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SUNDAY BOOK REVIEW Diary of a Newsman SUNDAY BOOK REVIEW www.fijitimes.com.fj Diary of a newsman SS By DR SHAILENDRA SINGH Fiji Diary: Reminiscences and Reflec- tions of a Newsman is a selection of A revised and updated writings by Vijen- dra Kumar, the former editor of The Fiji Times, compiled into an engaging and highly readable book. The 13 sections and 100-odd pages com- bine Kumar’s personal experiences and jour- nalistic views to provide unique insights into some major events that shook Fiji, and shaped its future. The portrayal is enriched by anecdotes of Kumar’s encounters with some important per- Former editor of The Fiji Times Vijendra Kumar. Picture: FILE Sitiveni Rabuka shares his views. Picture: JONA KONATACI sonalities who, for better or worse, influenced the country’s destiny. Fiji’s founding prime minister Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara features quite heavily. Competing with him for space is Sitiveni Rabuka of the 1987 coup notoriety. At the narrative’s heart are the vivid ac- counts of Kumar’s remarkable life story while growing up in Nadi. What emerges is a fasci- nating portrait of the simplicities as well as the complexities of a life lived in Fiji — a depic- tion many Fijians would readily identify with. Kumar started in journalism humbly enough: as a self-taught, underpaid, and sometimes unpaid proofreader cum reporter/editor of the National Federation Party (NFP) mouthpiece, the weekly Pacific Review. The book can be Duties included errands to collect edito- bought or ordered rial copy from party leader, the late AD Patel’s through USP Bookshop. home. In the book, the prominent Nadi lawyer Picture: SUPPLIED comes across as somewhat snooty — a pukka Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, left, and Sitiveni sahib in Kumar’s words — and rather tardy Rabuka in Suva in 1994. Picture: AFP with deadlines, often giving Kumar the run- around. When he plucked the courage to ask for his Kumar expresses disappointments and re- Reddy and Prime Minister Rabuka in 1999. Ra- In Fiji, sound and mature editorial judgments pay, Kumar was shown the empty office till. grets without rancour. His measured analysis buka’s fall in particular added to the ironies of are crucial for public trust and confidence, On a lucky week, he received $25. This saw demonstrates an astute knowledge of Fiji poli- the 1987 coup. especially in crisis situations. In this respect, Kumar take up high school teaching, a job he tics and a deep respect for Fijian culture. “The Kumar highlights a number of such political it’s likely that Kumar’s clear-thinking and stuck with for 12 years, before returning to his Fall of a Titan” was his tribute to Ratu Mara absurdities. His soft side surfaces in his tribute foresightedness helped steer The Fiji Times true calling as a reporter, but this time at The after his death in April 2004. to the late Irene Jai Narayan. The fiery Narayan through the dangerous 1987 coup waters Fiji Times, in 1969. Kumar notes that the Rabuka coups not only was shunned by her National Federation Party without sinking into oblivion. Within six years, Kumar had become the signalled the death of democracy, but also the electorate after she crossed the floor to join The second coup in September 1987 forced first local editor at the iconic national daily, fall of a titan in Ratu Mara, who hastened his Ratu Mara’s Alliance Party in 1987. the paper’s closer for seven weeks. It reopened up until then largely an expatriate stronghold. own demise by failing first to condemn the Kumar not only dissects Narayan’s defec- after direct representations to Rabuka, who His resignation in 1991 and subsequent migra- coup, and then, by leading the post-coup re- tion, but he also highlights her distinguished only asked that the paper not publish inflam- tion to Australia was a consequence of Fiji’s gime. service to the country. matory material. Regrettably, Fiji’s second na- first coup in 1987. Kumar dwells on the coup Coups are by nature replete with irony. Mara “She lit a spark among women,” he states. tional newspaper, The Fiji Sun, which had also at length, which is hardly surprising, since the was accused of being behind the very coup Fiji academic, Professor Satendra Nandan pins bravely criticised Rabuka’s actions, closed for coup’s impact was not just stunning, but also that, in the eyes of many, tarnished his record. down Kumar’s style best in the book’s fore- good after the first coup. enduring. The trauma was felt deeply, both at The suspicions were fuelled by none other word: Kumar “provides a balanced picture While forced out of Fiji by circumstances, the national and personal levels. than a brooding Rabuka, who said he felt used with a rare generosity of mind, but often with Kumar, like many exiles, is still emotionally During his time in Australia, Kumar served and betrayed by the coup’s unseen power- sharp and discriminating insights”. attached to the country. His multicultural out- as a subeditor at the Courier Mail in Brisbane, brokers. This attitude explains why Kumar was a look is reflected in his qualified support for before retiring in 2001. It was a remarkable In Kumar’s view, Ratu Mara “dedicated his highly-regarded newspaper editor, even in the Voreqe Bainimarama’s 2006 coup. In “The journey for a descendent of Indian indentured life to his country” and will be “kindly judged face of growing skepticism about the ethics of Rise of a Reformer”, first published in 2012, labourers; one who left home at the tender by history. The Pacific Island states have pro- a market-driven media, increasingly locked in Kumar sees Bainimarama’s mission as reform- age of six to live with his aunt to gain access duced no greater son,” he writes. But Ratu fierce ratings and circulation wars. ing a flawed, racially-based political system to better education. Mara critics, who accuse him of a litany of Academics like McNair and Fallow have and building a stronger democracy. Kumar’s insights matter: As the editor of sins — ranging from racism to corruption, and drawn attention to the emergence of an in- Overall, Kumar’s disdain of a coup culture The Fiji Times, he was at the vantage of ma- crony capitalism to political opportunism — creasingly aggressive form of journalism that is evident. He writes: “Although coup-makers’ jor developments in the country’s history, ob- would strongly disagree with Kumar. has given rise to a “decline of deference”, with corpses eventually end up rotting on the dung serving them unfold, interpreting them, and Like many a leader, Ratu Mara was a contro- political leaders considered prized targets. heap of history, the countries experiencing reporting their impacts nationally. versial figure. The team of reporters that Ku- This trend marks a wide paradigm shift in po- such dislocation continue to wallow in a so- In the first chapter, “Goodbye to Paradise”, mar headed did not spare Mara, even though litical reporting — from “healthy skepticism” cial, economic and political quagmire for a it’s apparent that even a newspaperman like Kumar had gotten to know him personally. If and an “independent, adversarial relationship long time.” him was taken in by Fiji’s relative post-inde- Kumar’s portrayal in the book sounds more with politics”, to a “corrosively cynical and Kumar then poses a poignant question: pendence calm. The mirage was shattered by forgiving, it’s probably because of hindsight hyper-adversarial” posture. “Can Fiji go against the tide of history?” That the 1987 Sitiveni Rabuka nationalist coup. In and reflection. His evaluation possibly stems Media researcher Spiess calls it “attack dog is no doubt the silent prayer of many a coup- Kumar’s view, the coup turned Fiji into a “pur- from a more holistic analysis of Ratu Mara’s journalism” — an aggressive reporting strain jaded Fijian. gatory for half its people”. record, and a healthier appreciation of the that goes beyond the watchdog role and A Fiji Diary: Reminiscences and Reflections The post-coup media crackdown created a frailties of human beings. Even Gandhi is re- harms “fledgling democracies” by “nurturing of a Newsman, is available at, and can be or- precarious environment for journalists. Kumar ported to have had skeletons in his closet. intolerance and diminishing faith” in leaders. dered through, the USP Bookshop, Laucala writes that the editorship was always a “hot Ratu Mara tried to be a political centrist, Some media analysts partly attribute the fall campus, Suva. seat” but after the coup the “heat became and if he failed, the fault wasn’t his alone. The of prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry’s gov- n Dr Shailendra Singh was a journalist almost unbearable”. After four years of “ha- middle ground in an ethnically-divided country ernment in 2000 to media hyper-adversarial- at The Fiji Times from 1989 to 1996. He is rassment, intimidation and outright threats”, like Fiji is a precariously fine line. It’s a slippery ism. Others see media hyper-adversarialism now the co-ordinator of the USP Journal- he felt that he could no longer discharge his slope that has claimed quite a few political as just a theory. But even as a theory, media ism Program. His views are not necessar- professional duties with “honesty and without scalps, such as the doomed multiracial co- hyper-adversarialism is pertinent for a vulner- ily shared by his current employer or The fear”. alition headed by opposition leader Jai Ram able, multi-ethnic democracy such as Fiji. Fiji Times. 12 THE SUNDAY TIMES —SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2017.
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