Address at the Launch of the 2018 RBF Student Diary Marist Brothers High School, 30 January 2018

Introductory Remarks

Good morning to you all.

I am extremely pleased to be here today to officially launch the Reserve Bank of Fiji’s 2018 Student Diary. Like Master Salacakau, some of my fellow colleagues that I brought along with me from the Reserve Bank, and my fellow officiant DSPS Bure, we all once walked these corridors and laughed and cried in your classrooms. And not only did we play and cheer in this very Hall, but we also spent many fitful hours here during internal and external examinations! From the outset I would like to thank the Reserve Bank Governor, Ariff Ali for his gracious suggestion to have this launch here at MBHS. This is in fact my first public engagement as Deputy Governor and it is fitting that I share this moment in my old school and amongst you all.

Of course this would not have been possible without the approval of the Ministry of Education, Heritage and Arts and for this we are sincerely grateful. Last but not least, to the Principal, staff, management and students of MBHS for warmly welcoming us this morning.

Student Diary

The student diary which we are launching this morning is part of the Reserve Bank of Fiji’s financial inclusion work. Under this broad agenda we have a raft of initiatives that the Bank implements or supports to promote financial literacy. This is the eighth edition of our student diary. There are a total of 5,000 copies which the Ministry of Education will be distributing to 37 secondary schools around Fiji. Again we are thankful to the Ministry of Education for their invaluable assistance.

It is our fervent hope that you will find the diaries useful and that it will complement your financial education development. Embedded in the diary are tools for learning good habits of managing your money which we hope will inculcate good habits and help you to make good financial decisions as you grow in life.

Besides enhancing your financial literacy, this year’s diary revolves around the theme “The Climate is changing, we must change too”. We in the Pacific are all too familiar with this phenomenon. Climate change and the discourse on the global stage teach us so many life lessons.

• We have a moral obligation as humanity to those that are following behind us, and those who have yet to come. We are merely passing through earth on our life’s journey. We have the obligation to leave our beautiful surroundings as good as if not better than we found it for the generations to come.
• We must be responsible and build sustainable habits or we risk inadvertently destroying things that are near, dear and valuable to us.
• To achieve noble and worthy goals requires commitment, dedication and frequently immense sacrifices. Our path is often too hard to be trodden on alone, so we must assist one another and seek help where we can.
• Life can seem most unfair; sometimes we are at the mercy of others or suffer as a consequence of others. However we must not let that ‘blind’ us from our abilities and capabilities. Everyone is capable of great things. We saw this at play with a small nation like Fiji assuming global leadership of this issue, described as one of the greatest challenges of our generation. From over 190 countries, fate, circumstance or whatever you may attribute it to, chose Fiji and our Honourable Prime Minister to assume the Presidency of the United Nations Climate Change Conference of Parties or COP23 in Bonn, Germany.
• Always be ready, be prepared, when destiny or fate comes knocking presenting an opportunity, choosing you, choosing us, rise and be counted.

Fiji continues to make numerous efforts to address climate change including having introduced a “Green Growth Framework” to guide the nation in building a sustainable future. The Reserve Bank and Fiji’s financial sector are also in support of this cause and are committed towards greening Fiji’s financial sector. Recent RBF initiatives around this include joining the Sustainable Banking Network, committing to develop and promote sustainable business models that support communities’ response to climate change under the Maya Declaration and issuing sovereign Green Bonds – a world first for an emerging market.

I also encourage you to use the financial pages in the diary to record your daily expenses as it will help you develop the habit of tracking and assessing your financial decisions to better plan for a sustainable future.

I wish to take this opportunity to acknowledge the continued commitment of all the teachers to your personal development. To the students, my advice to you is to continue asking questions. Be inquisitive and further your learning whenever possible. Your teachers play a key role in giving you the necessary guidance to help you develop your financial literacy but it is up to you to make the most of your opportunities.

Conclusion

I hope you will find this year’s student diary both useful and engaging. I encourage you to use it well and develop yourselves to become not just financially responsible but environmentally-conscious. Remember that a concerted effort is required to ensure a sustainable future for us and our planet, therefore every bit that you do counts.

Finally, I would like to wish the teachers and students all the very best for the new academic year. May you flourish always, thank you!