No, I don't think this is an ironic quote from some Victorian work

[oursin]

[T]he Fijians, strong of heart and body, robust and compliant, are the perfect soldiers.

Is this line, which would not look out of place in one of those C19th military manuals on 'Military Tribes and Castes of the Empire', really appropriate in the context of an article about Fijians serving in the contemporary British Army?

Comments

[hafren]

It's almost more insulting to the concept of soldiering than it is to the Fijians, implying as "robust and compliant" does that the ideal soldier is like that Lancashire rhyme about Yorkshiremen:

Yorkshire born, Yorkshire bred,
Strong in t'arm, thick in t'ead.

[movingfinger]

I thought Gurhkas were supposed to be the perfect soldiers, but I suppose that getting uppity and asking to be treated like other soldiers has tarnished the glow.

[sollersuk]

I have a suspicion it may have been transcribed intact from a 19th century manual.

From my own experience with Fijian troops (Royal Tournament, 1960s) "compliant" is not an adjective I would use. Longer version: they scared the bejeesus out of me.

[ethelmay]

I've become too much of a nerd. "Robust and compliant" sound like qualities you want in your software.