GD writes: Who most has their finger on the pulse of grassroots opinion in Fiji? Certainly not commentators like Grubsheet or columnists in the mainstream media. It is someone sharing the everyday experiences of ordinary people who are sometimes living extraordinary lives. And Grubsheet has found that someone.
He’s a farmer working his teitei in rural Viti Levu who happens to have an extraordinary command of the English language and excellent writing skills. And how he was able to acquire those skills is a lesson for every Fijian young person. Because it wasn’t from higher education but having a mother who was a school teacher and introduced her growing family to books.
“We didn’t have TV but we had books. Lots of books. And any spare time we had, she would encourage us to read. That gave us a window on the world, access to knowledge and the ability to express ourselves in English”. Imagine if every Fijian home had the benefit of a mother like that? It’s a simple solution to the current woeful standards of literacy in our schools and places of higher learning that is infecting every part of national life.
Our new weekly columnist has chosen a nom de plume – a pen name or pseudonym to conceal his real identity. CommonMan. And he has done so to be able, as an iTaukei commoner living in the vanua, to give his honest opinions about aspects of national life without treading on the toes of chiefs or politicians or being subjected to pressure. We don’t need to know his name or his koro. As they unfold, his opinions will soon tell us where he stands and what kind of a person he is.
So I’m delighted to welcome CommonMan to Grubsheet, not least because that’s what he is. A common man plugged into iTaukei life in the vanua who can speak for other common people so their voices can rise above the usual blah,blah,blah of national discourse. Uncensored and totally authentic.
Read on…
—————
COMMONMAN – AN INTRODUCTION
Over the past decade, social media has rapidly become a vital and highly effective platform for disseminating news and information beyond mainstream media. However, its true superpower lies in its ability to generate content that is from the masses, for the masses, with the added ability of being able to gauge the mood or proclivities of the masses to certain topics based on their reactions and responses. A unique sounding board of sorts.
Fiji is no exception. Access to social media has led to a rise in the number of so-called influencers in almost all sections of society, be it culture, the economy, food, travel, sports, academia, politics, technology, science, business, etc. A quick Internet search reveals that across all social media platforms, the topics that generated the most interaction are generally social or political in nature.
Another interesting fact is that according to StatCounter, Facebook comprises nearly 85% of the Fijian social media market share, a staggering 695,000 active users, and is most popular with 25 – 34 year olds. The rest of the residual 15% is unevenly meted out amongst Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, Twitter, and Reddit.
When it comes to iTaukei socio-political content, most in-depth commentators are largely from its elite in both academia and other specialist professionals. Of note from academia are Dr. Ponipate Rokolekutu, a professor in Critical Pacific and Oceania Studies at the University of San Francisco, the world-renowned Professor Steve Ratuva of the Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, University of Canterbury, New Zealand and Dr. Tarisi Vunidilo of the University of Hawaii.
Though Dr. Ratuva does not have an active social media presence, he is included because of his regular contributions to both the national political discourse and advocacy for indigenous issues, which are often used as educational material for online discussions and debate. He is also the first Pasifika native to have risen to the level of “Distinguished Professor.”
Other prominent technocrats who have been active social media users and have sought to influence iTaukei thinking are lawyers Niko Nawaikula & Jiaoji Savou (politics), the late Dr. Leli Darling from the medical field (politics, social, culture), Jope Tarai (Twitter, academic, culture, politics), and Aisea Volavola, creator of na iTakitaki Lalai Facebook page (135 000 followers, education, culture) who is an honours science graduate of USP.
Another with about 150,000 followers has even proclaimed his intention to establish the New Generation Party to contest the 2026 General Elections. He goes by the name Bis Moce and is a University of New England graduate. Most of his content focus is on itaukei business, innovation, social, political, or development issues. Plus Lesi Vanuavou and Arisi Tabuasei (See Saw Productions), who have a combined following of nearly 300 000. Although more social-cultural content savvy, they also comment on political issues from time to time.
It is interesting to note that all these aforementioned content creators have tertiary qualifications (degree or higher), are professionals in their respective fields, and are urbanized. The only vanua-based influencer who consistently critiques social and political issues is Naulu Mataitini, but this Rewan chief is an outlier or an exception. Because the nature of his job has kept him out of the country for over 30 years, it has given him a distinctly unique perspective of a cosmopolitan Fijian localizing his global experience and worldview to critically examine and shape Fijian narratives.
What all this means is that there is a perceptible lack of consistent content from the common man on the ground, from permanently vanua-based iTaukei. A tiller or man of the earth perspective that can accurately represent views from villages and rural communities where rural Fijian living and livelihoods meet government policies and institutional bureaucracy.
As a 45-year-old father, husband, farmer, commoner, member of a land-owning unit who has lived in the village all my life, I am saddened that it is mostly the views of our educated elite that is considered the genuine expression of iTaukei concerns. These academics and technocrats speak in terms that most grassroots cannot define, much less understand.
They talk in terms of the legacy of colonialism and the decolonization of mindsets, of neo-colonialism and structural or systemic barriers. Their narratives have their merits, but in the cacophony of jargon and idioms, the raw and real lived experiences of the person on the ground are pushed to the sidelines, goes unheard and is subsequently invalidated. This is the reality for people who exist at the pointy end of those policies, laws, and red tape.
I do not seek to compete with the intellectuals and the technocrats, nor is it my intention to diminish their contributions. Their insights are valuable and necessary. But I do seek to complement them, to fill the void they cannot reach. The home, the family, the village, the forest, the farm, the church, the village hall, and the yaqona circle around which my Mataqali sits—these are the spaces where real life unfolds for the majority of the iTaukei.
These are the places where policies on land, where decisions made in iTLTB boardrooms, in the Vale ni Bose of the Great Council of Chiefs and in Parliament ripple outwards and take shape in the soil, in the cost of living, in the price of pawpaws sold on roadside stalls, in the availability of medicine and in the myriad requirements in an application form. These are the places where the voice of the common man must be heard.
My intent as CommonMan is to give a voice to the common man. To flesh out his feelings and thinking, his inspirations and frustrations, his concerns and his vision. To articulate and analyse how policies, laws, conventions, and protocols affect and shape him. To ask questions of the status quo and outline what can be.
Grubsheet is giving CommonMan that chance. It gives him the platform to speak plainly, without jargon and filters. To speak in the language of the common man in sync with the rhythm of the land, the flow of the tides, and the omens in the sky. To tell stories that resonate with the pawpaw farmer in Nadroga, the fisherwoman in Kadavu, the youthful yaqona farmer in Macuata, and the subsistence farming grandmother in Naitasiri.
I want to give voice to questions that matter to them: Why is the price of diapers and fertilizers rising? Why are our children struggling in school? Why do development plans ignore our village priorities? Why do we keep traditions that impoverish us? Why does iTLTB weaponise the law at the expense of the rights and privileges of land owning units? Why are our voices and concerns missing from the GCC? Why can’t we have leases, titles, insurance, and the ability to monetize our buildings and properties in our villages? Why are we unable to develop our own natural resources?
I believe that the lived experience of the common man is not just anecdotal. It is data. It is evidence. It is truth. And when gathered, shared, and analysed, it becomes a powerful tool for change. CommonMan wants to build a digital vanua, a space where grassroots voices are not just heard but amplified. Where we can challenge the status quo with clarity and purpose.
This is not just about politics. It is about dignity. It is about reclaiming the narrative and ensuring that when decisions are made about land, about education, about health, about governance, the common man is not an afterthought. He is the starting point. He is the measure of success as he is the reason policies and laws exist.
So 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.
——————
Vinaka! You can read CommonMan here every Sunday.
And please leave your comments below.
(Images: Statue and masi from GD’s personal collection)
I am already disappointed if this is going to be only about the iTaukei and the Vanua. We already have the GCC, the TLTB, the Ministry of iTaukei affairs and everyone rise talking just about the iTaukei. It is as if the vulagi do not exist.How long will everyone pretend that the vulagi do not really exist?
And how long will everyone pretend that the vulagi is the root cause of all the problems?
Crikey mate. No-one has been a bigger advocate for the “vulagi” than me. This is one columnist – writing once a week – giving the opinion of commoners in the vanua. Not the elite. Not the politically aligned. Not politicians trying to manipulate public opinion. But someone who is from the grassroots of iTaukei society speaking for the grassroots of iTaukei society.
I don’t think this has ever been done before. And I am very proud to have this person join the Grubsheet team. I have met him face to face and he is an exceptional individual. So maybe read and listen before adopting the defensive posture that you have.
“It’s as if the vulagi don’t exist”? Not in these columns. And I will continue to advocate for the rights of the minorities as I also try to better understand grassroots iTaukei opinion, as opposed to those who claim to speak for the iTaukei but are actually pushing their own personal agendas. So please. A bit more understanding.
Why don’t we allow the “Common Man” to build up his writing and support it by reading and encouraging that. How I read it tells me that as he continues writing, his views will raise matters which ultimately find connections with all in Fiji, in some way or form.
I congratulate the Common Man for coming forward and well done GD for enabling this through your platform
Vinaka God Bless and let’s hear more from the Common Man.
So you want it all about the Indians?
He said “vulagi”. That means all non-iTaukei. Who said anything about Indians?
Well Graham some people like wd50.5 just can’t see past race. Blessed Sunday to all.
Outstanding. Looking forward to hearing CommonMan’s views. A must every Sunday.
The ITaukei landscape has never been a level playing field. The common ITaukei deserves a place at the table like anyone else. Looking forward to hearing from the heartland of the vanua.
The problem with the common Itaukei is that they’re still under the misinterpreted perception that entities like the GCC and an entirely ethnonationalist government represents the interests of the common Itaukei.
It was a tacit understanding after independence that the welfare of ITAUKEIS is in the good hands of the GCC.
Half a century later, and ITAUKEIS are still struggling on land that they own.
I can see this as an invaluable addition to the people who want to know what the people who matter most in this country think. For so long we hear what the newspapers, which I have stopped reading, put out with their biased commentary telling people what their owners think rather than the truth.
It is time for someone from the inside to give a voice to the people and let us all know what they think about what is going on in the country.
Maybe this will galvanise some right thinking people with the will to do what is best for this country, to stand up and be counted. Hopefully, hearing the thoughts of the people that are not being represented, might propel some of those who are able to contribute and make a difference to actually do it.
Fiji could be a great country, with the right leaders, people who care about all of the people who live here, not just some of them. Leaders who recognise the potential of the country and take it forward to a place that people who have left, want to come back to.
Hearing from someone, on the ground and telling how it is, can only be a good thing and hopefully might start the change that is needed to take the country from where it is to where it should be.
I wholeheartedly welcome CommonMan and look forward to what he has to say.
This is the balance we need. The reality is in the vanua from where CommonMan sits and when his views are heard and shared, discussed and understood by the urban dwellers and elites, we may find direction and greater peace.
Looking forward to hearing this individual whose education was a mother and books!
OK. We look forward to his opinions as a fellow member of the ‘lumpenproletariat’ and a farmer myself.
All those i’taukei commentators you listed above are the ‘elite’. In i’taukei culture, politics is the business of ‘chiefs’ (= elite). So I will read with interest just where Commonman’s views lie and will ‘pigeon-hole’ him accordingly.
I am hoping he does not frame his arguments in this ‘decolonisation’ BS that Mataitini and his mentor, Rokolekutu, present ad nauseum.
At the heart of the i’taukei problem lies a failure of leadership i.e, the ‘chiefs’ (= elite) who have failed the peasantry, the so-called ‘great unwashed’ out there.
History has shown that where the peasantry stand up and try and assert their independence, they have been beaten down. Apolosi Ranawai is a good example.
To borrow that old Japanese saying about the nail that stands up having to be hammered down, Ranawai stood up, and was beaten down
So welcome ‘Common Man’. Sa keimami tu qo na wekamuni. Ni talanoa mada mai.
Good on you CommonMan, can I suggest keep it as simple as you can, short & sharp. For a short period I enjoyed read Ratu Naulu Mataitini’s pieces in the Fiji Times, but after a few articles got lost in the ‘waffle on’ dribble from someone who has returned to Fiji from many years with the UN. What really will he do, other than talk, tackle the real issues of Fiji ??
You only have to get in a taxi and go down to the QVS Old Boys Club, it is an absolute disgrace, a ram shackle, dirty, filthy little hole, nothing to be proud of. Sadly, pictures of the great old men of Fiji remain on the walls, and the same would be turning in their graves. I guess its just another little crack in the system waiting for some donations from the Chinese or Australians to be fixed up. Our current PM is a QVS Old Boy, bloody disaster that is too.
So keep it simple CommonMan, to keep the interest.
Bravo ! Enjoyed reading and listening to you CM !
The subaltern rises and about time I should say.
You write with sincerity and your voice lingers on. Will be joining you next Sunday .
Just a request ~ Please do share about women in the Vanua to give more balance to all the female voices out there. Vinaka .
Vinaka GD
CW
Common Woman
Welcome addition to the plethora of opinions on Grubsheet
I would be fascinated with the CommonMan’s take on what Fiji would look like in another 5 or so years once Rabuka has achieved his 1987 goals legally
Perhaps address who has benefited all these years pre and post independence
The idea that there is a “common man perspective” is actually a myth and a colloidal waste of time. Everyone experiences the world in their own unique way, shaped by their background, experiences, culture, and personal habits.
Just like Edward de Bono’s analogy of a man sailing down a river who misses a tributary because his mind is trained to follow the main flow, each person’s view is limited by how their mind is used to seeing things.
No two people think or see the world exactly the same way. We all have different “mental maps” shaped by what we know and have experienced. What one person notices or understands might be invisible to another.
So, the idea of a single, shared “common” viewpoint oversimplifies human thought and ignores the rich variety of individual perspectives.
Understanding this helps us recognize that there isn’t one average or typical way people think. Instead, every person’s perspective is valid and shaped by their own unique journey.
When we try to find solutions or understand views, it’s important to consider many different angles—not assume everyone sees things the same way. This approach leads to better communication, empathy, and more creative problem solving.,
Your “Common Man” may have a different insight but it does not necessarily mean he is right. I’d much rather stick to the opinions of GD than adding another confusing metric from an unidentified enigmatic and opinionstef third party.
It is an attempt to get opinions beyond merely my own. But don’t worry. It isn’t going to stop me from expressing my views on anything.
Strange that you don’t see that the opinions of an iTaukei farmer who is not a member of the elite might give us a different perspective on the state of the nation. But as they say. You can’t please all of the people all of the time.