The Jet Volume 4 Number 1

Get daily updates on www.thejetnewspaper.com Over one million hits every monthJANUARY 1 - 14, 2012 PRICE: 50 CENTS VIP

Five star treatForty one residents at

The Golden Age Home, in Natabua, Lautoka were given a five-star Christmas delight, as staff and management of Sheraton and Westin Resorts pampered them with gifts, in-cluding new clothes, a resort styled-dinner and scrump-tious desserts.

Managed by Starwood Ho-tels and Resorts, the five-star properties, located on De-narau Island in Nadi, also pre-sented two commercial wash-ing machines to the Home.

TGAH board of visitor’s secretary Rajneesh Lata Charan said the donation was timely as the washing ma-chine used previously devel-oped problems.

“We are extremely grateful to the staff and management of Sheraton and Westin Re-sort and Spa for their gener-ous gifts,” said Charan.

“The residents had a ball; they sang and danced with the resort staff. I think it brought back a lot of memories. They really got into the Christmas spirit.

“It was a very wonderful experience for the residents. They managed to make new friends and it also reassures them that people do care about them. It was the best Christmas ever,” said Charan.

“The new machines will assist the staff greatly. For some time now they had been doing manual washing as our original equipment developed mechanical problems.”

Resort manager Ravinder Singh Dhesi said the aim of the visit was to brighten up

By RANBEER SINGH

the spirits of those who toiled hard in their younger days and laid the foundation to a prosperous nation.

All the resort staff volun-

tarily donated money which was used to buy gifts and clothes for the elderly resi-dents.

“We had around thirty staff

that visited the Home and they were overwhelmed at the response of the residents who actually sang and danced to show their appreciation of our

visit,” said Dhesi.“One of our core values is

community and we will con-tinue to assist in this arena in 2012.”

The memorable occasion was also blessed by Pastor John Yankaiya and each of the residents was also personally blessed by the Pastor.

Elderly residents pampered by the Starwood Hotels and Resorts staff

Sheraton Fiji human resources manager Regina Kumar, right, serves 88-year-old Ram Samujh and 83-year-old Jaiwanti who are both residents of the Golden Age Home at Natabua in Lautoka. Photo: RAJNEESH LATA CHARAN.

www.thejetnewspaper.com www.epapergallery.com

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 pri-vate 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 twice a month(1st & 15th) from Nadi - the tourism capital of Fiji.

PUBLISHER : SHALENDRA PRASAD Cell: 9232073CHAIRMAN / CEO : SHAKIL KUMAR Cell: 9997261 EDITOR : RANBEER SINGH Cell: 9895267PHONE : (679) 6708188 FAX : (679) 6708028OFFICE CELL : (679) 7307574 Digicel / 5164 Vodafone & InkkEMAIL : [email protected] UPDATES : Txt Sub thejet to 777 to get one daily update

www.epapergallery.com/thejetwww.thejetnewspaper.com

LAYOUT BY SHALENDRA PRASAD. PRINTED BY MAX MARKETING LTD.

VOLUME 4 NUMBER 1. JANUARY 2012 EDITION 1

Positive Image

RANBEER SINGH

Letters to the EditorOur community newspaper is published bi-monthly (twice a month). You can email your letters to [email protected]. All letters and emails (no attachments) to The Jet must include the sender’s full name, home address as well as day and evening phone numbers for verification. Letters with norms de plume will not be accepted. Ideally, letters will be a maximum of 100 words. By submitting your letter for publication, you agree that we may edit the letter for legal, space or any other reasons and after publication in the newspaper, republish it on the internet or in other media. Letters published or

submitted elsewhere will not be given priority.

The proposal to declare Nadi Town smoke and plastic free isn’t farfetched as many critics may think but one which certainly will brighten up the faces of not only its citizens but thou-sands of tourists that visit the town each year.

The Nadi Chamber of Commerce and Industry has started work on a submission to the Nadi Town Council outlining the nu-merous positives this initiative will have not only on the health of people but the environment as well.

Passive smoking is the inhalation of smoke, called secondhand smoke (SHS) or environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) from tobacco products used by others. This occurs when tobacco smoke permeates any environment, causing its inhalation by people within that environment.

Research has shown that exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke risks the cause to disease, disability and death.

Many countries overseas have banned smoking in night clubs, bars, restaurants and other public places or have set up zones for smokers and non-smokers.

Special smoke rooms have also been set-up in public places such as airports, for those who have an urge of having a cigarette or cigar for that matter.

Sigatoka Town Council (STC) last year declared a few public spots, such as the bus-stand and market complex as Smoke-Free.

The policy which was initiated by STC chief executive officer Anand Pillay was implemented after months of awareness and education programmes run with its citizens.

While many were hesitant at first, the continuous education process coupled with strict fines was the catalyst behind the change in the mind set of those in Sigatoka.

NTC and NCCI will also have to go through the same process as its sister council Sigatoka.

The same will be for the ban on the use of plastic bags.Thousands of plastic bags are being used each day and for many

different reasons- those that are filled with groceries at the supermarket or the ones that’s used to carry food containers to work or school.

While some may argue that most of the plastic bags are now bio-degradable, this alone doesn’t solve the implications it has on the environment as well as our precious marine life.

The best idea is to phase out plastic bags and in place offer environmental friendly handbags and or recycled paper bags which also can be used to carry groceries from supermar-kets. For a safer, cleaner and sustainable environment more awareness on such issues is needed and hopefully leads to a change in the mindset of people.

The hunt beginsThe dismal performance of the national rugby team at the 2011

World Cup in New Zealand has thoroughly been dissected in the local media.

The reputation of the ‘Flying Fijians’ has been disintegrated to say the least.

But that’s all water under the bridge now.The focus for 2012 should be on rebuilding. The Fiji Rugby

Union board and management knows it has a tough task ahead.

The FRU board led by chairman Colonel Mosese Tikoitoga have got the ball rolling with a post mortem of the World Cup performance, the appointment of Manasa Baravilala as the FRU’s new chief executive, a review of the FRU struc-ture and most importantly a four-member selection and in-terview panel to appoint the new national coach.

The committee comprises of FRU board sub-committee (Games) and deputy chairman Ilaitia Tuisese, FRU presi-dent Ratu Isikeli Tasere, International Rugby Board (IRB) technical expert Brian O’Shea and Baravilala.

Media reports suggest the top coaching job has drawn strong pool of applicants, some of whom are former national rugby players.

This should provide the selection panel a wide range of rugby experts to choose from.

The development plans proposed by the new rugby coach and his team will lay the platform for Fiji rugby’s future.

And though the sport may have hit a low chord, it certainly has the spirit to fight back and claim its spot amongst the great rugby nations around the globe.

Ready to take on the challenge By RANBEER SINGH

Her smile would easily light up a room and her man-ners are majestic yet humble.

Twenty-four-year-old Alisi Rabukawaqa captivated thou-sands of hearts in Samoa last month as she was crowned Miss South Pacific.

Rabukawaqa, originally from Nanuku, Ra carried Fiji’s flag to the regional pageant, after being crowned Miss Hibiscus.

“My aim wasn’t to win the Miss South Pacific title but to highlight the necessary issues that are affecting our Pacific people,” said Rabukawaqa.

“Winning the title is an honor. I thank all the people for their support, especially to my family and friends. I also managed to make a lot of new friends and look forward to my new role.”

Rabukawaqa, a marine sci-ence graduate from the Uni-versity of the South Pacific highlighted the many envi-ronmental issues affecting the

Pacific region.One of the key topics she

spoke on was the hunting and killing of sharks for commer-

cial gain.“People need to be edu-

cated about issues that are effecting our environment.

In the Pacific we rely heavily on our environment for our livelihood and there’s a need for it to be sustained for our future generations,” said Ra-bukawaqa.

Rabukawaqa said she was looking forward to her role of being the Pacific’s ambas-sador - one which she admits will be tough and demanding.

“There’s huge responsibil-ity on my shoulders as there are so many issues that affect our people. One of the biggest challenges is climate change and the rising seawater level. This is certainly one of the many issues I will focus on during my reign,” said Rabu-kawaqa.

Rabukawaqa plans to fur-ther her education at USP by enrolling in a post graduate programme before pursuing a Masters.

“It’s very important that children work hard in school and get a good education. This will ensure that we have a productive and knowledge based society,” said Rabu-kawaqa.

Miss South Pacific Alisi Rabukawaqa in Nadi. Photo: RANBEER SINGH.

Car club members clean up beachBy RANBEER SINGH

More than fifteen members of the High Rev Car Club and six employees of Ice Bar in Nadi took time out to do some community work during the festive season.

The group carried out a cleaning drive at Wailoal-oa Beach, a well known picnic spot in Nadi.

Founder and President of the car club, Edwin Fran-cis Nair said the clean up drive was its way of en-suring that picnicker’s enjoyed their time-out in a safe and clean environ-ment.

“We hope to do more such activities in the New Year. Everyone really enjoyed themselves, we had good fun and at the same time ensured that the environ-ment is kept tidy,” said Nair.

Volunteers pose for a photo after cleaning up Nadi’s famous picnic spot. Photo: SUPPLIED.

Many of you put up Christ-mas trees in your home. The idea of having a Christmas Tree originated in Germany in the 16th century.

People living there decorat-ed fir trees with roses, apples, and colored paper. Some say that Martin Luther lit the first “Christmas tree” (using can-dles).

As legend has it, while com-ing home one winter’s night near Christmas, he noted the beauty of the starlight shining through the branches of a small fir tree outside his home.

He attempted to imitate this starlight by using candles at-tached to the branches of his indoor Christmas tree. There is nothing in the Bible about Christmas trees.

Christmas TreeALLEN LOCKINGTONLAUTOKA

Public TransportDONALD CHANLAUTOKA

The weekends, afternoons and Sundays are when public transport is scarce. The worst times are in the evenings when one wants to go to the hospital. A simple visit to a friend on the other side of town can result in you waiting for hours for a taxi to come by. But thankfully “those vans” are still around and they usually come out at night to provide much needed service.

With the hike in taxi fares people have chosen to ride the bus especially when the return cabs now charge $1 per per-son.

However, different drivers have different outlooks and assess the rise in fare and de-crease in jobs differently. Some have accepted the fact that there is a mild reduction in jobs and some can’t seem to stop talking about the negatives as soon as you get on the taxi.

They have cried for so long for an increase and they got it.

But now I notice there seems to a little more illegal vans on the road. It must be a lucrative business; otherwise heavy fines would have taken them of the roads a long time ago. Now we read that cabbies get mixed re-sults. Hope their business picks up in the New Year and some-thing is done for the illegal vans and private cars.

They (illegal vans) seem to have also found a niche in the market.

I wish to contribute to the taxi fare issue. Remember my letter a few months ago about me wanting to catch a taxi in Waiyavi one evening? I had on cut off shorts, a vest and flip flops and each time a taxi approached they would slow down look me up and down then speed away to pick up the person in the three piece suit waiting in front.

Well, things have changed, I was on the road on Saturday evening in a torn singlet, cut off

Taxi ServiceALLEN LOCKINGTONLAUTOKA

shorts and bare footed, I was on my way to the shop.

Suddenly I had to sneeze and brought my hand up to my mouth and a taxi appeared as if by magic.

Rugby 15’sDONALD CHANLAUTOKA

Looks like Dere has come up with another strategy for the selection criteria. Now players need to play 15s before they can play 7s. This is a good plan because our boys lack upper body strength and one way for them to get this strength is to play in the more ruggered 15s games.

And boy are our rugby play-ers ruggered in the West. Watch-ing club matches at Nadovu Grounds is like watching one of those car derbies overseas where cars just ram into each other and the last one standing wins.

Not much science in those games where strength is really tested, just brawn. Perhaps we need to start at club level where sports science is instilled in the players and not wait till nation-al level.

2


THE JET - FIJI’S FIRST COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER3

SPOTLIGHT

The University of Fiji Council has appointed Profes-sor Mahendra Kumar as the next Vice-Chancellor with ef-fect from 17 December 2011.

Professor Kumar succeeds Professor Muralidhar who de-parted UOF on 16 December 2011.

Professor Kumar holds a BSc Biology/Mathematics/Physics from USP and PhD Environmental Physics from the University of Nottingham, UK.

He has served at the Uni-versity of the South Pacific for over 25 years. He also served as Head of the Physics Department at USP. He un-dertook various administra-tive responsibilities including Acting Head of School and served in various Committees such as research, staff policy, academic, discipline and Sen-ate. He was also the elected member for non-professorial staff on USP Council for a number of years.

From 2004 to 2006 he served in United Nations En-vironment Programme, Nai-robi, Kenya as Technical Spe-cialist Climate Change, Task Manager Adaptation.

He was Foundation Dean for Planning, Development, Campuses, Library, and IT at the Fiji Institute of Technol-ogy in 2009.

At UniFiji he was respon-sible for setting up the Centre for Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development and is currently its Director.

He joined The Univer-sity of Fiji in 2011 initially as Professor of Physics and was subsequently appointed as Acting Dean of the School of Science and Technology as well as Head of the Sci-ence Department. He held the three appointments until his appointment as Vice-Chan-cellor.

Professor Kumar spoke to The Jet Editor Ranbeer Singh on his new appoint-ment and vision for the Uni-versity of Fiji, located in Saweni, Lautoka.

Q. Where in Fiji are you originally from?

A. I hail from Labasa, a small farming village, Dreketi Lailai, on the outskirts of Bu-lileka, some 12-15km from Nasea town.

Q. Which schools did you attend while in Fiji?

University of Fiji appoints

new Vice Chancellor

A. I attended Baubale Indian School and later La-basa Secondary School. I was amongst the first batch of stu-dents to pass FSSE (Entrance exam) and got admission to secondary.

Each day we walked some 4-5 km on dirt paths, which used to get muddy during rainy weather, to catch a bus to school. Often we could not afford bus fares so we had to hitch a ride on the back of Lorries carting sugarcane to the Labasa Mill. Also during heavy rain our house always got completely cut off from the road so we had to swim across flooded rivers and creeks to reach school.

At Labasa Secondary School, we had some of the best teachers which included Sarvan Singh, Amraiya Naidu, Krishna Datt, Vijay Mishra, Mohammed Usmal Ali, DK Sharma and Mrs Sharma, Deo Narayan, Venkat Railu, Guru Dayal Singh etc. I did science and was lucky to get scholar-ship to complete my NZSC, UE and later PII at USP.

Q. What did your parents do for a living?

A. My parents owned a small farm where we grew cash crops and sold produce at Labasa market. Later we got a contract to grow sug-arcane. I, with my younger brothers, helped on the farm: planting, watering, harvesting and selling vegetables at the market.

We helped on the cane farm: planting, weeding, hoe-ing, harvesting and applying fertiliser. We had no piped water or electricity. We helped on the farm before and after school and in the weekend and studied using kerosene lamps in our modest, thatched dwelling.

Our upbringing was in very basic surroundings and I sa-lute my parents for investing in our education whilst ninety of the children in the village stayed back on the farms!

Q. What inspired you to become an academic?

A. My aim was to get a minimum qualification in the shortest possible time and then help my family out of poverty. Thus, completed a BSc, although wanted to do medicine but that would have taken 6 years (compared to 3 years for a bachelors).

Had a few offers after

graduation, one to pursue a career in meteorology. But USP advertised positions of Demonstrators, junior level appointments to help lectur-ers in laboratory classes, tu-torials, markings etc and I was successfully appointed as Demonstrator in Physics at a salary of $3900 pa. Thus be-gan my academic career!

Whilst working as a Dem-onstrator, I successfully ap-plied for a Commonwealth Scholarship and obtained admission at University of Nottingham in the UK to do a Masters in environmental physics.

This was later upgraded to doctorate level research. I completed a PhD and returned to USP in 1981.

I was also one of the first recipients of a PhD in Phys-ics! I served at various levels at USP and was Associate Professor and Head of Depart-ment at the time I resigned to take up a post with UNEP in Nairobi, Kenya in 2004.

Whilst at USP, I organised the largest ever international conference of the Pacific Sci-ence Association. I also took leave without pay to work for the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) as International Ne-gotiations Officer in Climate Change, for 2 years and was based in Apia, Samoa.

This was my first foray into regional inter-governmental work and policy, and this has remained my strong attribute,

backed by a robust scientific technical background.

Q. How does it feel to be appointed as V-C of UOF?

A. It is certainly a huge privilege to have been ap-pointed to take up this chal-lenging position. I am excited by the new opportunity, not-withstanding its challenges, and am under no illusion about the task ahead.

The University of Fiji – a private, relatively young but growing institution in a rural setting – holds tremendous promise in not only the west-ern region of Fiji but to assist nationally in building skills and capacity for the produc-tive economic sectors of the country such as Tourism, Ag-riculture, Forestry, Environ-ment, Energy, Health etc in addition to the usual profes-sions such as Teaching.

I would like to promote students’ academic experi-ences.

The traditional education system requires changes to keep pace with the fast grow-ing technology and any Fijian should not lag behind in this ongoing advancement.

The University provides a credible affordable alternative to many students, particularly from the rural and peri urban poor who would otherwise not be able to get a University education.

The UOF provides tremen-dous opportunities in many areas such as Medicine, Law, Science, Technology and oth-

er strategic areas such Busi-ness, Educational Leadership etc. It also is the only Uni-versity which has a Centre of I-Taukei Studies, area which should become a flagship pro-gramme.

Q. What are some of the new initiatives you will look to implement in the New Year?

A. One of the challenges at UniFiji is to concentrate in key strategic areas rather than do everything and duplicate what is being provided by the other tertiary institutions. We need to demonstrate ex-cellence and added value in particular areas, and be more responsive to the needs of the environment in which the University is situated.

We need to become finan-cially sustainable and this can be achieved through generat-ing more revenue, enhancing efficiency and reducing costs.

One of my immediate pri-orities is to make a concerted effort at attracting funds from the wider international donor community as well as the pri-vate sector. We need to har-ness the tremendous goodwill and support there is for this University from our many friends locally and abroad.

One of the ways to do this is to enhance our image and profile. Of course this will go hand in hand in ensuring qual-ity programmes and courses. We have to mindful of the need to benchmark ourselves against the best in terms of

standard and relevant in the context of the providing the needs and meeting the aspira-tions of our students and the community.

The University needs a cadre of individuals who are committed to the cause of the founders and the people of Fiji, and work selflessly to realise the vision of a Univer-sity that is to strength its goal toward Affordability, Qual-ity, Innovation, and Creativ-ity while promoting academic excellence. We need to build a greater sense of cooperation, collaboration and partnership with the many stakeholders of the University.

Q. What is your message to students who will be look-ing at pursuing tertiary edu-cation in 2012?

A. I would like to assure our current and future stu-dents, and their parents, that we will work continuously to enhance standards, to en-sure they get value for money and an education that will put them in good stead to chart out a meaningful career.

We want to ensure that the learning experience at UniFiji is both enjoyable and useful. Being a small and growing institution means that we will take a more direct and per-sonal interest in the learning, teaching and welfare of all our students.

We should be in this jour-ney together as we demon-strate the utility and maturity of our training and education.

University of Fiji Vice Chancellor Professor Mahendra Kumar. Photo: ZAHEER HASSAN.



ADVERTISEMENT

4



LOCAL NEWS

Fines used to purchase food

itemsTears of joy flowed freely

as members of the Nadi Rota-ry Club handed food packs to seventy-five families as part of its annual festive donation to those under privileged in society.

Nadi Rotary president Sanjit Patel said it’s a twen-ty-year-old tradition which brings hope and a smile on those who struggle to put food on the table for their families.

The club raised more than one thousand seven hundred dollars over the year from various fines imposed on

By RANBEER SINGH its members during regular meetings.

“It’s a tradition which all members look forward to each year. The money raised is used to buy day to day food items such as milk, rice, flour, dhal, salt etc and handed to these families. We also in-clude juice and cake in each of the pack just to give the families a Christmas boost,” said Patel.

The families which re-ceived the gifts were identified by the Social Welfare Depart-ment, Nadi office. According to Patel the club was looking at increasing the amount of

food packs this year.“There are a lot of people

that need assistance. We hope to give one hundred food packs,” said Patel.

The Rotary Club members

also had a chance to interact with those who received the generous food packs.

“It’s sad to hear the stories of struggles that families ex-perience daily and it’s always

good to lend a helping hand and bring a smile on their faces,” said Patel.

“I met a seventy-year-old lady who could hardly walk. Her husband passed away

and she has three sons who are all sickly and she’s strug-gling to put food on the table for her family. She was over-whelmed when she received the food items.”

Rotarians Ajay Raniga, from left, Dinesh Pillay (Tata), Krupesh Patel and NG Singh accompany their president Sanjit Patel, right, with the distribution of food packs. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

Hospital staff recognised

By RANBEER SINGH

Six staff of the Nadi Hospi-tal was presented with awards for their hard work during the year.

The awards are an initiative of the Nadi Hospital board of visitor’s secretary Israr Khan and board member Sunila Karan.

“It has been introduced to reward the hard working and outstanding associates as an incentive to excel in their ar-eas of work. This will become an annual event and will get better in the years to come,” said Khan.

A special afternoon tea was organised by the board as a

token of thanks for their hard work through-out the year.

The Awards included Cer-tificates, Grocery hamper and cash.

The following associates were rewarded for being the best in their sections:

Aliti Dovoivoi (Kitch-en Hand) - H i g h performers award, Ranjani Gounder (Laundry Attendant) - Care for Business, Radhika Gounder (Dental Therapist) - Care for Customer, Isoa Natui (Male Nurse maternity ward) - Care for patients Be-linda Pene (Staff Nurse – A & E) - High performers award, Mohammed Atik (Cleaner) - Long Service Award.

Nadi Hospital Board members Sunila Karan, Israr Khan and Mrs Deokuvar Pala pose for a group photo with the staff of Nadi Hospital. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.



LOCAL NEWS

NADI HOSPITAL BOARD OF VISITORS

INVITESVOLUNTEERS FOR 2012

If you have a few hours a week to spare and you have the passion and creativity to help with ac-tivities in the hospital, then we need you. • Activities will include helping in thepharmacy, lab, and other departments, wards and assisting visitors, etc.• Tertiarystudentsarewelcome.• Form 5, 6 & 7 students are also wel-come.• Anyonewithatalent,likesinging,sew-ing• Ifyoucanhelpwithgardening.• Orifyoucanhelpinanyotherway.• Ifyouhaveaninterestinpursuingaca-reer in the health industry, and you need experi-ence, this can be a good source of training for you.Please contact Sunila Karan (Board Mem-

ber, Nadi Hospital) on 6727861 or 9996807; [email protected]

Azhar aims high

Azhar Adam has big dreams.But don’t be mistaken - the

twenty-one-year-old isn’t a dreamer. His goals in life are realistic and achiev-able.

And like all journeys in life - a long and tough road lies ahead of the youngster, which also demands pa-tience, perseverance, com-mitment and a bit of luck.

Adam, a Lautoka boy who now resides in New Zea-land, hopes of making it big in the billion dollar movie industry.

He recently graduated with a Diploma from the presti-gious South Seas Film and Television School in New Zealand.

Adam visited Fiji last month, scouting locations for a movie shoot.

The institution which Adam attended is owned by New Zealand born and globally acclaimed film director, producer, actor, screen-writer Sir Peter Robert Jackson.

Sir Peter is best known for his ‘The Lord of the Rings’ film trilogy (2001 to 2003), adapted from the novel by J.R.R Tolkien.

“I want to be Fiji’s, Peter Jackson,” said an enthusi-astic Azhar Adam.

“It is my aim to release a ma-jor movie before the age of

By RANBEER SINGH thirty and put Fiji’s name on the global map.

“I’m planning to shoot a mov-ie in Fiji in the New Year. The movie will be based around how life is in Fiji and it will have a bit of hu-mor and drama.”

Adam attended Drasa Avenue Primary School and moved to New Zealand with his family when he was only ten-years-old.

The soft spoken lad isn’t new to acting.

He has acted in short films in New Zealand and also fea-tured in the Hindi movie ‘Pump up the Mandli’ which was filmed in both New Zealand and Fiji.

“Acting and dancing runs in the family, my maternal grandfather acted in the movie ‘Kalank’, which was shot in Lautoka and was the first ever profes-sionally produced Hindi movie to be shot in the country back in the seven-ties. My parents are also passionate about the movie industry and it is through their encouragement that I pursued this dream,” said Adam.

Adam believes Fiji has a lot of talented actors and he wanted to provide them exposure through his film.

The youngster is the son of former Lautoka soccer rep Adam Ali and high school teacher Famida Ali.

Azhar Adam pictured in The Jet office. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

Electronic Database for books By RANBEER SINGH

The Tauranga City Council from New Zealand is working with the Nadi Town Council library, through the Fiji Li-brary Service to install the first electronic database for book categorizing in Fiji.

The pilot project will see more than eight thousand books at the NTC library soon on a database, which also can be accessed online by library members.

The Koha system will al-low bookworms to see want books are available at the li-brary as well as details about the books itself.

“This system was devel-oped in New Zealand and be-ing used in libraries all over the world. It’s user friendly and provides information to the user on the books avail-

able at the library,” said Smita Biswas Collections and Infor-mation Manager from Tau-ranga City Council.

“The Nadi library is our pilot project and we hope that it will be installed at other li-braries around the country.

“This software has a lot of other features, such as e learn-ing which will be beneficial to school students.”

NTC librarian Anita Naidu said they were in the process of uploading data of all the books.

According to Naidu the new system will streamline operations as well as provide them with proper records.

It will also solve the prob-lem of missing books.

“We are extremely pleased to have this new software be-ing installed at the library. It

certainly will be a huge relief to us given the manual sys-

tem we currently use,” said Naidu.

Smita Biswas, nearest to camera, explains the new library software to librarian Anita Naidu while Beatrice Nast and Vikki Allan of Sister Act Fiji look on. Photo: SHALENDRA

PRASAD.

6



ADVERTISEMENT

BUSINESS LICENCE RENEWAL

Business License is required for all businesses operating within the Nadi Town Council boundary. 86% increase in Business Li-censes Fees was gazetted in Fiji Island Government Gazette sup-plement Number 34 on Friday 26th August, 2011, Legal Notice No. 76 Business License Act (Cap 204). New fees for renewal will come into effect from 1st January, 2012.

From year 2012, new requirements for business licence renewal has been introduced as follows:-

~ 2 copies of Business Registration Certificate [for new business application only]~ 2 copies of FTIB Certificate (if foreign investor) [for new busi ness application only]~ 2 copies of TIN Registration letter (FRCA) [for new business application only]~ 2 copies of Copy of Health License if operating a Restaurant, Takeaway, Refreshment Bar, Butcher, Nightclub, Hair Sa loon or any food handling business.~ Directors names and contacts including 2 copies of their photo ID’s.~ 2 copies of Consent letter from landlord (if renting)~ 2 copies of Liquor License (if applicable)~ 2 copies of National Fire Authority (NFA) certificate~ 2 copies of Occupational Health & Safety (OHS) certificate~ 2 copies of permit to store Controlled Substance (Form 4 or 7) or Clearance notification from Department of Environ ment (Air Condition & Refrigeration only)

Request if you could notify Business License section on any changes to your postal address as soon as possible. It will also be appreciated if you could provide us with your phone contact and e-mail address.

Please also take note “BUSINESS LICENSE” will not be is-sued to anyone if you or your landlord has not paid your ‘TOWN RATES’.

All business operators who have not paid their business licence prior to year 2011 and 2011 are required to pay their business licence immediately failing which legal action will be instituted without any further notice.

For any further clarification please contact Business License sec-tion on phone 6700133 ext 122 or email [email protected].

NADI TOWN COUNCIL

(Signed)AISEA TUIDRAKI

[SPECIAL ADMINISTRATOR]

1. TOWN RATES – 2012In compliance with Section 72 of the Local Government Act, Cap 125 notice is hereby given that the Council in pursuance of Part IX of the said Act has struck the following rates for the year 2012 and will be levied on the unimproved value of all rateable land within the town of Nadi.

i. General Rate 0.75 cents in the dollar ii. Special (loan) rate 0.40 cents in the dollar iii. Agricultural rate 0.030 cents in the dollar iv. Garbage Fee $24.00 per bin per year. (1 bin per lot – free of charge)

* above charges are subject to VAT.

2. DISCOUNT ON RATESa) For all 2012 rates paid in January - 7% discountb) For all 2012 rates paid in February - 5% discountc) Rates paid in March 2012 - pay actual billd) For all 2012 rates paid after 31/03/2012 - interest will be charged at the rate of 11% per annum backdated to 1st January, 2012.

e) NO DISCOUNT ALLOWED ON ARREARS OF RATES

3. RATEPAYERS – ADDRESS NOTIFICATION

All Nadi Town Ratepayers are hereby advised that if you have changed your postal address or have recently transferred ownership of any property owned, you are to immediately notify Nadi Town Council.

You may contact the Rates Department on 6700133 Ext 137 or via email [email protected]

4. BUSINESS LICENCE All business licences will fall due for renewal on 1st Janu-ary, 2012 and the same must be renewed forthwith.

Dated at Nadi this 16th day of December, 2011.



LOCAL NEWS

Chamber proposes smoke and plastic

free NadiBy RANBEER SINGH

The Nadi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) will work on a sub-mission in the New Year, proposing to declare the town smoke and plastic free.

NCCI president Doctor Ram Raju said the move was to ensure a cleaner and safer environment for its citizens as well as the thousands of tour-ists that visit the town each year.

NCCI is following in the footsteps of neighboring Si-gatoka Town, which last year declared areas such as the bus-stand and market com-plex as smoke-free.

“This is a bold step but one which NCCI members feel is necessary. This will en-sure that Nadi has a clean and healthy environment,” said Dr Raju.

“Being a tourist town we have to portray a positive im-age to our visitors from over-seas and we have to do away with such pollution. Even the plastic bags which lie on the road side or drains have be-come an eye sore.

“We will work on our pro-posal early in the New Year and hand it to the Nadi Town Council (NTC) for consider-ation. We remain optimistic that the council will take note of our submission,” said Dr Raju.

The NCCI also plans to work closely with the NTC on improvements to roads and footpaths as well as the beau-tification of Nadi town.

“There’s a lot of work to be done around Nadi and we hope to work more closely with NTC to carry out the necessary improvements,” said Tuidraki.

S-A Nadi and Sigatoka Asiea Tuidraki while address-ing NCCI members during its end of year function, thanked the business community for its support through-out the year.

Tuidraki also took the op-portunity to remind members to clear outstanding rates as this revenue enables the coun-cil to carry out its multi func-tions.

“Everybody demands ser-vice from the council and to ensure this is done, it’s para-mount that rates are paid on time. Please take advantage of NTC’s discount on early rates being offered for 2012,” said Tuidraki.

According to Tuidraki the council will carry out several development plans in the New Year all in line with improving services to the ratepayers and visitors to the tourist town.

Music guru and Ba Cham-ber of Commerce official Anandilal Amin performs a ghazal during the social

night.

Nadi and Sigatoka Town special administrator Aisea Tuidraki, left, receives his best dressed male prize from chief guest Mr Kodukula Ravi Kanth, regional manager west of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LICI) while NCCI president Dr Ram

Raju looks on. LICI sponsored the annual social function which was held at Jet Set Accommodation Hotel. Photos: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

TOP: Actor Rishi Deepak, second from right, is flanked by Chandu Lodhia, Jayanti Morarji and Pranesh Amarsee.

RIGHT: Rozia and Karishma enjoy the social night.

8



LOCAL NEWS

FDB staff visit Pediatric Oncology Unit

By SYLVIA LOWThe staff at the head office

of the Fiji Development Bank took time out to visit four spe-cial children at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital.

Led by Acting General Manager Business Risk Ser-vices, Setaita Tamanikaiyaroi, the staff brought gifts, a cake, Happy Meals and a festive cheer to an otherwise quiet corridor of the Pediatric On-cology Unit.

The children aged between 10 months and 14 years were all smiles when they were handed their gifts – items ticked off a wish list the chil-dren put together themselves. The gifts included digital cameras, a trolley bag, toy piano and LEGO.

Sister Pasepa Pareti of the Fiji Cancer Society said that some of the children have been there for a few months.

“This is a wonderful thing for them and I am so happy

that staff from FDB have tak-en the time and brought gifts for these children that they personally wished for. This is truly special for them,” she said.

For a lot of staff, the visit was emotional with one se-nior manager remarking how hard it must be for the moth-ers who have spent the time they have, in the hospital with their children.

“I realized that it wasn’t about taking grand gifts but more about saying to those mums, ‘here take a few hours off and go watch a movie or something’ – I can imagine that it would be of great help in assisting them cope with what I can only imagine to be a very stressful time for their families as well,” she said.

To help the mothers, staff also took daily necessities like washing powder and other es-sentials.

Five-year-old Senileba

from Koro Island is one of the longest residents at the hospital, where over the past 18 months she has been re-ceiving treatment for a blood disorder.

Initially apprehensive when faced with a large num-ber of well meaning people; a couple of carols, a slice of cake and several gifts later, she was soon blowing kisses and waving off her well wish-ers with a smile.

For 14-year-old Raneel all the way from Savusavu, spending his second Christ-mas in the hospital is but a means to an end.

Having started chemother-apy, each day he says, he feels a little better and he hopes to go home as soon as he com-pletes this round of chemo.

Christmas is indeed a time for reflection and giving thanks for the many blessings and challenges that have come our way.

FDB staff with patients and staff of CWM Hospital. Photo: SUPPLIED.

BSP launches 100th ATMBy BANK of SOUTH PACIFIC

BSP, your Pacific bank, has just launched its 100th ATM in Fiji, making it the most accessible bank in Fiji! So if you need cash in a hurry, chances are that you will find a BSP ATM near you.

The 100th BSP ATM was launched at the Asco service station at Colonial Plaza, Na-maka, Nadi.

“This is a milestone

achievement for BSP. When we bought the Colonial Na-tional Bank in 2006, they had 40 ATMs. In the past five years, we have not only re-branded the bank nationwide with our bright lime- green, but have built alliances with strategic partners to expand our ATM network to 100,” stated Kevin McCarthy, BSP Country Manager.

Representing the Nadi Town Council, Market Mas-ter Anand Raju mentioned that Nadi is grateful for the

convenience the BSP ATM outlets have provided for the township; and appreciates the community projects BSP has taken on in Nadi.

“This BSP ATM is serv-ing our customers well, as our service station is centrally located with extended hours and significant traffic,” com-mented Maika Moce, Asco Motors Sales Manager.

BSP now not only has the largest ATM network, but is also the most accessible com-mercial bank in Fiji.

BSP country manager Fiji Kevin McCarthy, third from left, is flanked by BSP management, customers and Asco Motors representatives during the launch of the 100th ATM which is

based at the Asco Motors Service Station at Namaka in Nadi.



HEALTH CORNER

Case for smoke free FijiBy Dr RAM RAJU

DSM [email protected]

I would like to once again propose that Fiji should seri-ously consider declaring Fiji Smoke Free Country.My proposals are based upon the following grounds:~ Smoking is the worst man made killer. On average 8 people die in this country everyday due to heart diseases and smoking is the highest risk factor. The high incidence of deaths due to CVD’s is staggering amongst the young and working class people who are the bread win-ners.Tobacco is the leading pre-ventable cause of disease, dis-ability and death.~ Drain of Resources. A disease due to smoking is causing drain of resources in hospitals and health centres, costing the nation millions of

dollars in health care. Apart from CVD’s, smoking causes cancers of the lungs and other organs.~ Substance Abuse. Smoke Free Fiji will help eliminate other forms of sub-stance abuse which is becom-ing far too common amongst teenagers like marijuana, glue sniffing etc.~ Tobacco Con-trol Measures and Passive Smokers.The Tobacco control mea-sures appears to be a failure and difficult to monitor or control. The harmful effects of smok-ing extend far beyond the smoker and there’s no safety level for second hand smoke. Non smokers are just as risk of getting serious smoking re-lated diseases as the smokers.~ Life Expectancy and NCD’s.Instead of improving, the life expectancy of our nation is re-versing largely due to increas-ing number of deaths due to non-communicable disease (NCD’s).NCD’s now accounts for more than 80% of all deaths which is a staggering figure for a

small developing nation.~ This group of dis-eases, with lifelong disabili-ties and devastating compli-cation is of great burden to the Ministry of Health, Com-munity and the Nation.The life expectancy rate in Fiji declined from 72.9 years to 67.5years from the year 2000 to 2005. This is a very worrying trend.~ Tobacco Farms.Tobacco is farmed in rich fertile land in several areas, particularly in Sigatoka and Nadi. These farms should be better utilized for vegetables and fruits which could even-tually lead Fiji to be self ef-ficient, rather than importing expensive varieties.The Tobacco factories like-wise be converted to fruit and vegetable processing plants, so no one loses out. Eventu-ally I’m sure we’ll be able to export processed vegetables and fruits in good numbers.

CONCLUSIONOur society is very sick and premature demise of our peo-ple and death due to NCD’s is rising at an alarming rate.Fiji has to consider undertak-ing this bold and ambitious

and drastic action in banning smoking or declaring Fiji Smoke Free.Fiji can lead by example.Bhutan was the first and only country so far that has taken this initiative, allowing the tourists to smoke.Tourists to Fiji could be also allowed but only at designated areas of hotels and resorts.

TOBACCO TO BE DECLARED A DRUG

A drug is a substance that alters the body’s biological, physiological and chemi-cal processes. Cigarettes and other forms of tobacco con-tain the addictive drug nico-tine. Nicotine acts as a stimu-lant and a sedative. Nicotine stimulates the adrenal gland resulting in discharge of epi-nephrine (adrenalin), “the fight or flight hormone”. The rush of adrenalin causes a sudden release of glucose as well as an increase in blood pressure, respiration and heart rate. Nicotine also suppresses insulin output from the pan-creas, which means smokers are always hyperglycemic. In addition, nicotine also causes a release of dopamine in the brain regions that con-

trols pleasure and motivation – thus is thought to underlie the pleasurable sensations experienced by many smok-ers. In contrast, nicotine can also exert a sedative effect, depending on the level of the smoker’s nervous system arousal and the dose of nico-tine taken. Declaring Tobacco a drug empowers smokers to get a prescription following a medical examination by doc-

tors. Whilst writing a pre-scription for certain number of cigarettes to be dispensed by pharmacist, doctors should at the same time take neces-sary steps to help them quit smoking. Tobacco at present is a very cheap form of drug allowed to be sold in any shopping outlet.Tobacco should therefore be declared a DRUG and sold only in pharmacies.

A SMOKE FREE FIJI!!!

Avocados rich in dietary fiber, vitamins and mineralsAvocados are distinct

fruits with high fat content and calories. Subtly flavorful yet buttery, they are amongst the most popular fruits hav-ing nutrition profile similar to that of some edible nuts and seeds.

Health benefits of avocado: Avocados, like olives, are high in mono-unsaturated fats and calories. However, they are very

rich in dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals and packed with numer-ous health benefiting plant nutri-ents.

Their creamy pulp is very rich source of mono-unsatu-rated fatty acids like oleic and palmitoleic acids as well as ome-ga-6 poly-unsaturated fatty acid linoleic acid. Research studies suggest that Mediterranean diet that is rich in mono-unsaturated fatty acids help lower LDL or bad cholesterol and increase HDL or

good cholesterol, thereby, pre-vent coronary artery disease and strokes by favoring healthy blood lipid profile.

They are very good source of soluble and insoluble dietary fiber. 100 g fruit provides 6.7 g or about 18% of recom-mended daily intake. Dietary fi-bers help lower blood cholesterol levels and prevent constipation.

In addition, the fruit, like persimmons, contain high concentration of tannin. Tannin, a

poly-phenolic compound, which was once labeled as anti-nutri-tional agent is in-fact, has benefi-cial anti-inflammatory, anti-ulcer and anti-oxidant properties.

Its flesh contains many health promoting flavonoid poly-phenolic antioxidants such as cryptoxanthin, lutein, zeaxan-thin, beta and alpha carotenes in small amounts. Together, these compounds act as protective scavengers against oxygen-de-rived free radicals and reactive

oxygen species (ROS) that play a role in aging and various disease processes.

They are also good in many health-benefiting vitamins. Vitamin A, E, and K are espe-cially concentrated in its creamy pulp.

Avocados also excel-lent sources of minerals like iron, copper, magnesium, and man-ganese. Magnesium is essential for bone strengthening and has cardiac-protective role as well.

Manganese is used by the body as a co-factor for the antioxidant enzyme, superoxide dismutase. Iron and copper are required in the production of red blood cells.

Fresh avocado pear is a very rich source of potassium. 100 g of fruit provides 485 mg or about 10% of daily-required levels. Potassium is an important component of cell and body flu-ids where it helps regulate heart rate and blood pressure, counter-ing bad effects of sodium.

HEALTHY FRUIT CORNER

10



TALO MADA

Resolutions & staying healthyTalanoa with

ALLEN LOCKINGTON

I vividly remember some time ago writing about mak-ing resolutions for the New Year and amazingly it feels just like yesterday!

Well we have now departed 2011 and entered into 2012. We will all be older by one more year. Some of us will age gracefully and some will be gracious in getting older.

And some of us will just get old. Some of us will get older but never grow old; we will retain our youthful looks and happy go lucky ways. Some will grow old in our thirties and even the twenties. Yes we are all different and we do things differently and get affected differently.

Here is an example, some of us drink a lot of yaqona and never get affected and some will drink just a bit and it shows up on the skin, eyes and our complexion changes. And when consuming alcohol some will not get violent or abusive but remain calm all throughout the party.

And even smoking, I know of so many people who nev-er get affected by tobacco products they smoke like a chimney and yet they are still fit and can run and play and work in the garden and never get puffed out.

By the way all I am talking about is what I saw, remem-ber no scientific tests here!

Then there is the thought of food consumption. We

have in the family a few of us who can eat like nobody’s business and they never put on weight! They have been the envy of many of us who just take a huge breath and we put on weight.

Well the New Year is here and many resolutions have been made, resolutions mean-ing promises. Chief amongst the resolutions are the prom-ises of losing weight, eating right, exercising. No more booze, cut down on tobacco products. Some will promise to make it to church more regularly and help the needy. Some will even promise not to miss work while others will promise not to miss school and study hard so that they get better grades at the end of the year.

Many years ago I left of all the road works and just stayed home keeping in shape, then that too slowly faded and slowly my pot belly started to grow. It’s very hard to get rid of a pot belly let alone lose weight. But I know there are some of us who lose weight when they want to.

But if you will be trying to lose weight and finding it hard first of all is to try and wake up at around 4 am, do this for at least one month then after that put on your running shoes then hit the roads at a walk.

One thing that I had long thought of is school uniforms. What if Fiji decides to get rid of school uniforms and chil-dren just went to school in ordinary clothes.

Do you think it will be a good idea? I thought that school children would be just issued with school badges to append to their clothes at

chest level. It will be one way of saving on school expenses.

But back to exercising and making promises for the New

Year, if you don’t make it then here is something to think about NCDs or Non Commu-nicable Diseases are on the

rise and its life-style related. I just hope it gives you

something to think about to prompt you to take up that ex-

ercise, cut down on junk food and stay healthy.

And may you all have a slimmer New Year!

DJ Vijay rocks the dance floor with a Bollywood number during the Nadi Chamber of Commerce & Industry annual

party. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.



TASTE BUDS

By BRENDON COFFEYExecutive Chef

Sofitel Fiji Resort & Spa

Amazing how fast one year can pass and before you know it another five are gone. Al-though time doesn’t change it seems to get faster as we get older or is this just more of an illusion due to our life style. I am writing this from Auckland as I am here for a few days to celebrate my Mum’s eightieth birthday. While here I have the opportunity or chore depending on how you look at it of having to visit the shopping malls to do last minute Christmas shop-ping. It’s when you take this intrepid journey to the mall that you appreciate the colloquial “Fiji Time”. “Fiji the way the world should be” has a lot of merit. Any way it doesn’t mat-ter where you are, time is the one commodity that does not change. It is forever consistent. You cannot change time, you cannot bank time, and you can-not store time. You can only use it or waste it. Well we all have another year, another 52 weeks, 365 days, 8760 hours. That’s right only eight and half thou-sand hours and we are doing it all again. I remember when I was a slightly younger Chef coming up through the ranks thinking how the old chaps in the kitchen had trouble keeping up especially in the fast, high pressured environment in which we were working. The thought

only occurred because at that particular time I was actually six feet tall and bullet proof, an arrogance that can befit many young Chefs, any way not be-ing able to keep up in service was of course so many light years away......or was it?

I certainly like to approach each New Year with enthusi-asm and expectation. I don’t necessarily make resolutions as I’m not so good at seeing them through. I am though, the glass is half full kind of guy which usually sets the stage or mind for some exciting and positive outcomes for the year ahead. So what is 2012 going to bring to us in Fiji from a foodie perspec-tive? I believe the three most prominent happenings in Fiji food will be along the lines of the following,

1.Media and food:We can expect to see a lot

more from the media in relation to food and cooking. Overseas we now see not one but several television channels solely dedi-cated to food related stories and cooking shows. While we may not see television with chan-nels solely dedicated to cook-ing I would expect to see more cooking life style shows on our mainstream channels. I believe we will start to see more local talent hopefully being show-cased in local magazines and publications.

Possibly more cook books highlighting the emerging pa-cific flavours such as Robert Oliver’s wonderful book which has won top international liter-ary awards.

I am looking forward to see-ing more about a developing coffee culture in Fiji. Whoever would have thought that there was a true science in the mak-

ing of a good cup of coffee? Well there is

And those who have done the training and know about their machines and how to use them go by the title of Barista. We even had one of own Fiji girls go and compete last year in New Zealand against a num-ber of Baristas selected from across New Zealand...how did she do?....She won of course. This tells us that things are changing. Largely due to media as we learn and see new ideas and trends.

2.Sustainability:Another subject close to my

heart. Despite it being some-thing that I am quite passion-ate about, it is a subject that is being aggressively adopted by Hotels, top Restaurants and coveted Chefs worldwide. Again through media a message is being relayed that we need to be far more responsible in our menu choices whether it be in a restaurant or at home. I grew up in a beautiful house right on the beach. My brother and I of-ten would walk 10 meters down the beach and would be up to our knees in the sea where we would be able to carefully prize a couple of paua (abalone) off the rocks. Just enough for a frit-ter or two each. Unfortunately this jewel of the sea has now been well over fished and is in danger of disappearing all to-gether. It is important that we look to develop and protect our food sources.

Restaurants and Hotels are starting to grow their own pro-duce, at the same time making a point to work more strategically with local farmers and growers, This is largely beneficial not only because of the economics, but also it can deliver a better,

tastier and more authentic prod-uct to our tables. Imagine Chefs giving cooking lessons to farm-ers and farmers teaching Chefs how to farm....now there’s food for thought,

3.Pacific Wine and Food Festival:

Coupled with the above trends is another emerging no-tion of a more defined “Pacific Cuisine”.

While we need to be careful not confuse local produce with “Pacific Cuisine” or pacific fla-vours.

The Pacific Food and Wine Festival will be a highlight of our culinary or “foodie” calen-dar. Scheduled to take place at Denarau during March of 2012. The festival will have a number of different events but the most exciting being that we will have six internationally renowned Chefs here for four days doing master class cooking demon-strations as well as showcase dining in a number of our es-tablishments. Chefs such as Fi-ji’s own celebrity Chef Robert Oliver, from Oz, we will have Manu Fidel, Ben O’Donahue, and Peter Kuravita. From NZ, (land of the big gold cup) we will have Peter Gordon and Sa-moan born Michael Meredith all of whom will be showcas-ing flavours of the Pacific. With such an event as this I firmly be-lieve we will see the “Foodie” culture grow and the fine tuning of what is already an exciting “Pacific Cuisine”. As a little sneak preview I have included a recipe for dish of mine which defines “Pacific Cuisine”.

Masala fried fish, tomato and coconut chutney with a salad of Fiji long beans

Its Fiji Time or Time for Fiji, a culinary destination!

Let’s cook it !

Welcoming in style....

12



FASHION ZONE

By NAZIAH ALI

New look at a low cost

When it comes to the start of a New Year, we all think of making resolutions and trying our best to keep it! We also think of a new sport or hobby to take up.

But if you are like me, and I believe most women would be thinking along the

same lines- then the new year means a new wardrobe, and surely why not?

You have spent most of 2011 saving right? And even though you may only have a few dollars left after all the splurging done during the Christmas holidays and the big New Year’s bash it’s a start to a new you!

The good news is you don’t have to worry about spending a lot for your new wardrobe. I have decided that I will go through my wardrobe (the one I have not touched for

years because I was afraid of being seen in an out dated piece) and my sisters’ and my mum’s closets to bring back to life the once very trendy pieces. A little secret – when I can’t fit into any of my fami-lies’ treasures from the past, I go shop online from my best friend Aliyah Jan who runs Classy Classics on Facebook at very reasonable prices with guaranteed door to door de-livery.

Here’s the address:- www.facebook.com/pages/Classy-Classics

The fifties silhouette packs a powerful punch; you might con-sider an elegant free flowing dress or straight long pant with a floral shirt.

Looking at the trends at Fiji Fashion week and the consistent theme of the past decades glamour, I can comfortably say the look for 2012 should be the rebirth of the fifties and six-ties.

For a sophisticated step up for work dressing – try a stylish pencil skirtor a fit and flare summer day dress especially for those who are still in the holiday mood.

Style tip: In Homage to the refined elegance of an era gone by, sweep hair up off the face into a voluminous style to real jeweled drop earrings.

Let’s take the 50’s and 60’s look

Carolina by Caroline Ah Koy

Shorts anyone?Who thought shorts could be an item of fascination? Regard-

less of the cut and style – shorts are back in leather, silk and brocade.

And frankly they are irresistible and perfect for our Fiji sum-mer adventures.

Style tip: The news is to dress them up to cocktail standards with jewels and elaborate heels.

Summer’s subtle off-hues and bold prints – fierce ani-mal prints, demure floral and

Loud and Proudbeach-scene stripes – boast a fifties nostalgia.

It’s time to dress up and think big: big hair, big san-

dals and big costume jewels. Clash code - an ad hoc mix of floral prints finds style har-mony in muted hues.

Kookai

Seema Kumar

Classy Classic

Classy Classic



JACKS KATCHI KIDS CORNER

14



ADVERTISEMENT



TALK BUSINESS

Tighten your spending By PRANESH AMARSEE

Happy New Year!I won’t be surprised if you

are tired of hearing this greet-ing by now. But what baffles me is that what do people really mean when they say ‘Have a Happy New Year’?

Here’s my story!My New Year celebrations

started on the 31st and not surprisingly continued on the 1st for a few more drinks and this leads to nursing a typi-cal handover for the next two days.

But the throbbing in the head stop there as in the first week of January I start get-ting envelopes from Nadi Town Council requesting ear-ly Town Rate payment which also offers discount, than an-other envelope comes from iTaukei Land Trust Board (TLTB) demanding payment of advance rent, than the Post Office guys need rental or else give up your post box, In-surance premiums are nearly due, Financial year ends 31st December so need to submit accounts to Accountant, De-narau Corporation will need strata fees for first quarter, Nadi Town Council will need money to issue Business Li-cense (which has been in-creased) and before this the National Fire Authority, OHS will need money to issue cer-tificate and so on!

So I wonder, what does “Happy” really mean in the

greeting “Happy New Year”? January as one of the fa-

mous Cricket commentators Richie Benaud would say “it’s all happening”. And as a mat-ter of fact I don’t see many people happy during the first month of the New Year.

The famous back to school rush is a head ache. But 2011 has gone by and so will the first month. Again Richie Benaud would say “The slow-motion replay doesn’t show how fast the ball was really travelling”.

Anyways, lets all be hap-py that we survived 2011 in terms of health and wealth and let’s be positive about 2012 and keep singing the very famous song of “I Will Survive”, a song first per-formed by American singer Gloria Gaynor in 1978.

2011 was a tough year for many and let’s hope the New Year brings much promise. For our Chinese friends it will be the Year of the Dragon. The Dragon personality is a creature of myth and legend. A symbol of good fortune and sign of intense power, the Ori-ental Dragon is regarded as a divine beast. In Eastern phi-losophy, the Dragon is said to be a deliverer of good for-tune and a master of authority. Therefore, those people born in Dragon years are to be hon-ored and respected.

The new Budget measures start taking place. This year will see 90% company tax has to be paid before year end, re-duced corporate taxes but new tourism tax implemented af-fecting all businesses directly dealing with tourism such as Tour operators, restaurants,

rental Car Company, and all those moving tourist around. Therefore we can see price changes. Gold Card will be offered to those who are up to date with their tax payments. A good thing, I believe. Any-ways ask your Accountant and get updated. This reminds me of a friend who used to say and I quote, “If to succeed in business, you need the best Accountant, best Lawyer and the best Bank.”

New Year means time to look back into our mistakes and implement new strategies to move on. It’s time to clean-up in your business. If you haven’t made a profit then you need to do some serious think-ing. A year has been wasted and it won’t come back.

As a very famous Soccer Manager, Jose Maurinho (a Portuguese and current Man-ager for Real Madrid) said, “You can have the top stars to bring the attention, you can have the best stadium, you can have the best facilities, you can have the most beauti-ful project in terms of market-ing and all this kind of thing. But if you don’t win... All the work these people are doing is forgotten”.

While writing his article I just read that three big Firms announcement. Saab (Swed-ish Car Manufacturer), Billa-bong surf wear and Fletcher Jones (Fashion retail) all an-nounced downturn in busi-ness and in fact Saab filed for liquidation. So this shows the Global downturn effect.

After a hard year for some, its time to look at basically the following four areas of business:

Suppliers - Analyze your relationship with your key suppliers. Is their service up to scratch? Do they value your custom? If you work with certain suppliers who are an integral part of your busi-ness, do they share similar values to you?

Systems - Maybe it’s time to look at your systems with fresh eyes. Just because “it’s always been done that way” doesn’t mean its right!

Staff – staffs are crucial part of a business and a right mix of personalities will be very beneficial to your busi-ness.

Customers – identifying your customers is important. Customer taste changes all the time so it would be very beneficial if we evaluate who is our customer, what do they need?

I sometimes like the four P test which we all learned at University, well I did. Four

P’s are Product, Place, Price and Promotion. What product are you selling, where is your shop, what price are you sell-ing at and how are you going to promote or advertise your product. Sounds simple but practically lots of effort and thinking are involved.

After all being said and done in 2011, let’s focus on 2012. It definitely will be a challenging year. Businesses, Jobs, Education and Health will all be having higher de-mands and we all have to meet these challenges.

Towards the end of my High school days at Kogarah High School in Sydney, Aus-tralia, our English teacher on one fine Friday morning when we were all happy as weekend was approaching, all of a sudden gave us a test and marks for this would be added towards end of year assess-ment. The test was to write a creative essay on the future.

I scored the second highest marks to my surprise as I was from a non English speaking background. My teacher read out in front of my class the last paragraph of my essay which got me full marks and atten-tion of the whole class. It read as follows: “We are what we are and will be what we are and our wishes and dreams will remain our wishes and dreams but the only thing that will change is our ever in-creasing efforts in life”.

“Fiji’s businesses have unlimited potential” – Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama.

“It Depends on Us... An-other year lies before us like an unwritten page, an unspent coin, an unwalked road. The pages will read, what treasures will be gained in exchange for time, or what we find along the way, will largely depend on us.” - Esther Baldwin York.

2012 is the

Chinese year

of the Dragon

which is be-

lieved to bring

good luck,

prosperity and

promotion in

life.

16



LIFESTYLE / SAFETY

By SUNILA [email protected]

Drug and alcohol abuse

Drug and alcohol abuse currently represent one of the main concerns of public health experts. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2006) shows that abu-sive drinkers of alcohol make up 50.9% of the American population over 12 years of age, the prevalence of mari-juana use the month before makes up 14.8%, cocaine use of 2.4%, and other substances such as crack or heroin are used by 0.7% and 0.3% re-spectively. In Europe, the data published by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction show an estimated prevalence of can-nabis use during the month

before of around 4%, and 1% the year before for cocaine, and it is estimated that from 1 to 8 cases per 1000 inhab-itants have problems derived from opiate use (2006 Na-tional Survey on Drug Use and Health).

Substance dependence has been defined medically as a group of behavioural and physiological symptoms that indicate the continual, com-pulsive use if a substance in self-administered doses de-spite the problems related to the use of this substance. Substance abuse is a pattern of drug, alcohol, or other sub-stance use that creates many adverse results from its con-tinual use.

Many people assume that drug addiction is a moral problem. It isn’t. Many peo-ple believe that drug abuse is a product of personal weak-ness, and that drug addicts have the power to stop using drugs whenever they want. It’s not, and they don’t.

There is definitely a physi-cal connotation to substance

dependence, but substance addiction is a psychological phenomenon. There is a phys-ical dimension to the disease, but substance abuse stems largely from emotional roots. Drug addicts are drug addicts, in a very significant sense, because of the way they think about themselves and the world. A lot is said about the addiction as the physiologi-cal changes it brings about in the body, and a social, cul-tural and experiential process. What is said less is about the psychological aspect of ad-diction. It is about the giving in to temptation of experienc-ing temporary pleasure from pain despite the knowledge that it can lead to dependence and long term adverse effects associated with it.

An addict’s mind comes to rely on a drug as part of its routine emotional processing. Chronic drug abusers, you might say, lack the capacity to confront the world or them-selves on sober terms, and thus “need” drugs to function in any kind of meaningful

way. Drug addiction is not a

moral problem; drug abuse is not a product of personal weakness. And drug addiction is not a choice.

Physically, drug addiction becomes drug addiction when an addict’s body comes to rely

on a drug to sustain its “nor-mal” metabolism. Prolonged drug abuse is associated with changes in the chemical com-position of a drug addict’s brain, ultimately creating conditions under which an addict literally needs a drug to survive.

Psychological dependence is based on the emotional rewards which drugs can provide, while physical de-pendence is based on physi-ological changes which take place in the body, like toler-ance and withdrawal in the absence of the drug.

NFA warns on safetyBy RANBEER SINGH

The National Fire Author-ity has issued a stern warn-ing as cases of drowning and fire incidents continue to be received over the festive sea-son.

Acting chief executive of-ficer Aseri Radrodaro said it’s the responsibility of par-

ents and guardians to ensure children are supervised at all times.

Recently there were two cases of drowning involving children.

“We have to be proac-tive and ensure that children are always supervised,” said Radrodro.

“Especially during the fes-tive season and school holi-

days when families plan pic-nics and trips to the village, our message to parents and the elders is to please watch over the kids.”

Radrodro said playing in drains during heavy rain is also of serious concern.

“We want parents to edu-cate their children that play-ing in creeks and drains can lead to tragedy and more so

when there is heavy rain. We have had several cases where children have been swept away while playing in drains and creeks,” said Radrodro.

“Playing with matches, un-attended cooking as well as lit candles and mosquito coil’s are some of the common rea-sons for house fires and we urge people to take heed of these warnings.”

NFA acting CEO Aseri Radrodro, left, while presenting cer-tificates to fellow officers from the western division recently.

Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.



CAREERS AND EDUCATION

By PROFESSOR SUBRAMANI

New urge to writeThe Nadi Campus of

the Fiji National University (FNU) has attracted a number of new writers from the older generation, both from Fiji and overseas.

Well known local music guru Satvick Dass came to the university looking for a space and a guide to write an account of his achievements in music.

Dass, who was born in Qeleloa, Nadi was one of the first artists from Fiji to receive his training in India.

I have been working with the singer and music compos-er since August 2011 on his autobiography.

What he thought would be a simple account has turned into a complex journey of dis-covery into the art of writing an autobiography. It involves excavating the memories, research into geography, his-torical details, institutions and individual biographies.

Dass who recently turned seventy has become an ardent student again. He comes dili-gently to the Nadi Campus, brings the few pages he has written, and spends an hour with me discussing and ex-changing ideas.

According to Dass this has become one of the most ex-citing adventures of his life. His autobiography, entitled

‘A Musical Journey’ is likely to be published at the end of 2012.

Dass celebrated his 70th birthday with close family and friends, hosting a musical night where he also launched his music CDs.

The event was held at the FNU Namaka campus.

Poetry PublicationHarish Sharma has been

re-discovering his father’s po-etry written in the 1940s and 50s. Pundit Pratap Chandra Sharma was a well-known poet and intellectual of his time.

He wrote his poems while working in his farm in Sawani, Nausori. Most of the poems are in standard Hindi with oc-casional verses in Fiji Hindi.

He responded sensitively to the social and political life around him in his poetry. It must be remembered that he was composing his poems at a time when there weren’t many people writing literary works or reading literature.

Harish Sharma, his son, has written a splendidly moving introduction to ‘Songs From Sawani’. The publication of the collection early 2012 will be an important landmark in the history of Hindi literature in Fiji.

Harish Sharma has been so enthused by this editing work and writing the introduction that he proposes to spend some months with me at the Namaka campus in 2012 writ-ing his own autobiography.

Singh writes autobiogra-phy

Bhim Singh, a former Principal at Cuvu Secondary

School, now living in Ontario, Canada, came to me with the manuscript of his autobiogra-phy to read and edit.

We spent a couple of weeks re-working on the manuscript and now Singh is re-writing it with a couple of additional chapters. I believe the author has genuine flair for writing and he’s also committed hav-ing dedicated several years on this manuscript.

This work ‘A Fractured Journey: Memoirs of a Fiji Indian’ will be a significant

contribution to Fiji’s growing autobiographical literature.

Sami writes about his childhood

There are a number of writ-ers in the Indo-Fijian diaspora who have expressed interest in FNU’s MPhil program that allows candidates to work on individual manuscripts of high quality without having to follow conventional line of academic studies.

Govind Sami, also a for-mer parliamentarian, is in the process of enrolling in the

MPhil program and has begun writing about his childhood in Vunivau, Labasa. I regard Govind Sami as a great story-teller who has a brilliant sense of humor.

His book, when completed, will be one of the most enter-taining works to be published in the country.

There are itaukei authors and researchers working in FNU’s MPhil program who are doing serious work on itaukei artistic and intellectual traditions.

They are all likely to pro-duce publishable manuscripts. In August 2012, an important workshop will be organized in the West on itaukei writing and translation by the itaukei Trust Fund, led by Dr. Apo-lonia Tamata, Senior Culture and Heritage Specialist, in which the FNU’s Nadi Cam-pus will also participate.

The purpose is to generate more writing in the vernacu-lar language. This will con-tribute to the growth of Fijian language and literature.

Music Guru Satvick Dass, right, plays the harmonium while son Saral plays the tabla as his daughter Priya and wife Shraddha perform a welcome song at FNU Namaka campus during a night of music

where the Dass family also launched a collection of three cd’s. Photo: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

18



ENVIRONMENT

By BETANI SALUSALUof Mamanuca Environmen-

tal Society

Proper management of waste is the pathway towards a sustainable and healthy future

Waste Management is a global phenomenon and there’s an urgent need to pro-vide training, awareness and education to people in the community to curb this prob-lem.

Waste should be properly contained because it can have a detrimental effect to envi-ronment as well as humanity.

Waste Management is a major issue in developing and under- developed countries. As bulk of the solid and liquid wastes materials are produced in these nations.

In the Pacific, waste man-agement is a serious concern. Policies and legislations are being formulated and imple-mented to monitor and control the amount of waste produced at various levels. Non-govern-mental organizations and en-vironmental groups undergo training programs to develop a strict waste controlling and management system in their respective island countries.

Fiji introduced its Envi-ronment Management Act in 2005. In 2008 a Waste Man-agement Regulation was en-acted with the primary aim to monitor and control waste management issues around the country.

This legislation is neces-sary given the increasing lev-els of littering in Fiji due to

rapid urbanization, population boom, rise in industrialization and land development.

Along the Nadi – Lautoka corridor, there’s evidence of improper waste management that needs to be looked into.

These areas consist of and are characterized by intensive commercial areas in terms of hotel operations, busi-ness communities; intensive leased farming areas such as sugarcane farming, heavily populated area with villages and settlements are common along the coastal area, which includes Oil station at Vuda and Sugar Mill at Lautoka.

Nadi Town a popular desti-nation with tourists has issues with littering despite trash containers being available for proper disposal.

Changing the mindset, be-havior and perception of our people is necessary if we are to nip this growing concern in the bud.

Department of Environ-ment and local NGOs have conducted numerous aware-ness programmes around the country to address this prob-lem. The enforcement of spot fines as a deterrent is com-mendable.

The Mamanuca Environ-ment Society (MES) has placed waste management as a priority issue. MES con-ducts awareness programmes in schools, training of resort employees and local commu-nities.

Since the establishment of MES in 2002, waste man-agement has been a key issue as the island resorts within the Mamanuca Group attract thousands of tourists each year.

The MES monitors liq-uid waste through sea water testing. All wet waste needs proper disposal technique and solid waste is either recycled or shipped to the mainland.

MES also organizes un-derwater and beach clean-up, Earth Day, Environment Days allowing tourists and mem-bers from the local commu-nity to effectively participate in cleanup activities.

School children are en-gaged in waste management practices including making compost and rubbish collec-tion.

Through workshops, vil-lagers are educated to also practice composting and separate wastes using proper

disposal methods.The villagers have been

told to avoid dumping rubbish along the coast as this end up on the inter-tidal flats and can harm the growth of corals and that all human activities con-ducted on land should be at a sustainable level as every-thing done here is reflected in the marine environment.

People need to understand that littering will not only ruin the environment but affect human beings and our liveli-hoods.

So it’s important that we practice proper waste man-agement daily to ensure a sustainable environment for the current and future genera-tions.

The underwater clean-up team at Castaway Island Resort. Photos: MAMANUCA ENVIRONMENT SOCIETY.

Waste separation at Castaway Island Resort.



BUSINESS NOTICE BOARD

20



BUSINESS NOTICE BOARD

PUBLIC NOTICE

This is to inform the general public that Bikash Anand Prasad of Carreras Road, Votualevu, is no longer employed by THE JET newspaper ef-fective from December 28th, 2011.

The company will not be responsible for any transactions or dealings which he may have carried out on or after the above date.



SPORTS

By ASUAD ALIin Vancouver, Canada

So long Johnny

He was thin as a stick and with a usual boyish look, but one who was head and shoul-ders above the rest at his age.

Ravindra Nadan “Johnny” was soccer’s skills and vision grandeur.

In his prime, he would swerve, run circles around opponents, and create magic through out the field and the joy shows.

His play, would take you back to a time when teams played beautiful football – not necessarily the kind that will win you matches; but beauti-ful enough to make you forget about defeat.

Johnny and I went to Nadi College in the 80’s, and it’s during one recess pick up game in (82) he exposed by far the mesmerizing talent.

But for the Qeleloa think ‘Tank’, it was almost improb-able to make anything out of his soccer career at the time.

The seventeen year old then was Nadi’s best kept tal-ent ‘unexposed’; and the dis-trict call was anything but.

After all, it was the era when the big and bold graced the greens for the jetsetters.

For a long time, good for Nadi meant great for Fiji.

The district had Inosi Tora, Rusiate Waqan, Marika Ra-vula, Emosi Koroi ‘Bacardi’, Kini Momo, Henry Dyer, Savenaca Waqa, Manu Pokar, Sosi Kaitani and Peter Dean- the names roll of the tongue and these are but a few.

And so ‘Johnny’ who? With talent abundance consid-ered by many “old folks yay” as the best district talent was wasted from premier ball.

Not willing to give it in Johnny hit big both with his Club in the local NFA league games and at various ‘Bazaar’ games establishing a strong fan base.

So how good was ‘John-ny’? Surprisingly what soccer great Ivor Evans was to La-basa in the days in the same breath!

Better by hairs width, he would juggle with either foot or head till time ran out on him.

It’s this unblemished re-cord that caught the attention of the school’s sports teacher,

Master Aslam Ali.Ali talked Johnny into

pitching his slick skills for a spot in the Western zone na-tionals in the 82 IDC skills competitions at Prince Charles Park in Nadi.

He finished second to Su-va’s Keshev Maharaj on a tad hair, what a remarkable feat.

It’s no exaggeration, oppor-tunity failed him miserably. I was lucky enough though to watch him make a full Nadi debut in the latter part of his dwindling career.

The shelved dream came full circle in the inaugural Fiji Football Association sanc-tioned 1988’ Easter Open soc-cer tournament in Ba.

While he gave it all Nadi dropped the grand finale to Nadroga 8-7 on a shoot out.

It was a feeling like no other to watch in action the adored star simply grapple the uniform that was made for him some five years earlier and the national team attire that never came about.

I have a vivid memory of the write up request when I was attached with the weekly sports paper ‘The Sports-Week’, a fitting memoir he so deserves 23-years on.

The evidence that quality is always watched in awed silence certainly was before a euphoric fans and just the thought of that is pretty re-freshing.

Ravindra Nadan Johnny at San Bruno Hotel during the Nadi Masters fundraising dinner night last year.

If the greatest love affair man has is with its surround-ings than Tirlok Reddy sure has the admiration of his Fiji roots.

The retired Surrey, Canada affable has nothing, but good things to say about his upbring-ing in Malolo, Nadi and the many fond memories that have wordily impressed him.

“I have lived in Surrey, Can-ada for more than three, but I have to admit, there’s no place like Fiji in the world,” said Reddy.

“I’m ready to trade places in a heartbeat”.

Reddy, 65, immigrated to Canada in 1974, says he has no regrets living the great land of the free, but Nadi’s still a miss after all these years.

“It was range growing of sorts, open and unleashed ver-sus the hustle and bustle that often comes with the terri-tory. I only hold myself to this change.

The Surrey grandfather turned globe trotter and has since clocked valuable air miles in last 5 years.

He’s travels took him to Australia, New Zealand, United States, Mexico, India, Greece and England.

Reddy said what is the Opera House in Australia, the Parnell

No place like home : Reddy

Rose Gardens in New Zealand, the City of light in Las Vegas, United States, the Temple of Chichen, Itza, in Mexico and Taj Mahal in India, the Acropo-lis in Athens, Greece and the Stonehenge in England, all put together nothing comes close to Fiji as it has marked reputa-tion for its friendly people the “warmth and heart”.

“Fiji has unique and diverse culture that reflects the com-plexity from other countries and tops our food, the undis-turbed natural beauty, the air quality and of all the friendly people second to none”.

Reddy said in perspective, it’s the “way the world should be”, adds there’s no substitute.

It’s not something randomly Reddy has made up, but says “it’s how Fiji’s been portrayed world over even the countries I have visited.”

“My wife and I’ve been con-templating a move for a while. Now that the children have all grown up and have a life ahead of them, we’ll pounce on first opportunity and head for home to paradise.

“We have no complains about Canada, the country has been great home for me and my family for 37 years.

“We worked our ends off, have been law abiding citizens, simply the final leg of journey ends where it all began,” mused Reddy.

Reddy applauds Fiji govern-ment’s new legislation allowing former residents to hold dual citizenships without having to relinquish their current status.

He said the change was long time coming.

“It opens up a complete new avenue for former residents to go back to (Fiji) and live forev-er instead of just one calendar year.

“With the government’s ini-tiative I’m a flight closer to see-ing my dream come true”.

After exploring his limits Reddy’s convinced there’s no place on earth like the mother-land, and the travelling expedi-tion, the sights and sounds, he insists nothing beats Fiji’s se-rene and tranquil life.

22



SPORTS

Kumar at FIFA Club World CupFiji Football Association

(Fiji FA) referee Ravinesh Ku-mar created history when he became the first Fijian to offici-ate at a FIFA Club World Cup.

The 8th edition of the FIFA Club World Cup played in Ja-pan last month included top champion clubs from around the globe.

Kumar is part of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) trio which is headed by New Zealand referee Peter O Leary while Jan Hendrik Hintz and Kumar are his assistants.

The trio officiated in the quarterfinal between Japanese champions Kashiwa Reysol and Mexico’s Club de Futbol Monterrey at Toyota Stadium.

By FIJI FA MEDIA

Kashiwa edged Monterrey 4-3 in penalty shootout after both sides were held 1-1 at full time. The Japanese club had earlier in the FIFA Club World Cup disposed Oceania’s rep-resentative Auckland City 2-0 to progress to the quarterfinal stage.

Fiji FA acting president Sheik Ibrahim said this was an historic moment for our nation-al football body.

Kumar also officiated at the

FIFA under-20 World Cup in Colombia in 2011.

“It is indeed a very proud moment for Fiji FA and the country. Everyone should be pleased with this achievement. He has been in the limelight recently coming back from the FIFA U20 World Cup, FIFA 2014 World Cup OFC stage one qualifiers in Samoa and now in Japan for the FIFA Club World Cup,” said Ibrahim.

“This achievement should be a clear sign of the quality of referees we have and a motivat-ing factor to other referees es-pecially the young ones to fol-low in the same footsteps.”

The FIFA Club World Cup was won by Spanish giants Barcelona.

I would like to take this opportunity to announce my retire-ment from Interna-

tional rugby.To do so fills me with great

sadness but I know that I have been blessed in so many ways to have experienced what I have with the England rugby team.

I never ever believed that I would be able to give up on this dream which has driven me to live, breathe, love and embrace the game of rugby from the earliest days that I can remember.

I certainly have no inten-tion of letting this decision change the way that I ap-proach my training and prepa-ration for games. In fact early indication shows me that I’m actually getting more intense about it. Playing the game, representing the team, giving my all and never letting go has meant everything to me. I do, have done and always will believe that I am very capable of performing and thriving at any level of the sport.

The time has come, howev-er, for me to realize that I have gone as far as I can go with this England team and that the time is right for others to en-joy the same honor and pride that I have felt over the past 15 seasons and beyond. I have far too many people to thank for what I have been able to achieve but as always, it starts with my Mum and Dad, my

brother Mark, my girlfriend Shelley, Steve Black, Tim Buttimore and Dave Alred as well as the rest of my family and friends. I can never give enough credit to all my team mates from over the years and my physios, surgeons, doctors and coaches too who have unconditionally helped me through all kinds of thick and thin. Finally I would like to show my enormous appre-ciation and gratitude to all the true followers of the game who have given me way, way more time and support than it has ever been reasonable for one person to ask for. You will never truly understand the ef-fect you have all had on me and my career.

To say I have played through four World Cups, two Lions tours, 91 international games and a ridiculous num-ber of injuries and other set-

backs gives me an incredibly special feeling of fulfilment. But by now I know myself well enough to know that I will never truly be satisfied!

It goes without saying that I would like to wish Stuart Lancaster, his coaches and the England Squad every bit of success available to them. I would also very much like to extend those wishes to Martin Johnson, Brian Smith, Mike Ford, John Wells, Gra-ham Rowntree and the rest of the England 2011 World cup management team who have been fantastic and deserve people to know that.

For me now, I will con-tinue to focus ever harder on my goal of being the very best I can be with Toulon Rugby Club and continue to embrace and enjoy wherever that path takes me.

Thank you once again.

My England retirementBy JONNY WILKINSON



Seven prominent district reps have shown their interest in joining Nadi Football As-sociation for the 2012 season.

The players who have de-clared their interest in join-ing the Greens are Krishneel Kishan (Labasa), Benaminio Matainaqara (Navua), Pra-neel Kumar (Navua), Mal-akai Rakula (Tavua), Jone Salauneune (Tavua), Ame Vatuasi (Tavua) and Jale Vota (Tavua).

Monit Chand of Navua withdrew his request to join Nadi.

The transfer window al-lowing players to switch dis-tricts is between 1 December 2011 and 17 February 2012.

Nadi FA president Jitendra Kumar remained tight-lipped on the player movement.

Nadi tops transfer list

By MAIKA KASAMI

“All will be known in two weeks before the season starts,” said Kumar.

Tavua soccer coach, Ka-mal Swamy is also tipped to join Nadi.

Two Nadi players Thomas Vuto and Paula Ratumaikoro are seeking transfer’s to join Ra and Ba respectively.

Meanwhile other play-ers likely to move are Laba-sa’s Ilaitia Tuilau, Mikaele Rabaraba and Samuela Kau-toga who could join Vanuatu’s Amicale FC.

Lautoka’s Shameel Rao and Laisenia Tuba are eyeing a move back to Ba while Par-mesh Prasad plans to rejoin Nadroga.

Nadroga’s Luke Rawad-amu and Rewa’s Kelepi Qaqa want to play for Suva, while Rewa has received a transfer request from Niumaia Tagi who wants to return to Ba.

Action between Nadi and Suva in the Fiji Sun / Weet-Bix National League Series at Nadi’s Prince Charles Park last

year. Photos: SHALENDRA PRASAD.

Motibhai wins

business house soccer

Crispies Motibhai was crowned the Starwood busi-ness house soccer champi-ons after beating Williams and Gosling 1-0 in a gruel-ing final.

Muni Nadan ‘Bobby’ was the toast of the Crispies Mo-tibhai team as his powerful free kick in the dying min-utes of the first extra time struck the back of the net.

W&G who also had the services of Ba district rep

By RANBEER SINGH Meli Codro conducted nu-merous raids at the Crispies Motibhai goal, however re-mained unsuccessful.

Crispies Motibhai was awarded a trophy and one thousand five hundred dol-lars.

Wyndham took out third place after a win by default over Radisson.

Forty-five year old Crisp-ies Motibhai defender Na-resh Munsami scooped the player of the tournament prize. Players, officials and supporters of the Crispies Motibhai squad pose for a group photo after the win. Photo: SUPPLIED.

Nadi FA president Jitendra Kumar, left, seen with Suva

FA president Mahendra Prasad.

Documents

The Jet Volume 4 Number 1