January 2021
05/02/2021
Thursday 7th
January 2021
Dear
Members
Bula Vinaka, Namaste, Assalamo-alaikum and Noa’ia e mau’ri.
Goodbye 2020 and Hello 2020
won!!!…wait, that doesn’t sound right, does it? Let’s dissect this a bit.
Human beings were riding
this massive wave of complacency exactly one year ago. The wheels were turning,
the turbines were firing, and jets were tearing up the sky, trains were
chugging along, and ships were whizzing across the oceans headed for their
destinations thousands of miles away in a hurry. The machinery of consumerism
and the insatiable appetite of humans to travel to new places for business and
pleasure were at an all-time high. Yes, the carbon emissions were continuing as
a by-product of all the various wants but hey, making a profit and having a
good time surely supersedes these unfortunate side-effects of human induced behavior
right? As the privileged humans were having a fair-dinkum good time whilst the
under-privileged humans, animals and the environment continued to choke, there
were mutterings of a new virus in China with the potential to become a
pandemic. “Argh! Pandemic-Schmandemic, who cares,” thought the rich and
powerful. “It won’t affect us as we have the best health systems in the world,
we have a ton of money and we will just continue with status quo and make more
money. Surely that is the most important thing to do”; quipped the rich and
powerful. Fast forward a year and surely the mighty have been humbled, the
ignorant have been forced to become enlightened and humanity has had a chance
to learn who the true heroes are in this world when we are forced with a
crisis. Our planet earth has had a chance to heal and re-boot; albeit for a
very small duration. We have seen how our environment starts to heal remarkably
quickly as we put a stop to the abuse. Humanity, as a whole, has had time to be
introspective; we have learnt valuable lessons. It is as if 2020 is a
crossroad, a signpost. Turn left and continue with our merry ways or, turn
right and we all heal. Thank you 2020 for teaching us what we knew already but
were burying our heads in the sand from. You certainly will not be forgotten in
a hurry.
I would like to sincerely
offer my gratitude to all our Health Heroes who are currently helping our
brothers and sisters in the North that have had their lives ripped apart by STC
Yasa. Not only the Government sector but a team from the private sector is also
providing much needed relief. In 1997, an English rock band called “Chumawamba”
produced a song called “Tubthumping”. It was a hugely popular song and I am
certain everyone knows the lyrics. The lyrics define the resilience of the
Fijian people and that is how I would like to end this message:
“I get knocked down, but I
get up again, you are never gonna keep me down”
Vinaka vakalevu, Khuda
Hafiz, Daniyabaad and Fa’eksia.
Dr Basharat Munshi
President
