Let’s check on them

Tomasi Boginiso, Nasinu

Has anyone noticed the increase in the number of young boys based in the Suva Bus terminal, some do fare collecting for some popular buses, some as disc jockeys (DJs) in the buses, some are there to assist the drivers in their need, while there are a few that are just following one another.

While at the station they share cigarettes, drinks and food at times. But, the number keeps increasing day by the day, some are so young that they are supposed to be in school.

In certain cases there are four or more in the front seats of certain buses and are just frustrating in their behaviour.

These boys need to be checked by the relevant authorities and maybe helped in certain ways that would prepare them for their future.

I have been wondering whether their parents know of the whereabouts of their children or have they been forgotten altogether.

We need to solve these problems now or it would be too late. I would love to see them banned from this area and bus drivers do not encourage them in helping in fare collecting

Hopefully this issue will be looked into.

Acceptable IDs

Savenaca Vakaliwaliwa, Canada

From memory, the national accepted identification for Fiji citizens would be your passport, driving licence, voter identification card and the combined TIN and FNPF Card which has the photo of the card owner.

My question: Is the TIN/FNPF card still considered an accepted national ID, like the other three?

My tavale, cousin, who came all the way from Daliconi in Vanuabalavu was at the Namaka, Nadi, Western Union trying to receive some money sent to him.

He does not have a passport or a driving licence and lost his voter ID. He has been using his TIN/FNPF card to receive funds in Vanuabalavu and Suva, but on Monday, the Namaka Westen Union told him that the TIN/FNPF Card is no longer accepted by Western Union as a valid national ID for Fijians.

This is really frustrating if we were in his shoes, having used the same ID to receive funds and now told that the rules have changed.

Could someone out there tell us all, if the combined TIN and FNPF Card with the person’s photo is still a valid identification document for Fijians?

Change the outcome!

Patiliai Leqanidruaivalu, Suva

Child deaths, abuse, teenage pregnancy, truancy, bullying, addictions, failure, suicide, backsliding, domestic violence, divorce, poverty, unemployment, crime, pollution, accidents, potholes, power outage, water cuts, loss can be attributed to some form of negligence.

Whether on the part of leadership or the community or the individuals themselves, negligence to some degree plays a major role in these outcomes.

As we painfully learn from hindsight, it can prove to be a costly disposition. Don’t leave it till too late Fiji.

Act now to change the outcome.

Our rapidly changing world

Arvind Mani, Nadi

Our world is changing at a blinding pace that is accelerating with each passing day.

Thanks to the internet, information travels at a speed that would have been unimaginable at other times in human history, and our technological capabilities are advancing at a rate that is exponentially increasing.

What all of this means is that seismic cultural shifts that used to take decades can now be accomplished in a matter of months or even weeks.

So will all of this change lead to a wonderfully positive future for humanity, or will it result in a dystopian nightmare?

Only time will tell, but what everyone can agree on is that; our world is rapidly becoming a much different place than the world that our parents and grandparents grew up in.

The following are 20 amazing facts about what happens every single minute of every single day in our rapidly changing world.

250 babies will be born, and 113 of them will be born into poverty.

500 hours of video will be uploaded to YouTube.

The earth will travel 1118 miles around the sun.

McDonald’s will sell 4500 hamburgers.

Lightning will strike our planet about 6000 times.

28,500 trees will be cut down.

51,000 applications will be downloaded from Apple’s App Store.

65,000 barrels of oil will be used.

People will watch 64,444 hours of content on Netflix.

 120,673 pounds of edible food will be thrown away in the United States.

$203,596 worth of products will be sold on Amazon.com.

 448,800 tweets will be posted on Twitter.

527,760 photos will be shared on Snapchat.

3.3 million posts will be made to Facebook.

3.8 million Google searches will be conducted.

five million pounds of garbage will be generated.

six million chemical reactions will happen in each one of our cells.

20.8 million messages will be sent using WhatsApp.

25 million Coca-Cola products will be consumed.

204 million emails will be sent.

I am from the old school and pine wistfully for the good old days that, alas, are long gone.

I ache for the era when everyone cared for each other, when it took a village to raise a child, when our word was bond and promises were kept, when elders were respected and deserved to be respected.

It was when people took responsibility and not blame others for their faults, when we were not so addicted to technology but there was human connection.

When there was employee loyalty and gratitude, when we could trust without having to wonder, when teachers were not just focused on 100 per cent passes, but made a passionate effort to teach values and make a difference in their students’ lives.

Feedback:  jyotip@fijisun.com.fj