They Guzzle From

“Fiji Is No What It Was! ”

Jugs Of Beer

By Mrs. Lema Low

In mid-1960, Lema Low, a

i Viti —she is a daughter of

’ late Mr. Jack Price, of

mua Leva—returned to her

nhers plantation, at Savusavu,

a lengthy visit. Mrs. Low did t like the conditions that have veloped in Fiji in recent years,

re, she describes her impres

ns. fHEN I reached Nadi from Auck land, not long ago, I could feel the tension.

'here was a sinister, quiet watch ness on peoples’ faces, which was lly disturbing, and so unusual in 3 hitherto happy, carefree, little ony.

Iven the Immigration officer at ii did nothing to inspire confid e. He checked our passports in amine silence, never a comment, er so much as looking up from ier the peak of his cap. /hen my fellow-traveller re rked blithely that she would like ro to Suva by road, the Immigra i officer, still without looking up, wled; “I wouldn’t, if I were you, 7” hat really jolted me into a re ation of the situation, and I did feel at all glad to be back in , until I landed at Savusavu.

What of the Future? t my mother’s plantation, dear “Qaranikula”, far from the Jding crowd, where the mynah [s screeched as of yore, the wind led the palms and the waves >ed gently on the beach, I often and cogitated on Fiji’s future, [ am sure many people do to- Tiat lies ahead of these beautiful ads? Are they going to be torn rt by racial strife? Or are the ales of Fiji going to join hands forces and go forward together larmony? have read Mr. Carfax-Foster’s ales in The Fiji Times, and I k his ideas are excellent. He has qusly studied Fiji’s problems, is not afraid to put forward his rs and solutions, in a manner ah all can understand, tie wonder is that responsible,

and (one supposes) highly-trained, Government officials should not have placed similar useful proposals be fore the Colonial Office in London long before Fiji’s present confused situation developed.

It seems to be clear that most officials take little real interest in the future welfare of the Colony. It also seems to me that Fiji is going to have to rely less on handouts from the Colonial Office, and more on the capacity of its people for hard work.

Whilst there is a land-hungry race like the Indians in Fiji, the Fijians themselves will have to demonstrate much more plainly than they do at present that they

wish to have, hold and USE their land.

All too often one sees Fijians coveting land which has been de veloped and cultivated by a Euro pean or an Indian, or a Solomon Islander, or a member of some other race.

What a Solomon Islander Did

The Fijians angrily declare that their land has been taken from them, but they completely overlook the fact that they own hundreds of acres of land which is completely undeveloped.

At my mother’s plantation there is a Solomon Islander who has established a small settlement for

mself and his family on a few ;res of land rented from my other.

It is near a creek, and they have >od running water. They have a w fowls. They have cultivated a jarby valley, and have a splendid irden of bananas, paw-paws, green igeta tales, taro, tapioca, yams— enty of everything.

The man works on the plantation, id always has money in his pocket, ley are healthy and happy, and it a joy to see them thus.

But they are greatly envied by the jians living nearby—why, I cannot iderstand. Those Fijians could ive the same joys and conditions r themselves, with a little effort.

A great need among the Fijian ople is for more leaders—and good ies. I don’t mean chiefs who sit councils and keep themselves re- Dte from their people.

I mean Fijian MEN, trained iders, men of character and ibility, one to every village, who II live with their people, lead them, struct them, guide them, under md them, work with them and t* them, and be an example and inspiration to them.

Expert footballers and cricketers e of no use to the country. If ivernment can have a school to tin medical students, and turn out od ones, why not a training -1001 for Fijian leaders?

Perhaps there is one, but I haven’t ard of it.

Fiii?nr a win 1 c J? Ubt Wh f tl i er the thir^ 15 nnw ?vS oUn £ to any ‘ arrpfc ha +.Y. e easy access to as much beer as they can . ...

Plain Words About Beer o n m nnv , ,

ambition thPsl £

nav envplonpq fin g £ a thei l P ® veiopes, board a bus, and head for the nearest pub, to spend the lot. What happens to hom*s wives and families, I shudder to think. , , . , . ...

The saddest sights I saw in Fiji were these upstanding, physically

magnificent Fijian men sitting ar °und guzzling jugs of beer, and bein £ reduced to reeling, leering, be fuddled, useless wrecks.

In some Suva hotels, iron grilles have had to be erected in order to keep these poor, slobbering creatures, almost reduced to the level of animals, from mounting the stairs and ncrhans molesting tbp mipefe T + Pernaps molesting tne guests 15 °Pmion that the people ™ho K e responsible for bringing this thing to the Fijians, and to other native peoples who are nowhere near ready for it, should be hung, drawn and quartered.

[?]ere was a time when Fijians drank only [?]qona (kava) from bowls like this one being [?]ade made by a craftsman. These days, says [?]e writer of this article, too many Fijians sit around guzzling from jugs of beer.