The address of the Chief Quest, Professor

Vijay Naidu to

The 91^st Sangam Convention, Lawaqa Park,

Sigatoka,30 March, 2018 

“Engaging for a Clean & Healthy Community” 

Thank you very much MC, Mr Damend Goundar for the kind introduction.

Namaskaram, Namaste, As Salaam -Alaikum, Bula Vinaka and Easter Greetings and Good morning!

A special Namaskaram to Mr Y P Reddy and other elders of Sangam sitting on the stage, and to the President of Maathar Sangam.

I wish thank you all for the warm welcome, prayers and blessings, and for the impressive music played by the Nadi Sangam College Band, the flag raising ceremony, and the beautiful cultural performance. The procession of sports teams in their colours was most impressive-these young men and women give us confidence in the future of Sangam. 

Namaskaram, As Salaam -Alaikum, Bula Vinaka and Easter Greetings and Good morning

It is my distinct privilege, and pleasure to be your chief guest this morning on the occasion of the 91^st Sangam Convention, the annual flagship event of the organisation.  I would like to thank Mr Sadasiwan Naicker, President, TSI Sangam and the national executive as well as Mr Vijay Narayan, President of Nadroga Sangam and his executive committee members for this very special honour.

Engaging for a Clean & Healthy Community

is not of my choosing but it is very pertinent to the current times.

In my address this morning, I begin by acknowledging our ancestors who came as humble indentured labourers working and living in extremely difficult circumstances. They generally persevered to build communities that in 2-3 generations produced professional men and women, and artisans that we can all be very proud of. Among these ancestors, the founders of TSI Sangam deserve special mention as they provided the leadership that mobilised largely illiterate peasants and workers to pull their limited resources to build schools and temples which have contributed immensely to the upliftment of the Fiji born.

To quote from the Sangam CEO, Jai Narayan’s letter of invitation to me:

The Sangam draws its membership from people of South Indian origin who first came to Fiji in 1903 from South India, under the indenture system. Sangam was founded in 1926 by Sevak Ratnam Sadhu Kuppuswamy and many others to unite the people of South Indian Culture although they belonged to three different religious faiths namely, Islam, Christianity and Hinduism.

The Sangam Convention is a milestone in the Sangam calendar of activities and tens of thousands of Sangam members, friends and well wishes and their families converge daily at the Convention venue over the 4 days from around Fiji and abroad.

Indeed, the Sangam Convention provides the ideal environment and opportunity for our members and their families to interact with each other, renew old friendships, make new friends, witness and participate in competitive sports, cultural programs and have lots of fun and joy. Sangam Convention in fact is one of the biggest gatherings in Fiji and is looked forward to by not only Sangam members but also by all the people of Fiji.

Today, TSI Sangam owns and operates 21 primary schools and 5 secondary schools as well as the Sangam College of Nursing in Labasa. It has a number of farms, and several temples to its name. The Nursing College has had spectacular success in recent years, thanks to the stewardship provided by Mr Amraiya Naidu, the former principal of Labasa College, QVS, Permanent Secretary of Education, and Fiji’s permanent representative at the UN. ‘Master’ as he is popularly known as, like many of us comes from very humble background, and his sense of commitment to Sangam and to Fiji is driven by a strong desire to help better the lives of our people generally. This he has been doing for more than half a century by ensuring that all children of Fiji are educated, and gain success through education.

Mr Amraiya Naidu provides an excellent role model for all us.

In this age of globalisation and urbanisation there have been massive changes in the lives of people. We have become materially better off but our lives are not always happy and satisfying. Many of us are ‘part of the rat race’ seeking bigger houses, better cars, higher paying jobs, more returns on our businesses; we spend a lot more time sitting on chairs, and unlike our ancestors can eat meat and fish every day of the week. Kava, alcohol, cigarettes, drugs/medication are all readily available, and at our disposal. We don’t have time for leisure activities and exercise. We don’t have time to read and reflect, its all go, go, go! But to where are we going and what for?

Engaging for a Clean & Healthy Community denotes that we seriously think about our lifestyles and the ways in which we think and act, and how we relate to each other as members of a community. In its earlier usage the term community stood for face to face rural settlement where the people knew each other, and had a sense of belonging based on living in close proximity, sharing a common language, or religion and ethnicity. Those who came and went from Mr Tulsi’s store in Tabia, Labasa of Professor Brij Lal’s childhood formed such a community.  Likewise those living in a small urban neighbourhood could be regarded as a community. However, the idea of community can be extended to all the people of a country, and beyond depending on what the criteria for the community is being used, and whether people who are identified as members of the community feel a sense of belonging and do have some relationships. Now, thanks to the internet, we have all sorts of virtual communities that are global.

Those gathered here in Lawaqa Park today come from many walks of life, and from all over Fiji and from countries like Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States. Some may have ties that are reinforced by regular communication via Facebook, Facetime, Skype, email and phone. They and the rest of us are here because of a sense of belonging and identification with Sangam. The organization represents our ancestors who came from South India, and our common ethnic heritage. This is our community. Just as we have multiple identities, we also can belong to multiple communities.Being a clean and healthy community has environmental, spiritual, social, cultural, economic, political and psychological dimensions.Our natural environment provides us with fresh air, water to drink, and food for our sustenance. Thanks to the massive increase in human population and the use of fossil fuels our carbon footprint has increased to the point that major environmental disasters are in the making. A healthy community will seek to use renewable energy sources and follow the three ‘Rs’ in waste management, re-use, recycle and reduce. Hygienic and sanitary conditions would be of paramount importance to its members.A clean and healthy community will also be a spiritual community. All religions teach us to be good human beings guiding our thoughts and behaviour regarding the supernatural and among ourselves. Morals and ethical standards derive from our religions which should be taught to each new generation of the community. Progressive religious leaders have said that children are closest to God, and that women are equal to men. And that we should respect everyone’s personal dignity.Under social comes issues around our health as individual members of the community. There are numerous negative consequences of our contemporary lifestyles. These include: obesity; NCDs (diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancers); stroke and heart attack. Road accidents have also taken a toll. Our 20 year olds in some parts of the country are looking like they are 40 year olds from kava drinking and smoking. We have a disproportionate share of mental illnesses and suicides.Excessive kava drinking, alcohol, and smoking has all kinds of consequences for us as individuals, and our community. We need to address this epidemic together. Far too many parents are attending to the funerals of their adult children, usually men. Our younger generation must be socialized away from becoming kava addicts.

We need to attend to the social malaise that afflicts elements of our community. We need to have more supportive environment for those who are physically impaired, mentally challenged, and those that are suicidal. The specific issue of violence against women and children which is directly associated with patriarchy is another pandemic which require our common attention and resolve to prevent. We as a community must learn to respect the human rights of everyone, women, children and men. As mentioned earlier, our religions demand that we respect human dignity and human life.

As you would know, we have an aging population both here in Fiji and in nearly all countries of the developed world. As a community we respect our elders and we care for their needs. Their needs increasingly require specialist professional support. Physical disability increases with age, and Alzheimer’s disease and dementia may afflict our elderly. As a community we should have reflected on these matters, and if not should we not begin to do so now?

A clean and healthy community will be an educated community that will seek to promote education in its broadest sense. This implies holistic education that covers all aspects of human – environmental relations, the biosphere and human technological progress as well as the relationship between various aspects of human societies from nutrition, to sports, to economics and to politics. Members of such a community will be well-informed.

This community will also have ways to resolve differences and disputes among its members amicably and with civility. Open conflict and factionalism must be avoided, and recourse to litigation should be minimized. All this is done for the good of the wider community.

Culturally, an engagement with healthy and clean community stands for how do we maintain our identity and belongingness in the community. How do we promote our languages, our religions, and our cultures generally in an ever – changing world? How do we maintain pride in our cultures and at the same time be good citizens of multi-ethnic Fiji, and the diverse global society?

Economically, over the last 30 years Fiji and the world have been characterized by increasing inequality. The debate over poverty statistics is a global one. Following the MDGs but largely because of China, large multilateral organisations claim that global poverty has declined. However there is desperate and persistent immiserisation in South Asia, and in Sub-Saharan Africa. Hitherto relatively well to-do countries like Iraq, Libya and Syria have been so ravaged by war that the masses have been reduced to hand to mouth existence-and sometimes not even that. Governments in most countries like to produce poverty statistics that put them in good light. This is to be expected but as a community, we need to ask ourselves whether we are mindful of what might be happening to our fellow human beings. Do we extend a helping hand in time to our disadvantaged and underprivileged?

Did we offer assistance to our fellow citizens who suffered the most from the devastation and deaths caused by TC Winston? I know many of you did, including those of you live in other countries. This kind of empathy and support is a mark of an engaging clean and healthy community. Sadly with global warming, extreme weather events will be recurring with greater frequency. A clean and healthy community will work together to be prepared for such eventualities and be always ready to extend a helping hand to those affected.

Politically, such a community actively encourages civil society engagement, and volunteerism. Participation in community based organisations, and in non-governmental organisations, professional bodies and trade unions characterizes the healthy community. It not only and informed community but an energetic community –a participatory community.

Just about everything is political. Your coming to Lawaqa, Nadroga to what are primarily social and sports events is the product of your decision. You could have stayed at home but you didn’t. You’ve chosen to be engaged. Such engagement is reflective of an awareness of ‘agency’ both at the individual and community levels that changes can be made for a better world by actively pushing for what is right, what is ethical and moral. 

Conclusion

Cooperatively working together for common benefits that promote unity build what sociologists and social psychologists call ‘social capital’ and social cohesion. Relationships of trust and togetherness are endangered. A united community goes a long way to provide psychological satisfaction and contentment. In your deliberations at the meetings of the women, the Maathar Sangam, the youth Valibar Sangam, and the AGM and in the sports tournaments, it is my sincere hope that we are able to enhance trust and togetherness. That is the Sangam spirit that our ancestors created and promoted, and may this 91^st Sangam Convention further enhance that spirit of cooperation and working together for common community ends.