On June 13, 1996, The Fiji Times published an article on Milinia Vosailagi, a visually impaired singer who did not let her disability stop her from pursuing her dreams.

When she sang to crowds at the Hideway Resort, most of her listeners had little inkling she couldn’t see them.

Vosailagi had lived in a world of shadows since a brain tumour robbed her of her sight at the age of 14.

While she could still see colours, and read very large writing — and music very close up — the world was a blur of indistinct shapes.

She did not let that ruin her love of life, or rugby or the finer things in life, such as her six-year-old son.

Nor get in the way of keeping fit by running along the Queen’s road every morning.

The energetic, 29-year-old wrote songs about flowers, trees, people, love, Fiji and ‘her’ Nadroga.

And she sang a variety of songs from pop, to island, Hindi to Fijian.

She said life had been hard, and she had to fight harder to succeed.

But she was happy.

She had just completed her first year as a professional singer then, entertaining tourists and locals at the Hideway — six nights a week.

She also recorded her second album, which featured a song dedicated to Peter Hughes, the Nadroga rugby president who was killed in a car accident in 1995.

Her first album, Hakwa Nadro, shot her to fame with a song about the Nadroga Rugby Team that won the Fairbrother Sullivan Trophy.

Vosailagi was also a hopeful starter in the Vakalutuivoce Awards for composers.

A coaching and composing assistance from Lautoka Music College’s music teacher Iliesa Baravilala, boosted her confidence to compose her own music and write her songs.

She took the initiative to seek Master Baravilala’s coaching every week even though it meant travelling from Nadroga because she knew there was much to learn if she wanted to be the best.

Her inspiration usually came while sitting in a lonely place, such as a beach.

“I’ll be sitting alone, with the wind blowing, listening to the sound of the waves — the music and the words will come to me. At the same time, I’ll note them down. Then I would go to my sister and ask her to write it up in my song book.”

Vosailagi was no newcomer to music industry having won her first award in 1982 at the Red Cross sponsored Talent Quest.

Her first prize was a trip to New Zealand. She was also a regular with the Fiji School of Blind Band and backed up Purple Rose when she sang in Sigatoka.

Vosailagi said when she lost her sight, she was devastated.

“I couldn’t see anything, but after the operation (in New Zealand), I gradually gained some sight, and can now make my way fairly independently.”

She threw herself into life at the Fiji School for the Blind, learning how to live with her disability.

While there, she represented Fiji at the Pan Pacific Games for the Blind in Melbourne, where she walked away with three gold and four bronze in a range of sports.

She also completed vocational training at the School for the Blind and a course at the Hotel and Catering School, and had held jobs in banks, the Sigatoka Hospital and other places.

She tried to find day jobs while she sung at night.

“I always advised my friends and other disabled people not to stay home. With the talents we have, we must go for it and not think that our disability will hold us back.

“At the same time, we have to be strong and fight for what we want.”

She faced discrimination against her disability and had not been able to get a hotel job despite the training.

“We need to have the support of employers and Government to get jobs and prove we are capable of doing as well as others.

“I had faced much discriminations, so when the opportunity came up to sing, I grabbed it.

“When I started at Hideway, it took only one day to find my way around.”

She said she had at first been very bitter about losing her sight.

“Before I became blind, I could see how lovely the world was, but then everything was black.

“I sometimes used to cry to the Lord but I thank him for giving me the knowledge, talent and the career to help me up in life.

“I now accept being partially sighted,” Vosailagi said.