Opposition Leader Inia Seruratu has expressed his condolences on the passing of a giant in Fiji’s history, the former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Education, Taufa Vakatale.
Seruiratu says late Vakatale was a woman of firsts.
He adds she was Fiji’s first female Deputy Prime Minister; the first ever Fijian woman elected as a Cabinet Minister; the first indigenous woman appointed as a Deputy High Commissioner; and the first Fijian woman to serve as a Secondary School principal.
Seruiratu adds late Vakatale rose in the era when women, especially iTaukei women, had to contend with limits placed on them by society.
He says she shattered glass ceilings and was a role model for all women and young girls in Fiji.
Meanwhile, Labour Leader Mahendra Chaudhry says late Vakatale will be remembered for a long and distinguished career as a civil servant, educationist, diplomat and politician.
New Acting Secretary-General Jeanette Emberson (left), with former Acting Secretary-General Viniana Namosimalua. Photo: Parliament of Fiji
The Deputy Secretary-General to Parliament Jeanette Emberson has replaced Viniana Namosimalua as Acting Secretary-General.
Ms Namosimalua confirmed yesterday that her last day of work was on Tuesday and Mrs Emberson has taken up the acting post.
In a statement, the Constitutional Offices Commission said they have decided to re-advertise the vacancy and have advised the President to appoint Mrs Emberson until a substantive appointment is made.
“Ms Emberson’s acting appointment is effective from 12 January 2021, since Ms Viniana Namosimalua’s appointment as acting Secretary-General to Parliament was not renewed,” the Commission said.
Mrs Emberson (nee Terubea) attended Adi Cakobau School (ACS) from 1996 to 2002 and was a Uci House member.
Miss Hibiscus 1977, Miss Travelodge, Florence Julian, centre, with 1st runner-up, Miss Burns Philp Litiana Duribalavu, right, and second runner-up Miss Seaborne, Kelera Domolailai. Picture: FT File
Variety, it seems, was the spice of life for Litiana Duribalavu. Since leaving school in 1975, she worked as a dental student, business management cadet, air hostess, beauty consultant and then as an educational books co-ordinator for Desai Bookshops, according to a report by The Fiji Times on January 5, 1984.
In between all that, she was also a keen part-time model.
For the coming year she had made a firm resolution to settle down.
“I am going to work hard at my job and hope to save some money,” she said.
Litiana received her primary education at Delainavesi, Ballantine Memorial School then entered Adi Cakobau School.
After completing high school she took up dental therapy course at the CWM Hospital in 1976.
She quickly found that looking into people’s mouths did not interest her greatly. She left after 18 months.
“I wanted to do something totally different and at the time Burns Philp were offering school leavers a business management cadet trainee course, I joined them in 1977.”
The same year Burns Philp sponsored her as the company’s Hibiscus contestant and that year she was crowned Charity Queen.
During her prize winning trip to Australia it was arranged for Litiana to go through a crash course in modelling.
She appeared on a poster that BPs used to launch Revlon’s Charlie cosmetics and perfume in Fiji.
Litiana worked in various departments, selling crockery cosmetics, men’s, women’s and children’s wear and attended Fiji Institute of Technology (FIT) to do a business studies course.
She discontinued her studies when she left BPs in 1979.
“I wanted to travel and see different countries and joined Air Pacific as an air hostess in 1980.”
The glamour of flying did not last long. In six months she said she needed a break from work. Later, she went to work as a beautician for Emmalines Health and Beauty Studio.
Then one day the general manager of Desai Bookshops offered her a job. Litiana said she grabbed the opportunity.
“All along I was looking for something to further my education. I started taking classes at USP in constitutional law and I am determined to make a career at Desai.
“It is a complicated and responsible post. The USP, for example, places large orders for text and reference books or its library and students’ needs. I also look after the demands of FIT, and all primary and secondary schools throughout Fiji and the region.”
The seven female officers who were commissioned in December, 1988. Picture: SUPPLIED
Part 1
The history of a national military force in Fiji goes way back to 1920 before independence. But one thing was certain then, the army was no place for women. Women worked in garment factories, were nurses, teachers, policewomen (the first joined in 1970), but most stayed home.
The concept “a woman’s place is in the kitchen” was widely embraced in Fiji and around the Pacific and women have always been considered as “soft”. This, in my opinion, was probably one of the reasons women were never recruited into the army.
It wasn’t until the incumbent Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka became the Commander of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) in 1987 that he allowed the first batch of Fijian women to enter the RFMF in 1988.
Colonel Silipa Raradoka Druavesi Vananalagi was one of 41 woman who decided to break the stigma in 1988 by enlisting in the RFMF.
Out of the 41 women, only seven were commissioned as officers.
Originally from Taci Village, Noco in Rewa, Ms Vananalagi grew up in a family that was predominantly male to parents who also featured in Fiji’s political scene in the mid to late 1900s.
Her father, the late Atunaisa Bani Druavesi, was a banker by profession, but later joined the Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei (SVT) political party.
Her mother Ema Druavesi was a career lab technician before joining the Fiji Trades Union Congress (FTUC) and later the Fiji Labour Party (FLP) for the 1987 election.
Ms Vananalagi was a student at the prominent Adi Cakobau School (ACS) when the 1987 coup happened.
That, she said, was the first time she “started seeing the green uniform”. “I was still in school in 1987 when the FLP won the elections of ‘87 and then we were told that school was closed because of the coup,” Ms Vananalagi reminisced.
“One of those experiences was mum arrested for a while, and I had to collect stuff from home and take it to her while she was still in CPS (Central Police Station).
“(She) was telling me what to do, what not to do, this is what to bring and all that and being a high school student at the time and facing that crowd of people in uniform, both police and military with guns — it was something challenging, but I had to do what she tasked me to do.
“That was when I started seeing the green uniform.”
When an advertisement appeared in the dailies for women to join the RFMF, Ms Vananalagi applied. That did not go down well with her mother. She had wanted Ms Vananalagi to follow her father’s footsteps in becoming a banker.
“I saw the advertisement on the local newspapers, and I decided to apply and interestingly, my mother was against me applying for the military.
“I was one of the fortunate females that was allowed to attend the women’s WORSBY (Women Officers Regular Selection Board).
“They called it the women’s WORSBY then, where they selected a few women to go through a four-day training program through which they did assessments to see whether you’re fit to be a future officer of the RFMF.
“They see all your calibres in leadership, team bonding and everything including social activities. “On February 5, 1988, we were at the Force Training Group (FTG) for our first day of recruit training.”
Ms Vananalagi said the challenges began as early as day one. “When we started, there was no boundaries between men and women.
“So, there’s this fitness test that we do, depending on the age group, and we women at that time, we had to run the same time with men and it was like running 2.4km in nine minutes.
“And after doing the run, you do the exercises.
“The sit ups, the press ups, and we actually did chin ups during that time and we had to do seven until I think it was in early ‘89 or mid ‘89 when they phased out chin ups for women but we did that during our cadet time and when we graduated.
“We thought we couldn’t do it, but we did it and like we were just challenging men at the same time.”
Ms Vananalagi said there were times when the 41 women were ridiculed for not being able to complete a certain task that men were able to complete. They were also made fun off for being the only women in the army.
This included being called names by army wives who lived in the barracks with their husbands and families.
“To be seen wearing the green uniform and holding guns, you would hear all sorts of comments, it was endless. “But I think the comments that we got during those days, that really built us personally, especially for me and my character, to what I am today.
“It has made me strong; I accept all sorts of criticism, I take on the constructive ones and I just disregard the nonsense one and just move on.”
Another challenge the women faced was the lack of privacy as there were no “women only” facilities because the army at that time, was not structured to include female soldiers. So, when the first batch of women entered the army, they had to use the same facility as the men.
“There was no proper infrastructure in place for women only, like sometimes we just wanted our own privacy and that we didn’t have that. We didn’t get that opportunity.
“If you go into a bathroom and if somebody comes along you had to say “ei au jiko qo i loma” (Hey, I’m inside here) and then you know the boys would know that there’s someone in there.
“Sometimes it was fun when you think of it because we used to rush to see who goes in first.”
But the main challenge that these women faced was the ranking system.
According to Ms Vananalagi, when they entered the force there was a policy in place that limited their promotion.
“When we entered in 1988, we had this policy that said that women could only go up to the rank of captain and once you get married, you have to resign and reapply to the force after you’ve given birth.
“If there’s a vacancy, then they take you back. “Nobody was there to guide us; we didn’t have proper mentors.
“It was lucky if you were in a unit where you will be told this is right and this is wrong.
“Otherwise, you will just go with the flow.
“There were courses, like as an officer you start off with doing Junior Staff Officers (JSO) course and then you go to grade three, grade two, then if you’re fortunate to do joint warfare, well and good.
“Otherwise, you’d do Staff College then to Defence College.
“But for us, we were told that we could only do JSO course, that was it.
“So, I think for us, as a team, we took on the challenge and we really tried to make our way to be recognised in the military, especially since it’s a maledominated organisation. “One wrong thing you do, they really pick it out fast and they will always talk about it every now and then.
Second Lieutenant Merelesita Cakau (left), Waiouru Military Camp Warrant Officer Class Two Glen Savage and Second Lieutenant Grace Qasevakatini after graduating as commissioned officers at Waiouru Military Camp in New Zealand on December 4, 2020.
When we felt like giving up we reminded ourselves of who we were doing it for, for Fiji and our families.
These were sentiments of two women from the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) who successfully completed a one-year intense officer training course from Waiouru Military Camp in New Zealand.
Second-Lieutenant Merelisita Cakau and Second Lieutenant Grace Qasevakatini were among 45 cadets from Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Timor Leste, Malaysia, Tonga and Papua New Guinea who were commissioned last Friday.
The Waiouru Defence Area, in the central North Island, is the premier training ground for the New Zealand Defence Force.
Second-Lieutenant Cakau and Second Lieutenant Qasevakatini add to the growing contingent of qualified and trained women now serving in the RFMF.
The two achieved 100 per cent in their fieldwork in the course.
Second-Lieutenant Cakau, 27, said she only wished she had her parents and close families over in New Zealand to share in her success.
The officer from Baidamudamu, Tavuki, Kadavu said: “At times we really felt like throwing in the towel but I have always reminded myself of who I was doing it for, it was for Fiji and my family.
“We are Fijians and we were sent from Fiji, if we fail we would paint a bad picture for the country.
“That is why we make sure we shine during the course of our cadetship.
“During our break we couldn’t visit our families because of the border restrictions of the pandemic so we had to remain in camp.”
Second-Lieutenant Qasevakatini said her steadfast faith and prayers got her through some of the toughest times in camp.
“Every day before we go out to the field or the forest for training we would always say a little prayer,” she said.
“One day while in the forest we were so worn out so I held Merelesita’s hands from the back and we both encouraged each other until we finally completed our task.
“That was us. We encouraged each other and we prayed for one another.
“For now we are ready to return to Fiji to meet our families and most importantly to serve our country.”
Of Sila Village in Cuvu, Nadroga, she said she was grateful for her family’s prayers and well wishes.
