I just tried to figure out, how to get syntax highlighting into my vi editor, as it working on the other machine as well.
It took me longer than I would like to admit.
Problem
The problem is, that you would like to have your code colored, because it makes it a lot more readable. But somehow, your vi editor does not know of colors.
Solution
Install vim.
After I ran apt-get install vim, I had colored code again.