Ethinicity - CathNews New Zealand https://cathnews.co.nz Catholic News New Zealand Mon, 27 Jul 2015 01:52:29 +0000 en-NZ hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 https://cathnews.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/cropped-cathnewsfavicon-32x32.jpg Ethinicity - CathNews New Zealand https://cathnews.co.nz 32 32 70145804 Intermarriage removes prejudice https://cathnews.co.nz/2015/07/28/intermarriage-removes-prejudice/ Mon, 27 Jul 2015 19:03:11 +0000 http://cathnews.co.nz/?p=74513

An iTaukei woman of Solomon descent believes intermarriage will help to defuse racial tension, remove prejudices and promote national unity. Latileta Naqiri Singh was commenting after the burial of her Indo-Fijian husband Lochan Triloc Singh. During the family church service, on the eve of the funeral, Anglican Bishop Qiliho preached in English, the prayers were Read more

Intermarriage removes prejudice... Read more]]> An iTaukei woman of Solomon descent believes intermarriage will help to defuse racial tension, remove prejudices and promote national unity.

Latileta Naqiri Singh was commenting after the burial of her Indo-Fijian husband Lochan Triloc Singh.

During the family church service, on the eve of the funeral, Anglican Bishop Qiliho preached in English, the prayers were said in iTaukei and English and the hymns were sung in Hindi.

Around the kava (yaqona) bowl, everyone from different ethnic backgrounds sat cross-legged in a relaxed atmosphere.

Mrs Singh said: "Love conquers all. We had to overcome the cultural, religious and racial sensitivities of the time to marry."

"I am from Natalaicake Village in Ba. He is from Lautoka," she said.

"He came from a staunch Hindu background and me from an Anglican background."

"Gradually, he began to warm towards my religion and eventually joined."

"He even donated a piece of our land here in front of our home for our church."

"He helped build it too."

"Triloc felt at home in our community. He regarded everyone equal. There is no Indo-Fijian or iTaukei, we are all one, he believed," said Latileta.

"Now my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren call themselves Fijians."

Latileta welcomed the Constitutional provision of equal citizenry and the common identity.

"It's the best thing that has happened to this country. It makes my children feel a sense of belonging in this country," she said.

Source

Intermarriage removes prejudice]]> 74513 Ethnicity is a fact of life says Fiji Paramount chief https://cathnews.co.nz/2012/04/17/ethnicity-is-a-fact-of-life-says-fiji-paramount-chief/ Mon, 16 Apr 2012 19:30:30 +0000 http://cathnews.co.nz/?p=23286

"The obsession to remove racial issues from the governance of this country is short-sighted and ill-conceived, for ethnicity is a fact of life", says Paramount Chief Ro Teimumu in a letter to the interim Prime Minster, Frank Bainimarama. "The revolutionary changes you are making cannot be made without the involvement of the Great Council of Read more

Ethnicity is a fact of life says Fiji Paramount chief... Read more]]> "The obsession to remove racial issues from the governance of this country is short-sighted and ill-conceived, for ethnicity is a fact of life", says Paramount Chief Ro Teimumu in a letter to the interim Prime Minster, Frank Bainimarama. "The revolutionary changes you are making cannot be made without the involvement of the Great Council of Chiefs' she says. "Any calamity between the races or even between indigenous Fijians themselves can only be resolved with the involvement of the Great Council of Chiefs."

Ro Teimumu heads one of the three indigenous confederacies, Burebasaqa, and carries the title Roko Tui Dreketi, which she inherited on the death of Ro Lady Lala Mara,the wife of the founder of modern Fiji, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara.

The Great Council of Chiefs was disbanded by Bainimarama in March. At the time he said "The Great Council of the Chiefs is a product of our colonial past and Fiji must now focus on a future in which all Fijians are represented on the same basis."

According to commentator, Graham Davis, a titanic struggle is now looming "between the old and new orders in Fiji for the hearts and minds of the indigenous majority - the i'taukei. It's a struggle that will determine the future for all Fiji citizens and on present indications, the portents don't look good. Because the old order - the i'taukei chiefs - seem determined to make race the centerpiece of their campaign, to mine all the old prejudices that have retarded independent Fiji's development right from the start."

Source

Ethnicity is a fact of life says Fiji Paramount chief]]> 23286