Former Minister for Labour and Industrial Relations, Trade Unionist, and the man who went for a run at the army camp, Kenneth Zinck is one of Fiji Sevens rugby’s most devoted fan. He has followed the Fiji Rugby seven’s team to Hong Kong for most of the last two decades beginning in 1991, and here reveals an exclusive glimpse into the pilgrimage of a die hard Fiji supporter.



Friday 28 March 2008
finished grog with relatives at 1am and went to bed as the minibus would pick me up from Samabula at 4am for the trip to Nadi and the flight to Hong Kong via Seoul, Korea. Well, the driver of the minibus that I had prearranged woke me up at 3.50am with his mobile call and soon I was frantic around the house having a shower and getting everything ready for another familiar trip to So Kon Po.

4.15am
Ben, the driver and his co-pilot Jo and I were on our way to Nadi Airport for this rugby pilgrimage. On the way we carefully manoeuvred our way around sleeping cows and standing horses and just missed a few dogs. We were travelling at a reasonable speed and only once I had to remind the driver that there was a truck overtaking in the distance coming directly for us, to which he replied ”oh sorry” and carried on as if it was nothing. I suppose all minibus drivers take things for granted and in any case we didn’t crash.
The drive to Nadi was short as we talked all the way, with Ben and Jo interested in the politics of this country and where we were heading. They also gave their opinions which cannot be printed here. We also discussed the history of my support for Seven’s in Hong Kong which I shared, commencing with the year 1991. This story also appears separately in this issue.
We arrived safely at the Airport at 7.45am and checked in for Flight KE822 to Korea. As I prepared to depart Fiji on this flight I must remind you that I had no ticket to the Hong Kong Stadium, neither had I booked any accommodation at all. 
As usual there were many enquiries at the airport as to where I was going. I met Sera from Nayau St, Samabula North near my home going to England to visit her cousin. She works for the President’s Office. My next two friends were none other then Tui Savu who runs a backpacker outfit on Mana Island and Mr Tony Ah Koy who runs Kelton Marketing. They were there to drop off Michael Ah Koy who was flying back to Auckland. Quick to the draw they both got a copy of this magazine and each requested by yours truly to advertise in Mai Life for a better return on their marketing funds. They both requested that I revisit them when I got back from Hong Kong.
Just as I was about to board the plane after checking in with immigration, I met Bernard Hong Tiy with his wife and son and their aunt Dr Frances Bingwor. They were on their way to Hong Kong for the Sevens and for a family Reunion. Bernard said he had previously advertised for six months last year with Mai Life, and was ready to advertise again. Another client! When you are a sales consultant, you must sell at every opportunity because time and place and who you meet is money.
As I made my way to our 767 Plane, the forklift drivers and the ground handling staff waved and wished me all the best and pleaded that I bring back the Cup from Hong Kong. (‘De Qito’) It was as if I was playing, but I suppose there is also some strength in cheering for your team.
Our flight to Seoul Korea took 10 hrs and 20 mins and I was seated in seat no 39D next to a Korean woman, Ms Kyungsook who had just visited her cousin Sujin of the Korean Embassy. She spent four weeks here in Fiji and thoroughly enjoyed herself visiting the Warwick Hotel and the Beqa Island Resort. She said Beqa Island Resort was paradise on earth for her and she was coming back there for her honeymoon later in the year. She had also visited the South Island and Auckland in New Zealand with her friend Sujin. Fiji was still better than New Zealand she told me in her Korean accented English which you must listen to carefully. While in Suva she stayed at the Knolly apartments and frequented Oreilly’s and the Traps Bar. She loved the night life in Suva. While we talked on our way to Korea we enjoyed typical Korean food on board with Kim Chi (fermented cabbage with sauce). Very nice and delicious. When I asked the hostess for another Korean Soup she replied “Yes I will take it’. I said “No can you bring it please” but she had a stern reply, saying again “Yes I will take it Sir”. She really meant I will bring it so I didn’t  argue with her. The service on board was fantastic and I wish some of our local airlines would step up their service levels to match Korean Air. My Korean friend asked where I was going. When I said Hong Kong she said you Fijians are crazy over Rugby. But she said she likes “SELEPI” as he is a very inspiring player. I suppose she meant Serevi. No comment from me.
The plane landed in Korea at 5.30pm where we said our goodbyes and I was once again focussed on my Hong Kong trip. I checked in at the Transit Hotel at Incheon Airport and slept the nite there.  This Airport was voted the best International Airport for the years 2005 to 2007. Perhaps our AFL management  should take a leaf out of the success of this Airport and apply it at Nadi.


Saturday 29 March 2008.
Had a good hot soup for breakfast at the Airport and as I made my way to Flight KE602 bound for Hong Kong. I again met Bernard Hong Tiy and family and Dr Frances Bingwor on the same flight. As we wing towards Hong Kong I realise again that I am travelling under budget. When I counted my US dollars I had $457, and it hits me again that I don’t have any ticket to the Hong Kong Stadium (The sevens team manager had told me in Fiji that it had sold out), nor do I have any booked accommodation. Go by faith or what?
We touched down in Hong Kong at 11.30am (3.30pm Fiji time) and I worked out that Fiji would be playing Zimbabwe in another hour and a half. Bernard requested that I go with them but because they were going to visit family first and then come to the ground I decided to go it alone from there. I then changed USD$200 to Hong Kong Dollars and got $1500HK. The Travellex agent then coerced me into buying a $300HK($50fjd) train ticket that would allow me  any amount of train travel in Hong Kong and then back to the Airport on Tuesday when I depart. I bought the ticket, got on the Express Train and away I was whisked towards Hong Kong Stadium in So Kon Po. I changed train at Central, then caught another train to Causeway Bay. Got off there and walked another half a mile with everyone else all dolled up for the Sevens festival. As I walked towards the ground I heard this guy on the sidewalk shouting  “Tickets for sale, tickets for sale” . Asked him how much and he said $1500HK for one ticket and that was only for Saturday. After negotiations, I bought the ticket for $1200HK. I got to the ground with my bags to see Stanley Whippy and Alisi Kanaimawi who called me to join them at their cheering stand. Just as I sat down, it was announced that the next game was between Fiji and Zimbabwe. Of course we thrashed them and we bulldozed Wales 15 points to nil. The game against Wales was a revenge of last years loss in London which cost us the IRB Sevens Series. So our win in Hong Kong was sweet revenge.
Sitting next to me was Batiri Marama and her husband Stuart Ward who had worked for Fiji Industries, Lami for ten years from 1992 to 2002. Burt Mar and his wife sat behind me and even Harry and Jackie Powell from Savusavu was there. There was also Gerald Barrack and his wife plus Rachel Rogers and Gordon Rigamoto who came from Phuket in Thailand. Another friend I met for the first time was Jerry from savusavu. He said he was a taxi owner and had paid $3,100 to get to Hong Kong. When I told him I only paid $1800 he was flabbergasted.  Even Mai Life’s very own columnist, Ms Andrea  Birch from England was there. She was good fun and also had a sense of humour. To top it off we had Vini Smith, wife of the UN Security Adviser in Beijing. She was another live wire and good fun. As they say in Fijian “sota ga na mita”.
 Another friend we met was Male who is studying in Japan. A very generous person and full of “vaka lutu vosa’. Wherever we went he was always the first to volunteer to pay the bill - whether it be food or transport. We even caught the ferry across Hong Kong harbour. I must say our Suva harbour is much cleaner than the Hong Kong harbour. When the games finished Vini and Jerry asked where I was staying and I said nowhere, so they invited me to stay with them at their Alisan Guest House apartment which was a few minutes walk from the Stadium. Guest House in Hong Kong has a better connotation as compared to Guest Houses in Fiji. In Fiji going to a Guest House is equated with prostitution but where we stayed was in fact more like a hotel than anything else. After we had dinner my gang decided to go and present our traditional sevusevu to the Fiji team at the Marco Polo Hotel in Wan Chai and wish them all the best for the next day.
Vini, Jerry, Male and I caught a taxi, then the ferry across the Hong Kong harbour to Wan Chai to meet the boys. We presented our sevusevu to Venasio the trainer and Mosese Volovola who was being treated for hamstring from the last game against Wales.
After the sevusevu there was no grog cloth and bilo and basin. So guess what we used? We used the Hotel curtain in the room as cloth, and cut in half a frubu juice bottle for our bilo. A clean rubbish bin was used as our basin. Well didn’t the grog taste nice!

Setefano Cakau and Emosi Vucago joined us but none drank yaqona except the trainer and two bowls for Mo to fix his leg.
The team went to sleep and my gang went on a pub crawl while Venasio and  I finished the grog until 2am. Venasio and I have one thing in common - his personal friend Father Suluo is the assistant Parish priest in my Tamavua Parish. I went back to my hotel at 2am and was disappointed that the coach and manager never joined us for the grog. I suppose they were more tired than the players. I heard later that they fell asleep. It’s just that I had brought Fijians from Japan, Beijing and Savusavu to see them but the top two were not there. Perhaps next time. It would be nice.


Sunday 30th March 2008
Well today is D-Day as they say. Its do or die. Jerry, Vini and I had a great Hong Kong breakfast. When I asked for the salt from the waitress she said Sir we do not serve salt in this restaurant, we believe we have put enough salt in whatever you ordered. Well I never knew there was such a cafe like that. Only in Hong Kong! After breakfast my two friends headed for the grounds while I went to the Marco Polo Hotel to go with the team to the Stadium as I did not have a ticket. I got the pleasure of riding in the team bus to the stadium. When I looked around I saw Ryder with the Ipod player on both ears, listening to his own music and oblivious to the realities around him. The rest of the team were quiet and listening to the CD that was playing on the bus sound system. Somehow I felt there was an unusual or uncanny silence in the bus that made me feel uncomfortable. For the first time it dawned on me that the team I was travelling with would not make it to the final and lift the Hong Kong Cup that all at home were dreaming of.
I desperately wanted the team to win at all cost for the sake of the country and the depressed state we were in. An injection of glory in Hong Kong would do a lot of good for all our people . We got to the grounds and the manager Opetaia was kind enough to facilitate my going in to the ground to once again cheer our boys on. We played Kenya and defeated them but that win was not like every other win. Sure we won the quarter finals but the boys played miserably and perhaps prepared us for the next game against the New Zealand team.
On the sideline Adi Elenoa Mara joined us with the cheering and the dancing. Good to see a chief letting her hair down and being with us. She came with the FINTEL Board who had their Board meeting in Hong Kong. Governor of the Reserve Bank Savenaca Narube was there with his wife and so was FINTEL executive Sakaraia Tuilakepa and Betty, his wife. They invited me to the Corporate Box and shared their drinks and food with all the Fiji supporters. Just on our line - fried chicken, beer, coke, burgers etc were all devoured by our hungry Fiji cheerers amongst the roar of ‘Go Fiji Go”.
Then came the game we were all waiting for, Fiji vs New Zealand. I don’t have to tell you the rest - you all saw it live on TV. Suffice to say there were tears of pain and heartaches amongst our camp especially my friend Jerry from Savusavu who spent so much money to be in Hong Kong. I am now used to it so I did not feel it that much except to say it would have been nice had we beaten New Zealand.
After the Fiji game we stayed on to drown our sorrows and hope our brothers and cousins from Samoa or even South Africa beat the hell out of New Zealand but mai vei they were equally thrashed. Well NZ deserved it and they were the better team on the day.
The CEO of FNPF Aisake Taito was also there in the Corporate Box and he also offered Fiji fans drinks and food. Boy we must have looked vakaloloma saraga after the Fiji loss.
There were many reactions from the Fiji Fans in Hong Kong. Aseri Cava who won a Coke ‘win a trip to Hong Kong’ competition after his daughter Nunia Likumona bought a coke bottle and wrote his name on the wrapper, was disappointed.  Aseri is currently the District Officer in Rakiraki.
Jone Qoroqorovakatini a player from the Davetalevu team in Nadroga who played in the semi-finals of the Hong Kong Tens Rugby Competition against the Irish Vikings and lost, was furious with the management.
Roland Fenton, Coca Cola Ltd’s Production Manager said he had paid for his own expenses to Hong Kong despite his house undergoing renovations. He declared that he enjoyed the whole trip, with the Fiji loss being his only disappointment.
Inoke Raikoso,  Meliki Loanakadavu, Mere Seciua and Peni Salabogi are a group of supporters known as the Fiji Fantails. They have travelled far and wide to the Golden Oldies Netball Tournament since 2000 including Hawaii, Gold Coast in Australia and the Cook Islands. This year they decided to support Seven’s Rugby and prepared for the Hong Kong trip three months in advance, but faced hiccups when FRU did not provide all the tickets they had asked for.
Selita led a team of fans who were wearing blue head gear at the Stadium. When approached to comment she only said

hong kong fever-down memory lane
by Kenneth Zinc


My first Hong Kong Seven’s was in 1991 after coming back from a Bank Union training in Singapore. At the conclusion of the meeting I decided to detour to Hong Kong at my own cost and try out the atmosphere that we only saw on television. If my memory serves me right the members of the team were made of Serevi, Alivereti Dere, Mesake Rasari, Tomasi Cama, Noa Nadruku, Timoci Wainiqolo among other notable legends.

The coach was Tukiti and the Manager was Waisake Saukawa. One thing I can remember about all our Sevens’ tournaments is the fact that we like the ‘heart attack’ kind of games.
Such was the final of the 1991 Hong Kong tournament when Fiji met NZ in the final. The hooter went for full time but the referee told half back Pauliasi Tabulutu to feed the scrum again and the ensuing move saw our Timoci Wainiqolo reach over the tryline with ball in hand to give Fiji a second consecutive win in Hong Kong. Fiji went on to win again in Hong Kong in 1992 but our hearts were broken in 1993 when Samoa beat us 14 points to 12.
Amongst the supporters in Hong Kong in 1991 were the late Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara and the late President Ratu Penaia Ganilau. Of course they sat in the VIP section. Other supporters there were Radike Qereqeretabua  and his daughter Lenora, her  mother Eta, Oliver Takiveikata, his wife  and hundreds of other Fiji fans. One major highlight of the Hong Kong tournament is that of the streakers running across the field naked to the delight and cheers of the crowd. In 1991 a female streaker exposed herself and ran across the ground just as Fiji was about to kick off against NZ in the final. The game had to be held up as the Police wrestled this naked woman off the ground with a blanket over her. Such was the excitements of the Seven’s tournaments in Hong Kong. This year we had three male streakers running from the South Stand to the North in full view and amongst the cheers of the multi-coloured fans. They sure enjoyed them.
They say once you have been to the Hong Kong Sevens you get bitten by a bug that makes you want to come back every year. And coming back every year costs a lot of money. Thank God for my former employer Westpac Bank who give me a personal loan every year I go to Hong Kong. The only condition is that I have to ensure I clear the personal loan before the next tournament comes up, and I must thank Westpac for their confidence in me paying my debts back.
My next encounter in Hong Kong was in 1997 when the World Cup was staged there. On the sideline again we had the Qereqeretabuas, Tom Vuetilovoni, Alice Tabete, Fusi Vave, Keka Robinson and British Army soldiers and Fijians from all over the world. In fact there were more Fijians from overseas in Hong Kong than from Fiji. Before we played South Africa in the final the whole Stadium was rocking and all you could hear was Fiji! Fiji! Fiji!
From every corner of the Stadium. I can safely say that on that day 99% of fans were cheering for Fiji and 1% for South Africa. However when the game started South Africa scored two quick tries and was up 14 nil two minutes into the game. Mind you the finals are ten minutes each way and right on half time Luke Erenavula sprinted down the wing  and scored under the post. Scores at half time were 14 to 7. Well you know the final score - Fiji 24 and South Africa 19. When the hooter went signalling the end of the game, the yelling, the cheering and the champagne all went up in the air. Our singing of “tou mai laveta” and “Dhil Dheke Dheko” was rewarded with Fiji winning the World Cup.


I did go again to Hong Kong for a few years after that, but we were not victorious in those outings. In fact Fiji has not won in Hong Kong since 1999.
Here is an example of this Hong Kong fever that I have. In the year 2000 I decided to go to Hong Kong but only in the last minute. I did my bookings but did not tell my bosses at Westpac what my intentions were. When I decided to front up to my boss who was new then and had just started at the Westpac Suva Office that week, his secretary said he was too busy to see me. So I decided to send him an email because it was already 4 pm and my flight from Nadi that evening was at 8.30pm. So this was the email I sent: “Dear Mr Baker, By the time you read this email I am already half way to Hong Kong to watch the Sevens Rugby. Can I please have a few days off and I will return to work on Wednesday, Yours sincerely”.
Well lo and behold Mr Baker never read the email but on his way home, someone reminded him to make sure to watch the Hong Kong Sevens on TV that weekend. Well when he saw me on TV cheering in Hong Kong he said to the wife “Hey that looks like my staff cheering there. I didn’t give him permission to go.” When I got back to the Office on Wednesday morning I didn’t get a reception or a welcome from my colleagues Henry, Odille and Deven Magan. All they said was “Boss wants to see you”. Didn’t I get a good telling off from the new boss. He concluded his verbal attack on me saying: “You do that again and I sack you. Get downstairs heads down and arse up and I want you to meet your targets urgently. Now get out of my Office.” That’s exactly what I did, I met all my loan targets and Mr Baker and I became great friends up to today even though he is back in Australia.
Another memorable year was 2005. Yes I was Minister for Labour then and I had to make sure I did not use taxpayers money to attend the World Cup in Hong Kong. So I asked my CEO Taito Waqa and my Accountant Ken Brown to work out how much I had to pay if I detoured to Hong Kong. They gave me an amount to pay and the rest is history, although it caused a huge hoo-hah here in the media when people saw the Minister dancing away among the Fiji crowd at So Kon Po.
You will remember that we played England in the semi-final and when the hooter  went the scores were 19 all with the conversion by Ben Gollings  yet to be taken. We were sitting ten yards away from where Ben was to take the kick. You should have heard the calls in Fijian, “Cala, Cala, Cala”. Just as Gollings was about to kick the referee asked him to step back another metre as he had gone away from the mark the referee had given him to take the kick. Ben then advanced forward and kicked. Thank God he missed. In sudden death Serevi beat everyone with his uncanny moves and scored in the corner to give Fiji the right to play NZ in the final. The Final was not as exciting as the semi-final as we trounced NZ 29 to 19 to take the World Cup once again. Our defence of this Cup is next year in Dubai and with the current form we are in, we have a lot of homework to do to retain the title.
When you walk from the Hong Kong Stadium to the train station there are pubs on the way and that year in 2005 all you could hear coming from the pubs were Fijian music by Black Rose, Delai Dokidoki, Jese Mucunabitu and other mixes. For the Fiji fans it was another great excuse to celebrate the fact that we were the champions of the world in Sevens Rugby and pub crawl till morning prior to our flight back to Fiji.
As a keen rugby fan I have also been to the Brisbane Sevens, Wellington Sevens, Twickenham Sevens, Cardiff Sevens and the Adelaide Sevens. None of these tournaments match the atmosphere and the jovial crowd of Hong Kong. Wellington has come close to Hong Kong but as they say in Fijian, their costumes became “velavela” again. The New Zealand crowd is a moody crowd as well. If their team lose they leave the Stadium, unlike in Hong Kong where they still display good fun and sportsmanship. To conclude, I just remembered that magical moment in the Brisbane Sevens when Fiji played Australia in the final. The game was up and Serevi had the ball. Australia was leading until that magical twinkle toes of Serevi danced through the whole Australian team untouched to score the winning try. The Australian team was stunned and stood frozen as Serevi weaved his magic wand on them that day. That was another memorable moment for Fiji and all the fans. Such glorious moments are needed more in Fiji today than yesterday. Vinaka, Dhanyavad and Thank You.