Migration as a Concern

Migration is a situation where people or individuals move from one place to another for several reasons. It is one of rising issues in the world as whole. As mentioned in the interview from the carving out radios series on changing times, Heather Jarvis mentioned that people migrate to urban areas “in search for work, better education for their children and many educated islanders head off overseas to seek their fortunes”. The reason for my migration was the expiry of land leases which led my family to shift to Soasoa, Labasa - an urban area in Vanualevu, Fiji from Bocalevu- an interior village in Labasa, as this also offered accessibility to education, medical, technology, entertainment and other facilities provided in town. Secondly, migrating to urban area also helps in getting better lifestyle and also leads to diversity.

Being in an urban area, we had to undergo certain changes and practices to be able to live with the modern world. For example, the things mentioned by Abraham Batalimae in the radio talk-back show on changing times, such as “wearing clothes, different hairstyles, which do not fit in the villages”. Moreover, from my experience, I agree with Mr. Abraham’s statement, that migrating from one place to another takes a lot of time and develop certain habits or behavior to adjust in a new environment. My family instills the Islamic values and culture since it is our identity, which is one of the main factors, affecting today’s generation that is, people are fast forgetting their culture and are adapting foreign culture. In other words, people are exploited.

In addition to that, the effect of massive urban drift is that “they are divorced from social ties, traditional means of obtaining income –fishing, agriculture” (Connell, J), and as a result people spend a lot of time watching television or sleeping early which causes health problems and boredom respectively. Recently I found out that thieves committed robbery in the day- time and even the...