Struggling to get rid of corruption: Are we power hungry

Caption: Papua New Guinea during colonisation

By FIDELIS SUKINA

Papua New Guinea is a country with diverse cultures and traditions. To this day Papua New Guinea boasts a record of over 800 different languages native to this land of almost 6million,

With 800 different languages than there would be more than 800 cultures and traditions as well.

Our difference in culture and traditions is unique, we were found by explores to be spread across in small ethnic groupings, clans and tribes,

 We did not boast a big political structure which governed the whole region like other ancient civilizations; instead we were in our own clans, with our own politics in place with systems which guided us.

Conflicts were over land or marriage but it was on mutual understanding which they were resolved, people had surplus to share so they traded and it was a measure of unity despite separation in ethnicity,

 But look at modernization, the superpowers back than had to expand their horizons,

So they came with their three G’s God, Gold and Glory to bring fort what they called the right path to follow, Melanesia was one of the last places in the pacific for missionaries to concur, because we were the most aggressive,

We battled to protect our people and our way of life, but we were over powered.

Just as that, we were converted into Christians, to work in Plantations, under the rule of western capitalist democracy.

But what happened when we gained independence, did we improve?

America during the 1850’s civil war and the great immigration by the Irish in to America, there was a lot of conflict; because people did not agree with each other, there was no equality.

The only way for them to create peace for themselves was to get into power and improve their lives.

There was no peace, places like New York City was a diverse area with, British, Irish, Chinese and Italians, all in gangs, with political interests, to run for mayor or sheriff, they fought themselves for control of the suburbs, their gangs were politically motivated and they vouched for their candidates to gain political status.

 We have our own conflicts as well in PNG; our kinship ties are becoming like gangs, fighting each other for power culminating in hate for our opposition candidates.

 Unity is an important part of nationalism, and the formation of peace.

In a peaceful society people greet each other regardless of race or ethnicity,

We create divisions in Papua New Guinea, in ethnicity and status levels, during election time we do block voting according to kinship in rural areas, and in the urban we target the low income earners and the poor suburbs, for votes.

Who are we voting in our wantok’s or our leaders, do we consider the consequences before we cast our votes.

We continue to use democracy as a tool for self-gain for our own little political systems, what about the bigger picture.

Multiple voting, hijacking of ballot boxes, bribing and election related violence are some of the methods used to get into power.

 Such techniques are adding more to the peace problem, we still hold wantok system as a mutual system of benefit.

Our people see the political arena as the control room for their kinsmen, their supply of finance and their ticket to expanding business.

We stand proud among our kinsmen and we are applauded, but did we fulfill our oats, for better roads, better rural hospitals better opportunities for education and better conditions for public servants, in rural areas.

Even the tag of a Christian country, is a contradiction to our status quo, the talk of peace is being drowned by greed and individual pride carrying on the weight of the tribe.

Harmony is the feeling you get after you are satisfied that there is peace in your country.

 If you as a leader have done all you can to create better opportunities for your people, to prosper away from crime, and to unite our nation than we will experience harmony and peace.

Why have the churches gone empty? Is it just laziness or modernization?

Caption: Inside a Catholic Church

By FIDELIS SUKINA

I remember back when I was small, when my mum would take me to church on Sundays, I attended Sunday school and after church we’d met our relatives, and other children and we’d play and wait for the adults to finish their conversations before going home.

I grew up in a family where my mother was a strong catholic; she was a catechist and member of several devotional groups.

I was baptized in the same church I still go to in Port Moresby Mary Queen of the Pacific North Waigani.

When I was aged between nine and twelve, I always enjoyed going to church and listening to the catechist during Sunday school, and when I reached age twelve I was an Altar Boy and every Sunday I’d sit through the whole service.

But after I left my beloved church for University, and came back each year for holidays, the empty spaces started becoming noticeable.

I am also guilty of not attending service regularly, like most people in modern day Papua New Guinea; something’s may have become more serious or important than Sunday service.

Christians are baptized and are expected, to abide by the Ten Commandments, and one of commandments being to keep holy the Sabbath day.

I went on a drive with my dad to Morata a suburb in Port Moresby and saw it for myself, drunkards on Sunday Morning.

 According to NCDC Law liquor stores should be closed on a Sunday, but in front of the stores young men and women were drinking away to local hits on the stereo, provided by the shop owners, I wondered if these people were Catholics.

I sometimes think we are just too lazy to attend church but not lazy to booze and Face Book throughout Sunday morning, I see people packing up the night clubs in numbers on a Saturday night, and perhaps they forgot church was tomorrow?

We call ourselves a Christian country but, westernization has taken over the very generation that will uphold the Christian faith. But wait was it not westernization which bought us Christianity.

In a 2011 survey in Australia by Peter Wild.kinson, DMiss.(PUG), BE, A Senior Research Fellow at the Australian Institute of Multicultural Affairs, and Guest Lecturer in Missiology at Yarra Theological Union. 

Found out that only 10% of the total catholic population of 5,000,000 in Australia was attending Sunday service on a regular basis and church goers aged 15-24 represented the lowest numbers.

I don’t know what the numbers are like in Papua New Guinea, but let’s just hope it does not go down that road.

The Catholic Church holds one of the biggest populations in Christian Papua New Guinea.

But the sad reality is that only the small and the middle aged are seen at church in numbers on Sunday.

Perhaps living a Christian life is too much to handle, with the stress of work and family obligations, we rarely have time to pray with the family.

Sunday service is the only time some of us have with God, to reflect and see if what we were doing during the week was right in the eyes of God and the community.

Our local priest during one of his sermons, said people have strayed away from the church because they see it as normal, 

He said people see others doing it and regard it as not being sinful. Because of the majority taking part in all sorts of activities regarded as sin, example getting drunk and swearing, fighting, domestic violence and of course skipping Sunday Service.   

These have become normal in our society, and we tend to ignore it because it has become part of our daily lives.

All I know is that sin is sin, and whatever the bible says is sin, I know I have wronged. 

All I can say is morality and ethical standards cannot take a Christian to heaven unless he or she abides by the Ten Commandments.

But there is no measure of a perfect Christian, let’s just hope we keep the faith alive and help pray for each other to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Students need to make the right choices: Grade 12 Selections

Caption: students graduating

By FIDELIS SUKINA

The Grade 12 selections for students into Institutions of Higher Education for 2014 to 2015 ended last week, only one question remains.

What happens to the students that do not get an offer into Institutions of Higher Education?

It is sad to hear that only a few spaces are available for our grade 12 school leavers. The same story each year, I dread the day my smaller siblings in the village reach the 12^th grade.

We always had dreams when we were small, of the type of person we wanted to be when we grew up.
Perhaps some of us achieved it or we later on in life heard a different calling and pursued a different dream.  

Dreams are dreams but reality is the truth, every year student’s graduate and every year the number increases.

When I had the opportunity to do my vacation employment with the Office of Higher Education in 2010 during my 2^nd Year break from studies at the Divine Word University in Madang, I realized the reality of the students who sat for exams every year.

Only 4400 plus spaces were available for 17,000 plus students back then in 2010 to 2011, imagine that, after my vacation employment was over I went back to DWU knowing that we were the cream of the country, the best of the best who beat the odds and secured a space among the lucky few 4,000 plus students every year.

Students lacked the guidance to make the right choice; students didn’t know that the spaces were limited and that they were mostly done on the first preferences only, 

 Some students who had the chance of making it into technical colleges opted to try the Universities, without realizing on average universities had spaces ranging from 50 to 20 spaces per program offered, some such as UPNG school of Science had 300 spaces for 1^st years that being the highest, while courses in Unitech and Divine Word University took in less than 40 per program. 

Students didn’t realize that their 1^st choice counted more than their second, in the fight for limited spaces your second choice is someone else’s first choice.

UPNG and Unitech being the most popular and premium universities, had many applicants they never passed Thursday in the week long selections held every second week in December

This was because they always had the top students applying for their first choices and quotas for programs were sometimes filled in on the first day of selections.

So what about the others who probably did well with all B’s but didn’t get into any Institution of Higher Education.

Well in a highly competitive arena right choices need to be made, your first choice should have been a technical college or perhaps a Business or Teachers College.

Because the ones with the A’s obviously will apply for Universities as their first choices, while you apply for University as a first choice your second choice is taken by someone who was smart enough to realize your lapse in judgment. 

Making you end up without an offer for all of your choices, with an impressive GPA your wrong choices caused you a space in an institution of Higher education.

Those schools who often don’t fill up their quotas go through the Total Reject piles and pick out some students with impressive marks but missed out for selection because of wrong choices.

 I am not an expert in the education system in PNG, but I know for sure that some so called top students in schools in the rural areas get lower grades because of the low performances by the whole student body causing the number of students in the schools to get no A’s or B’s despite performing well in their internal marks.

Perhaps we need a new way to help students to guide them to their right paths, parents don’t guide their students often, and when the children do not get accepted for Higher Institutions, they are scolded.

All I can say is it is the system and we cannot get a miracle overnight to help everyone proceed on to the next level of education.

Maybe parents and teachers could help students realize that right choices according to marks can beat the system sometimes.

Future of Mining in Bougainville is Bougainvilles Issue

By Bougainville News

President Momis said today that he was deeply concerned that Prime Minister O’Neill wants the National Government to control future mining at Panguna.

On Thursday 9^th October the Prime Minister held a three hour meeting with a team form the ‘Me’ekamui Government of Unity’ (‘MGU’). The meeting was arranged by the office of the Member for Central Bougainville, Hon. Jimmy Miringtoro.

The President said that the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) has obtained minutes of matters discussed at that meeting, prepared by the ‘MGU’ team. The Minutes (attached to this statement) report the Prime Minister as saying:

‘Ok Tedi is your model to help you with mining in the future’; and
‘We have given the Western Province 20% ownership of Ok Tedi’; and
‘I will give 35% to Bougainville in any mining in the future’.

The President said:  “The Bougainville Peace Agreement (BPA) states clearly that the main goal of Bougainville’s autonomy is to ‘empower Bougainvilleans to solve their own problems, manage their own affairs and work to realize their aspirations’.

Because of our experience of mining, mining was in the first set of powers that the ABG requested to be transferred from the National Government. “I told him that the idea of the National Government operating mining at Panguna (or anywhere else in Bougainville) is completely unacceptable to Bougainville.

Any attempt by the National Government to control mining in Bougainville could cause Bougainvilleans to lose all faith in the BPA. Many would refuse to work with the National Government any more.

They would want immediate independence. It would be a recipe for undermining, perhaps even destroying, support for the BPA. “I met with the Prime Minister on Friday 3^rd October (just six days before your meeting of 9^th October) and again on Tuesday 18 November. Both meetings discussed the Prime Minister’s views about Bougainville.

Yet he made no mention in either meeting of the views he expressed to the MGU team on 9^th October. “He must explain why he can express such dangerous proposals to the MGU, and refuse to discuss them with me.

Is he trying to divide the people of Bougainville?“If such views were expressed by the Prime Minister, they clearly have serious potential for undermining relationships between the ABG and the National Government.

“In the interests of maintaining a working relationship between your Government and mine, it is essential that the Prime Minister clarify his position on these issues.”

“I have today sent a letter to the Prime Minister reminding him that Bougainvilleans are deeply concerned about the future of mining in Bougainville, and determined to control it themselves, through the ABG. The letter is attached to this statement.

“This meeting was arranged by the office of Mr. Jimmy Miringtoro. The minutes indicate Mr. O’Neill wants the National Government to control mining at Panguna in the same way it manages Ok Tedi.
Other information available to me indicates that the Prime Minister also told the MGU group that the National Government proposes to purchase Rio Tinto’s shares in BCL to allow to control Panguna mining.

Letter from Momis to PNG PM: click the link below to read the letter

https://bougainvillenews.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/momis-oneil-re-mgu-visit-nov-2014.pdf

and below is the miniutes from the meeting between PNG PM and MGU

https://bougainvillenews.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/minining-bougainville-minutes-page-1-and-2.pdf