Vanuatu Considering Making the Checking of ID Cards Mandatory at Nakamals

[kasa_balavu]

http://dailypost.vu/news/id-cards-f...cle_ac6982a3-c1fc-58a9-bc3b-cf45230286b6.html

 

[Krunkie McKrunkface]

Hm, typically when you google kava and crime you get a listing for the Kansas Academy for Victim Assistance, and the schlock thriller author Alex Kava, and then, well, ..... pretty much nothing.

Should we have a thread on Kava and Crime?

 

[kastom_lif]

Interesting. The proposal is from Alfred Maoh of GJP.

 

[verticity]

That is interesting. It basically sounds like typical religiously inspired moral panic about the "demon drinks", and places kava and alcohol on equal footing with respect to alleged social harm, which rubs me the wrong way.

I wonder how common it is for people in Vanuatu to have ID cards? If it is not common are there plans by the government to print cards for everyone so they can buy kava?

Also, the article contains another nice example of Britglish (in addition to "tabled in Parliament"):

 

[kastom_lif]

Realistically, this regulation would only affect Luganville and Vila, that is, urban nakamals.

Graon mo Jastis are tackling the issues of urbanization in Vanuatu. I guess younger kids drinking kava must be a concern? As for a "moral panic" I don't believe GJP are that closely affiliated with Adventist or Mormon policies, that is, groups that don't drink kava.

 

[verticity]

Realistically, this regulation would only affect Luganville and Vila, that is, urban nakamals.

Graon mo Jastis are tackling the issues of urbanization in Vanuatu. I guess younger kids drinking kava must be a concern? As for a "moral panic" I don't believe GJP are that closely affiliated with Adventist or Mormon policies, that is, groups that don't drink kava.

Maybe it wasn't fair of me to assume that this is religiously based. But this kind of rhetoric often comes from groups like that. For example the claim that children are neglecting their schoolwork to go fetch kava for their fathers seems like the kind of thing that is probably based on anecdotes with little actual evidence that it is a real problem.

 

[kastom_lif]

Agreed. Sending kids to buy kava? If tawi wants a plastik he can buy one himself, or better yet go down to the nakamal and hang out.

Heck, if the nakamal has solar, bring the kids and let's have a tutoring session.

 

[kasa_balavu]

Relevant tweet:

 

[kastom_lif]

Relevant tweet:

I wonder if this is related to the controversy over Chinese-owned kava bars in town. There's a law that says only ni-Vanuatu may operate nakamals. Some Chinese immigrants are now naturalized citizens. And of course, kava bars in town are most likely to be the ones under scrutiny if they have to check ID cards.

I guess one question might be: when laws mention "ni-Vanuatu" do they mean any citizen of Vanuatu, or specifically ethnic ni-Vans? Imagine if in Fiji, "Fijian" and "iTaukei" were the same word that could have 2 different meanings. It would make for quite some controversy and confusion.

I understand that they don't want foreign business people displacing local businesses. On the other hand, any law that discriminates on the basis of race is... racist. It's complicated, though. Vanuatu isn't broadly anti-Asian. There have been Vietnamese-niVans since colonial times.

 

[kasa_balavu]

Hmmm

I guess one question might be: when laws mention "ni-Vanuatu" do they mean any citizen of Vanuatu, or specifically ethnic ni-Vans? Imagine if in Fiji, "Fijian" and "iTaukei" were the same word that could have 2 different meanings. It would make for quite some controversy and confusion

Well that's why the "iTaukei" label was stuck on the eithnic Fijians.
It's only been used as it currently is (as the name of an ethnic group) because a military dictator said that it should be so around five years ago. Many "iTaukei" object to it as they've always identified themselves as Fijian, which is what they've been called since the first kaivalagi (white man) arrived. In the native tongue, the word was Kaiviti, meaning people of Viti (Fiji).

So we had Fijians, IndoFijians, and Others (really, this was the box one had to tick on any government form that required your race).
And then PM Bainimarama pronounced that we were all Fijians, and that the people who were once Fijian were now iTaukei. We took their racial descriptor, made it our nationality, and gave them a new racial descriptor (iTaukei).
Then we all sat in a circle and sang kumbaya, and that was the end of racism in Fiji. #TrueStoryBro

I understand that they don't want foreign business people displacing local businesses. On the other hand, any law that discriminates on the basis of race is... racist.

There are always exceptions. I'm sure they can find an angle that Human Rights advocates can swallow. There are race-based policies like affirmative action in USA, Australia, and many other countries.

I'm sure there's something that would support this in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. I only skimmed through but Article 8 might be used for such an argument (I know it's a bit of a stretch):

2. States shall provide effective mechanisms for prevention of, and redress for:
(a) Any action which has the aim or effect of depriving them of their integrity as distinct peoples, or of their cultural values or ethnic identities;

​

EDIT: I'm not saying that restricting Nakamal ownership in Vanuatu to the indigenous population would be something I support. This is just (half) a thought experiment.

 

[verticity]

...
And then PM Bainimarama pronounced that we were all Fijians, and that the people who were once Fijian were now iTaukei. We took their racial descriptor, made it our nationality, and gave them a new racial descriptor (iTaukei).
Then we all sat in a circle and sang kumbaya, and that was the end of racism in Fiji. #TrueStoryBro
...

In America we have Native Americans, who are in fact the subset of Americans of Siberian heritage who have been here longer than the rest of us... why not "Native Fijians"? Does the word "iTaukei" have a meaning in the language? And has Apple threatened to sue the native people of Fiji for trademark infringement by using the lower case "i" prefix?

 

[kasa_balavu]

In America we have Native Americans, who are in fact the subset of Americans of Siberian heritage who have been here longer than the rest of us... why not "Native Fijians"?

I have no idea. We might have ended up with that if there was any public debate on it before a decision was made, or a referendum.

Does the word "iTaukei" have a meaning in the language?

In this context, it sort of means the owners. It was never used standalone like this though in normal everyday language. Normally it'd be said as Na i taukei ni qele, literally "the owners of the land" or "the landowners".