HON. LAISENIA TUITUBOU
Minister for Youth and Sports
• Dignitaries and ex-service men and women
• Government officials
• Provincial Administrators
• Invited Guests
• Ladies and Gentlemen
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Bula vinaka, Namaste, Salaam aleikum and good morning to you all.
Today is a bittersweet day; one of sadness and of joy – sadness as we remember those whom we have lost; joy that we have served and that our service continues to be recognized.
It is indeed a privilege to be here commemorating the Remembrance Day with you all. Each year we join our fellow Fijians and fellow global compatriots around the world in solemn, silent reflection as we remember the many brave for their service and sacrifices during armed conflict and during peace-keeping missions.
Ladies and Gentlemen, each year we pause, reflect, and give thanks to the many who perished defending their country, our country, and our people. Their sacrifice truly reflects their commitment to ensuring our existence today. Many of us, especially our young ones, may not clearly understand what it means to be engaged on a battlefield with all its hardship nor what it is like to be away from your loved ones defending a unified ideology – keeping our world safe from the ever increasing number and types of threats we see around the world.
The minute’s silence that we will observe today is a tradition born when many Fijians pause and dwell upon a name, recall upon our forebears, fathers and mothers, husbands and wives, sons, daughters and friends who perished or served during those trying times. It is an opportunity for us to share with our young ones moments of our past that have helped shape their future today; moments that have made their future look brighter and but which brings with it responsibility.
Ladies and Gentlemen, this commemoration is a time for us all to renew our pledge, our commitment to unify as we say “Lest we forget”. Our pledge will not only remember a loved one lost to war but it shall be a promise to remember all who have been part of the great service they have provided our country. It is a thanksgiving to all the valiant efforts made by our soldiers and many across the globe in ensuring that their loved ones, their children and their future generations sleep peacefully and need not be worried about their safety.
Ladies and Gentlemen, this is not limited to the veterans who participated in the World War but also includes our defense, military personnel who continue to serve for our betterment. As you all know, Fiji continues to provide men and women to serve the UN, to keep the peace, to serve in the British Army – this despite us being a small island nation. Our service men and women have always been ready to get in the line of fire to fight for our freedom – freedom for all.
There are many tales that have been passed down from generation to generation, each unique in its own way depicting the trying times, the challenges, the sacrifices and ultimately the glory. We take much pleasure in listening to these stories and it also becomes our duty to pass on the information to our current and coming generations. I sincerely hope that in workplaces around Levuka and Fiji, in cities, towns and in the villages, all Fijians will stop, just for a moment, to remember what was lost to us and remember what was granted to us by these courageous individuals.
“Lest we forget” means that we need to teach our children about the role of Fiji in keeping the peace in many troubled places; about war being a last resort when diplomacy and negotiation fail – it is something to be avoided if at all possible. It means that we ourselves need to remember. We need to give real meaning to unity in our diversity, to unity in Fiji and mutual respect and understanding in our country.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the number of individuals lost to war is unimaginable but let me remind you that numbers alone cannot adequately cover for the sacrifices made by these valiant servicemen and women. For each person who has fallen had a family and friends whose lives were enriched by their love and diminished by their loss. We will never be able to measure their achievements, hence we are provided with an opportunity to remember them each year in our thoughts and prayers – and to thank them for their sacrifice.
Our great ex-servicemen and women, in the month leading up to the commemoration of Remembrance Day, go around offices, towns in different locations distributing poppies. These poppies are artificial flowers that have been used since 1921 to commemorate military personnel who have died in war. It was inspired by the World War I poem “In Flanders Fields”. Its opening lines refer to the many poppies that were the first flowers to grow in the churned-up earth in Flanders, a region of Europe. I encourage you all that on this special day to try our utmost best to wear the poppies as a sign of respect and to honor all those that made their contribution to our safety and security.
In recognizing both what has been lost to us and what has been gained, we declare, of all our fallen that “They are not missing. They are here, right now, right in this moment, right in our thoughts and prayers.”
Vinaka, Dhanyabad, Shokran and thank you all.