Driving in Fiji

Praneet Singh,  Sacramento, USA

So I just returned from my annual pilgrimage to the motherland, something which I have been doing for the past 20 years.

While I see a lot of progress every year, I however, am of the opinion that driving on Fiji roads is becoming a suicide mission.

There seems to be a million additional cars on the road each year with the lane mile capacity to handle them at breaking point.

What’s up with all the priuses on the road? Actually the plural of Prius is Prii. While the green push to reduce carbon footprint is appreciated, you don’t have to be road hogs blocking traffic while cruising below the speed before the gas turbine kicks in. Step on it!

If you get stuck behind a cane laden truck on Teidamu hill, you’d be forgiven to think that a fumigation was in progress. Those carbon offsets from the Prii is negated by this one truck billowing black smoke like mount Vesuvius.

Parking is also a nightmare.

After you go around a city block five times and find a spot to parallel park, some lunatic dives in nose first in that spot and tries to wiggle in like a caterpillar in a cocoon. Can’t you see I was parking, is met by what the heck are you doing there retort.

Well young lady, if you were paying attention at the driving class, that’s how you parallel park. You move parallel to, well never mind.

Also, what’s up with those drivers who drive at snail pace and as soon as you try to overtake they hang slightly over the centre line blocking your oncoming view. Or the nut job who speeds up the moment you pull parallel. Many of you will end up kneeling before St Peter if you drove like that in the US, because of road rage.

A few months back, I had an open heart surgery to fix six arterial contractions. Driving in Fiji surely tested the internal plumbing. I am glad to report the elbows and tee joints on the bypass are still intact.

By the way cop cars, speed up and don’t hold traffic. Forever Fijian.

Fine weather

Manoah Kaleca,  Nakasai

We have been experiencing some superb weather lately and I surely don’t want it to go away any time soon.

People are out in summer clothes and out in numbers at the beach, in town and everywhere else.

Fingers crossed, this hot sunny weather will remain.  Have a blessed weekend all!

Styrofoam

Satish Nakched,  Suva

Like the plastic bags, the introduction of the styrofoam as a form of packaging has made life easier and is a source of littering if the product is not disposed off correctly.

The styrofoam is used only once and discarded unlike the plastic bags that can be reused and are biodegradable. What we see now in our country is the excessive use of styrofoam in the food industry.

Due to the very light weight of the package it can travel for miles through our rivers, streams and the ocean and negatively affect the environment.

Styrofoam is non-biodegradable and appears to last forever.  But through time it is only broken down into smaller pieces, which attracts the wild life as food and is a source of so many deaths.

It is a norm that in many functions such as weddings and parties the styrofoam packs are used for takeaways  as a cost saving measure and many people opt to use this instead of paper plates.

The usage will increase and the general awareness needs to be increased highlighting the problems associated with it.

Gospel in the stars

Lawrence Narayan, Suva

Looking up at the stars and understanding its movement is much easier today due to the newest astronomy software called Stellarium.

This amazing programme actually calculates and then maps out the locations in the sky of all the stars past, present, and future over thousands of years.

Some Bible teachers believe Stellarium’s projections can be utilised in the study of Eschatology, unlocking the unsolved mysteries of Bible prophecy, especially those concerning the end times signs in the sky.

Modern day Bible researchers including Scott Clarke of ERF Ministries, Kade Hawkins of Prophecy News Watch, and geologist Phil Moser believe Stellarium’s insights have yet another remarkable discovery. They call it “The Great Sign of Revelation 12.”

The Magi of Matthew 2, who studied the alignment of the stars and constellations, had concluded correctly that the prophesied birth of the Messiah had finally arrived. Likewise, many of our astronomers also stare up at the constellations and believe they have discovered the story of the Messiah’s return being played out like a Gospel in the stars.

They are so excited by Stellarium’s findings that they claim God is rolling out some of the most astounding series of prophetic events in all of human history.

Speculations are running wild that maybe the Great Sign pinpoints when the Church gets raptured away, or the Tribulation begins, or the War of Gog-Magog wages (Ezekiel 38).

Of all these theories, the most prominently held view theorizes the event will be the soon Rapture of the Church according to 1 Thessalonains 4:16-18.