Cogito, ergo sum. I think, therefore I am. (René Descartes, mathematician and philosopher,1599-1650)

Friday 28 January 2011

Blocked Racist Comment, School Fees, Coordinating Aid, Kiribati-Fiji Relations, Office Rationalisation

N0081. BLOCKED COMMENTS.  Sometimes I block comments that are insulting and distasteful but sometimes it is necessary to publish one to show the sorts of people who do not like my blog (and much else besides). Here is what Boots on their throats boy wanted to leave behind on my "It's Only a (FRU) Game &  Ugly Racism" (N0065) item:
Croz, Has your little mate who is going to stand on our throats run down his hole and peed his pants? As a Fijian said to me today - why doesn't the little roti boy come into the pub here and open his big mouth? If he does I'll tear his leg off and shove it up his arse!!!"  
For those who missed the original comment, it referred to the publishers of an anti-government blog who  had distorted the news. But, despite comments to the contrary, this writer and others chose to believe it was meant for indigenous Fijians.

N0082. EXORBITANT SCHOOL FEES NOT TOLERATED.
The Ministry of Education has warned schools that school fees and levies must by approved by the MOE, and that no child may be locked out for unpaid fees.  Minister Filipe Bole said that many school had been charging exorbitant fees and this would not be tolerated. "No child is supposed to owe any money because the government is paying all the fees. However, some managements may argue that such levies are directed towards building grants and few other items.They ought to know that the government has considered all those expenses while allocating grants. Our people have been instructed to obtain each school's audited accounts for verification,” the Minister said. -- Based on 2011, No:0187 /MOE.

N0083. COORDINATING AID. An aid donors round table co-ordination meeting will be held on Friday. The meeting, that will be attended by development partners, regional organisations and financial institutions, civil society organisations and government officials,  will provide government with the opportunity to discuss way in which overseas development assistance and aid resources can be enhanced through partnership with development partners.

The overall objective is to formulate a framework for Overseas Development Assistance in line with the 2005 Paris Declaration commitments to which Fiji and another 91 countries, donor partners and stakeholders are signatories. The meeting will help Fiji prepare for the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness to be held in Busan, Korea in November. -- Based on 2011, No:0203/MOI.

N0084. KIRIBATI RESPECTS FIJI SOVEREIGNTY. A delegation of senior government official was in Kiribati from January 13 to 18 to discuss strengthening bilateral ties as  stipulated under the Memorandum of Understanding signed by HE President Anote Tong and PM Bainimarama last September. Areas of cooperation included trade and investments, education, labour mobility, immigration, commerce, retail and taxation, fisheries cooperation, air and sea transportation, health and pharmaceuticals, climate change, environment, security and energy.

During the visit President Tong further underlined his government's policy to continue engaging constructively in recognition of the sovereignty of Fiji to settle its own internal affairs.  He also acknowledged the crucial role that Fiji played in the enhancement of the wellbeing and socio-economic development of the people of Kiribati and the region.

N0085.OFFICE LOCATION RATIONALISATION
. The PSC is in the process of arranging for the relocation of various Government Offices to bring about cost savings and "better synergies" in government administration. The "clustering" of related departments is also expected to improve accessibility the public and other stakeholders. -- 2011, No: 0162/PSC.

This was announced on Monday by PSC Permanent Secretary Parmesh Chand who anti-government blogs reported as having resigned a month ago — and they have still not corrected their error!

WEEKEND READING WEEKEND READING (AND LISTENING) Allen Lockington column ♦  Fiji's New Diplomacy has Implications for the Region by Sandra Tarte ♦ Why the Roadmap: the Politics Under the Bridges Part II by Croz Walsh

7 comments:

Racist trash said...

Croz, of course low-lifes like this choose to believe, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that the boot on the throat comment was meant for all indigenous Fijians rather than the rabble at Coup 4.5. These racist elements of the i'taukei seek out anything they can find to beat "roti boys" around the head. And if they can't find anything, they make it up. This was the mindset that gripped the supposedly democratic SDL, that gaggle of racist opportunists Australia so volubly supports. Thank God that Frank has got his boot on their throats and we can all look forward to a better future. What a bunch of pathetic losers! It's they who "peed in their pants" when the military came calling, and now talk tough from their cushy exile in Auckland or Sydney. Big talk, no action. Gutless lamu sona, the lot of them.

Lesson in respect said...

Croz, I love your posting "Kiribati Respects Fiji Sovereignty". As if they have any other choice? But, yes, Kiribati sure could give the Aussies and the Kiwis a lesson in respect. Why is it that even the smallest of countries can grasp the universal principle of not interfering in the affairs of others?

Frank's Foot said...

Croz

It is clearly stated in your pro regime blog today that "Thank God that Frank has got his boot on their throats". Has he? Whose throats? This is rather an alarming statement given the current circumstances in Fiji? Notwithstanding the murder of disarmed CRW soldiers, the human rights of many people have been abused by military boots since 2006under this military controlled regime.
Do you really support this kind of behaviour? Does Frank himself endorse blogs such as yours informing the world he has his foot on people's throats? It doesn't project much confidence about democracy returning to Fiji?

Apology said...

Croz, when I wrote the "boot on throats" comment last week, little did I realise how much of a stir it would cause. This little turn of phrase has been like pushing a stick into a hornets' nest. Some indigenous Fijians seem to think it was directed at the i'taukei as a whole. Can we all please just step back, stop the "roti boy" insults and hear me out? It wasn't meant to be literal. It was a figure of speech, imaginary to convey the notion of the need to keep something under control. In this case, it was the organisers of Coup 4.5, who were allowing racist comments like "mongoose" on their website. Nothing more, nothing less. I now realise that it may have been a little too provocative in the Fiji context and for that, I'm sorry. IT WAS NOT MEANT TO BE TAKEN AS INDO-FIJIANS NEEDING TO KEEP THEIR BOOTS ON THE THROATS OF THE I'TAUKEI. I am not an Indo-Fijian and don't like them being vilified for crimson prose I wrote in the heat of the moment that I now regret. Yalo vinaka. Ni vosoti au. Vinaka vakalevu.

Red Dragon said...

Apology and racist threats....

Now we see how inflamed rhetoric may achieve the Sarah Palin Tea Party effect and encourage the rabble. This is no barrack room heckle which generally has some injected humour, this is what has been lurking within and without Fiji for more than fifteen years to lasting, hideous effect. It sounds evil, it looks evil and its consequences are pure evil. Go back to General Romeo Dallaire and his mid-1990s memories of Rwanda. Name-calling is the pre-eminent symptom when it is applied and targeted racially: the yellow star of Kristalnacht & the Holocaust rising in another guise?

No comparison said...

Red Dragon, I think you may be somewhat overwrought. To compare Fiji to Rwanda or Nazi Germany isn't just excessive hyperbole but bordering on the offensive given the scale of the massacres in those most blighted of places. As for the Tea Party in the US, the one big difference is that the crazies in America are in situ and armed to the teeth. Whereas the crazies in Fiji have only their pots and pans and tend to inhabit the outer suburbs of Auckland and Sydney. No comparison whatsoever. And in any event, this guy has apologised, even though it was pretty clear to all but the dimmest among us that this wasn't a racial slur. Let's move on.

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