From The Crowd

Honey industry struggles

A boom in beekeeping in the Pacific has helped improve yield and quality for more than 30 per cent of the country’s pollination-dependent crops, but it comes at an inopportune time as Fiji grapples with...

26th March

Managing depressions

Bula Fiji! Welcome to my new column where I will be sharing insights and practical strategies on mind wellness, selfcare, and self-awareness. The mind is a complex structure. We exist as mind-body-spirit beings and often our wellness emphasis is purely on the physical body. Our minds also go through changes in health. So today, I...

The giving tree

Some of you may have read this apparently simple story by Shel Silverstein. But it is much more than just a simple story. My wife used to read it to our daughters. Once there was a tree. And she loved a little boy. Every day the boy would come and gather her leaves, make them...

25th March

1953: A fateful year for Fiji

Greetings readers! Today I wanted to take you back in time to Monday, September 14, 1953, at precisely 00.26:34 the deadliest and most destructive earthquake seen in Fiji’s history struck our island nation, particularly Suva. The force was magnitude 6.8 with a depth of 10kms. Unfortunately, there were eight known fatalities that were reported, five...

Toward sustainable fiscal consolidation – Rethinking taxation and spending efficiency

Last week, I discussed how fiscal consolidation measures such as tax hikes and spending cuts could potentially be detrimental to an economy that is on a recovery path following a major economic crisis, and with dynamics such as Fiji’s. I had stated that there are other measures such as broadening the tax base, increasing spending...

Managing boxing

AT the outset, I would like to apologise to readers that this week we do not have an article totally focused on Citizenship and Belonging. Instead, it is being replaced by one on boxing in Fiji (interspersed with some crosscultural references) for a number of reasons. One, boxing returns to Suva this weekend with a...

24th March

A new phase: The future of Fiji’s tourism industry is green

Under turquoise seas a unique cornucopia teeming with marine life awaits those lucky enough to holiday in South Pacific nation Fiji. Visitors here are welcomed with open arms. Tourism is vital to the lives and livelihoods of everyone in Fiji. Now rebounding strongly after the pandemic forced a virtual shutdown, Fiji’s tourism industry faces a...

22nd March

Mental health help

MANY people face mental health issues that arise out of things they go through in their lives. Mental illness, also called mental health disorders, refers to a wide range of mental health conditions, that is, disorders that affect mood, thinking and behaviour. Some examples of mental illness include depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders and...

21st March

Pacific marine invasion

Marine invasive species are an ecological and economic threat to Pacific nations, the founder of a New Zealand-based ocean conservation and science organisation says. James Nikitine, who founded Blue Cradle in 2020, said species of algae, mollusks and worms could travel around the world and “invade local ecosystems” by hitching a ride on the bottom...