The Document in Question.

The allegations of emails being hacked in Fiji, are being spun heavily by the Fiji media. Concerns of privacy aside, what are the facts of the issue?
Local lawyer, Graham Leung admits to be the author of a document titled " Exposing the Lie" which was circulated to a Public Relations consultant, Matt Wilson for his advice.

Interim Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum had summoned the Fiji Times Publisher to address the contents and accuracy of that particular document, in relation to the recent media coverage on allegations of tax evasion, which seemingly appeared to be unfair and unbalanced.

Background on Graham Leung.

Lawyer representing, Ballu Khan regarding the allegations of financing an assassination plot and also represents former Chief Justice, Daniel Fatiaki.
Leung, the Vice-President of LAWASIA was prevented from attending a legal conference in New Zealand, according to an article published by Lawyers Weekly online. Leung was also involved in pressuring LAWASIA President, Mah Weng Kwai to resign from the newly from corruption unit known as FICAC, the resignation was reported in a Fiji Times article.

Background on Matt Wilson.

Former Fiji Times journalist and speech writer for deposed Fiji Prime Minister, Laisenia Qarase. Owner of Public Relations firm, Matt Wilson Ltd, Director and Major Shareholder of Communications Fiji Ltd, according to their website.


Fiji Sun article quotes from Telecom Fiji employee regarding the legality of phone tapping.

Phone tapping illegal: Telecom
Last updated 3/20/2008 8:19:52 AM

Any directive to tap into personal telephone lines can only come from the President, says Telecom.

Telecommunication Fiji Limited acting chief executive officer Taito Tabaleka said the permission to tap into any person’s phone calls could only come from Ratu Josefa Iloilo.

Mr Tabaleka said the company did not receive any such order from Ratu Josefa in the recent past to tap into telephone conversations.
“Under the Telecom Act, only the President can order to have a telephone tapped and only under extreme situations like for national security reasons,’’ he said.

“Only then does TFL implement necessary equipment to satisfy the request from the President. “Under the current situation we’d like to confirm that no such order has been received.”

Mr Tabaleka however did not say whether any other organisation in the country had the necessary equipment to tap into and listen to phone conversations. He also did not say if phone conversations were safe.

The revelation came after concerns were raised over the suspected tapping of phones and lines belonging to individuals and organisations.Meanwhile, a media consultant yesterday alleged to have been threatened by a military personnel over an article he had edited.

Matt Wilson, a public affairs and media consultant, said he was threatened by someone he suspected to be from the military over professional editorial services he had provided for a draft article sent to him by Suva lawyer Graham Leung.

In a statement, Mr Wilson said the article critical of the interim regime was similar to countless others he had done in his career. “Mr Leung’s draft contained some forthright comment but I did not think it was particularly strident,’’ he said.
“I have seen more outspoken commentaries on the local situation.

It was for Mr Leung to ensure that the final version was accurate.” Mr Wilson said at about 5.40pm a caller speaking in a loud and aggressive voice demanded to speak to him.

“I asked who was calling and I thought I heard the name ‘Sota’ or ‘Sotia’,’’ he said. “He told me to be careful and to watch out, and said “we know what you are doing”. “He said “we have intercepted your letter to the Fiji Times”.

Then he put the receiver down.” “Of course, there was no letter from me to the Fiji Times. There was a draft article that I believe Mr Leung intended to send to that newspaper.”

Mr Leung had told an overseas journalist that he had also been threatened by someone from the military over that same letter.

In an article on Radio Fiji website, Fiji Times Editor has disputed the recent comments of the Interim Attorney General, regarding the article written by controversial lawyer, Graham Leung.

The excerpt of the Radio Fiji article:

‘Come out with proof’ says newspaper
Monday, March 17, 2008

The Fiji Times has questioned the Attorney-General office to come out with proof of allegations he made last Friday of articles which the newspaper states does not exist.

Fiji Times editor-in-chief Netani Rika in responding to the AG’s claims at a media conference says it’s unfair of Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum to make accusations on non-existent articles.

“To be intimidated over an issue which doesn’t even exist and which is being created by the Interim Attorney General himself I don’t think that’s fair on anyone.

“We have made a current check of our database and nothing existed there, I don’t know where he got the documents from and so it’s actually for him to say where he got the documents from and what is contained in them,” he said.

Rika adds the Attorney-General needs to support his claim against columnist James Bolavucu because as far as he’s concerned Bolavucu has been a regular contributor who lives in the United Kingdom.

On Friday, the AG also claimed that the interim government was reliably informed that Bolavucu was not corresponding from the UK but from Tamavua.

The excerpt of the Fiji Times article:

Military threatened me, Leung tells Radio NZ

Monday, March 17, 2008

SUVA lawyer Grahame Leung yesterday told Radio New Zealand he received a threatening phone call from the military this week.

Mr Leung told Radio NZ the threatening call he received was over an article he was writing for The Fiji Times, criticising the interim Government. He is representing New Zealander Ballu Khan who is charged with conspiring to kill interim Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama and some other interim Government members. Mr Leung could not be reached for a comment on the issue yesterday.

However, New Zealand lawyer Peter Williams, QC, who is also representing Mr Khan told Radio NZ he was worried for Mr Leung, given the number of incidents in which people had died or were beaten while in custody.

Mr Williams said there was the potential for violence, as there seemed to be a lack of control and restraint in Fiji at present. When asked yesterday if police had received any complaints from Mr Leung on the issue, assistant police spokesman Corporal Josaia Weicavu said they had not.

On Thursday last week, interim Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum had summoned The Fiji Times Publisher Evan Hannah to his office.

Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said in a press conference the same afternoon that the meeting was to discuss the possible publication of certain articles that the Prime Minister's Office had received on Thursday afternoon. He said the PM's Office received a couple of articles from within The Fiji Times that apparently were going to be printed as an opinion piece.

[Sayed-Khaiyum] said the interim Government believed the articles contained factual inaccuracies, was highly emotive and discussed matters that were in court.

The Fiji Times editor-in-chief Netani Rika said Mr Sayed-Khaiyum had done himself, the media and country a great disservice by trying to create a situation that did not exist.

Mr Rika said perhaps Mr Sayed-Khaiyum should make known everything that he said to the publisher during their meeting.

Leung ratchets up his paranoia by another notch stating in a Fiji Village article that his emails are being hacked and phones tapped. That allegation was also covered by Radio Fiji article. The excerpt:

Leung believes ‘phone’s being tapped’
Tuesday, March 18, 2008


Suva lawyer Graham Leung believes his phone lines could be tapped. Leung had reportedly claimed he was being threatened last week for an article, which a local daily never published.

Speaking to Radio Australia, he says an overseas journalist had told him his phone was giving a lot of echo during the course of an interview.

“You can call it if you like a sixth sense, I do feel that my communication has been intercepted”.

Pacific Beat had asked the Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum if there’s email hacking or phone tapping activity going on. “Absolutely, I have never authorized anybody to tap phones or hack into emails.

“The point is its unfortunate it appears to me that if a certain group of people in Fiji makes an allegation, suddenly it becomes the truth and not the allegation,” he said.

Fiji Times article amplifies Leung's anger over the claims of hacked emails.

The excerpt:

Breach angers lawyer Leung

Thursday, March 20, 2008

SUVA lawyer Graham Leung is almost certain his office computers have been hacked after a series of electronic correspondence were intercepted by parties other than the intended recipient.

He said several weeks ago, an email by one of his colleagues (at Howards Lawyers) to someone in New Zealand was leaked.

"A list of cases that were sent to me from my New Zealand lawyer who I am assisting with the Chief Justice's case before a Tribunal, found its way into the hands of third parties unconnected with the case," said Mr Leung.

"The final evidence was when a media consultant whom I emailed a draft copy of an article I am researching, received a phone call last Friday about the same time as I did and was told 'Be careful, watch out. We know what you are doing. We have intercepted a letter to The Fiji Times'."

He confirmed yesterday the number recorded on the caller ID of his land telephone line was from the Queen Elizabeth Barracks 3385222 - although the caller did not identify himself.

Calls to the military's media cell yesterday afternoon were unanswered.

At a press conference last week, interim Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said the Prime Minister's Office received a couple of articles that were written as an opinion piece and was to be published by this newspaper. This is the same article Mr Leung was compiling but which had not been released to The Fiji Times.

Mr Leung said with the availability of modern satellites, spying on people thousands of miles away and computer hacking would be quite easy.

But, he said, his article that was in the interim Government's possession, could not be said to be stolen as there were no laws to criminalise hacking or unauthorised interference with computers and receipt of this information.

"But in many countries, the person or persons who hacked my computer would have committed a crime by what they did," he said.

"In any event, my legal right to privacy has been violated. I can't understand the fuss about the article. Like any other citizen, I have a right to freedom of conscience and expression. I am entitled to enjoy those rights because they are in the Constitution," he said.

Perhaps Leung should realize, that everyone's electronic communications are routinely sucked up by global intercepts.
These electronic intercepts are done globally and vacuums up tera bytes of data in the program known as Echelon, which actually makes Leung's unfounded allegations appear dwarfish in comparison.


The super network of electron filters is run by NSA and the organization is perhaps the biggest consumer of resources in all of America's Government agencies.

One thing is for sure, the proposed retroactive immunity for Telecom companies was rejected in the Democratic controlled House, according to a New York Times article. The US President has vowed to veto any legislation that omits Telecom immunity.

An interesting letter appears in the Fiji Times Voice of the People column in response to an earlier Fiji Times article regarding the allegations of local lawyer, Graham Leung.


The excerpt of the Letter:

Biased Report

Your article about Mr Leung's report of military harassment to Radio New Zealand is in itself a patently biased piece of reporting.

Mr Leung's report is just that it is nothing more than a claim, yet you jump from that to report instances of abuse in custody which Mr Leung is not and then go on to refer to the Attorney-General's attempts to pre-empt the publication of inaccurate and possibly contemptuous articles.

There is nothing of substance in the article whatsoever.

Mr Leung does not state what threats were made to him, the Attorney-General does not disclose the nature of the articles he is concerned about. Yet you seem to link all these nebulous events to create a web of political unrest and violence that doesn't exist and which defies logic.

K. Madigan
Hong Kong

Social Bookmarking

Club Em Designs

Fiji Media Inc.

Fiji Media has come across some important challenges recently in two different stories, one dealing with Fiji TV's recent tango with the Police and the other with the book launch by Fr. Kevin Barr.

First story titled "We Were Denied Media Freedom" was paraphrased from Fiji TV's lawyer appears in an article by Fiji Times and covers the recent arrest of Fiji TV crew for disobeying a lawful order. "Freedom of the Press is limited to those who own one", a quote from A.J Liebling, which Cafe Pacific writer David Robies corrected me on in a sterling post.

The excerpt:

We were denied media freedom'

ERNEST HEATLEY
Thursday, January 24, 2008


POLICE detained and interrogated a television crew for five hours yesterday for allegedly "disobeying a police order" while covering a school dispute in Nasinu.

Reporter Emily Moli and cameraman Shalendra Datt were ordered into a police van and removed from Rishikul Sanatan College where they were assigned to cover the dispute between the school management and the principal.

Their arrest follows claims by Superintendent Waisea Tabakau of the Valelevu Police Station claimed that the two had failed to abide by a lawful order.

He had told the crew that they were interfering in police business by filming the goings-on at the school yesterday morning.

The pair said they were at the school property at the invitation of Rishikul College management.

SP Tabakau and about 20 officers of the Police Tactical Response Unit arrived at the college, escorting ousted principal Mahendra Pal.

Mr Pal was locked out of the college on Monday by an angry management who refused to acknowledge him as principal.

Ministry of Education officials and the police attempted to have Mr Pal reinstated.

As the officers escorted Mr Pal into the college, SP Tabakau ordered the TV crew to leave.

When they continued filming the event, the senior officer told the journalists they were "disobeying a police order."

Fiji TV Legal Manager Tanya Waqanika described the detention as "totally baseless and totally unjustifiable." "We were denied media freedom," she said.

"Our journalists were shooting inside the private premises on the invitation of the school management." Two more Fiji TV employees were detained at noon after they shot footage from outside the school compound on a public walkway.

Reporter Edwin Nand and cameraman Trevuz Chung were told to get into a police van. They were also told by SP Tabakau that they had disobeyed a lawful order.

They were released a short while later along with the equipment that police had seized.

Ms Waqanika said they would lodge a complaint with the Police Commissioner and the Fiji Media Council on the treatment.

The other story in another article from Fiji Times titled "Media Owners Distort Electoral Process: Barr", covers the gate keeping role of the media during elections.

Media owners distort electoral process: Barr

Saturday, January 26, 2008

MEDIA ownership by a few rich elite has been cause for specific distortion of the democratic electoral process, poverty activist Father Kevin Barr claims.

In his book Thinking About Democracy Today, which was launched earlier this week, he said the media was used to protect the interests of its own class and suppress any criticism of the status quo.

"Their particular influence can affect the outcome of an election," he said.

If "big money" is needed for democratic elections, then democracy can never be truly inclusive of the people, Father Barr writes.

The issue of media freedom has been under the spotlight for some time particularly since talks of a legislation to govern the industry was introduced by previous governments, he said.

"The internal policies of those who own media networks seriously curtail the news which filters down to us. They decide what we should see and hear and what we should not see and hear.

"The media moguls mostly come from families of the extravagantly wealthy who have a particular perspective on the world. Consequently much of what is reported to us is far from neutral," Father Barr said.

He said those who reported the news were not free to report the news and were subject to certain fear because of inbuilt policies and prejudices of those they serve.

The Fiji Times Editor-in-Chief Netani Rika who has served the company for 15 years said while the company was owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Limited, he had never once received a call from him or the publisher dictating how the newspaper should be run or what news to cover.

"Our newsroom is an independent operation within The Fiji Times and we attempt to report all the news, fairly and truthfully. We report without fear or favour. We welcome all views that help broaden our news coverage and our doors are open to everyone.

"If Fr Barr takes issue with the news we do or do not cover, he is welcome to bring the matter to us," Mr Rika said.

Communications Fiji Limited's Managing Director William Parkinson said it was a shame Fr Barr did not take the time to meet with media organisations to research these issues fully.

"Instead it would seem he has stuck to the usual sweeping generalisations thrown around by the misinformed. If he conducted real research he would find a very different story actually exists," he said.

Questions sent to Fiji Television Limited remained unanswered.

The usual defense by the Fiji Times and Communications Ltd. Perhaps consumers of Fiji news should look into Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting(FAIR) website and the contents, reinforces Barr's views on the matter.



Social Bookmarking

Club Em Designs

The Great Spin on the Death of Diversity.

SDL stalwart, Mere Samisoni wrote an over-zealous Letter to the Fiji Times Editor, which was later rebutted by a well informed reader. The following is an excerpt of Samisoni's letter that, maliciously mis-represented research on cultural diversity from a US academic, Dr Robert Putnam:

Tunnel vision

While I respect Dr Wadan Narsey's professional opinion (FT 14/8), I think he may have been guilty of some artistic licence. In order to create some balance in his story, I think he greatly overplayed the alleged "tunnel vision" of the SDL so as not to make the evident and empirical tunnel vision of the interim regime, which seem too bad in comparison. Or perhaps he did it to help the interim regime, see how badly even political moderates such as him perceive it these days.

Whatever the case, the damaging and costly tunnel vision of the interim regime is qualitatively different from the election-promise-keeping fidelity of the SDL party, which may seem like tunnel vision at first blush.

So there is no need for the interim regime to continue with its present course and tactics, since they are not achieving anything (except more divisiveness, rancour, corruption and financial liability).

By contrast, the SDL was and is required by common sense and fidelity to keep our promises to our electorate. That is not to say that compromise and moderation were not possible.

But those must be handled astutely and carefully and doubly so when you are required to deal with someone as wily and devious as the multi-party Cabinet. We also need to develop and show a lot more political maturity than the interim regime and its supporters have been able to demonstrate so far.

For instance, Dr Putnam of Harvard, an American expert on civic engagement, (2000 cited in Diversity 2007), found that social capital in the form of neighbourhood friendship and political involvement have been diminished by race/ethnic diversity in communities.

This research proves the obvious societal point that people are tribal and gravitate toward those who look like them.

Which confirms the often cited advice from former prime minister Laisenia Qarase that "race is a fact of life".

So the sooner the interim regime grows up and accepts this, the sooner we'll be able to deal with it rationally and representatively.

Mere Samisoni
MP Lami Open

Mere Samisoni's flawed quotes of US Academic, Robert Putnam, received a stern rebuke in a correspondence to Fiji Sun Letters to the Editor column.

Racial diversity
Last updated 8/30/2007 9:08:00 AM

Srikant Krishan.
Houston, US


Iwould like to clear the air about some assertions made by a politician in Fiji on the issue of racial and ethnic diversity.

Recent citation by a leading figure of scholar Robert Putnam's work leads to drawing erroneous conclusions, demonstrates the writer's desire to misinform public debate, and should be considered highly irresponsible.

Putnam's latest work is part of his ongoing research on the decline of American civic life since the 1970s - a period of time that encapsulates great social change, the decline of industrial America, rise in immigration, and remarkable shifts in technology.

His latest discoveries are politically charged precisely because they can be misused. Ms Samisoni does just that, shape the debate in a manner that supports conclusions backing her political vision.

To protect his work from such misuse, Putnam offers the following warning to his readers:

“It would be unfortunate if a politically correct progressivism were to deny the reality of the challenge to social solidarity posed by diversity,”.
And at the same time, “It would be equally unfortunate if an a historical and ethnocentric conservatism were to deny that addressing that challenge is both feasible and desirable.”

It is this latter group that Ms Samisoni and her cohorts fall into. Of course, they don't seek to avoid addressing the issue. Their intention is to garner support for their narrow vision of possible solutions.

Race is a reality of life, especially as identity increasingly becomes a growing fault line for conflict in the 21st century. Only informed debate can help bring us to the solutions, which harness diversity as a strength.

Nothing in Putnam's work suggests that diversity has to be a burden. If anything, it is meant to show us that to truly make our differences our strengths. Much work remains to be done.

Who is this academic called Dr Robert Putnam, which Samisoni erroneously quotes? National Public Radio interviews the man himself, in the context of cultural diversity. Diversity Magazine argues in one article that Putnam's views on the effects of cultural diversity have been mis-understood. It's also the same article which Mere Samisoni cited in her 'Letter to the Editor'.

It was one thing, bordering on reprehensible for Mere Samisoni to plagiarize excerpts of Diversity magazine's article, that quoted Dr Putnam's research. But it is another matter, when this research is blatantly sliced and diced to support an ethno-nationalistic viewpoint in Fiji. This wilfull act raises serious and rational questions, regarding the very integrity of the Ex-Officio from Lami Open.

The following excerpt is the article from Diversity Magazine. The sentence in bold font, represents the words lifted by Mere Samisoni:

Today's Wall Street Journal editorial page argues that research from Harvard professor Dr. Robert Putnam proves "The Death of Diversity." That's not what Dr. Putnam said. In a study that has received significant media attention, he found that social capital in the form of neighborhood friendships and political involvement has been diminished by racial/ethnic diversity in communities.

Dr. Putnam's research is solid and proves the obvious societal point that people are tribal and gravitate toward those who look like them. But a thorough examination of his study shows that he finds in the long run that immigration and diversity immensely benefit U.S. society both economically and socially. In reference to business, Dr. Putnam states unequivocally that most studies of work groups "find that diversity fosters creativity" and that there is "powerfully summarized evidence that diversity (especially intellectual diversity) produces much better, faster problem-solving."

Point-by-Point Rebuttal

The Wall Street Journal column, written by Daniel Henninger, deputy editor of the Journal's editorial page, is not the first newspaper or opinion writer to discuss Dr. Putnam's study since it came out in June. Here's what The Wall Street Journal wrote and our responses, based on a thorough examination of Dr. Putnam's research and DiversityInc's own research.

* WSJ writes: "Now comes word that diversity as an ideology may be dead, or not worth saving."

DiversityInc response: This is not what Dr. Putnam says in any way. He writes in the study: "Increased immigration and diversity are not only inevitable, but over the long run they are also desirable. Ethnic diversity is, on balance, an important social asset, as the history of my own country demonstrates."

* WSJ writes: "Colleagues and diversity advocates, disturbed at what was emerging from the study, suggested alternative explanations. Prof. Putnam and his team re-ran the data every which way from Sunday and the result was always the same: Diverse communities may be yeasty and even creative, but trust, altruism and community cooperation fail."

DiversityInc response: Again, the efficacy of Dr. Putnam's study and data is not in dispute. Dr. Putnam does not say that "trust, altruism and community cooperation fail" but that there needs to be a greater effort to create "shared identities."

He writes: "Successful immigrant societies create new forms of social solidarity ... by constructing new, more encompassing identities. Thus, the central challenge for modern, diversifying societies is to create a new, broader sense of 'we.'" He cites the historic way immigrants came to the United States, "hunkered down," and eventually changed the culture of the country itself as they became part of the mainstream.

* WSJ writes: "The 'antis' [anti-immigration proponents] believe the Putnam study hammers the final intellectual nail in the coffin of immigration and diversity."

DiversityInc response: This is exactly the opposite of what Dr. Putnam intends. He writes in the study: "The weight of the evidence suggests that the net effect of immigration is to increase national income ... In short, immigration and multicultural diversity have powerful advantages for both sending and receiving countries."

* WSJ writes: "The diversity ideologues deserve whatever ill tidings they get. They're the ones who weren't willing to persuade the public of diversity's merits, preferring to turn 'diversity' into a political and legal hammer to compel compliance."

DiversityInc response: As participation in The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity® survey shows, corporations recognize the business benefits of diversity and are increasingly using diversity as the competitive differentiator in their direct lines of business. This is not compliance; this is good business (317 companies participated last year, up more than 100 percent over the last three years).

* WSJ writes: "The first chart offered in the Putnam study depicts inexorably rising rates of immigration in many nations. The idea that the U.S. can wave into effect a 10-year 'time out' on immigration flows is as likely as King Canute commanding the tides to recede."

DiversityInc response: We agree that the flow of immigration is inevitable. It's also highly desirable since this nation is facing a serious gap in workers, and immigrants have driven 47 percent of U.S. work-force growth since 2000.

New immigrants and their children will account for 100 percent of U.S. work-force growth between 2010 and 2030, according to the Population Reference Bureau. For more on immigrants' crucial role in the U.S. economy, see the September 2007 issue of DiversityInc magazine, out soon.

About the Study

Dr. Putnam conducted his research in 2000 in conjunction with the U.S. Census Bureau. He had a sample size of about 30,000 people across the United States. People in 41 different communities from Los Angeles and Chicago to small towns and rural areas were surveyed and sorted into the same classifications used by the Census Bureau—non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, Hispanic and Asian. A national expert on civic engagement, Dr. Putnam's goal was to examine whether racial/ethnic diversity impacted social networks, which he believes are major indicators of civic well-being.

Dr. Putnam's research, published in the journal "Scandinavian Political Studies", found that all people living in racially mixed communities had a higher tendency to "hunker down" and become more isolated from their neighbors and the civic process. His research showed they volunteer less, work on community projects less often, and register to vote less.


Here are links to other news reports on the Dr. Putnam study and a synopsis of what they said:

NPR interviews Dr. Putnam, who explains what his study really means.

Syndicated columnist Clarence Page talks about the misconceptions over what Dr. Putnam said and his own experiences as a young black man in the military.

ABC News reports on the effort by anti-diversity people to wrongly use the Dr. Putnam study for their own advantage.

The Boston Globe takes a similar view and comes to the conclusion that diversity makes us all uncomfortable—and that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

An Orange County Register article says Dr. Putnam makes it abundantly clear that he found no evidence of "bad race relations, or ethnically defined group hostility."



For more on DiversityInc's examination of diversity studies, both good and bad, check out Debunking Diversity Studies.

Seed Newsvine









Club Em Designs

Media Matters in Fiji

Fiji Media Council Chairman, Daryl Tarte who also chairs the Capital Markets Development Authority (CMDA) made a remark about the gender imbalance in financial institutions in a speech reported by a Fiji Times article.
It was unclear from the context of Tarte's speech, whether the turn around of Fiji as he advocated; also extends to the "gender-imbalance" issue.

This is an excerpt:

Let us turn Fiji around: Tarte

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

BUSINESSES are operating in a confused, negative and stressful environment paving the political way ahead with uncertainty, says Capital Markets Development Authority chairman Daryl Tarte.

Speaking at the welcoming ceremony of new CMDA chief executive officer Mereia Volavola, he said people often invested at a time when there was blood on the street.

"Fortunately, we do not have any blood on the street but there is an incredible challenge for all of us. Times like this present a great opportunity for lateral thinking, to be innovative, to be bold, to be visionary," he said.

Strong, dynamic and wise leadership was sadly lacking, Mr Tarte said.

"We all know there are opportunities here in Fiji and we are all in a position to stimulate the capital markets.

"It is incumbent on us all to think positively and turn Fiji around. We the stakeholders in the capital markets must make this happen," he said. [Tarte] called for more brainstorming sessions by stakeholders.

In welcoming Ms Volavola, he said CMDA had come full circle after a succession of two CEOs, Julie Apted and Suren Kumar who was unable to make it to the handover as his wife was taken ill in New Zealand.

"Looking at the staff of CMDA, I see we have a serious gender imbalance. It is female dominated. Even the South Pacific Stock Exchange is led by a woman," Mr Tarte said.

He said Mr Kumar had to hand over by phone and email with Ms Volavola.

"What attracted him ( Mr Kumar) to us was his obvious energy, motivation and passion for the capital markets industry. We have not been disappointed. For him, it has been a 24/7 job. That was a tough call, succeeding Julie," he said.

On Mr Kumar's leaving he said "none of us are in control of the events that shape our destinies".

Does Tarte implicitly declare that there is a 'glass ceiling' for men, in the stock brokering industry? Tarte's ability to chair the boards of both entities, raise serious questions of conflict of interest. Where does the line of demarcation lie; when the Fiji Media Council is asked to provide an impartial review of media coverage in CMDA's performance?

One can only wonder how Fiji's Old Media can fathom the issue of wrong messages; as the Fiji Times Editorial accuses the Interim Government of.

This is the excerpt of the Editorial:

The wrong message

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

THE move by the interim Government to block prominent Suva lawyer Graham Leung from leaving the country sends a terrible message to the world.

Mr Leung is not under investigation for any suspected or real wrongdoing. He has no court order against him preventing him leaving the country.

Mr Leung's "crime" it seems, is to have said things that do not meet the approval of the interim Government. Certainly he has been forthright in his views on the December 5 takeover and subsequent events, speaking at a recent Hong Kong law conference about how he believes our nation's judiciary risks being seen as compromised through what he contends are some legally dubious appointments.

Mr Leung is an internationally respected lawyer. He is a vice-president of Law Asia, itself one of the world's most respected bodies of legal minds. Perhaps that position is now working against him too. Law Asia president Mah Weng Kwai was set to head the Fiji Independent Commission Against Crime until there was an uproar about it, with much of the outrage coming from within Law Asia itself.

And Mr Leung had been in the interim Government's sights before that. His law firm has been black-banned from doing work for the interim Government because it is involved in legal challenges to the legitimacy of the regime. The interim Government claims it is a conflict of interest.

Mr Leung has applied for a judicial review of the travel ban and is awaiting a hearing date.

In the meantime, it seems the only person who can fully explain why he cannot leave the country is interim Home Affairs Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama, who has so far refused to tell Mr Leung why he is on the immigration watch-list. He is, of course, not the only person in such a situation and joins a seemingly ever-growing group.

The interim Government is desperate to tell the world that all is normal in the country. It is also desperate to win international acceptance of its actions and continually argues it should not be punished because it is acting for the greater good of the nation.

Banning dissidents or people who do not meet some mystery criteria is not the action of a government that has nothing to hide but reeks of a repressive regime intent on silencing alternative viewpoints. The truth is that in this electronic age, banning people from travelling will not stop them being heard and therefore the bans come across as, at the very least, petty vindictiveness.

Once again, the nation has lost ground in the eyes of the world and yesterday's events will do nothing to redeem our reputation in that arena.

T he FT Editorial begs the question of, what is the right message?
Is the Fiji Times along with the cartel called Fiji Media Council, the sole determiner of whether a message is right or wrong; right or left?

The Fiji Media mongols defended the role of the media's coverage in a Fiji Times article.

This is the excerpt of the Fiji Times article.

Media is only 'playing its role'

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

AT least two media organisations have labelled the comments made by interim minister for health Dr Jona Senilagakali as a mistake.

Dr Senilagakali said on Sunday the steadfast stand taken by the Fiji Nursing Association were due to the union leaders who were paid to make noise and the media for the headlines it used.

Fiji Sun publisher Russell Hunter said the comments by Dr Senilagakali were the usual tactic of pinning the blame on the messenger.

"I think he's making the usual mistake of blaming the messenger," Mr Hunter said. He said the media was only there to report on what the nurses wanted.

Communications Fiji Limited managing director William Parkinson said he did not know how the media could be blamed on the issues raised by the nurses. "The media shouldn't be blamed because they are there to cover the story and that is our role."

Mr Parkinson said the media was not a player as it was between government and the FNA.

The Fiji Times, in an editorial comment yesterday, said Dr Senilagakali should sit down and address the nurses' problems rather than blame the media and the union.
End of story

Seed Newsvine









Club Em Designs