National Unity and Cultural Diversity, ASEAN, Indonesia, Thailand Support Fiji Reforms, PACER Plus

NATION-BUILDING AND LANGUAGES. Nation-building involves more than establishing a common identity and calling all Fiji citizens Fijians. It also involves recognizing and strengthening the different cultural identities that make up the national whole, and arguably the most important task here is the maintenance and development of the nation's languages.

The Ministry of Education, through its Curriculum Development Unit, has developed syllabuses for the vernacular languages, namely i-Taukei  language, Rotuman, Hindi and Urdu from Class 1 to Form 7. The courses developed  include oral communication, reading, comprehension, writing, language studies, literature, culture study, research and learning resources such as newspapers. Where schools lack suitably qualified language teachers, they will be provided by the Ministry.

The Ministry also supports less used languages such as Telegu, Tamil, French and Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese). At school, children should be given the opportunity to express themselves freely in their own languages without fear of victimization. -- 2010 No:1202/MOE.

I welcome this news but wonder what is being done about local Fijian dialects (Bauan is not the true mother tongue of many Fijians) and without official help many dialects will soon be extinct.  I also wonder what is happening about teaching conversational Fijian and Hindi in all schools. Much was made of this a year ago but I've heard nothing since.

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ASEAN CHIEF SURIN URGES FIJI to explore the potential of investment cooperation with ASEAN, especially in fisheries and tourism, to help grow its economy. ASEAN members comprise all ten countries of SE Asia, with a combined population of 580 million (9% of the world's population).  Its aims to accelerate economic growth, social progress, cultural development among its members, the protection of peace and stability in the region, and to provide opportunities for member countries to discuss differences peacefully. -- 2010 No:1213/MOI

INDONESIA AND THAILAND SUPPORT FIJI's Fiji's reform agenda, would welcome more conciliatory moves from Aust and NZ, and would support Fiji's bid to become an ASEAN Observer. These sentiments were expressed to Fiji’s Foreign Minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola who  attendedthe Special Asian and Pacific Ministerial Meeting on the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) in Jakarta, Indonesia, last week. -- Based on 2010 No:1170/MOI.




SO MUCH FOR PACER PLUS. Australia would have Pacific Island countries believe they will benefit by free trade arrangements under Pacer Plus. But they haven't even got free trade with New Zealand.  For years they have prevented NZ apple imports on the pretext that the apples could introduce disease into their own apples industry, which NZ denied. Finally, after years of unsuccessful negotiations, NZ took the case to the World Trade Organization (WHO) which ruled that Australia is breaching international laws in restricting New Zealand's ability to export apples there. End of the matter? No way. Australia will contest the ruling. Against all the evidence, they say they fear fire blight, European canker and apple leaf-curling midge. They would have us believe it has nothing to do with the powerful apple lobby putting pressure on government, just as the curtailment of NZ potato exports had nothing to do with the Tasmanian potato lobby.  Pacific Island governments would be wise to take heed. No wonder Fiji  has decided to stay out of PACER Plus talks


PRISON 'UNPALATABLE:' CHIEF JUSTICE. Senior judges, social welfare and PWD officials inspected the Suva Correction Centre at Korovou, Suva, at the weekend, and found the overcrowded conditions unacceptable, mainly due to the high proportion of remand prisoners. Plans to build a new remand facility have a long way to go.  Meanwhile, some remand prisoners have  to be taken to Naboro,  due to the overcrowding of Korovou.