JIMMY DREKORE

An entry in the Crocodile Prize
Kina Securities Award for Poetry

Girls: Beware of cobras, their venom will turn your beauty to history
Boys: Beware of bilums, your little life will change forever
Girls: If you wish to fall, fall in his arms not on his feet
Boys: If you wish to start, start with the contents not the context
Girls: His charms are fire alarms unless you wear red
Boys: Her seduction is a tale of ruined history never think with the little head
Girls: Real man are real man come with comp pack not six pack
Boys: Real woman are real woman not the ones on the selves
Girls: Comp pack = complete package
Boys: Real woman = don’t display
Girls: Only way to find out = time
Boys: Only way to find out = time 

BUSA JEREMIAH WENOGO

WHEN the Communist Bloc started to crumble in the latter part of the 1980s, these climactic events were said to have been triggered by a “wind of change” blowing across the USSR and Eastern Europe at that time.

In the same sense Papua New Guinea’s development and economic progress in the last decade or so can be said to be the result of a similar phenomenon of rapid transformation.

Favourable international economic conditions have enabled Port Moresby to transform into a thriving city, a  symbol of what prime minister Peter O’Neill recently said was an endeavor to transform PNG into the “most powerful nation in the Pacific”.

National Capital District Governor Powes Parkop has described these enormous developments as the result of the “wind of change” blowing through PNG.

While such statements may provide a glimpse of the future of the national capital and PNG at large, unfortunately they are far removed from the reality on the ground.

The wind of change may well be blowing but for most folks in remote villages and urban settlements they mean little. Most people view the government with suspicion and distrust.

Whilst things may look positive on the outside, on the inside many people are confused and anxious about the future. For too long they have been tricked into believing in policies that brought no tangible change to their lives.

Perhaps we can hope that these recent developments are signs of better things to come. Perhaps.

Like every law abiding and patriotic citizen, I hope that the massive infrastructure development in Port Moresby will instill a sense of responsibility and pride in the minds of our people.

In saying that, I am mindful that for most people the daily struggle poses a major barrier to change. The sight of mothers and youths selling their meagre possessions under the sparkling new flyover bridge is a daily occurrence.

Not far away from PNG’s first flyover is a small messy area recently taken over as a market. It is buzzing with betel nut vendors. This filthy place has already drawn the attention of city authorities and, as the Pacific Games kicked off, the sound of teargas canisters thundering into the locale could be heard for miles around.

It was a reminder that, for most of our people, change is not so personally transformational.

While the government has injected massive amount of money into building world class sporting facilities for the Pacific Games, the main source of energy, electricity, is still a big problem for most settlements and villages in PNG.

This important marker of modernisation is not accessible by most Papua New Guineans. Access to it is so difficult and costly where I live that most settlers resort to illegal connections.

Power poles built to cater for one or two lines can be seen bending low as they support multitudes of wires that crisscross each other in tangled disorder. As you would expect, this has significantly affected the flow of electricity. Battery powered torches and candles are common.

Access to clean water in most Port Moresby settlements is a major concern. I have previously documented Erima’s experience where the government has resorted to setting up “common taps” at strategic points to allow settlers access to water.

It is hardly a viable means of addressing water issues. Over the years lack of community ownership and leadership have allowed these facilities to be at the mercy of vandalism, which is a constant problem.

Roads in other parts of PNG need the same attention those in Port Moresby have been given recently. Many of our roads are often impassable for vehicles yet we see the government spending money on city roads costing taxpayers billions of kina.

This is most unfair given that much of PNG suffers from poor road conditions and broken bridges which are crucial for providing market access and bringing in basic services such as education and health.

Papua New Guineans often complain that they are spectators in their own country. I wonder if the government is the great pretender giving the outside world a flowery outlook of our country’s socio-economic prospects when the reality is the opposite.

Transforming Port Moresby into a modern city is commendable, however its development has come at a high price for other provinces. It has also resulted in an influx of migrants from rural areas. We are experiencing rapid rural-urban migration such as we never saw before.

As Port Moresby’s population heads towards one million, I wonder how the city authorities will be able to provide the necessary amenities and municipal services.

Already settlements at Erima Arts Centre, Paga Hill, 2 Mile and parts of 8 and 9 Mile have been removed to make way for road construction. Such relocation seems likely to continue as Port Moresby caters for an inflow of investors. The government will have to make more trade-offs between protecting its citizens’ rights and entertaining foreign interests.

Sure, we are witnessing something transformational and it may well mean that a favourable wind of change will blow across Port Moresby to the other provinces.

But, if we are not careful, it may develop into an ill wind - a cyclone that will displace very many people and severely affect their livelihoods. It seems the writing is on the wall. Let’s hope someone reads it and acts before the majority of our people lose what little they have now.

REILLY KANAMON

An entry in the Crocodile Prize
Kina Securities Award for Poetry

Black suit and white tie
Brief case and laptop case in hand
Tinted glass vehicle parked nearby
He walks head held high, hand waving
The crowd bows to his presence
He is a Member of Parliament

His lips pour out his heart in words
Like flooding rivers
We applaud saliva that sprays from lips
For a season we worship him
We see him on billboards and in adverts
Truly he is a mandated leader

He calls for a mauswara conference at 10 am
The media was there, he arrives at 11
To say something urgent interrupted his schedule
If only his sweet saliva could build good roads
My mum can save a kina for my bus fare

My parents sent me to a national government college
He sent his kids to a uni overseas
My chances of employment were slim
But his son has a place in the government office
He is a Politician

RASHMII AMOAH BELL

DURING the past week I took to my daily social media haunt to vent. Friends were treated to a rant. It was signed off with an emoticon of a rifle, encapsulating my mood. No translation needed.

Whilst some days I appreciate people’s ‘personal diary’ posts, I’m usually less entertained by those who insist on documenting every cup of caffeine-hit.

A newsfeed spammed by ‘earlybird’ filters of paint-white dairy foam speckled with chocolate dust swirled into symmetrical hearts really tests my tolerance level.

That said, anger-fuelled rants are my absolute favourites.

In my personal approach I apply two general rules. One; always write in suspense-fuelled third person speech heavy with passive-aggressive undertones. ‘Look, I’m not going to mention any names here but if you’re reading this, you damn well know I’m talking about you.’

Extend this to include ‘anyone I’ve spoken to in the last  twenty-four (24) hours, well yeah, you know  EXACTLY who I’m talking about and what they’ve done!’. In the world wide web, cryptic words maketh every one of us a giant.

My other rule is to, as much as possible, keep the virtual world out of sync with my real-time mood until I’ve given myself ample time to self-assess.

Mull over the issue. Sit on it. Chew my friend’s ear off. Draft the umpteenth version of a quasi-diplomatic, strongly-worded email to a fiend.

Well time’s up! The issue at hand is well-baked. The two rules still apply. But I’m away….

It’s uncanny how the aphorism ‘if the shoe was on the other foot’ has a way of making itself a reality. More often than I like, to be honest.

Growing up, I was frustrated by PNG families departing the motherland to emigrate to foreign parts, returning only for short holidays, haus krais or bride price ceremonies. Flocking home to take up work was a rarity.

Family friends who were pilots, doctors and academics assuming permanent residence or citizenship of their adopted country angered me no end. So clever, with so much to give back to PNG, but deciding not to. Shame on them!

Around that time I heard bubus, aunties and uncles amplify phrases like ‘wantok system’ and ‘it’s who you know, not what you know’ as justifications for not returning home to seek employment opportunities.

Me - an obnoxious, knot- haired, fully-fledged PNG patriot of 12 years of age - vowed I would never be one of these emigres. I saw their allegations of discrimination as sheer lack of patriotism and overfamiliarity with a cushylife overseas.

I mean, who wouldn’t appreciate the services of an overseas qualified Papua New Guinean citizen? Which Papua New Guinean wouldn’t prefer a non-resident Papua New Guinean over a similarly qualified foreigner?

I’ll tell you which one…. The nationally qualified resident Papua New Guinean. Not all of them, just an overflowing handful. The ones in positions of seniority.

When it comes to career, I don’t blow my own trumpet. I am my harshest critic. When referee checks are done, I pray my former employers will say I did much more than just show up.

I’m a qualified, moderately experienced professional who has been immersed in the glorious hiatus of full-time motherhood for the past six years. More recently, I’ve been feeling resurgent pangs of re-entering paid employment. Time to loosen the apron strings.

So you can imagine my delight at reading that the practice model of my profession has in recent times gained serious momentum in PNG. A working model is to be developed, introduced and for implemented for qualifiedPNG professionals to deliver to clients.

Now surely, getting a job will be a CV away. I’ll be going back to work soon to share my knowledge and skills with my countrymen. Yippee! Hooray! Wrong!

After two years (and counting) of entanglement in this Melanesian web of psychological dysfunction via overt displays of resentment, irrational decision-making and ignorant snipes, I’m convinced it deserves categorisation in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

From being told I’m not a ‘real’ Papua New Guinean to blatant questioning of my ‘real’ reasons for having taken up residence outside my homeland. My sanity begs me not to coax further lunacy. Investing another hour in trying to put my finger on this mind-boggling paradigm will be as useless as trying drinkkulau with a straw.

Last time I checked, ‘develop a working model’ meant no one knew what they were doing and so the input of the qualified and experienced should be a highly sought commodity. And, after all, I had been making voluntary contributions to the organisation’s policy, procedure and operational document.

Of course, my overseas qualifications and experience were welcome. My professional input was persuasively documented. As long as I remained on an unpaid basis.

Talk from me about a salary reflecting my professional experience drew a reaction worse than raised eyebrows. A shut down of contact from the organisation. Cold hard detachment.

Forgive my arrogance, advocating for self is unnerving at the best of times. And I refuse to be paid peanuts. I certainly won’t hand you intellectual property on an A4 sheet unless you – Show. Me. The. Money!

Papua New Guineans deserve efficiency and effectiveness and they deserve them from people who know, know the best way to get things done, know how to consistently give the population what they are asking for. These people deserve to be appointed.

When a job is on offer, residents and non-resident PNG applicants should be considered on the same playing field. Employment should be based on merit not residency-status.

Stop sacrificing the credentials and employment of candidates on the altar of ingrained resentment based on where the applicant lived or trained!

So I come on bended knee before the leather-backed, ergonomic, swivelling executive chairs of Papua New Guineans vested with the mighty authority of hiring to make an impassioned plea: It’s time you cut overseas qualified and trained PNG non-residents some slack!

Today. Tomorrow. Before Generation Alpha meets Omega.

In the meantime, I’ll continue shovelling my words down my cursed mouth.

Rashmii Amoah Bell, 34, was born in Lae and is a married, stay-at-home mother of three children under seven. “I enjoy creating novelty-themed birthday cakes, playing chess and reading all genres but adore satire,” she says. Rashmii’s other interests are youth advocacy, mental health awareness, prisoner rehabilitation and fashion photography

MONIQUE PATTERSON | The Irrigator (Leeton NSW)

ELWYN Ravu, who died unexpectedly last week at the age of 48, is remembered in Leeton as a perfect gentleman who would do anything for anyone.

Elwyn’s close mate Brian King said he was struggling to come to terms with the loss. “Personally I’m deeply shocked,” he said. “He was a great personal mate of mine.”

Mr King first saw Mr Ravu play in a rugby league match in Papua New Guinea in the 1980s.

“I was living in PNG at the time. I left in 1990 and the Leeton Greenies asked if I could get a few footballers (from PNG),” Mr King said.

Mr Ravu loved living in Australia and was a very talented rugby league player, playing 101 games for Leeton in reserves and A grade.

He was a member of the premiership team which defeated the Waratah Tigers in 1997. “He was very quick off the mark,” Mr King said.

Mr King said Mr Ravu was almost deported before he was granted residency in 2007. “He was put in the lock-up at Griffith overnight and we had to bail him out.”

“He did everything he could to stay in Australia,” Mr King said, who helped Mr Ravu with his visa application.

He recalled that Mr Ravu was over the moon when he found out he had been granted residency.

Mr King said Mr Ravu and rarely missed a Greenies match and he enjoyed a beer with mates if the team won.

He said Mr Ravu was “very kind hearted” and will be sorely missed by the Leeton community.

President of Leeton Phantoms Bart Challacombe said Mr Ravu was a doting father who loved watching his children play in Group 20 matches.

“He never missed a game his children were playing in.”

“He was the perfect gentleman,” Mr Challacombe said. “He was friendly and willing to help, he would do anything for anyone.”

Family members have flown from Papua New Guinea for today’s funeral service. Mr Ravu will be laid to rest at Leeton No 1 Oval at 11am.

He is survived by his wife Lyn and children Shane 20, Ua 18, Elwyn Junior 14, and Janiana 11.

RAYMOND KOMIS GIRANA

Sound the panpipe
To the beat of the garamut
Sway to and fro
The Solomon dance

Sound the panpipe
In the Tsuhana
Chips (chiefs) and fork (pork)
Inherent right and deserved name

Sound the panpipe
Masters first ladies wait
Youth all the necessities
A basket for the big man

Sound the panpipe
Expand the queue
Free rice and tea all night
A buai skin for the sorcerer

Sound the panpipe
In the haus krai
House all those in black
Flood the tears of sorrow

Sound the panpipe
All notes in knots
Count the bride price
Get that woman to work

Sound the panpipe
Get all the Tambus in
Write out the taboos
Who to dare?

Sound the panpipe
Opportunists to dance
An abuse of labour
Pasin at its best

Sound the panpipe
Dance to Solomon dance
Kaukau for money
Money for kaikai

Sound the panpipe
Cheer all the chairs
Despite moral mishaps
Good or bad, cash counts

Sound the panpipe
Assemble the archers
Table a compensation unit
Eye for an eye last resort

Sound the panpipe
Walk the streets
See the opulence of the rich
The utter destitution of the poor

Sound the panpipe
Democracy down the drain
In six pocketed shorts
To an empire of companies

Sound the panpipe
Check the blind spot
Change the words
Change world

Sound the panpipe
Claim the dance
Have a good chat
Ask which way

PHIL FITZPATRICK

THERE were 827 entries from 132 Papua New Guineans in this year’s Crocodile Prize national literary contest, topping last year’s effort significantly.

Given that the competition is largely web-based we can only assume this represents the tip of a very large creative iceberg. There must be thousands of talented writers out there without access to the internet.

Writing is very important.  It is a key brick in the wall of society. Apart from its entertainment value it is the way society moves knowledge and information around. If you don’t have writers, nobody knows what is going on in the country and the wider world.

People might tell you they don’t read and can get all the information they need from electronic media – television, radio and the internet. What they don’t realise is that just about all of this information is compiled and written by writers before it is broadcast. Even the songs you hear were probably written down before being performed or recorded.

The other thing you have to realise is that the source of the information you consume, whether it comes via electronic media or newspapers and journals, has a bias or spin attached to it. Most information delivered this way is prejudicial. It is especially so when it comes from commercial sources.

In Papua New Guinea, but also in many other countries, including Australia, the vast majority of media information and knowledge is disseminated by commercial interests.

The stock in trade of the commercial media is sensationalism.

If something is sensationalised - even the most mundane and arcane event - people pay attention. Politicians especially are like terriers when it comes to self-interested beat-ups. If people are prompted to pay attention through this means it is much easier for them to sell their message, including commercial product.

Most of the commercial media in Papua New Guinea, as it is in Australia, has a distinctly conservative bias. This is because it is owned by big business. Middle of the road or left-leaning media has a hard time surviving in both places.

The biggest media company in Australia is owned by businessman Rupert Murdoch. He has built what began as a grubby afternoon newspaper in South Australia into a global mega-monopoly that has fingers in myriad media pies.

When Murdoch barks even prime ministers jump. His company owns Papua New Guinea’s Post Courier and, like his newspapers in Australia and the rest of the world, it toes the company line.

The other major newspaper in Papua New Guinea is owned by a controversial logging company which has been known to use it to disseminate its views and support its commercial interests. Church publications tend to be ultra-conservative on social issues. They know on which side their bread is buttered.

In Australia, Murdoch has some competition from a more liberal press. Fairfax Media produces the Melbourne Age, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Canberra Times and the Australian Financial Review. It also has interests in television.

Another smaller outfit owned by Melbourne publisher Morry Schwatz produces such liberal publications as The Saturday Paper and The Monthly. We also have offshoots of the overseas liberal press like The Guardian.

On television in Australia we have the ABC, just as Papua New Guinea has the NBC.

The ABC is fiercely independent, despite concerted attacks from the conservatives. The chief executive of the ABC recently pointed out that it is an Australian institution, not a State institution.

The NBC, on the other hand, seems to be in the thrall of the government. Both Papua New Guinea and Australia have significant problems with corruption but, while the ABC has maintained its independence and ethics, the NBC has been mired in mismanagement and corruption for some time.

Like the commercial media it seems to trot out government and commercial press releases verbatim with no critical comment.

So if you think you are getting a balanced view of the world through your media in Papua New Guinea think again.  If you are still not convinced ask yourself why EMTV ditched Martyn Namorong.

In effect there are no rivals to the right-wing media or government propaganda in Papua New Guinea. Social media has made some inroads but only reaches those with access to the internet.

The vast majority of Papua New Guineans remain blithely uninformed about what is really going on in their country and, more importantly, have no access to informed, unbiased or alternative views.

This is where writers and books come into the picture.

In a place like Papua New Guinea books, journals and social media have the potential to redress the balance.

The government knows this but it has no interest in creating an informed citizenship because it creates too many problems.

Feeding people carefully leavened information with as much positive spin as possible is what it is about. If it gets the spin right it doesn’t have to be accountable. If that doesn’t work it just clams up until people lose interest and the problem goes away.

In this sense the writers who contribute to things like PNG Attitude and the Crocodile Prize are leading a counter-revolution. They are championing a just cause.

If you want to part of this great movement you must contribute. You must write for blogs like PNG Attitude and enter the Crocodile Prize competition each year. You must also help rally the troops. The more people who write, the better the outcome.

SAMANTHA KUSARI

I wake up, 7:50 already
Boss expects me in office at eight
Time for cup of coffee first
PNG time

I arrive at office at 9:30
Clients all lined up waiting
They can wait, I just arrived
PNG time

I’ll serve them now
It’s round about ten
Still OK
PNG time

Serve clients for an hour and a half
It’s 11:35 now
Lunch time looms
PNG time

Put ‘Close for Lunch’ on my station
Text friends at buai market
Then move to join them
PNG time

We chew and smoke and crack jokes
Go to the newly opened
Second hand shop
PNG time

It’s 1:15
Lunch hour gone
Should be in office but still OK
PNG time

Arrive at office at 1:50
Clients still waiting to be served
Need to freshen up first
PNG time

Serve clients for an hour and a half
Time really seems to drag
21 more minutes before 4:06 & home
PNG time

PETER TURNER

THIS is the story of Patrol Officer George Charlton Tuckey, who was born at Monkseaton, United Kingdom, on 21 June 1913 and died in Kundiawa in 1946.

Tuckey enlisted in the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles as a Sergeant, probably in Bulolo, just before World War II. On 22 January 1942 he re-enlisted at Bulldog with the wartime CMF (Citizen Military Forces) with the rank of Lieutenant and serial number NG2247.

He was transferred to the Australian Infantry Forces (AIF) on 13 January 1943 also with the rank of Lieutenant and serial number NGX309.

At some point, Tuckey, along with several hundred Army personnel, was assigned to the Australian New Guinea Administrative Unit, ANGAU, where he served with the District Services Branch which included Kiaps, pre-war field officers and some military personnel.

He continued in military service until 17 April 1946 when he was discharged from the AIF and transferred to the Department of Native Affairs.

At the time, he was serving in the Central Highlands and simply took off his officer pips and continued doing his job but now as a post-war Kiap.

In late 1946, whilst establishing Kundiawa station, he was assigned the job of making sure that some cattle were moved from Bena Bena, near Goroka, to Kundiawa to establish a livestock project,

But after he got to Kundiawa with the cattle he was tragically gored to death by a bull. He was buried in Kundiawa.

The township slowly grew up around his grave, which was in the Assistant District Commissioner's front garden marked with a white cross. The house later became the Provincial Police Commander's residence.

George Tuckey’s matmat was periodically cleaned up and the cross renewed.

Sometime during my sojourn in Simbu (1977-86), George’s sister made enquiries about her brother’s grave and was reassured that it was being respected and cared for.

But over the years the cross rotted away and the memory of George faded as the last expatriates departed.

Today, the gravesite is overgrown and few people have any knowledge that a former Australian serviceman and Kiap is buried there.

More recently, the Port Moresby RSL Sub Branch has taken on the job of ensuring that George Charlton Tuckey is not forgotten and is pursuing efforts to re-establish his matmat with a suitable headstone.

The Simbu Provincial Government is also alert to the fact that one of the early Simbu Kiaps is still with them and it is keen to commemorate not only Tuckey but to honour the contribution of field officers who contributed to the region’s history and development.

Keith Jackson writes:

In April 1965, 50 years ago – under the headlines ‘Corporal’s Ghost Claim’ and ‘Tuckey’s Ghost Contacted?’ - I wrote two stories for the Kundiawa News about George Tuckey.

Here are a few paragraphs to give you a taste:

The ghost of George Tuckey is walking the streets of Kundiawa nearly 20 years after his death, a Kundiawa policeman says.

Ageing Corporal Arambi of the Kundiawa police detachment heard guitar music coming from the vicinity of police sub-inspector Graeme Breman’s house.

As he walked through the darkened grounds of the police station, he wondered whether the music could be coming from the lonely grave nearby.

He walked fearlessly to the grave and, as he reached it, the eerie music ceased.

There’s more – a lot more – the mysterious sound of a typewriter, the school teacher who was a medium, a shuffling apparition wearing white shirt and shorts and a cadet patrol officer gamely defying the supernatural by sleeping beside the grave.

Download the original stories - Kundiawa News, April 1965 - Coverage of the Ghost of George Tuckey 1965

Photo reconstruction: Mathias Kin

FELIX BARAKA

LAWS are social rules that are regarded as binding on the community. Essentially this implies that any human action that violates a particular society’s principles is unlawful.

Every law created is intended to solve a particular social problem or respond to some change. We also develop mechanisms implemented by agencies such as the courts and the police who have the authority to ensure laws are upheld.

Papua New Guinea, like any other society, is subject to the law and to its own overriding Constitution.

Reflecting on this, I was sad to hear about the killing of Roger, a 17-year old youth from Soli village in the Yangoru Sausia District of East Sepik Province.

Roger had an argument with his elder brother during which he threatened his brother with a bush knife.

His brother reported him to the police mobile squad which, without proper investigation; kicked and punched him.

Badly injured, he tried to escape. He crawled on his knees and after 200 metres could not continue. He collapsed and died of internal bleeding from rib bonse piercing his lungs.

Such action by the policemen was clearly in breach of the law. The job of the Police is to arrest and bring the accused to a court which has the legal authority to judge and impose a penalty.

In this case, the Police acted lawlessly and should be subject to legal action.

Apparently they had been assigned to a Member of Parliament, a Minister, at the time and, even though he was not involved in Roger’s death, he should have exercised better control over his police.

EDWICK KOIMA

Moment after moment I think of you
With tears rolling down my cheeks
Wishing that you would come back
But it’s like a silly dream
Knowing that you’ve gone forever

Loneliness overcome me with thoughts of you
Remembering the good and
Bad times we’ve spent together
Makes my heart break
Knowing that you’ve gone forever

Lost in a sorrowful world
With no one at the front to guide me
Or at the back to support me
No one at all
My life is so miserable without you
Knowing that you’ve gone forever

Night after night I hear myself say
Why can’t this feeling fade away
And once again I’m thinking about you
With tears in my eyes
Knowing that you’ve gone forever

Missing you so much I won’t forget you
Because friends are friends forever
And you are my friend
I will always remember
Rest in peace
My beloved friend

LIZA KABUI

MANY parts of the traditional culture of Nagovis in Bougainville are slowly being lost including the initiation of the first born child, known as Keng gele in the Sibe language.

The last time Keng gele was practiced in from my own village was in the mid-1970s, when my first cousin from my mother’s side became the last to be initiated.

In writing this story I hope I can preserve this idea tradition for future generations who might not have an opportunity to witness our heritage.

Keng gele is performed on people who hold the clan chieftainship and the hierarchy of kinship sees the title of chief passed down to the first born daughter of the family.

My grandmother inherited the title of chief from her mother as the first born and she passed it down to my aunty, the eldest girl of the family.

My aunty gave birth to a baby girl, Agatha. She seemed to be healthy, but after some weeks she died and it was said that this was due to failure to follow the custom of Keng gele.

The following year she gave birth to another baby girl, Dorothy. This time the people followed the custom of initiating the first born.

It was in the early in the morning when my grandmother woke up and went to fetch women from all over the villages to witness the initiation of her first grandchild.

It is a must that elder women from all over the village must witness the initiation because that way the spirits will be happy and won’t bring a curse on the child.

Once all the people had gathered in the village, they took the mother and the baby, who were covered by a pandanus mat to prevent the baby from being seen by the evil spirits.

The elder women sang chants and took them to the clan’s sacred site where the good spirits of ancestors live. When they arrived at the place there was a big log laid in front of them.

The mother removed the mat and she held her daughter facing the log and started singing a chant. The chant was directed at the good spirits, telling them to take care of the baby until she grew up to be a woman and could take her mother’s place as the next chief of the clan.

Then the elderly women fetched water from the river which flows through this sacred place and washed the girl’s face to symbolise that she will become a wise thinker. Then they washed her feet to symbolise that she will grow to be a strong woman. Then her hands to symbolise that she will become a hardworking woman who will own great wealth.

After the initiation they took the baby home and made a big feast.

DIDDIE KINAMUN JACKSON

Born at a time
When ethnic clash was at its peak
When black was black and inferior
And white was the color of Superiority
Coloured was the centre of everyone’s attention
Even though it was not of my making
Who could have said my journey was going to be easy
Being coloured was as a minority back then
As it is a majority today
I believed my birth was not a mistake

People talked I knew
From the moment Awambo Yari gave me life
How much more has she faced
Through public mockery
That I myself did not face
Being different was the very motivation
that made me who I am today

I did not choose to be who I am
But I have chosen to be what I am
Because I was determined
To prove others wrong

Coloured back then was shame
As it is pride today
But I put on my cloth of determination
A belly full of sweet potato
And a helmet of perseverance
As my tiny bare feet
Took on the challenge
Of carrying me to school

Day in, day out
My little bare feet never wearied
For I knew the torn little books
In the little bush hut of a schoolroom
Held my dreams to somewhere
Places I have only seen in books
That were nothing but pieces of leaflet
That gave my dreams a deeper meaning
So to that somewhere where I was going
I was certain for sure
Only my attitude did persevere
Have I come this far

As my mind hungered for knowledge
And these same feet carry me on
To find my identity
Of the person I wish to become
And the dreams I long to fulfil

I have become all that
I ever wished for in this only life I possess
As these same old feet never failed me
Carried me into the House of Parliament
The Haus of Papua New Guinea
As I stand straight and firm
With outstretched arms as your leader

I may not be perfect as was my journey
But I promise to give you my best
For a perfect world exists only in a dreamer’s mind
Many may misjudge
Many may backstab
Many may criticise
I will not utter or defend what can’t be justified

Let time be my judge
Let history call my name
Let the pages of my Land record a story
That will judge me as a Leader, a Person, a Father
I am Peter O’ Neill.

JOE KUMAN

SINE Kape is a 50 year old Yuri man who now lives with visual impairment although he was born sighted in Molgime-Kaimine village among the gorges of the Gumine District of Simbu Province.

In the mid-1970s, when Sine was a teenager, there was tribal fighting around his village and he migrated with his parents to find a better place to live near the Highlands Highway. They settled at Miunde on the border of Jiwaka and Simbu provinces.

After some years, he got married to a woman called Betty from Kumbal in Jiwaka. In 1995, there was a tribal fight between Betty’s clan and a neighbouring clan and, when Sine went to war in support of his in-laws, he was shot by a member of the enemy clan.

He was rushed to Kundiawa hospital and. after surgery, the doctor advised him that his eyesight could not be saved and he was declared legally blind. He went back to Miunde and lived at home guided by his wife and children.

Sine also had strong faith in Christ and encouragement from his nuclear family and the Evangelical Brotherhood Church leaders.

In 2008, Phillip Kai, a community based rehabilitation officer, registered Sine as an official client of Mingende Callan Services Special Education Resource Center (SERC).

Then, in 2011, Christofel Blinden Mission–New Zealand Aid provided a livelihood project for disabled persons and Mingende Callan SERC was to facilitate the project under my coordination for clients in Simbu.

Fourteen clients with various disabilities were selected to receive financial education training; Sine Kape was one of them.

They each received K300 worth of goods. Sine Kape, with the support of his wife Betty, started with 20 litres of kerosene, a carton of cooking oil and flex cards. He then rented a trade store built of semi-permanent materials at Kumbagl on the Highlands Highway at the border of Jiwaka and Simbu provinces.

Unfortunately after two months of operation, some bandits ransacked the store and stole the week’s takings along with stock for sale. Sine and Betty were shocked and closed the business.

Hearing the news, another store owner at Kumbagl Market asked if Sine would be interested in renting his building. Sine and Betty had some money hidden in their house and agreed.

By August 2013, when I monitored the project, I learned that Sine and Betty had progressed from retail to bulk sales. I was amazed to see cartons of soft drinks, noodles, bags of rice and flour and other stuff packed to capacity. Sine also had a retail outlet on the other side of the building.

I discovered that Sine had made over K15,000 in a year. But the biggest challenge was that he did not have a bank account as he did not know how to open one. He also reported that the building owner called in anytime to ask for rent as there was no written agreement.

Towards the end of 2013, I brought Sine and Betty to Ambumangre Micro-Credit Scheme to open an account. Sine and Betty deposited about K5,000 after the officers explained the terms and conditions.

When asked what long term plans and dreams he had, Sine Kape said that he would like to buy a piece of land along the highway or in an urban centre to build a permanent house to live in.

He wants to use a section of the building to operate a trade store so he can pay school fees for his children to get a better education and look after his properties and Betty and himself when they grow older. 

PNG GOVERNMENT | Media Release

PRIME Minister Peter O'Neill has thanked outgoing Australian High Commissioner Deborah Stokes for her engagement in Papua New Guinea over the past two years.

High Commissioner Stokes will complete her posting later this month following a period during which the prime minister said had seen Australia and Papua New Guinea successfully manage a number of important issues in the bilateral relationship.

"Australia is Papua New Guinea's largest trading partner and the biggest investor in our nation," Mr O'Neill said.

"There are also a number of important bilateral and regional policy issues that have required careful management in the best interests of both countries.

"Working together our two countries have been able to stop people smuggling from Indonesia to Australia.

"Australia has also continued to engage meaningfully with PNG particularly in the areas of health care and education and I thank High Commissioner Stokes for her support in these areas.

"As PNG prepares to host APEC in 2018 our security cooperation with Australia continues to expand.

"Papua New Guinea appreciates this engagement that will help to ensure a safe and successful APEC year when we welcome world leaders to our shores."

Mr O'Neill said engagement between PNG and Australia was at times robust but always warm as two countries that maintain similar interest in stability and prosperity in the region.

"Through our engagement directly with Australia, and through multilateral forums that include the Pacific Islands Forum and APEC, we seek to find common ground to advance our shared interests.

"I thank High Commissioner Stokes for her contribution to development in our nation, and wish her every success as she returns to Canberra."

FLORENCE JONDUO

I left my homeland to see the big city lights where people were educated and made rational decisions,
I got on the plane and travelled millions of miles in search of that one thing I am in dire need of,
My first night in the city was an awesome experience seeing people driving expensive cars on roads that were smooth like glass,
I thought to myself, this is what we call civilisation, independence and living in harmony, oh how I am thrilled to live here forever.

But then, something struck me so hard I couldn’t breathe, an overwhelming sadness
I thought of my people in my village, struggling every day,
walking and running, crossing flooding rivers and slippery mountains
in search of someone to help heal the sick child or the mother in labour whose child died in her tummy.

Standing in the middle of this road so smooth as glass, oh how I wish I could roll it up and take back to my homeland,
Unroll it there so my fathers and brothers can run smoothly on to rescue my sick sister who’s about to die and my mother, who has an unborn sibling of mine dead in her tummy,

Oh how I wish I could take away the sad look in my mother’s dying eyes,
Oh how I wish my village had roads so smooth as glass,
Oh how I wish my fathers and brothers make it on time to save my sick sister and my dying mother,
Oh Mr Politician can’t you see your sick child is dying?
Can you feel the sadness your mother is trying to tell you through her dying eyes?
Oh Mr Politician please make my wishes come true.

JENNY HAYWARD-JONES | The Interpreter, Lowy Institute

PACIFIC Islands Forum foreign ministers met in Sydney late last week as the spotlight of regional attention focused on the Pacific Games being hosted by Papua New Guinea. Port Moresby hosted a stunning opening ceremony on 4 July.

It was one of several events this year which the PNG government, and in particular prime minister Peter O'Neill, will use to project the country's growing prominence in the region.

Papua New Guinea will also host the Pacific Islands Forum leaders' summit in September along with celebrations on the occasion of 40 years of independence from Australia.

Mr O'Neill sought to inspire the region in his address at the opening ceremony of the Games, saying the event would bring strong bonds between people, teams and nations.

He promised that the world-class facilities PNG had built for the Games would benefit the region for 'generations to come' and said with 'global economic growth centred on our part of the world' it was a 'great time to live in the Pacific'.

In the lead-up to the Games, Mr O'Neill has been busy bolstering his regional leadership credentials. At the biennial Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Leaders' summit in Honiara on 25 June, he brokered the admission of Indonesia as an associate member of the group, 'representing the five Melanesian Provinces in Indonesia'.

The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) had applied for membership too, an initiative supported by civil society groups across Melanesia. West Papuan hopes of securing full membership had been high following an impassioned speech by the MSG summit host and new chair, Solomon Islands prime minister Manasseh Sogavare.

But it was Mr O'Neill's formulation which won the day, and the ULMWP was instead accorded the status of an 'observer member representing Melanesians living abroad.' O'Neill's position is that there is no collective voice among the West Papuan political movements so it is not appropriate for a group that is not elected to represent West Papua at the sub-regional level.

Mr O'Neill broke news of this decision via a Facebook post before the MSG leaders addressed a press conference or released their communiqué in Honiara. This was important.

That he made his announcement separately and not in concert with the other leaders suggests he wanted to demonstrate his own role in brokering the outcome.

Given that so much of the advocacy for the West Papuan cause is now conducted via social media channels (including in Papua New Guinea), announcing the MSG's decision on Facebook also helped Mr O'Neill show he is in touch with his constituency.

Mr O'Neill had already promised Papua New Guinea's support for Indonesia's associate membership during President Joko Widodo's visit to Port Moresby on 11-12 May. He followed up by announcing the proposal at the Pacific Leaders' Meeting in Japan on 22-23 May.

Mr O'Neill made it clear in Japan that Pacific Island countries had to deal with the Indonesian President and elected leaders of the Indonesian provinces with Melanesian populations if they wanted to see social conditions for West Papuans improve.

He also set a tone for his expectations about how Pacific Island countries should deal with 'issues such as climate change, asylum seekers, West Papua' and their interactions with each other, stressing that 'playing emotional politics through the media is not the way to manage international issues in the modern world.'

PNG has further promoted its leadership through a series of bilateral initiatives in the region. Mr O'Neill wants to bestow the region's elder statesman, long-serving Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa, with PNG's highest award, the Order of Logohu, during the Pacific Islands Forum leaders' meeting.

Papua New Guinea provided disaster relief to Vanuatu following Cyclone Pam in April, including a $2.5 million aid package and an assessment team. The PNG government is delivering a five-year development assistance program worth about $49 million to Solomon Islands.

Most of the credit for PNG’s new leadership role in the region should go to prime minister O'Neill. He has made a number of important speeches and interventions in 2015 both at home and abroad that are clearly focused on building and securing recognition of PNG's reputation as a regional leader and projecting his views on how PNG and its Pacific neighbours should interact on the global stage.

PNG is by far the largest Pacific Island nation in terms of population size, GDP and land size, and arguably more deserving of recognition as a regional leader than Fiji, which has historically played that role.

But PNG's national development challenges are so much more significant in scale than those faced by any other island nation in the region.

It is far from guaranteed that the prime minister can rely on support from his ministers, government agencies and the public, all of whom are necessarily more focused on domestic priorities, to reinforce his regional leadership ambitions.

ABNER YALU

Wished I told you mom just once,
I fed off your spiritual bounce,
you brought me thus far,
with no money but Faith and fire,
and your favorite digging stick of course,
on which countless kaukau mounds,
sprung endless food abound,
and, more so often than others,
a motherly whack or fatherly two,
just so the naughtier in me found true,
pain came to those hambag-inclined.

Still you left so soon,
without me a chance to say thank you,
or at least buy you lunch, a buai or two,
you left with nothing in your purse,
perhaps in the interest of the Lord,
but I still can't help wonder,
if I could have changed your departure,
with all these cash now lay useless.

God forgive me if I wronged,
to have wished my mom returned,
to care for her in better ways,
buy her a dress or trip somewhere,
even medicine, and medical tests,
yet regrets and pain are all I gain,
for in the giant hole she left me,
was her final kaukau mound,
I wished I told you mom just once,
that I love you so very much.

BOMAI D WITNE

THE issues surrounding climate change are real and different human communities across the globe are taking various approaches to deal with the resulting challenges.

In the Catholic Church, Pope Francis has used an encyclical, Laudato Si mi Signore (Praise be to you my Lord), to extend the thoughts of St Francis of Assisi and other popes on the need for people to care for the world’s environment.

Pope Francis reiterated St Francis’s words that the earth is a common home for humanity and is like a sister with whom humanity shares life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace humanity.

In the encyclical, among many thoughts, Pope Francis challenged the current generation of humanity to think seriously about the kind of world it is creating and leaving for its children and those who come after them.

He said the challenge facing the environment now requires a holistic not a piecemeal approach from humanity.

Countries, governments, non-government organisations, churches and civil society have to join hands to deal with the great challenges facing the environment.

Pope Francis is on an environmental protection crusade and was in Ecuador last week to encourage government and people to protect the Amazon rainforest and the indigenous people who live there.

“The tapping of natural resources, which are so abundant in Ecuador, must not be concerned with short-term benefits,” Pope Francis said. “As stewards of these riches which we have received, we have an obligation toward society as a whole, and toward future generations.”

The Catholic Church across the globe has a duty to ensure Pope Francis’s message reaches people. It is not enough for priests to preach from the pulpit about environmental degradation, the church community must engage in action-oriented dialogue.

After all, the local people understand their environment and they know about the rapid changes that are taking place.

Last week, Mary Help of Christians Parish, Kefamo, located in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea and under the servant leadership of Fr Michele Morando, arranged for a week long retreat for parish youth to discuss environmental issues and talk about how to deal with them.

The young people travelled from Kefamo to a remote parish located in the headwaters of Yonkey Dam in the Obura-Wonenara District. They were introduced to Pope Francis’s message on the environment andtasked to critically think about it in the context of their own environment.

They came from different parts of PNG and provided their views on environment and how people are making efforts to conserve it or, on the other hand, thoughtlessly destroying it.

In their presentations, the youth said they understood their role in environmental issues and pledged to take action to protect the environment in their communities.

Many students on holiday also confessed the retreat was a nice way of keeping them busy and out of trouble during their school holiday.

JOE KUMAN

MY siblings and I know him as Papa Mikal (Papa Michael) while other people in the community call him Kaupa Michael, Kaupa Dama, Kaupa Kansol (Councillor) or Kaupa Jas (Judge).

He is one of those individuals whom I have recently realised stand firmly and fairly against all the frustrations and drudgery of life; in this case the Yuri way of life in the mountains of central New Guinea.

Kaupa Dama of the Yuri tribe has lived all his life in the rugged terrain and gorges of Mon and Maril in the Gumine District.

He was born in the 1950s to Luluai Dama Daniel (Damabia) from Minigauma clan of Yuri Alaiku and Yani Anna Wakai from Nimaikane clan of the Bari tribe in the Kerowagi District.

In the early 1970s he was appointed a tax collector by the colonial administrators of Gumine to assist then Councillor Iraibia of the Yuri Yonwaibune clan.

Collecting head tax from community members was part of the ward councillor’s duty and, as the money was collected, the councillor handed it to the Kiaps to run the affairs of the district.

Councillor Iraibia’s Tok Pisin (Pidgin) was not good enough to converse and explain community situations with colonial administrators so he would ask Kaupa Dama to translate. Later Iraibia voluntarily nominated Kaupa Dama to be his successor.

Kaupa Dama served for three consecutive terms as a councillor before he resigned from the seat after sensing that other members of the community, although contesting the seat, could not win. He wanted them an opportunity for political leadership.

Minigauma is a sub-clan of the Kumaikane clan of Kepagale, itself a sub-tribe of the Yuri Alaiku tribe in the Gumine District of Simbu Province.

Minigauma was known for being the root cause of almost all tribal warfare in the land of Yuri and bears the name ‘Mini-Sahu’ meaning defiant and rebellious race.

All minor problems created by a Minigauma man turned into tribal warfare with a general perception that the Minigauma were a cursed group of people.

There was a major blow in the mid-1970s when the big Yuri tribe divided into diasporas when a man from another Yuri clan (Elakane) was blamed for the death of a Minigauma man in Kimbe, West New Britain.

The deceased had in fact died of malaria when working on the palm oil plantation. His relatives blamed the poor Elakane man and one of the fathers of the deceased wasted no time visiting the Elakane clan’s hausman (men’s house) at 5:30 one morning, jumped on the kunai roof breaking it open and then pissing into the beds below shouring at the top of his voice, “Na monah di keli singa, giul golia…inata, inata” (‘it is painful having my penis chopped off, replace it, replace!’).

This is supposed to mean that one of the male members of the clan had died and he felt much pain and cried out for replacement which was obviously impossible.

The Elakane men who woke to see that something strange was happening on the roof. In practice, no one from another clan or hausman was allowed to do such thing because it represented a call for battle. The first ever fight in Yuri started soon after.

The Yuri tribal members formed allies in respect of relationships and geographical proximity. The war was protracted and many young men and members of communities from both sides died.

The blame for the subsequent deaths and destruction of property has been put on to the Minigauma clan from generation to generation. The new name labelled on the Minigauma is ‘Kura bah ipal’ or ‘Talame bah ipal’ meaning to say ‘troublemakers’ or ‘culprits of wars and immoralities’.

The victim’s clan members have used this as an excuse to steal pigs, batter the menfolk and sexually assault their wives and daughters but the Minigauma clan were patient and calm because they knew they could not replace the lives of those who died in the warfare they created.

The war happened when Kaupa Dama was in his sturdy and youthful period. He went to war beside his father Luluai Dama Daniel and uncles Kaile Drua, Maimabah and Dama Kaupa Yalkops.

Everyone was compelled to take positions according to clan to fight the enemy and Kaupa Dama had no option but to join his father and uncles at the frontier. Being a root cause of any tribal fight in Yuri is to be like the infantry which must always occupy the leading edge to clear the way for other clans to be wound-free.

Kaupa Dama said that nothing good happened after the war but a lot of young men from both sides lost their lives, property was destroyed, land was lost and many just fled into the diaspora.

The aftermath of war in the Highlands, especially Simbu, is all about compensation, retaliation and continuous grudges and claims. Though allies volunteer to join the fight, there is always a form of payment for the support they give, whether providing food and shelter, supplying weapons, nursing the wounded or carrying dead bodies.

In 1978, the Minigauma clan organised to mobilise resources like pigs and cash to pay the families of the deceased, compensate for property lost and reward those who supported them in the fight.

They gathered more than 50 pigs and about K14,000 cash. Kaupa Dama was fortunate because he had some money from the tax he collected when the war began which he diverted to compensation.

However, the label ‘Talame bah Ipal’, ‘culprits of wars and immoralities’, remained on many lips of the other clans bringing feelings of guilt and shame to the Minigauma. As a result, many fled the lands of Oldale, Silmain, Biominkonba, Alulmah and Gomagula to Ganigle and Miunde in the Kerowagi district, Minj, Banz and Kudjip in the Jiwaka area and even to the urban centres of Mt Hagen and Lae.

After some years, their traditional houses had rotted to the ground and their gardens turned into weeds and bushes. Eventually the entire Minigauma land was deserted. The only people remaining were the immediate family members, brothers and fathers of Kaupa Dama who stood in defence of their traditional land despite the criticism and accusations.

In 1993, when I attended Iri community school, my class teacher Blasius Sunabai from Oro Province dismissed the class on a Monday morning informing us that there was going to be a court case between the Kepagale  and Nombrigale sub-tribes of Yuri over election related violence that happened the day before.

Drua Dama, a young man from Minigauma clan was assaulted by supporters of John Bal, a candidate from Nombrigale who contested the provincial Wikauma constituency and lost to Peter Mek Tala of the Kepagale sub-tribe of Yuri.

Drua Dama was on his way to Sunday service at Waramon Catholic Parish when the Nombrigale youths attacked him because of Peter Mek’s victory.

Kaupa Dama was an eyewitness of the assault but told the victim, who was his uncle’s son, to be calm and accept it. He sent Drua straight home so as not to spread the news which might instigate a ripple effect that would lead to warfare.

As I was playing marbles with other children in the village, a senior person from another family of Minigauma clan called at the top of his voice to the allied clans of Kepagale sub-tribe to mobilise for Monday’s court case about the confrontation.

He deliberately did this despite his brother Kaupa attempting several times to stop him. All the men were alerted and the same afternoon prepared to attend the court at Iri school.

Iri school had 800-1,000 students at that time. I would join the Kepagale children to run down Molgime mountain while children from Elakane and Minakne clans raced down the other side of the mountain to Iri. Students from Nombrigale clan strolled up from Omdara, Waramon and even children from Era tribe came all the way from Buli.

On the Monday, as we assembled to sing the national anthem, we had the Kepagale men yodeling and running down Molgime hill so we had to be dispersed by teachers back to our respective villages.

Suddenly I saw houses of Nombrigale clan beside the school set on fire and the Nombrigale took revenge and the war began.

There was no court case, no explanation, no demand for compensation. How hard Kaupa Dama and his family had tried to stop the actions of the other Kepagale people. Leaders from the Kumaikane clan despised him and ran in the frontline to urge the war to ripple out. That first day was chaotic and a tribal fight was declared.

Tomorrow: A bloody war breaks out despite Kaupa Dama’s efforts