Jon's Journal

  In the Pacific society, language plays a vital role in the communication between different people due to the impact it has on the way ideas, thoughts, feelings and emotions are perceived; consider the possibility that a person could accurately depict this to another in a language the latter is comfortable with. Unfortunately, many people fail to understand the reason why learning a second language is beneficial. This raises the issue of what the benefits of learning a second language in the Pacific are.  Learning a second language is beneficial to the Pacific societies’ economy; mainly through career opportunities and foreign diplomacy. Career opportunities are wholly offered to bilinguals/multilinguals. When hunting for a career, infamous institutions usually seek to employ individuals that are capable of speaking up to two or more languages. The ability to communicate in diverse languages provides interns with a significant advantage. For instance, John White (2014) claims...

  The yaqona drink has been considered a traditional I-taukei drink used in cultural ceremonies. This is due to their rich culture and pride. However, the plant in which the drink is derived from may prove to have more uses than that. One of these uses includes its economic potential as a means of gaining profitable income. The issue being raised is the possibility of this product competing with superior nations in agriculture.  Read more:  An ecologically and socially inclusive model of agritourism to support smallholder livelihoods in the South Pacific   A research report conducted by R. I, Brown discussed the relative significance of Kava in Fiji as a cash crop. He and his colleagues found that it was used to prepare an intoxicating, nonalcoholic beverage made by mixing ground or masticated roots and stem bases with water. T he drink is commonly regarded in society not only as a cultural heritage but as a means for economic gain. In my city of Lautoka, there...

  Much has changed since the first time I reflected on what it meant exactly to be a Pacific Islander or even an Oceanian. At first, I was under the impression that to be a Pacific Islander, one must be fully aware of the cultural practices and traditions present within this beautiful nation. Unfortunately, I did not share in this luxury. Growing up in a mixed cultural background I had always dreaded filling in the “Others” section in a questionnaire while indicating my ethnicity, and when I confronted my parents about which group I had belonged to, each would bicker about their own culture being my rightful heir. To a 10-year-old boy, this was too much to bear all at once. Alas, I came across a fellow friend at the University of the South Pacific who had a similar background to mine. The only difference was that he was not in the least confused about his ethnicity. It occurred to him that if he had all the different cultural intricacies present within his bloodline then why mu...

  Many consider knowledge between what is good and bad for all impossible without the existence of God. This is commonly referred to as the theistic belief in which all morality originates from God. This belief gave rise to the establishment of Religion, effectively giving certain people the authority over others, acting as judges over the proper procedure throughout life.   The Divine Command theory states that all morality is decided by God. All obligations to it are also decided by this Supreme Being in a supernatural manner unbeknownst to mankind. For example, one of the leading philosophers for the argument of the existence of morality being more than just a social construct is Immanuel Kant. He argues that there is a need for a belief in a God in order to rest in the hope that there is more in the afterlife instead of an oblivious end after a pitiful mortal life (Austin 2020) . Thus, a belief in a God warrants optimism in a life after death. “Creation of Adam” by ...