Shri Ram Mandir to help Fiji community through Ram-A-Thon

Thakur Ranjit Singh

What started four years ago as a prop to raise funds for completing Shri Ram Mandir in Henderson, Auckland, has snowballed into annual fundraiser for needy organisations. 

First we helped out the Starship Children’s Hospital with a collection of just over $10,000.

Second we helped out Saint John’s Ambulance and collected just over $16,000.

The next walkathon, which has been named as Ram-A –Thon to reflect its initiative from Shri Ram Mandir, will be held on Sunday 3 February, 2019. This will be to help people needing urgent medical attention in Fiji. Funds collected will go to FRIENDS OF FIJI HEALTH, which organises volunteer doctors to help out people in Fiji.

Shri Ram Mandir-where it all starts - A flashback-beginning of Ram-A -Thon 2017 in front of Ram Mandir before boarding the bus.

A WALK WITH A DIFFERENCE

Unlike past walks which was long and used up the whole day, walking through built up area and roads, we have reduced this walk to just 10km. And we have moved down nearer to the beauty and greenery of West Auckland.

A glimpse of beautiful cemented walkway for 2019 walk,  just beyond Sturges Road in the greenery of Henderson Valley. You will be assured of magnificent face of West Auckland.

It starts at Shri Ram Mandir at 8.30 am, with assembly time of 8am to get organised. The walk from Mandir proceeds down to Swanson Rd, turning right into Sturges Rd, turns left into second Vintage Drive (off near 61 Sturges Rd) and joins picturesque cemented walkway of Henderson through beautiful forests, vines, and Oratia Stream, between Sturges Road and Henderson Valley Road. 

The major break will be at 359 Henderson Valley Road Ashram.

The main difference this year is the addition of a family fun day. The walk will terminate at Henderson Park, where a day full of activities is planned, commencing at 11 am. Planned competitive activities include Women's volleyball & penalty kicks, Men's 7-a-side soccer & tug o' war, Senior citizens' lawn bowling & ball and bucket, Kids’ marble & spoon, sack race, and relay and other non-competitive fun-filled activities will be organised for all age groups.

Another glimpse of picturesque walk among the bushes of Henderson Valley Road, where this walk will takes us to. Breathtaking views of greenery.

For soccer fans from Fiji, attraction will be division and competition according to ten districts as follows:  Rakiraki, Tavua, Ba, Lautoka, Nadi, Nadroga, Suva, Nasinu, Rewa, and Labasa.

MESSAGE OF SPIRITUALITY TO THE COMMUNITY

With our example, we appeal to other like-minded organisations to extend their radar of focus to wellbeing of the community.

The person leading the organisation that came with this benevolent thought, stressed that this type of walkathon has multi-pronged objectives. Pravin Kumar, the Managing Trustee of SRMCT said, “We have advised from the outset that the priority of this charity walk was not fundraising. While that is one of the aims, it is one on low priority.”

When and where it all began- a flashback 4 years ago, at 8.52am on 30 November, 2014 at Shri Ram Krishna Mandir at Onslow Rd, Papatoetoe where the first Ram-A-Thon began for the marathon 35 km walk.

He advised that the multi-objectives of this walk are: 

• To engage with the wider community, including children, youths, elders,            women and people from all walks to life – enhancing diversity, teamwork, 
        networking and multiculturalism. 
• To create awareness of well-being, healthy living, walking, exercising and 
        keeping fit. 
• Raise much needed funds for worthy charitable causes and help inculcate 
        the concept of helping others who are less fortunate than us
• Work collaboratively with other like minded charitable, community and 
        religious organisations 
• Get corporate and commercial businesses on board as sponsors

Keeping fit, and show of women-power of Shri Ram Mandir. Ladies leading the walk of 2018, just at Winter Gardens at Auckland Domain where the walk began.

We are requesting general public to reserve Sunday, 3 February, 2019 in your calendar for walking to help vulnerable people in Fiji, needing urgent medical attention. With our help, Friends of Fiji Health will be able to do that much more back home.

While walking to help, this will also bring the community together to have family fun in Henderson Park.

Further information and sponsorship forms can be obtained from Event Director Mahendra Sharma on 027 661 3242 or e-mail – family_sharma@hotmail.com

For further details please visit Shri Ram Mandir Facebook page or can be obtained by contacting Pundit Markand Bhatt on 09-836 4647 at the Mandir.

[About the Author: Thakur Ranjit Singh runs the blog FIJI PUNDIT, and is also a media commentator, and promotes community and other events beneficial to the society and enhances community wellbeing. He is part of the organising committee for 2019 Ram-A-Thon]

The Scandal of Lack of Business Confidence

The Scandal of Lack of Business Confidence

Thakur Ranjit Singh

The biggest scandal the world has seen was the Y2K BUG or THE MILLENNIUM BUG. 

Then we have some home-grown scandal and red-herring in New Zealand. One is the National Party’s mantra and gravy-train of a ROCK STAR ECONOMY. 

And the third scandal which is also home grown in NZ is so-called LACK OF BUSINESS CONFIDENCE in the new Labour led coalition government.

What is significant is that the business survey which says there is lack of business confidence is carried out  by ANZ bank which is chaired by former Prime Minister, Sir John Key, who boogied to popularity and then abandoned a sinking ship under the scam of a rock star economy (which we subsequently found was, in fact, rotten)

For your information, this ANZ Bank made an after tax profit of $1.780 billion dollars in 2017 and $1.986 billion in 2018 in New Zealand, in supposedly an environment with lack of business confidence!

Ha ha ha, what a rotten joke to discredit the new government under a survey which reeks of political punishment by businesses supporting  National Party which lost power.

Read on to be shocked….and informed.

We have seen some famous scandals, red-herrings and gossips over our lifetime. I will enumerate three.

World's biggest scandal -THE Y2K BUG or the MILLENNIUM BUG. Nothing happened despite predictions of the pundits of doomsday. Similarly, NZ has politically-oriented economic pundits predicting lack of business confidence despite such a rosy outlook. Just another politicised  lie and scandal.

The first and perhaps most notorious scandal and scare the world has seen was the Y2K bug or millennium bug, which scared daylights out of us. We were told the world would come to a standstill or it will go haywire when the clock ticks at midnight of 31 December, 1999. Nothing happened when the clocks ticked 2000.

The second such nonsense and claptrap is National Party’s “rock star economy.” Now Labour- led government is discovering the garbage, trash and rottenness under those rocks with no sight of any stars. They have been busy cleaning up years of neglect, under-funding in essential services, under-paying key (pun intended) people and lack of proper investment in infrastructure. While this made National’s books look good, such carelessness and lack of judgement nevertheless left a country with a veneer of good economic management but underneath, rotten to the core.

Another Scandal of a ROCK STAR ECONOMY under the mantra of which, former Prime Minister Sir John Key danced to prominence, while National Party slept on the job and housing market went out of control. Yes, Sir John gained out of dereliction of duty when he sold his Parnell mansion for over $20m to a Chinese buyer in an over-heated housing market his government ignored to tackle. So, he did gain out of that so-called rock-star economy, while we are now finding the rot in what National Government left behind.

And this brings us to the third scandal, and that is business confidence, or lack of it. This questionable measure has been given much oxygen by certain right-wing journalists in some mainstream media. They still cannot fathom the concept of MMP and the fact that National Party is no longer in power now. Hence they need to stop being cheerleaders of the Opposition.

As with the lack of acceptance of reality from sections of media about change in government, there appears to be a similar lack of approval from businesses. David McLean, Chief Executive of Westpac Bank seems to have a better appreciation of this fact where some CEO’s appear traumatised with National sitting in opposition. Mc Lean observed that this debate generated more heat than light, as irrespective of who is in government, there would be many challenges. This is because economic growth has its peaks and troughs in cycles.

Jacinda Ardern and her team now has to clean up the mess and make up for all all those under-funding in the National Government's so-called rock-star economy. Teachers, nurses, doctors, police and other strikes or threat of them are just the tip of those floating rock star economy icebergs.

Many business leaders are optimistic about performance of their own business in future, hence this talk about imagery business confidence needs to be taken with a pinch of salt.

This grain of salt tastes saltier once you decipher the link between this business confidence survey and those undertaking it. ANZ Bank? Yes, ANZ Bank which is chaired by none other than the Knight who abandoned ship from a so-called rock star economy - Sir John Key. He has a vested interest to rubbish Labour-led government, as he has already taken opportunity do this, riding atop a questionable survey undertaken by the bank he chairs. A mere co-incidence? He appears to be helping a hapless leader of National Party, Simon Bridges who is too engrossed in stopping a leak that has given Streisand effect a new meaning (FIJI PUNDIT will explain this effect in another article) 

In a recent meeting Prime Minister Ardern had with business leaders, she argued that business expectations as projected by such surveys did not correlate with economic indicators and unprecedented GDP performance. Others in the community have raised alarm about the serious disconnect between negativity of such surveys and daily optimistic comments on the economy.  This appears to be a matter of political prejudice rather than economic fact.

Business surveys reflect value judgements and government has been warned not be distracted by it lest those who voted it for change will be short-changed. 
Singer Bob Dylan said, “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.’” No weather can be tamed or accurately reported by computers. Best sunshine is judged by looking out the window when the weatherman predicts a cloudy day.

Similarly, the politicised views of selected CEOs will not determine economic outlook or performance which look a great deal more confident than those painted by the questionable surveys.

You do not need a weatherman to tell you the wind direction. Similarly, you do not need a questionable survey to tell you about business confidence. A look out of window on the clogged motorway with business moving on trucks and traffic is a better barometer.

All you need to do is to look out the windows. Loaded trucks leaving the wharf clog motorways, building industry is booming, more and more flights are coming, booming visitor numbers are bursting tourism industry at seams, spending is greatest, stock exchange is doing better, reduced dollar is good news for exporters, shopping malls are crowded at all hours of the day, we are running short of hotels, and so much more is happening.

As you do not need a weatherman to tell you the wind direction, similarly you do not need a survey to tell you how we are progressing - all you need to do is look out the window.


In fact the view out of window of that clogged motorway with loaded goods trucks is a better barometer of the country’s business confidence than some politically-tainted subjective survey. 

[Thakur Ranjit Singh is a media commentator and runs his blog, FIJI PUNDIT]

LABOUR NEEDS A LITTLE LESSON ON FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Thakur Ranjit Singh.

It was Mark Twain who said: It's better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than open it and remove all doubt.

He said it some centuries ago (1835-1910) but it very aptly applies to Labour’s Justice Minister, Andre Little regarding his retort to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s  stance that: “My expectation is that when we set a budget, we stick to it.”.

This was when the final cost of Justice Summit held in August in Porirua was more than double its budget of $700,000.  Prime Minister was reacting to the final cost of $1.5 million dollars - more than double its budgeted/estimated cost. 

Andrew Little defended this cost and said he was satisfied with it.
Poor Andrew Little, he made a huge error of judgement. He is a nice fellow, and in fact FIJI PUNDIT bestowed him the honour he deserved as the Queen-Maker. Had he not given that strategic Hail Mary Pass of Labour Leadership to Jacinda Ardern, Labour would have been languishing in opposition. His timely relinquishing of his position gave him this opportunity to be in Government and now defending the indefensible when his portfolio is caught napping.

Andrew Little (right) is, indeed, the "Queen maker". He very prudently vacated Labour leadership and gave the position to Jacinda Ardern. And the rest is history. However, his handling of the busted costs of Justice Summit leaves a great deal to be desired. He needs to inculcate financial prudence in his portfolios.

I wonder whether Little has previously done any big projects, events or organised anything involving financial management and budgeting? I wonder whether he was ever obligated to work to an estimated expenditure. Having worked with Boards of a Bank, a City Council and a Newspaper in Fiji, I appreciate the importance, prudence of financial management and working to budgets and forecasts. One’s career and livelihood may depend on it. 

It appears Andrew Little is bereft of any past experience in this area, because unexplained variance of over 100%, as in this case, would have resulted in his termination, unless it was beyond his control. If in any of the Boards above, we had attained the variance as in Justice Summit, heads would surely have rolled.

What Justice Minister failed to realise is that the Prime Minister was NOT questioning the cost of the summit. What she rightly questioned the lack of financial discipline by somebody who could have been the Prime Minister. She was questioning double the estimated costs, and as the guardian of national purse, she has a right to do that and expect her Ministers to regard public money as their own. All she called was a show of financial prudence by her team. 

This whole incident reflects on dereliction of duties of Little’s support staff, and they need to be disciplined. What credible support service does he get as Justice Minster? Doesn’t he have a highly paid Chief Executive (read ‘on six figure’)? In turn is he/she not supported by equally highly paid and highly qualified finance people and bean –counters? Did they do project plan, especially projected costing and budget and estimate for expenditure of this summit? If no, why?

If yes, then heads needs to roll unless Labour wishes to look at some real holes in their overall budget with its support staff sleeping on the job. And does Labour have other Ministers who are also sleeping on the job, supporting such oversight, and lacking proper judgement? How long will people expect Jacinda Ardern to be her brother’s keeper?

This article comes on the heels of FIJI PUNDIT article questioning a wanting media and communications support for the Prime Minister. I take no pleasure in writing such critique of a Party which I support and whose member I am. But I had warned them, and they have failed to notice that this Devil’s Advocate is real.

NZ Herald cartoon of 12 September, 2018 said it all. The Justice Summit was estimated to cost $700,000 but ended up costing more than double, at $1.5m. Apart from a busted budget, the summit will also be known for a very elaborate and sumptuous lay of the buffet table.

I will not sit on the side line and allow Labour Party to score own goals, and falling on their swords as they did while nine years in opposition. They need to be accountable to their members and voters who have shown confidence in their capabilities.

And Fiji Pundit, its Devil’s Advocate will pull them up whenever again they aim towards their own goal.

Finally, to the apex of the summit. I have attended many such summits, seminars, conferences or whatever you call them, both in Fiji and New Zealand. And what do you remember them for? The fine speakers? The video presentations that wake you from boring speakers? The message? The fantastic multi-media presentations? The free bag and other souvenirs? No, wrong. What you remember is the buffet layout and feasting.

And this Justice Summit in Porirua will be known for a “decadent glutton free chocolate brownie, pork, apricot and thyme pastries, four different kinds of croissants, luxury pies and chicken and cranberry casserole”

Indeed, justice has been done to this Justice Summit!

[Thakur Ranjit Singh is a media commentator and runs his blog, FIJI PUNDIT]