FIJI: Parents' death inspired her to care for elderly

SUVA, Fiji / The Fiji Times / Fiji News / December 27, 2011

By Tevita Vuibau

Samabula Senior Citizens Home nurse
Neelam Kishore.    Jone Luvenitoga

CHILDREN should take care of their parents when they enter the deserved distinction of their senior years.

But what if your parents passed away before you even turned twenty?

For Neelam Kishore, the answer to that was easy, apply to become a staff nurse at the Samabula Senior Citizens Home and take care of the elderly who have been forgotten by their families.

Mrs Kishore, who has been at the Old People's Home since March of this year said her parent's death, had been the inspiration for wanting to care for the elderly.

"My mother passed away when I was still eleven months old and my father when I was 19 years old - only in my second year at nursing school," said Mrs Kishore.

The 28-year-old who has no brothers or sisters, said after her father passed away, she would stay with her pastor during the breaks in the school calendar.

A devout Christian, Mrs Kishore credited her faith with bringing her through the tough times

"I didn't have a very good relationship with my stepmother and things were very bad," said Mrs Kishore.

"When I graduated from nursing school she threw my things out of her house and told me I was on my feet now and it was time to fend for myself."

"I then went to rent with one of the nurses and a week later I was married and now I have a young daughter," she added.

Mrs Kishore said the work at the home often got challenging but it was also fun.

"My father and mother are no longer with me but I have 22 fathers and 26 mothers here and sometimes it gets challenging because of the nature of the work and we have psychiatric patients here too which sometimes adds to the difficulty but I enjoy it," added Mrs Kishore.

Mrs Kishore said she had joined the home after serving in the operation theatre at Colonial War Memorial Hospital and at the Valelevu Health Centre.

Copyright © 2004 - 2007, Fiji Times Limited.
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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights. 
Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

FIJI: By cutting back our pensions we are providing for our children

SUVA, Fiji / The Fiji Times / Front Page Features / December 18, 2011

Fat Geese and Christmas
Seona Smiles

Home-made gifts in recycled wrapping paper are the way to go this Christmas. 

Picture: Google

CHRISTMAS is coming and the geese are getting fat,  please put a penny in the old person's hat. If you haven't a penny, a halfpenny will do, If you haven't a halfpenny, here's some advice for you. (traditional rhyme)

December is traditionally a season of profligate spending which will put many citizens in a situation as parlous as pensioners come 2012.

So here are some suggestions for economising, general thrift and practicing poverty. Now is the time to diet, severely - an obvious one after a season of indulgence.

The trick is, what food is least expensive and most nourishing. There is a reason poor people who aren't actually in starvation zones tend to be, well, fat.

It's malnourishment brought on by eating cheap carbohydrates, as in tavioka, white bread and white rice.

It's an interesting point that when things become known for their health benefits, such as brown rice and brown bread or flour, they become more expensive even though I understand they cost less to produce because they don't have to be so processed.

I mean, if you don't have to take off the husks why doesn't it cost less.

But hey, I'm not going to quibble because an even better way of economising is to get your golf playing spouse to actually win a game.

I know of wives who complain that every week their husbands get dressed up in golfing clothes, take their golf bags and go off to the golf club, but do they ever win at golf?

This week our Head of Household come home with what I suspect was a pensioner's pity prize.

It turned out to be vouchers for a supply of FMF rice, which impressed me far more than I ever had been by the three golf balls in a packet or even the fancy ice bucket.

As a strong supporter of local market produce and being related to a vegetarian lobby, I scour the stalls for what is in season in the hope that it will be on the less expensive side.

I've done tomatoes, they were large and delicious this year but there is now a certain resistance built up to tomato on toast, tomato scrambled eggs, tomato salad with and without basil, fried tomato, tomato with baigan, with potato, with beans (another great crop this year), tomato stew and tomato with noodles although it is untrue I tried to serve tomato icecream.

That was a mistake, I thought it was tomato jam.

Anyway, we are paying more for less, so it is time to move on to what comes in next, although it all seem to be going up for Christmas.

Ah well, 'tis also the season for mangoes.

Of course there is also festive season drinking.

The lure of a good wine will need to be replaced with the good recipe for home brew, and as I say, there is always mangoes.

Another tip the economy-minded might try is to buy only eight packets of milk instead of ten.

This is because by my count, about two out of every ten packets are bad and have to be taken back to the shop and replaced.

I'm told it is probably a packaging problem and should be fixed. Sometime soon. Don't panic over Christmas gifts, go in for extreme gift recycling.

In really thrifty households, usually those with old ladies involved, you will have lots of last year's leftover wrapping paper carefully smoothed, folded, and put somewhere in the way until you go to look for it.

Persevere and encourage children to wrap up last year's rejects and give them to their siblings with cunning cards.

Remember, sellotape and superglue are the economiser's friends.

Never mind about "buy Fiji-made", the motto is "give Fiji home-made".

Your loved ones are bound to appreciate the extra thought that goes into that pair of home-made flip-flops ("so that's what we can use an old tire for!"), or perhaps we can copy what the cool environmentalists are doing this season and turn our old milk and juice cartons into wallets and clutch purses (tré trendy!)

Home-baked goods are the go and I have lots of tips for disguising cakes that dip in the middle or lurch to one side with a few paper flowers.

Live on the coast? Invite your guests to come a couple of hours early for a fun game of "catch-your-own-fish-for-Christmas-lunch".

But stand by with the cabin crackers in case (you can smear them with red or green icing to make them festive.)

Apparently children are supposed to be a source of income although it's not something I've noticed.

It has been explained to us that by cutting back our pensions we are providing for our children to also benefit from the FNPF pension fund in their turn, which is nice, although they will have to spend rather more now looking after us formerly independent old folk.

Not sure how that works, but anyway, they don't let you advertise your children on E-bay.

But keep the garage sale concept in mind - there may be a lot of things us older persons find we need to do without come 2012.

Copyright © 2004 - 2007, Fiji Times Limited.
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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights. 
Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

FIJI: Rising costs hit senior citizens

SUVA, Fiji / Fiji Broadcasting Corporation / November 14, 2011

Report by : Ritika Pratap

The Fiji Council of Social Services says the recent rise in the cost of living has affected senior citizens in many ways. Director Hassan Khan says not all senior citizens receive assistance from the government, and most who do - get a large amount deducted in taxes.

“There are a number of difficulties - due to the rise in the price of petrol, the dollar doesn’t go far because it has been de-valued, every senior citizen no matter what he or she buys they have to pay Vat of 15% plus all other taxes that add up to almost 30% - so whatever money they have it all goes out in taxes - so the compensation and the voucher - it does some help but on the whole it is only for those who are means tested but all the other are suffering.”

FCOSS is proposing a social pension scheme for all senior citizens as they have served the country in many ways.

He says a social pension is a powerful tool to help fight poverty.

Copyright© Fiji Broadcasting Corporation 2011
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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights. 
Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

FIJI: Fiji works to raise awareness for senior citizens' welfare

SUVA, Fiji / Xinhua / September 3, 2011

Under the "Home Care for the Elderly Project of HelpAge Centre," concerned Fijian authorities are carrying out an awareness campaign to ensure senior citizens welfare, according to the Fiji Council of Social Services (FCSS) on Saturday.

As part of the campaign, many seminars have recently been conducted in several provinces of the Pacific island nation, which provide an opportunity for participants to assess their aging conditions.

The majority of the participants looking after the older members of their families expressed health and financial challenges they have to endure, but the key to the problem in Fiji is to provide home care for the elderly as the family is the most suitable shelter for graceful aging and the need for more awareness in this area, says the FCSS.

FCSS Director Hassan Khan held that this was the era of the older generation and Fiji was no exception but more needed to be done to ensure their rights and welfare protected.

He noted that the problems today is that most people of the elderly generation are either placed in welfare homes provided by the state or they live alone under poor conditions with state welfare, which is only 60 Fiji dollars (32 U.S. dollars) a month.

The rapid economic and social changes in the island nation have affected the elderly disproportionately, particularly rural dwellers, Khan said, adding that older people with modest income depended on Fiji's superannuation funds from the Fiji National Provident Fund pensions, however, the recent move to cut pensions is causing stress and uncertainty. "By 2030, for the first time in history those over 60 will outnumber those under 15, with the fastest growth in the developing world."

Hassan Khan, Director, Fiji Council of Social Services (FCOSS) (right) Minister for Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Jiko Luveni and permanent secretary, Mr. Govind Sami. (Photo courtesy: HelpAge)

"This presents great challenges -- among them the need for urgent action to address the rising burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) for older people in Fiji."

The United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) has revealed that Fiji has the largest density of elderly people in the Pacific, while population aging is accelerating at a faster pace not only in the Pacific island countries but also around the globe.

Studies have proven that Fiji's elderly population has increased over the past two decades with further increase expected in the next 50 years as the elderly from the age of 60 years and over in the Pacific region is expected to increase from 367,000 in 2000 to 2.3 million by 2050.

Fiji's Social Welfare Minister Dr Jiko Luveni recognized that in the country, the older people are one of the most vulnerable groups, due to the changing family structures, internal and external migration, and the weakening traditional, cultural and social systems. Many particularly in the rural Fiji are facing increasing social isolation due to old age disabilities, poor health and longevity.

"With majority of the elderly residing in rural areas, the prevalence of old age disability is expected to remain high particularly in rural communities and against the backdrop of the financial economic crisis Fiji currently faces in the care and welfare of the elderly is becoming a bigger social concern," she said, adding through studies it has been found that disabled elderly are at a higher risk of poverty which leaves them to deprivation and insecurity."

Global commitment towards the welfare for the senior citizens was enhanced when the United Nations declared 1999 as the "Year of the Older Persons" and at Madrid in 2002 where the 2nd world assembly on aging was held.

Luveni promised that as the needs of elderly are expected to increase in the coming decades, substantial input and planning from government will be needed to articulate policy guidelines and allocate resources to create a safety net for the senior citizens in Fiji.

Copyright © 1996-2011 SINA Corporation
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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights.
Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

FIJI: Big hearts help home

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SUVA, Fiji / The Fiji Times / Front Page News / April 11, 2011

By Serelisoni Moceica

THE Father Law Home in Veisari has been fortunate to receive help from members of our community, says the sister in charge, Losalini Ralogaivau.

She said the home was in need of more maintenance work to cater for the needs of the elderly residents.

The Corona Women's Society recently visited the home and gave about $300, groceries and donations from local companies.

A team from the Ministry of Finance also visited the home on Saturday to clean up as part of their community services program.

The home, set up in 1955, looks after the senior citizens.

Copyright © 2004 - 2007, Fiji Times Limited

FIJI: Senior citizens brought to tears

. SUVA, Fiji Islands / FijiVillage / May 8, 2009 Thirty senior citizens staying at the Samabula Old People’s Home were in tears this afternoon after a group from Airports Fiji Limited visited them with gifts. AFL executive Pauliasi Naivalu said he received an early morning call from the main branch in Nadi to go and visit the residents at the home after hearing one of the resident's story about being abandoned by her daughter on Fijivillage earlier this week. The group came from the Nausori Airport and brought diapers, milk, two cartons of chicken and other food items. Mother’s Day is this Sunday. © 2009 FijiVillage.com

FIJI: Religious group honours its seniors

. SUVA, Fiji / The Fiji Times / Front Page / April 12, 2009 Senior citizens within the Sangam community were yesterday hosted to lunch by the TISI Sangam organisation in recognition for their contribution to it and the nation. British Ambassador Shaun Cleary and Dorsami Naidu at the TIVI Sangam convention in Ba. Picture: Jai Prasad Organised by TISI Sangam Ba branch, as part of the 83rd annual Sangam convention, close to 70 senior citizens were given a reception for their contribution to the Sangam convention over the years. Ba Senior Citizens Community Centre president Davendra Naidu said the community centre was a first in the country to look after the needs of the elderly on a daily basis. The centre has an eating/serving area, a library, common room, gym space and recreational area. "These senior citizens during their younger days have served and contributed toward the Sangam foundation and this function is to honour them," he said. TISI Sangam president Dorsami Naidu reminded all that the elderly citizens present had given their time toward the institution's cause. The convention is an annual event with committees participating to disseminate knowledge of South Indian traditions. Copyright © 2004 - 2007, Fiji Times Limited

FIJI: Grandpa gets two years imprisonment for defiling grand-daughter aged 10

. SUVA, Fiji / Fiji Times / February 14, 2009 By Serafina Silaitoga A 73-year old man who undressed his 10-year-old grand-daughter and kissed her was sentenced to two years imprisonment by the Labasa court yesterday. The grandfather, who lives at Wainikoro outside Labasa town, appeared before magistrate Penijamini Lomaloma. The court heard that between February 1 and 18 in 2006, the grandfather who limped about the Labasa courthouse yesterday, undressed his grand-daughter, kissed her, touched her breasts and vagina and then undressed himself and lay on top of her. Mr Lomaloma told the grandfather he committed the offence against his grand-daughter and it was a grave breach of trust. "Old men who prey on young girls are particularly abhorred in all societies and those who prey on their own grand-daughters are lower still." In mitigation the grandfather asked the court for a suspended sentence because he was old, widowed and had seven children. He told the court he suffered from high blood pressure and lived at Wainikoro so that he could be near the hospital. "You are 73 years old and sickly and had asked the court for a suspended sentence. "However, I cannot do so because section 29 (3) of the Penal Code provides that a suspended sentence is not available as stipulated in Section 29 (3) of the Penal Code," Mr Lomaloma said. "However, I consider your old age and illness to be sufficient special factors to reduce this sentence and therefore I sentence you to two years in prison," said Mr Lomaloma. Copyright © 2004 - 2007, Fiji Times Limited

FIJI: Sangam School of Nursing Goes Beyond Nursing

LABASA, Fiji (Fiji Times), April 29, 2008:

HERE are a number of interesting frontiers being broached this week, when the first batch of nurses graduate from the Sangam School of Nursing, in Labasa.

TISI Sangam is a private sector largely Hindu organisation that historically has focused on primary and secondary schooling, not tertiary education.

The graduation ceremony will include prayer recitals not just from Hinduism, but from Christianity and Islam.

Sangam's School of Nursing is not in Suva or Lautoka, but in the deprived North. And among the graduating nurses will be a large number of Fiji-Indians, quite unthinkable some 20 years ago, especially for Fiji-Indian females.

With the success of this venture, the Sangam may well wish to spread its wings further into training for caregivers, and perhaps, investment in retirement homes.TISI Sangam's venture

Although religious organisations like Montfort have very successfully mounted technical training courses, tertiary education in Fiji has historically been dominated by government.

It was, therefore, quite a bold step for TISI Sangam to venture into nurse training.

This is quite logical given the population trends. For more than a decade, primary and secondary schools run by Fiji-Indian organisations, have faced declining Fiji-Indian enrolments because of the high rates of emigration and low birth rates of Fiji-Indians.

At the other end, Fiji-Indian school leavers have often faced ethnic quotas for enrolment at tertiary education institutions run by the Government. Fiji-Indian organisations have long been advised to convert excess secondary and primary school facilities into tertiary training institutions that can better prepare school leavers to find employment.

TISI Sangam's venture into nurse training is a commendable initiative, which takes its education training that one step further to facilitate employment for its school leavers.

It is positive that Government health officials are giving full recognition to this private sector initiative. A North development

For decades, Vanua Levu and the North has suffered from government neglect, despite all the statistics indicating the high levels of poverty and lack of employment opportunities.

For decades, the majority of school leavers have had to travel to Viti Levu (with Tutu being an exception), to Suva, Nadi and Lautoka — the metropolitan centres favoured by new developments.

But many parents have simply not been able to afford the high costs of living in Suva or Lautoka.

For TISI Sangam to set up its School of Nursing in Labasa was an important initiative to spread the benefits of development to the North. For it is only if there are dozens and dozens of such small initiatives on Vanua Levu, that the North will genuinely be able to share in national economic and social development. Multi-cultural Sangam
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Fijis nurses, with their good professional training and excellent English skills, are in extremely high demand internationally, at salaries four or five times higher than Fijis pathetic salary levels
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The program for the graduation makes for interesting reading, in a country riven by religious bigotry. TISI Sangam is a cultural organisation of South Indians, mostly Hindus. The venue for the graduation is the Christian, SDA Community Hall in Labasa.

The chief guest (the interim Minister of Health) will light a lamp, very much a Hindu tradition. But there will be prayer recitals from Islamic, Christian and Hindu scriptures. And there will be a dedication of the nurses by Reverent Qica, a Christian.

It is encouraging that TISI Sangam, led by its president Dorsami Naidu, is symbolically showing its respect for the country's major religions.

The TISI Sangam's graduation ceremony sends out a delightful ray of light, a symbolic gesture that teaches us to celebrate Fiji's beautiful multi-cultural tapestry instead of sinking into our usual religious bigotry.

Such symbolic gestures could well be emulated by other religious and cultural organisations. Nursing, Fiji-Indians and emigration

Historically, nursing has not been a profession favoured by Fiji-Indians, certainly not by Fiji-Indian females.

Not only were there cultural taboos, but the nurses' salaries were simply far too low to attract school leavers. But the last two decades of high emigration of Fiji's nurses to greener pastures abroad, has driven home the message to our school leavers, that their potential labour market today extends beyond Fiji — to Australia, NZ, Canada, US and even as far as Britain and Europe.

Fiji's nurses, with their good professional training and excellent English skills, are in extremely high demand internationally, at salaries four or five times higher than Fiji's pathetic salary levels.

For Fiji's Fiji-Indian population, who now place a very high premium on any qualification that helps in their international mobility, nursing has become an attractive profession. What next, Sangam?

TISI Sangam, and indeed other religious organisations might wish to note that there is a massive international demand for care-givers, whose training has some affinity to nurse training.

Developed countries like Australia, NZ, US, Canada and Japan, and further afield in Europe, are facing rapidly aging populations, with extremely high life expectancies.

Among other problems, they face shortages of trained care-givers.

And Fiji people have for more than a decade been obtaining employment in these developed countries, as care-givers.

The salaries have been extremely high, often much better than that paid to nurses.

With the clients usually being quite affluent, care-givers in private homes have often received perks whose value may be far more than the normal salaries.

It would make sense for TISI Sangam to begin courses in care-giving, to widen the international employment prospects for our school leavers.

At some stage in the future, there may well be a retirement homes industry in Fiji if and when those in authority wake up to the immense potential.

At some stage in the future, when government is able to establish quality private medical facilities especially for the elderly, TISI Sangam might wish to investigate whether it might itself invest in retirement homes, not just for expatriates, but Fiji citizens as well.

This is not just a possibility for TISI Sangam, but other religious and cultural organisations in Fiji, which have international links.

All our religious organisations are extremely well-endowed with high quality real estate, much of which lies idle.

In particular, Christian organisations in Fiji must have an invaluable marketing power in the international parishes of their own denominations, given that the elderly usually place a high premium on trusting the host retirement homes.

Fiji should stop relying for job creation on governments that are here today and gone tomorrow.

Copyright © 2004 - 2007, Fiji Times Limited.

FIJI: Public defenders make elderly smile

Kaliti Maramasau, 72, of the Old People's Home in Samabula, relates her joy when staff from the Legal Aid Commission visited yesterday. SUVA, Fiji (The Fiji Times), April 27, 2008: Residents at the Suva Old People's Home had a surprise visit from staff of the Legal Aid Commission who made a donation of much-needed personal supplies. The visit by the commission staff made the residents happy and for some it was an emotional moment. Commission manager Shahin Ali said it was disheartening to see the elderly in society being put in nursing homes. He said it was a very emotional visit, especially seeing the elderly being put into care homes. "This was something we planned as part of our contribution to society. We organised a walkathon and the money we collected was used to buy things needed by the people at the home. This included basic toiletries and diapers. We called the home first to find out what they needed then we bought them and took the things to the home. "We just want to help our elderly in society. They are very important. It was a very touching and emotional experience but we are all very happy that we are able to help our old people." Mr Ali said the visit was also a Mother's Day gift for the women at the home. He said they would also plan to continue their community and goodwill work visiting other nursing homes and orphanages. Home ward assistant Angela Devi said: "I am sure all the residents are very grateful for the donation. The donations were just what the residents needed and it was very kind and thoughtful." "It is very important for people to realise that our elderly are the forgotten generation." Resident Kaliti Maramasau said they were thankful to the commission staff, even if they had not brought anything. "It doesn't matter if they bring anything or not. It is always nice to have visitors once in a while. I am very happy and thankful that we have been given a donation. I always feel good having visitors and it is nice to talk to some one too. Apart from that, it is good to know we have the things we need and I feel very happy that people still care about us," she said. Copyright © 2004 - 2007, Fiji Times Limited

FIJI: Old Timer Still Going Strong

Prem Narayan is a watchman doing the night shift at the age of 70

SUVA, Fiji (The Fiji Times), April 24, 2007:

FOR many people, reaching 70 would be a time to slow down and spend time with the family. But that is not the case for Prem Narayan of Natabua outside Lautoka. Mr Narayan is a watchman at the YP Reddy office in the sugar city.

He says being a watchman at the prime old age of 70 has given him another lease of life. He enjoys what he does and would not exchange it for anything in the world.
He said even though his five children and wife have asked him a number of times to retire, his only reply is "this is what keeps me alive and going".

Mr Narayan only went as far as Class Four at Sabeto Indian School before dropping out to help his father on their sugarcane farm.

"There were seven brother and seven sisters and with my father being the sole breadwinner in the household, it was very hard to send all 14 of us to school," he said. "Travelling to school each day meant that we had to have money and that was something my father did not have. Our father struggled to put food on the table and send us to school. Apart from that, he had other commitments as well as obligations to attend to. So me and my brothers decided to help our father out in the farm."

"A normal day of going to school would mean crossing a river and two creeks and we had to walk for quite a distance. It was a hard life and comparing what we went through to the luxuries that children of today enjoy, there is a very big difference."

Mr Narayan has worked a six-day shift from 5.30pm to 7am for the past 30 years and has not missed a day at work.

He said since leaving his parent's farm at Sabeto, he and his family have lived at the Natabua housing estate.

"Life is what you make of it and if we do not make the right choice, we will have to pay the price in the end," he said. "Apart from working as a watchman, I also spend time in my garden planting flowers and vegetables.

"I plant vegetables such as lemon, mango, oranges, pawpaw, custard apple, dhania, long bean and baigani (egg plant). That is my other life and I love doing it. When I knock-off from work I go home and change and get straight into the garden work."

As for the risk or threat of thugs vandalising or hitting' the place he watched, Mr Narayan said his work came first.

Concerns from his wife and children that the work he was doing might be dangerous for his health and age, Mr Narayan said so far he has had no reason to feel afraid, especially after three decades on the job.

It is the kind of answer one would get from someone who lived life the hard way.

And at 70 years of age, Mr Narayan has to be the oldest watchman doing what they call the graveyard shift.

By Ana Niumataiwali
Copyright © 2007, Fiji Times Limited. All Rights Reserved.

FIJI: Old Age A Big Blessing, Says 103 Years-Old Susana

103-year-old Susana Cabealawa (centre) was surrounded by three generations of children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren during Mothers Day celebrations in Suva. SUVA (Fiji Times), May 15, 2006: SOME say old age is a burden, but 103-year-old Susana Cabealawa believes it is a blessing. The healthy mother, grandmother and great-grandmother from Navave Village in Bua said there was no secret to reaching her age. She said that God was her source of strength and made her live that long. Born on January 8, 1903, Ms Cabealawa said she had not experienced any severe sickness all her life nor any restrictions to her diet. She could not remember how many Mothers Days she had celebrated but was thankful for each of them. Her nephew, 72-year-old Nimira Rasewale said she had the strength of a young person, was always working and looked after herself well. She is still very strong and works around the house as well, Mr Rasewale said. She lives with her grandson, Reverend Suliasi Kurulo, in Namadi Heights. Ms Cabealawa said she had no idea how much longer she would be around. But she said she enjoyed her life and the people she had met. She said one of the best moments was when she met members of the media at the Commissioner Easterns office in Suva after casting her postal ballot last week. She spends her days reading, visiting relatives all over Suva, going to church and visiting her village of Navave in Bua. Copyright © 2006 Fiji Times Limited. All Rights Reserved

FIJI: Little Comfort in Old Age

SUVA, FIJI (Fiji Times), November 9, 2005: Once again at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, we will come together to pay our respects to those who fought for Fiji in the Great War (1914-1918), World War II (1939-1945), the Malayan Campaign (1952-1956) and those who served on peace missions across the globe. The call by the chiefs and country during the war forced these then young men to leave their families, their homes and everything they were doing at the time to fight for the modicum of peace we enjoy today. After World War II, veterans were rewarded with a white uniform, a cane knife, a spade a digging fork and told to return to their villages to farm. Colonial government officials and Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna presented the tools to the young men who had willingly endured hardships so we could enjoy peace today. Now, decades later, these same men, not so young any more, are asking the Government to increase their pension from $66 a month to match the increasing cost of living — and rightly so. Home Affairs Minister Josefa Vosanibola said one of the secrets of the fine reputation our forces earned overseas was because they were all volunteers. "The voluntarism of those we honour today, showed itself through the initiative they displayed in action," he said. The wars touched the lives of the people — as fathers and sons were killed in action while others were wounded and the rest returned with the physical and mental scars of wars ... sometimes too painful to recall. So the least the Government can do today is to ensure our veterans have a pension that allows them to enjoy the remaining years of their lives in the dignity they have surely earned. I am sure it is not an impossible or unrealistic request. Fiji Council of Social Service executive director Hassan Khan says it is time the Government rethought its approach to pensions and considered the option of social protection. "Establishing social protection packages including social safety nets, appropriate legislative measures and livelihood promotion can be an important contribution to ending this cycle of extreme poverty and of realising the rights of the poorest and most vulnerable in Fiji, including our ex-servicemen. "The need for social protection is becoming more acute as traditional support structures are eroded by the impact of globalisation, conflict, migration, destruction of the family systems and the deployment of our young people on overseas peacekeeping missions. "The 2006 Budget and previous allocations have targeted ex-servicemen and homes for old people; this is good, as allocations need to increase. "However, questions that need to be raised are whether small increases meet the need of the elderly ex-servicemen and the majority of the older persons who have provided equally important 'services' to the nation through the rearing of children, as parents, farmers, skilled persons and grandparents. "They appear to be the forgotten ones. $66 a month is a paltry sum considering most of the older persons are burdened with responsibilities of parenting grandchildren, and meeting traditional obligations. "Voluntary community welfare and government agencies have spent years working out ways of how not to give money directly to the poor. "This approach is essentially based on a false premise that poor people will misuse money and are unable to invest in decisions to improve their quality of life. "But there is a growing body of evidence that this is not the case and when poor and vulnerable people have the means, they rise out of the most extreme poverty as the micro-finance program is showing. "So government needs to invest in comprehensive social protection packages, a policy which has worked successfully across Europe by ending extreme deprivation through welfare provision. "The poorest, particularly the elderly, experience a lack of voice, are often socially excluded and vulnerable to a variety of risks. "In Fiji, the incidence of poverty is higher among children and older people than it is among the general population. "Older people and children can, in fact, be the biggest indirect beneficiaries of social protection systems. "The time is right for Fiji to do a comprehensive study so the very poorest families are correctly identified. "The question, though, is whether there is political will and commitment to realise social protection as a right for all," said Mr Khan. Fiji Labour Party former Assistant Home Affairs Minister Gaffar Ahmed said in 1999 when the People's Coalition was in government, it put up a plan to increase pensions for ex-servicemen. "We had not reached a particular figure when the coup happened so nothing eventuated," Mr Ahmed said. "But I agree, older citizens of this country need to be looked after well regardless of whether they are ex-servicemen. "These people dedicated their services for mankind and deserve at least $300 to $500 a month. "Most of these servicemen do not have any dependents, their children have neglected them, and these men are left in rural areas," he said. Former Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said ex-servicemen had a choice of accepting the pension or opting for Social Welfare destitute allowances. "The pension for soldiers purely depends on the goodwill of the Government and on how much their services were valued. "World War II soldiers served between 1939 and 1954, which is five years, and while some returned to teach, others went back to their villages. "The Government should be able to increase the allowances from $66 because there are only a few of them left." Mr Rabuka said the veterans had children they were looking after them but needed money the most because most used walking sticks and needed allowances for eye-glasses, medications and bus fares. Former Great Council of chiefs chairman Ratu Epeli Ganilau agreed with veterans that the amount they received was barely enough to live on. "Pensions should be reviewed with the cost of living adjustment similar to the civil service. "These are people who are dwindling in numbers and who have delivered excellent services for our country, so we need to show our gratitude to them for their sacrifices. "It is ridiculous to expect these veterans to live on $66. That is what many people spend in a day," he said. Ex-servicemen's Association general secretary Simione Vosawale said they were struggling to make ends meet. "People receiving less than $150 are classed as living below the poverty line so one just has to make their own calculations to realise our plight. "At the time when we answered the calling to go to war it was the expectations of our chiefs and vanua that we valued. "We were unconcerned with money when we answered the call of the chiefs and vanua. "For me, I left school at 15 and took off to Malaya. "But the pride in that calling is something that has remained with us all this time and will remain with us for the rest of our days. "However, with the cost of food and bills escalating by the day, we are asking the Government to consider our plight. "There are only 1900 of us left but most are over 70 years and we do not have long to live," he said. For the sake of these brave men, through whose efforts we now enjoy a semblance of peace in our part of the world, let us, therefore, not take their sacrifices for-granted at a time when they need us most. We salute them for their courage and honour them this Remembrance Day as we reflect on their selfless services rendered for peoples they did not and will not ever know. Your sacrifices have not been in vain — we all have been truly blessed by your sacrifices and courage. May God bless you all. By Verenaisi Raicola Fiji Times Limited Copyright © 2005.