‘Fake News’ and ‘Researched News’.

Archbishop Peter Loy Chong

Archdiocese of Suva

Fiji Sun reporter Jyoti Pratibha has labelled me as one of the big losers in this general election, spreading false information about Fiji’s economy, coming under fire from Catholics and spreading lies.

What Jyoti has written IS fake news.

First, I am not the biggest loser in the general elections. I do not head a po­litical party. I am not running for a po­sition in government. I have nothing to lose from the result of the election.

Second, I am not under fire from members of the Catholic Church in Fiji. I have full support from the key bodies within the Catholic Church. I have done nothing wrong to hurt Cath­olics.

Instead I am doing what a faithful Catholic Archbishop should be doing – prophetic teaching.

The sermon on Economic Justice that was posted in the Archdioceses Facebook and sent to priests to read on Sunday, October 7, was intended to inform Catholics on social issues and the Catholic Social Teachings.

I used Mr Warden Narsey’s research which was published on The Fiji Times, July 26, 2014, “The facts on Poverty and Social Justice” to inform people on the situation of poverty. Mr. Narsey’s statistics were dated 2004-05 and 2010-11. I quote the article below:

“Changes in poverty between 2004-05 and 2010-11

The first year of this period was un­der the Qarase government, while the remaining five years were under the Bainimarama Government.

Assuming that the patterns of remit­tances were roughly the same through­out, the Employment and Unemploy­ment Survey (EUS) data for 2004-05 and 2010-11, can be used to examine poverty at both the individual worker level, and also at the household level.

The EUS data at the household level indicates that the percentage of popu­lation in households below an estimat­ed poverty line, changes as follows, between 2004-05 and 2010-11:

nin Fiji overall, poverty increased from 30% to 45%

n in rural areas, poverty increased from 34% to 55%

n in urban areas, poverty increased from 25% to 35%

The EUS individual worker data indi­cate that

npoverty of the workers depending on subsistence increased from 35% to 67%.

nthe poverty of employees not cov­ered by Fiji National Provident Fund, increased from 50% to 60% (those cov­ered by FNPF remained the same at 20%).

This last result is not surprising giv­en Governments’ failure to implement Wages Councils.” (https://narseyon­fiji.wordpress.com/2014/07/27/the-facts-on-poverty-and-social-justice-the-fiji-times-26-july-2014/)

Mr Narsey is one of Fiji’s respected and qualified researchers. His re­search is definitely not “fake news”. He is committed to revealing the truth.

There is a big difference between fake news and researched-sourced news.

Mr Narsey’s statistics which I used are true for Fiji in its given context and date.

End of an era

Amenatave Yaconisau, Delainavesi

I lament the sentiments expressed by Nemani Delaibatiki of the Roko Tui Dreketi and The Tui Cakau coming to and end (FS 17/11).

To say “end of an era” undermines the commitment of the party to the people.

Certainly, there have been a decline in the forces of nationalism, but the important thing are those of how to increase the economic productivity of the people.

But there are a lot of ideological dif­ferences between parties and the peo­ple have made their choices.

Top-up problem

Ronnie Chang, Martintar, Nadi

Will the Digicel General Manager-Fiji Customer Care take one moment to please explain why is it impossible to buy top up from the following Mar­tintar, Nadi, in recent days?

Lale’s Service Station

Jaz Shop

Western Union.

My calls to Digicel at RB Patel shop­ping complex remain unanswered to­day Saturday 17November.

When will this huge customer service inconvenience end?

Will I be forced to switch to an alter­nate service provider on Monday, No­vember 19?

Feedback: jyotip@fijisun.com.fj