Talk:Fiji
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An event mentioned in this article is an October 10 selected anniversary.
Does the word Indian in this article refer to people from India or to those of a more native heritage to Fiji? Kingturtle 07:18 Mar 28, 2003 (UTC)
- People from India. The political turmoil in Fiji under George Speight was due more or less to racial tensions between native Fijians and Indian immigrants (see History of Fiji). - Hephaestos
I'm rather curious as to whether there have been any attempts to restore the monarchy in Fiji? It seems that there should at least be a referendum on it, considering the circumstances that led to the country becoming a Republic SoLando 05:48, 4 Mar 2004 (UTC)
- No, there have been no serious attempts to restore the monarchy, although some members of the Great Council of Chiefs suggested the idea when the Constitution was revised in 1996-1997. It is curious that even though it was extremist Fijian nationalists that proclaimed the republic, support for restoring the monarchy has come almost entirely from the Great Council of Chiefs, which 'still' recognizes Queen Elizabeth II as its Paramount Chief, but subordinate to the country's republican institutions, a position that she has apparently not repudiated. Parties representing the Indo-Fijian community, as well as the non-chiefly classes of ethnic Fijians, pushed strongly for the retention of the republic. It has to be recognized that Fiji's constitution was revised at a time when republican sentiment in Australia, with which Fiji has close ties, was at its zenith.
- Interestingly, it was Indo-Fijian politicians like R. D. Patel and Sidiq Koya who first pushed for a republic back in the 1960s, whereas Fijian chiefs like Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara opposed it. When Sitiveni Rabuka seized power in 1987, he initially had no intention of abolishing the monarchy, and did so only when it became clear that it stood in the way of his objectives.
- Although some members of the Great Council of Chiefs wanted to restore the monarchy, the majority recognized that too much water had flowed under the bridge, and that there would be little point in going back. At any rate, the monarchy had failed to prevent a commoner like Rabuka from seizing power - initially in the name of the chiefs, but gradually trying to upstage them subsequently. Indo-Fijians, who had never fully supported the monarchy in the first place, felt that their doubts about it were confirmed by its failure to prevent the 1987 coup which trampled on their rights and imposed an apartheid-like system of discrimination against them. Neither side, apart from a minority of mostly aging Fijian chiefs, saw any point in turning back the clock. Davidcannon 09:54, 4 Mar 2004 (UTC)
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'Democracy' in Fiji
The article talks about the 'restoration of democracy'...is it really democratic when every time your ethnic group loses the election you overthrow the government?
- No, it's not democratic to do that. Elections are judged to be free and fair only if your own ethnic group wins. To some extent, both sides have been guilty of this, in my opinion (which doesn't belong in the article). David Cannon 11:34, 5 Oct 2004 (UTC)
History
- I'm curious as to when the first Asians actually arrived in Fiji. Was it thousands of years ago, or just hundreds? I'm writing a paper on the place, so the best estimation would be nice.
national bird
What is Fiji's national bird?
- I don't believe there is such a thing as a 'national bird' or 'national animal' or any sort of national symbol that is formally recognised by the government except for the flag, the coat of arms and the 'tabua' as stated in the government's official website (http://www.fiji.gov.fj/publish/national_symbols.shtml). Of course, Rugby has been the de facto national sport for a long time now. Although, if I remember correctly, the flower 'tagimoucia' (http://www.fijifvb.gov.fj/about/history/legends/tagi_fl.shtml) was regarded as the 'national flower'. I'll look it up. Erehtsti 14:16, 23 Mar 2005 (UTC)
rokothoko not correct pronounciation either
Rokocoko pronounced rokothoko?
not really, most people would pronounce rokothoko with the voiceless dental fricative, its actually pronounced with the voiced dental fricative.
shouldn't we use IPA instead of english approximations for the pronounciation of Fijian words?
- I agree in principle, but the problem is that many readers would not know the IPA. David Cannon 22:57, 8 May 2005 (UTC)
- this has been discussed at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:International_Phonetic_Alphabet#Mixed_feelings_about_IPA
- further elaborated at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style_%28pronunciation%29
- i think this discussion has settled it, IPA is a pain in the proverbial but the alternative is inaccuracy and misinterpretation. If I can quote "Ad-hoc pronunciation guides are discouraged. Forms such as "pro-NUN-see-AY-shun" can be read in different ways by people who speak different international variants of English, or whose first language isn't English."
- this one is particularly good:
- It's little bit as though you were saying, "ordinary people don't get the metric system, and they don't have time to learn about them on Wikipedia, so we should use ad hoc descriptions like 'it's about as long as your leg' instead of 'it measures 1 metre'."
- The only problem is i have to learn IPA as well!
- --Xorkl000 11:45, 11 May 2005 (UTC)