Archive for category politics
Fiji has no government. Believe it.
The Local Blogsphere Bi-weekly Report
Media freedom has once again come in the spotlight, with the recent deportation of Fiji Times publisher Evan Hannah. Interestingly enough, just from asking around, opinion seems to be divided on such an issue, with some saying good riddance, that’ll teach overseas people to keep their mouth shut when they’re in Fiji, and other people saying that it’ll only be a matter of time before we’re all living in a country reminiscent of V for Vendetta.
Only time will tell how such an event would have an impact on Fiji.
When the Journey is as important as fun as the Destination: Meg goes on a road trip! Well…replace road trip with miles of crystal clear water, a superb boat and crew, keep the friends, (whats a road trip without friends?) throw in a bit of philosophical musing, and you’ve the making of a great journey, let alone an opportunity to take more great photos 
Is kava good for you?: Babasiga finds out through a website that Kava could actually be good for you, especially in a fast paced world. Bring on the mix I say.
Christmas in Suva: cieart (with a small c, but thank you for reminding me mr correct spelling program) tells of her visit to her homeland during christmas last year. Boring family reunions, shopping centre meet ups and white dog faeces ensure that her visit was one for the blog 
A consumer view of residential internet service in Fiji: This is why I love Thrashor’s blog. He tells it like it is. For lack of a…tamer description, the Internet service industry in Fiji is fuck. All. And no, don’t take my vulgar word for it, read this post on the dismaying condition and why an open market for ISP service is sadly something that may not happen for quite awhile.
Swish…and away it goes: Jonathan of Oceanic doesn’t like littering. And he’s had enough. He’s declared war on all litters, and this blog is his weapon. Caught someone on camera littering? Send the incriminating evidence to this blog and join the fight to rid Fiji of its own litterbugs! Grenades not included.
Bring out the coolade: Lawrence is back after a brief hiatus, and boy does drama follow him around like…drama. While a girlfriend is keeping him busy, that hasn’t stopped him from picking up a new sport, looking at life with new found humour (or not), and try to stop the emo movement before it takes root here in Fiji. Good luck with that one Lawrence.
Gold at the Rainbow’s End: Freelancer45 is having fun in New Zealand. with a recent trip to the local fun park appropriately named Rainbows End. Initial hesitance aside, he manages to have quite alot of fun, at the same time oogling at all the ‘beauty’ that New Zealand has to offer. Don’t forget your homeland mate!
A hell of alot of restaurant reviews: Either the slave drivers at Lunch in Suva are wearing out their whips, driving the bloggers to post more reviews, or they were just really hungry, but they have released 3 reviews in one day and have no intention of slowing down. Soup Works, Dorothys Kitchen and Roma’s Hook and Chook all get placed under the review hammer in one day, with the Cakaudrove Fish Chips shop reviewed the next day. All this talk of food has got me hungry now…
Aroma Mesmerism: May has become mesmerised by both the new found word as well as some pictures she stumbled across online that depict a cute little girl being mesmerized by some mesmerizing roses. Ok…you can stop with the word abuse now. I’m sorry. That word was so…memeri – (snip. Ed)
Destination Calabria: Bellerophontes gives a heads up on whats going on with life so far, by giving the new Facebook chat feature, The Great Debaters and the tv show Dirty, Sexy Money the thumbs up. Also a quick peek at new and upcoming anime shows are in order.
Flight with Hardy Heron (Ubuntu 8.04): Navinesh gets his hands tech dirty after installing Ubuntu on his system. After a few tweaks and read ups, he finally gets control of the OS, though not entirely without hiccups. A great read for all tech heads out there.
A rise in Infammatory and Sensationalist Headlines: I have to agree with Jonathan on this post as well. While the Fiji Times does have its moments in journalistic quality, now and then their reporting tends to lean towards more…dramatic angles. Oh well, the more drama, the more attention, the more sales I guess.
Food and Suva: Suffice to say Rizwan does not like Joji’s Restaurant and their food, and goes into great detail as to why you should, at all costs, avoid such a place. Quite the visual description.
I hate SMS text marquee on Fiji One!: Sarnil has had enough of that annoying scrolling pointless distracting antline of text Fiji One regularly places at the bottom of some sports coverages, and has come up with the perfect, albit haphazard solution to named problem. Hit the jump to see the hilarious answer.
Fiji is a Warzone!
Well, a year later, things have quieted down on the local blogging scene (I hope ><) and so, blowing dust off the top of this post, I present you with “Fiji is a warzone!”
(Image courtesy of that lovely, friendly website Encyclopedia Dramatica)While playing World of Warcraft, one of my buddies Lawrence got a private chat message from one of his gaming friends.
Friend: Hey man I heard about the recent coup in your country. How you doing so far?
Lawrence: Oh everything is kinda ok for now…things have…quietened down around my area…
Friend: what? quietened down? what do you mean?
Lawrence: oh well the army drives around the place and patrols the neighbourhood since its usually lights out after ten o’clock.
Friend: Really? Damn!
Lawrence: Yeah…I’m currently playing from the basement of my house so that the patrols don’t see the light coming from my PC, and I’m using a really small generator.
At this moment Lawrence’s net connection fails, a problem he’s been having during the weekend. Probably something to do with the reception playing up. Anyways, after 5 minutes of reconnecting, he’s finally back online.
His friend immediately messages him as soon as he logs back into the game…
Friend: What happened? You logged off suddenly!
Lawrence: Oh that…yeah…I had to switch off my PC because the patrol had just passed my house and some light from the PC still shows through the windows upstairs so I had to play it safe.
Friend: …
man thats fucked up…
Lawrence: Tell me about it…
When I heard this, I burst out laughing, and wasn’t so sure who to kill, the overseas media, for portraying Fiji in the throes of a Militaristic, Dictatorship Rule with Army Patrols and Guns galore (the only guns I’ve seen so far were the ones held by the road block guards, and they’re not even loaded XD), or Lawrence, for spinning a yarn that seemed to just about confirm it all…
Closing Time
Posted by Wilson in nightscene, politics on August 7, 2007
image source: Myfijifriends.com
Lets have a little recap before I continue this.
The local alcoholic law prohibits the sale of alcohol after 1am. That means, no beer, no nightclub.
Much to the dismay of churches everywhere, pre-coup 2006, every nightclub closed after 3am. Most of the more cowboy essence nightclubs such as Birdland, Club 2000 etc ran till the crack of dawn.
It was common for clubbers to finish off from the early closing clubs such as Traps at around 2am, and proceed to the other nightspots and finish off their club-hopping at the toll of the church lali.
Police were always quick to show up at any club not showing the door to its patrons after 1am, at which the owners would try and charm them into letting the club stay open just a little longer. At times they would nosy around abit more, have a quick chat again with the owner, then leave, presumably because of the little ‘lunch money’ that has been handed over. At other times, the police really do force the club to close, either from the failure on the part of the owner, or pressure from the big bosses at police headquarters.
But for most of the part, it was generally considered a ‘normal’ thing to remain open after 1am.
Cue coup number 4.
Now with the army at the government helm, the chances of bar owners trying to turn a blind eye to the alcoholic law and its 1am connection has dropped to a near zero. Nobody likes to see a military truck pull up in front of their premises, let alone take them all for a little run around the yard. Traps, O’Reillys, even Bar 66 stop the music at 1. Hence the “
…owners were now operating legally…”As a result, the night scene here has somewhat abated, with more and more people choosing to stay home and drink/party, since the thought of only a few hours on the dancefloor isn’t enough to warrant the +$30 spent.
There’s always been the concept that drinking at home is cheaper, and with the advent of the early closure of the clubs, the veranda is looking ever more favourable as a drinking spot – nevermind the neighbours…
PS: It should be mentioned however that while the major popular clubs close at the designated hour, there are quite a few other clubs which still operate under the radar. Mostly the grassroot sort of spots that guarantee brawls and vomit, its amazing how they manage to still run with everyone else around them closing shop after 1am…
A Sweet-Bitter Victory at the Wellington Sevens
The build-up to the Wellington Sevens was one filled with dread, anticipation and a small worm sitting in your stomach reminding you that the D-Day is coming. I mean, come on…New Zealand. The one rugby team that is the very reason why Fiji has to play sevens rugby. It dosen’t matter whether other teams are getting better, or have won once or twice against us, and are going to face us in the next match. Nothing gets a fijian’s heart boiling like a showdown between us and “them“. I swear, every time there’s a match like that, the earth leans ever so slightly to one side because 905,949 people of the world’s population have stopped moving to cross their fingers (and their legs for a bowl or two) in the hopes that collective thought and mental urgency will give their team that extra boost to win.
So it was with much anticipation that on the Saturday of the game, i waited, mucking around the house, browsing online without really actually browsing (think of a soccer mum surfing 4chan) and waiting for the time when it would go down. At around 4pm I decided that a quick nap was in order, just so that I would be fresh and ready to make sure my neighbours could hear my hearty yell whenever Fiji scored.
And so I slept.
Right through the motherfucking game.
I missed it all. The beautiful 31-0, the lovely ass kicking, the cheering and screaming and joyous yelling that eminated from everyone’s mouths in Fiji, nay, from the very earth itself. I missed it all. How could I have missed that that that momentous occasion, that weekend defining moment, the whole reason to be fucking proud to be a damn fijian?
Note to self: No more late night World of Warcraft sessions on the night before or at that time for any sevens match involving Fiji against New Zealand.
Well…on the bright side we won against the country that refused to entertain our presence at the Wellington Games Parade because it started near their parliament. A smug victory indeed, and one that would have been far more smug had we won the Finals against Samoa. Which we didn’t.
God that was depressing. From an euphoric high after the victory against New Zealand, only to be taught a very nice lesson in humility and general all-round sharpness by Samoa. I could almost taste the bile that that little vile worm in my stomach had spat up, and sleep did not come easy.
Oh well. At least some people are calling this a political win over New Zealand. Kinda. Huh. Yeah. Fat chance that’ll do anything to allow our political leaders to become ‘friends‘ again 
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