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

Tuesday 30 March 2010

Lutunacevamaca's End of World, The '600,000' Petition

Short Briefs

The end of the world is nigh.
Senior Pastor Laione Lutunacevamaca Dip Th., MABS, of the Kuriakos Christian Centre in Nadi claims to have been told by God that a disaster on a scale previously unknown will strike Fiji from all directions at 2:30pm on Friday 23 July 2010, and he has warned people to prepare themselves.

His warning, with numerous quotations from the Old Testament, is currently being re- and re-cycled around Fiji by email thanks largely to people taking time out from their government duties to use office computers for this "higher" purpose. I am informed the prospect of the disaster is causing fear and alarm among some sections of the population.

For this we must  thank people such as Mosese of the FICAC, Inosi of the Fiji Development Bank and Maraia of the Civil Aviation Authority. With only three plus months to go before the disaster, I suggest they -- and the many others using government time and equipment in this way -- ask government for unpaid leave to "prepare themselves." 

Tourism news.
Jetstar Australia to fly into Naqdi for the first time today setting what Tourism Fiji chairman Mr Patrick Wong says is a very encouraging new platform for the industry.  Continental Airways hopes to claw back the annual 22,000 Japanese visitors lost to Fiji when Air Pacific ceased direct flights last April. Continental direct flights from Fiji to Guam fly to eight Japanese cities and  offer travelers options of a further 22 other destinations.

Daylight saving ended on Sunday and clocks have now been wound back one hour making Fiji one hour behind NZ andtwo hours behind Sydney.

Government has again extended the Public Emergency Regulation
for another month, until the end of April. Under the regulations, police, military and public servants have the powers to stop events they deem to be a threat to the country’s security.Government has said once a new Media Decree has been released, the emergency regulations can be lifted.

The "600,000" petition. I thought the people claiming to have a petition signed by 600,000 people calling for a "return to democracy" would by now be hanging their heads in shame for being caught out by the hoax, but not so,the irrepressible Suliasi Daunitutu of the Fiji Democracy Now movement in Canberra, has sent  another letter to PM Bainimarama demanding elections this year -- and the letter is actually quoted in full by Coupfourpointfive that published nothing on the implausibility of the petition.

Last week we reported Rabi,
the home of Fiji's Banaban community, appeared to have slipped off  the Hurricane disaster management's radar. Rabi Island Council chairman Dr Paulo Vanualailai talked of imminent starvation.

There has been extensive damage to two of the island's four villages, food crops will take months to rfecover, but there's no starvation. Banabans from all over Fiji have rallied to support the islanders but the Commissioner Northern has already provided two weeks supply of food, and more assistance will come. No one would be allowed to starve in Fiji.

Fiji Reserve Bank Maintains Monetary Policy Stance. FRB Governor Sada Reddy says the country’s current monetary policy stance will remain unchanged. The policy is expected to assist economic recovery when partner economies rebound' maintain sufficient liquidity to support investment without jeopardizing inflation and the foreign reserves position.

Sugar payments not enough.
Sugar cane farmers in the Northern Division say the expected payment of $5.03 a tonne as directed by the Sugar Industry Tribunal leaves them with nothing after deductions by the Fiji Sugar Corporation, loan recovery deductions from banks, the Sugar Cane Growers Fund, and land rents. Cane Growers Association CEO Mohammed Rafiq has written to the PM (who also has the sugar portfolio) on behalf of the 5,000 growers, requesting his intervention. The Fiji Labour Party website expresses similar concerns in the other sugar cane growing areas.

8 comments:

Proud Fijian said...

Viral marketing is now a ploy used by evangelists!

Good stuff man! Imagine the flock on the Sunday listening to his sermon and when the tithing is collected (which is what it is all about!)

No job said...

So true - Preaching doom and gloom always gathers a good congregation. That pastor must be doing some marketing. Good on yah Croz for highlighting this. All the people sending out this must have no jobs. Just a while ago the guys at NLTB were caught with porn on the government computers. It’s interesting to see the government departments from which the email has been circulated and re-circulated. Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority staff think it’s from a real prophet. Sheesh.

Oi lei said...

The craven, ignorant, superstitious and stupid can believe all they like about prophesies of armageddon. We've seen it all before from the likes of the Oracle of Nadi even if they haven't. Talk about setting yourself up for a fall. The reverend troublemaker will be the centre of attention until July 10th, when he'll be duly exposed as the charlatan he is. But it just goes to show how backward and gullible much of the Fijian community still is, and how much they can be manipulated for base religious and political ends. If this guy can get away with it, no wonder it's been so easy for the Methodists to do the same.

Savages in Sunday white said...

The regime should dismiss any civil servant caught using government computers to spread alarm like this. It beggars belief that educated people in the crucial organs of state can take this rubbish seriously. But then again, that's Fiji. Scratch the surface of even the most sophisticated person and you'll find the tevoro lurking.

600,000 reasons to Lai said...

Fiji Democracy Now is just like Soli Vakasama and most of the other so called pro-democracy groups. You'd think they'd be smart enough to realise that to have any hope of achieving their aims, every utterance has to be seen as transparent and just. Instead, they resort to the crudest of propaganda and continually erode their credibility from within. Let's face it. None of this has anything to do with restoring democracy. This group is merely a front for the SDL and those Fijian fat cats who benefited from its rule. Fortunately for the rest of us, they've lost.

Invictus said...

The end of the world maybe nigh but the prevarications disseminated from on high is nothing more than phantasmagoric.

This dipsomaniac may have had one too many when such proclamations was made

Gilbertian farce said...

The poor old Banabans. Truly the lost tribe of the Pacific. Moved from their Ocean island pile of bird shit to wallow in the proverbial version of the same for eternity. Time was when they were the richest people in Fiji. When I visited the place 40 years ago, I was amazed at their wealth - enough bolts of cloth to clothe an army used as a table setting for a feast and then dumped because they couldn't be bothered doing the washing. How times have changed. Like the Nauruans, they've squandered their inheritance and now say they're on the brink of starvation. How did it come to this? I'd be interested to know more. Rich fodder for a Sunday sermon, that's for sure.

Talat Kamal said...

Hi,

Just wanted to say that I found your blog while searching for an image to use on my post today (http://scribius.blogspot.com/2011/05/trust-my-conviction-i-could-be-wrong.html)/ I used the image associated with this particular post as an illustration (i linked the image your post as well).

The image was perfect. Hope that's okay. If not please let me know and I will remove it.

Thanks,