Only In Papua New Guinea

10,000 VIEWS AND COUNTING!

2012-07-02T11:43:00.001+10:00

Yes, Only In Papua New Guinea has reached a milestone 12 months into operation with my announcement that over the weekend we reached 10,000 views!

Yes 10,000 people around the world and in PNG have viewed the site since May 11th 2011! I am proud of this achievement and will continue to publish great stories for you all to read! If you have not been on our mailing list please join by clicking the link on the right or follow us as well!

10,000 reads and counting and I want to say thank you to firstly my faitful readers, people who have pushed me to continue writing, random internet users and most importantly Google for allowing me to host three (3) sites for free. (Newsmate PNG and PNG Media Critic)

I will continue to write and publish stories and opinion based agendas on the site if and when I'm sitted in my office or travelling to where there is internet access. I admit I have been travelling alot lately thus the low input rate on my publications.

But none the less thanks again to all of you to make us reach the 10,000 readership tag!

Cheers,

Nelson P THOM

Great PNG MUSIK FESTIVAL

2012-06-20T11:42:00.004+10:00

Hi all,

I was privileged to be invited to the 2012 SP Musik Festival by SP Brewery on Saturday 9th June at the Port Moresby Country Club. It was a jam of a night with great music on show, and from my observations a step up from last year's event!

With my VIP pass I enjoyed the night sneaking in here and there bumping into old friends and making new ones. Akay47 was there on the night and I managed to have a chat with him catching up on old time as well as what the future holds for PNG music in general.

On the night there were performances from Raiwat band of ENB, the famous Barike band with its new look makeup but sounding perfectly the same. Anslom Nakikus and Raadaz band and PNG's hottest band and my bro Honley and the Jokema band all performing hits on the night making it a memorable one for everyone who attended.

PNG music is heading the right way and we are on the verge of becoming an international hit making country with modern day musicians and even the old ones moving forward in making music. Akay47 and South Tribe (Londea Multimedia) for me where the stepping stone to making international hits moving on from the analogue to digital music making. Then we saw groups coming on board for the ride and so far the ride has been great for PNG music.

Anyway, Akay47 along with other music ambassadors have done great things for PNG music and I applaud everyone moving the music industry in PNG forward. The road may be long but a start is always the key to success.

Here are some pics from the 2012 SP Musik Festival, enjoy!!!

(L-R) Jokema band guitarist, MC MainMan and Honz

Honz, a fan and MC MainMan

Brothers in arms - Honz and MC MainMan

Raiwat Band on stage performing

Cuz Malu and MC MainMan

Wilson, Malu and MC MainMan

Jokema on stage (Sorry low quality pic)

Wilson, Franco Blots and MC MainMan

IT'S SOO GOOD TO BE BACK WRITING!

2012-03-07T11:14:00.000+10:00

It's great to be back doing what I love doing and that is writing! And after the 5 or so months in the wilderness of the ICT world, I finally managed to arrive at Windows 7, with all my cargo and my equipments working as brand new.

As this is my first day back afther a long while, I would love to share some of my pictures I took in the last 5 months.

Cheers,

First up...Beautiful Jaisaben Resort in Madang province!

RANDOM Port Moresby PICS!

Yorks City an Independence special

2011-09-27T14:14:00.001+10:00

Iokea or Yorks City as the Gulf people call it, is about 20 or so kilometers from the Trans-highway from Port Moresby to Kerema in the Gulf Province.

On the Independence weekend we took a trip there for some customary work on my uncle's head stone. It took us a good 3 to 4 hours from Port Moresby to the turn-off into Iokea which is at Apanaipi. From there another grueling 20 or so kilometers along the rugged dusty roads into the village. It was fun, and an adventure for a lot of the travelling team as it was their first trip along the highway or into Yorks city.

The road from Port Moresby was great apart from the occasional potholes, humps, ditches and youths collecting money, claiming it for church work. Anyway, about 4 to 5 kilometers in the Beraina area before the Angabanga bridge is not sealed and a little bit bumpy. But it was adventure! From the turn off at Apanaipi to Yorks city, there is a big ditch or we called it "Ryan Pini's Swimming pool" that is about 1.5 meters deep and filled to about 80 or so centimeters of brown miloish water. (I doubt Ryan would train in that). It's about 10 to 15 meters long and only 4wd's can pass through that area.

Well all the vehicles made it across accept for the big PMV truck which feared it would bog. Anyway the adventure continued as we all got off the vehicles and decided that the women, mothers and children would travel to the village first and the vehicles would return for us - "the adventurers". So the long wait began and we found stuff to do to keep us occupied and alert for the bushes hide some harmful enemies like, snakes, mosquitoes and ghosts. So we decided to light a few fires to keep us alive from the harm, we even danced and pretended to be drunk, cracking jokes and all for the sake of survival.

Anyway, the party returned and we all shifted the cargo from the PMV truck on the other side of the Pini pool to the safety of the vehicles. Then it was home time, the dusty bumpy road took us all the way to Yorks city. As usual jokes and fun all the way. It was about 8:30pm when we left the Pini pool and arrived some good hour so later in the village. The night flew by and before we knew it we said good night after freshening up and made our way to bed for the big day tomorrow.

The next day (September 16th)...

After the days activities (I'll post something on this), it was time to head to the Yorks beach. Yes you heard right the beach and its about 20 minutes walk from where we are (We are about 2 kms inland where an old airstrip was before). Anyway, we had some fun time at the beach and headed back home for too reasons really. Number one, it was so humid and hot and number two, from the beach it takes you some hundred meters to reach the sea.

The next few days were the same as we had a walk around the village and went to visit some of our relatives graves to pay our respect to them. After that it was the beach again, and the long walk back to the old airstrip. Water there is a problem but we managed quite well because we went there prepared. But that was not an excuse, as there was a water supply pipe running through the whole villages. My dad was dying to go and see the source of the water supply but there was no time to do that.

Well after a few nights, we headed back to Port Moresby, but it felt strange for most of us. Maybe because Yorks had so much to offer that we did not stay long enough to experience that. We kind of felt we wanted to stay and really took our time to get ready for the return trip. But as adventures are full of surprises, we encountered one minutes before we took off. One of the vehicles had broken studs to two of its back wheels forcing us to abandon the car and make an extra trip once we arrived safely at the Apanaipi junction back to Yorks. But all was good as we left for Port Moresby at about 3pm. A fun trip back to wrap up an eventful Independence long weekend, arriving to the busy traffic lights with 10, 000 cars, noise, and the hassle and bustle of city life (excluding Yorks City).

Cheers,

Beautiful faces of Kiriwina

2011-09-26T11:02:00.002+10:00

Oh it's great to start writing again after all this traveling and the busy schedule. I hope everyone of you enjoyed the 36th Independence Anniversary in each of the places in PNG and abroad that held celebrations. I had a good experience traveling to my mum's village (my mum's not mine), in Iokea, Gulf Province. It's good to visit different places and I enjoy traveling and adventure and the Iokea trip was one of a kind.

Anyway, I'll post something on that later in the week I promise. But today, I just want to share some of the Kiriwina pictures which I took, on my trip there late last month. I promised to do so earlier but hey, I'm only human...hehehehe. I hope you enjoy the pictures and special thanks to Lawrence Abbady and Joshua Aive for contributing some of the pictures! That one how???

Cheers,

Happy Independence - Be a Patriot and lead the way

2011-09-13T10:46:00.000+10:00

Happy Independence to all Papua New Guineans and beloveds of this wonderfully unique country. We have archived a lot since attaining Independence in 1975 and we are set for a bigger yet colorful and bright future. In the land of over 850 languages and ethnic diversity, to be One Nation, One Country and One People for 36 years is an outstanding feat.

On the Day of our 36th Anniversary on Friday September 16th, let us reflect on our past and set our sights into the future. Let us learn from our experiences both good and bad, lucky and unlucky and adapt to adopt a new vision and strive for a better PNG. It can be done, it is possible if we the People of this great nation stand up and be counted as individuals, groups and as a country. It can be done if each and everyone of us change the bad and lazy habits we have acquired in the last 36 years and be more resourceful, productive and positive in the years following this. It can be done if we have One voice, One Goal and One Vision.

We can not rely on the Government of the day as we have done in the last 36 years and get nothing or little from them. It is time my fellow Papua New Guineans, it is time that we do something for ourselves, from our own sweat and hard work rather that waiting for the services to reach us. It is time that we do our bit for PNG, it is time we take the step and move our country forward. We can not wait for another 36 years, we can not put our trust and faith on the government of the day. It's time we do our bit and let the Government see what we the people can do and assist us. Let's fix the roads, lets build classrooms and churches and clinics and market shelters, lets raise funds to buy books for our schools, medicine for our clinics, materials for our churches, lets pick up the rubbish and clean our communities, towns and cities, lets show the 109 members of parliament that if they can't do it we can.

Let us UNITE and be PATRIOTS of our country, let us invite Tourists, Investors, Missions and people from around the world to the shores of our PNG and let them experience our diverse culture, non like any in the world. Let us drop the guns and weapons and pick up our garden tools and work hard to be someone with value and worth in our communities. Let us mind our own selves and let the Tourists, Investors, Missions and people from abroad assist us in making our lives better. Let us not rely too much on others and start relying on ourselves and families and communities.

Imagine a Papua New Guinea free of troubles, problems, crimes and corruption. Imagine walking to the store or market at 10pm at night. Imagine a shopping centre free from betel nut stains and petty crimes. Imagine big events being staged in PNG. Imagine the true meaning of Independence and Patriotism. We can do it, we have done it before and we can still do it. Drop the bad attitude and pick up the good attitude, go your own way and not follow the crowd, say no when you know its wrong, say yes if you know the people of this country will benefit from you, say CHANGE and CHANGE, say NO and mean NO! We can do it PNG, we CAN!

When you wake up on Friday September 16, sing the National Anthem and shed a tear for this country, I know I will. Say the National Pledge with your right hand over your HEART and feel your heartbeat and shed a tear for PNG, I know I will and I know you will too. Shed a tear and you will feel how it is to be a Papua New Guinean and how PNG means so much to you.

National Anthem

O arise you sons of this land.

Let us sing of our joy to be free,

Praising God and rejoicing to be,

Papua New Guinea

Shout our name from the mountains to the sea.

Papua New Guinea;

Let us raise our voices and proclaim,

Papua New Guinea.

Now give thanks to the good lord above.

For his kindness, his wisdom and love,

For this land of our fathers so free,

Papua New Guinea.

Shout again for the whole world to hear,

Papua New Guinea,

We're independent and free,

Papua New Guinea.

National Pledge

We, the people of Papua New Guinea,

Pledge ourselves, United in One Nation.

We pay homage to our cultural heritage,

The source of our strength,

We pledge to build a democratic society,

based on justice, equality, respect and

prosperity for our people.

We pledge to stand together as one people,

One Nation, One Country.

GOD Bless Papua New Guinea.

HAPPY 36TH INDEPENDENCE ANNIVERSARY PAPUA NEW GUINEA!!!

Nelson P THOM

PNG's Islands of LOVE!

2011-09-05T10:07:00.000+10:00

Hi again and my deepest apology for the two weeks of you reading the same write ups, I was really tied down with work and travel but hey if your reading this...I'm Back!

Beautiful young faces of Kiriwina, ready for a traditional dance

Age is no barrier when it's time to dance

Anyway, I spent a week in Beautiful Milne Bay Province in the Islands of Love Trobriand Islands! It was awesome to say the least and I enjoyed every bit of it. It's such a lovely place and people there are just plain simple. I was on an island called Kiriwina, famous little island with a saying "Only Winners live in Kiriwina".

The Trobriand Islands (today officially known as the Kiriwina Islands) are a 450 km² archipelago of coral atolls off the eastern coast of New Guinea. They are situated in Milne Bay Province in Papua New Guinea. Most of the population of 12,000 indigenous inhabitants live on the main island of Kiriwina, which is also the location of the government station, Losuia. Other major islands in the group are Kaileuna, Vakuta and Kitava. The group is considered to be an important tropical rain forest ecoregion in need of conservation (Wikipedia).

Getting ready for a dance - face painting

The culture there is none like anywhere in PNG I've seen. To put it in simple terms, the Culture is alive and practiced by all ages. One of the things I noted was that more then 90 percent of the population can't speak English or Tok Pisin (PNG's local dialect) which is amazing. Just to ask the folks where I could get phone cards took me like 20 minutes with a lot of miming and actions to eventually, I rubbed my tummy and pretended to feed myself to show that I was hungry and needed food, that they showed me a store which solved the problem.

Putting on the final pieces to the traditional attire

The traditions are amazing, kids as young as 3 know how to sing and dance and I compared that to other provinces and went....WOW this is some unique place and culture I'm experiencing!!! A particular song sung about young Elementary children going to school became a hit for me because the tune is just magical. It's like a Richard Marx - Endless Summer Nights or Elton Johns - Sacrifice which never seems to fade away even in present rock and Trans techno dominated genres. I forgot what the song's name is, I've written it somewhere and I promise I'd share it with you all when I manage to find it.

The food there too is just off the hook, Kiriwina is known for its Crabs and as a seafood lover I couldn't stop eating the many different types of seafood being served. The crabs, fish (different types), Oyster, shells and even seaweed. And the cost of seafood their is unbelievable and here is the comparison. A 50cm red emperor is about K40 in Port Moresby and just K5 in the Islands of LOVE. A big crab will go for about K10 in Port Moresby while it can sell for just K1 are these people crazy!!??? NOW I KNOW WHY WINNERS LIVE IN KIRIWINA....LOL. Why is that, because these people survive on seafood and garden food and the stock is so high in that area.

Anyway, there are more on this journey and I will post a continuation later but for now enjoy some of the pictures and see ya all soon.

FACES of WEWAK

2011-08-18T09:50:00.000+10:00

Here is a collection of pictures from my Wewak trip which I would love to share with you all. The benefits of sharing photos is that you or we as Papua New Guineans appreciate our cultures and traditions and our people more. I have heard bad stories about people from different parts of this culturally diverse country, but when I went to that particular place, it was totally different.

I began to appreciate and share the uniqueness of these places. PNG is blessed and I hope that this pictures and faces depict how lovely and lucky our country is.

ENJOY!!

Mercy Secondary one of a handful of Girls Schools in PNG

2011-08-16T13:51:00.002+10:00

Mercy Principal with students lining up to welcome their guest

Mercy Secondary Girls School is a school that is unique in Papua New Guinea. It is a school that is operated by the Catholic church and one of only a few Girls schools in PNG. When I visited the school early this month with the Acting Secretary for Education, Dr. Joseph Pagelio and a team from the Department of Education, I felt a sense of relief to note that a school like Mercy does exist outside of Port Moresby.

The girls only schools I know off are Marrianville Secondary and Caritas Technical Secondary schools in Port Moresby. They too are operated by the Catholic church. Then we went to Mercy and on arrival, the long que of girls lined up to welcome us and the first thought that hit me was, "The boys must be at the end of the line". I continued to walk in taking pictures of the dignitaries and reminded myself of the long line of girls and asked myself where are the boys? I stopped temporarily and asked some of the girls, "Where are the boys?".

The long line of Mercy Girls in their bright "Meri Blouses"

Yes they giggled and smiled at me and replied, "Sir this is a girls school". And I replied "And how many of you girls attend this school?". "700 of us sir" they replied in unison. I was amazed and thought PNG has girls schools outside of Port Moresby too!!! Even our legal officer who has traveled the length and breath of PNG was surprised to find out that it was a girls only school.

It was a lovely school and like all Catholic run schools the settings are very much the same with the way classrooms and buildings are built and lined beside each other. It reminded me of two schools I went to in St Michaels High School Brahman and Malala Secondary School both in Madang province. It was clean and the Friday was bright with beautiful flowers and the line of girls in "Meri Blouse", of which I learnt that they only where that attire on Fridays.

Dr. Pagelio greeted every single girl

The best thing and the most unique thing about Mercy secondary school was how daily and weekly activities are conducted. The line of responsibility is so professional for a girls only school. To keep the explanation short, the prefects run the school. They do everything to organizing daily activities like, work parades, duty rosters, cooking in the mess, sports, and even social events. And what about the teachers? Well they just supervise and assist when they can, but everything is organised by the Prefects. We had a short visit to a classroom where the prefects and Head Girl took us through what their responsibilities are and why it was so important to sticking to what is planned for them.

A House Captain explaining her roles and responsibilities

The guests applauding the well vest prefects after their speeches

In unison are the Mercy girls in their Great Hall

It was great and something I've not seen in many schools around the country even at the Universities. In Mercy the Student Representative Council is very effective. I'll give you an example, if two girls had a fight, the SRC would handle the problem. First the class captain will see if she can sort the problem out. If she can't she will send the problem to the House captain to look into the issue, if she can't she would send the matter to Line heads and so fort until it is solved. If not the matter goes to the class patron and so fort up the teaching ranks. I mean where else have you seen this, and to tell you the truth it is so effective.

Mercy girls do everything in unison, they respond to the first call and react like the North Korean army, swift with the same actions. Their singing is up with the best singing schools in PNG. They sing in a choir like voice, all doing their bit to make sure the song comes out sounding perfect. They laugh together and even cry together. It is one school I was privileged to visit and hope that all schools around the country function like this particular school. The school is well kept and I am sure without a doubt that this school will remain a girls school for many years to come.

Beautiful Wewak

2011-08-15T13:32:00.000+10:00

You gotta love Papua New Guinea and what secrets she has to offer. I would love to travel around my beautiful PNG one day to all the provinces and learn all the untold stories and secrets. I mean why would you want to go overseas when its all here. We are Papua New Guineans after all and a holiday means going back to our roots and sleeping on the pandanus floor or the ground for that matter right?? Not a luxurious holiday in a hotel and fun fun fun...PNG holidays is about adventure, the bush, the scenery and the sights and sounds!

Anyway, PNG is a lovely country and the more places I visit the more pictures and stories I'll post on this wonderful blog. Its about PNG and surely I have to promote places i've been too and so fort! The last place I visited was Wewak East Sepik!

Wewak has a lot of history! This small town is home to the first Prime Minister of PNG, Sir Michael Somare who is by far the longest serving politician in PNG, Pacific including Australia and New Zealand and the longest in the Commonwealth group of countries. East Sepik is also famous for the Sepik river, which is the longest in PNG and the Pacific, The Crocodiles, the Sepik basket and bilums, the numerous ingredients of cooking sago and many more.

Here is a collection of pictures from this beautiful town and what it has to offer!

A theater (singsing) group with a unique sound

Yeah that's the way show them how to hold a croc

Some of the scenic beach views in Wewak

Lovely scenes of Wewak Beaches

The Sir Michael Somare Stadium

West Coast beaches

West Coast beaches

The beach right in front of Wewak town

More of the West Coast beaches

Greg (left) is from Madang and Yawi (right) is from Eastern Highlands

The Theater group in action

Belting out a Sepik number

A lass from Milne Bay joins the local girls

Yes an Air Niugine Fokker 100 lands in Wewak!

Truly Papua New Guinean, the National Flag fly high

A boy from Eastern Highlands in Wewak

A girl from Milne Bay in traditional attire in Wewak

The entrance to the Sir Michael Somare Stadium

A traditional folklore comes to life in this singsing group

I Got a Croc named Wewak!!

2011-08-09T09:33:00.001+10:00

Remember the last time you were a guest to another place and you received gifts as a token of appreciation and thanks for you being a guest??? Well that was what happened to me in Wewak, East Sepik Province last week. I spent a week and a half there and boy it is a lovely place. I am a Thomas and I can hear rumors and things people say about a particular place but I have to be there to see it for myself.

Wewak reminds me about another beautiful town I call my own too, Madang. It is similar with the beaches and the beach side roads, the humid climate, the people, the scene and the customs are quite the same to be honest. So even though I was in a total new town I felt at home.

Anyway I can tell you all for sure that Wewak local food is one of the best I've seen and eaten. I mean they have ten different ways of cooking sago. Who's ever heard of Sago and Galip nuts??? That's just crazy and the taste is just awesome. I love the food and how they actually cook it, it makes sense to me that like Madang, Wewak is also a fishing town. It has a fish cannery as the only factory in the town just like Madang. Cool I must say and the locals enjoy everything. While I was there I got a glimpse of a fisherman's catch it was a female turtle about two meters long and bloody big. I regret not carrying my camera then but hey I did get some lovely pictures.

Chicken, Taro, Aibika, Lobster and banana

Pork and Crayfish (kindam)

mmmmmmm yummy

Anyway again, back to the gifts, Wewak for me is know to four things, The Sepik Basket, The Sago (Nangu), The Sepik River and The Crocodile (Pukpuk). I never had the chance to see the mighty Sepik river the longest river in the country but I did see the Nangu, the Sepik Basket and the Pukpuk. They even dine on a good cooked Pukpuk, yikes imagine that....ewww...hehehehe. Anyway, my time was up and well, it was time to receive gifts from the locals and yes I did get some Baskets, but guess what was in the it! A CROCODILE, yes a croc and NO not a carving a bloody live baby croc. It was scary at first but hey it was cool to own a croc. I named it Wewak and even though I did not bring it back to Port Moresby (Quarantine reasons), I will see it again as I left it in the capable hands of my younger in laws.

East Sepik Provincial Education Advisor, handing over Wewak in a basket to me

Wewak and me....lucky the limbs are tied

AusAids Carl Turnbull and me with our Crocs

Say no more...MainMan the Croc hunter

Can't have enough of Wewak...

Smile at the camera Wewak

Okay time to rest now Wewak...i'm tired

(L-R) Romie, Richard, and Junjun with Wewak

Don't let go Rommie...we might have a croc on the loose....LOL

Anyway, this is Wewak my Croc enjoy the Pictures!!!

Prime Minister Peter O'Neill announces Cabinet Ministers

2011-08-08T17:38:00.002+10:00

PRIME MINISTER PETER O’NEILL ANNOUNCES NAMES OF HIS NEW CABINET MINISTERS

FOR RELEASE – MONDAY, 08 AUGUST 2011

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill today announced his new Cabinet Ministers in the O’Neill-Namah Government.

The names of the new Ministers and their portfolios are as follows:

Portfolio	Minister
Prime Minister	Peter O’Neill
Deputy Prime Minister & Minister for Forest & Climate Change	Belden Namah
Minister for Treasury & Finance	Don Polye
Minister for National Planning	Sam Basil
Minister for Public Service	Bart Philemon
Minister for Petroleum & Energy	William Duma
Minister for Housing & Urban Development	Ken Fairweather
Minister for Trade, Commerce & Industry	Charles Abel
Minister for Higher Education, Research, Science & Technology	David Arore
Minister for Justice & Attorney General	Dr. Allan Marat
Minister for Defence	Guma Wau
Minister for Community Development, Religion & Family Affairs	Andrew Mald
Minister for Education	Theodore Zurenuoc
Minister for Public Enterprise	Sir Mekere Morauta
Minister for Agriculture & Livestock	Sir Puka Temu
Minister for Environment & Conservation	Thompson Harokaqvek
Minister for Tourism, Art & Culture	Benjamin Philip
Minister for Foreign Affairs & Immigration	Ano Pala
Minister for Sports	Sali Subam
Minister for Labour & Industrial Relations	Martin Aini
Minister for Health & HIV Aids	Jamie Maxtone Graham
Minister for Internal Security	John Boito
Minister for Fisheries	Job Pomat
Minister for Correctional Services	Sai Beseo
Minister for Communication & Information Technology	Jim Miringtoro
Minister for Inter Government Relations & District Development	Mark Maipakai
Minister for Transport & Works	Francis Awesa
Minister for Mining	Byron Chan
Minister for Implementation & Rural Development	Moses Maladina
Minister for Bougainville Affairs	Steven Pirika
Minister for Lands & Physical Planning	Lucas Dekena
Minister for Civil Aviation	Puri Ruing
Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Constitutional Matters	Waka Goi

Approved for release.

PETER O’NEILL, MP

Prime Minister

Brisbane Broncos support PNG's NRL bid

2011-07-29T18:02:00.001+10:00

Broncos hard man Sam Thaiday wearing the PNG National colored socks

The PNG NRL BID and the NRMA Insurance Brisbane Broncos have announced the this Friday night’s clash against the Cronulla Sharks at Suncorp Stadium will be promoted as PNG DAY.

PNG BID CEO Brad Tassell and chairman and Minister for Sport Philemon Embel were in Brisbane this month to discuss the day and finalise details for the match.

Both attended the Broncos-Titans match on July 15 and met with Broncos players after the game.

A night of celebration has been planned for the round 21 event with the Broncos players wearing specially-produced socks bearing the PNG national colours.

The socks will be autographed by each player after the match and presented to the PNG NRL BID team.

A ‘Once in a Lifetime’ limited number of specially-designed corporate packages for the match have also been released.

The packages provides return airfares for two from Port Moresby to Brisbane, three nights’ accommodation at the Urban Hotel and corporate suite seating at the game, which includes food and beverages.

Also included in the package is a special buffet dinner at Broncos Leagues Club on Thursday night, a meet-and-greet with players on Thursday morning plus a full tour of the Broncos facility and a barbecue lunch, Broncos merchandise, game-day dressing room and on-field tour plus a meeting with the coaching staff for a pre- game preview and discussion.

Broncos CEO Paul White and Broncos legend Shane Webcke will also visit the game-day suite and the evening will culminate with guests mingling with Broncos players at the official post-match function.

A two-for-one ticket offer will also be made available to PNG Nationals attending the game, with the Sing Sing Tribe performing the NRL BID song and a newly-produced Broncos club song live on field before the match.

Mr Tassell said the event was about showcasing PNG as a nation.

“It is important we present the beauty of this country and its people, and that many of the perceptions of PNG by Australians are totally wrong,” he said.

“This is a country on the move and PNG Day at the Broncos gives us a chance to showcase the talent and the mixture of tradition and modern youth culture that makes up PNG.

“It will be an exciting day for the BID team as it allows us to really push how serious we are about inclusion of a PNG team in the National Rugby League competition.

We hope the people of PNG take up the corporate package and game-day ticket offer and turn up in their droves to the game to celebrate the day with us.”

My country's National and Provincial Flags!

2011-07-26T16:58:00.000+10:00

Hello again everyone,

I went into a hot debate about which province has which flag with a colleague who mixed up the New Ireland and Manus Provincial flags. Now this happens a lot of times and if I were to present to you all the 20 provincial flags and ask you to name each to a province, I doubt we all will get 100% correct. So as a Patriotic PNG as I am, here is the Papua New Guinea National flag and also its Provincial flags in alphabetical order! So next time don't mix the flags up...

Papua New Guinea's National Flag

Autonomous Region of Bougainville

Central Province

Chimbu Province

East New Britain Province

East Sepik Province

Eastern Highlands Province

Enga Province

Gulf Province

Madang Province

Manus Province

Milne Bay Province

Morobe Province

National Capital District

New Ireland Province

Northern (Oro) Province

Sandaun (West Sepik) Province

Southern Highlands Province

West New Britain Province

Western Highlands Province

Western Province

There you go, if you're from PNG, just a refresher for you all and if you a interested in this unique Pacific Island country, these are our provincial flags and our National flag. You will note that most of the flags will either carry a Bird of Paradise which is PNG's iconic symbol or the Southern Cross stars. Most of the provinces flags are derived from what that province is famous for. For example, my province of Morobe is famous for Kundu Drums and pigs task. Others like the bow and arrow are used right around PNG as hunting tools. Colors of the flags also have their own meanings, like The background stripes are green (for vegetation), yellow (for Markham Valley) and blue (for the sea). A white bird of paradise (representing animal life), white pig's tusks (traditional exchange), a brown and yellow kundu drum (for festivals) and spears (for traditional warfare) are at the centre. I'll probably discuss each province at a later date!!

Anyway, enjoy the day and the rest of the week!!

Cheers,

Sir Rabbie Namaliu PNG Orchid Spectacular 2011

2011-07-25T16:33:00.001+10:00

Words can't really express how beautiful these Orchids are, and how blessed Papua New Guinea is with its natural beauty. Pictures courtesy of Velda Thom, Thanks sis!!!

Reunion of two best friends!!!

2011-07-19T09:50:00.001+10:00

Hello everyone,

Great to be back and on line again, technology has its good and bad sides but I won't go into that. But as always, I need to update the blog everyday, and I have failed in some instances but hey, its quite tough running your own site. I'll give anyone K100 to run my blog (this blog), for a week just to see how tough it is but you'll receive the money after the week's last post.

Anyway, have you ever thought about going back in time and having the fun times with your childhood friends? Have you ever asked the question, Where is that person now? or you know where your childhood friends are but don't bump into them for months, to years, to decades till you loose contact with them. Well that's always the case with all off us. But I am happy as can be right now, as my childhood friend and one of my best of friends is living next to me again, just like the old days.

He was my neighbor in the days and history has more or less repeated itself again, but at a different stage of our lives. The last time I had face to face contact with this friend of mine was in 2001 about a decade ago in highschool. Since then we had the occasional phone calls and share stuff on email and Facebook, and it never occurred to me how important our friendship was. Just little over three weeks ago, Alfred "Freddie" Baloiloi gave me a call one Sunday when I was at work.

"Nelo, I'm looking for a house to rent!" he said. I replied, "Fred you in Port Moresby". He said "Yes and I'm looking for a place to rent and I've been searching for a week now". I said look come to my office, I think I have a place just next door to where I live, we'll check that out if that is okay with you. In the next 30 minutes, we were hugging and shedding tears at my office car park. Describing how little he had changed in his built and how I had put on a few kilos. I then met his family (the wife and tambus - in laws) and we proceeded to our place to check out the property, with Freddie ditching his tambus and hoping on with me. After a few minutes scanning the place, they agreed to move in the next day and the rest was history.

Anyway, the last time we had a drink was probably after high school. I mean that time, we hid from our parents to have a few beers. Now we did that openly and responsibly, and that was what happened last week! With my daughter the camera girl with her digicam and Freddie and I took care of the beer. It was a wonderful afternoon with plans of more to come, this time probably a BBQ with the family.

Thanks to my partner and Fred's partner oh and Valz and Carlie for allowing us to have a few beers. Biggest thanks to Kaylla my lovely princess who was behind the camera all the time!!!

Em tasol and big thanks again to the young up and coming journalist/photographer - KAYLLA CHANTELLE KIARA THOM!

Canoes of Lababia

2011-07-14T09:28:00.001+10:00

Last December, my family and I spent the holidays in the village. We enjoy the family time together and also the reunion with the family back at home. Oh home for me is in Buakap village in Salamaua LLG in the Huon District of Morobe province. Anyway, it's always good to go back and catch up with families and friends and also relax and dine the PNG way.

Well one of our outings during that holiday was going to Lababia, which is further South-East from Buakap. This is where my dad is originally from and the family ties are still very strong there (Lababia). It took us a good hour and half on the 75hsp (horsepower) dinghy from Buakap to actually get there and my it was a good trip, the sun was blocked by heavy dark clouds so the trip was just right for the day.

Lababia is the biggest coastal village along the south coast of Huon District and its more laid back than the villages closer to Lae (PNG's industrial city). It's probably the distance from Lae, that makes it accessible every now and then that causes the laid back lifestyle. Besides the only way to get there is by boat and from Lae it would take about 3 hours to get there compared to the 45 minute ride from Lae to Buakap.

My dad has not been to Lababia for over 40 years, but he still had a clear picture of the place and our family there. And he apart from all of us enjoyed the trip more because it probably brought back a lot of memories from his childhood. It was a lovely place, and the beaches are long and patches of white and brown sand stretch the beach, the water is crystal clear and really blue. Anyway on our trip there my dad did not say much as he hardly remembers a lot, but once we made the turn into the bay, his memories were so clear like he was there a day before taking the trip.

Many things, amazed me there but the one thing that amazed me the most are the many canoes in the village. You hardly see dinghies, but canoes boy there was a lot of that. And the bizarre thing about these canoes was the names they had. Some names were painted or cut in in English, the local dialect and tok pisin. So, I'm sharing that little side of Lababia and Morobe province with you all today. I may publish more on this mysterious big village nearly unheard of by many in Morobe province and PNG.

I was told that this canoe was made before the hit song by Morobe's K-Dumen (Highway Patrol 17)

This canoe is located next to a small dried up stream (Dai Wara - Dead/Dried water/river)

UX Brigie in the local dialect means "Lightning"

South winds I was told are pretty strong in Lababia

I'm not pretty sure about this name, my dad jokingly said its probably the wife's name

This I totally forgot what it means...????

This one is named after the famous annoying Willie Wagtail or commonly known in PNG as the Toilet keepr

So there you go, a little taste of Canoes in Lababia, in the Huon District of Morobe Province. I hope you enjoyed that and remember if you have pictures or stories about the uniqueness of our wonderful country Papua New Guinea, send it to us through this email; nelsonposathom@gmail.com!

Thanks again and have a wonderful day!

Cheers,

Milne Bay Canoe and Kundu Festival

2011-07-13T16:55:00.000+10:00

(PNG Holidays):Canoes and the Kundu drums are a significant aspect of the lives of the people of Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea. Both the Canoe and the Kundu were widely used in olden times in ceremonies and rituals and were meticulously crafted from special woods under strict customs, to derive the best results and to appease the gods.

The National Canoe and Kundu Festival were first held in Milne Bay in 2003. The canoes that are used in the festival are crafted in the same way that the canoes were crafted many years ago by the people’s ancestors. The colours and patterns reflect upon the tribe and the area the canoe comes from. The canoes and traditional dancing groups come from all over the Milne Bay province, including some parts of the Papuan Region. Thus, the festival is rich with variety of performances.

The event takes place usually around the final week of October, to early November. In 2011, it will be from November 4-6th. Prizes are give to the winning groups and the canoes are assembled a day earlier at Wagawaga Island, to form a convoy before sailing to Alotau for the official opening ceremony.

Other activities include;

* Arts and craft displays
* String band competition * Drama and a combined church service,

These pictures were contributed by Jessica Eroro. Thanks Jess, for showing us how wonderful PNG is, with beautiful cultural activities from Milne Bay.

Excellent staff, Jess!

So to all you readers out there, if you have pictures or videos of a festival or cultural event in your village or province and you want it to be shared on the net, by all means send it to Only in Papua New Guinea, with background information. We will do the rest! My email address is nelsonposathom@gmail.com...

Cheers

A past time worth of flowers

2011-07-12T10:19:00.001+10:00

Papua New Guinea, is known to a lot of past times but we don't actually know which one to call it our own. The Aussies love the BBQ, in the US its probably a Lakers game, in Europe it's either fishing or football, in Africa well not to sure and in Asia it's cooking.

So what do we in PNG claim to be our very own past time, probably chewing betel nut or something. I'm not too sure. But, when I was in my teens, I spent most of my holidays and weekends at the pool or playing cricket. I enjoyed that and that was my pastime. I remember, my dad had a pastime of planting and arranging his orchid collections. My mum was really good in sewing and so fort!

But right now, what would be my pastime, mmmmmm...I have no idea, probably watching TV and working! Anyway, over the last couple of years, I've noticed my elder sister (Velda) going into plants. Growing and grooming the plants, shifting them from a small pot to a larger one etc...Now she has the idea of leasing some of plants, wow, that is a great idea. Oh and not to forget the hard work my tambu man (Carl)(brother in law) does, driving around looking for pot plants, helping her selecting flowers and oh yeah, shifting the plants here and there.

But I think that Velda has one of the great pastimes in PNG and that is spending some time in the garden, getting the hands dirty and creating the best out of nature. Below are some of the plant collection from Valz and Carl so far, with many more inclusions planned.

Enjoy this!!!

A True PNG is WILL GENIA!

2011-07-11T14:26:00.000+10:00

Rugby league has the greatest following in Papua New Guinea. It is also dubbed as PNG's national sport, with the only semi professional code in the country, the Digicel Rugby League Cup. Numerous and countless flock to the nearest television set to watch the Australian National Rugby League and nearly the whole of PNG watch the annual State of Origin series between Queensland and New South Wales.

But that might change in the coming months, with one of PNG's greatest sporting exports shinning in the recent Super Rugby final in a Queensland Reds color against a gallant former champions Crusaders with the likes of Dan Carter and Sonny Bill Williams. Yes the Reds won by a try and that try came by non other than Will Genia!

A true PNG, Genia has stamped Rugby as a code to be reckoned with in PNG. Genia sliced through a gap in his on 40m ran past Dan Carter, broke true a Sonny Bill Williams try and scored the winning try with the scores locked at 13 all. He showed true PNG spirit, the never say die spirit and what a product he has become for PNG and of course Australia. The later claiming that he is up their with the best Aussies in the business....Correction....He is PNG BORN AND BRED!!!

Genia with the ball in hand

Genia stepping past some desperate Crusaders defense

Genia and partner in crime Quade Cooper celebrate after the win

The Queensland Reds celebrating their first ever Super Rugby title

Anyway, many sporting exports leave the shores of PNG and shy. And most you would see come from the Rugby league code, with a handful from the other codes. But Genia has done something Rugby in PNG has been waiting for, for years. A marketing tool to promote local talent and to lift the standard of the code to a semipro to contend with the already well established rugby league code.

BUT that effort by a young Papua New Guinea who has dedicated so much of his time to make his family and PNG proud might be a waste. This is because their is infighting in the Rugby ranks in the country too, with the POM faction, splitting its competition up and now a barbs comp runs separately from the POMRFU.

But forget those and focus on Will Genia and his achievements so far....

GOOD ON YOU WILL and ALL THE BEST IN THE COMING RUGBY WORLD CUP, YOU HAVE PNG'S BLESSINGS!

Should I or should I not take the "N" issue seriously???

2011-07-04T19:07:00.001+10:00

Good evening all,

My apologies for not posting in the last few days, something serious has happened to test my credibility as a professional journalist and media personal. Remember I told you all about my other blog, Papua New Guinea Media Critic, well a particular media organization has lashed out some false allegations at me, and to make it worse, called me a "N....r".

I am deeply hurt at all this and am seeking legal advice to pursue the name calling against me and the allegations laid by this particular organization at me. In the blog I specifically said, I will write about what I see in the media industry, that is not right or that needs improvement. With the sole aim of lifting the standard of the media industry in the country. But that has fallen on deaf hears and, my criticisms and comments have resulted in a fiery of allegations and accusations against me.

I have been called a lot of different names outside of my profession but not a lot of other names as a professional. Many commented and emailed me to ask me if the reply by EMTV Newsroom, using the 'N' word was right/legal or not. Now, I'm not too sure but this is quiet serious.

In all my replies, I have stated that "as a professional" not just someone out there. I have mentioned through and through that I am not against any particular media organization and that is proof of all the comments received and published.

I feel totally offended now that I a true Papua New Guinean like me had been referred to as a "N" at the professional level. I wish to seek more clarity on this matter and advice you all later!

I ask that person to identify him/herself if you are man or woman enough!!!

This is a comment from a friend's (Yaku) friend of mine from twitter and more or less speaks off what I am feeling right now!!!

This was the first reply by EMTV on an article I wrote of them....

Nelson were not up to your criticism so please save it coz we don’t bother…Your not “IT” how much experience do you have in mainstream to criticize. Your just a new kid on the block trying to gain attention so nigger pls?shoosh…

Then this,

Note my comments in brackets!!!

Hi Nelson,

FYI, this is a general news e-mail address where the whole newsroom receives media invites and information from outside, might I suggest that you let media personnel go onto your so called PNG MEDIA CRITIC BLOG instead of bombarding us with your lecture notes.

Maybe in that way it won’t look like your personally attacking one media organization in particular and lashing out like you are currently doing. As it is, it seems like you’re being a pest to people who don’t need your nonsense right now as we have a job to do and EMTV lives on with or without your criticisms.

I must also stress that in one of your e-mails to this address, you said you hold a degree in Journalism and Public Relations, WELL SO DO WE!!! Whether you’re gaining a Masters will not contribute to the improvement of the Media in general or minimize corruption or whatever else it is you talk about. (reply from PNG Media Critic - So what will improve the industry????)

So yes! To answer your question we are so close apart from whatever it is you are still struggling for we really don’t CARE. So might I ask, what is it that separates you from Us? At least we never ran down vital facilities at UPNG during our time there or had a GPA of 0.8 and still insisted on a job most probably bribed the lecturers and eventually graduated only this year. That’s CORRUPTION isn’t it? And guess what it exists at your favorite media organization, I’m surprised you overlooked that one. (I don't have a favorite media organization, and show me the evidence of my corruption at UPNG and my GPA)

We sure are working hard to do our jobs as Journalists and we obviously can’t please everyone. While we appreciate SOME of your ideas, might I remind you that we receive REAL CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM from heavyweights in the Media Industry such as John Eggins and Titi Gabi etc.

I can honestly tell you that you can’t run a blog simply because your comments are defamatory (how is that???) in nature, it questions the credibility of the journalists who are all graduates and you forget that it’s commercial TV and we are bounded by a management and business owner. We VENT as there is a big difference in constructive criticism and yep yeping!!!

Not to mention your spelling errors are embarrassing coming from someone who thinks he knows everything, and on a more democratic note you do have a choice to watch whatever TV station you wish to.

We are aware of the dissatisfaction that our viewers express and fair enough we can only do so much in the newsroom. If I were you I’d speak ONLY if I have been there and done that, otherwise it’s just like an empty drum making a lot of noise. (I'm not making a lot of noise am I...look who's talking)

And as for all your investigative journalism talk, trust me we got all that when we were obtaining a degree as well, but if it is part of your Master’s lecture notes then save it because it’s STALE.

Before I say GOODBYE FOR GOOD, might I suggest you go do an investigative report on where all the HEALTH FUNDS ARE GOING TO IN THE COUNTRY while our PNG people die of lack of health facilities even in the Nation’s Capital since you work for an appalling department. I can understand there is not much to promote so you have all the time in the world to pick on someone else’s hard work. I DON’T BLAME YOU. (Embarrassing, I don't work for the Health Department)

Send Us a friend request or something and let us know who gives you the mandate to run such a blog because as far as we are concerned our daily journalistic work is beyond your jurisdiction so take a chill pill and welcome to the real world where some you get, some you don’t…(Read your Media Code of Ethics, and your Communications Policy)

CHEERS ALL THE BEST TO YOU;)

A comment from a reader

Hi Nel,

Below is a comment on from one of my reader:

Carmelita DeSoza Tabuchi:

Hey Yaku, dunno your brother Nel and don't usually blog myself (time consuming and FB is enough! :)) But what's with the 'nigger' and 'new kid on the block' thing?? The first is just uncalled for, who the heck wrote that anyway? And if the... person IS Papua New Guinean, why do they refer to a fellow PNG in that manner? Especially in a way that is meant to be insulting or degrading.

As for the 'new kid on the block', wasn't everyone who have a career a new kid on the block at some stage?? It would be interesting to know the exact person that wrote this. If they ARE a professional (in media), is this any way a professional would reply to a critic? Shouldn't they be focused on the criticism or praise rather than attacking the individual behind it?

I can say one thing though, Peter Bromwich from Sydney is right. Criticisms, are healthy (when done in a good/professional way of course). Australia has a few media watchdogs which regulate the industry and debate on where change is needed and how. And one thing is for certain, PNG media needs to step up and lift their game.

Even the smaller Pacific nations seem to have better media than PNG, in coverage, delivering, professionalism and alot of other ways. Nelo has the right to say what he thinks/wants. Providing it is not illegal and not personally attacking anyone, why is anyone so riled up about it? It is a blog after all, and Nelo is trying to do best what he is trained to do - to be a journalist. sigh....

EMTV and whoever else it is has to bear in mind that one way to move forward better is to accept criticisms, analyse what can be done better, and work around it. It seems some people don't even want to start at step 1 but continue living in denial and remaining stagnant.

Whoever Nelo is, good luck and keep it up.

12:32 pm

Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare, retires - Sad moment in PNG

2011-06-29T12:03:00.000+10:00

It is sad that it came to these? We all expected the founding father of this nation to recover and lead PNG into the next elections next year.I am feeling something I don't know how to express. Sir Michael has done a lot for this young nation, and to its people - that is us.Despite allegations of misconduct, misappropriation and lack of leadership, Sir Michael will remain as the longest serving MP as PM and the longest in active politics. So I think we should not appoint a new PM until the 2012 elections, in respect of this great man. PNG can do with an Acting PM for 12 months or so, so the rightful title remains with Sir Michael until it expires on election day!

Cheers!!!

These articles have been taken from the National Newspaper!!!

Family decides to retire PM

Source: The National – Wednesday, June 29, 2011

By ISAAC NICHOLAS

PRIME Minister Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare has retired from office for medical reasons, his son Arthur Somare announced yesterday.
The decision was not Sir Michael’s, but that of his immediately family members who reached it three weeks ago in Singapore.
“He is not in a position to coherently make a decision himself ... that is why we have made the decision,’’ Arthur said.
“On behalf of Lady Veronica and the rest of Sir Michael’s family, I would like to inform the public that it is our wish that Sir Michael will now pursue a life in retirement after nearly 50 years of active politics due to medical reasons and the uncertainty of the recovery period.”
The retirement covers all positions held by the PM including:
*Parliamentary leader of the National Alliance party;
*Regional member of parliament for the East Sepik people; and
*As Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea.
Somare, who is minister for public enterprises, put on a brave face although he was visibly emotional when making the announcement.
“The public was informed at different intervals that Sir Michael has taken medical leave to address a condition that has prevailed over many years,” he said.
“The initial operation to replace the leaking heart valve was successful but, subsequently, other complications had developed.
“These complications have further delayed the anticipated time in which Sir Michael was expected to recover and return to Papua New Guinea.”
The son said the difficult and trying part of identifying infectious diseases had been cleared but, at the age of 75, going to 76, and after three heart operations, “it will weaken a person of his age”.
“The uncertainty of when he will be out of intensive care has pushed us into this decision,” he said.
He said Sir Michael was in ICU and “is not in a position to talk and understand the decision made by the family three weeks ago”.
“I have not talked to my father in weeks,” Somare said.
He said the road to recovery would be slow and “it will be a tedious wait and the family cannot keep PNG waiting”.
“All five siblings and our mother have taken this decision that he steps down from politics and that Sir Michael is allowed to recover at his own pace. In our considered decision to do this, we believe PNG should have a level of certainty with regard to political stability and leadership well into the future.
“He is not only the head of the Somare family. He is the head of the country and there are different processes to be taken to elect a new prime minister.
“I am not here for politics but as a family member to announce the family’s desire to retire our father.
“Taim femili ino toktok, banis istap yet. Nau mi toktok, mi kliarim rot. Em samting bilong palamen, kebinet na pati long mekim disisen. Em bai ino mo sanap long rot. (When the family
did not speak out, it becomes an obstacle, but now that I make that announcement, it clears the road for parliament, cabinet and party to make a decision).
“This has not been an easy decision to make without full and proper consultation with Sir Michael.
“However, in the greater public interest and collective good of the country, we are of the view that this decision is necessary and we believe it will be his desire to do so at this time given the circumstances.
“I would like to thank the people of Papua New Guinea for their well wishes, messages of support and constant prayers.”

After Somare, who?

Source: The National – Wednesday, June 29, 2011

YESTERDAY dawned an ordinary sunny Port Moresby kind of day – a little on the windy side – but before it ended, Tuesday, June 28, 2011, was propelled into the annals of PNG history.

Shortly after 3pm, an announcement was made that Prime Minister Grand Chief Sir Michael Thomas Somare was retired after nearly 50 years in PNG politics.“Was retired”, not “had retired”!The man who has achieved so many firsts in his life has also achieved another milestone at this parting juncture – he could neither himself be present at the announcement of his retirement nor had he participated in the decision himself.His immediate family made the decision for him three weeks ago while he still lay in the intensive care unit of Singapore’s Raffles Hospital.The announcement had been delayed in the hope that he would recover sufficiently for the family to consult him on its decision.When that did not happen, the family decided to make the announcement to stop the speculation, to allow him time to recover fully and to make way for PNG to move ahead with the business of government without “Somare being in the way”.“We are removing our father,” son and Public Enterprises Minister Arthur Somare said in Tok Pisin yesterday, “so that he is not an obstacle for PNG to move ahead”.It is a significant moment in the life of PNG when one of the longest serving leaders in the Commonwealth of Nations is removed from our midst. It is a moving time to see a firebrand politician so incapacitated on medical grounds that he cannot make the final solemn decision to retire.Yet, the family decision is the correct one and it must be commended for it. That the family has stood together in the face of great stress and difficulty to make a decision for both their father and in the interest of the nation truly makes them our first family.While retirement should be self-executing and, therefore, ought to automatically remove from him all necessary powers as MP for East Sepik, as National Alliance parliamentary leader and as prime minister, because he did not make the decision himself might raise some thorny legal questions.What is to follow is not clear-cut at all.The family action now removes the constitutional provision for three doctors to declare him incapable to continue in office on medical grounds. That provision is no longer relevant.The action also provides a vacancy in the office of the prime minister.The announcement by the family begins a process that will end with the election of a new prime minister of PNG.Acting Prime Minister Sam Abal is in charge for now but how long he is to continue legally is unknown. While his reign on government, shaky at first, is strengthening and he appears focused and charismatic, this announcement will mean he must first gain legitimacy to continue in office from his own National Alliance party.Since this situation has never before occurred, the laws have not been tested. This situation is unprecedented so that should provide government lawyers with some interesting legal gymnastics.Parliament has adjourned to August, placing it well within the 12-month period when no motion of no-confidence can be moved in the prime minister, yet, there is no prime minister to move a motion against.Only parliament can elect a prime minister so it is important that parliament meets as a matter of urgency and it falls to cabinet to make that decision.Political lobbying, as expected, has begun in earnest and will continue.The ruling National Alliance party, with 42 members, has a head-start but it might not have the advantage that the integrity law guarantees when it states that the leader of the party with the largest number will be invited by the governor-general to form government.That provision, we would vouch, only applies at the end of a general election.In such confusing circumstances, perhaps, a look for direction to the founding father, who now lies ill on a hospital bed in a distant land, might prove helpful.A dangerous constitutional crisis is looming which needs averting but how to do it is the question.What would the Grand Chief do in such a circumstance?That unique ability of his to calmly smother all dissent, to gather differing views and extremities through consultation and consensus, to make sense out of chaos and to move all that mass in one direction, is needed again now more than ever before.The question is: Do we have that man?

Abal applauds decision by family

The National – Wednesday, June 29, 2011

ACTING Prime Minister Sam Abal yesterday praised and thanked the Somare family for making known their considered decision to retire their father, Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare, from public life.
He described the announcement by the family, through Arthur Somare of their desire to retire their father, given his state of health, as “the greatest and ultimate respect and affirmation of dignity” to their father.
“It signifies the ending of a great and historic chapter of PNG’s independence and short development history.
“It has not been easy for Lady Veronica and the children but their combined strength and courage, in living through their lives with Sir Michael at the helm of both the family life and of politics, is truly trying,” Abal said.
“I thank Lady Veronica, their mother, for her support for the Grand Chief during his entire life in politics and the strength of the family that has seen this chapter of PNG’s history.
“I thank the children Sana, Betha, Arthur, Dulciana, Michael Junior and all the grand children and spouses of the family for having taken this monumental and courageous decision to retire this nation and our dad, grandfather and in-law from active politics,” he said.
“I pay homage and salute Sir Michael for everything he has done to bring our nation this far.
“His state of health has been trying for the family. But their common resolve and strength as a family in announcing their desire for their father’s retirement gives solace and comfort to all of us. The news heals us greatly.”

THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT!

2011-06-28T10:42:00.001+10:00

Good morning you all,

Wow, two months on and I already have 1, 100 plus hits to my blog site! So I want to say thank you to certain people who have supported me and urged me to continue blogging. First, Violet Rongap, who encouraged me to start writing again. You will note that I started this blog in 2010, and did not publish anything until May 2011. Violet heard that I had a blog but did not write anything in it and told me to make a start and see where it goes. So thanks Violet, for the encouragement and I trust that she is always a regular to my site.

The other person would be Y NO (initials) who has by far marketed the blog in everything she did. She used twitter, Facebook and other means to bring readers to the blog. Even though I have a Facebook and Twitter account, she used these medium far more than I did. So thanks to you Y NO!

Other people I want to thank are actually in my field, the Journalists, reporters and members of Media organization around PNG. I have had a lot of emails and calls regarding the stuff on media I publish, so thanks for the feed back.

Thanks all and for the record, YES I have three (3) blogs now and you can read all off them. The links are noted on the link page. And yes the latest being a PNG Media Critic page, due to the fact that Only in Papua New Guinea, was targeted at things to do with PNG however, it turned out to be a Media critic site, so I decided to create a PNG media Critic site just for that.

Anyway, the visitors to this blog have increased from zero to over a thousand and still counting and once again I thank you all for that. I have even got some suggestions for nominations for the Media Council Website/Blog of the year...but that's down the line, all I want to do is continue to write and contribute to the blog and yeah see where it leads me!

Enjoy reading, oh before I go here are the names of the other blogs, Papua New Guinea Media and NewsMate PNG!

Enjoy and CHEERS,

LET NOT HISTORY REPEAT ITSELF

2011-06-27T12:52:00.001+10:00

It really reflects how quick we as a young nation has grown, we can no longer be pushed by other nations, or be lied to for their own interests. We have come a long way and it is time we as a country stand up and be known to the rest of the world.

Our leaders have taken a bold step, and we must not allow history to repeat itself on our very own back yard and in front of our noses. Sir Michael of all our leaders knows these situations inside out and as I watched this documentary on SBS, it is clear today, why the reopening of the Panguna mine, is something leaders like Sir Michael take very seriously.

I noted from the documentary, Sir Michael may have changed his mind since then as now he is leading a government which is seriously thinking of reopening the mine that costs lives of local Bougainvillians, Expatriates, rebels and the PNG Defense Force. Stop and think for a moment, and ask yourselves these questions. Will Sir Michael really let history repeat itself? At the stage of mining boom PNG is experiencing, why the need to open an old mine? Is it worth more innocent lives? Have our leaders got injections in their bank accounts to vote for the reopening of the biggest copper mine in the world?

This is serious, and like the LNG and other mining operations around the country, we as Papua New Guineans, the landowners of resources under our feet must seriously look at the pros and cons before putting ink on paper. We should balance out the benefits and make sure it out weighs the negative impacts by as much a margin as possible before we tell foreigners to dig up our land.

All these must not come or happen at the expense of a single innocent life. These must not occur because we got favors before putting ink on paper. These must not be dimmed as a civil war in the making.

Read more from this article in the National newspaper today!!!

Cheers,

Nelo

Source: The National – Monday, June 27, 2011

AN Australian television network has uncovered claims that the PNG government was acting under instruction from mining giant Rio Tinto, when it killed thousands of people who wanted one of the world’s largest copper mine at Panguna, Bougainville, to shut down in the mid-1980s.

The allegations come from former opposition leader in 2001, and now Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare, in court documents obtained by SBS chief correspondent Brian Thomson for the Dateline programme which was shown on SBS Qld last night at 8.30.

In the court documents filed in a US court, Sir Michael said that Rio Tinto and its subsidiary Bougainville Copper Ltd (BCL), effectively used its wealth to control the PNG government.

However, BCL chairman Peter Taylor denied the Dateline claim.

Taylor and BCL are currently negotiating with the Bougainville Autonomous Region government to reopen the abandoned mine with the Somare government’s support but amid mixed reaction from Bougainville leaders and ex-combatants.

According to SBS, the affidavit, which was never made public, alleged that Rio Tinto played an active role in military operations that ultimately led to a civil war and blockade of Bougainville in which 15,000 people died between 1989 and 1997.

“Because of Rio Tinto’s financial influence in PNG, the company controlled the government,” Sir Michael’s affidavit stated.

It was lodged as part of an ongoing class action in the United States by the Panguna landowners against Rio Tinto.

The case had bogged down in legal arguments for the past 10 years, preventing Sir Michael’s affidavit and much of the evidence from being made public. In his signed statement, he claimed that without Rio Tinto, there would never have been a war.

“It is my opinion that absent Rio Tinto’s mining activity on Bougainville or its insistence that the Panguna mine be re-opened, the government would not have engaged in hostilities or taken military action on the island.”

Sir Michael was unaware that SBS’s Dateline programme had obtained his signed statement from sealed US court material until his office was contacted last week.

Sir Michael is recovering from double heart surgery in Singapore and his office was unable to say if he still stood by his comments, The Age newspaper reported.

Among the people interviewed last night on the programme were rebel hardliners Ismael Toroana and Sam Kauona, former PNG Defence Force commander Brig-Gen (ret) Jerry Singirok, local chief Philip Miriori and Bougainville President John Momis.

Kauona, rebel leader during the crisis, said: “It didn’t surprise me, all the time we knew.

“We knew that BCL was financing this war on Bougainville because when we were fighting … all the BCL vehicles were being used by the security forces.”

Miriori said Sir Michael’s statement backed his long-standing claims about Rio’s complicity with the PNGDF.

Taylor told Dateline he was aware of the affidavit, but said he was surprised Sir Michael would “make these accusations knowing they’re completely unfounded”.

Papua New Guinea now and into the future

2011-06-24T13:02:00.001+10:00

Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Papua New Guinea is on the verge of great change through a resources boom and population growth, and the country's influence in the region will grow.

PNG's future and Australia's relationship with our neighbour was the focus of a symposium held by the Alfred Deakin Research Institute.

Geraldine Doogue: A few weeks ago I referred to Indonesia as 'our nearest neighbour', which prompted a flurry of responses from listeners, asking if I'd just forgotten about Papua-New Guinea. Fair point.

But perhaps my lapse does demonstrate what my next guests might say is a general lack of interest in our northern neighbour, which we ignore at our peril. Papua New Guinea is on the cusp of a great change through a resources boom and population growth.

And it seems pretty sure that PNG's influence in the region is set to grow. Its development and our neighbourly relationship is something of a preoccupation for Richard Marles. He's the Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs and a driving force for a symposium held yesterday, organised by the Alfred Deakin Research Institute that canvassed what the future might hold for PNG.

Richard joins me now, along with two other symposium participants, Anthony Regan, a Fellow in the Melanesia program at the ANU, and Dr Ceridwen Spark, a Postdoctoral Fellow at Victoria University in Melbourne.

Welcome to you all.

Richard, to you first, PNG ought to be able to enjoy a resources boom, it's rich in minerals and natural gas. But previously, these resources have been something of a curse. Has anything changed to alter this? Is PNG likely this time round to develop more peacefully via the wealth of its natural resources?

Richard Marles: Well I think that question then, and whether we see through the development of its natural resources income and prosperity flowing to the entire population is really the question of the moment in Papua-New Guinea. The LNG project which is currently under way in the Southern Highlands at the uppermost estimates are talking about increasing GDP in PNG by 20% and I think as you rightly put it, Papua-New Guinea and the region's got to make sure that in seeing this wonderful opportunity arise, that the benefits really do flow to the entire community, and I think there is some hope in that. There is a real commitment I think on the part of the Papua-New Guinea government to put in place sovereign wealth funds for example.

Geraldine Doogue: I think AusAID is doing quite a lot of work with the government isn't it, to try to establish that fund?

Richard Marles: Yes, and not just AusAID, but our Department of Finance for example is working closely with theirs to try and put in place the machinery to have a sovereign wealth fund which really will then see if they can get that up and running, the benefits of this wonderful project flow to the entire community. And really, I think it is best emblematic of your introduction that the LNG project really highlights the pivotal moment that we see in Papua-New Guinea's history, and what kind of Papua-New Guinea we're talking about over the course really of the first half of this century, I think is going to be determined by how this project is delivered.

Geraldine Doogue: And just a statistic if you don't mind before we head into the next part of the discussion. Is it fair to say that PNG is set to grow at the same sort of rate as China? That's what's being touted.

Richard Marles: Well that's right. We're seeing enormous economic growth in PNG. PNG is enjoying all the benefits of the resources boom that we are here in Australia, and that's to do with our proximity to China and other developing countries in Asia, but they of course are incredibly resource rich. So they absolutely are set to grow at that rate. But the growth alone isn't going to deliver the result in PNG. We've got to make sure that the proper government mechanisms are in place so that this really does represent a wholesale lifting of PNG from a reasonably poor state right now, to a middle economy.

Geraldine Doogue: Anthony Regan, you've travelled to PNG for many years, I think you even called it home for 15 years. Are you optimistic that PNG is up to the task of meeting some of the systems challenges that it clearly faces?

Anthony Regan: Yes, PNG's proved a remarkably resilient state. At the same time there's a lot of stresses and strains, so capacity in the state, in a lot of aspects of the state institutions is weak; civil society capacity is certainly growing but its ability to put pressure on government is limited, and it's a country of just unparalleled ethnic and cultural diversity, which makes the whole process of developing and managing resources very difficult.

There's been a lot of conflict around development of resources in the past, most notably Bougainville where one of the world's largest copper and gold mines was shut down, largely because of the difficulty of managing tensions over the distributions of benefits, and the managing of the impacts of mining. A lot's been learned since then; that happened in 1988.

Geraldine Doogue: Well in fact you're talking about Bougainville and you do use these words as the title of your address: 'Inspirational peace-building and intriguing prospects' centred on Bougainville, a place many Australians of course know endured years of bitter conflict, centring on that Panguna copper mine, and the fact that it was resolved I think for many of us, is quite remarkable. Would you say the government in Port Moresby has been able to fully rebuild relations in Bougainville? Is that what you mean by intriguing prospects?

Anthony Regan: They've done pretty well. One of the great strengths of Papua-New Guinea, despite the cultural diversity, is that there's a lot of continuities in culture across the country, and one of the things that helped resolve the conflict is that there's a tendency in Papua-New Guinea when there's been conflict, after people realise that if they keep going with conflict, that the damages are going to be too difficult to manage, there's a tendency to try and restore balance through reconciliation. And that was a big part of what enabled the governments of Papua-New Guinea and the leadership of Bougainville to resolve things, and that's an aspect of culture which provides a great deal of strength in Papua-New Guinea.

Geraldine Doogue: What do you mean? That pre-dates the arrival of the modern world, do you mean, or is it something that's -

Anthony Regan: Yes, absolutely. We're dealing with very small social groups. There are large clans in parts of the Highlands which are a bit more like African tribes, but nothing the same sort of strength and dominance. And within all of those tiny societies, there was a tendency to manage conflict through all sorts of complex mechanisms of balanced exchanges and reciprocal arrangements of one kind or another, all sorts of ceremonial things attached to it. And people in Papua-New Guinea still think that way. When there's problems, in general, when things have gone to a certain degree, and usually when things have got to such a pass that it's recognised that there'll be serious difficulty if you don't restore relationships. There are all sorts of pressures brought to bear to restore and make a workable relationship again. And that was a big part of the Bougainville peace process.

Geraldine Doogue: Now I wonder how it will work then in the light of the vote. The Bougainevilleans will vote some time in the next few years, certainly before 2020 on whether to become an independent state. Would they want it, given what you've just described there?

Anthony Regan: Well, in addition to adding these pressures towards reconciliation and restoration of relations, they also face the modern tendencies. There is a separate ethnic identity in Bougainville, separate from the rest of Papua-New Guinea, something that's developed really through colonialism, because there are 25 or more languages in Bougainville amongst the 250,000 people. So on their own, Bougainevilleans tend to divide on all sorts of lines, but because of the particular history of Bougainville's feeling of grievances around mining and other matters, that's tended to combine Bougainevilleans as a single ethnic group, and that's now driving a tendency towards separation. There's a very good peace agreement which gives Bougainville a high level of autonomy and the ability to decide for themselves whether mining, for example, will resume, and how mining revenues will be distributed if mining is re-established, and if Papua-New Guinea works well with the Bougainevilleans and makes Bougainevilleans feel that these autonomy arrangements have enough benefits for Bougainville, there's a good chance that Bougainevilleans will vote to stay within. But it's pretty unpredictable.

Geraldine Doogue: We're talking about PNG a part of a big symposium at Deakin University, and you've been hearing Richard Marles, the Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs and Anthony Regan, a Fellow in the Melanesia program at the College of Asia and Pacific, ANU. And just before I come back to you, Anthony, I must bring in Dr Ceridwen Spark, who's been very patient because I just want to slightly turn the conversation towards women in PNG, because women were crucial in that peace settlement on Bougainville. But particularly women who were tertiary educated whom you've been studying. It's a small group of women, but I gather you're findings were pretty disturbing. Can you give us a summary of your research please?

Ceridwen Spark: I've interviewed tertiary-educated women over the last few years, most of whom are in the 25- to 30-year-old age bracket, and I think whilst you said that there are some disturbing finds, there's also some really encouraging findings about these predominantly young women. I've just come back from PNG actually and I really feel quite inspired by many of them. They've just got such determination and such capacity to make incredibly valuable contributions in all sorts of ways to the societies in which they live.

Geraldine Doogue: Yes, I've met them too, and I know exactly what you mean. But what I was getting at was you write of domestic violence being normalised, and that it would seem -- you tell me if I'm getting it wrong -- that in all but the rarest of cases, to be honest, women experience violence at the hands of their husbands, and so the younger women are looking and saying, 'I don't think I want anything of this'.

Ceridwen Spark: Yes. I guess what I was going to say, having sort of acknowledged the strength and the capacity of these women, was that the thing that they were saying very strongly was that they were avoiding the personal relationships with men, because they perceived doing so as a threat to their career prospects, to their sense of autonomy and indeed to their personal safety. I think what that shows is that there's a cost for these women, in terms of -- it's not just a straightforward story of tertiary education equals achievement and equals sort of striding into the male corridors of power. They're very much women who are on the cusp of change, and in that role, they actually face all kinds of demonisation in the society in which they live and work.

Geraldine Doogue: So they turn out to be the really leading edge of change in a whole lot of ways and they know it, don't they?

Ceridwen Spark: Yes, very much so, and they're actually pariahs in some contexts. So whilst we might look at them and just see how wonderful they are and what they're achieving, it's just not that simple when you actually start to scratch the surface of their lives, and many of them really, you know, they may not marry, or if they do, that will really have significant impact on what they're able to achieve.

Geraldine Doogue: Who are they turning to for support then? Is there a sort of a group, is there any sense of a growing support group that certainly happen here in Australia, to try to support these women? Is there anything Australia could do in that respect?

Ceridwen Spark: I think two things I would say to that. One is that in my interviews I really found there really was a significant absence of role models for these women, and I think in many respects, whilst they might refer to their mothers or their aunties there's just not a whole lot of women that they can refer to, so they really -- I guess it just emphasises that they're sort of at the leading edge of change. But the second thing that strikes me is a group of women actually met me at the Holiday Inn just this last Sunday, and we did a whole lot of interviews.

Geraldine Doogue: Because you were born and grew up yourself in PNG weren't you?

Ceridwen Spark: Yes I was. What struck me is just the strength of their friendships, and I think whilst they're turning away from heterosexual partnerships to some extent, or certainly not buying into them wholeheartedly, that they're really very much a support to one another, because I think they are aware of their minority status.

Geraldine Doogue: Richard Marles, you must listen to this, given that you're so interested in the place, with interest, with more than interest. Do you think the culture of violence against women and the so-called Big Man politics that operates in PNG, do you think they're an impediment, a genuine impediment now to the country's development?

Richard Marles: Well what I do think is that clearly the Pacific and PNG certainly as a part of it, needs to be doing better in relation to women's representation within their government systems. In PNG for example, you've got one woman sitting in the parliament now, Dame Carol Kidu, who is an absolutely inspirational human being.

Geraldine Doogue: An Australian who married into a PNG family.

Richard Marles: She is, but she's very much a Papua-New Guinean now, and that's where her heart is, and in a way I think not just PNG, but in a way I think the whole region is looking to who will be the inheritor of her political legacy within PNG, as she's announced she'll not be standing again in the 2012 elections. But the overall point I was going to make is that if you look at the 12 countries in the Pacific who are members of the United Nations, not one of them has more than 5% of women within their parliament, and it is a real issue of the region, and I think ways in which we can get women participating more in governance is something that needs to be pursued and the overall observation I would then make is the fact that you know, women are not more involved in governance within the region, is reflected I think, in terms of other indices around women, social indices such as what Ceridwen has been describing, but also the really big one I think in PNG is the mortality rate for women giving birth, and these issues need to be addressed, and I think they become addressed when women are participating within the political process.

Geraldine Doogue: Anthony, seeing we're looking hopefully to PNG, what would you say with your knowledge of the place, might enable a better participation of women if that enables a whole lot of other things to occur at the same time.

Anthony Regan: I think what's happening in Papua-New Guinea in relation to women is to some extent a very modern political struggle, as women start to break out of customary social structures, which gave them to a large extent, secondary roles. And as women become educated, they tend to be coming into public roles, and that's very threatening for Papua-New Guinean men, and I think that's a part of why there are reactions often within marriages. And women are finding all sorts of ways of gradually asserting new roles. In Bougainville, you mentioned the great success of the peace process being the involvement of women. I'm a little bit of a heretic there, I don't think it was especially women's peace process, in fact the women who were involved in the peace process were remarkable women who stood against often women who were supporting conflict, which is what you would expect. There were remarkable men and remarkable women who stood up for peace, and often at great personal cost, but educated women have been very successful in using the Bougainville peace process to help advance the position of women to get it accepted that women can have their own NGOs and their own spokesmen and so on, and that's not easy even, because as the peace process got under way, the male leaders tended to be saying, Well yes, you women, you've played a sort of customary role of peace-making; that's good, now get back to your original roles.' Women again asserted themselves and they got three reserved seats for women in the 40-member Bougainville legislature, established under the peace agreement. And there's an ongoing struggle, as women, to my mind, are doing what women all over the world are still having to do, because women are still -

Geraldine Doogue: Change these very rigid divisions of labour and influence and power.

Ceridwen Spark: There's an important global finding that intimate partner violence is actually the highest in societies in transition. So when women are in traditional roles, they don't really constitute a threat. When they've achieved sufficient power to actually have some say in society then they're a little bit less subject to violence, but it's the societies in transition in which women are most subject to violence by their partners.

Geraldine Doogue: Look, I do notice that one of the -- maybe we can finish on this -- Jonathan Ritchie is one of the presenters at the conference, and he suggests a narrative has to be built for the nation, the importance of life stories really, and that all countries have their narrators, ours for better or worse emerges from Gallipoli and maybe now from Kokoda and so on and so forth. What might it be for PNG? Do you agree Ceridwen, you've obviously watched this closely, do you think that that is a sort of a bit of a vacuum at the moment?

Ceridwen Spark: I do think it is, and one of the things that I was just doing in PNG was talking to a group called Unipixa who make really great films with local people, and what I'm wanting to do with them is work with them to make some biographical films about women, and women who are leaders in PNG, because whilst I think there's a general paucity of biographical material about people who have been important in Papua-New Guinea in recent history, I think this is particularly so in the case of women, and I think starting to tell some of those stories would be part of contributing to what Jonathan's talking about in terms of creating a sense of a narrative about who we've been and what we're becoming.

Geraldine Doogue: Could I just give Anthony the quick final word on that question of national narrative? Does it matter, do you think?

Anthony Regan: Yes I think it's true, but I don't think these sorts of things are easily constructed. People choose their own narratives, so Gallipoli, you couldn't have said, 'Aha! We're landing at Gallipoli, let's construct a national narrative.'

Geraldine Doogue: No but it was constructed afterwards as we know by CW Bean.

Anthony Regan: It was. He helped, but it was much more than that, it was the experience of a country, this was a transforming experience, and there are transforming experiences going on in Papua-New Guinea. The big shift from fully customary rural to urban and modern, all sorts of struggles going on in that, and people are constructing their own, the language is changing, PNG Pidgin is an incredibly adaptive creative, exciting language, and I think that will come. I think it's important. The point Jonathan's making is important, but I think for people in Australia, it'll be a matter of sitting back and watching. I don't think we can help much to create the narratives.

Geraldine Doogue: Well look, thank you all very much indeed. I think there's been a slightly different conversation to what we normally have on PNG, so that's a good thing. Thank you all for joining us. Richard Marles in Canberra, Anthony Regan and Ceridwen Spark in Melbourne. Thank you all very much indeed.

All: Thank you, Geraldine.

Geraldine Doogue: And Richard is Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Affairs; Anthony Regan at the ANU, Ceridwen Spark at Victoria University. And details of that special seminar yesterday at Deakin University will be on our website.