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Published: September 4th 2021
I was fortunate enough to be sponsored through my undergraduate Chemical Engineering degree at the University of NSW via a CSR cadetship. For those old enough to remember, CSR was originally the ultra-conservative Colonial Sugar Refining Company. Amongst the benefits of this cadetship were that they paid you some pocket money along the way so you didn’t have to spend nights or weekends working in bars, and also you knew you had firm employment on graduation, although you didn’t know where. So just after graduation at the end of 1971, I was waiting to hear from my employer whether I was to be assigned to one of the North Queensland sugar mills, one of the capital city refineries, or one of the many divisions that CSR had purchased in the building materials sector. But by some good fortune, I got the jackpot – I was assigned to Lautoka Sugar Mill in Fiji, not an unappealing option for a young single guy.
My role at the sugar mill was that of Shift Production Supervisor, and while the work was enjoyable, the hours weren't particularly appealing. About the only benefit I could derive from doing a night shift was that periodically, if
I was still on my feet by sunrise, instead of retiring to bed for a sleep I would instead venture out to one of the many tourist islands just off Lautoka, such as Beachcomber Island. Then if I managed to attract the attention of some unfortunate young damsel (of which the choices were usual plenty as in those days air ‘hosties’ were able to fly to Fiji for about 10 bucks return), we might then move on down to one of the many nightclubs in Nadi for dinner and dancing. It would be then that I would have to pull my Cinderella trick and excuse myself around 11pm on the basis my next shift back in Lautoka started an hour later. I usually slept very well the following day after around a 36-hour continuous stint!
One of the very early lessons for me working as a supervisor at the mill was in the area of race relations. As a young Aussie growing up in the 1970s, my exposure to differing cultures had been minimal, but I sure made up for that in a hurry in Fiji. The two major ethnic groups in Fiji are the indigenous Fijians and the
imported Indians, and each plays an important role in the country’s development. Almost all the operators at the mill were one race or the other (and you never mixed them in the same section) and while there was rarely open hostility between them, there was certainly a continual undercurrent of resentment. I was often somewhat bemused to be approached in the middle of my shift by a Fijian, often old enough to be my father, complaining “Hey Boss, that Indian did such and such …” to be followed soon after by a not dissimilar complaint from an Indian operator, “Hey Boss, that Fijian did such and such …”. Names were rarely used – it was always “that Indian” or “that Fijian”! Indeed, it was only 15 years later when the Fijians staged the first of two military coups to reassert ethnic Fijian supremacy in the country following the 1987 election, which for the first time brought an ethnic Indian-dominated government to power.
I don’t want to dwell totally negatively on the race issue however as it also provided me with some of my most rewarding experiences in my two years in Fiji. I was fortunate enough to be invited
on a number of occasions to cultural ceremonies of both ethnic groups, ranging from kava ceremonies and mekes (traditional song and dance) with the Fijians to Raatib ceremonies (including piercing acts), a wedding, and various feasts with the Indians. In all, both ethnic groups were extremely hospitable towards me and for that I was very appreciative.
Casual liaisons aside, social life was somewhat limited over there as CSR prohibited us from dating local girls and it was almost impossible for a female expatriate to get a work permit for Fiji as it was considered there were no occupations that could not be covered by local female staff. So I played a lot of sport instead. Virtually all tennis was played on well-manicured grass courts, and there were lots of opportunities available for both interclub competition as well as social play. In my second year, I somewhat fortuitously won the Lautoka Open (the hot favourite got injured!) and I even had a very brief participation in the Fiji Open. Also, given the Fijians love of rugby, I was welcomed by their local club when they heard I played grade rugby in Sydney. My manager at the mill was far less
supportive however, in fact banning me from playing on account of they couldn’t afford the potential of my being injured. Unfortunately, I chose to disobey him and in my very first senior grade game I came a very poor second in a collision with a local Fijian lad and ended up in hospital with my leg broken in three places. I think that’s when my CSR career started to take a downward turn! However the broken leg gave me an interesting insight into the Fijian culture. Not only was the guy that barrelled me so distressed he was unable to finish the game, but he and his sister visited me every day I was in hospital, bring flowers each day, and sitting at the end of my bed, despite the fact that neither of them spoke much English.
The ‘lowlight’ of my stay occurred towards the end of my second year with the onset of Hurricane Bebe, which passed directly over Lautoka in October 1973, wreaking tremendous damage and loss of life. My accommodation while I was over there was in the Expatriate Bachelors’ Quarters, which took an absolute pounding and progressively had its roof lifted right off. I
still remember those of us there going from room to room as each lost its respective roof, rescuing their extensive sound systems (all bought very cheaply, duty-free, in those days) and relocating them to a room that still had some overhead cover. My Morris Minor motor car, actually imported from Oz, which was housed in a garage, sadly didn’t make it through and ended up looking as thought it had massive karate chops as the beams of the garage fell onto it. Even worse was the plight of the painstakingly restored yacht, the “Fletcher Christian” – refer attached pic.
One of the perks of my time over there was that I was required by CSR to return to Sydney during the ‘slack season’ in early 1973 (January through April) and CSR very kindly allowed me to trade in the value of my return air ticket and convert it into two Pacific cruises – the first with starting point Suva and last stop Sydney, then the reverse back in April. So that gave me the wonderful opportunity in that short time to briefly visit each of Tonga, New Caledonia, New Hebrides (or Vanuatu as it is now called) and Samoa
– a nice little treat for a young, single guy.
My time in Fiji had been originally planned to finish in December 1973, after which I had been granted a year’s leave of absence by CSR to travel overland to Europe on a trip which was the whole two years in its planning. Unfortunately, the hurricane and ensuing massive rains delayed the end of the crushing season until the following February, so the manager, who for some reason had ceased to be my best friend, withdrew the offer of the leave and insisted I stay in Lautoka until the end of the season. Sometimes you just have to get your priorities right, and since I felt my stocks with CSR had diminished a little, I took the obvious move and resigned from CSR and returned to Sydney just before Xmas that year.
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Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
I also didn't get along with one of my first bosses...
on the construction job in Chiang Mai from Feb 1974 to Aug 1975...you've probably read my blog from that time. Fortunately, his boss was on my side as has been the case a number of times. We both know where our priorities lie!