Methodist Supremacists, MSG Broker Role, Development Journalism, Education & Charter

METHODISTS AND INDIGENOUS SUPREMACY. A recent comment on the blog  by "Wither the Wesleyans" is worth sharing with a wider audience.  He writes:

The current Methodist hierarchy still doesn't understand what it has to do to get the monkey off its back. And that is to cut itself loose from Lasaro and Kanailagi (photo. L - R) the two indigenous supremacists so identified in the public mind with the events of 1987 and 2000. Tugaue and Waqairatu are only caught up in all of this because of the political machinations of these two aging warriors.

The truth is they're impotent to act against them because of their strong political base among the Methodist congregation. But until they do, the Church will be at the margins of national life, kept there by a regime that is determined to crush its influence at all costs.

A sad and sorry situation but pretty much the fault of the Methodists themselves. When they gained their independence from the Australian church in 1964, a huge effort was made to make the Fiji church multiracial, at least in outlook. But it was a process resisted by the likes of Lasaro and Kanailagi, who used their influence to drag the church into the centre of indigenous Fijian politics. Now that the Methodists and indigenous supremacy are synonymous, is it any wonder that the church has lost its moral authority and that the regime is out to destroy its pernicious influence on the country as a whole?

The tragedy in all of this is that commentators and journalists the would over are totally ignorant of the history of the Methodist Church in Fiji. If they did even the barest research, they'd quickly discover the fraudulent nature of the Church's claim that it's being persecuted in Fiji.

It is, in fact, the Church that has been doing the persecuting, successive presidents harassed and removed for not embracing the extremist agenda and non indigenous Methodists marginalised and either silenced or forced to leave. Whichever way you look at it, the hijacking of the Methodist Church for political purposes has been unconscionable by any standards. They love to quote their biblical texts so how about this one: as you sow, so shall you reap. Qori.

SOLOMON PM WANTS MSG TALKS. Concerned about what he sees as escalating friction between Fiji and Australia and the resolution  slipping further away, new Solomon Islands Prime Minister, Danny Philip, wants  a small group of like-minded Melanesian nations "to nudge Fiji back to democracy." With Fiji suspended from the Pacific Islands Forum, the PM thinks the smaller Melanesian Spearhead Group, which also includes Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu, is the best forum to engage Fiji.

DEVELOPMENT JOURNALISM 'VITAL FOR PACIFIC REGION' Prof. David Robie told a recent Pacific Conference of Churches meeting that development journalism is critically important for media in the South Pacific, and said that some western media had "lost the plot". Too much focus was on conflict and crises and not enough on solutions. He said good development journalism - not the misrepresented version criticised by western media - was investigative, process and solution-orientated.

"The goal of development journalism is to reach people and make a change in their lives," he said.He said this was about "empowerment of the people".Church publications - such as the new PCC website launched at the conference - NGO  newsletters and independent publications were important for agenda-setting on the "real issues" facing Pacific communities.

"New media technologies on the net make it possible for every citizen to engage in journalism through tools like blogging, and development journalists continue to play a key role in social change," he said. Based on Pacific Media Centre/Pacific Media Watch): www.pacmediawatch.aut.ac.nz. Pacific Media Centre on Twitter - http://twitter.com/pacmedcentre.

SCHOOLCHILDREN SHOULD NOT BE SENT HOME. Tuition free grants are paid by government for every registered child from Class 1 to Form 7. In that regard, no child should not be sent home. This is Government's commitment to the People's Charter and the UN Millennium Development Goals. Below is how Tuition Fee grants should be utilized by schools:

10% of the total to be used for purchasing Computers, connection of internet or any improvement of Information Communication Technology in the school; 10% for classroom furniture (desks and chairs), school equipment and materials, Office equipment (office computer, copy printer, photocopier, multimedia projector); 10% for school library books; 5% on PEMAC equipment( musical instruments and sports equipment); 5% of the total to be used for purchasing any vocational equipment or upgrading any of the vocational facilities (for schools that have vocational).  The rest should be spent on operational costs.

Levies charged by schools should only be for a computer fee, building fee, sports fee, library fee, development fee, cadet fee and admission fee, and all these fees must be approved by the Permanent Secretary for Education. It must also be noted too that any increase in levies/fees should be approved by the Permanent Secretary for Education.

The Ministry hopes that schools will now understand why the Ministry has maintained its stand on this issue -- that all students must not be sent home for non-payment of levies.-- 2010 No:1444/MOE.