The Jet Volume 4 Number 9

For daily updates click www.thejetnewspaper.com tomorrow’s news todayIssue:37 JULY 31, 2012 PRICE: 50 CENTS VIP

What is believed to be a gi-ant leap in the conversation of sea turtles, the Mamanuca Environment Society (MES) launched its ‘turtle Conser-vation Project’ at the Cast-away Island Resort on Friday, June 29.

the society in 2006 in-cluded a new project among its existing list of projects, in recognition of the plight of groups to preserve sea turtles and to stop drastic decline in turtle population.

Various strategies put into action together with stake-holders, member island re-sorts and villagers have ever since resulted in many breed-ing and nesting grounds being discovered in and around the Mamanuca Group.

MES with other organisa-tions in Fiji are working to gather information to finalise a turtle Conservation Plan for Fiji – a first of its kind in the entire Pacific region.

this is led by the Fiji De-partment of Fisheries, WWF, and the Institute of Marine Resources of USP, which is working with a number of NGO's, communities and the tourism industry stakeholders to assist in collecting data.

three hawksbill turtles were released into the sea during the launch of the proj-ect at Castaway Island, as this was the implementation of the project by the hands of Castaway Island Resort owner Geoffrey Shaw and the tui Lawa - Ratu Sevanaia Va-tunitu.

Time for turtlesSerious efforts being made by various stakeholders to save nature

By RINIKA PRAKASH Launching of the docu-ments, which contains guide-lines and regulations which can be adopted by any com-munity in the region or around the world was dubbed as "a milestone achievement", by Mr Shaw who is an environ-ment fanatic.

Betani Salusalu, project manager of the Mamanuca Environment Society said the outcomes of this project were three documents - one which contained the initiatives and the reflections of the people, second which the best prac-tice guideline and the third, was the biological report of the sea turtle conservation project. "this project is a model one for Fiji to sustain turtles in our country and can be used by other regional countries since the document is the first ever of its kind to be established anywhere in the world."

So far, more than ten tur-tles have been released from the different island resorts.

the first release was in 2008.

adi Makalesi tavaiqia of the Vuda Resource Commit-tee thanked the MES for in-cluding the Vanua of Vuda in their projects.

aNZ Bank also presented a cheque to the MES as part of their major sponsorship of the society's activities since day-one. "MES and aNZ partnership go back to when MES was established," said Linda hanfakaga, Senior Re-lationship Manager of aNZ.

"We have worked side by side on many occasions," she

added.Katarina Malo of the Glob-

al Environment Facility – Small Grants Program (GEF – SGP), which had co-funded

the project said the integra-tion of science and traditional knowledge has great potential in the conversation of nature and environment around us.

Impressed with the good work carried out by the Ma-manuca Environment Society, director of environment Jope Davetanivalu said, “What we

are witnessing here today is Rio + 20 in action,” referring to the sustainable develop-ment summit in Rio in which Fiji also participated.

Young tourists at Castaway Island Resort get a feel of a Hawksbill turtle with the resort staff members while Mamanuca Environment Society project manager Betani Salusalu

looks on. More coverage on Pages 20 and 21. Editorial comment on Page 2. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

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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) 7767574/ 6708188 FaX : (679) 6728353EMaIL : [email protected] : [email protected]

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LAYOUT BY SHALENDRA PRASAD AND MUNAUWAR KHAN. PRINTED BY MAX MARKETING AND PUBLISHING LIMITED,

VATUWAQA, SUVA. Phone: (679) 3375041.

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 on a membership drive to increase members who repre-sent all sections of the com-munity. Nadi Rotarians meet every Wednesday at Sitar Restaurant in Martintar at

6.30pm. Interested people can call club president Krupesh Patel

on 6700478

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

Rahiman on 9977058

FIJIAN WRITERS ASSO-CIATION which has been established to form the first ever formal body representing writers, poets, journalists and everyone who has a passion for writing is seeking new members. Interested people can contact Professor Subra-

mani via email:- [email protected]

Our environment is our business

RINIKA PRAKASH

From America with loveBy SHALENDRA PRASAD

By RINIKA PRAKASH

Dr Dhyan Lal, third from left, hands over a cheque of $3,000 to Red Cross Nadi president Dr Mohammed Yunus. Looking on are Mohammed Saijid, Mohammed Ijaaz and Atresh

Ram. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

a US-based philanthropist was in the country assist-ing NGO’s and individuals in need during these trying times.

Dr Dhyan Lal, a teacher, writer, social worker and a good son of Fiji has been based in the US for the past fifty-one years but has not for-gotten his roots.

he was in Nadi to donate a cheque of $3000 to Red Cross.

“I like to help people and that is why I am here,” said Dr Lal who resides in California and has also written a book “Island Boy” in 2005 mostly telling about life in an island and reflecting on the difficul-ties he had gone through as a child.

During his recent trip, Dr Lal has also assisted villagers on Yaqaga, a remote settle-ment close to Bua in Vanua Levu.

“It so happened that during my previous visit I met Ratu Dan Navuku and we quickly became friends.

“after talking for a while, he told me the story of his re-mote village which has very scarce resources so I decided to donate groceries, clothing and lights such as torches dur-ing my visit.

“as a child, life was very

difficult and my parents were very poor and sometimes they could not fulfill all our educa-tional needs.

“One day while in class four, I was told to leave the school (Samabula Govern-ment School) by my head teacher since my father had not paid the fees. Coinciden-tally, a cruise ship named Ori-ana had berthed at Suva wharf and I decided to carry lug-gage for passengers in order to collect some money for my

school fees,” Dr Lal added.he said it was this expe-

rience with the cruise liner which changed his life for-ever.

“I was able to earn one pound which was enough for my fees and other needs and also happened to meet a fine gentleman named Leonard Decaux who quickly became a friend and well-wisher.

“after returning to amer-ica, Leonard started writing letters to me and eventually

he took me to this great coun-try where I have literally done well in life as an educator,” Dr Lal informed.

While receiving the timely donation, Red Cross Nadi president Dr Mohammed Yu-nus commended Dr Lal for his generosity and his will-power to assist those in need.

“the money donated today will help us in our relief ef-forts as people are still strug-gling to get their lives back to normal,” Dr Yunus said.

Fiona Lowe donates to Nadi LibraryINtERNatIONaLLY ac-claimed writer Fiona Lowe recently visited our shores and donated books to the Nadi town Council Library on June 29.

Fiona Lowe is a multi pub-lished, award winning author, currently writing her twenty-first romance novel having written eighteen Medical Ro-mances for Mills and Boons

and two contemporary ro-mances for Carina Press.

She has also written short stories which have been pub-lished in magazines.

her novel, Boomerang Bride, has been nominated for four writing awards in 2012.

Fiona grew up in Papua New Guinea and learned to read very early as books were 'thE' entertainment at that time. Nadi town Council Librarian anita Naidu said

they were honored to had Ms Lowe at the library.

"We are so happy and hon-oured to say that an author of such a high calibre and with followers in millions has visited our little library and donated her latest book to us which have not been released yet," said Mrs Naidu.

"It was a delight to see her fans getting the chance to meet her at the Library.”

Fiona Lowe has a huge

fan base worldwide and her books are enjoyed by mostly girls and ladies everywhere as M&B has global readership.

In her most recent Medical Romance, Sydney harbour hospital: tOM'S REDEMP-tION, she wrote about Fiji.

the hero, tom's foster mum is depicted as living in Fiji. During the story, Fiona writes about a medical dele-gation attending a conference in Fiji.

Mamanuca Environment Society project manager Betani Salusalu with a staff member of Castaway Island Resort

holding a Hawksbill Turtle. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

MaKING a difference is always being emphasized on, some say it, some action it and some become a part of it.

I had the opportunity to be part of such a difference. that difference was the releasing of three hawksbill turtles at the

Castaway Island Resort and the implementation of the turtle Conservation Project by the Mamanuca Environment Society on Friday, June 29.

It was a delight to see the tui Lawa – Ratu Sevaina Vatunitu and Castaway Island Owner Geoffery Shaw releasing the turtles in the open sea and even the resort guests got the opportunity to see this great cause in action.

Jope Davetanivalu, Director of Environment described this event as Rio +20 in motion at a domestic level.

according to Emosi Lasaqa, MES Media and Public Relations Of-ficer, more than ten turtles have been released from the different island resorts.

aNZ Senior Relationship Manager West, Linda hanfakaga pre-sented a cheque of $25.555.55 to MES at Castaway Island.

this project was successfully launched through the hard work of many hardworking MES staff and their Project Manager Betani Salusalu.

"this project is a model one for Fiji to sustain turtles in our coun-try and can be used by other regional countries since the docu-ment is the first ever of its kind to be established anywhere in the world,” said Salusalu.

the event was itself was a “milestone’ achievement, just like Mr Shaw had described it and a special thanks to the sponsors of MES without whom such great work could not have been ac-complished.

Special thanks to UNDP, aNZ Bank, KPMG, aON Risks, air Pa-cific, Island Brewing (Vonu Beer).

author heidi Wills had said “We can choose to be affected by the world or we can choose to affect the world”, and MES has started of with something that will make a huge difference es-pecially to the marine life and all of us.

2


THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER3

ADVERTISEMENT



SANGAM NEWS

AusAID proud to support a first for Fiji and the Pacific Region

tISI Sangam in partner-ship with Life Insurance Corporation of India and other stakeholders includ-ing the Pacific Financial In-clusion Programme (PFIP) has launched an insurance scheme which is all set to make a difference in the lives of thousands of its members.

the scheme was officially launched on Wednesday July 11 at the Nadi Sangam Pri-mary School.

“this event marks a sig-nificant milestone with the launch of the first commu-nity based micro-insurance scheme, not only in Fiji, but the entire Pacific!” said Mr John Davidson, the Minister Counsellor, australian agen-cy for International Develop-ment (ausaID) at the launch of the new funeral insurance product.

Mr Davidson also high-lighted that “australia recog-nises the importance of im-proving financial services for the poor in the Fiji and over the last 4 years, the australian aid program had invested $4.3 million to promote finan-cial inclusion in the country.”

he also acknowledged the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LICI) and tISI San-gam, who has taken the bold step with Pacific Financial Inclusion Program (PFIP) to make insurance more accessi-

By SHALENDRA PRASAD & MERESEINI SENIKAU

ble and affordable to the poor people in the country.

at the launching, LICI acting General Manager, Mr Sanjeev Jain explained that “new clients under the scheme would only pay $14 per annum for $1,000 annual funeral coverage which was one of the lowest premiums on the market and would greatly assist the poor to cope with the financial burden of funerals.”

“the idea is not to make a sale but to contribute some-thing to the society as a good corporate citizen to make a difference in the lives of that segment of customers who have never had a chance to be covered under an insurance scheme.”

Jagannath Sami, CEO, tISI Sangam, Fiji conveyed, “this scheme is important to tISI Sangam because for the first time it reaches out to all our members who belong to vulnerable and low income families. this funeral benefit will provide them the sup-port and security they need in times of difficulties. this partnership will enable our 20,000 tISI Sangam mem-bers to have access to an af-fordable insurance product.”

this partnership, which was formed out of a demand research project (funded by the asian Development Bank (aDB), PFIP and ausaID) conducted in Fiji last year, was facilitated by PFIP with

financial assistance from au-saID.

PFIP is a Pacific-wide pro-gramme helping to provide

sustainable financial services to low income households. It is a joint project of the UN Capital Development Fund

(UNCDF) and the United Nations Development Pro-gramme (UNDP) and has received additional support

from ausaID and the Euro-pean Union. the programme is based at the UNDP Pacific Centre in Suva, Fiji.

TISI Sangam executives, members and various stakeholders pose for a group photo after the function recently. INSET: From left are, TISI Sangam national president Sadasivan Naicker, LICI’s acting general manager Sanjeev Jain, PFIP’s Anne Nacola, Minister Counsellor, Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) John Davidson, PFIP’s Rueben Summerlin and Sangam CEO Jagannath Sami. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

thE tISI Sangam Foun-dation donated over 200 fruits and vegetables potted seedlings to the Golden age home at Natabua, Lautoka on Friday, July 29.

the seedlings of Paw-paw, tomatoes, Egg Plants and Capsicum came from Sangam Nursery situated at Nawai, Nadi.

the President of tISI Sangam Lautoka, Mr. Vish-wa Nadan (JP) handed over the seedlings to the home. he was accompanied by the treasurer of tISI Sangam Foundation Mr. G Naidu and the coordinator of Sangam

TISI Sangam Foundation and Dreketi Maha Shakti Women’s Club Serve Home

By RAJNEESH LATA ofThe Golden Age Home

Nursery, Mr. Bala Dass.Nine volunteers from

Dreketi Maha Shakti Wom-en's Club together with Mr. Munesh Goundar accompa-nied the tISI Sangam Founda-tion members who prepared three gardens and planted the vegetable seedlings.

Mr. Goundar helped the Women's Club members in setting up an inter-cropping garden where they planted three vegetables in one garden.

they also assisted in weed-ing and cleaning the remaining gardens. Mr. Munesh said that this could become a model garden for the community while he explained many ben-efits of inter-cropping.

the Foundation also treat-

ed the residents with cooked lunch and provided much need companionship to them. the residents were really thankful for the nice meal provided to them.

the foundation also gave a

commitment that their mem-bers will visit the home regu-larly and look after the garden.

this initiative and service provided by Sangam Founda-tion and Dreketi Maha Shakti Women’s Club was greatly ap-preciated by the Management and Board of Visitors of the home.

Rajneesh Charan receives the seeds from Sangam members. Photo: SHALEN P

From left, members of the Dreketi Maha Shankti Wom-en’s Club. Photo: SHALEN P

4



LOCAL NEWS

Sofitel Resort assists school

By SHALENDRA PRASAD

By SHALENDRA PRASAD

ChILDREN of Nadi’s oldest primary school united to par-ticipate in the ‘anti Drug and Stop Child abuse’ week with a march-past and display of colorful banners and posters last month.

andrews Primary School together with many other educational institutions in the country will be observing the week-long program to raise awareness on the bad effects of drugs and child abuse.

“For the entire week, we had different programs

Andrews Primary School spreads anti drugs awarenessplanned among the children of different classes and the event culminated with a for-mal closing program on Fri-day, June 29,” said coordina-tor Famiza Fareen.

according to Ms Fareen, the main objective of marking the week-long event in their school is to empower students so that they know about drugs and stay away from it and make the right decision.

“Life is too precious to be wasted on drugs and children are getting the message across with the programs organized and are at the same time en-

joying themselves as well.”andrews Primary School

headteacher anasa Vateitei echoed similar sentiments and said they needed to create awareness on drug and child abuse was essential to ensure children do not indulge in such activities and know their rights as a child.

“I am excited looking at the activities and I also got a bit emotional looking at the march and the various post-ers and banners displayed by children,” Master Vateitei said.

“We have seen that these

days the prevalence of drug abuse is on the rise and we have seen that apart from marijuana, more hard drugs like cocaine are ending up on our streets so we want to em-power children to stay away from drugs and make the right decision when it comes to choosing the right path.”

“the country can go down the drain if we are not care-ful,” Master Vateitei warned.

“Our decision today will very much benefit children who are now in school and are going to be our future leaders.”

Sofitel Fiji Resort & Spa general manager Adam Laker, right, hands over a cheque of $6000 to Andrews Primary School manager Pyara Singh. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

aNDREWS Primary School has received a major boost fol-lowing the donation of $6000 from Fiji’s leading five-star re-sort – Sofitel Fiji Resort & Spa.

While handing over the cheque to the school management, Sofitel general manager adam Laker acknowledged the piv-otal role the school is playing in the larger Nadi community by education children who are the future leaders of the country and also ready to assist those affected during natural disasters.

he said the school was strategically located to help mem-bers of the community during floods as the premises served as shelter to hundred of affected families when it matters the most.

“the support to your school is going to be an ongoing as-sistance from our resort and more assistance will be coming to you in form of conservation and environment protection initia-tives,” Mr Laker said.

“this school has stood tall during times of need and many of our staff members were also sheltered here during the height of the recent floods. to the many children, who are listening to me today, our association with your school from today on-wards is not just a one-off event and we are looking at a long-term partnership here.

“For those who want to become part of Fiji’s tourism and hospitality industry when you grow up, you will be always welcome to join us at Sofitel,” Mr Laker offered.

Kids with playcards. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.



NADI GUJARATI SAMMELAN 2012

Time to unite and move forward : HiralalBy SHALENDRA PRASAD

MEMBERS of Nadi’s influen-tial Gujarati community came in large numbers to be part of their annual ‘sammelan’ (get-together) and also celebrated the win of their soccer team in the 57th Gujarati IDC Soccer tournament at Kshatriya hall on Sunday, July 15.

and the president of the Nadi Gujarati Samaj, Cap-tain Nitin hiralal had only one clear message for his members – unite to serve the community, town and country with the utmost dedication.

Captain hiralal who was relatively impressed with the large participation of mem-bers said the time had come for all Gujarati’s in town to unite and help take Fiji for-ward.

“I am very impressed with the number of people that has turned up for the function to celebrate our soccer victory and enjoy each other’s com-

pany at the same time,” Cap-tain hiralal said.

“the main objective of the event was to get the entire Gujarati community together so that we can work as a unit beyond our personal agen-das – to unite as a group and make a real difference in the community with various ini-tiatives.

“We want to go beyond ourselves and this will only be possible if we work as a unit so that we can also contribute effectively in the national af-fairs of our beloved country.

“I can see almost 99% participation in this function even though we had only two weeks with us to organize it and I am very happy with the level of participation,” Cap-tain hiralal added.

he said the Gujarati fra-ternity is of great importance to the country and is the eco-nomic power-house of the na-tion.

“Majority of the business-

es owned and operated in the country are run by Gujarati’s so our economic contribution towards national building is already very huge,” Captain hiralal added.

“We now need to look at national development, com-munity development, and we would like to carry out phil-anthropic work on a commu-nal basis and at a larger scale as we see most of our mem-bers who are actually carrying out such work at the moment are doing it at an individual level,” Captain hiralal con-cluded.

Meanwhile, Kshatriya hall was a hive of activity dur-ing the event and apart from members of the Gujarati com-munity, other leading com-munity and business leaders were also invited to be part of the celebrations.

It was also a time for re-union for many old friends who had met each other after a lapse of many years since

many had left Nadi for green-er pastures overseas.

three former Mayors of Nadi town namely Manu Pa-tel, Dilip Khatri and Sanjit Patel who belong to the thriv-ing Nadi Gujarati community

were also part of the celebra-tions.

While Dilip and Sanjit are still Nadi citizens, Manu who was one of the most influen-tial and effective mayors of his time and is responsible for

some of the major develop-ments in the eighties, fruits of which are now being enjoyed by the current municipality, now resides in US where his family runs a chain of hotels.

The three former mayors of Nadi. From left, Dilip Khatri, Sanjit Patel and Manu Patel. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

Photo MagicBy Shalendra Prasad

6



ROTARY CLUB OF NADI

Patel is Rotarian number oneBy RINIKA PRAKASH

Nadi Rotary gets major boost with donation of $28K from

PNG counterparts

KRUPESh Patel is the new President of the Rotary Club of Nadi.

he takes over the top po-sition from ardent Rotarian and former Mayor Sanjit Pa-tel who has been serving the club diligently for a year now.

Widely known for carry-ing out various community initiatives in educational and humanitarian needs, the club is all set to continue the good work under the guidance of its new leader.

While speaking at the change-over night on Satur-day July 14, the new Presi-dent said the power of service lies at the heart of every Ro-tary.

“By making service our priority, we put the needs of others above our own,” Patel said.

“through better under-standing, we learn to respect others, with mutual respect we live with others in peace.”

“I am sure our club will put ‘Peace through Service’ at the forefront for our Rotary work this year.”

the Chief Guest for the change-over night, acting australian high Commis-sioner to Fiji, his Excellency Glenn Miles said that “Rotary is about – not being a spec-tator in life, but getting in and trying, as my father told, to get that ball and then do something with it.”

“It means to participate, contribute, engage, be part of a wider something, making

a collective effort, assisting others and in particular mak-ing a difference.”

“It means activities like the fun run today, like the excel-lent work Rotary undertook after the recent floods in dis-tributing aid food packages, like the long and ongoing support provided to hospitals and schools.”

On that same night, a do-nation of $28,598.50 by the Rotary Club of Boroko in Papua New Guinea was pre-sented by the Fiji’s Former high Commissioner to Papua New Guinea, Niumaia abu-nakawai to the Rotary Club of Nadi.

While receiving the mon-ey, the Rotary Club of Nadi members have vowed to use the money wisely to help those in need and have salut-ed their PNG counterparts for the timely boost.

“this donation means a lot to us and we are grateful to our sister club in Boroko for coming in with the timely as-sistance and also recognizing and appreciating our ground work here in Fiji,” offered former president Sanjit Patel.

Over to you sir ... outgoing president of the Rotary Club of Nadi Sanjit Patel, right, hands over the presidential chain to Krupesh Patel at the change-over night on Saturday, July 14. Photos: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

Fiji’s former High Commissioner to PNG Niumaia Abu-nakawai with Australia’s Acting High Commissioner to Fiji His Excellency Glenn Miles.

Australia’s Acting High Commissioner to Fiji His Excellen-cy Glenn Miles shares a light moment with Krupesh Patel.

8



SARADA MEDICAL CENTRE OPENING FEATURE

a new medi-cal centre has opened its doors to the

public in Nadi on Monday, July 2.

Operated by the Ramak-rishna Mission, the Sarada Medical Centre is a chari-table service of the organiza-tion and the first of its kind in the entire country whereby basic services and medicines will be provided to the mem-bers of the public for free.

“We will be only charg-ing a minimal fee of three dollars as registration fee for patients,” informed Swami tadananda of the Mission.

according to Swamiji, the Mission has been providing free mobile medical clinics to the greater western division since 2009 after the devastat-ing floods hit the region in January and has ever since seen more than 3000 patients in their 33 medical camps held between Sigatoka and tavua.

“the opening of the new Sarada Medical Centre is not a newline of service for us but a culmination of our ex-iting mobile medical clinics and with an established cen-tre to be able to better serve the community,” Swami tadananda said.

he informed invited guests that health is a major focus of operation for Ra-makrishna Mission in India

New medical centre opens in NadiBy SHALENDRA PRASAD where the organization serves

more than 8 million patients though its fifteen hospitals and 120 medical centres across the subcontinent.

While opening the new facility, District Officer Nadi Peni Koro commended the efforts and hard work of the Ramakrishna Mission in mak-ing the vital difference during times of need.

“Your organization has been providing the much needed relief efforts dur-ing the 2009 and this year’s floods which hit the western division badly and the new medical centre is going to further strengthen your good work for the community,” Mr Koro said.

he said government is ful-ly supportive of all NGO’s in the country and will continue to facilitate the necessary platform for such good work to continue for the benefit of the community.

General practitioner Doc-tor Gunasagaran Gounder and Nurse Mereia Bogitini will be providing services to the pub-lic from Monday to Friday every week.

the Ramakrishna Mission plans to later move the cen-tre to Malolo and offer much more services to the commu-nity in future. It seeks the sup-port of the community, busi-ness houses and well wishers to come forward and partici-pate in this much needed ser-vice to the needy.

First patient...District Officer Nadi, Peni Koro, who officially opened the Sarada Medical Centre gets examined by Dr Gunasagaran Gounder while Ramakrishna Mission Fiji President Swami Aparokshananda, Nadi Town Council

Special Administrator Aisea Tuidraki and guest Sat Narayan look on. Photos: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

District Officer Nadi, Peni Koro, lights the diya to of-

ficially open the centre.

Sarada Medical Centre is located at Ashram Road,

Nadi Town.




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By RINIKA PRAKASH

Kavita Raniga and Lata Pala caught in a jovial mood after the opening of the new medical centre.

Chief guest Peni Koro, the District Officer of Nadi meets other guests.

Doctor Gunasagaran Gounder and nurse Mereia Bogitini attend to an elderly patient at the Sarada Medical Centre. Photo: RINIKA PRAKASH.

Doctor Gounder

joins SMCDOCtOR Gunasagaran Gounder is now practicing at the new Sarada Medical Cen-tre in Nadi town.

Dr Gounder has been prac-ticing medicine for close to 46-years now and was the assistant Minister for health in the Chaudhry Government (1999-2000), Minister for Cu-rative health Services (2006-2006) and the Member of the house of Representatives (1999-2006).

Dr Gounder is originally from Uciwai Nadi and comes from a farming background.

he has studied at the Uci-wai Sangam School and Shri Vivekananda high School.

Dr Gounder went to India to do his Bachelor of Surgery and Bachelor of Medicine (M.B.B.S) at the University of Madras and studied under the Madras Medical College.

“I had given myself two options, either to become a teacher or a doctor, and by the grace of God I became a doc-tor,” said Dr Gounder.

he has practiced mainly in Lautoka and Nadi but has been to tavua and Ba in char-ity medical camps.

the Ramakrishna Mission has organized mobile medical clinics for the past three-years now.

“In these medical camps we go to settlements with some doctors and volunteers; we see patients and give them free medicines.”

“From that we are now coming to the next phase which is the medical centre and we intend to develop this further into a much better fa-cility.”

“In the next five-years, this will grow into a well equipped centre, and very likely it will move to Malolo in SVC school compound as

it is a flood free area and will have a much better setup.”

“that’s the project that is in the pipeline right now and that also depends on the sup-port from the public as well, stakeholders and donors as soon as we get sufficient funds.”

Dr Gounder further added that they would like to get overseas specialists to come and provide clinics and some of them have expressed the interest to come and give back to the country so they would like to harness that expertise which is available overseas.

this new centre can ca-ter for about 25-30 people in a day and if they get more funding and resources then they can get another doctor to practice from the centre.

this can take the load off the Nadi hospital and the Na-maka Medical Centre where people have to wait for hours.

“I have been associated with the Ramakrishna Mis-sion for a long time; I stud-ied in Swami Vivekananda College so I was aware of the Mission and even when I went into politics that was my motivating factor, to serve the people without being selfish, not for personal gains and in that spirit I served the people at a national level,” said Dr Gounder.

“after politics I was do-ing part time practice in town especially with DSM centre and I was also involved with the mission’s mobile medical clinic and when Ramakrishna Mission decided to set up a medical centre as this, I was the natural choice as I was also part of the Ramakrishna Mission management and the Vice President of the mis-sion.”

“the doors of this new medical centre are open to ev-eryone.”

Members of the Swami Vivekananda College student council were also providing a helping hand during the opening. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

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By SWAMI TADANANDARamakrishna Mission, Fiji

Come and support the Sarada Medical Centre serve you better

It is important to remember the ideology behind all the service activities of Ramak-rishna Mission wherein God is worshipped in the living image of man through educa-tion, relief services and medi-cal services etcetera.

It is this idea that trans-forms ordinary work into a spiritual discipline.

the Sarada Medical Cen-tre is a natural development of this initiative whereby we wish to provide better service on a regular especially to the poor and needy.

It will be a charitable, non – profit service wherein pa-tients will be charged a mini-mal $3 registration fee. this puts a “value” to the service and respects the self esteem of the patients.

Medical consultation and some medicines will be pro-vided for free. the service

will be open to all without any discrimination.

We have a full- time doc-tor, a nurse and support staff. a second consultancy room is also available for a visiting volunteer or doctor.

We hope to add more ser-vices such as pathology lab and better diagnostic facilities in future.

We thank the Government of New Zealand for sponsor-ing the doctor and nurse for the first six-months.

the support of the Gov-ernment, local administration, business houses and general public is needed in this new initiative of the Ramakrishna Mission.

We seek donations and sponsorship of our well wish-ers, business houses, devotees and friends to develop and operate this centre efficiently and effectively.

Interested persons may contact Swami tadananda on 9990123.

Swami Tadananda of Ramakrishna Mission gives the chief guest Mr Peni Koro a tour of the new Sarada Medical Centre. Photos: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

Invited guests at the function.

Chief guest Mr Peni Koro being accorded a traditional welcome.

Swami Aparokshananda with Dr Gunasagaran Gounder.

Curtis Mar, Arvind Raniga and Rakesh Kumar.




Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi. The new medical centre has been named in her honour.

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Mere makes a differenceBy RINIKA PRAKASH

MEREIa Bogitini hails from Ra and lives in Lauwaki, Lau-toka.

Mereia who is known as Mere to many was raised and educated in Lautoka. She then moved to tamavua for her Nursing course at the Fiji School of Nursing.

after completing her stud-ies, for the first ten-years she had worked as a civil servant, and resigned in 2008, joined USP as a part time facilitator, worked in an NGO for two-years, then worked in Nadi also before she joined the Ramakrishna Mission on July 4 as a part of the new Sarada Medical Centre.

her involvement in com-munity work made her a part of the newly established Medical Centre as she enjoys doing community work.

“I feel privileged to be a part of this centre and I be-lieve that as a religious per-son, this is what is required of an individual to do, to help the underprivileged,” said Nurse Mere.

this centre at the moment offers all the basics medical needs like: checking of blood

pressure, diabetes, urine anal-ysis, ECG and some medica-tions also.

the centre opens from 8am – 4pm.

In the next five-years, she hopes that this centre will be-come a much bigger institu-tion with the state of the art facility.

Nurse Mere meets the chief guest Mr Peni Koro while

Swamiji looks on.

Mrs Deokuvar Pala, seated, is the wife of Late Mr Mansukh Pala. She has been work-ing silently behind the scenes to get the new medical centre up and running.

These ladies were all busy serving guests during the opening function. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.



HEALTH NEWS

Nadi Hospital gets major boostBy SHALENDRA PRASAD

thE Nadi hospital has re-ceived a timely boost follow-ing the donation of vital med-ical equipment Project Bula Mai, a registered charitable organization which hosted the 2011 Style Fiji fashion Show to raise funds for the dona-tions.

the group officially hand-ed over the much needed equipment to the Minister of health Doctor Neil Sharma in a special function at the tanoa International hotel on Satur-day, July 14.

Dr Sharma while accept-ing the equipments which will be utilized at the Nadi hospi-tal commended the efforts of the Bula Mai Project team for making such a valuable contribution which will go a long way in supporting qual-ity health care in the greater Nadi area.

“We are very happy that the Project Bula Mai team has come up with the donation of equipment worth $80,000 for Nadi hospital,” Dr Sharma said.

“the donation supports the Ministry of health’s effort to upgrade the level of service at the Nadi hospital.

“We also look forward to such support from other cor-porate and non-governmental organizations to join hands with us in the public-private partnership to enhance health- care services in Fiji.”

Naomi Simpson, of Project Bula Mai, said money raised at the Style Fiji Fashion Show in Denarau last year was used to buy the equipment.

“We raised $300,000 from the fashion show and with that money we were able to buy the equipment from New Zealand,” she said.

Ms Simpson said the elec-trical equipment included de-fibrillators, ECG machines, baby movement monitor-ing machines and vital signs monitoring machines for car-diac patients.

“Most of these items were part of the hospital’s priority list which they were in need of,” said Ms Simpson.

She said a second ship-ment of non – electrical medi-

cal equipment would arrive in September and October.

“they’re arriving from the United States of america

and most of the things would mostly be beds, hospital fur-

niture and supplies for the hospital.”

Project Bula Mai chairman Adrian Sofield officially hands over the medi-cal equipments to Health Minister Dr Neil Sharma. INSET: Naomi Simspon with ministry staff at Nadi Hospital. Photos: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

THE Sangam Women's Wing (National Mathar Sangam) conducted the NCD Awareness workshop around Viti Levu educating about nine hundred people

Sangam members trained to spread NCD awarenessBy JITENDRA NAIDUTISI Sangam Secretariat

on non-communicable dis-eases and its prevention, cause and how to live with it.

The out reach program was funded with the assis-tance of the Canadian Fund.

Total of eleven members participated in this work-shop in the western division

from Sigatoka to Rakiraki.Two day workshop was

conducted by the Sub-Divi-sional Health Sister (Sister Salote) who trained Sangam members on how to screen non-communicable diseases (NCD’s).

“Participants were trained to check the blood

pressure, blood sugar level, height and weight and how to identify people with dia-betes in their communities and help them with the prevention and or cure,” informed Mrs Waliamma Swamy, national president of Mathar Sangam.

“The main focus of the

group is to run this sustain-ability projects in their com-munity and help people who live in rural areas.”

“With the help of these trainees we will help those the interior and would try our level best to educate people on the causes of dia-betes and other NCD’s.” Mrs Waliamma Swamy. Ph

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KHUDDAMUL AHMADIYYA FIJI MONTHLY FEATURE

Why Do Muslims celebrate Ramadhan and it’s Significance

www.alislam.org

Log on to Our International

Website

Email Address: [email protected]

Compilation & Layout By: Munauwar Khan

www.reviewofreligions.org

www.mta.tv

www.askislam.org

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www.muslimsforpeace.org

Fax: 3370471 Ph: 3382221

Islam did not introduce fasting though. Other world religions such as, Christian-ity and Judaism also require the followers to observe some manner of fast. the Quran says, “O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may guard against evil.” (2:184)

Muslims who are in good mental and physical health are required to fast during the Islamic month of Ramadan. It is the ninth month of the lunar calendar. although Muslims can keep optional fasts at any time during the year, it is the month of Ramadan in which the believers fulfill the fast as one of the five pillars of

Islam. the day after the last of Ramadan is celebrated as a day of feast called Eid-ul-Fitr.

Ramadan is a time of spiritual growth. It requires a person to pay more atten-tion to self-improvement and display exalted morals. It is a time to intensify focus on remembrance and praising of God while increasing charity. It doesn’t necessarily mean that everyday routine comes to a stand still because “al-lah burdens not any soul be-yond its capacity.”(2:287). In other words life’s daily routine goes on but in an im-proved or elevated fashion.

From the religious point of view, fasting has always been considered very sacred and something that brings you closer to God. But it is part of our lives, even when it is not for religious reasons. Re-member all those times, when the doctor asked you to fast

before getting checked for cholesterol and blood sugar or if you have to have sur-gery you are asked not to eat or drink anything before the procedure. there are many health benefits associated with fasting which we may not be aware of but there have been scientific evidence avail-able and research still going on to make those skeptical souls change their minds.

according to these find-ings, since fasting helps de-toxify your body, I think all those who are looking into detoxifying diets should look into fasting every once in a while instead of spending hundreds of dollars. Why? Because it is free. Whether you are thinking of boost-ing your immune system, want to fight a tough diseas-es like cancer, interested in rejuvenation or looking for ways to live a long healthy

life, science says, fasting can play a significant role in achieving all these goals.

Muslims, by joining in the ritual of fasting during the blessed month of Ramadan benefit manifolds. On one lev-el they strive to better them-selves by performing their re-ligious obligations to God and to his people and on another by being on the receiving end of tons of health benefits not to mention the public dis-play of unity as a community.

the true purpose of Rama-dan, as of all forms of Islamic worship, is to draw people closer to allah and closer to mankind. the hearing, the sight, the tongue, the mind are all under stricter control. For instance, not only vain talk, but much talk is also es-chewed, so that there should be greater concentration on remembrance of allah and reflection upon his attributes.

Khalifa of Islam makes Historic Address at Capitol HillHadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad

leaving Capitol Hill after his address

On 27 June 2012, hadhrat Mirza Masroor ahmad was welcomed to Capitol hill, in Washington D.C. where he delivered a keynote address entitled ‘the Path to Peace – Just Relations between Na-tions’ to an audience filled with more than 30 members of the United States Con-gress, including honourable Nancy Pelosi, the Demo-cratic Leader in the house of Representatives. also in attendance were members of the Diplomatic Corps, White house and State Department staff, Professors, NGO lead-ers, religious leaders, media representatives, State repre-sentatives and various other sectors of society. Following the event, his holiness was given a tour of the Capitol hill building, before being es-

corted to the house of Repre-sentatives where a Resolution was introduced in honour of his visit to the United States.

the introductory para-graph of the Resolution stated:

“Welcoming his holi-ness, hadhrat Mirza Mas-roor ahmad, the worldwide spiritual and administrative head of the ahmadiyya Mus-lim Community, to Wash-ington, DC, and recognizing his commitment to world peace, justice, nonviolence, human rights, religious freedom and democracy.”

the first Muslim Con-gressman, Keith Ellison (US MN5) said that the United States was ‘honoured by the presence of his holiness’ and he said that under the leader-ship of its Khalifa, the ah-madiyya Muslim Jamaat was

proving to be a ‘true blessing for the people of the United States’. Congressman Brad Sherman (US Ca27) said that he would be introducing the Congressional Resolution welcoming his holiness to the United States in the house of Representatives immedi-ately after the event. he also said that his holiness was ‘a model of tolerance for the entire world.’ Katrina Lantos Swett, Chairwoman of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said that she felt the entire room was filled with a ‘special blessing and undoubtedly it is a reflec-tion of the blessing his holi-ness brings to the Capitol’.

thereafter a copy of the Special Congressional Reso-lution was presented to his holiness by Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (DCa). Demo-cratic Leader, Congresswom-an Nancy Pelosi said she was proud that such a bipartisan welcome had been given to hadhrat Mirza Masroor ah-mad. She said the leadership of hadhrat Mirza Masroor ahmad was characterised by ‘wisdom and compassion’. She further said that despite facing grave persecution, ‘his holiness has refused to turn to bitterness or vengeance’.

the National President of the ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat in the United States, Dr ah-sanullah Zafar, spoke about how under the leadership of its Khalifa, the ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat never re-sponded to the persecution it faced with cruelty but instead with prayers. Later on his holiness enlightened the as-sembled audience about the teachings of the holy Qur’an in terms of international rela-tions. his holiness said that the key principle in maintain-ing peace was true justice.

his holiness said:“the truth is that peace and justice are inseparable – you cannot have one without the other... Yet, in general, there is little doubt that restlessness and anxiety is increasing in the world and so disorder is spreading. this clearly proves that somewhere along the line, the requirements of justice are not being fulfilled.” his holi-ness said that Islam taught that all people were born equal and were deserving of equal human rights. hadhrat Mirza Masroor ahmad said: “In the holy Qur’an, God almighty has made it clear that whilst our nationalities or ethnic backgrounds act as a means of identity, they do not entitle or validate any form of

superiority of any kind.” his holiness continued: “thus, it is a clear teaching of Islam that the people of all nation-alities and all races are equal. and it is also made clear that all people should be granted equal rights without any dis-crimination or prejudice. this is the key and golden principle that lays the foun-dation for harmony between different groups and nations and for the establishment of peace.” his holiness said that wealthy nations should make great efforts to assist the de-veloping countries; however they should not do so in an effort to fulfill vested or na-tional interests. Rather they should act with a desire to serve humanity and with the ambition to end the restless-ness and anxieties of those in need. hadhrat Mirza Mas-roor ahmad concluded with a message calling for peace. his holiness said: “the United States, as the world’s largest power, should play its role in acting with true jus-tice and with such good in-tentions as I have described. If it does so then the world will always remember with great admiration your great efforts. It is my prayer that this hope becomes a reality.”

Islam Ahmadiyyat in Rabi Island

www.real-islam.org

Rabi is a small island of Fiji. It has a population of approximately 2000. ah-madiyya Muslim Jamaat Fiji had the opportunity by the grace of allah almighty, to build a mosque on this island in 2004. this mosque was burnt down in 2010 due to unknown reasons. ahmadi-yya Muslim Jamaat upon the instruction and the blessings of the head of the ahmadi-yya Muslim Jamaat, hazrat Mirza Masroor ahmad(atba) another mosque was built on the island of Rabi in 2011.

this mosque was officially opened by the Chairman of the Rabi Council, Dr Paulo

Vakalailai and the National President of aMJ Fiji, Mau-lana Fazal Ullah tariq. this mosque is a landmark for Rabi island, the beauty of this mosque is mesmerizing to all. It is a concrete mosque and has 3 beautiful minaret. there were about 200 guests for the opening of this mosque on 9th September, 2011. Guests from New Zealand and australia arrived especially to take part in the opening of this beautiful mosque. the ahmadi mem-bers from western and eastern parts of vitilevu and vaualevu in good numbers also at-tended this event. there were about 70 non ahmadies who

took part. Dr Paulo Vakalai-lai attended this event with 9 of his council members. the opening session started off with the recitation of the holy Quran and a Poem. after the programme commenced Mr

Fazal Ullah tariq, National President of the ahmadi-yya Muslim Jamaat Fiji wel-comed all and spoke about islam and peace. afterwards Dr Paulo Vakalailai gave a short speech and thanked the

Jamaat for building a beauti-ful mosque in the Rabi islands which has been written in the history of Rabi islands. at the end of the programme, Mr Fazal Ullah tariq thanked and prayed for all ahmadi mem-

bers who have sacrificed their time and wealth for the build-ing of this mosque or in any-way which made it a success.this mosque was named Bait-ul Mahdi Mosque.

16



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VODAFONE SPONSORED FESTIVALS AND CARNIVALS

tWENtY-year-old Shahin hussain was on cloud nine af-ter being crowned Miss Voda-fone Bula Festival 2012 in a colorful atmosphere on Satur-day, July 15 at Prince Charles Park in Nadi.

Sponsored by Sharma Mu-sic, Miss hussain had mes-merized the crowd attending the daily evening events from day one with her talented ap-proach towards every themed night.

She proved to be the best in public appearances, as well as her dancing and singing skills further cemented her huge fan base in this year's festivities.

"I feel very proud and hon-ored to be crowned Miss Bula 2012 and thank the almighty God, my parents and my gen-erous sponsors Sharma Music for having faith in me," hus-sain said.

She is a final year student at Fiji National University's Fiji School of Nursing and will graduate as a nurse next year.

"We all deserve to be queens but at the end it is the people who decide and there can be only one queen so here I am," a jubilant hussain added.

Queen Shahin vows to serveBy SHALENDRA PRASAD hussain hails from Kash-

mir in Lautoka and has vowed to continue the good work for the people of Nadi to make a difference in their lives.

Meanwhile, Miss Nadi town Council Laisa Yabaki-siga scored a hat-trick with three titles - Miss Charity 2012, Miss People's Choice (txt Promotion Votes) and also the first runner-up for the prestigious Miss Bula Crown while her sponsors won the best float prize as well.

Miss Clyde acrow adi Salote Caginidaveta won two titles - Miss Personality of the year and the second runner-up for the Bula Crown.

Bula Festival associa-tion president titilia Vuataki thanked Vodafone Fiji and various other co-sponsors for supporting the festival for many years now.

"as our commitment to the people of Nadi, we will continue to uphold the legacy of being Fiji's only unbroken festival, off-course with the assistance from our valuable sponsors and the people and visitors of Nadi," Mrs Vuataki said.

For more pictures of the 2012 Vodafone Bula Festival, log onto our Facebook al-bums on www.facebook.com/thejetnewspaper.

Four up ... From left, Miss Clyde Acrow Salote Caginidaveta, Miss Sharma Miss Centre Shahin Hussain, Miss Nadi Town Council Laisa Yabakisiga and Miss Media Waves Ilisapeci Naisua who was the first runner up for the Miss Charity contest. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

Vodafone Fiji’s chief marketing officer Sanjeewa Perera hands over the prizes to Miss Vodafone Bula Festival 2012 Shahin Hussain after the crowning while Bula Fes-tival Association president Titilia Vuataki and last year’s queen Mohini Dass look on.

Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

Vodafone Farmers Carnival a ‘Super Hit’By RINIKA PRAKASHthE annual Vodafone Farm-ers Carnival ended on a high note in Lautoka on Saturday, July 7 as artika Vikashni Singh (Miss Lovu Sector) was crowned Miss Vodafone Farm-ers Carnival 2012.

"the week was full of ac-tivities and we learnt new things everyday and had to keep ourselves updated with news and whatever was going on around us," said a jubilant

Singh (pictured above).according to Singh, she was

satisfied with her achievements

since the reason to be part of the Farmers Carnival was to help towards a worthy cause.

“the other contestants also have learnt a lot as this was not as easy task and even though they had faced obstacles, they managed to overcome it.”

“the response from the peo-ple is very good and in both the public judging’s and we had a good support from the people,” said Udit Narayan, National Farmers Union spokesperson

and festival director.Since its commencement,

the carnival committee has distributed close to $281,000 for students education by pay-ing school fees for the under-privileged students.

the theme for the carnival was ‘to Educate the Under-privileged”.

the committee will con-tinue with their good deed and planning for the 2013 Farmers Carnival has already started.

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MAMANUCA ENVIRONMENT SOCIETY

By EMOSI LASAQAof MES

By EMOSI LASAQA of MES

Mr Geoffrey Shaw of Castaway Island shows the publication which is dubbed as the “Bible” on turtle conservation. Looking on are Katarina Malo of GEF Small Grants Program and Tui Lawa Ratu Sevanaia Vatunitu.

Turtle project first of its kind the launching of

the Mamanuca Environment So-ciety turtle Con-servation Project

is historical as it is not only a first for Fiji but also for the South Pacific.

this means turtle conser-vation in Fiji including our Pacific Island neighbouring waters is about to get even more precise.

It was launched at Cast-away Island Resort on Fri-day, June 29.

Initially started in 2006 with the Institute of Ma-rine Research (IMR-USP) through an australian Grant to do research on sea turtles in the Mamanucas, the mis-sion was further boosted through the UNDP Global Environment Facility (GEF ) Small Grant programme of USD$50,000 in 2008.

Over the years, the society toiled tirelessly to promote, educate and assist villagers, communities and resorts in the Mamanuca region on why turtles have to be saved.

Looking back, MES Proj-ect Manager Betani Salusalu said even though the journey was not easy, the outcomes are priceless.

Mr Salusalu said the turtle Project launch outcomes ‘will reflect the future of turtle Conservation in the Mamanu-cas, Fiji Islands and through the Pacific Islands’.

“this is a Model proj-ect for Fiji and some of the documents coming out of this project are a first for the Fiji Islands and the Pacific – like the Best Practices Guideline and Policy. the presence of the Government Department Representatives and other stakeholders gives good mile-age toward this project.”

“MES will now be looking at the phases of implemen-tation to these outcomes to all stakeholders. these will mean working closely with the Government Department, private sectors and environ-mental bodies and communi-ties in Fiji and within the Pa-cific Islands.

“Producing these kinds of documents is good but the bottom line is how we can effectively implement it to become more realistic on the ground - to be part of our cul-ture, tradition and our daily chores,” says Mr Salusalu who was there in the fore for the past four-years.

he further states that tur-tle conservation was already implemented on most resorts long before MES stepped in.

“In some way it makes our

work easier. there was some initiatives on the ground be-fore the project started in 2008. We stepped in and be-gan to engage stakeholders like communities, Resorts and Schools to be able to jus-

tify and learn from the need to enhance this project and its implementation.

the first turtle pond was set up at treasure Island Re-sort, than Bounty Island Re-sort before it spread to Vomo

and Mana Island Resort.three of the world’s seven

species of sea turtles nest in Fiji- the green (Cheloniamy-das, Vonu Dina), hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricate, taku), and leatherback (Derm

ochelyscoriacea,vonudakulaca, tutuwalu).

Nesting occurs between November and February. Loggerhead turtles are also found in most islands but not known to nest in Fiji.

The shark fin soup controversy

IS shark fin soup tasty? We were bombarded with this question during a recent trip to Castaway Island Resort.

the question floated around the grog bowl for a long time-some even enquir-ing on the practicality of ban in the shark fin trade.

We understand where they are coming from.

although the practice of shark finning is banned in some countries, including the United States, shark fins are still legally sold on the open market.

Criticizing others, espe-cially what and how they eat, is a touchy subject. When it’s seen as a cultural practice, boy, does it get bad.

While we hold our ground that the way fins are harvested is unusually cruel and barbar-ic as sharks are caught, their fins are cut off, and the rest of the shark is thrown back into the water to meet a slow death of drowning or being devoured alive, I came back

to the mainland dissatisfied. I was determined to find-

out what’s so special about this expensive and popular delicacy blamed for a sharp decline in global shark popu-lations.

the quest started with Wikipedia and it says the shark fin soup dates back to Ming Dynasty in China and is considered by Chinese as one of the eight treasured foods from the sea.

the popularity of shark fin soup rose in the late 18th and early 19th centuries as standards of living began to improve. the delicacy was coveted by emperors because it was rare, delicious, and re-quired elaborate preparation.

holding both culinary and symbolic significance, the dish is popular at important occasions such as weddings, banquets, and important busi-ness deals.

It symbolizes wealth, pow-er, prestige and honour. this staple of gourmet Chinese cuisine is a show of respect, honour, and appreciation to

the guests.It went on to say that genu-

ine shark fin soup or stew is made with shark fins obtained from any of a variety of shark species. Raw shark fins are processed by first removing the skin, then trimming them to shape and bleaching to a more desirable colour.

It is sold in many forms: dried, cooked, wet and frozen. Canned ready-to-eat shark fin soup is also available in asian markets.

according to Wikipedia, in shark fin soup, the fins themselves are virtually taste-less. the taste comes from the soup, while the fins are valued

for their texture. a Chinese chef who chose

to remain anonymous gave the best narration. he said the taste is somewhere between crunchy and chewy.

the man who has been running this upscale restau-rant in Nadi town for a long time went on to say that shark fin soup tastes boring and it’s stupid to pay a hundred dol-lars for a pot of it.

While he has tasted the dish so many times in his homeland, the fourty-year-old man said shark fin is a non es-sential food.

“I didn’t question what I was eating. I knew it was

called shark fin soup but I don’t think it ever registered that it was the fin of a shark and certainly not how it was harvested. It’s just cartilage, with no nutritional value. the taste comes from the broth it is served in and the broth is either chicken- or beef-based. But people still somehow tout shark fin soup as tasty. It’s a ritual that we can live with-out,” he said.

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey taste tested it on camera and said the same. So did a reporter from time, who found it, “underwhelming.”

the good news is that I think we live in an age where

many people have understand that there are more delicious and inexpensive animals we can kill and eat than sharks.

Even China has prohibited official banquets from serving shark fin soup, an expensive and popular delicacy blamed for a sharp decline in global shark populations.

the ban, reported by Xi-nhua, the state-run news agency, could take as many as three-years to take effect, and it remains unclear how widely it will be adhered to across a sprawling nation where or-ders issued by Beijing are of-ten shrugged off by officials in faraway regions and prov-inces.

Sharks are important for the health of our oceans and it’s a waste to cut off their fins and let them drown to death slowly at the bottom of the ocean.

they are the top of the ma-rine food chain and decimat-ing their populations has far rippling effects on unbalanc-ing the marine food web.

In some parts of the world, 90per cent of the shark popu-lation is gone.

If you knew how shark fins go from the shark in the ocean to the soup on your table, would you eat it? I leave that decision to you.

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Castaway Island, Fiji - proud supporters of MES Fiji - an environment society protecting our future.

www.castaway�ji.com | www.mes�ji.org

MAMANUCA ENVIRONMENT SOCIETY

$25K boost for conservation

the Mamanuca Environ-ment Society’s campaign to protect the stunning marine and terrestrial environment of the amazing Mamanuca Islands got a big boost on June 29 when the austra-lia New Zealand Banking Group (aNZ) Fiji presented a cheque of more than $25,500.

aNZ senior relationship manager west, Linda hanfak-aga presented the $25.555.55 cheque at Castaway Island Resort.

Ms hanfakaga said aNZ would continue to support MES in their efforts to con-serve the marine environment in the Mamanuca Group.

“We are proud to have been one of the first organi-sations to be involved with MES and their conservation efforts since 2001 and we will continue supporting the organisation,” Mrs hanfaka-ga said.

“We salute them for the work they have been doing and we hope this contribution

By RINIKA PRAKASH from aNZ will continue to boost their work,” Mrs han-fakaga added.

MES Media and Public Relation Officer Emosi La-saqa applauded the bank for their continued support.

“they have been with us since MES started in 2001.aNZ was the first organisa-tion to recognise the impor-tance of conserving the Ma-manuca Islands,” Mr Lasaqa said.

“It is indeed a timely help. the donation would be used to assist in the constant moni-toring of the Mamanuca Is-lands Environment not only for turtle conservation and awareness but also for coral replanting, reef restoration, community and school en-gaged programs.

“We actively seek opportu-nities that stand out, that will best benefit the communities we serve and its environment for the sake of present and future generations. With the continuing support of aNZ Bank, our work will now be much easier and better,” said Mr Lasaqa.

ANZ’s Linda Hanfakaga hands over the cheque for Ma-manuca Environment Society to Mr Geoffrey Shaw.

Tui Lawa Ratu Sevanaia Vatunitu releases the bigger of the three Hawksbill turtles at Castaway Island Resort. Photos: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

From left are Tui Lawa Ratu Sevanaia Vatunitu , Mr Geof-frey Shaw of Castaway Island, Divisional Planning Officer West Luke Moroivalu and Director of Environment Jope

Davetanivalu.Soropepeli Seru of MES shows one of the three turtles re-leased later in the day to young guests of Castaway Island.



NADI SPORTS AND SOCIAL CLUB

With everything under one-roof, the Nadi Sports and Social Club

is a unique concept in the en-tire country.

In this article we give you a brief description of each de-partment and hope to you see you all at the club soon.

BOWLINGthe club has one of the

oldest greens in the western division and was established during the Colonial Sugar Re-finery (CSR) era. Currently the bowling club is led under the directorship of former Fiji rep Shorab Khan.

the club has produced many national reps with two notable names being Shorab Khan and Som Padayachi while David aitcheson is the current national rep from the club.

“Every tuesday and thursday is our practice day,” offered NSC vice-president Som Padayachi.

Mr Padayachi informed that for the past four-years, the club has been success-fully hosting the Sunny West Bowling Carnival which has been attracting international players to the club.

“We have around thirty bowlers who are members of the club. Bowlers Munesh Kumar and Santokh Singh are two very impressive and up-coming players of the club as well.”

the well maintained greens at the club have a total of eight rinks.

GYMFor fitness fanatics who

could not find a good place

Sports Club a one stop shopBy SHALENDRA PRASAD for training – look no further.

the Nadi Sports Club has revamped its Gym which is now the best you can find in the entire western division.

‘”the club has recently up-graded its gymnasium by im-porting and installing ‘Stex’ brand top quality commercial grade cardio equipment being a cross trainer, treadmill and stationary bicycle,” offered gym director John thatcher.

“In addition to this the gym includes a spin bike, rowing machine, multi station weight machine and plenty of free weights,” Mr thatcher added.

“the next step for the gym is to introduce structured fit-ness classes such as general aerobics, zumba, step classes etc and we are now on the hunt for suitable instructors to take up the challenge and help us expand our services in this area.”

M U LT I - P U R P O S E COURT (FUTSAL / NET-BALL)

the club now has a multi-purpose court ideal for five-a-side soccer and netball com-petitions.

this is a relatively new fa-cility for the club which is fast becoming popular.

“We have held netball competitions and also five-a-side soccer at the multi-pur-pose courts and people inter-ested can contact the club for more information,” offered club trustee Babu Chawda.

SOCIAL EVENTS / BAR / ENTERTAINMENT

the club now has a totally new look bar which has been revamped to provide the best facilities to members and visi-tors.

according to director so-

cial Mike Jamieson, the club has undergone many changes which has effectively lifted the image of the entire area.

“We have a brand new sports bar and two large flat screen tV’’s attached to the ceiling and the new facilities make your visit to the club very relaxing.”

he said the club has spe-cial draws and raffle tickets every Wednesday and Friday with many interesting prizes up for grabs.

the club recently hosted the 2012 Vodafone Bula Fes-tival contestants who were impressed with what they saw during their dinner visit at the club.

the club has also upgraded its kitchen where members and visitors can expect the best local and international dishes.

SQUASHLooking for a quick and

easy way to get or stay fit in

a friendly and relaxed atmo-sphere?

then look no further - the Nadi Sports and Social Club features two squash courts where members and guests can beat the bulge and in-stantly relieve the stress of a hard day in the office.

Squash is an indoor racket sport played between two players.

One of the great things about the sport is that, it doesn't matter what level you are at, complete beginner or expert, you will always have a great game (and workout) as long as you are playing some-body of a similar ability.

another major advantage is that because it is an indoor activity, it is not affected by the weather and can be played all year round.

“Formal lessons are avail-able or just pop down to the club in the early evening (5.30-6pm) where you will find lots of friendly faces waiting to introduce you to our sport,” offered squash di-rector andrew Redfern who can be reached on mobile 9994014 for more informa-tion.

SWIMMINGthe twenty-five metre long

swimming pool at the NSC is of national standard and has produced many national reps says pools and grounds direc-tor Gerald Erbsleben.

“We have one of the best facilities one can find in Nadi and plans are now in the pipe-line to create more sitting fa-cilities around the pool area and make it like a family ori-ented activity.”

according to Mr Erbsle-ben, the club has been suc-cessfully hosting many sport-ing competitions including the Fiji Swimming short course nationals.

“We have two clubs af-filiated to our club namely the Barracuda and Mako Swim-ming Clubs and we provide an excellent training environ-ment for learners as well.”

“the Nadi airport School uses our pools to teach swim-ming to their students in week-days.”

Mr Erbsleben said the two associated swimming clubs have also produced young national reps in the likes of Cheyenne Rova, adele Rova, William Clark and Brosnan Erbsleben.

SNOOKERLed under the director-

ship of Remal Narayan, the snooker club at the NSC has received a major boost fol-lowing the introduction of the second pool table last year.

“We installed our second pool table which is of world standard in our club last year and as a result were able to host our first ever North West tournament in November,” director snooker Remal Na-rayan informed.

he said the first ever North West competitions was won

by Mahendra Deo who is cur-rently the clubs number one player and also ranked num-ber two nationally.

Mr Narayan said the intro-duction of the new table has seen an influx of new mem-bers which is very encourag-ing.

“We were able to host the North West tournament in april this year as well and the response so far has been over-whelming. Mahendra Deo also won the april competi-tion,” Mr Narayan said.

he said the club is now looking forward to going a step further by inviting mem-bers from other clubs to par-ticipate in inter-club competi-tions.

the club is also having a monthly competition where members are competing to claim the Rights Electrical (Munesh Kumar) trophy.

“So far we have had four monthly competitions and currently I am leading with three wins while Mahendra has won once and whoever wins the competition the most times in the year gets to keep

the trophy for good.”TENNISthe NaDI JUNIOR tEN-

NIS aCaDEMY is based at the NSC and lessons are car-ried out as follows: - junior group and private lessons, adult group and private les-sons, hit with coach, elite training, etcetera, together with tennis racket stringing done also.

the tennis programs are run every day during the day and afternoon from Mon-day to Saturday. Coaching is available upon booking and prices are reasonable.

the program has raised Fiji's and Pacific's best junior tennis players. Spaces are available. Lots of fun and ac-tivities during sessions can be expected. For more informa-tion, please contact Mr Sachin Reddy, tennis Director - Nadi Sports & Social Club. he is also the head Coach - ten-nis Fiji National Junior team and a New Zealand Quali-fied Coach and International tennis Federation Qualified Coach as well. he can be reached on mobile: 9771227.

SNOOKER: Remal Narayan, left, and Mahendra Deo. SQUASH: Ajay Punja and Ajay Raniga.

BOWLING: Participants of this years Sunny West Bowl-ing Carnival. Bowling director Shorab Khan is standing

second from right while sitting is Som Padayachi.

SWIMMING: The club has the best pool for experienced swimmers and learners as well.

TENNIS: A young learner being coached.

TENNIS: young Fiji rep Vienna Kumar while training.

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22



NADI SPORTS AND SOCIAL CLUB

By SHALENDRA PRASAD

EStaBLIShED in 1960, the Nadi Sports and Social Club is indeed unique in its own way.

the club is the only one in Fiji which has taken an integrated approach and ev-erything can be found under one-roof.

“We are Fiji’s one and only fully integrated sports and so-cial club and our facilities are of the greatest standards one can find around the country,” offered club trustee Babu Chawda.

he said the club is now on a membership drive as it is ready to welcome new mem-bers to experience the great sporting and social activities on offer at the club.

“as part of our member-ship drive, we are happy to announce a special discount of fifty-percent to all new members for the year if they join now.”

New members welcome

“We have done a lot of changes to the infrastructure to give the entire premises a major facelift and we now have a brand new sports bar with new furniture and fit-tings and two large flat-screen tV’s as well,” Mr Chawda added.

Club president Chris

thompson says new members are more than welcome to be part of the great team at the sports club.

“We are looking forward to seeing some new faces here and people can come down to see for themselves as we have the best facilities here,” Mr thompson added.

Club trustee Babu Chawda with guests.

GYM: The new look Gym has all brand new equipment.

BAR: The new look sports bar with two-large flat-screen TV’s.Seen from left are director social Mike Jamieson, Bula Festival queen’s director Oli and club president Chris Thompson. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.



INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL NADI FAMILY FUN DAY

INtERNatIONaL School Nadi is only a small school of 172 students but as an Inter-national Baccalaureate World school, it offers the three IB programs: Primary Years Pro-gram (PYP), Middle Years Program (MYP) and the Di-ploma Program (DP).

Seventy percent of its stu-dents hold overseas passports and thirty percent are Fijian citizens. there are thirteen different nationalities repre-sented. the school prides it-self on its small classes where students are given individual attention and encouragement.

the International School Nadi prepares students to be both positive members of their communities and re-sponsible global citizens. the school aims to develop values in children such as respect and understanding for other people's ideas, language and beliefs. as an IB school, ISN encourages the education of the whole person through social, physical, emotional

International School leads by exampleBy ISN MEDIA and cultural wellbeing thus

establishing a foundation for lifelong learning.

ISN celebrates the many national days at assemblies and this is an excellent oppor-tunity for the students to not only display their own culture but to also learn about the dif-ferent countries represented within the school. Interna-tional understanding is devel-oped through the study of a variety of courses offered in the International Baccalaure-ate Programme.

Students have the oppor-tunity of learning about Fiji’s fascinating culture through the study of both the Fijian language and hindi. Camps are held each year in inter-esting areas of Fiji; students learn leadership skills, toler-ance and cooperation as well as have a great deal of fun.

Students gain a greater world view by studying a choice of other languages such as French and Spanish. Students are also encouraged to continue studying their own first language as well as

English as a second language. ISN has an interesting ac-

tivities programme. Students enter the Kula Film Festival each year and take part in ‘tadra Kahani’, a dance com-petition; whereby, students demonstrate through dance some of the United Nations millennium goals. Debat-ing and public speaking is also popular and some of the sports are: netball, basketball, swimming, athletics and kaji rugby.

the new Principal, Dianne Korare arrived at the end of June this year. She offers a wealth of experience both lo-cally and internationally. She was Principal of International School Suva for nine-years and has worked in australia, the United Kingdom and Pap-ua New Guinea. She invites prospective parents to come into the school to talk with her about what International School Nadi can offer to their children.

Each year, ISN’s Parents and teachers association with the help of committed

parents, staff and students, hold the school’s Family Fun Day. the public are invited to the school with their children to enjoy international and lo-cal food. Children enjoy many activities such as horse riding, the jumping castle, motor-cycle rides etc. there are also

many great things to buy from a large variety of small stalls.

International School Nadi has had its challenges, ex-periencing two floods which destroyed many school re-sources in 2012. through the help of many local and international organisations, a

wonderful parent body, com-mitted teachers and a resilient and enthusiastic student body, ISN continues to offer quality education in a multi-cultural environment. It is an experi-ence that students value for the rest of their lives.

ISN Parents and Teachers Association chairperson Jules Samuels, left, and principal Dianne Korare, centre, seen carrying out the lucky dip prize draws during this years

Family Fun Day on Saturday, July 21. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

24



INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL NADI FAMILY FUN DAY

Family fun day a huge success

By SHALENDRA PRASAD

IN t E R N at I O N a L School Nadi Parents and teachers associa-tion chairperson Jules Samules was on cloud

nine following the great suc-cess of this year’s Family Fun Day which was held on Sat-urday, July 21 from 10am to 3pm.

“the International School Nadi (ISN) annual Fam-ily Fun Day was a great suc-cess,” Ms Samuels offered.

“a big thank you to my team, parents, teachers, friends, students and every-one who came along to make this day a success,” she add-ed.

“Special thanks also go to the companies and individu-als who donated so much in the way of prizes, other ser-

vices and their valuable time. “We will now look to se-

lect schools within the 'ISN Neighborhood' that were af-fected in the March floods to donate some of our funds raised during this event,” Ms Samuels said.

Sharing similar senti-ments, ISN trustee tony Whitton said the annual Fam-ily and Fun Day provides the

school with an ideal platform to open up to the public and showcase what the school has in-store.

“this fun day is to connect our school with the larger

community and portray a message that ISN is a multi-cultural school because there is often a perception that we are school full of international students whereas in fact we

have a very diverse school roll,” Mr Whitton said.

“While we have many in-ternational students, we have a very large component of local students here as well so

the day provides us with an opportunity to open up and connect with the local com-munity.

“this special day also en-ables us to fundraise for the school and at the same time we are able to inform our vis-itors of the various facilities and courses we have on offer here,” Mr Whitton added.

Impressed with the partici-pation, Mr Whitton said that apart from students, parents and visiting Nadi residents, people from Ba, Lautoka and Sigatoka were also part of the great day which had so much activities and fun for every-one.

“We also had the opportu-nity to host the lovely children from treasure home as well. We had sent out the transport to pick them up so that they could also have great fun with us today,” Mr Whitton said.

“For all the parents out there, do think of ISN as a potential school for your chil-dren as we are an Internation-al Baccalaureate accredited school and we have an inter-nationally recognized way of teaching.”

Tony Whitton

Kavita Raniga, closest to camera, and other parents of ISN busy serving visitors dur-ing this years Family Fun Day on Saturday, July 21. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.



NERITAK EQUIPMENTS LIMITED

World class industrial

products now available in

NadiNERItaK Equipments Lim-ited is a subsidiary company of Reddy Dimond Groups of Companies, one of the lead-ing names in Fiji with activi-ties involving importation, distribution, retailing, whole-saling and manufacturing.

all our companies includ-ing Neritak Equipments Lim-ited are synonymous with high standard of service and professional staff who are al-ways willing to go the extra mile for customers coupled with a wide range of durable and world renowned quality products.

Neritak Equipments Ltd has been in operation since 2002 representing locally with major well known Eu-ropean (UK), american, australian, New Zealand and asian brands and has exclusive distributorship and agency for products from very well known suppliers and manufacturers such as Perkins, Cummins, Denyo, Robin, hatz, Craftsmen, Ko-shin husqvarna, Baromix, Donaldson, Dimas, hitachi

By NERITAK Power tools, Nilfisk, Orange Pumps, tanaka, Greatneck, toptul, Fleetguard, Mar-quip, Ullrich Ladders, Ryobi, CRC, Cammac, Wellmade and many more.

the company has best back up services in the busi-ness and spare parts are avail-able on our products and have franchise, distribution and ex-clusive dealership for some of the major overseas suppliers and manufacturers and pro-vide warranty and full back up service on our renowned brands, with full support of providing technical informa-tion.

apart from providing war-ranty in conjunction with the suppliers, Neritak has han-dled servicing, maintenance and sourcing the spare parts requirements from the origi-nal manufacturers to fulfill needs for its customers.

the company has well set up divisions to cater for dis-tinctive needs of the custom-ers and various divisions with well trained capable Sales Representatives, Service-men and a team of dedicated

employees and the branches located in the main town cen-ters of Suva, Lautoka, Labasa and now in Nadi.

Neritak is well established and has been able to provide comprehensive service and support as we are well versed and specialize in the field of

equipments.the company has been

a major player in Genera-tors, Power tools, Industrial and construction equipments providing services to con-struction, engineering, manu-facturing, industrial and agri-cultural organizations.

Our major goal is to pro-vide efficient and prompt customer service and sup-port with our quality products where customers are satisfied with excellence, we work in partnership with our custom-ers and suppliers offering excellent customer service

and prompt reliability at all times and make sure on every piece of equipment sold not only does the job, but stays on the job for years to come and maintains high

standards which has been our motive since inception ten years ago.

Neritak Equipments Limited newly opened Nadi branch manager Shalendra Prasad, right, and sales representa-tive Anas Ali are all geared up to provide you with superb customer service and world renowned brands from

their new outlet situated in Ganesha Complex, Nadi Back Road. Photos: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

Neritak Equipments Limited Nadi Branch has everything you need under one roof.

26



NOW IN NADI

NERITAK EQUIPMENTS LTDGenerators, Power Tools, Industrial & Construction Equipments

www.neritak.com

SUVA - 37 MATUA STREET WALUBAY, PH: 3310340, 3310344 FAX: 3310343 MOB: 9998736, EMAIL: [email protected]

LAUTOKA – NUQA PL MARINE PH: 6661133, 6661187 FAX: 6667476 MOBILE: 9998742 EMAIL: [email protected]

NADI – SHOP 2 GANESHA COMPLEX NADI BACK ROAD, PH:6708127 MOBILE : 9998955 EMAIL: [email protected]

LABASA – SHOP 5 SANGAM BUILDING, NASEKULA RD PH: 8811919, FAX: 881914 MOB: 9998717, 9998748 [email protected]

SHOP 2 GANESHA COMPLEX NADI BACK ROAD

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SHOP 2, GANESHA COMPLEX, NADI BACK ROAD.

NERITAK EQUIPMENTS LIMITED



DENARAU GAME & SPORTS FISHING CLUB

Game fishing tournament ends on a high noteBy SHALENDRA PRASAD

as all good things come to an end, the 2012 Fiji Islands Classic Game Fishing tour-nament organized by the De-narau Game & Sports Fishing Club is no exception.

already into its fifth year, the event which has been a major attraction in the club’s annual events calendar is get-ting better each year.

the tournament this year has also coincided with the club having its own premises within the Port Denarau pe-riphery – thanks to the gen-erosity of Nigel Skeggs, the Managing Director of Port Denarau Marina Limited.

and club president Marc McElrath was a happy man

following the successful wrap-up of the tournament.

“We had a wonderful weather on the last day and lots of fish were caught, mainly Walu (Spanish Mack-erel), unfortunately there were no sailfish recorded on the final day, but we had other fish including a good number of Mahimahi and Wahoo as well,” McElrath told the Jet which was the only media covering the three-day tour-nament.

“the tournament has been an overall success and we look forward to a bigger and better event next year with lot more participation from lo-cal and international anglers and our new premises for the club is a major boost for us as

well.”Meanwhile a major upset

has been created in this year’s tournament with the tradi-tional winners; team Golden Eagle being ousted from the top spot for the first time in

five-years.team Opulence of adrena-

lin Fiji was announced the overall tournament winners with team Lunasea of Namo-tu Island Resort securing the second spot.

the highest overall angler category went to Matthew Cook of team Opulence.

according to tournament official Liza Walsh, a total of six sailfish were tagged and released in the three-days of

tournament.“Every day there were lots

of fish but due to not meeting the minimum weight require-ment, the smaller fish could not generate points for teams and were not weighed.”

She also acknowledged the hard work put in by the entire committee including weigh-master John andrews and club secretary Carol West.

the club wishes to convey its special thanks to the fol-lowing sponsors; Marc McEl-rath of McDonalds, Carol West of Professionals Real Estate, Scott O’Connor of Na-motu Island Resort, Ryan and tina of Manta Ray Island Re-sort and Nigel Skeggs of Port Denarau Marina Limited.

“a tournament of this na-ture cannot be successful without the support of the sponsors and participating anglers and we would like to thank every one of them,” Mrs Walsh added.

She said membership to the club is open to interested people who can contact club officials to join in.

“You don’t need to own a boat to be a member, so I sug-gest all those interested to join the club should contact us.”

Denarau Game & Sports Fishing Club president Marc McElrath with Sam, the junior angler of the tournament during the presentations at Cardos Restaurant

on Sunday, July 15. Photo: FINAU MATAIKA of Adrenalin.

Team Opulence...seen in the picture are Matt, Marc (club president), Mischa, Rob, Anil, Isoa and Rambo (front). The team was declared the overall winners of the 2012 Fiji Islands Classic Game Fishing Tourna-

ment. Photo: FINAU MATAIKA OF ADRENALIN.

28



DENARAU GAME & SPORTS FISHING CLUB

Team Lunasea....the runners-up of the 2012 Fiji Islands Classic Game Fish-ing Tournament. From left are Nigel Skeggs, Ben Wilson,Liam Krelle, Scotty

O’Connor,Dano See and Ryan Irvine Photo: FINAU MATAIKA OF ADRENALIN. Top male angler of the tournament Matt Cook with president Marc McElrath.

Photo: FINAU MATAIKA OF ADRENALIN.

Defending champion team Golden Eagle

relax after three-days of tough competitions. Photo: SHALENDRA

PRASAD.

Tournament official Liza Walsh, weigh-master John Andrews and club president Marc McElrath sort out results. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

Golden Eagle skipper Zoheb Razak with club president Marc McElrath on day one. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

Team Opulence after the weigh-in of one of their catch of the day. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.



LICI NADI FEATURE

Chief agent moves upstairsBy SHALENDRA PRASAD

After suffering through three dev-astating floods since

2009, Life Insurance Corpo-ration of India chief agent for the western division, Krishna Naidu decided it was time to move up.

Mr Naidu who rides on the backs of twenty-seven years of experience as an insurance agent has made a huge contribution to the Fijian economy with his honest and diligent dealings and the many great life-changing products offered by LICI.

On Friday, June 15, Mr Naidu was joined by his customers, staff and friends to mark the official open-ing of his new office at the first floor of Manji Jadavji Building, Main Street, Nadi.

While officially opening

the new office, chief guest Aisea Tuidraki, the special administrator of Nadi / Si-gatoka Town Councils sa-luted Mr Naidu for his con-tributions to the economy of Nadi and the greater west-ern division.

“Mr Naidu is a living example of the resilience of us Nadi people and even after suffering enormous amounts of loss in three floods, here he is ready to bounce back and serve the people of this great town,” Mr Tudraki said.

“I note with great plea-sure that LICI is a respect-ed company and one of the largest in India and through their various products, the company has been making a difference in the lives of mil-lions of customers world-wide. Even my wife has been a very loyal customer

of LICI for many years and I know very well she is in good hands,” Mr Tuidraki said.

While addressing invited guests, Mr Naidu thanked everyone who has been supporting him for the last twenty-seven-years.

Since there is a woman behind the success of ev-ery man, Mr Naidu also acknowledged the support of his wife Sushila who is always ready to help LICI customers and is an impor-tant members of the LICI Nadi team.

“LICI has introduced some very attractive and rewarding products and I will be moving around to give more details to custom-ers and information is also available from my office,” Mr Naidu said.

Mrs Sushila Naikar, from left, Mr Krishna Naidu and chief guest Mr Aisea Tuidraki with LICI staff after the opening of the new office

recently. Photos: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

Master of ceremony Mr Krishna Murthi ad-dresses the invited guests.

Mr and Mrs Naidu with the invited guests.Former leader of opposition Prem Singh, left, and Doctor Ram Raju share a light mo-

ment with Mr Aisea Tuidraki.

30



LICI NADI FEATURE



TASTE BUDS

By BRENDON COFFEYExecutive Chef

Sofitel Fiji Resort & Spa

The MatchmakerWhat contemptible scoun-

drel stole the cork from my lunch?” ― W.C. Fields.

the tasks of a chef it seems are many and varied. I guess that’s one of the reasons it makes my job so interesting.

One of those tasks is that of having to do wine and food matches. this means that oc-casionally I have to sit down and sip and slurp my way through some great wine while engaging my creative taste buds to suitably match it with some equally great food.

It’s a horrible task but alas, someone has to do it. Not be-ing one to shirk my respon-sibilities, I take on this task with due passion and vigor.

So what is all this hype about food and wine matches and special dinners, and you can’t serve this with that and so on.

as I am sure you would agree, a dinner prepared with fresh and seasonal ingredi-ents, cooked with care and from the heart is a fine thing indeed. add to this a wine made with the same passion and care and then…. Well you will know.

Wine making is as much an art as it is science much like cooking and for thou-sands of years humanity has been enjoying the spoils of both. It is certainly not a new science as many cultures have always had wine on the din-ner table as a staple along with their crusty home made breads with fresh from the garden produce and all that is simple and wonderful in life. It is a more modern approach with the introduction of the vast array of new world wines that we take on the perceived snobbery of wine and food matching.

You know what I mean by snobbery… the ones who swirl the wine around in the glass sniff it a couple of times, sniff it some more, swirl it again, possibly another sniff before taking a good sip. then slurping and gargling place the glass down, eyes rolled back with a puzzled look to find a description of things that I may never have tasted.

If you don’t experience a lot of wine then of course this “snobbery” all seems a

bit foreign. however there are good reasons for all that swirling, sniffing and slurping although it can be done with a little gentile and subtlety.

the idea of the swirling in what might appear to be an oversized wine glass has nothing to do with the ego of a wine buff; it’s all about getting the air to mix with the wine a little. this helps to release the aroma or bouquet of the wine and its bouquet is where you start to enliven the senses. Followed by smallish sip, the idea is to swirl the wine a little around the mouth which will then give you a good impression of the wine itself and its complexity such as whether the wine is crisp or creamy, whether it is sweet or dry, heavy or light and so on. Of course the slurping is just to add some more air for good measure. Once you have a little understanding of this then it is much easier to match a wine to food. It is actually quite simple and of course the more you do it the easier it gets and I’m not suggesting for a minute that you should practice on a daily basis…al-though on second thoughts…

there are some very sim-ple guidelines to consider. Firstly give thought to what you maybe cooking or if you already have the wine then consider firstly the wine. the idea is to first match the body or weight of the wine. If you are choosing to have a light grilled fish and salad then you want a lighter and crisper style wine. If you are having a heavier menu such as braised lamb shanks with creamy mashed potato then you would be looking for a heavier more robust style of wine. the body or weight of the wine is largely determined by the alcohol content in the wine.

Consider also the char-acteristics of the dish. Is the dish fatty or lean, is it rich or acidic?

also consider the sweet-ness of both the dish and the wine. these points should help you to choose a particu-lar wine style that will suit the dish you have chosen to prepare. at this point you can look further at the individual characteristics of the wine.

the acidity of a citrus dressing or fresh tomatoes may help mellow some of the tartness in a wine allowing the fruit to be more noticeable. Cheese is generally a good idea with some wines with strong tannins as the fat can help the fruit become more prominent. Slightly sweeter

wines work better with asian style dishes such as thai.

By following some simple guidelines you can get a better feel for wine and food match-ing at the same time probably gain lots more friends (not the Facebook ones) who will want to come around for din-ner all the time.

however at the end of the day, each person’s perception will be slightly different so it of course makes the whole ex-ercise somewhat subjective. I would suggest that there are guide lines but no rules as such. Other than the body or weight of the wine, wines can be matched by complement-ing or contrasting.

the ultimate guideline I follow is “If it smells and tastes good, just do it”.

Of course there is one oth-er way you can make it a little easier for yourself and that is come to see us at Sofitel Fiji Resort and Spa.

In addition to our regular Winemaker dinner events we also do regular wine tasting in conjunction with Victoria Wines. We also have avail-able our popular wine flights which give you an opportuni-ty to taste several wines next to each other.

this allows you to se-lect a wine that you believe best compliments your menu choice.

and what if you don’t like wine?.......then look for our beer flights!

With that said then I should go and get on with a tasting……back to work.

Pinot Gris matched with Crab and Prawn Biegnet. Picture: SUPPLIED

Alena serving

Sofitel Wine

Flights.

For more information, call

Sofitel Fiji Resort & Spa on Phone:+ 679 6751111

32



LOCAL NEWS

Doc awarded for hard workDoctor Ram Raju receives the shield from Zeenat Shah, scientific affairs man-

ager of Makans Drugs and Pharmaceutical Supplies while Makans medical detailer Francis Raj looks on. Photo: RINIKA PRAKASH.

By SHALENDRA PRASAD

By SHALENDRA PRASAD

By RINIKA PRAKASH

FIJI’S leading general practi-tioner Dr Ram Raju has just added another feather to his cap after being recognized for his contribution in the medical journals and publica-tions locally.

Dr Raju was awarded the prestigious Makan’s Drugs and Pharmaceutical Supplies shield during the Fiji Col-lege of General Practitioners (FCGP) annual general meet-ing in Suva this year.

Since Dr Raju was not present at the aGM, he was

handed over the shield by Zeenat Shah, scientific affairs manager of Makans recently at the DSM Centre in Nadi recently.

“the Makan's prize has been awarded since 1998 and I happened to be the first re-cipient when it all started,” Dr Raju said.

“On behalf of Makan's Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Supplies, the Makan's award is presented annually to a member of the FCGP who has contributed most towards the FCGP Journal,” he added.

apart from the shield, Dr

Raju was also given a cash prize of $200.

“Congratulations to Dr Raju for winning the Makans award at the FGCP annual Conference 2012. this award is for most contribution to-wards GP publications and Dr Raju had been involved in this for a number of years,” said Zeenat Shah of Makans.

“Dr Raju is also the Edi-tor of “PhaRMatIMES”, a medical publication by Makans Drugs which goes out to most of the medical professionals in the South Pa-cific,” she added.

Bula Festival starts with charitythE Bula Festival asso-ciation has already started to donate to the needy and unfortunate just as they had promised.

Only two-weeks after this year’s Vodafone spon-sored festival ended on a high note, the association on Wednesday, July 25 has pre-sented cheques to the Loloma home, few flood victims and donated a computer to the In-telligence Bureau.

“We have started with the distribution of funds we have raised in charity this year,” offered association president titilia Vuataki.

“this is the project we have been working towards this year,” she added.

Vaciseva Waqa, adminis-trator of the Loloma home,

thanked the Bula Festival Committee for their donation.

Nadi town Council CEO Nemia tagi handed over the cheques to the recipients on behalf of the association.

Bula Festival has raised a total of $136,000 this year.

the funds raised in char-

ity will go towards helping the needy, underprivileged children, the Loloma home and the victims of the recent devastating floods.

Meanwhile Mrs Vuataki told the Jet that planning for Bula Festival 2013 had al-ready started.

Rozia Miss Sugar

NTC CEO Nemia Tagi hands over a cheque to Loloma Home head Adi Laite.

Photo: RINIKA PRAKASH.

ROZIa Shainaz was crowned Miss General Machinery Sugar Festival 2012 in a colourful at-mosphere on Saturday, July 28 at Lautoka’s Churchill Park.

the twenty-seven-year-old travel consultant who works for South Sea Cruises in Port Denarau was sponsored by her employers for this year’s fes-tivities.

She is one of the six beauti-ful contestants who was part of the General Machinery Sugar Festival beauty pageant this year.

“I am grateful to my spon-sors, family and friends, with-out whom I would not have made it so far,” Shainaz said after being crowned in front of a large crowd which gathered to witness the great occasion.

Sugar Festival association President Bijesh Chand said due to the devastating floods experienced this year, the festi-

val was not able to hold a char-ity drive but has vowed to come in a bigger and better way next year.

Miss Sugar Festival 2012 Rozia Shainaz, left, with the 2011 queen Renee Duguivalu. Photo: EMOSI LASAQA.



EDUCATION AND CAREERS

QUALITY, RELEVANCE, SUSTAINABILITY

LAUTOKA CAMPUS

ADVANCED CERTIFICATE IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

To those of you who wish to improve and broaden your understanding of IT and prepare yourself for the IT-related job market, this course is for you. This course will build up your confidence in the hands on and practical skills that will provide you competitive edge.

The course consists of six modules - Fundamentals of IT, Word Processing, Electronic Spreadsheet, Internet & Email, Database Management, and Information Systems & Networking.

At the completion of the ACIT, you will be able to obtain cross credits to IS121, a compulsory course for further (higher) USP programmes in Information System.

This course is also suitable for working people who wants to develop I.T skills at the workplace. You can enroll in either day or evening cluster based on your preference and commitments.

Day Cluster Evening Cluster

Date: 27 Aug to 7 Nov 2012 Time: 10 am to 1 pm Day: Monday to Friday Duration: 10 weeks

Date: 27 Aug to 7 Nov 2012 Time: 5 pm to 8 pm Day: Monday to Friday Duration: 10 weeks

Fee: $950 (cash, installments, cheque or can be assisted through FNPF); Venue: USP Lautoka Campus. Application Forms available at the USP Lautoka Campus office. For enquiries contact: Hasmukh Lal or Daya Nand Tel: 666 6800 or email: [email protected]/[email protected]

2012 USP OPEN DAY at Lautoka Campus is

not something to be missed!With theme ‘Your Pathway to Success’ this year’s event is bigger and better with a more comprehensive 2-day programme specially designed to suit your convenience.

Explore the informative displays by USP. Get a feel of what it’s like to study at USP.

Learn all about our university and its offerings. Get all your queries answered instantly

And simply have a fun-filled day with your family and friends!

Look out for the great giveaways and surprise items. Your favorite Radio Station, Mix FM will keep you entertained right throughout the event.

Featuring free open air variety concert on Friday from 7:30pm to 9:00pm for visitors

Private sector, public sector, NGO’s and scholarship agencies will also be part of the event.

Venue: Shirley Park, Lautoka

EXHIBITION HOURS Friday 10 August: 9am to 10pm. Saturday, 11 August: 8:30am to1.00pm

Make the most of this fantastic opportunity and take a step forward for success in life.

For Further information contact USP Lautoka Campus:tel: 6666800; Fax: 6667133 OR email: [email protected] or [email protected]

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT TRAINING

Need to refresh or upgrade your professional skills or like to have innovative employability skills!

This professional development training will extend your mastery of current competencies or create new competencies you need to get ahead. It is designed to provide professionals with the core competencies needed to advance in the workplace.

You can choose a module or whole training based on your employability skills improvement analysis or organization’s training need.

Modules Training Packages Fee

Personal Management Skills

• Self Esteem and Assertiveness Skills

• Stress Management• Anger Management

$250

Communication Skills

• Communication Strategies • Writing Reports and Proposals

$200

Customer Management Skill

• Critical Components of Customer Service

• Managing Customer Service

$200

Leadership & Management Skills

• Coaching: A Leadership Skills• Professional Supervisor• Team Building• Motivating Your Workforce• Employee Dispute Resolution

$450

Dates:1 Sept to 10 Nov 2012 (Saturdays Only); Time: 9am to 1pm; Venue: USP Lautoka Campus; Total Fee: $1100 (cash, installments, cheque or can be assisted by FNPF); Target Audience: Professionals with more than 3 years of work sector experience. Training can also be conducted in house for large organisations. For more information, contact Hasmukh Lal, email: [email protected] or Teresa Ali, email: [email protected]; tel: 6666800 or fax: 6667133

Dr Brij Lal launches ‘Education in Human Values’A new resource book for secondary schools edited by Professor Subramani

By SHALENDRA PRASAD

aCaDEMIC and well-known local writer, Dr Subramani who co-authored and edited “Education in human Values” - a re-source material for secondary school students was a happy man following the book’s launch on Friday, June 22 by Permanent Secretary for Education Dr Brij Lal at FNU Namaka Campus.

the book is expected to be the resource book for Fiji’s sec-ondary schools and aims to help teachers to implement a values programme in their schools.

Professor Subramani described the book as an ambitious project with aims no less than to transform the way we live in this world.

“Some tasks are supposed to be idealistic to take on such impossible tasks.”

Chief Guest Dr Brij Lal while launching the book said the Ministry of Education has endorsed the introduction of this book into the curriculum of Fiji’s school system.

Dr Lal added that teachers of all disciplines had an impor-tant role to play in values education; they have to be observers of values in and around the school.

the book is funded by the European Union and published by the Institute of Shri Sathya Sai Education.

Peace corps volunteer Sara Szunyogh who was attached with the Institute of Shri Sathya Sai Education has produced a musical compact disc which complements the teachings con-tained in the text book.

Seen during the launching from left are Dr Brij Lal, Ambika Prasad, Allen Lockington and Professor Subra-

mani. Photo: EMOSI LASAQA.Permanent Secretary for Education Dr Brij Lal officially launches the secondary school text book “Education in

Human Values” while Ambika Prasad of the Shri Sathya Sai Organization looks on. Photo: EMOSI LASAQA.

34



TRAVEL AND TOURISM

FHL acquires South Sea Cruises Ltd

By SPSE

IN a press release, the Board of Fijian holdings Limited announced the acquisition of South Sea Cruise Ltd (SSC) for a financial con-sideration of $F62.57m.

It was also announced that prior to the acquisition of SSC, Fijian holdings Ltd will sell its wholly owned subsidiary, Blue La-goon Cruises holdings Limited (BLChL) to SSC for a price of $12.57M.

BLChL owns 93.2 per cent of Blue Lagoon Cruises (BLC), a public company that owns and operates two luxury cruise ships along Yasawa Group.

this is the largest acquisition ever by Fijian holdings Ltd following its acquisition of RB Patel Group in 2008.

the FhL Board valued SSC at $50M as a standalone company and as such combined value of SSC and BLC is $62.57m.

SSC is the country’s largest and most experienced marine tourism operator and was owned by New Zealand based Marine tourism holdings (Mth).

SSC operates 4 vessels out of port Denarau providing resort transfers of tourist out of Denarau to the Mamanuca and Yasawa groups of islands. In addition, it also operates under the brand “awesome adventures” for backpacker and flashpacker markets.

In australia, Mth owns and operates similar operations in the Whitsunday Islands in Queensland through its subsidiary, Cruise Whitsunday Pty Limited (CWP).

FhL will also sign a management agreement with CWP to manage SSC and BLC for the next eight years.

In commenting on the impact of the transactions, FhL Group Chair-man, Iowane Naiveli said “this investment accelerates our strat-egy in growing the FhL portfolio in strong sectors of the tourism market that will continue to perform and provide positive return on investments.”

FhL acting Group CEO, Nouzab Fareed said “In addition to the clear strategic benefits, SSC will not only complement FhL’s in-vestment in BLC but has positioned us as market leaders in this sector of the tourism industry. this will also provide the FhL Group opportunities to access further growth and business de-velopment.”

he also added that following the initial payment of $10 million, an-other $20 million will be paid within next 60 days and the rest would be spread within a period of seven years. the combined entity will handle in excess of 210,000 passengers in the coming year.

ATS Pacific Fiji to Manage Shore ExcursionsPRESS RELEASE

thE region’s largest cruise op-erator, Carnival australia, has re-appointed atS Pacific Fiji to manage shore excursions in Fiji for P&O Cruises, Princess Cruises and Carnival Cruise Lines.

Carnival australia’s Senior Vice President of Strategy, Neil Linwood, said atS Pacific Fiji had demonstrated an excellent understanding of the cruise in-dustry, its customers, and the im-portance of delivering a unique

experience for the thousands of passengers that visit Fiji each year.

“While our ships are a desti-nation in themselves, we know our passengers love the true Fi-jian experience delivered by lo-cal tour operators and this is an integral part of the cruise experi-ence,” Mr Linwood said.

“It is very important to us that our passengers enjoy a great hol-iday when they come to shore in Fiji, so we’re looking forward to continuing our valued relation-ship with atS Pacific Fiji.

atS Pacific Managing Direc-tor, Stuart Neels, said: “We are very pleased to be re-appointed for a further two years and are looking forward to continuing our excellent relationship with these Cruise companies.”

“Cruising is an important and growing part of Fiji’s tour-ism and over a number of years atS Pacific Fiji has accumulat-ed expertise as shore excursion operators. It is a specialised field that continues to be constantly reviewed and improved.

“It is very important that Fiji

tour operators provide excellent service and a high quality expe-rience,” Mr Neels said.

“Just one visit to Fiji offers a glimpse for passengers and we constantly hear them note they wish they could have stayed longer. that means that if we get their initial taste of Fiji right, then they are much more likely to return and spend a more ex-tended time with us.”

P&O Cruises, Princess Cruises and Carnival Cruise Lines ships are expected to make 54 visits to Fiji in 2013.

By MINFO

Airports Fiji Limited will be redeveloping the Nadi Interna-tional airport terminal to ensure that the first and last impression visitors get of Fiji is indeed a lasting one.

at a presentation of the ter-minal development design to the attorney-General and Minister for Civil aviation aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum in Nadi today, aFL chief executive officer Mr tony Gollin said the renovations are in line with the airports Devel-opment and Modernisation 2012 Decree.

“these are very extensive

Nadi Airport to get faceliftimprovements and renovations works that we are undertaking. Some of the works are in prog-ress now, however the major construction works are expected to begin in September this year,” Mr Gollin said.

While improvements are nor-mal for airports the world over, aFL will ensure that passengers will not be inconvenienced in any way. “We are going to ex-pand the arrival area to allow for more passenger movements,” Mr Gollin said.

“the duty free will be kept at a more central position. there is a lot of expertise involved and that is why one of the biggest

challenges for us is to be able to create space without any impact on anybody in the airport while the upgrading works will be in progress.”

Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said there is a very strict timeline in place for the upgrading works to be completed.

“Everything has to be done essentially within the one year as far as the core objective of the airports Development and Mod-ernisation Decree is concerned.”

“and the airport board and the management have been working tirelessly with various stakeholders, including experts and consultants regarding the

modernisation of the airport,” Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said.

he said hopefully all this up-grade will attract more visitors to Fiji as their travelling experience and stay at our shores would im-prove.

“that’s one of the anticipated outcomes and that’s what we have planned. We want Fiji to get more and more visitors and our tourism numbers to grow”, Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said.

“Many airports now encour-age people to spend more time at the airport and that’s what we would like them to do also. It is the first and the last impression of Fiji.

Institute offers great hospitality coursesBy SHALENDRA PRASAD

IF you are planning to carve a career in Fiji’s thriving tourism and hospitality industry and need tertiary training to acquire the necessary skills to achieve your goals, there is good news for you.

the Pacific Institute of technology (Formerly known as NZPtC) is now offering in-ternationally recognized cours-es in partnership with South

Western Sydney Institute of tafe.

“this is a two year program and the first year of course work will be delivered here in Fiji,” general manager hospital-ity Stuart Rhodes said.

“Once students have com-pleted this qualification with us they have the opportunity through our partnership to transfer to Sydney, australia to complete their Diploma in hospitality Management, this

takes a further year for which each student receives fully paid employment for the duration of the Diploma,” Mr Rhodes adds.

“Enrolments are currently under way for our august 13th intake and places are limited – so to ensure you don’t miss out, interested students need to con-tact us now,” Mr Rhodes urged.

Mr Rhodes now leads the great institution which has rev-olutionized tertiary education in the country since the early

nineties.he is a result focused senior

manager with demonstrated ability at site and national level; including contracted services across a wide range of industry sectors.

Mr Rhodes graduated from Southern Cross University with a Master of Business adminis-tration in 2010 and went on to join Cater Care at the beginning of 2011 to the role of Senior Operations Manager.

The Pacific Institute of Technology’s gen-eral manager hospi-tality Stuart Rhodes in his office. Photo: RINIKA PRAKASH.



ENTERTAINMENT

Sumeet Tappoo performs at the Gayatri Temple in Nadi last year. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

Sumeet Tappoo announces his tour of Fiji and

AustraliaPRESS RELEASE

FIJI Islands is all set to experience a Bollywood extravaganza when Bollywood's rising star, Sumeet tappoo tours the country as part of his Concert tour of australia, Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand and South africa. Sumeet was born in Lautoka, educated in Suva and Sydney and now making Fiji proud in Bollywood, Mumbai, world's largest entertainment industry.

Sydney based Pawon Promotions in association with Event Planner & Consultants are bringing the hugely talented Sumeet and his team of high-profile musicians and glamorous Bollywood Dancers for Fiji tour. Concerts are planned in Lautoka, Suva and Nadi after austra-lia-wide tour covering the entire breadth of country beginning with Perth and then heading over to the east coast for concerts in Sydney, Melbourne, Central Coast, Brisbane and Gold Coast.

the concert entitled "a Celebration of Bollywood" will be a 3-hour ex-travaganza of romantic music with soothing ballads from the latest Bollywood movies as well as a "trip Down Memory Lane" which will feature Sumeet performing the golden melodies of yesteryears. Bollywood dancing, which has become famous the world over for its glitz and glamour will be on show, as six dancers from the world's largest movie industry will enthral the audience accompanying Su-meet.

an orchestra of nine musicians are also being flown down from India for the tour. these musicians are recognised as some of the best in the Indian music industry and regularly accompany Indian music legends and superstars across the globe.

accompany them on stage will be Jasmine Kapadia, a female singer who has captured the hearts of many in India with her renditions of one of India's greatest singing legends, Lata Mangeshkar.

the star of the evening will be Sumeet tappoo who is churning up the sea of talent in Mumbai with his melodious voice and semi-classical and romantic offerings. the upcoming singer is seen as one of Bol-lywood's brightest young talents. his success in the semi classical field of Bhajans & Ghazals has now led him to playback singing in Bollywood movies.

although still a relative newcomer to the industry, his experience is veteran-like with almost 20 albums and over 400 concerts (in In-dia and internationally) to his credit. he has worked with the crème de la crème form the music industry in India including albums with superstars such as Shankar Mahadevan, hariharan, Suresh Wad-kar, Sadhana Sargam, to name a few, and quite extensively with his music guru, the legendary anup Jalota. Sumeet's debut pop album entitled Meri Deewangi, released by Bollywood Film Giants Eros International, was in the top ten Charts for just under 40 weeks. his journey to stardom is well and truly on its way with his latest recording with Bollywood Diva Sunidhi Chauhan for a blockbuster movie coming in 2013.

Pawon Promotions Director Raj Bachu said he was thrilled to be pro-moting the rising star. "We at Pawon Promotion are extremely de-lighted to have signed on Sumeet tappoo and I am absolutely certain that music lovers will be enthralled to an evening of romantic music and dance," said Mr Bachu.

Events Planner & Consultants (Fiji) has also joined forces with Pawon Promotions for the Fiji leg of the tour. Vineel Nand stated, "Bolly-wood is not just confined to the Indian audiences but has now gone global in its appeal and we are thrilled to be a part of this concert tour. audiences in Fiji will enjoy Sumeet's talent and performances by his musicians and dancers".

Sumeet said he was very excited to once again perform in Fiji and aus-tralia. "I am elated to have been signed up by Pawon Promotions & in association of Swish Events for the australian leg of my tour and in association of Events Planner & Consultants for Fiji. I am really looking forward to performing for audiences in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney & Brisbane and I am even more excited to perform in Lau-toka, Suva and Nadi".

Overall, a real musical and visual feast is in store for lovers of Bolly-wood music and films!

RENOWNED Indian artist Dr Lata Singh Munshi has been performing around the coun-try as part of the fortieth an-niversary celebrations of the Indian Cultural Centre (ICC) in Fiji.

Established in 1972, the ICC is the first establishment of its kind by the Indian Gov-ernment anywhere around the world and has definitely come of age since then.

to mark this milestone, the Indian high Commission in partnership with various community organizations has hosted many cultural and en-tertainment groups from India since august last year with Dr Munshi’s ‘Bharatnatyam’ group being the latest visitors to our shores.

While in Fiji Dr Munshi has performed eight different shows in various locations around the country includ-ing the northern division and her last performance being in Nadi on Saturday, august 4.

Dr Lata Singh Munshi was born in a music loving family, where she received the foun-

Bharatnatyam group performs in Fiji

dation of art as a heritage. as she seemed to be deeply in-clined towards dancing from a very early age, her parents started dreaming of making her into a renowned dancer.

In 1976, Lata began her training in Bharatnatyam under the guidance of Shri Shankar hombal. after her initial training, she did her post-graduation in Bharat-natayam from Indira Kala Sangeet Vishvavidyalaya, Khairagargh. She was award-ed Ph.D. for her research in Bharatnatayam dance from Barkatullah University Bho-pal. In the year 1994, she was honored the fellowship of hRD Ministry, Govt. of India.

By SHALENDRA PRASAD

36



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In those days, when we were just beginning we wouldn’t have gone far without your business.

Even though we have expanded to having three outlets in Nadi (and started a new wholesale division), we haven’t forgotten where we started or who we started with.

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JACKS KATCHI KIDS CORNER

38



TALK BUSINESS

By PRANESH AMARSEE

No shortcut to successBula everybody.I wonder how many of you

remember one the the greatest tennis players from the Unit-ed States of america, John Patrick McEnroe. he has won many singles titles as well as doubles. I used to watch him play as I found him to be one of the entertaining tennis players, well I thought he was. anyway he is best remem-bered for his shot-making artistry and superb volleying; for his famous rivalries with Björn Borg, Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl; for his con-frontational on-court behav-iour which frequently landed him in trouble with umpires and tennis authorities; and for the catchphrase "You cannot be serious!" directed toward an umpire during a match at Wimbledon in 1981. he was inducted into the International tennis hall of Fame in 1999, and is regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time. What inspired me by watching all these players is that they had passion for what they did. they had passion for tennis, passion for whatever they did in their lives without being in fear of the conse-quences. together with pas-sion these tennis players had patience to win any match. It took sometimes five to six hours to win a single match. Staying on the court for such a period needs passion and

patience and this in return gave them success. In Busi-ness these two things, Passion and Patience are the most im-portant aspects of success. Let me first tell you what I mean by these two words.

Firstly, when I talk about Passion, it reminds me of our Business Magnate, Mr Dilip Khatri of Jacks Fiji. You want to know the definition of Pas-sion, than go no further and look at this man. he is full of passion in business and this has made him very successful. Passion is a term applied to a very strong feeling about a person or thing. Passion is an intense emotion, compelling feeling, enthusiasm, or de-sire for something. I describe passion as a super charge or booster for other feelings and emotions. Passion is like fuel to a fire. Passion is an energy that works with all feelings and emotions. that is why you need to be aware of it, use it consciously and use it to your advantage. Different people have different defini-tions of passion in business, but all sum up together. While reading the howard Busi-ness Review I found several interesting definitions of pas-sion in business by various top guns or the business ex-ecutives of america. Let me share some with you.

“Passion is more than fun. It’s more than just an inter-est. I think it’s something that speaks to your values and to your gut. Something that re-ally propels you forward. For myself, I’m passionate about all things career.” Carol Ceniza-Levine, Founder of Six-Figure Start.

“It’s something that is so deeply rooted in your soul

and in your heart that you have to do it. It’s something that is so near and dear to you, that you feel it, you have to go after it. Your life’s not complete unless you really go for it…” Jasmine Graham, Founder of Pace 4 Success, www.pace4success.com.

“What makes you smile; what gives you energy what gives you bounce in your step; what gets you out of bed in the morning; what makes you miserable if you don’t have it.” Bailey Earith, found-er of Bailey Fiber art Studio (www.baileyfiberart.com).

“Something that you do or strive for that you don’t do for recognition (monetary suc-cess or social recognition) and something that you won’t let anything else stand in the way of your doing.” Sam Schmidt, founder of Sam Schmidt Mo-torsports and Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation (www.samschmidt.org).

Well the above definitions will make you understand what passion is. Passionate businessmen have a look of honest excitement and hap-piness in their eyes, in their body language and in their tone when they interact with their clients, customers, in-vestors, and others. Whether it is the way they talk about their product or discuss their industry, passionate business-man have an infectious ex-citement and deep caring that makes others want to connect and do business with them. Passion is something that you cannot fake or overlook if you truly want to connect with your customers, vendors, partners or investors.

In Fiji we have a lot of pas-sionate people. Dilip Khatri

of Jacks and hari Punja of Flour Mills of Fiji are very good examples and very re-cently I read in the Fiji Sun about Mr Charan Jeath Singh, the King of Vanua Levu. this guy is very passionate about his business. he left his pro-fession as a Pilot in 1987 and started to build his business for which he had a passion-ate vision. Not only in busi-ness, but we can see passion-ate people in sports such as Serevi, the master of Rugby Sevens and our very own Ji-tend Kumar also known as JK (daddy) who has passion for Soccer.

It is the passion that makes these people stick to what they like doing for the whole of their life. Passion isn’t something that can be bought from a store or learnt from an educational institution, but it is something to do with life and living your life through your dreams.

Starting a business is re-ally, really difficult. It takes your constant time and atten-tion. It will push you to won-der about your abilities and you will work harder and lon-ger than you ever have before. If you truly care about and believe in what you do, you will still get tired. You will still have stress. But it’s dif-ferent. When you love what you do, it is so much easier to work that late night or week-end. You find yourself con-stantly thinking about how to improve your marketing, sales, products, and services. You feel satisfied about what you’re doing. as a matter of fact, you would do it for free. Making money at it just gives you more time to spend doing it. It just makes everything

you do a little easier.So as I said passion comes

with patience. If you do not have the patience to see your business through, it will ul-timately fail. By having pa-tience, you become meticu-lous, attentive to important details and think logically. Impatient people are much more impulsive, jumping to conclusions, making hasty decisions that ultimately cost their business. a patient mind-set has a tendency to use more common sense, a very essen-tial component of business success. a patient business-man is also more likely to be prepared, have goals in place, understand his strengths and weaknesses, establish his re-sources and needs and know how to manage them. Now what is patience?

Simple patience is “wait-ing without complaint”. I could not find a better defi-nition than this. I have met so many people who want to get rich fast. People who want to get successful in the shortest amount of time. No doubt that they are resource-ful and can make things move fast. Unfortunately, they are still unable to get to the level of success they desire. the frustration of not being suc-cessful weighs so heavily on their head that they start los-ing focus. the importance of patience in success has to be emphasized. a person who wants to be successful needs patience above all, even above resources, money and everything else. It is the most important quality an entrepre-neur needs to learn and apply when he or she is hounded by fears of failure.

there is no shortcut to suc-

cess.the best way to cultivate patience is to train your mind. a patient and relaxed mind resolves problems effectively. that is why they say ‘Use your head’ or ‘Cool down’.

to be successful, we need to start small (if we don’t have many resources), learn from our mistakes and progress slowly. above all we need good amount of patience to make sure that we take things as they come rather than rush-ing into them.

“Patience is power. Pa-tience is not an absence of action; rather it is "timing" it waits on the right time to act, for the right principles and in the right way.” ― Fulton J. Sheen.

“If there is no passion in your life, then have you re-ally lived? Find your passion, whatever it may be. Become it, and let it become you and you will find great things hap-pen for you, to you and be-cause of you.”-t. alan arm-strong.

Finally, life is short. Spending your days doing something you care about is possible and achievable. You may have to spend quite a bit of time thinking about what you enjoy doing and how you can translate that into a business. It won’t be easy, but it is worth it. Millions of people do it. Everybody you read about or talk to that is ex-tremely successful has figured out how to take their unique strengths and interests and turn it into their living. You and I know both know in our heart that passion is impor-tant. Now you just have to believe that it is possible and worth it.

God Bless Fiji.



BUSINESS NEWS

Women drivers sharpen their skillsBy SHALENDRA PRASAD

FIJI largest motor company is not only large by its name but by its deeds as well.

asco Motors which dis-tributes some of the world’s leading brands of vehicles, out-board motor engines and farm machinery including tyres and batteries recently organized a ‘Women & Wheels Clinic’ in the western division.

the special clinic enabled women drivers to enhance their skills and general knowledge of driving with the assistance of experts from asco Motors.

“the Women & Wheels Clinic is a free service and awareness clinic targeted at lady drivers in the west. It aims to improve lady drivers’ knowl-edge and general awareness of driving, in particular looking after and maintain their ve-hicles,” offered asco Motor’s national marketing manager Elenoa Korovulavula.

“Last year, asco Motors hosted the same clinic in Nadi only, this year we had extended the boundaries because lady drivers are increasing in num-bers and we have been inun-dated with requests to host it in other western towns as well,” Korovulavula added.

She said the response from

the clinics held in Ba, Lautoka and Nadi were impressive.

Veteran lady driver Manor Mani who has been driving for almost fifty-years now was im-pressed with the clinic.

“I am very grateful to asco Motors for hosting such clinics in the western division as it pro-vides a platform to learn new things and also fresh our driv-ing skills and vehicle knowl-edge,” Mrs Mani said.

“I am happy to have at-tended the clinic and look for-ward to more such clinics in the future,” the sixty-four-year-old grandmother of Votualevu added.

“In my younger days, there were hardly any female driv-ers around and I was one of the very first batches of lady driv-ers during the time but today we see that nearly every second lady we meet is a driver so such clinics are of great importance.

“I salute asco Motors for leading the way with such ini-tiatives and am very impressed with their customer care initia-tives.

“the good thing about asco Motors is that they do not sell you a vehicle for the mere sake of making a sale but also build a long lasting working relation-ship with their customers at the same time.”

Asco Motors service manager

Nadi Rani Fesaitu, right, hands over the certificate of particiaption to

Mrs Manor Mani.Photo:

SHALENDRA PRASAD.

40



BUSINESS MENTORING

By CLAIRE D. GIRALDEAUExecutive Monitoring

Group (EMG) Fiji

A new series of articles for your business with challenging perspectives

Does your Appraisal System support mediocrity?

In our first article we looked at Change with “Organizational Cul-ture”, based on 3 levels: Beliefs, Systems and

Behaviors.Now we will look at some

inconsistencies to appraise people and again we face some serious challenges. Do you understand the individual “decision-making profile” of your employees? Many individuals with different culture, background, values, education, religion etc are in-fluenced by their preferences when they make decisions and choices at work.

I remember when I first started to work in Fiji how surprised I was to see so many people on bereavement leave, we did not have that kind of days off in Canada. In all in-nocence, I recall a case where I saw a man coming to the of-fice dressed in short, hat on his head and I asked him if he was going fishing. the sec-retary told me; “hey! Don’t say that, he is on bereavement leave his father died” oops!!! then the weirdest thing hap-pens a few months later when the same man was on bereave-ment leave again, this time I asked him who died, he said his father and I said “again!!! Man! I knew some culture be-lieved in reincarnation but not that quick.... no this time it

was an uncle. Now in our de-veloped countries, we do not take a week off for the pass-ing of an uncle. In fact, we do not even leave work immedi-ately when someone afar dies, we just carry on and normally sort thing out after work. My point is different culture; dif-ferent context, different ways. Work is the highest priority in many advanced countries, but here family is ahead, work is often just to pay bills and survive. Frankly I much pre-fer to see family as a priority, and I have learned to let go of works demands.

Where I see mediocrity in the workplace, it is much more about the various in-consistencies that contradict what employees are supposed to do. For example, just look at the following list and check your own rules: Procedures VS practices -- Procedures VS processes -- Standards VS reality-- attitude VS reality --Policies VS reality, in other words what is the use of hav-ing many different manuals of all sorts of rules that no one follows and most often are contradicting each other.

In one of the organiza-tions where we conducted a “Cultural audit”, we had an interesting case: we found five, yes five (5) last warning in a personnel file. We were just wondering; how can that be isn’t LaSt supposed to be last like in final warning. they had an appraisal system

like MBO, or PMS, which is a very subjective system and has gained reputation for not working at all in many orga-nizations abroad. Yet it seems like the new tendency in de-veloping countries.

If you support mediocrity it works because in appraising people once a year, you basi-cally allow them to be on their best only in November when it’s time to do the evaluation of their performance. We be-lieve that when people ap-praise people, there is a strong possibility that you will get either harsh evaluation if two people are in conflict, or you will get an easy-going evaluation if two people are friends. Most supervisors and managers will tend to give a score above the mark to avoid causing trouble. So everyone is in the middle keeping their routine all year, in the end it is just another charade.

We believe strongly that organizations that rather con-sider the Process appraisal Systems take away all sub-jectivity and guarantee per-formance because the pro-cess MUSt work. We also recommend that you appraise aLL the time, every time the process is repeated instead of once a year. Go for recogniz-ing the good instead of “pun-ishing” the bad (which does not happen anyway). Focus on quality instead of quantity. It is very simple and quickly implemented with the right

model. how does Process ap-

praisal works: I admit that if you do not have proper pro-cess description it may be a awkward exercise, on the other it is also very reveal-ing. the savings I have seen in some very simple cases such as “Cleaning toilet’ at the airport brought more than $22,000., savings sim-ply because the attendants did not have the key to the store room!

Last year in another situ-ation, we were going to do a job evaluation, but there was no job description (what you are responsible for) to start with and no process descrip-tion (how you do the task) either. a process description must include people (players) so that we can identify who is the best person to participate in the accomplishment of the task.

For example, we had an accountant counting coins, it had been done that way for so many years and yet the time value of the accountant was better spent at doing budget and financial report, again we saved another $18,000, just by better allocating this task to an office clerk.

So in the end the savings we can make happen by this exercise, certainly compen-sate the time spent to seri-ously evaluate jobs, appraise work to create a work envi-ronment that is productive

and effective. to summarize, appraise

the PROCESS instead of PEOPLE, appraise aLL thE tIME instead of ONCE a YEaR, appraise QUaLItY instead of QUaNtItY, ap-praise to IMPROVE instead of FaLSE PUNIShMENt.

I saw recently a situation where a quality system had a target to achieve only 15% re-jects…. First I was surprised to see such a big volume of rejects, secondly if you want quality; the goal MUSt be zero defect it does not matter how long it takes to achieve it but if you tell employees that you allow 15% you are actually saying that it is OK to make mistakes and contin-ue to have rejects. You want QUaLItY & customers’ sat-isfaction there is no two ways about it. Please don’t give me the expression “we are just human excuse….”

It reminds me of the KPI in a telephone company; the guys had to repair 20 lines a day to get their bonus. I thought what will they do when all lines are fixed? then I saw how many times they kept repairing the same line…. Of course otherwise no bonus. So the famous KPI should have been zero line to repair… we joked and defined KPI as Killing People’s Inter-est for their job.

I dream of a day when people of all level in the or-ganization and government

bodies will care enough. Dr. Mylles Monroe a famous au-thor says: “We need people who will say “here is where I stand”, “I will not cheat, I will not lie, I will not cut corners, I will not accept bribes, I will not take kickbacks, I will not pad invoices, I will not steal time from my employer be-cause all of these violate my higher law…” and he carries on with: “I will pursue honor, honesty, integrity, and excel-lence in everything I do….”Just imagine how we can be with more and more people who would believe and act this way.

Sometimes I wonder how upside down we are in our life, it’s like we are doing things to ensure failure in-stead of success. Companies cheat customers, employees, investors, shareholders and then we are in economic crisis because some selfish CEO’s made “money” their idol. Where does each and every one of us stand in all this? I suppose that if each and ev-ery one of us would commit and stand for values and prin-ciples for success, we would have no problems at all..... Yes I did say I dream. Feel free to contact me if you would like to discuss further with me. In our next article we will look at: Proper finance and money management for small busi-ness & NGO’s. Contact: [email protected] Mobile 925 8050 or 707 8050.



BUSINESS NOTICE BOARD

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BUSINESS NOTICE BOARD

44



SPORTS

Members of the victorious McDonalds Nadi Net-ball squad which won the inter-branch games in Suva recently. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

O Nadi Ko!

Fiji Football assists flood victims

By RINIKA PRAKASH

By RINIKA PRAKASH

thE Fiji Football association has handed over a cheque of $35,357.12 to Prime Minister Commodore Frank Bainima-rama at the tata’s Restaurant in Nadi recently.

the handing over of the cheque was done by Fiji Football as-sociation President Rajesh Patel in the presence of Fiji Fa Vice President Western tarnesh Reddy and Jitendra Kumar together with Nadi Fa Vice President Dinesh Pillay (tata).

the timely donation has been made possible after FIFa Vice-President and Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) Presi-dent David Chung presented NZD $25,000 for the Prime Ministers Flood appeal Fund to his Fijian counterparts at a function recently.

the money was officially handed over to Fiji Fa to be pre-sented towards the Prime Minister’s flood appeal following a request by the local soccer body to its Oceania office.

the Prime Minister Commodore Bainimarama on behalf of the Government thanked the Fiji Football association and the Oceania Football Confederation for their timely donation which will help in the flood relief efforts.

Fiji Fa President Rajesh Patel said since soccer is enjoyed by people from all walks of life, it was there social responsibil-ity to provide assistance to those in need as many belonging of the ‘football family’ were severely affected by the recent floods.

“Fiji Fa will be working very closely with the government in such areas and for the development of football at all levels in the country,” Mr Patel added.

“We also thank the Oceania Football Confederation for provid-ing the funds which has made the donation possible.”

Prime Minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama receives the donation cheque from Fiji FA president Rajesh Pa-tel while Fiji FA vice-presidents Jitendra Kumar and Tarnesh Reddy and Nadi FA vice-president Dinesh Pillay (Tata) look on. Photo: RINIKA PRAKASH.

NAWAI Secondary School (NSS) won the Nadi Secondary Schools under-fifteen Soccer Championships by beating Korovuto College two goals to nil.

The side thrashed Nadi Muslim College in the semi-final by three goals to nil.

Both the matches were played at Swami Vivekananda Col-lege grounds on Saturday, July 14.NSS head coach Dav-endran Reddy attributed the win to good organization of team and having impact players.

According to Reddy, it is not the number of players avail-able but motivation, dedication and discipline of the stu-dents. “Listening to instructions and following the game plan is very important to win matches.”

None of the schools the side played with scored goals against NSS during the under-fifteen grade of the tour-nament.

Nawai shines in secondary school soccer

The victorious Nawai Secondary under-fifteen side pose for a group photo with school management. Photo:

COURTESY OF MASTER ASHWIN GOVINDAN.



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Participants of the Rotary Club of Nadi organised Fun Run / Walk pose for a group photo at RB’s Jet Point with Minister of Health Dr Neil Sharma after completing their run on Saturday, July 14. Photos: RINIKA PRAKASH.

Health walk a successBy RINIKA PRAKASH

thE Rotary Club of Nadi in partnership with the australian high Commission organized a 6KM Run/Walk on Saturday, July 14.

the Inaugural Run/Walk started at 7am from the RB Patel Jetpoint in Martintar and there were two hundred and fifty participants.

Participating in this Fun Run/Walk was health Minis-ter honorable Dr. Neil Sharma and acting australian high Commissioner, his Excellency Mr. Glenn Miles.

the theme for the event was "Walking for better life/health".

Participants registered in seven categories that were: Secondary School Individual, Open Individual, Masters In-dividual, and Individual with Disability, School/Sporting teams, Corporate teams and Family group.

there were prizes to be won in the different categories and a delight to see people of all age groups and different walks of life being a part of the fun run.

the australian high Com-mission sponsored the event through Rotary Club of Nadi for a sum of $8,000.

Event organiser, Dr Ram Raju said that the health work provided a platform to edu-cate the public on the health benefits of walking, and dem-onstrated the correct pace and type of walking for exercise.

“I would like to thank

our sponsors: Major: austra-lian high Commission and other sponsors were: aCata trust Fiji, South Pacific Re-cordings, Ministry of health, Land transport authority, Fiji Police Force, Webcom, tap-poos Fiji Limited, aNZ Bank, aqua Pacific, Bula Water, RB Patel, Vodafone ath Founda-tion, Budget Pharmacy, DSM Centre, Fiji Cancer Society, Nadi town Council, Sentai Restaurant, Punjas, Coca Cola, Swami Vivkenanda College, Rotary Club of Nadi, Mahi-jibhai hardware, Jacks of Fiji, Sports World, Courts home-centres, Westside Motor Bike Rentals, Nana's Indian Cuisine and Event organizer - Events Planner & Consultants,” said Dr Raju.

Outgoing Rotary Club of Nadi President Sanjit Patel

thanked the australian high Commissioner and honor-able Dr Neil Sharma for being a part of this fun run and for making it a success.

“the Rotary Club plans to do this fun run as a annual event and next year it will be an even bigger event,” said Patel.

aCata (action for Chil-dren and the aged) trust Fiji was also present there to con-duct several health checks namely blood pressure, body mass index, Waist to hip ratio, blood sugar and cholesterol tests.

all participants took part in the free medical checkup, and all the participant had free breakfast as well. Morning Breakfast was also donated to treasure home orphanage in Nadi.

Health Minister Dr Neil Sharma, second from left, hands over certificates of participation to the runners, while Mr Sanjit Patel looks on. Photo: RINIKA PRAKASH

46



SPORTS

Ba simply the bestBy ANAND SINGH WhEthER you hate them or love them, but you have to believe, Fiji’s best soccer team Ba is simply the best – that’s why fans say Ba toh Ba hai (Ba is Ba).

they have done it all. From winning most number of Fiji FaCt, Battle of the Giants, Inter District Champion-ship, League and Champion verse Champion – you name it Ba has won it all and to top it up they have set a new record with 10-men in a gruesome more than two hours of 90-minute soccer which was for the first-time played in a tournament.

Ba president Rishi Kumar said he was so proud of the boys for creating another history by winning the 2012 Inkk Battle of the Giants at Churchill Park, the 15th BOG title for the men in black.

“I’m so happy with the way my boys played. and to make this victory so sweet was that it was a historical event as for the first-time a tournament in Fiji was played under FIFa’s standard 90-minute game,” said Rishi who did not smile until the final whistle blew to end the grue-some match.

the 4R Electrical boss commended Fiji Fa for adopting the 90-minute game.

“Fiji Fa has taken the right direction to lift the standard of soccer and as I was always pushing for 90-minute soc-cer and this tournament has proved that I was right.

“after a long time I saw such a game. this final was one of the best. Very entertaining – these are the kind of finals we want to see, that’s what the fans want,” the Ba boss said.

Rishi also commended Labasa for taking Ba to the wire and keeping up a great battle.

Ba toh Ba hai ... The victorious Ba soccer team after winning the Battle of the Giants tournament beating La-basa 4-2 on penalty kicks.

Picture: Shalendra Prasad.

By RINIKA PRAKASH

aN international standard stadium with the capacity to seat 25,000 people will be built in Nadovu Park,

Lautoka.this was an-

nounced by Lau-toka’s special a d m i n i s t r a t o r Praveen Bala (pictured) in his speech at the opening of the

INKK Battle of the Giants tourna-ment at Churchill Park, Lautoka on thursday July 26.

“the stadium will be one of its kind and will cater for 25,000 people. after the completion of this stadium, we look forward to hosting interna-tional teams and events here in Nad-ovu Park, Lautoka,” said Mr Bala.

Welcoming the decision Fiji Fa president Rajesh Patel commended the vision of the Lautoka City Coun-cil and said the new development will enable them to host more events and international test matches in Lautoka.

Lautoka plans 25,000 seater stadium

Ref might face music after BOG blundersBy ANAND SINGH

thERE are calls from angry Nadi officials to dis-cipline referee Dina Mani, but on the other hand Fiji Fa president Rajesh Patel has backed his whistle-man.

the commotion is after veteran ref Mani’s style of controlling the match which cost the Nadi side a 0-1 loss to the hands of Labasa in the first semi-final match at the 17th INKK BOG at Lautoka’s Churchill Park on Saturday, June 28.

a furious Nadi team director Kamlesh Narayan has slammed the Fiji Fa referee Mani whose blun-ders cost them the dearly.

Narayan said the standard of refereeing was so pathetic and that Mani should be fired. “Referee spoiled the whole game.

Everyone present at the ground saw the blunders made by Mani.

“he should be fired. he is not fit enough to be a referee. I want to know what the Fiji Fa will do about it.

“the whole Fiji Fa bosses were sitting there, they saw what happened. I want to know what they have to say,” an angry Nadi director said.

“It cost lots of money to prepare a team for this kind of tournament and when we lose like this it hurts.”

“It takes lots of money to prepare a team. We put in so much effort and at the end of the day we even cannot get a fair decision. It’s really disheartening. Well let’s see what the Fiji Fa decides,” a furious Nadi team director said.

On the other hand Fiji Fa president Rajesh Patel

said the referee’s decision was final and after all referees do made mistakes as it was all part and parcel of the game. “Well referee Mani’s decision is final. that’s it. We cannot change the decision as it stands now,” the Fiji Fa boss said.

Patel added after all he (Mani) is a human and mistakes are bound to happen. “he did make mis-takes. he was under enormous pressure and in this kind of games mistakes do happen,” Patel said.

Meanwhile, Patel in a press conference on the final day said if referee Mani was found guilty for misconduct during the semifinal match than he would be taken to task.

“I have received the complaints from the Nadi camp. We will have to first see if Mani was at fault. If he is found guilty than action will be taken against him,” said the Fiji Fa boss.

By EMOSI LASAQA

thE 2012 Battle of the Giants fi-nal game will definitely go into the Fiji soccer history books.

and the final between Ba and Labasa was a classic affair. It start-ed with electrifying pace as the players from both sides put their body on the line for the $11,000 prize money.

and a grilling 120 minutes of goalless football, the match went into penalty shoot-out to deter-mine the winner. the crowd at Churchill Park were on their feet as two teams hurdled in the middle of the ground while their strikers lined one by one to take their shot.

and when Laba-sa’s skipper tan-

iela Waqa’s attempt sailed over the crossbar, the Ba fans went wild. apisalome turuva earlier missed his shot while avinesh Waran Su-wamy missed for Ba.

the victory was special for the Men in Black who have won the BOG for the record fifteen times.

the Men in Black made an early impression in the 20th second into the first spell missing the goal by inches after Malakai tiwa’s shot sailed over the crossbar.

Labasa also had scoring chances but failed to hit the winner.

Labasa’s stopper akuila Matai-suva and Ba keeper Jone Ralulu were too good under the post.

By RINIKA PRAKASH AND ANAND SINGH

thE national soccer selectors have named a very strong team minus Fiji’s best stopper Simione tamanisau to face the touring Brazilian team in a two match series to be played on august 23 at Churchill Park and the second on 25 at Ba’s Govind Park.

Fiji Fa CEO Bob Kumar revealed the names of the 23-member squad to march into the Ba academy with full playing gear by august 13. One of the notable inclusions in the squad is Nad-roga defender Krishneel Dutt who has impressed many with his solid defen-sive play. and once again the national team is dominated by Labasa and Ba

players, both having six reps each. also included in the squad is New Zealand-based Waitakere club Roy Krishna.

here is the team list: taione Ke-revanua (Labasa), akuila Mateisuva (Labasa), Ilisoni Logaivou (Labasa), taniela Waqa (Labasa), Pita Bolaitoga (Labasa), Maciu Dunadamu (Labasa), Remueru tekiata (Ba), Laisenia Raura (Ba), Malakai tiwa (Ba), Osea Vakatale-sau (Ba), tuimasi Manuca (Ba), Manu-eli Kalou (Ba), archie Watkins (Nadro-ga), Krishneel Dutt (Nadroga), Samuela Vula (Suva), Samuela Kautoga (Suva), Zibraaz Sahib (Lautoka), Noa Vukica (Lautoka), Valerio Nawatu (Lautoka), Misaele Draunibaka (Rewa), Epeli Sau-kuru (Rewa), Peniame Drova (Rewa), Roy Krishna (Waitakere), Vereti Dickson (Nadi), Benaminio Mateinaqara (Nadi).

Ba-eautiful Team named to face Brazilians



Suva 338 4888 Nadi 672 1777 Lautoka 666 9993 Ba 667 4406 Labasa 881 1688 www.asco.com.fj

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The Jet Volume 4 Number 9

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Transcript of The Jet Volume 4 Number 9