Where does your allegiance lie?

This is a question I pose to those Fijian citizens who have migrated overseas (mainly to Australia, New Zealand, United States and Canada) after the coup’s of 1987, 2000 or before that. A lot of those people have taken up the citizenship of adopted countries.

Where does your allegiance lie? Who do you support? Vague question, but I put this in relation to what is going on in Fiji.

Now I have noted before the likes of people like Thakur Ranjit Singh and Nikhil Singh who praise the RFMF and interim government to no end. No doubt these individuals were strongly against the coup’s of 1987 and 2000. These individuals live in New Zealand and Australia respectively.

Why is this coup different to any of the others. Oh yeah, because Indians are getting a good deal out of it. So its a good thing.

Rhetoric is just a facade. Just like in 1987 and 2000, this coup is about power and greed. About a want to have something that you could not earn. Taking over a government by force for pathetic reasons such as what the minority perceive is foolish.

Lets get back to our two example individuals. Thakur from NZ, Nikhil from Australia. You have adopted a new country, its your new home. Cherish and love the fact your right to support an illegal regime is not downtrodden by the government. Even though the respective countries have taken a strong stand against Fiji. Your right to openly support the thugs in Suva is denied to those who oppose them in Fiji.

The fact is that despite the wholesome support from a lot of expatriates overseas, these retards who go on about “returning our beautiful country to way it should be” will never return to Fiji. They have entrenched themselves in their new countries and they have families in a secure, safe environment. Deep down inside they despise Fiji and think “I’m fucking glad I got out of that hole”. The reality is that these individuals are too lamu to return because they know that fact deep down inside. Even though their heroes are in power, they still know the country is screwed. They are deluding themselves by thinking this. The phrase “our beautiful nation” that is echoed by these lamu individuals is parroted over and over again in the Fiji Times Your Comments section. Don’t let these idiots fool you into thinking that they care about Fiji. They really don’t.

When its convenient to support Fiji such as the coup and Fijian rugby, they are Fijians at heart. Otherwise, they loathe Fiji. You are not a Fijian if all you do is support an illegal regime and a rugby team.

Finally, the issue of dual citizenship. This is a thorny issue. I stand strongly on this issue. Fijian citizens should not be entitled to this. All you are going to get before the next election is a rush of expatriates going to get Fijian citizenship. These individuals will be the balance of power. And unfortunately for those who still live in Fiji, their government will be decided by those who don’t give a stuff about the country and will never return to experience it.

FIRCA (Chodos STASI) up to no good

At a time when Fiji was in the doldrums, another piece of Chaudhry magic suddenly appeared out of a hat.

The reports were regarding FIRCA stopping consigments of water being exported overseas because the correct value of the exports not being stated. Chaudhry opened his big mouth and said that National Waters of Viti should be more responsible. More uneducated people in the interim government.

I have a funny feeling that Chaudhry sees this as a money making venture for the boys over at another branch of the Fijian STASI (FIRCA). Fijian water being sold overseas accounts for 15% of Fiji’s exports. This is a fair whack and Fiji should be proud that “Fiji Water” is branded overseas and provides so much exposure. A good revenue earner methinks.

But Chaudhry sees this as an opportunity. Taxes, taxes and more taxes. His ilk has drained the nation’s coffers dry so lets find some poor sod to pick on. And he picked on the right one. Is he going to slap some sort of special export tax on exported water? Or bring legal action against National Waters of Viti to claim monies? The fact is no one really knows what that snake oil merchant is up to. Or what sort of decrees or promulgations this nutty regime will come up with.

It doesn’t matter what the end consumer pays for the water. Its none of their fucking business. National Waters of Viti sells their water overseas, someone buys wholesale (or direct) and puts a markup which is borne by the end customer. The point where the company sells to the middleman is where the transaction ends. Is FIRCA going to get some taxpayer funded trip overseas to do some research? Hasn’t stopped the rest.

It was pretty funny to see the U.S. State Department get involved. Now you have done it. You’ve got the world’s superpower banging on your door asking for an explanation. With the RFMF and interim government parroting the need for foreign countries to “understand” Fiji’s situation, I don’t think the Americans will appreciate this sort of bullying and intimidation by some Z-grade dictatorship. I think you will see Chaudhry running scared after this. He’ll run back to the loving and caring arms of Bainimarama at Delainabua with his shrunken balls and tail between his legs. “Protect me, protect me oh sexy dictator” will be his catchcry.

Sad isn’t it. The RFMF and interim government have created a culture of envy and jealousy. We should be applauding people who work hard to create jobs.

Department of “Home Land Security”

This little snippet should speak volumes.

Got no money in the coffers to pay your on duty troops? Just hire some former soldiers to guard the ports.

Whats wrong with some police guarding the docks? I guess the RFMF got a bit jittery when Hughes was doing his job in 2006. The police were doing their job then. Bainimarama and co decided to remove them and realised the police needed to do that job to keep it secure. So he decided to chuck some of his troops on the line. Since when does a military do this sort of business? But we all know that the RFMF has turned into a jack-of-all trades. Soldiers, politicans, government officials, policemen, chiropractors, shop assistants and male prostitutes. I can recall (if my memory is not sketchy) that the RFMF pulled those soldiers off ports duty because it cost too much.

If there ever was a sign that this interim farce is running out money, then removing state authorities and reducing cabinet is a bloody good one.

Oh yeah, these guys are former army reservists who formed their own private security company. With all the latest hi-tech gears, these guys supposed to be tip top. There was a competitive tender. It was supposed to be legit. But methinks there is a rat in the offering. Now there have been a whole lot of current and RFMF personnel who have been receiving benefits as a result of the coup. Is this another glaring example?

First of all, why is a private company responsible for security at a port? Money for a start. But ignoring that, Fiji is one of the few (if any) places in the world where a private company is responsible for port security. To compare to Fiji’s neighbours, their port safety is guarded the police and border police (i.e. Customs authorities). So if something goes wrong there is proper accountability. If something fucks up at a Fijian port, how is it accounted for? Non-performance of contract? Will they dismiss the company and find another one? Since this is a contract with a private company, only a civil dispute can be bought. Unless these guys do something criminal which they are then liable under the criminal system.

Secondly, are these individuals really trained in looking after the Fijian ports? Army training is not the answer for everything as the RFMF always argues.  Army training is not a university degree (although some armies like the New Zealand and Australian Army offer university degrees for its officers in some schemes). Army training is not the same as police training. There are subtle and glaring differences with each. Police are trained to sleuth, notice the unusual and have proper investigative techniques regarding anomalies. These guys are what? We really don’t know.

As a final point, we have to bring in the issue of transparency and accountability. The RFMF parrot has been active with this from Day 1. If they really cared about it, then reveal to us, who were the other companies who bid on the contract? What are the terms of the contract? Yeah right, like anyone will get that information. All we will hear from Khaiyum is some complicated speech about the subject getting absolutely nowhere. And he’ll mention somewhere at the end, “its none of your business”.