• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
grubsheet

grubsheet

# COMING TOMORROW (SUNDAY), COMMONMAN ON THE VULAGI DEBATE

Posted on October 18, 2025 2 Comments

What does our new columnist think about the vulagi debate that has become one of the nation’s most divisive issues, with its implication that non-iTaukei citizens are merely visitors to Fiji and don’t really belong?

CommonMan is a 45 year old iTaukei farmer who has lived in the vanua all his life- a village in rural Viti Levu. So what he has to say will be of interest to all Fijians in understanding some of the deep feelings this one word – vulagi – is capable of inspiring.

In CommonMan’s introductory column last week, he wrote the following memorable lines that struck a chord with many of our readers.

“I step forward not as an instigator or troublemaker but as a common man wanting to change the narrative. I step forward with muddy feet and calloused hands but a clear heart and clarity of vision. I step forward to speak for those who have been spoken over. To write for those who have been written off. To stand for those who have been left behind. Because the common man in the vanua deserves a spot at the table and a voice“.

So what does CommonMan think about the vulagi debate?

Don’t miss his column tomorrow. A voice from the vanua that deserves to be heard. Uncensored and authentic.

——————-

And for those of you who might have missed it, here’s a link to CommonMan’s introductory column last week.

# INTRODUCING OUR NEW COLUMNIST. COMMONMAN. AN ITAUKEI FARMER AND AUTHENTIC VOICE FROM THE VANUA

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Subhash Appanna says

    October 18, 2025 at 6:08 am

    This is exactly what we need from a real iTaukei. I was thinking along the same lines but wouldn’t have made the cut. Can’t wait!

    Reply
    • Anonymous says

      October 18, 2025 at 4:15 pm

      Let’s wait and see, shall we? This is Fiji, after all.

      At some point, indo-fijians will be used as the perennial villains for all that ills the itaukei.

      Thus, the long long-held belief that the cure is worse than the disease.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

  • Email
  • LinkedIn

About Grubsheet

Graham Davis
Grubsheet Feejee is the blogsite of Graham Davis, an award-winning journalist turned communications consultant who was the Fijian Government’s principal communications advisor for six years from 2012 to 2018 and continued to work on Fiji’s global climate and oceans campaign up until the end of the decade.

 

Fiji-born to missionary parents and a dual Fijian-Australian national, Graham spent four decades in the international media before returning to Fiji to work full time in 2012. He reported from many parts of the world for the BBC, ABC, SBS, the Nine and Seven Networks and Sky News and wrote for a range of newspapers and magazines in Australia, New Zealand and Fiji.

 

Graham launched Grubsheet Feejee in 2011 and suspended writing for it after the Fijian election of 2014, by which time he was working at the heart of government. But the website continued to attract hits as a background resource on events in Fiji in the transition back to parliamentary democracy.

 

Grubsheet relaunches in 2020 at one of the most critical times in Fijian history, with the nation reeling from the Covid-19 crisis and Frank Bainimarama’s government shouldering the twin burdens of incumbency and economic disintegration.

 

Grubsheet’s sole agenda is the national interest; the strengthening of Fiji’s ties with the democracies; upholding equal rights for all citizens; government that is genuinely transparent and free of corruption and nepotism; and upholding Fiji’s service to the world in climate and oceans advocacy and UN Peacekeeping.

 

Comments are welcome and you can contact me in the strictest confidence at grubsheetfeedback@gmail.com

 

(Feejee is the original name for Fiji - a derivative of the indigenous Viti and the Tongan Fisi - and was widely used until the late 19th century)

Copyright © 2025 Grubsheet - All Rights Reserved - For permission to republish any content or images from this blog please contact the author directly.