1. Socio-economic issues facing descendants of Girmityas in NSW & strategies to address them
Organisers of this Girmit commemoration event
My fellow panellists
Respected participants in todays function:
I have been asked to speak on Socio-economic issues facing descendants of Girmityas in NSW & strategies to address them. At the last commemoration event I said that Girmit is our present and the topic also assumes it. As we highlight some of the issues hopefully it will become clearer how and why it is our present.
But before that let me say that
I will taking an ethnographic perspective meaning I speak from:
Personal experiences, observations, readings and some secondary data
How is Girmit linked to decendents of girmitias in NSW??
Girmit let to military Coups in Fiji which led to migration to Australia, NZ, Canada & US

2. Before I begin just a quick introduction to myself
I was born and brought up in Fiji but I am not a Fijian
I am an Indian but I was neither born nor brought up in India
I am legally an Australian but I was neither, born, nor brought up in Australia.
Can you figure out who I am?? Maybe one day I too will
This leads to the first and what I consider the most significant socioeconomic issue:
Identity- individual, social and community
Individual identity – the unique sense of personhood held by a person
Social identity – a collective sense of belonging to a group.
Cultural identity – a sense of belonging to a distinct ethnic, cultural or subcultural group.

3. If I was to classify the issues that Descendants of Girmitias are facing I would say they fall into:
Issues with identity
Broken family ties
Adjusting to the culture of a developed nation

4. Girmit Era- starting 1879
Individual identity lost/disrupted due to loss of family ties
Girmitias shared common problems:
Oppression by coolie masters
Struggle for food clothing, shelter
Isolation from family
Everybody was a labourer
This led to formation of a strong community identity which they named jahaji bhais. This overcame cast and creed, language boundaries. A very strong community identity was formed as all shared the Fiji hindi language
1987 Military coups and onwards
Migration to developed nations- Australia, NZ, USA, Canada
Amongst other things these countries focused on the individual and individual identity.

5. Fiji Indians in NSW are now struggling with this shift
Fiji Indians in NSW are now struggling with this shift. Having been brought up with a strong community focus how do they then develop their individual identity while trying to adjust to multitude of other issues eg:
Multiculturalism and how they fit into this jigsaw in NSW
Realigning their education and experiences to the job market of NSW
Meeting the social obligations of generations before them and their wider community
Achieving an economically viable living
Raising families that will carry on the culture and tradition of their ancestors
Each of the above and many more not mentioned are the issues that we are dealing with on a daily basis and most without much assistance externally.

6. Socioeconomic costs of descendants of girmitias
Tradition and culture. India has a parallel Indian calendar with full of traditional and cultural events that we have little knowledge of.
Vedic knowledge, sanskrit language, yog vidya, meditation, spirituality, numerous religious and historical texts.
Classical music, dance and other forms of art.
Food and food habits
There are numerous socio economic costs similar to above. Who and how will they be compensated???

7. More issues:
Alienation from people from the Indian sub continent.
Geographical isolation and global families.
My personal story is that my only brother lives in Toronto. Over the past 25 years we have spent huge amount of money travelling to see each other and there have been so many heartbreaking good buys. What will happen when we cant travel anymore?? We will be dying lonely deaths. Who will take responsibility for this???
Family, school, college reunions are becoming so popular. Why???. Who will compensate for these???
We can go on and on highlighting the issues but they need to be raised with the correct audience so that there is some action.

8. Solutions:
In my opinion and observation the Fiji Indian community has not had much support from external sources (government bodies). One and only one reason:
Fiji Indian have an inborn trait of RESILIENCE. In fact I could say that they are highly TENACIOUS. This does not mean we do not need help. Some strategies:
Girmit was an initiative by the UK. They need to take responsibility for the situation they have created and provide solutions
Government initiated dialogue, mediation and communication between India Indians and Fiji Indians
Programs developed to support descendants so they have an equal opportunity to progress along the hierarchy of needs.
Dialogue within each and every home/family to develop understanding of self and personal identity.