisson Resort (Now Radis-son Blu) in Denarau Island burst into laughter.

The reaction was not to make fun of my question but due to the fact that no one in that room ever thought that what I had asked the two stars could one day turn into a reality.

I was impressed with the answer Kunal Kapoor gave. He said given the beauty of our country and the friendliness of our people, any actor would love to come and shoot movies here, but that was a choice which the producers and direc-tors would have to make considering the type of support they receive from the various agencies concerned.

Not to be mistaken with their presence on Denarau Island as a movie project, the two were in the country to actually spread the gospel on the “Art of Living” movement and had no Bollywood related activities during their short stay in 2008.

Fast-forward to 2012 from that time, and here we are luring movies after movies from the world’s largest film industry – Bollywood.

All this did not happen overnight, it took a lot of hard work from our government officials especially our tourism min-ister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum who worked tirelessly with various agencies and Film Fiji (previously Fiji Audio Visual Commission) to turn the dream of hosting Bollywood in Fiji into a reality.

With four movies being shot one after the other - three being done here simultaneously, Fiji is all set to take its share of Bollywood with multiplying benefits to our economy.

We salute the Fijian Government for coming up with creative and attractive concessions which has enabled us Fijians, es-pecially we here in Nadi to witness and be part of something we had previously only seen in movies. (More on page 5)

SHALENDRA PRASADLara Dutta and Kunal Kapoor

in Denarau Island. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

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THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER3

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THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER 4

LOCAL NEWSTourists bring smiles to

Nadi District studentsBy SHALENDRA PRASAD

By RINIKA PRAKASH

Resort protects Ocean and Environment

Malolo Island Resort cel-ebrated the World Ocean and Earth Day on Friday, June 8th.

To mark the important event, the Mamanuca En-vironment Society (MES) along with the Marine Ac-tivities Coordinator of Ma-lolo Island Resort organized a daylong function where booths were setup to show-case to guests how important our environment is and which products the resort uses to en-sure protection of the fragile environment.

“8th of June is an impor-tant day to the world. To show that we are a part of the green economy, we need to take im-portant steps and bring good changes to the ocean. Please stand up and fight for the environment,”said MES Field Officer Soropepeli Seru.

Six booths were setup by

various departments namely, maintenance, marine activi-ties and kids club, spa, house-keeping, front office and food beverages & kitchen.

The Spa department in-formed guests that all the products used by them are from Pure Fiji which is envi-ronmentally friendly and the bottles can be recycled.

The Front Office Depart-ment explained that they were the first point of contact for guests arriving at the island and upon arrival; all guests were given an arrival kit which contained information about water usage and the Ahura Resort Environmental Policy.

The Marine centre and the kids club explained about marine awareness and have targeted to plant at least 300 corals by the end of this year.

The Housekeeping depart-ment informed guests that all

the laundry was taken daily to mainland and not done on the island. The chemical used in servicing of rooms were from Ecolab and environmentally friendly.

The food, beverages and kitchen department informed that all food wastages were given to the village as pig food or decomposed and later used as manure. All breakag-es were sent to the mainland.

The maintenance depart-ment displayed how waste water was treated and won the best booth prize. According to house guests Glenis Groce and Bev Sterling, “the day displays the initiatives taken by the resort staff which was absolutely wonderful. They have to do this to sustain the environment.”

An underwater clean-up activity was also organized by the staff.

Free clothes for needy

HUNDREDS of needy Nadi residents took advantage of a donation drive from the Rotary Club of Nadi recently.

The club members were busy distributing the free clothes which was donated by their Australian coun-terparts on Saturday, June 9.

“Following the floods, the Rotary Club of Nadi has assisted those in need in many ways and this is our last flood relief assistance for the time being,” club president Sanjit Patel said.

Children of Nadi District School were on cloud nine after two Australian tourists while holidaying at the Shera-ton Fiji Resort decided to pay them a visit with some school items.

Najee Tannous and Peter Hyer of Sydney were recently at the school donating sta-tionery to kids who were se-verely affected by the recent floods.

Peter and Najee donated stationery and spent time with the kids and teachers, asking them various questions and interviewing them on their day to day experiences as well.

Najee is the owner of Performing Arts School – ‘Boombox Performing Arts’ and together the two friends wish to help the local com-munity in Fiji , and to perhaps bring in dance workshops or promote an artistic curricu-lum in the programs of more underprivileged schools.

Boombox Performing Arts is looking at the possibility of providing scholarships to some of these underprivileged children as Najee will be put-

ting together a documentary from the trip here to encour-age others in Australia to ac-tively participate in helping the local schools and those who need it most here.

“It was an amazing op-portunity to be able to visit a school in-person. We see this all the time on television but it is so different being here per-sonally,” Najee Tannous said.

“Peter and I are so amazed to see all the smiles from these children although they have been affected by such disas-ter. We were actually speech-less as it was overwhelming to see such passionate teach-ers and leaders at the school and we really want to see the school grow.

“I’ve worked with under-privileged communities be-fore and am so grateful to the Starwood Group for organiz-ing this trip.

The two friends also visit-ed the Treasure Home before departing for Australia.

“We really want to en-courage other Australians to come out here and see for themselves and get in touch with the people who need assistance the most. You re-ally need to be here to see it,”

Najee added.Sheraton Fiji spokeswom-

an Salome Tukuafu said it was great to see a lot of their guests and the greater Star-wood international commu-nity showing concern for the plight of the local communi-ties here.

“It has definitely seen a greater reach in our philan-thropic efforts, to reach out to those who need it most. We have many staff that were af-fected by the floods, and have recently started the distribu-tion of a substantial amount of monies granted to us,” she added.

Najee Tannous and Peter Hyer of Sydney with children of Nadi District School. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

Loloma Fiji is a charity that was founded by Lesley Bryce,

(pictured), who lived in Fiji back in 2009. She recently

donated essential items to the Lautoka Special School and donations were assisted by

Australian businesses Beach to Bush Pool Safety, Veve

Glamour Swimwear, The Buzz PR, Fiji: Naisoso Residential Management, and Northern Blue Construction, New Zea-

land: Thilaia Berryman.

Loloma Charity!

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THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER5

LOCAL NEWS

Bollywood Bonanza

By SHALENDRA PRASAD

Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum is flanked by the cast and production team of Bollywood movie “WARNING” at the films shoot launching in Denarau Island on Wednesday, June 13. The film is being currently shot in Rakiraki. Mr Sayed-Khaiyum also launched another movie shooting titled “Table. 21” on Sunday, June 24 at Novotel Hotel in Lami.

Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

A scene from another Bollywood movie “Supermodel” star-ring Veena Malik and Ashmit Patel captured by our cam-

eras at Mr Wahid Ali’s residence in Denarau Island. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

Four back-to-back Bollywood movie shoot-ings in the country takes Fiji into a new

direction

Neil Nitin Mukesh and Sonal Chauhan on the sets of “3G” at Mana Island Resort. Photo: RANJEETA RANIGA.

Fiji’s newest town, Ra-kiraki has received a major boost following the arrival of Bollywood producers in the area.

Renowned Bollywood di-rector Anubhav Sinha who has directed block-buster movies such as Shahrukh Khan starrer RA-One is shooting his latest project named “Warning” in the beautiful Sun Coast – a truly hidden beauty of Fiji.

While launching the movie in the presence of Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khai-yum on Denarau Island re-cently, Sinha said the scenes and sea of Rakiraki was most suited for the horror movie which has a storyline centred around a yachting trip gone wrong for a couple of friends.

The crew will be stay-ing in Rakiraki for almost two-months giving the small township’s economy a major boost.

“The first effect that has been felt immediately upon the arrival of the film crew is the unavailability of good accommodation for workers and travelers. This is a good sign that more investment needs to be put into upgrad-ing boarding or home-stay facilities so that there is af-fordable, clean and safe ac-commodation always avail-able,” said Rakiraki Town

Council interim administrator Seini Raiko (pictured above).

“The good thing about such a project coming to our town is that the workers in the respective resorts and board-ing places are now on full time employment for the du-ration of the film crews stay here.

“There is an indirect ben-efit to the markets because of the increased demand for fruits, vegetables and grocer-ies – a much needed economic boost for the local economy.

“Another benefit is the need for ancillary services such as transportation, guides, security officers, maids, housekeepers, extras on the set, etcetera, which directly contribute to household in-comes and the flow of eco-nomic activity in the area.

“It also puts Rakiraki on the tourist map and creates interest in the international circles, free advertisement that the ‘toddler’ town sorely needs,” Ms Raiko said. (Edi-torial comment on page 2).

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TRAVEL AND TOURISM

LTA accredits Driving CourseThe Land Transport Au-

thority has accredited a driv-ing course initiated by leading inbound tour operator Pacific Destinationz which is based in Martintar, Nadi.

The course was scheduled for one whole week in which the Pacific Destinationz driv-ers joined forces with LTA officers and were provided with the Professional Driver Training.

The training was con-ducted by Mr David Kinnaird who is an accomplished Pro-fessional Driver Trainer from New Zealand.

Mr Kinnaird carries with him seventeen-years of expe-rience in driving, from work-ing for the largest coach-line operator in New Zealand to being a National Operations Manager at the Mini Fuels & Oils Ltd (Z Energy), New Zealand.

During the training the drivers were made knowl-edgeable in providing trans-fers in an advanced level of safe and fuel efficient driving technique, advanced defen-sive driving skills with the

By SAJNEEL ROHITBy SHALENDRA PRASAD

By MINFO

understanding and manage-ment on the effects of alcohol, yaqona and drugs as a profes-sional driver.

Speaking at the certificate handing over ceremony Mr Kinnaird commented that it was a pleasure and privilege to be invited each year to pro-vide the most up to date pro-fessional and advanced driver training available in New Zealand to the team here at Pacific Destinationz Fiji.

"This training will upgrade the skills of the drivers which will ensure a safe and profes-sional experience to the visit-ing tourists and the local com-munity," Mr Kinnaird added.

LTA CEO Naisa Tuinace-va said that he was delighted about the theory of the train-ing.

He was thankful to the initiative adapted by Pacific Destinationz Fiji in training its drivers and said that it is a trend setter for other organi-zations in the country.

With increasing road acci-dents and declining attitudes of certain drivers on the roads each year, Mr Tuinaceva said that he has faith on the drivers who graduated from

the course recently to bring changes on the road.

"These drivers (graduating drivers) are a sample of a new breed of drivers on the roads of Fiji."

"I acknowledge the work done by Pacific Destinationz in uplifting the standards of its drivers.

"I assure that we will work together with Pacific Destina-tionz in bringing the program across the country," Mr Tu-inaceva added.

James Sowane, Managing Director of Pacific Destina-tionz Fiji stated that the train-ing has been conducted for the past 3-years but it's like an icing on the cake when given the recognition from LTA.

"Last year we serviced over 88,000 international vis-itors which is a large number of precious lives to be respon-sible for and it is our com-mitment that our professional drivers and transport team are up-skilled and trained to New Zealand standards to take on this responsibility," he added.

Graduating from the train-ing were thirty-eight Pacific Destinationz drivers and sev-en LTA officers.

LTA CEO Naisa Tuinaceva, LTA Board Member Commander Mosese Semi,Course Co-ordinator Mr David Kinnaird, Managing Director Pacific Destinationz Fiji James Sowane,

management staff and graduating drivers pose for a group picture. Asco Motors manager west Subhash Chandra is also seen in the picture. Photo: SAJNEEL ROHIT.

New licences to help fill in gaps in servicesThere have been gaps in

services that Fiji can provide to the tourism sector that will now be addressed by new play-ers who have been granted li-cences by Government.

Attorney-General and Min-ister for Industry and Trade, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said Fiji had not really been able to tap into the Meetings, Incen-tives, Conventions and Exhibi-tion market due to the lack of capacity.

"We have been approached in the last couple of years to host some fairly large film awards but we do not have the capacity. Suva has the capacity to hold it in the Vodafone arena but it has no room inventory while Nadi has room inventory but does not have the capacity to host a convention or such an

event," Minister Sayed-Khai-yum highlighted.

The Attorney General, while speaking at the Fiji-New Zea-land Business Council meeting, which also commemorated the council's 25th anniversary, ex-plained the rationale behind the licences that Government was granting to companies wanting to set up business in Fiji.

In the case of One Hundred Sands that will operate the first ever casino in Fiji, Minister Sayed-Khaiyum explained that one of the requirements of the licence was that they provide a minimum sitting of 1,500 so as to address the needs of this niche market.

"So that has been the ratio-nale behind it; it's not simply just giving a casino licence but to have the various ancillary services or activities that can be tied in with the casino," he said.

Minister Sayed-Khaiyum also explained to the members of the business council why the Fijian economy grew despite the global and internal shocks to the economy.

"One of the reasons has been that 99.1 percent of the tax pay-ers have received a tax cut so that has fuelled consumption."

"That's been one of the reasons for bringing about tax cuts, so as opposed to going about and taking very strin-gent austerity measures as you might have seen in some of the other countries."

"We have in fact taken a dif-ferent mixed approach to spur-ring economic growth but at the same time this coupled with the fact that a number of laws have been passed too in fact increase competition within the econo-my," Minister Sayed-Khaiyum said.

Sayonara - Mana farewells MD

Mana Island Resort’s outgoing managing director Take-hiro Nishida, right, shares a moment with Fiji Islands Ho-tel & Tourism Association (FIHTA) president Dixon Seeto

during his farewell. Photo: EMOSI LASAQA.

MANA Island Resort bid farewell to its managing director of seventeen-years with a special func-tion held on Wednesday, June 20 at the Denarau Golf and Racquet Club.

While addressing guests on his last official program as managing director of Mana Island, seventy-three-year-old Takehiro Nishida vividly recalled the challenges he has faced since taking up of-fice in 1995.

“During my term here, I have seen a lot and we have had to go through vari-ous challenges like the political crisis two times, in 2000 and in 2006 and the floods in 1999, 2009 and this year that directly

affected our business,” Mr Nishida said.“Cancellation of direct flights over Japan in 2009 damaged our

business to a great extent but due to your good assistance and hard work of our staff, we were able to generate good results for our company,” Mr Nishida told his industry part-ners present at the function.

Mr Nishida will be returning to Japan and intends to travel the world after relaxing at home for a whole.

He has been succeeded by Kaoru Gocho who takes up office from July 1st.

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THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER7

TRAVEL AND TOURISM

By SHALENDRA PRASAD

In its first year of operat-ing under new ownership, Aquarius On The Beach hotel in Nadi has received a great honour – winning the Certifi-cate of Excellence Award for 2012 from TripAdvisor, the international online review site which allows anyone to rate hotels, restaurants and other tourism-related activi-ties.

“We’re really excited win-ning this award,” says Man-aging Director, Dale Her-manson, “because it really reaffirms our recent efforts to raise the standard of our hotel and provide great customer service for our guests.”

Aquarius On The Beach is located on Nadi’s Wailoal-oa Beach. The international TripAdvisor award is given to Hotels and other tourism-related business that consis-tently achieve a high level of positive customer online reviews.

For Aquarius On The Beach, the award has been received with great enthu-siasm. “There’s no way we could have achieved this award without the friendly and professional service our staff provide to our guests,” Hermanson related.

“We’re a small, family owned hotel, so for us to re-ceive such a prominent award is really exciting for us.” The hotel is locally owned by Her-manson and his two daugh-ters. Aquarius On The Beach has 15 rooms, with a mixture of ten private rooms and ten dormitories.

Its Ocean View rooms are its premier room offering, with its location directly on Wailoaloa Beach one of it’s major attractions. It also of-fers the very popular Sunday Brunch On The Beach, which has become very popular with locals in the Nadi area.

“We’ve upgraded our

rooms, our bar, our lounge and our whole look,” says Hotel Manager Angie Nair. “Anyone who has been to Aquarius before would be surprised at the new improved look of our hotel,” she added.

TripAdvisor online re-views consistently com-mend the hotel for the value and quality of its meals, the friendly service of its staff and its convenient location.

With guest-generated re-views, such as on TripAdvi-sor, there is more fairness and honesty than with paid advertising and promotional “reviews.”

“Of course you get the oc-casional negative review,” stated Hermanson. “I don’t think any hotel can please everyone, but considering the value and quality of what we offer, it’s clear that our guests recognise this and respond online to other travellers worldwide.”

Nadi hotel wins international award

Sonaisali Island Resort, Fiji is proud to announce the appointment of Alana Tilly as Sales & Marketing Man-ager. Alana joins the Sonais-ali Management Team after working in similar roles in Australia.

Alana's previous role before moving to Fiji was as Business Development Manager for NobleDentist, a nation-wide dental plan in Australia. While working for NobleDentist Alana led the company to produce triple fig-ure sales growth year on year and grew the number of par-ticipating businesses through-out Australia from 120 to 500. Alana brings to the team her extensive knowledge of busi-ness development and experi-ence in a wide range of areas and in ecommerce and online marketing in particular.

Alana didn't hesitate ac-cepting the Sales & Market-ing Manager position and brings to the team her exten-sive knowledge of business development and experience in a wide range of areas, in particular ecommerce and online marketing. Alana an-ticipates a prosperous future working in conjunction with the dynamic Management team at Sonaisali Island Re-sort.

Alana is also very excited to be based in Fiji having spent some time here over the last 6 years working in Rotary International Projects and also travelling to various

parts of the country on holi-days.

Alana's mother was origi-nally from Fiji, having been born there, so she is looking forward to continuing the connection with her heritage and being part of Fiji as a country and promoting its warm hospitality and great future in tourism.

"It was an easy decision to accept this role as it was such a great opportunity to work in such a well recognised re-sort that has such a long his-tory in Fiji. I look forward to using my experience and expertise to further the poten-tial of Sonaisali Island Resort and help it to continue to be a highly sought after holiday destination."

Sonaisali Island Resort's Managing Director, Aaron McGrath, welcomes Alana to the team and looks forward to working with her.

"We are very excited to welcome Alana to our team at Sonaisali Island Resort. Not only will she bring a new and exciting focus on business de-velopment, but also be an in-novative leader for the Sales Team."

4 Star Sonaisali Island Re-sort is a true island escape, a small green dot in the beauti-ful South Pacific Ocean - yet the world you've left behind is only a 3 minute boat ride across the lagoon from the Main Island and 25mins drive from Nadi International Air-port.

Sonaisali Island Resort appoints new sales & marketing manager

Sonaisali’s new sales and marketing manager Alana Tilly.

Sofitel Fiji celebrates Fête de la MusiqueOne hundred and twenty Sofitel Resort’s across the globe

have a common thing going when it comes to June 21 each year.

Sofitel hotels become musical ambassadors in celebration of the annual Fête de la Musique.

This popular street Music Festival was launched in France back in the summer of 1982, on the June 21st Solstice, and soon spread across the globe to become an interna-tional phenomenon.

As a French brand of international hotels, Sofitel naturally plays an active role in this federating cultural event.

In Paris, Washington, Melbourne, Buenos Aires or Mar-rakech, the 120 Sofitel hotels on all five continents joined together to celebrate music and summer cheer, mixing French tradition with the very best of local culture.

Whether a piano solo in the lobby, an intimate concert in the bar or live jazz beside the pool, each hotel celebrated music in its own individual way.

Here is Fiji the luxurious five-star resort situated on De-narau Island had its own mix of music which was also blended in with local art display in conjunction with To-kani Arts – a local arts agency well known for its marvel-ous promotion of experienced and budding local talents.

The resort in Denarau was a hive of activity as two-parallel functions were held to mark the occasion.

On one side the guests were kept on their feet by a Polyne-sian dance group and live band while on the other side, guests enjoyed soothing music performed on the violin and keyboard by Korean nationals Enok Jo and Tianna Choi respectively.

Sofitel Fiji Resort & Spa director sales and marketing Nich-olas Mina said being the only five-star French brand in Fiji; they took the opportunity to invite special guests to be part of the function.

“This is an annual event for us and Sofitel resorts all over the world celebrate this in their own way linking the lo-cal music and culture together to celebrate music.”

“This special day has been created to celebrate music and art and this is exactly what we do come June 21 each year.”

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THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER 8

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THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER9

BUSINESS NEWS

Hard Rockers celebrate in styleInternationally renowned

food-chain Hard Rock which has been in Fiji since 2007 was a hive of activity while celebrating its Founder's Day and 41st birthday in style on Saturday, June 16 at their renowned outlet in Port De-narau.

Ever since its inception in 1971, Hard Rock has been committed to a wide range of philanthropic causes and ac-tivities around the World.

The event which was or-ganised in two separate days (Thursday and Saturday) turned out to be a great suc-cess as a large number of pa-trons graced the occasion.

Attorney-General and Minister for Tourism Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum who was the chief guest for the final cele-brations on Saturday, June 16 commended the Jacks of Fiji Group which runs the Hard Rock franchise in Fiji.

"Today's occasion also

marks the 41st birthday of Hard Rock worldwide and we are very fortunate to have Hard Rock in Fiji for the past four-years now," Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said.

"The government is very supportive of such ventures and we have offered various incentives in the tourism sec-tor and will continue to do so overall," he added.

"Fiji is about to witness its first Casino which is owned and operated by American In-dians and I believe the com-pany which owns the Hard Rock franchise worldwide is also owned by American In-dians so there is a lot of syn-ergy for us to explore and take advantage of.

"I wish to congratulate the owners and management, staff of Jacks of Fiji which is a household name in Fiji and they have done a wonderful job in all the sectors in which they are involved and Hard Rock Port Denarau is a tes-timony to that as well," Mr

Sayed-Khaiyum concluded.Sanjiya Devi, the assis-

tant marketing manager of Jacks of Fiji Restaurants said: "Our passionate and dedi-cated team members in the Local Ambassador Program help out communities on a daily basis. More than just words on the walls of every Hard Rock Café, we the Hard Rockers, live by our motto "Love All Serve All", "Time to be Kind", "All is One", and "Save the Planet" as it is our goal to make the Earth a safer, healthier and better place for all."

"In the recent past Hard Rock has contributed in vari-ous Charity Program such as cleaning Old People's Home, Nadi Hospital, Blood Dona-tions, collecting charity for cancer charity, help in rais-ing funds for the poor, raising food and clothing items for needs and now fund raising for the flood victims.

According to Ms Devi some of their major commu-

nity initiatives have been cen-tred around - Flood Appeal, Imagine - There is no Hunger (Poverty) initiative , Pinkto-ber - Breast Cancer Aware-ness Program to name a few.

"To mark this special event Hard Rock Café Fiji did a special Charity contribu-tion to flood affected areas in Fiji by donating $3200 to the Prime Ministers Flood Appeal which was raised by the Harley Davidson bikers of Nadi as they joined forces with Hard Rock and did a fundraising ride from Nadi to Pacific Harbour to raise the funds."

Biking organiser Jason Bates told THE JET they had also stopped on their way to meet Semo Villagers in Siga-toka to hand over flood relief items to them.

"Semo Village was one of the worst affected during the recent floods in the western division and it was an honour to be able to help them in our own little way."

By SHALENDRA PRASAD

By SHALENDRA PRASAD

Harley Davidson riders present a cheque to Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum at the Hard Rock Cafe 41st Founders Day celebrations at Port Denarau on Saturday, June

16. From left are Jason Bates, Michael O’Connor and Dean White. Photos: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

Bhavin Khatri greets the A-G.

Patrons hit the dance floor.

Economist briefs clients on

global trendsWestpac leads by example

WESTPAC recently held an economic conference with its clients at the Capricorn Ho-tel in Nadi to brief them about the relevance of the world eco-nomic outlook to Fiji.

The conference was con-ducted by Westpac’s senior economist Justin Smirk (pic-tured) who is based in Sydney, Australia.

“The purpose of the confer-ence was to brief our clients that there are some very big external shocks about to come, people should get ready for increased uncertainty and vul-nerability coming out of Eu-rope and there are some prob-lems in the US and it paints a very negative picture,” Mr Smirk said.

“Actually Fiji is quite well placed to ride through this, Australia will go through some uncertain periods but will be stronger in comparison to those most affected by the upcoming economic conditions.

“Fiji will be well placed with its current trade with the Asia Pacific region, with China and Australia so the effects of the global economic situations may be minimal here. There are some interim risks for Fiji but they are not going to be long-term.

“Fiji has got a very good opportunity to grow through this and build a solid base to grow from.”

Mr Smirk said the visit to Fiji has enabled Westpac to share the knowledge on inter-

national economic trends and risks ahead with its Fiji cus-tomers.

Westpac General Manager Adrian Hughes echoed similar sentiments and was encouraged with the response received from customers.

“The conference was all about giving Fiji business com-munity access from an overseas expert,” Mr Hughes said.

“Particularly with the cur-rent business turmoil, custom-ers have been asking us many questions, such as if there is an economic turmoil in Europe, what would that mean for us?”

“Our customers have been asking for expert assistance from overseas particularly talk-ing about the economy and here we are presenting Justin who rides on the backs of nineteen-years of experience with many credential.

“The overwhelming re-sponse from customers is very encouraging and they have asked us to bring Justin back and speak more about Pacific trade. In his next visit, Jus-tin will be able to speak more about Fiji’s economic position in the world market.”

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THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER11

LOCAL NEWS

Mobility provides new ray

of hopeTwenty-five-year- old, Mohammed Jabed, and twenty-seven-

year-old Mauzeem Bano, both of Olosara, Sigatoka, con-fined to bed for over five-years due to immobility in their lower body, were full of smiles when a wheelchair was donated to them by the Fiji Wheelchairs and the Vodafone ATH Fiji Foundation.

Mother, Naseem Bano, said that the wheelchair will allow her to finally take the children outside the house to get a breath of fresh air and sunlight.

“My children have been ill due to unknown causes and we have been desperately trying to get medical attention for the two children.”

“I look after my children almost 24-hours-a-day, which is ex-hausting at times and the wheelchair will provide a lot of relief as I have had huge difficulty in moving them around.”

The physical challenges of her children have almost taken over her whole life.

Handing over the wheelchair, Rosan Lal, a Vodafone World of Difference candidate working for ACATA Trust Fiji said that physically challenged individuals also need to have distrac-tions from the circumstances surrounding paralysis.

“Keeping the person's mind active, talking to the person about what is going on in the lives of family members and friends, listening to the news together and talking about world events with paralyzed individuals helps the persons maintain an in-terest in the world around them. They need to express their thoughts in every way possible.”

“Laugh and encourage visitors to laugh and have fun. The para-lyzed person needs something to think about besides their own condition. Watching educational programs together also encourages learning,” said Mr Lal.

He further reiterated that there is an urgent need for family members to be educated on the social, emotional and medi-cal needs of the physically challenged individuals and how to best deal with such situations.

He said that ACATA Trust, together with its strategic charity partner, the Vodafone ATH Fiji Foundation is planning to embark on projects that will address the educational and emotional challenges facing the physically challenged and their families. Whilst addressing the challenges of disability in Fiji, ACATA Trust with Spinal Injury Association is also sharing the type of balanced meal to be given to the physi-cally challenged children who have hopes to be healthy and be able to productively contribute in any way possible.

“While talking to Mauzeem, she said that she just wants to go out and be able to communicate so she can keep her brain active.”

Vodafone ATH Fiji Foundation Executive, Ambalika Devi re-minded the family to keep the paralyzed person moving throughout the day. She also reiterated that the family should accept the challenge and make plans to move forward in any way possible with the help of our disable associations.

“Change their position at least every two-hours in order to in-crease blood circulation. Exercise her limbs carefully ac-cording to therapists' instructions. Physical touch and re-laxed conversation promote emotional health,” said Dr BP Ram, ACATA Medical Team leader. He further said that we need to give the disabled children proper food so they can arrest deterioration of conditions.

Vinod Kamal, Bank of Baroda, Sigatoka Branch Head helped identify the needy siblings through his community network-ing.

Once on a home visit, Kamal asked one of his friends Janif, the father of the two siblings, as to how many children he had, their age and the school they go to.

“When Janif’s facial expression changed and he said that his two children, a boy and a girl who were once schooling in form 4 and form 2 are now bed ridden because they cannot move, I was flabbergasted,” said Kamal.

“Immediately, I was curious to know what happened, but when we went inside and saw the children, we could not believe that once living a normal life, the kids could not move at all,” said Kamal

Janif said that they took the children for all medical checks and wherever people told him just to get their children return to normal life but the struggle was not successful and even the doctors gave up hope when they could not say what went wrong and what the cure was.

“On behalf of our Chief Executive (Fiji Operations) of Bank of Baroda, we thank the Vodafone Foundation and it’s charity partners for the timely response,” Mr Kamal added.

While extremely grateful with the donation, Janif is patiently praying for the day his kids are able to live a normal life once again.

Bank of Baroda, Sigatoka Branch Manager, Vinod Ka-mal, handing over the wheelchair to Mauzmeen. Photo

& Article: SUPPLIED.

International School organises ‘Family Fun Day’

By SHALENDRA PRASAD

Fun, fun and more fun. That is what parents, teach-ers, children and well wish-ers of one of Nadi’s elite educational institutions can expect come next month.

International School Nadi (ISN) will be holding their annual "Family Fun Day" on Saturday, July 21 from 10am to 3pm at the school grounds, Nadi Back Road.

Suzanne Hopf, Vice-Chairperson ISN Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) said the funds raised will as-sist ISN’s road to recovery and support the local com-munity.

“A huge array of activi-ties and international food stalls will be available for your enjoyment,” Ms Hopf said.

She said entertainment for all ages including: 4WD buggy or horse rides, bun-gee trampoline, bouncy castle, local business exhib-its and white elephant stalls will keep the day filled with fun and activities.

“The entry for the special day is absolutely free and free shuttle bus from Jacks -Nadi Town to Internation-al School will be available from 9.45am to 2.30pm.

“We wish to welcome ev-eryone to the fun and family day.”

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THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER 12

KHUDDAMUL AHMADIYYA FIJI MONTHLY FEATURE

Letters to World Leaders by Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community

16 Gressenhall RoadSouthfields, LondonSW18 5QL, UK

His ExcellencyPresident of the Islamic Re-public of IranMahmoud AhmadinejadTehran

7 March 2012

Dear Mr President,

Assalamo Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahe Wa Barakatohu,

In light of the perilous state of affairs emerging in the world, I felt that it was essential for me to write to you, as you are the President of Iran, and thus you hold the authority to make decisions which will affect the future of your nation and the world at large. There is currently great agitation and restless-ness in the world. In some areas small-scale wars have broken out, while in other places the superpowers act on the pretext of trying to bring about peace. Each country is engaged in activities to either help or oppose other countries, but the requirements of justice are not being fulfilled. It is with regret that if we now observe the current circum-stances of the world, we find that the foundation for anoth-

er world war has already been laid. As so many countries, both large and small, have nuclear weapons, grudges and hostilities are increasing. In such a predicament, the Third World War looms al-most certainly before us. As you are aware, the availability of nuclear weapons will mean that a Third World War will be an atomic war. Its ultimate result will be catastrophic, and the long term effects of such warfare could lead to future generations being born disabled or deformed.

It is my belief that as fol-lowers of the Holy Prophet Muhammad(pbuh), who was sent to establish peace in the world, and who was the Rahmatullil Aalameen – the Mercy to all of Mankind –we do not and cannot desire for the world to suffer such a fate. This is why my request to you is that as Iran is also a significant power in the world, it should play its role to prevent a Third World War.It is undeniably true that the major powers act with double standards. Their injustices have caused restlessness and disorder to spread all across the world. However, we can-not ignore the fact that some Muslim groups act inappro-priately, and contrary to the teachings of Islam. Major world powers have used this

as a pretext to fulfil their vested interests by taking ad-vantage of the poor Muslim countries. Thus, I request you once again, that you should focus all of your efforts and energies towards saving the world from a Third World War. The Holy Qur’an teaches Muslims that enmity against any nation should not hinder them from acting in a just manner. In Surah Al Mai’dah, Allah the Exalted instructs us:

“And let not the enmity of a people, that they hindered you from the Sacred Mosque, incite you to transgress. And help one another in righ-teousness and piety; but help not one another in sin and transgression. And fear Al-lah; surely, Allah is severe in punishment.” (Ch.5:V.3)

Similarly, in the same chapter of the Holy Qur’an we find the following com-mandment to Muslims:

“O ye who believe! Be steadfast in the cause of Al-lah, bearing witness in eq-uity; and let not a people’s enmity incite you to act oth-erwise than with justice. Be always just, that is nearer to righteousness. And fear Al-lah. Surely, Allah is aware of what you do.”(Ch.5:V.9)

Hence, you should not op-pose another nation merely out of enmity and hatred. I admit that Israel exceeds be-

yond its limits, and has its eyes cast glance upon Iran. Indeed, if any country trans-gresses against your country, naturally you have the right to defend yourself. However, as far as possible disputes should be resolved through diplomacy and negotiations. This is my humble request to you, that rather than using force, use dialogue to try and resolve conflicts. The rea-son why I make this request is because I am the follower of that Chosen Person of God who came in this era as the True Servant of the Holy Prophet Muhammad(pbuh), and who claimed to be the Promised Messiah and Imam Mahdi. His mission was to bring mankind closer to God and to establish the rights of people in the man-ner our Master and Guide, the Rahmatullil Aalameen –the Mercy to all of Mankind – the Holy Prophet(pbuh)demonstrated to us. May Al-lah the Exalted enable the Muslim Ummah to under-stand this beautiful teaching.Wassalam,

Yours Sincerely,Mirza Masroor AhmadKhalifatul Masih VHead of the Worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Com-munity

www.alislam.org

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Website

Email Address: [email protected]

Ph: 3382221 Fax: 3370471

Compilation & Layout By: Munauwar Khan

Hadhrat Mirza Masroor AhmadHead of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad has repeated his call for Muslims the world over to show loyalty to their respective countries.

In a speech delivered be-fore thousands of Ahmadi Muslims in London he said that love and loyalty to one’s country was a fundamental principle of Islam. His Ho-liness also spoke with re-gret about the widespread problems faced by Pakistan. He said the fundamental cause for its current state was a failure to maintain a separation of religion and State. In particular, extrem-ist elements had perme-

ated all segments of society.Speaking about the cur-

rent situation in Pakistan, His Holiness said that every day there was news of killings, protests and strife. The entire country had become engulfed in discord. He said that the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat had always counselled the Pakistani leaders to maintain a distance from extremist ele-ments. However out of a fear of losing their grip on power the majority of leaders had failed to heed such warnings and had involved themselves with various forms of nego-tiation and deals with the ex-tremist religious right. He said

that any system that bowed down to such religious ele-ments was bound to fail and lead to turmoil and despair.

It was the duty of every Ahmadi Muslim to profess love to his chosen country. Each Ahmadi Muslim had an obligation towards work-ing for a better future for his country and his fellow citi-zens. Citing Pakistan as an ex-ample he said Ahmadis were treated as inferior citizens and had suffered the most barbaric cruelty, however this had never stopped them from being utterly loyal to the nation. He said that Paki-stan had been founded upon

the sacrifice of thousands of lives and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat would al-ways do its utmost to make sure that those lost lives were not taken in vain. He said:

“As citizens of any coun-try, we Ahmadi Muslims, will always show absolute love and loyalty to the State. Every Ahmadi Muslim has a desire for his chosen coun-try to excel and should al-ways endeavour towards this objective. Whenever a country requires its citi-zens to make sacrifices the Ahmadiyya Muslim Ja-maat will always be ready to bear such sacrifices for

the sake of the nation.”His Holiness continued:“We feel pain and distress

when any nation suffers and we share the grief and pain of others. Thus whenever any country faces difficulty we try our utmost to alleviate their suffering. That is what the founder of Islam, the Holy Prophet Muhammad, taught us. It was the Holy Prophet who counselled that you should put your own pain to one side in an effort to alleviate the suffering of all of mankind. It is thus that the Ahmadiyya Muslim Ja-maat is involved in spreading humility, love and kindness.”

Loyalty to Country is Part of IslamReligious Extremists have no place in Society - Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad

National Peace Symposium at Baitul Futuh Mosque in London organized by Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in UK.

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SHOP N SAVE SUPERMARKET

The more you shop, the more you save!SHOP N SAVE new Market

Branch opens to serve

Fiji’s leading su-permarket chain – SHOP N SAVE has opened its newest

outlet in Nadi on Friday, June 1 in a location which is con-venient to thousands of cus-tomers.

Located right opposite the Nadi Market, the new out-let which is being referred to as the “Market Branch” is already gaining popular-ity amongst customers only within a month of operations.

Even though the company was severely affected dur-ing the recent floods, the re-silience within the SHOP N SAVE management and staff and the confidence they have in Nadi did not make them think twice to open up a com-pletely new shop for custom-ers.

“We believe that the lo-cation of our new shop, just opposite the market and very

By SHALENDRA PRASAD close to the bus stand, is ideal from a customer convenience point of view. Our company has consistently followed the policy of being present in lo-cations that allow our custom-ers to shop with convenience and comfort and this location is in keeping up with that pol-icy,” offered company CEO Kavishay Abhimannu.

According to Mr Abhi-mannu, response from cus-tomers has been overwhelm-ing since the supermarket opened.

“The response has been encouraging so far. This is in line with expectations when-ever a new branch is opened by any major supermarket. We shall now strive to retain most of our new and exist-ing customers by offering them the best value for their money.”

Asked on what kind of benefits customers can expect from the outlet, Mr Abhiman-nu said: “It has been our con-

tinuing endeavour to provide the best value to our custom-ers by offering them optimum range, best prices and a clean and hygienic shopping envi-ronment. Customers at our

new outlet can expect all of the above.”

The company employs fourty-five staff in the new outlet while having a total workforce of one hundred

and fifty workers in the entire Nadi area.

“When our shop in Lodhia Street was closed following the floods, the company took a conscious decision of retain-

ing our staff by distributing them across our branches in Nadi and Namaka. Now that the new branch has opened, the staffs have been pulled in for the new branch.”

The new Market Branch was a hive of activity on opening day. Photos: SAJNEEL ROHIT.

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SHOP N SAVE SUPERMARKET

SHOP N SAVE Su-permarket contin-ues to invest heav-ily in the tourism

capital of Nadi in more cre-ative ways.

The company intends to continue further development of its Namaka Complex – the largest commercial property in the entire Nadi area.

Apart from investing heav-ily in the central business dis-trict (Nadi town area), work is also progressing well in the company’s Namaka Com-plex.

“The second phase of de-velopment of our Namaka complex has commenced and construction work is progressing well,” informed Shop N Save CEO Kavishay Abhimannu.

“In this phase, we shall offer two levels of serviced apartments and one level of retail and office space.”

So for those who are look-ing for quality accommoda-tion and office space in a modern and flood free envi-ronment - look no further than the Shop N Save Namaka Complex.

The company is also plan-ning to turn its flood ravaged Lodhia Street Branch into something attractive for cus-tomers with more retail out-lets, a bakery, bottle shop and much more.

“Soon we have planned to set up the Lodhia Street build-ing as a small shopping com-plex (mall) with certain busi-

More plans for developmentBy SHALENDRA PRASAD

By SHALENDRA PRASAD

nesses operated by ourselves and space for other small businesses such as a DVD

Store, Internet Store, Copy Centre, Barber shop etcetera,” Mr Abhimannu added.

“We will operate a bakery – like the one in our Namaka complex, a restaurant and a

liquor outlet from the Lodhia Street outlet.”

Shop N Save Supermarket

also has a large outlet at Sahu Khan Street in Nadi Town as well.

The Shop N Save Namaka complex will soon have more retail and office spaces together with residential apartments for lease. Interested parties can contact the management for more information. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

All that you can drink...

The new SHOP N SAVE Supermarket Market Branch has everything you need to drink.

The outlet carries a wide range of local and imported wines and spirits, beers and liqueurs and many types of RTD’s.

If you are looking for the right drinks at the best pric-es available in town, there is only one name that comes to mind – SHOP N SAVE SUPERMARKET!

Get the widest range of wines and spirits at the best prices only at SHOP N SAVE.

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SHOP N SAVE SUPERMARKET

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THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER 16

SHOP N SAVE SUPERMARKET

Quality and fresh meats available at all times. You can get your meat sliced in the butcher as well. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

Service with a smile...the friendly staff at the New Market Branch are ready

to serve customers to the best of their satisfaction. The advanced point

of sale machines mean customers are able to check-out faster. Photo:

SHALENDRA PRASAD.

Everything under one-roof

at new outletBy SHALENDRA PRASADIf you are looking for quality products and great service

all under one-roof, the newly opened Market Branch of SHOP N SAVE Supermarket is the best place to be.

From groceries, frozen goods, wines and spirits, to cosmet-ics and personal care products, you name it, and the new store has it all – that too at the right price which will suit your budget.

“The more you shop, the more you save” – which is the slogan of the supermarket chain is not a mere statement but a commitment to its customers and it is followed daily in all Shop N Save outlets Fiji wide.

According to shop manager Minesh Prasad, customers are really enjoying their shopping experience at the new outlet since its opening almost a month ago.

“We are getting a very good response from our customers and more and more people are now taking advantage of our great products coupled with even better prices and a friendly service,” Mr Prasad said.

The new outlet which is directly opposite the Nadi Mar-ket is open seven days a week as follows: - Monday – Wednesday 7am-7pm, Thursday 7am-7.30pm, Friday 7am-8pm, Saturday 7am-7.30pm and Sunday 7am-1pm.

Customers shopping on opening day of the new Market Branch. Photos: SAJNEEL ROHIT.

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THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER17

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THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER 18

CAPTAIN COOK CRUISES FEATURE

Reef Endeavour marks a milestone

By SAJNEEL ROHIT

By SAJNEEL ROHIT

Captain Cook Cruises Fiji owned cruise ship MV Reef En-

deavour for the first time berthed at the Port Denarau Marina before leaving for the seven-nights northern divi-sion cruise on Tuesday, June 5.

The 1996 Fijian built ship which was taken away to op-erate around the Great Bar-rier Reef - world’s biggest reef situated in Queensland, Australia under Captain Cook Cruises Australia was brought back in the country after fif-teen-years in 2010 following the unfortunate grounding of MV Reef Escape in a tropi-cal cyclone that left the vessel un-repairable in Fiji.

Today MV Reef Endeav-our boasts as Fiji's, biggest, one and only exotic and most luxurious small ship which is cruising the Fiji Waters.

To bring flavor to the aus-picious occasion the Fiji Po-lice Band kept the atmosphere electrified by entertaining the crowd during the two hours of function to mark the arrival of the ship into Port Denarau and its subsequent tour of the northern division.

To add on, the 73-meter MV Reef Endeavour is built to carry over 3000 tonnes, ca-pable of carrying maximum of 150 passengers with 75 cabins.

It was the first time yester-day that the ship reached the Port Denarau since its opera-tion in Fiji.

This was made possible by the Fijian Government

through its Ministry which completed the dredging of Port Denarau Marina at a cost of $4 million.

The dredging works has increased the depth from 3.5 to 5 meters to allow super yachts and small cruise ships an easy access.

Minister for Works, Trans-port and Public Utilities Colo-nel Timoci Lesi Natuva who was the chief guest at the spe-cial occasion thanked Captain Cook Cruises Fiji for their contribution to the tourism in-dustry in Fiji.

"My Ministry through the Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji [MSAF] is also working closely with the Government Shipping Service [GSS] in improving Fiji’s navigational aids around our waters," as-sured Colonel Natuva.

He added that Fiji is fast becoming the super yacht hub of the South Pacific with Port Denarau Marina positioning itself as the main port for op-erations to which the govern-ment's initiative of the dredg-ing would be beneficial.

Managing Director of

Captain Cook Cruises Com-mander Semi Koroilavesau thanked the Fijian Govern-ment for their huge support to dredge the Port to make MV Reef Endeavour possible to dock at the Port Denarau Ma-rina.

"The dredging has brought huge benefits to us as before we used to dock out at sea and had to go for refueling and resupplying at the Lautoka Wharf, so now we are able to save up with the cost of trav-elling to Lautoka."

"This not only provides benefits to us but to other su-per yachts as well," the Com-mander added.

MV Reef Endeavour which operates all year around embarked on its cruise with more than 95 passengers on board to circumnavigate the northern division with a seven-nights cruise follow-ing the official ceremony and returned to Port Denarau to embark on another important journey – The Pamper Me Cruise which departed the port with its initial cruise on Tuesday, June 12.

1 2 3

4 5

6

CAPTIONS:1. Captain Cook Cruises founder Captain Trevor

Haworth.2. Honourable Minister

Timoci Natuva.3. MV Reef Endeavour at

Port Denarau. INSET: Some members of the crew.

4. Staff in a jovial mood.5. Managing Director Com-mander Semi Koroilavesau.6. Guests onboard ready for the northern division seven-

nights cruise. PHOTOS: SAJNEEL ROHIT.

'Pamper Me' cruise launched

Captain Cook Cruises Fiji for the first time ever estab-lished an extraordinary four-night exclusive, indulgent 'Pamper Me' Yasawa Island cruise onboard MV Reef En-deavour which is Fiji's big-gest, one and only exotic and most luxurious ships cruising the Fijian waters.

The cruise has been made special with the inclusion of two top New Zealand fash-ion experts, the pair of twin sisters Cheryl Polwart and Karen Matich who shared life changing tips and educated men and women onboard how to create new looks to match with different environments.

The twin sisters operate a fashion shop in New Zealand called the Polwarth Design and are the leading fashion consultants there.

They took time out from their busy schedule so that they can be part of the cruise as they noticed that this was an amazing chance for them to showcase their twenty-

seven-years of experience in working with women, and share their passion for style, fashion and inner beauty.

The duo said that they have this craze to promote women empowerment by sharing their love and knowledge of fashion and beauty.

Ms Powart said that in her life she has travelled through Europe, America and the South Pacific; however she has never experienced the cruise ship lavishness.

"I am extremely excited about this Pamper Me cruise and hope to share my knowl-edge of fashion and beauty at my best," said Ms Powart before departing for the inau-gural cruise on Tuesday, June 12.

Both the sisters have been running body workshops with great success over the past five-years which has been incredibly, empowering and inspiring.

They commented that it was great to watch women gain confidence in their own body, style and self image.

Karen and Cheryl had de-

veloped three fashion work-shops for the 'Pamper Me' Cruise in which they provided tips about body lining, how to avoid fashion disasters and shared their experiences with the facts of how to lose 5-ki-los without putting your run-ning shoes on.

"No matter how pretty or beautiful we are, we always feel that there is always some-thing the other person has and we don't, so we are here to help you to overcome these situations," she added.

To give more flavor to the cruise the duo were joined by beauty expert Debra Sadranu, Managing Director of South Pacific Academy of Beauty Therapy and the Senikai Spas Fiji.

While on board, Mrs Sa-dranu revealed the new trends in makeup and also revealed some of her secrets behind weight loss, body sculpting and beauty therapy.

Sadranu also advised and conducted workshops with Cheryl and Karen.

"I will be looking on the beauty side of the workshops

whereby I will be advising people on the skin types and the specified products to use on it," she said before depart-ing for the inaugural cruise.

In the workshop she also talked on methods of how to feel good, how the detoxifica-tion process can help remove toxins from the body and the benefits of sea minerals to our body with a touch of weight loss tips.

Good looks are a major concern of today's people so Ms Debra Sadranu through her knowledge also elabo-

rated on the application of makeup and the dos and don'ts when applying them.

The specialists from two different paths (beauty and fashion) of work combined to offer the Pamper Me experi-ence onboard the MV Reef Endeavour for the first time in the history of Fijian cruising experience.

The Pamper Me cruise has been initiated by Captain Cook Cruises Sales Manager New Zealand Anne Radonich after discussing it with Cher-yl, Karen and Debra.

Ms Radonich said that this is the first time this sort of cruise has been organized in Fiji.

"This is an addition to the activities to the cruise and we would love to continue with this after looking at the response of the people on board," Ms Radonich said.

It will be interesting to see what these overseas and local fashion and beauty experts' have to offer and how they indulge and work together to provide the best service to the people onboard.

(From L-R): Twin sisters Karen Matich and Cheryl Polwart with Managing Director of Se-nikai Spas Fiji Debra Sadranu before boarding the cruise ship MV Reef Endeavour (in the

background). Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

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THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER19

CAPTAIN COOK CRUISES FEATURE

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THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER 20

VODAFONE BULA FESTIVAL 2012

There is light at the end of the tunnel. There is sunshine after the rain. There is hope and the Bula smile after the floods of January and March, 2012.

We may have lost homes. We may have lost belongings. But we will not sit down and cry forever.

Message from Nadi Bula Festival

Association President Mrs Titilia Vuataki

Festival brings hope and smiles back to The Jet TownWe will stand with hope

in our hearts. We will smile our famous bula smiles and we will hear the cries of de-light of our children as they ride the merry go rounds. We will hear the delight of our crowds at the entertainment stages. We will admire our contestants as they appear for public judges or parade past in their floats led by marching bands. We will have fun and be happy.

The flood will not continue to dampen our spirits. We will put our hands in our pockets and help the 23 primary and 27 secondary students who lost all their school things and belongings at the last two floods and seek our as-sistance.

We will not turn them away. We will hear their pleas and bring hope and the bula smile to them. All this will be possible with the as-sistance of our sponsors and I acknowledge and thank our major sponsor Vodafone and all other sponsors. Without

your assistance this festival will not be possible.

I thank Nadi Town Council for their assistance in provid-ing the festival grounds and an office to the Nadi Bula Festival Association. I thank the Acting Commissioner Western for launching this year’s festival and also the District Officer for his help.

I thank the media espe-cially FBC, Fiji Sun and THE JET Newspaper for their promotion of this year’s fes-tival events. I thank Tom and Tracey for giving us the ven-ue. You are beside the Nadi River and were badly flooded this year. But you came back again with your Bula Smile.

Lastly, but not the least I acknowledge and thank the hardworking team at the Nadi Bula Festival Association and their families for their tire-less work behind the scenes in bringing the events for this festival together.

Above all I acknowledge our Father in Heaven for hs grace in all things.

Ayubovan...Vodafone Fiji’s chief marketing officer Sanjeewa Perera reaffirms their spon-sorship for the Bula Festival with NBFA president Mrs Titilia Vuataki. Photo: RAMESH

STUDIO.

Speech by Chief Marketing Officer, Sanjeewa Perera, Vodafone Launch-ing of Vodafone Bula Festival 2012

Our Chief Guest The Act-ing Commissioner Western, Mr. Luke Moroivalu, Madam President and Executives of Bula Festival Commit-tee, Members of the Media, Contestants, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentle-man.

Good evening, Cola vina, salaam weilekum and Na-maste!

Before I give my for-mal address about tonight’s launch, I would like to salute the Spirit of the Nadi people. Your “Never Say Die Atti-tude” is an attribute that the whole of Fiji can be proud of. You have shown the whole of Fiji that life must go on de-spite all adversities.

And have live up to your popular and familiar slogan – O Nadi Ko.

Who could have imagined that Nadi will be hosting the Vodafone Bula Festival next month when just two months back, the whole of Nadi town and the greater Nadi area experienced the worst ever flooding in its history. The roads, the businesses, the in-frastructure even the Koroiv-olu Park where this festival will be staged was damaged

beyond imagination. There was nothing but total despair and a sense of hopelessness everywhere.

But 3 months on, as time has healed some of those solemn moments, I must ac-knowledge the fighting spirit of all the people of Nadi to once again get on with their normal lives. Of course, Vo-dafone as a responsible corpo-rate citizen, played its part to assist where it could through flood relief campaigns, en-abling communications and of course through sponsorship such as the Bula Festival.

With the theme this year – Festival of Hope and Smile, we will assist the Committee and Nadi Town Council in bringing this theme to reality. Ladies and gentlemen, our support of the Vodafone Bula Festival is yet another effort by the company to revive Nadi and bring back some fun and glory to the Jet-set Town. Here, I must acknowledge the support of other sponsors and especially those who have sponsored a queen to raise money for the charity.

Your presence here tonight demonstrates your genuine desire to contribute to such

a great cause. In the coming weeks and during the week-long festival we will see the melting pot in action with a mix of all ages, gender, reli-gion and culture coming to-gether for a common good. For this reason alone our sup-port of the festival is a success as it promotes and breeds, re-spect, mutual trust and under-standing amongst our people to make Fiji a harmonious place to live.

If we can forget our dif-ferences and focus on our strengths and unity, we can surmount any problems fac-ing our nation. I would like to thank the organizers for their commitment and hard work to stage the carnival. An event of this magnitude is not easy to organize and requires dedi-cation, commitment and hard work but the results of your labor will have lasting impact on many lives that are desper-ate for assistance with little opportunities open to them.

Vodafone Fiji has been proud sponsor of this im-portant carnival and we are excited that we are partners in this annually much antici-pated event The funds raised from this carnival will go to-

wards many worthy projects. Vodafone itself and through the Vodafone ATH Fiji Foun-dation has contributed over $9million dollars in the last eight years to touch the lives of many in the society. We are company that cares not

only in word but in deeds. We urge other corporate

bodies to come forward to get the satisfaction and pleasure of giving back to the commu-nity as it truly makes doing business more meaningful. Ladies and gentlemen thank

you for your time and thank you for supporting the Voda-fone Bula Festival 2012and I look forward to attending the festival next month.

As we like to say at Voda-fone, power to you. Vinaka & God Bless you all.

More pictures from the launching...

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THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER21

VODAFONE BULA FESTIVAL 2012

2012 Vodafone Bula Festival contestants pose for a group shot during the launching of this year’s festival at the New Nadi Farmers Club on Saturday, June 16. Sitting from left are:- Me-lissa Bonaveidogo, Adi Salote Tagilala Caginidaveta and Laisa Yabakisiga. Standing from left to right are:- Seruwaia Navukitu, Pasemaca Rosinileba, Yurika Andrews, Shahin Shahista,

Nafisah Sahim, Fiona Pirie and Ilisapeci Naisua. Photos: EMOSI LASAQA.

TEN beautiful girls will vie for the prestigious Voda-fone Bula Festival crown in the next two-weeks as Nadi gets prepared for the biggest charity event of the western division.

As usual, the festivities will be held at Nadi’s Prince Charles Park and Koroivolu Park respectively from July 7 – 14 following the official launching on Saturday, June 16 at the New Nadi Farmers Club.

Entering the 52nd year of festivities, the Bula Festival is proudly the only festival in the country with an unbroken

By SHALENDRA PRASAD

Are you ready?record and has been held ev-ery year since its inception in 1960.

The festival was officially launched by the acting divi-sional commissioner western Luke Moroivalu (pictured) in the presence of hundreds of supporters, festival sponsors and contestants.

Mr Moroivalu while

launching the festival said the Fijian Government is grateful to the Nadi Bula Festival As-sociation for having the cour-age of going ahead with the festival this year despite the two devastating floods which wreaked havoc in the tourism capital and the greater west-ern division.

“Government is grate-ful that the two devastating floods did not dampen the spirits of the Association committee and supporters in running this annual festival which has been the trend for the last fifty-one years,” Mr Moroivalu said.

“They are to bring hope

and the Bula smiles to Nadi,” Mr Morivalu added in ref-erence to this year’s theme which is “Festival of Hope and Smiles”.

Mr Moroivalu noted with pleasure that the funds raised this year will be directed to-wards the Foundation for Education of Needy Children (FENC Fiji) which is work-ing very hard to support the education of children who can be classified as “poorest of the poor” and also assist the Loloma Home Orphanage.

“I would like to encour-age business houses, tourism operators and members of the Nadi community to assist

these children who are going to be our leaders tomorrow,” Mr Moroivalu said.

Bula Festival Association president Titilia Vuataki took the opportunity to thank ev-eryone who have stood up and supported the Association in both good and bad times.

“There is light at the end of the tunnel. There is sunshine after the rain. There is hope and the Bula Smile after the floods of January and March 2012,” Mrs Vuataki said as the opening statement of her official address.

“We may have lost homes. We may have lost belongings, but we will not sit down and

cry forever,” Mrs Vuataki said.

Mrs Vuataki also thanked Vodafone Fiji for continuing their support as major spon-sors, the Nadi Town Council for their years of continued support and everyone in-volved with the festival in one way or another.

She has also requested members of the public to come up in large numbers to support the festival this year.

For regular updates, and contestant profiles, keep fol-lowing our website www.thejetnewspaper.com and our Facebook Page www.face-book.com/thejetnewspaper.

Bula Festival is Back!

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THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER 22

TASTE BUDS

By BRENDON COFFEYExecutive Chef

Sofitel Fiji Resort & Spa

So why do you want to be a chef?

A very cliché question that usually prompts a very cli-ché answer, “Because I love cooking!”

This is a question I used to ask until it dawned on me that it really is a bit of a stupid question in as much as that anyone applying to work in a kitchen wouldn’t really tell you otherwise.

This particular topic comes up as we have recently taken on a number of trainees in our Kitchens to do their in-dustry placements and I just love meeting all these young exuberant, passionate young chefs just starting out on what can be a very inspiring career.

It excites me to hear of their goals and ambitions knowing where my cook-ing ventures have taken me. The down side is that I meet so many of these budding young Chefs, I would like to give them all an opportunity but alas only have one or two positions available at any one time.

It is a growing and very popular career path to take. Of course this was not always the case. So the following is a bit of my own experience wrapped up in a little advice that I maybe able to offer Fi-ji’s future executive and head Chefs.

Cooking was certainly not a path I had purposely chosen. My initial vocational goal was to first….get out of school as fast as I possibly could. I am probably not alone in saying that “I only went to school to eat my lunch” unfortunately most days my lunch got sto-len. This subconsciously may have attributed to my sec-ond goal of wanting to be a policeman. So out of school and straight to the local po-lice station I went. Imagine the disappointment only to hear “suggest you go back to school, do two more years and grow another inch or so”. Thank you very much…. but I do not want to be a police man that badly.

As I had been working part time as a kitchen hand while at school, yes that’s right wash-ing pots, scrubbing floors and cleaning up after some very dysfunctional cooks, I took up a full time role as kitchen hand - just until I decide what I want to do of course.

Something about the buzz and hype of the kitchen ap-pealed, it gets into your veins and there is no going back. I can’t tell you why, it just is, the heat, the long hours, the cuts, the burns, the yelling on the pass, back to back shifts, little or no social life, you live, eat (no pun intended) and breath cooking.

I’m not so sure my par-ents were that impressed with

my new found career path. The hospitality trap was still very young and wasn’t really viewed as a “Profession”.

I remember my Dad tell-ing a friend of his that I had chosen to be a cook and was looking to do an apprentice-ship. “Really” was the reply with an obvious glance of “Oh so he didn’t do so well at school then!”

It was the beginning of a great career that I wouldn’t change for anything. For those looking at or starting out in cookery, it is important to understand what hospitality is about and why you want to be there.

You must be prepared to work hard and you have to be passionate about what you do. These are possibly the two most important attributes you can have. Of course it is good to have cookery certificates and diplomas and I encourage you to follow these courses, but all the paper qualifications in the world won’t matter if you don’t have a positive and teachable attitude coupled with hard work and passion.

I encourage all young Chefs to get as much experi-ence and exposure to other ideas as possible, you have to read cookery magazines and books, you have to watch food television, venture out and try foreign tastes and flavors, just saturate yourself in as much as you can in re-

gard to food. One of the best ways to do this is through the internet. Next to a couple of good sharp knives, the inter-net is one of the best tools you can have. You can virtually visit and browse some of the best restaurants in the world, browse menus, have cooking demonstrations by some of the most renowned Chefs of the culinary world and view gallery upon gallery of artful presentations that will leave you inspired and hungry for more.

Networking and sharing your ideas and experiences is also very important and one of the best ways to do this is through Associations such as the Fiji Chefs Association. FCA is part of a larger net-work called The World Asso-ciation of Chefs' Societies, or WACS in short.

WACS is a global network of chefs associations first founded in October 1928 at the Sorbonne in Paris. At that first congress there were 65 delegates from 17 countries, representing 36 national and international associations.

Today, this global body has 93 official chefs associations as members that represent over 10 million professional chef’s world wide.

Fiji Chefs Association is currently undergoing resur-gence with a number exciting events and initiatives over the coming months. This starts

with an open day in Suva on the 29th of June at the Holi-day Inn.

A day for all chefs, train-ees and industry partners to come along meet, network and of course be encouraged to be involved.

Fiji Chefs Association will also launch “Women in WACS, a branch of the Chefs Association dedicated to the ladies of our kitchens allow-ing them to connect, share and be mentored by oth-ers from our global kitchen. There will also be “Interna-tional Chefs Day” in October

and watch out for November and “Moffat Fiji National Sa-lon Culinaire”.

This no doubt the highlight of any Chefs calendar with three days of cooking com-petitions that challenge, in-spire and up skill our pacific kitchen brigade. These three days see a wonderful array of skill, ideas and that driv-ing culinary passion that I am always alluding to. See some of these creations from 2011 competitions.

For more information come and join us. Fiji Chefs group is on Facebook.

Lamb Static

Prawn Dish

Static Dessert

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THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER23

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09 July 2012 (Monday) 12pm - 3.30pm Penang Sangam High School

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13 July 2012 (Friday) 12pm – 3.30pm Nadi SKKMC, College

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Students with offer letters can always come to USP Lautoka Campus for enrolment & registration between 16 July and 20 July 2012 on the times given above. General Service Fee is $33.50 per semester from 2011

Please note that Lautoka Campus will be going online for its enrolment for semester two, 2012 from 26 June 2012. This means that you can register from anywhere provided you do have a student password.

Applicationfornewadmissionisstillopenandwillcloseon30June2012.

Foranyfurtherclarification please contact Teresa Ali or Joseva Veresi at the USP Lautoka Campus;

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Page 24: The Jet Volume 4 Number 8

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THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER 24

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THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER25

SUPREME AUTO ACCESSORIES FEATURE

A new era in auto accessories in NadiNadi has now opened a

new Auto accessories shop that specialises in latest car accessories imported from Australia.

You can now buy latest seat covers, floor mats, air fresheners, car detailing prod-ucts and much much more at Supreme Auto Accessories in Martintar, Nadi.

After years of bringing accessories from Australia for family and friends the di-rector of Supreme Auto Ac-cessories Mr Satish Chand came up with the concept that why should people wait until someone went overseas to get good quality accessories.

“In conjunction with my younger brother, Sunil who is also in the automotive trade in Australia, we have brought the goods to your door step,” Mr Chand offered.

Mr Chand informed that Supreme Auto Accessories also provides NRL merchan-dise.

“If you are a Akuila Uate or LoteTuqiri fan, now you can show this with car prod-ucts from Supreme,” Mr Chand added.

“Even though Supreme has been in the market for a short time, we have not wasted any time in contributing towards the local community.

“Supreme was quick to sponsor the local soccer team Aries Warriors by providing jerseys, training equipment and cash funding.”

Mr Chand said sponsor-ing sporting activities for our younger ones is a good way of keeping youths off the streets and into the sporting fields and also fits well with the company’s corporate social responsibility initiatives.

Aries Warriors President Johnny Singh saluted the management of Supreme Auto Accessories for coming up with the timely donation.

“The donation from Su-preme could not have come at a better time as we were struggling financially as the day-to-day running of the club was mostly self funded,” Mr Singh said.

“Running a soccer club these days is an expensive af-fair and we also request other business houses in Martintar to come up and support us as

we are a truly Martintar based team with all local, young and upcoming players.”

According to Mr Singh the team is currently in the fifth place in the Nadi Local League competitions but the boys are working hard at im-proving their performance.

“My vision is to see that our club becomes a champion club in the Oceania region one day and only hard work by players and officials and support of the business com-munity will enable us to re-alize that dream,” Mr Singh

concluded.More information on the

team:- Aries Warriors Foot-ball Club is a registered Super Premier Football club under the Nadi Football Associa-tion.

CLUB MOTTOTalk with your feet, play

with your heart.

MISSION STATEMENTThe purpose of the Aries

Warriors Football Club is to provide a supportive environ-ment for members to develop

and mature through foot-ball participation as players, coaches, administrators and supporters.

OUR VALUESWe value: Respect for

teammates, opposition play-ers, coaches and officials,

Fair Play according to the rules and spirit of sportsman-ship. Education for coaches, players and administrators in a supportive team environ-ment. A culture of mature, responsible behaviour at all levels.

Our Sponsors: Supreme Auto Accessories

The members of Aries Warriors FC sincerely appre-ciate and thank the sponsor-ship, the time and the com-mitment from Supreme Auto Accessories for the 2012 Nadi Local League. Under the Su-preme Auto Accessories ban-ner, the team has improved a lot in terms of commitment, discipline and results.

The Executive Members: - President: Johnny Singh, VP: Sunil, Secretary: Asif, Trea-surer: Mohammed Rizwan.

Aries Warriors team members and officials pose for a group photo donning the new uniforms donated by Supreme Auto Accessories with Mr Satish Chand, extreme right. Photo: SUPPLIED. Article written by SUNIL PRASAD, SHALENDRA PRASAD AND MOHAMMED REAZ.

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THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER 26

JACKS KATCHI KIDS CORNER

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TALK BUSINESS

By PRANESH AMARSEE

Having the right attitudeBula everybody. “To be, or

not to be? - that is the ques-tion”. To be or not to be is probably the best-known line from all drama or literature. Certainly, if anyone is asked to quote a line of Shakespeare this is the one that first comes to mind for most people. It is, of course, from Shakespeare's play Hamlet, 1602 (Shake-speare's actual title is - The tragedie of Hamlet, prince of Denmarke): HAMLET:To be, or not to be: that is the ques-tion: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by oppos-ing end them? What Hamlet is musing on is the compari-son between the pain of life, which he sees as inevitable (the sea of troubles - the slings and arrows - the heart-ache - the thousand natural shocks) and the fear of the uncertainty of death and of possible dam-nation of suicide.

Now you all must be say-ing why the hell this fellow is talking Shakespeare in the Talk Business column. Well those who have done Shake-speare at some stage of their lives would understand eas-ily as to my understanding and how I have related this to modern day business. To be or not to be relates to our daily lives. To be or not to be means whether to live facing all the obstacles in our life or to sim-

ply give up and face defeat. Being in business can be ex-citing, liberating, empower-ing and rewarding. It can also be stressful, with long hours, too much to do and financial-ly challenging. Regardless of how great your idea is, if you personally cannot handle the specific stresses and rewards of being in your own busi-ness, then it is unlikely to suc-ceed. Not everyone is made to be their own boss. It is crucial you work this out for yourself before you start to quit jobs, borrow money and open your doors for business.

One of the most common challenges business own-ers face is whether “To be the best or to be the largest or simply not to be anything other than survive”.

Complacency or fear are the biggest enemies of great-ness and business owners must confront that question and be totally clear on what they are going to do about it. I suggest business owners come up with ideas of what their idea of an ideal life for themselves looks like, get some visual images of it and even the way they could con-tribute to other interests above their own and they will quick-ly identify the absolute must to implement all the strategies they need to ensure that they live life in that way. We do, however, need to unlearn the false beliefs and habits that nest in our consciousness. We do need to challenge the false self and transcend the limita-tions it imposes. We do need to reclaim the energy it drains off us in order to maintain its tyranny. As Shakespeare would say “And this above

all, to thine ownself be true, and thou cans't not then be false to any man.” The only thing to fear is fear itself'. The only thing that distinguishes an authentic leader from his false counterpart is courage. The courage to risk facing the truth. Living life is for swim-mers, surviving is for drown-ers.

Shakespeare also elabo-rates on the fact that what ever we choose, there are pros and cons to both. To live means facing the daily problems and to die does not happen easily as there is also pain and sor-row. In business the one who keeps going under all circum-stances (poor profit, no cus-tomers, increasing debt) then he will last.

One has to set firm bound-aries and protect his business from external influences. For example when you feel pres-sure from family and friends to take out cash and stock from business, there has to be a blunt no but no. Always be positive and being positive also affects your employees as positive energy is passed on. As I mentioned in my pre-vious articles, always have a network of friends and busi-ness associates as they will share ideas and perhaps indi-rectly help your business. Be-ing stubborn is a failure. If you can't set and meet deadlines or get up in the morning, forget it. Do you have the discipline to do the boring parts (there will be some, don't worry), or continually ring potential clients? Do you have the dis-cipline to do the small things every day that matter? Are you able to source work, get access to people, and able to

find suppliers? Can you make things work, or find a solution when problems occur? To be in business requires lots of mental and physical energy. It requires plenty of patients, calmness, clear conscious, positive and vibrant environ-ment, courage, self belief, self respect, respect for others es-pecially your competitor, and above all faith. Nothing can be achieved until you believe in that thing and have faith in your doings.

Having a passion for what you do is paramount. It is about believing strongly in your product or service. It is being excited about what you are doing, regardless of what other people think. Do you think you can be passionate about your business idea ev-ery day? Having passion in life is very important. Passion drives you towards success. Passion in business is about you jumping out of bed in the morning enthusiastic about the day ahead. It’s about your team coming to work every day with ideas about how to make a difference. It’s also about your customers having a smile on their face when they think about your busi-ness and coming back for more.

Experience in your trade is very important. Industry experience is all about know-ing your industry backwards. Who to talk to, what the cur-rent politics are, and what people are saying on the street. What your customers, staff and business suppliers think and expect. It's about having your finger on the pulse. Experience working in a similar field or the same

industry will of course mean that you have a greater under-standing of that market and the way in which businesses in that field work. Experience can also give you more con-fidence in a certain area than if you've never done anything like it before - you have a bet-ter idea of what to expect and can foresee problems more clearly.

Everything in life, ev-erything we do everything we say and every result we get comes from what we are thinking. We are the product of our thoughts, all of our thoughts. As such, I believe that so many more entrepre-neurs would succeed if they knew how to truly leverage the power of their infinite mind. If they knew how to set inspirational goals which then forced them to create and not just compete - forced them to use their highest faculty, to think. If they knew how to competently bridge the knowing, doing gap and how to embrace and successfully

navigate those guaranteed terror barriers in business. If they knew how to capital-ize on the power of praxis and how to really make that magic word, attitude, work for them and then finally, how to magnify the immense power of their mind. I do not subscribe to the current fear filled marketplace messages around what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur. I do however believe that anything and everything is possible and that when you back yourself, trust your thoughts and train your mind into thinking into the results which you want, you will succeed.

“We are responsible for what we are, and whatever we wish ourselves to be, we have the power to make ourselves. If what we are now has been the result of our own past ac-tions, it certainly follows that whatever we wish to be in fu-ture can be produced by our present actions; so we have to know how to act.” – Swami Vivekananda.

Having the right attitude is an important ingredient in busi-ness success. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

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ENVIRONMENT

Heart for sea turtlesBy EMOSI LASAQA

Mamanuca Environmental Society

Mamanuca Environment Society field officers Diana Tora and Matereti Mateiwai share two special things in common.

They are both from Ka-davu and have a soft spot for sea turtles.

The former's first encoun-ter with this gentle creature was at her mother's village in Ogea, Lau when she was just twelve-years old.

Mrs Tora has a degree in Marine Science from the University of the South Pa-cific, but that, she says did not prepare her for the real world challenges of turtle conserva-tion.

She agrees that helping her 'tauvus' in the Mamanucas keep turtles out of their nets was not easy at first but the progress over the years has been encouraging.

"Our village fisher-men now apply for permits through us and abide by the conditions set by the Fisheries Department. They also alert us on illegal turtle harvesting and poaching of turtle eggs by any member of the village," she said.

"I've encountered many turtles mainly hatchlings -too many to remember. After three years of the project I have observed an increase in turtle nesting in the Mamanu-cas and also a return of turtles into the area to either forage

or nest."For example when we just

started the program, Navini Island Resort told us that they can have one or two hawks-bill nests every two years but this year they recorded seven nests and also witnessed two green turtles come up to nest.

"Beachcomber hasn't had a turtle come up to nest in the past ten-years or so and this year they discovered two nests from hawksbills. Communities in Mana Island hadn't seen any turtles nesting on their beach in a very long time until last year.

"Turtles return to their na-tal beaches (beach where they hatched) to nest. So it is very important to protect our nest-ing beaches by keeping de-velopment to a minimum or having turtle friendly beaches that help turtles come up to nest and not drive them away.

"They are an endangered species and Fiji is blessed to have five of the seven species in our waters. The hawksbill and green turtles are known to nest on our beaches and the other species swim through our waters to forage," says Mrs Tora.

Twenty-Five year old Ma-tereti who started with MES this year says the journey has been very educating and ex-citing.

"Before joining MES, I only found out in the news how certain coastal villages would slaughter turtles by large numbers for their feasts (such as the case in Macuata in 2007 when they applied for a permit from fisheries and ended up killing 82 turtles).”

"But, in the short amount of time spent at MES, I have

witnessed how the issue of turtle conservation is treated differently, perhaps, we could say that the Mamanucas is just a few of the islands ac-tually sticking by the mora-torium on turtles-even those who are caught or suspected of consuming turtles are taken to task, be it a lengthy proce-dure.

"In my recent trips up to Yanuya village, villagers would inform me on the num-ber of turtles that they en-counter on their fishing trips and their sizes. To hear vil-lagers mention the increased sightings of turtles, one can tell that they are almost proud to be part of turtle conserva-tion.

"For most of us, we all want to save sea turtles, be-cause of their decline in numbers and that we want to conserve turtles so that the next generation can have the opportunity to witness them in the wild and not just read about turtles in books and how turtles disappeared or became extinct.

"In some cultures, turtles are associated with patience and longevity. Turtles have been around for about 200 million years-that in itself, is a good reason to conserve turtles," the Nabouwalu, Ono native said.

Matereti said he has en-countered about four juve-nile-adults turtles for the last five-months of field work.

"In April we were at Na-vini Island Resort conducting a shark count and it just hap-pened that a turtle nest had just hatched and there was a little more than 80 hatch-lings. Navini was special in

the sense that in the previous two-years there was not any sightings of turtle nests but this year while we were there, staff showed us seven nesting sites of Green and Hawks-bill Turtles, one of which as mentioned earlier had just hatched.

"It was a great experience to come across those hatch-lings it was my first time to dig up their nest and count up all the eggs that hatched or did not hatch."

"Another encounter was at Castaway Island Resort while on a shark count snorkelling trip. A colleague spotted a Hawksbill Turtle and we fol-lowed it along the reef to a popular dive site known as Southern Sisters -forgetting the shark count that we were supposed to do.

"There's a moratorium in place until 2018. There's only six years left and already the amount of sightings we have been hearing about is posi-tive," Matereti says.

Diana and Matereti at the MES office.

A turtle wading in the Mamanuca waters. Photos: SUPPLIED.

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BUSINESS MENTORING

By CLAIRE D. GIRALDEAUExecutive Mentoring Group

(EMG) Fiji

Changing Employee’s Mindset for Better Customer Service

A new series of articles for your business with challenging perspectives

As business advisors, we are often asked: How do we change our employee’s mind-set? We want to improve on our customer service skills and it seems like so many trainings and courses do not really achieve much result.

Lately I visited some good Fijian friends who recently migrated to Papua New Guin-ea for work purposes and they were actually recognizing the qualities of our people in Fiji. Yes this great reputation of being the friendliest people in the world becomes more ob-vious once you live or travel to other places. Yet when it comes to services especially for those who live in Fiji, it is a different story, even amongst locals.

I have been living in Fiji for 20-years; I am a “Kai viti” in a white suit as my local friends call me. I am now a very proud Fiji citizen and I get quite angry at comments demeaning and discrediting people here. I am so tired of the typical excuses like: “This is Fiji”, “Only in Fiji”. In the many organizations where I worked to imple-ment “Change Management Program” I have never seen these comments to be a real-ity. Of course we are aware that there are always in orga-nizations from all countries of the world, people who do not perform but to generalize like this is unacceptable to me.

I heard for the first time

recently another judgmental comment by an expat lady, she told me: “Fijians are lazy, In-dians are liars”…and I would add to her: well expats are arrogant…. Come on! How can someone say such a thing I was so offended. Again I do not mean to be blind to some practices, but to put everyone in the same basket is wrong. Most of you would know the 20/80 rule in management, as far my experience goes 80% of the problems come from the system and out of the 20% there is at least 10% that goes to lack of training, 5% to su-pervision and only 5% are real non productive. It is often because they are at the wrong place and not appreciated.

Now if you would like to change the mindset of your staff, it has to start with you. Beliefs and values in the orga-nization are the real drivers of the behaviors. As long as you believe that your employees are lazy, they will be, so re-view your own thinking about them first. Like Joyce Meyer puts it ‘check your stinking thinking’.

Secondly I would like to encourage employees to ex-plore seriously what they do at work. One of the greatest challenges is to remember that the work environment is different than home or the village. I recently ran a work-shop on “Cross cultural com-munication”, and that specific company had managers from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Fiji and customers from Australia. They not only

had difficulty with English speaking but more with their different management style. In a case study, we established how they did not get feedback from employees even if they asked for it.

What happens here is the autocratic management style versus the more participative one, however in Fiji most em-ployees would not dare tell “boso levu’ anything that con-tradicts what they say. They can say they understand and walk away without any idea of what to do next. In a blam-ing game, we can throw the ball here and there, but “cul-ture” is so deeply ingrained that it will demand practice to cause change. We did a sim-ple exercise with our group and presented the teams to solve a communication prob-lem with the opposite man-agement style profile…. It was such a revealing exercise for them to realize how they automatically were very “au-tocratically- participative” or “participatively-autocratic” even in the way they present-ed their small case. The New Zealand manager who was supposed to be following the Bangladesh profile (autocrat-ic) ended up getting all mem-bers of the team to present, as where the Sri-Lanka manager imposed a setting goals tech-nique for staff.

Another group mostly lo-cal staff came up with the fact that because we had put the GM in their team they made the comment in Fijian that they would not be able

to talk freely. Now on one hand the manager is willing to come down to the employ-ee’s level to get feedback but staff are still afraid to speak up (lamulamu). In reconcil-ing these dilemmas staff must be willing to come up to the management level as well. Of course a certain guarantee of freedom needs to be clear for all and learning the ropes of managers is necessary. That is what our workshop session was for.

So in order to change the mind set of your employee, you may very well have to first do an audit of the vari-ous cultures that influence your workplace. Now culture is NOT just about the coun-try your management teams come from, it is about ALL the values & beliefs that have been accepted by a person over the years. It is social, education, religion, family background that creates that melting pot even more so nowadays with people mov-ing from one country to an-other. To put it simply people always behave according to their beliefs & values, not ac-cording to the system.

I recall a client in Mexico where I was asked to con-duct a “Time Management Course” and I thought what? My God! These people are always on “mañana” mode (similar to Fiji time) and one of the slide from the train-ing center I represented was saying Time=$$$$, well not in Mexico. My mentor and business partner is an anthro-

pologist and he gave me this concept of looking at the or-ganization as a community. So I had to figure out what is it that Mexico would value as much as money, to start managing their time. I discov-ered that it was “family” and spending more time with their family would give them the motivation to better manage time at work.

We define Organizational culture on 3 levels: Beliefs & Values, Systems & Pro-cedures and Behaviors. Our premise is that Culture dic-tates Structure, Structure as-sumes Behaviors, Behaviors reflect Beliefs and Values. So if you want to change the be-haviors of people you have to tickle their beliefs.

Whether you are aware of it or not: Culture dictates struc-ture, we often refer to this as the informal structure. It is an internal system that seems to work behind the scene. It does not matter that management changes the structure; things will not change unless culture is considered in the process.

Structure assumes behav-iours is easy to refer to as we all know how many organisa-tions have tried to reengineer, downsizing and yet still things are the same even worst with less people to do the same amount of work. Most man-agement style assumes that by restructuring or putting in place a “Quality Management system” employees will be-have differently. This is just a farce it does not work, if you don’t believe me, check the

public service.Behaviours reflect beliefs

& values. People always be-have according to their beliefs. It is the difference between what people say & actually do. It often shows the lack of integrity when people do not act on what they say. Do you know the difference between “loyalty and Integrity”? Loy-alty is something outside of you; you are always loyal TO someone or something. Integ-rity is within you, it is about your own conscience, your relationship with God. When you do something wrong you know it because deep down in your heart you know, it both-ers you.

Therefore in order to man-age change you must first “audit” your organizational culture and you will discover the many inconsistencies that cause people to give up. They come to work to earn a liv-ing, the commitment is not there and honestly we can-not blame them. If you truly want to change the mindset of your employees, start look-ing at them with respect and appreciate every good thing they do. There is something magic about believing genu-inely in people, I do and the more I do the more I discover the extraordinary potential in human beings. People are the greatest asset of the organiza-tion and yet low maintenance is the usual practice. Reverse that thinking and you will see miracles happen!!! Next arti-cle title: Does your Appraisal System supports mediocrity?

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BUSINESS NOTICE BOARD

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BUSINESS NOTICE BOARD

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THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER 32

The Nadi Gujarati soc-cer team was announced the champions of the 2012 Fiji Gujarati Inter District Cham-pionship after they thrashed the Lautoka team by three goals to nil at the Prince Charles Park in Nadi on Mon-day, June 11.

The Nadi team maintained their unbeaten run throughout the tournament and touched down to glory as they were tagged favorites from the be-ginning of the tournament.

The final was dominated by Nadi and the Lautoka strike force was kept at bay by the strong wall of defense of the Green Machines.

Nadi’s right link Aslam Rahim scored the first goal in the 14th minute of the first half when he floated the ball over Lautoka goalkeeper Vishal Kumar from the left hand corner of the eighteen yard box.

Star striker and tourna-ments highest goal scorer Shabbir Ali was kept at the bench but was sent in the field of play in the 15th minute when Nadi’s Nauman Patel sustained an injury.

Nadi veteran Rajesh Mor-riswala had a couple of good chances to add a goal to his name when his shots hit the Lautoka goal post twice.

As expected Shabbir Ali of Nadi delivered his excel-lent goal scoring streak and chipped the ball over Lautoka goalkeeper in the 22nd minute to insert Nadi’s second goal.

The score remained two goals to nil at the breather in favour of the hosts.

Upon return to the second half Shabbir Ali got another goal to his name in the 2nd minute of play.

Nadi thrashes Lautoka 3-0 to lift the 57th Gujarati IDC Cup

By SAJNEEL ROHIT

Nadi continued to threaten the Lautoka goal mouth as Sagar Patel fired a shot which could have turned into a goal but was saved by the crossbar.

The Blues had a chance to pull one back in the dying minutes of the game but Nadi

goalkeeper Dharmesh Kumar denied them to do so.

It was not long after match referee Dinesh Chand puffed hard into his whistle to end the game with Nadi defeating Lautoka by 3 goals to nil.

Nadi Captain Mohit Jogia

thanked the Nadi Gujarati community for coming out in numbers and supporting his team because the win has been a long time coming.

The Nadi Gujarati soccer coach Pranesh Amarsee said that this was the best thing

that has happened to him and was one of the sweetest victo-ries Nadi has ever had.

“The team dedicates this win to their new president Captain Nitin Hiralal who is a senior pilot for our national carrier Air Pacific.”

“This is a gift to the flood affected Gujarati community of Nadi,” Mr Amarsee added.

Nadi was the only team which did not have any im-ported players and managed to claim the 57th IDC title with their local boys.

NADI GUJARATI SPORTS ASSOCIATION

The victorious Nadi Gujarati side after their win. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

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NADI GUJARATI SPORTS ASSOCIATION

Nadi Gujarati players showing their football skills against a puffed-out Lautoka side which was thrashed 3-0 by the Jetsetters in the finals of the 57th Gujarati IDC. Photos: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

Yogesh Solanki and Mohit Jogia collect the IDC Cup from BSP’s Curtis Mar and FGSA president Sashi Dhanji.

Best player and highest scorer Shabbir Ali receives his trophy from chief guest Ahmed Bhamji.

Veteran Rajesh Ratanji was in good form for the Nadi side.

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THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER 34

SPORTS

Every rugby fan who watched Fiji’s recent games against Scotland and Tonga at Churchill Park will agree that the tide has changed.

Laced with local players and current 7s reps, the Flying Fijians are slowly but surely finding their mark again.

Against an experienced Scotland outfit on 16 June, the national side managed to contain the bigger and mo-bile Scotland forwards in the scrums despite going down 37-25.

Their efforts won the hearts of the fans and rugby critics.

On Saturday June 23rd against the Ikale Tahi, they were at it again. Despite tail-ing the Tongans 9-7 at the break, they bounced back to win the game 29-17.

You had to be at Churchill Park to understand what it meant for the die-hard fans.

Flying Fijians backline coach and former 7s mentor Iliesa Tanivula believes Fijian Rugby is turning a new page.

But the standard, he said, needs to be maintained for a better picture in the near fu-

New era for Fiji Rugby

By EMOSI LASAQA ture.Asked whether he was

concerned with the number of penalties and handling errors, the one-time New Zealand rugby player of the year said he was proud of the way the current Flying Fijians are per-forming.

Tanivula said beating a team laced with experience is not easy.

“This team is made up of local players. Off course there’s lot to be done but I’m proud of the way they carry themselves. We are still in the development process but the results are showing many positives signs,” Tanivula said.

“It’s a good call by the head coach giving local based players a chance. They have been knocking on the doors for some time. Giving them opportunities will show what they have and what they can offer to the team. Come next year, we will be competitive,” the former Auckland Blues flyer says.

He also praised the perfor-mance of the 7s players like Metuisela Talebula, Nikola Matawalu, Waisea Nayaca-levu, Watisoni Votu and Ai-

sake Katonibau saying, their performance showed that it's going to be a bright future for the Flying Fijians.

Talebula made his debut against Scotland and scored his first try from his first touch and also scored two tries against the Tongans.

Nayacalevu was also im-pressive scoring two tries against Japan and Scotland respectively while Votu im-proved in every game.

Nikola Matawalu was per-haps the most impressive with his all round skills. He started as a halfback against Tonga, than played inside centre for a while before being shifted to

play fullback. Even Tongan coach, Chris-

topher Hickey was impressed.He said his boys did ev-

erything they could but the Flying Fijians played extraor-dinarily in all facets of the game.

“We would have loved to finish the PNC with a win but Fiji is always going to be im-pressive. We lost the ball and they were able to score from that. That shows their strength and I’m impressed.”

Flying Fijians skipper against the Tongans, Setefano Somoca said the concentra-tion is now for the end of year tour.

Action from the Fiji versus Scotland match at Churchill Park in Lautoka on Saturday, June 16. Photos: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

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SPORTS

Fiji Islands Classic Game Fishing Port Denarau will soon be

known as the venue for the exciting and challenging sport of GAME FISHING, with the upcoming Fiji Islands Game Fishing Classic Tournament to be held from July the 13th

to the 15th 2012. The Fiji Islands Game

Fishing Classic Tournament is been organized by the De-narau Game & Sports Fish-ing Club, and offers offshore sport fishermen three days to experience the rush of screaming reels and bent rods.

Organizers of the Fiji Is-lands Classic sponsored event expect to attract at least 20 vessels with some 100 local and international anglers, all aware of the facilities at Port Denarau, and the favorable proximity to the surrounding deep water fishing areas.

With over $15,000 worth of prizes and various trophies up for grabs, the event prom-ises to be highly competitive and exciting one. The major-ity of anglers will no doubt will be focusing their efforts on tagging and releasing bill fish for maximum points.

Boats will depart Denarau Marina daily and return by 5 pm each evening for the daily weigh in spectacle. Every afternoon all of day’s catch-es are weighed and points awarded to participating an-glers. Spectators are welcome to come and witness some of

the surrounding oceans bigger catches.

For registration details or further information please email the Denarau Game & Sports Fishing Club: [email protected] or contact Marc McElrath on Mobile: 9997 230.

By DGSFC - Port DENARAU

Green Machine in top gear

By SHALENDRA PRASAD

Pictures from the Nadi versus Labasa clash on Saturday, June 23 at Prince Charles Park. Nadi won 3-0.

Nadi coach Master Kamal Swamy, left, and interim presi-dent Tarun Patel during the games.

The Nadi side pose for a group photo before going on to thrash visitors Labasa 3-0 at Prince Charles Park. Photos: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

FIVE back-to-back wins and a lead in the Fiji Sun / GP Bat-teries National League series points’ ladder are enough reasons for Nadi fans to celebrate their teams’ recent performance.

Following the fourth consecutive league win against neigh-bors Nadroga, the jetsetters gained the first spot and further cemented their lead after defeating Labasa 3-0 at home on Sat-urday, June 23.

The win gives the jetsetters twenty-three points ahead of Ba and Lautoka which share the second and third spots respec-tively.

“We have eight games remaining for the league series,” of-fered team director Kamlesh Narayan.

He also thanked coach Kamal Swamy for his dedication to-wards the team.

“Kamal has also brought in Imdad Ali to help out the team as they are good friends and we deeply appreciate the commit-ment from them.”

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