Sunday Feature: An Insider's View from the Outside

Nesian is a pseudonym for a moderate, Fiji-born, part-Fijian,
Hindi-speaking, sky-blue passport-carrying, former Fiji-resident. An Insider's View From the Outside is the result of years spent thinking about all that has happened since the 2000 coup. Photo: Earth from space. Oakfieldmedia.com

Trait Accompli, May 20 2000

The lovo crew was unusually silent on the morning of May 20, 2000. We were preparing a feast to farewell a friend who was going to England to join the British Army, but all ears were glued to the radio.

I forget which Fijian station we were listening to, Bula FM or Viti FM, but Simione Kaitani and Iliesa Duvuloco were saying: "Keimami sa tu vakarau na luvei Viti me keimami colata na itavi ni vanua"("We, the sons of Fiji, stand ready to carry out the duties of the vanua.")

Because I followed Fiji’s current affairs closely and knew of Duvuloco’s murky history as a businessman, I was sceptical. Kaitani was just another politician who had lost the previous election, and George Speight, well, the waft of his unflattering reputation could be traced all the way to Australia.

The expressions on the faces around me said that the lovo crew was completely engaged by the sacrifice these loyal sons of Fiji were willing to undertake.It was a feeling duplicated throughout the country.

Personally, I was flabbergasted that Fiji was going to entrust the future of the country to a cluster of bankrupts and con men.

Which brings me to my point. Fijians are by nature quite, humble and unpretentious. They are the most generous people you will ever meet.

They willingly give you the best of what they own, even when what they have is, by Western standards, modest. They are unquestioningly loyal to all that they hold dear: God, family, their chiefs and to that intricate notion of vanua. Invoke the vanua to justify your actions and you win their unfathomable support.

Fijians also dislike standing out from the crowd and hold in high regard anyone they perceive to be in a position of authority.

But the very qualities that make them so endearing, also make Fijians vulnerable to their more Machiavellian compatriots.These were the noteworthy traits so skillfully manipulated for a cause that did not really exist.