Vijay finally returns ‘home’

“It’s good to be back,” said Singh, who now lives in Florida.

Natadola Bay, the future site of a new golf course that Singh will help develop, features a white sandy crescent beach and a backdrop of sugarcane farms that many consider one of Fiji’s most picturesque locations.

Singh was greeted with the Fijian kava drinking ceremony at Natadola Bay and showed that he had not forgotten the formal etiquette that accompanies it, saying “bula” — which means thanks or hello — after drinking a coconut bowl of the slightly narcotic drink in one gulp as custom requires. Singh said his fond memories of a childhood in Fiji motivated his decision to accept the government’s invitation to become a goodwill ambassador. Communal distrust between indigenous Fijians and the descendants of emigrants from India has sparked three coups in Fiji since 1987.

Singh said for such a small country of 860,000 on 340 islands, there was “no real reason you can’t all live harmoniously.”

“I was very happy when I was growing up here, I had a lot of Fijian friends,” he said. “I don’t see why you can’t live together in this beautiful country.” Singh is acting as a consultant for a French golf course developer who says the project at Natadola Bay, about 45 kilometers from Fiji’s main international airport at Nadi, will be the finest resort course in the South Pacific.

Singh spent several hours striding over the terrain of the planned course yesterday. “It is going to be a hell of a course, a very challenging one, because of the terrain, the prevailing trade winds and heat,” he said. “There will be spectacular views of the South Pacific Ocean.”

Work on the course, which Singh said will be of PGA standard, will start later this year and will be completed by 2007.