Beyond Astonished!

OK, this is HUGE, but you probably have to be from Fiji to think so.

For the last two days, I'm walking around Vientiane in Laos, right?, and I keep hearing snatches of music and I think "Gosh, Laotian singing sounds very like Fijian singing." and find it a little strange but nothing more than that.

Then, last night, I hear what sounds like a Fijian choir and the words "Sa oti tu na bogi" and think "Oh, that's Fijian for "The storm is over!" and "Laotian must share many words in common with Fijian, only obviously here they mean different things."

And again this morning, passing a shop and I hear very-Fijian music and the words "Na bu ko drau a sola" and think "In Fijian, that would mean 'The coconut you gave me.' but obviously it doesn't mean that here." and I just go on with my life.

And again, this afternoon, I hear "Isa Lei" in the distance and go rigid with anger and think "These bloody Laotians have stolen a Fijian song! Someone MUST be sued!"

But then, not ten minutes ago, while having a massage, the song comes on again, and dammit if they don't do the whole thing in Fijian. Yup, it's "Isa Lei" done in Fijian and it's playing right here in Vientiane.

You get what this means, don't you? That some Fijian choir has a smash hit record here in Laos. It's everywhere.

OK, it's dark now and I have to get back to the hotel, but I promise you that tomorrow I will make it my mission to find out who this is ... so Fiji can check if whoever it is is knows about this and, vastly more importantly, is being paid royalties.

The Next Day:

After years of intensive research and backbreaking work ... OK, OK, I just went back to the massage place and made a total fool of myself miming what I wanted ... I have found out the name of the Fijian CD that Laotians are currently loving:


It's called "Polynesian Spa" and not only does it not mention the name of the choir, it doesn't even mention Fiji. If anyone wants to follow this up, it's put out by Central Digital Company Limited with an address in Thai script - ooh, wonder if I can get anyone to translate for me -it's easier to do it here than in Fiji - and it's got written all over it in big letters all these copyright infringement warnings which is damn cheeky under the circumstances!


The sweet little girl here says that it's in Thai and not Laotian - although they look the same to me - so I guess I'm going to have to ask someone to translate when I get there next week, so watch this space!