Tiny isle bans trousers on Sundays

Men living on a tiny Fijian island have been ordered to wear a skirt instead of trousers on Sundays to avoid offending God. The Methodist Church on Bua island has ruled that men must wear the traditional island sarong, called a sulu, on Sundays to learn to respect the significance of the holy day.

Families cannot travel on any motorised transport or do any form of work, including hanging out clothes to dry, until they get the message, Galoa Village headman Josefa Baleinasiga said.

"The ban is meant to bring good luck to the island as we respect the day of the Lord," he said. "You can see that often misfortune befalls us because we don't respect His commandments that there be no work performed on Sunday except worship."



He said that since the ruling was made, clothes lines on the island had become full on Saturdays and people had stopped travelling offshore in boats fixed with outboards. "But we make exceptions during emergencies for the sick so it's not a ban that hasn't been well thought out," Mr Baleinasiga said.

But it hasn't been a hit with everyone. A villager who wished not to be named said the ban was "too restrictive".

"We can't understand how wearing a sulu vakataga on Sunday will help us forge closer relations with the divine," he said.