The National Identity project identifying problems

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Niel showing his completed NID Form

By FIDELIS SUKINA

Papua New Guinea’s National Identity Project (NID project) is a great initiative but lacks the capacity to move forward.

With the date set for November to get the residents of Port Moresby registered it seems a big task.

Yes we got a new building opened early this year fitted with air corn and all the luxuries, I wonder if those people who sit there in those offices know the task ahead.

They have billboards. TV and Radio commercials, newspaper advertisements, heck they got all aspects of mass media covered but it’s just promoting the card itself and the benefits.

No real awareness on the information needed to acquire a NID card, I went with my media colleges and we ended up looking for ways to acquire information.

Key information like, where your parents  currently reside could not be  answered by some because their parents are deceased,  the women left to help us fill in the forms said we had to fill in the areas where it had asterix (*)  which if not filled would be rejected by the system  hence leading to your card not being processed.

What a joke, and things like clan and tribe names, wards and LLGs, some of our colleagues didn’t know what clan let alone tribe they belonged to and it had asterix on the side which needs to be filled.  

Prime Minster Peter O'Niel cuts the ribbon to launch the NID project
 in his home province as Planning Minister Charles Able looks on

You also had to put down your parents clan and tribe names some don’t even know their father or mother how you expect them to know their clan and Tribe.

What about the old people there was a section which asked were you born before or after marriage and the other asked when your parents date of marriage do they know the date of marriage for their parents, some older citizens can’t recall these things because their parents were left in the village and they came and lived elsewhere and can’t recall their parents’ marriage dates some parents never even got married.

She probably thought it was easy for us to go back home and fill in the forms and come back, imagine the fourth or fifth generations of Papua New Guineas in urban areas who have no idea what so ever on their tribes and clans, some street kids who sell on the streets don’t even know their parents, and yet this people ask us to look for information, the question is where are we going to acquire these information? Lord help us is what some would say because only God knows who their parents are where they are from and what clan they belong to.

For those women married your NID card will be issued under your maiden name, well some women don’t agree and some husbands don’t even agree with that saying when you are married you use your husband’s name, women present said it would conflict with their passports their account names and other things registered with their husband’s surname.

Is it necessary? That we struggle when we have a government that should know all the tribes clans and wards LLGs of this country they should give us a book with all these information to help us fill in the forms.

The Civil Registry office is a joke no email no phone lines no proper data entry system some people even have multiple birth certificates printed because they had filled in two forms the system can’t even figure out that this person has already been issued a Birth Certificate.

The simple fact is that before we moved to this project we should have upgraded our civil registry so that information gathered there could help in creating books or sheets with clan and tribe names so we have a reference to figure out our own tribes and clans.

People who have already received birth certificates are told to bring in their copies and if misplaced or without them will have to fill in the same forms again.

If I had filled up the same forms for the Birth Certificate why should I be given another form to fill in, just type my name in the data base and see  my details my clan my tribe whatever that is needed and give me my card.

But that is a dream right, no data base system, and just because they are lazy they can’t get your information they charge re print fees and finding fees, a Government service provider charging finder fees and reprint fees what a lazy service provider.

What about the Papua New Guineas who don’t have birth certificates they should be given priority and helped to acquire the information needed for the NID card, make things easy for the old and the young generation so they can have an identity, as a human being identity is important, rolling out new offices of NID and not even updating the system, creating awareness  is a scramble with looming problems ahead.

Delma an aspiring young talent forging ahead

Delma Minei 

By FIDELIS SUKINA

Delma Minei is currently hitting the airwaves in Papua New Guinea with her song “Soul Peace  Love” and is a voice that stuns and brings hope to a lot of young aspiring women singers in Papua New Guinea

The 26 year old from a mixed parentage of East Sepik, Manus and East New Britain, was the second runner up from the prestigious Vocal Fusion during its first season last year, bagging a recording contract with CHM as part of the winners package.

 I had the opportunity to interview the energetic and enthusiastic R n B and Rock fan at the CHM studio early in the year.

She is a charming young woman, with the aspirations to go all the way to reach the pinnacle of her singing career.

She is looking forward to an illustrious singing career, and has the full support of her partner and her family, driving her forward.

“I have overwhelming Support from my partner and my family, they are really supportive, they always encourage me to peruse my dreams and despite my work I put my music first and they are really supportive of it” she said with a smile.

Delma Minei during recording at the CHM studios in Port Moresby

She is the new generation of singer, song writers in her family; her earliest exposure to music was in her youth which she performed alongside her uncles in their old school contemporary PNG string bands back at Manus Province.

“I grew up in Manus I used to sing with my Uncle in his band, we did mostly charity work helping to raise money for Hospitals and other organizations” she said

A modest yet confident Thelma is really passionate, and by far her sacrifice and undying will to achieve further, from Vocal fusion is paying off.

“I’m happy for myself, and I am happy that vocal fusion had made it possible for PNG to know me”

“Nothing has changed apart from the fact that I have stopped chewing betel nut and smoking, it is a sacrifice for the better “she said smiling exposing her glowing white teeth

Being a contestant on vocal fusion was a stepping stone for bigger things to come, mentoring and vocal training from the competition bought the best out of Thelma bringing out the buried talent that stayed dormant.

“Vocal fusion is my first competition; it’s a new thing and I experienced a lot about who I am as a singer”

“The judges were very helpful they helped in some of the vocal training”

“Vocals were hidden inside we didn’t know and I found out a lot, some of my voice I never experienced it just came out”

“Best competition out of the others, I have a lot of fans and being on that show is a feeling I cannot explain” she said

She did build a fan base, and it’s growing, with her powerful captivating performances on vocal fusion resulting in frequent friend requests on Facebook.

“I’m happy people recognize me in public I am thankful for vocal fusion for making it possible for my exposure”

Me and my team with Delma Minei  

“I have friend requests coming in almost every day, so far I got 6,000 friends I am thinking of starting a page of my own” she said

Delma released her single which featured Jay Leaisi formerly known as Prote-J the native Papua New Guinean born and raised, currently based in Florida USA, he is a well renowned rapper, producer and song writer back in the states, and  Delma said it was a great  experience recording with the famous artist.  

“I am doing a mixture of local, R and B and Reggae not too much but just enough equally across all genres”

“Prote-J  he has bought in a new atmosphere of music something I am not used to, but his music and mine both blend in very well” she said

Thelma sees herself being a popular artist in the next five years, with a humble attitude and an outstanding talent aided by overwhelming support from her friends and family Thelma is on her way to achieving her goals.

Charles Nir a Simple Illustrator with great Ideas

Charles with one of his Illustrations

By FIDELIS SUKINA

Armed with a pencil a biro and an eraser he sits and takes in the weeks pressing issues from the newspapers and, thinks out a scene on the A4 sketch paper,

He just needs less than 10 minutes to create an illustration that summarizes the week’s events, into a great work of art.

Charles Nir 54years of age living here in the Nation’s capital is a freelance illustrator; he offers his humble services to news agencies and NGO’s or any other organization that wishes to have an illustration that brings out a clear message.

 “I am from Mendi Southern Highlands Province and since primary and High School I have had the interest of drawing”

He graduated from the Goroka School of Arts and Design, in 1979, and since then has never looked back.

“I didn’t do well in school but my talent took me to continue at the Goroka School of Art and Design”

“I was interested in the field and that made me to excel in it, I always was interested in Expressive Arts during High School”

Charles  finalizing his illustrations 

After spending two years in Arts School he did odd jobs, before working with two newspaper agencies laying out the illustrations and stories on to the printing press.

He had been a newspaper illustrator for almost 30 years, working with three different organizations

He worked with Niugini Nius Limted, from 1983 to 1990 which later on was taken over by Word Publishing and then, Talair before its collapse he joined a printing shop which SP Brewery owned doing the layouts and illustrations, later on he joined the National Newspaper in 1997 and left after 7 years, to pursue a freelance career.

He takes pride in his work and with his talent he wastes no time in producing results, he is currently contributing to the Sunday Chronicle News Paper drawing cartoons that depict the weekly issues in Papua New Guinea

He has his own unique style and is clearly producing results,

“I just read the week’s news and come up with a drawing and show it to the editor for him to approve, and so far all my Illustrations are accepted”

Even the NGO Partners in Melanesia which promotes environmental conservation, acquired his services to help them with their booklets as part of awareness.

 “Sometimes I work with NGOs, I did illustrations for a booklet on environment conservation”

“They wanted 24 A4 size Illustrations and I gave them what they wanted in just 3 days”

He basically draws from his thinking and imagines what you expect from him, that’s after you explain to him what you want.

More of Charles's Ilusstrations

 As you sit and watch he will finish a drawing within ten minutes, depending on the number of characters and the scene involved

“When I was small I use to see drawings from the children in the Village hanging on the tucker shop and that made me excited and hearing the praise the young artists got I wanted to become like them”

  In a nation with a lot of culture and heritage it is often hard to differentiate characters from each province but that doesn’t hinder Charles that much, he has interesting features that help to differentiate characters from each region of Papua New Guinea

“Sometimes when I am drawing I don’t really differentiate but, most of the times its to do with their traditional attire, or body features like a person from the Highlands Region would have a bigger beard than a coastal man, and coastal women especially central would have grass skirts and tattoos, but it does not really matter as long as the issue is addressed”

Charles has a talent that speaks a thousand words, a picture that stimulates the minds of readers, so they can grasp the message clearly.

 A humble and simple person, with very few words to say, maybe because he spends his time thinking more than talking, he has his own pen name CHESS which could be found within the Illustration itself

Tep Tok a project to revive traditional tattooing

Julia Mageau Gary the  Director and Protagonist of the film 

By FIDELIS SUKINA

During Australia Week last month, I had the chance of watching the documentary film Tep Tok: Reading between our lines a three part documentary which follows four women of Papua New Guinea and Australian descent who explore their tattooing traditions from the central province of Papua New Guinea, focusing on the aim to understand why and what caused the decline in the art of traditional tattooing and their three months project which ended up being a three year one, where they travelled  and filmed in Australia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Samoa, Tahiti and the Cook Islands under Sunameke Productions.

The director and protagonist Julia Mageau Gray said while we have a strong following of tattooing into contemporary culture today, the traditional practices of tattooing in Papua New Guinea is on the downfall and the documentary is a avenue which helps to understand and embrace the once popular art of traditional tattooing.

She said being outside and coming back to her village, she saw that her family actually wanted what was back in Australia while she was trying her best to be like her family here in Papua New Guinea.

“It was out of frustration and deep sadness why can’t we practice this, I live in Australia and I had this outside perspective, I come home and I see my cousins and they seem to be aspiring to be us, sort of like the grass is greener sort of thing”

She added that it was something that didn’t really apply to them as important in the past.

“My mum never spoke about it my bubus and mothers never talked about the tattooing I didn’t even notice my bubus tattoos in a sense where I sat down and, going I wonder what that means and why did you get that, it was really just growing up with it and a lot of us didn’t question that we saw it but it wasn’t something we were really aware of it wasn’t really something that you were made to feel proud of”

One of the few surviving images from the Past

Julia said it was an emotional experience for them to try and document and revive the practice and you could see her holding back the tears as she was introducing the film

 “On a deeper scale there was a lot of crying we really felt a deep sadness” Julia said

Being married to a Maori man saw her spending more time in New Zealand and seeing them going back and reviving their traditional designs which sparked her thoughts as well.

“I realized that all their groups moved from texture and paint to the real thing, and there’s this massive tattoo revival and, a lot of women were doing it as well and I said to myself our women were the bomb and I couldn’t understand why we weren’t practicing it anymore”

She said seeing women putting designs with paint and markers only once a year during festivals and cultural shows wasn’t enough

“Why not all the time and that was something which drove us” Julia said

Julia form Oaisaka Village, Mekeo and Australia, found out that her grandmother was the last to be tattooed in the mekeo design in the whole of mekeo.

“All the mekeo designs are gone the ones you see them now are from the Roro people from the coast” she said

Natalie Richards from Raikau Village, Hula and Australia, one of the four women was also researching in her village, and together with Julia found out that missionaries were responsible for the decline in practice.

In the film an elderly women from Hula said she had her tattoos from the dark ages referring to the time before missionary contact.

One woman said the London Missionaries introduced chorus and peroveta leaving the traditional singing and tattooing to the older generation.

Julia said all the older women they asked in the village confirmed it was because of missionary influence 

two women from the Mekeo area with new tattoos
after 60 years this two women are the first to get tatoos on their chests

“My mother was not tattooed because she was one of the first women to win a scholarship to go and study in Australia and she wasn’t there at the village and my aunties didn’t get tattooed either and all the people we asked said it was during the time of the missionaries”

“Because of missionary influence the tattooing was stopped because it was deemed an unnecessary tradition I don’t think they understood what that actually played, what that it  did to empower our women now it’s a massive challenge, it lost its importance” Julia said in the film

Knowing most of the missionaries that came to Papua New Guinea were accompanied by Polynesians Julia and Natalie with their two other colleagues from Gabagaba Village and Australia, Paia Ingram and Ranu James went to Samoa where they were tattooed using the traditional tapping method by the Sulu'ape family.

It was an emotional experience for them which got Julia thinking about the importance of reviving the practice back home.

“We are close to losing our practice and going to Samoa and seeing the Polynesian men and seeing them keeping their practice alive that’s really important for us Papuan women and because they were part of the reason why we stopped continuing our practice”

“Losing the tattoo means that we are losing our culture and identity and looking outside to other people in the pacific is awesome but to remember that what we have is incredible and we can keep that alive and it’s up to us and if we don’t do it we are negligent,” Julia said

After their tattooing experience in Samoa one of them had to take up the challenge of being the tattooist, and gladly Julia did

“For Melanesia it’s a women’s practice but then mostly it’s a men’s practice it comes down to the dominant sex and that’s men so I see that’s why we are not tattooing where as they are. For us as women to bring back our tattooing practice also means that we need to have more of a voice in society” Julia said

Julia is now tattooing both men and women “I am Passionate about reinvigorating our women’s central tattoo designs. So our men can wear our Bubu's tattoos as well”  

Julia is now tattooing  both men and women something that wasn't done in the past  

Julia said she is a contemporary artist with the motto “from old to new old”, she added that in the past it was different but now they were more flexible

“The person that gets tattooed they don’t choose their designs and where it goes, it was the tattooist job to say this is your story, that’s what the rest of Polynesia is doing, they take the persons look at their history their genealogy and they design that tattoo for that particular person, now women can decide their designs and we compromise the placement” Julia said

Julia and the team also bought back tattooing to the places where it was dormant for a while Magaiva is one of the first mekeo girls to wear mekeo poapoa on her chest in 60 or so years and Ofoi is the first Mekeo boy to be tattooed in their area.

 Julia said she had been in talks with a young women and her family from Gabagaba central province for her to get Bubu's designs on her skin (Revareva) and said to keep a look out for Tep Tok Tatu at House of Xen over the next two months.

1991 Gold Medalist Takale Tuna a sprint sensation

Takale Tuna  1991  Gold Medalist in the 200m and 4 by 100m relay

By FIDELIS SUKINA

With a month to go to the Pacific Games I had the chance to meet up with Papua New Guineas former sprinter Takale Tuna, he was part of the PNG team which won the games for the country when we last hosted the games in 1991.

Hailing from Matupit East New Britain he was a prodigy in his own right, breaking National and Pacific Games records during his illustrious ten year career,

“I am from Matupit full breed, that’s where some Papua New Guineas great Talent of Sprint hail from” he said,

He added that there was something unique about the Matupit boys that he could only speculate

“There’s something  unique about the Matupit Boys it started with John Kaputin and Silas Tita and it went up to me, I think it’s to do with the upbringing, The Jamaicans they say it’s the bread fruit sop for us it’s probably the banana” he said

He was a natural athlete and played a lot of Sports during his High School days at Boisen High School which was destroyed by the 1994 Volcano Erruption.

“I played a lot of sports in my time I played Athletics, Rugby Leauge Aussie Rules, Boisen also produced some of Athletics stars in the country the like of Ezekiel Wartovo and Peter Pulu”

 But it was his transition to Kerevat National High School that got him more into Athletics than the other sports

“I went to National High and that’s where I started serious training in Athletics there was a teacher there Bruce Hautau, with his training we got going and during carnivals I was noticed and was sent up to Goroka to the National Sports Institute (NSI) under the Junior Athletics Camp”

During his training he performed to expectations and was selected for a stint in the Pacific School games.

“The camp was sponsored by Colgate and was called the Colgate Camp, there were a few American Students who came around and we challenged them, I beat them and got selected to attend the Pacific School games”

Australians and Pacific Islands competed in the Pacific Schools games, and Takale was one of only two medalists to win at the Pacific Schools games

“I came second in the 400meters at the games the guy who won the Gold actually held the 400m world record for a while,”

“It’s only two of us from PNG that won medals at the games the other being our Paralympian Francis Kompaon”

After the Pacific Schools games he made the 1985 Mini South Pacific Games team and went on a winning streak

“I made a clean sweep in the sprint treble (100m, 200m and 400m) I broke all the pacific games records all the National games records in Raratonga Cook Islands”

After his performance in the mini games he went on to win Gold in the 200m and 400m and Bronze in the 100m at the Pacific Games in Noumea New Caledonia

But one of his greatest Highlights was taking part and winning in the 1991 Pacific games,

“It was a special feeling to be cheered on by more than 10,000 fans during the games it was exciting but a lot of pressure we had to deliver”

And deliver they did the team of Subul Babo, Ezekiel Wartovo and Takale Tuna, blew out the competition in the sprint treble

“Ezekiel won the 100m I came second, Subul won the 400m I came second, and I won the 200m, we even won the 4 x 100 metres and the 4 x 400 metres relay”

“ I was very happy, I set the pace in the Relay’s I told Subul and the other guys if you want to beat these other guys you have to beat me, It was a simple strategy just keep everyone out and race ourselves”

Takale with Games Mascot at the 1985 mini games in Raratonga

After his stunning performances he retired undefeated in the 200m for almost two decades, until his record was broken by Nelson Stone

These days Takale is still working with National Planning and is giving back to the community through sports administration.

“I have given to the country through sports and now I am giving to the community, I am currently the President of the Special Olympics I help athletes with intellectual Disabilities the ones with the Down syndrome”

“My Wife was already involved in Paralympics, I was just supporting behind the scenes, and when they were they were looking for an Olympian to head the organization I initially refused but my wife convinced me otherwise”

 And it’s going well for him at the moment and they are into their third year, some of the athletes went to the Asia Pacific Games in 2013 and won six gold three silver and a bronze medal

“Some of the parents find it hard to find opportunities for the children, and this is an avenue we help them in, we are preparing for the Los Angeles Summer games which we will be sending 6 athletes”

Takale who attended all the major events on the athletics calendar during his career had a lot to share.

He said taking pride in representing the country was important and he had faith in team PNG

“Remember seven million plus people will be behind team PNG, the baton is being relayed around the country and is touched by everyone and that represents their support”

He said our track team was a strong one especially the females, but was quite concerned about the male athletes on the track

“We have a strong women’s sprint team and it’s very strong with the likes of Toea Wisil and Betty Burua, but the men I haven’t seen them perform recently”

“Toea Wisil is a strong athlete and can run the 100m, 200m and 400m, a lot of athletes cannot do that it takes special people, on the world stage people like Usain Bolt only runs 100m and 200m and Michael Johnson only 100m and 400m”

“There is a Samoan running 10 seconds flat and a Fijian running 10.3 seconds in the mens 100m, the measuring stick is the last commonwealth games in Scotland  and the men’s team didn’t do too well”

He added that in their time during the lead up to the 1991 games they were in training competing with themselves and it was fierce

“We never really went overseas just a few competitions but the fierce one was back here in PNG we were from all over the country and we trained hard and checked our progress very well, we need that, the National Championships in Lae produced times that were quite slow, but I believe the boys can lift because we have the home ground advantage”

He said the Fijians liked to play mind games to psyche out the opposition and PNG should try to avoid that, he said during their time they would surge out of the starting block and break one by one just to intimidate their opponents.

“During the finals PNG would have three runners and in the past we would take off one by one and break, there were two chances after a false start but today there are none, we just have to find some new ways to intimidate them”

“We have to be hungry enough to win, our ancestors are warriors and when the time comes, like the beating of the Kundu it is the call to action, and I wish all the Athletes all the best in this year’s games”