Colonizers still control the world systems

An illustration of Neo-Colonialism 

Following my previous write up Media influence and the core and periphery

It still makes me worry about why the world has put some countries and some of us lowly citizens into a position of question.

I have had it with looking at the world as a place of opportunity; it seems unfair we try to enjoy the finer things in life, but we are solely dependent on making ends meet while some in higher places see us as just another ordinary statistic of some sort of misfortune or even worse as a slave to the world systems.

You live in a society where you are born into class and stature, you are living on borrowed times time belongs to the next generation, and we are just caretakers of this planet.

It’s like a school you serve your time in a particular institution but you will never remain there forever and it seems to evolve once you have left, evolved positively, or went down the drain.

You serve a purpose and leave, but who is responsible for you being birthed into your current state?

For myself coming from a "Third World" "Developing Country".

My forefathers and their exploiters, that’s right colonialism and western claim to resources.

Okay maybe my forefathers were not able to think outside of the box, simply because back than it was called crates, okay box crate whatever it doesn’t matter. 

What matters is they were statistics of their time, their seemingly feeble mindset was exploited by more cunning greed mongers, who traded tobacco and sharp pointy objects, okay axes to gain their favor.

When the modernization theory was conjured by Walt Whitman Rostow in the 1960s it was challenged by others.

Wait a minute! is the idea of capitalism built on exploiting the developing nations? damn skippy it is Andre Gunder Frank and Immanuel Wallerstein forged ahead and made a mince out of the Modernization theory.

You see Rostow had a theory that there were five stages of development for each nation, but he left out something significant that cannot be erased, which he tried to erase, that’s right colonization.

The scramble for Africa and Asia by Europe caused chaos to native populations, they were displaced to be slaves forced to boom the industrial revolution of Europe in the 16th to 19th century. 

Our forefathers especially those in Papua New Guinea my home nation and my native land the autonomous region of Bougainville were forced to work in plantations, I know it is a borderline issue, I don’t want to cross any path with this one, it has its positives and negatives.

So you see our ancestors were forced to work for the empire with low wages and cheap labor no real labor laws governed their right, no proper workplace policy lack of safety equipment and all the atrocities attached to colonial driven labor

Commodities such as Coconut, sugar, tea, coffee, cotton, and other agricultural commodities were being shipped back to Europe to feed the demand of the people back in the motherland.

Fast forward, with World War two and with the colonies being disbanded, most African countries and others across the world gained independence.
Welcome Neo-Colonialism, this is what we are facing right now that’s right welcome to the real world all you lovers of foreign mass media and American hegemony, hopefully, this statement does not blacklist me from visiting America I see so much on TV I too want to go there but alas let me think twice before going further with this essay.

(two days later) okay I think I should go ahead with this, I know I am just another wannabe philosopher, who had spent four years of his life studying international relations and politics, I am just making use of my knowledge and with the greatest American invention, I too can be seen and heard globally.

Okay here is the difference between the first world they were undeveloped.

While the developing countries were underdeveloped, simply meaning we were used and thrown to fend for ourselves after independence was granted to us.

Prostituting us into Neo-Colonialism, okay I had to say that it seemed fair!
And then we have the capitalist system which was widely praised by Rostow, which still puts us in a neo-colonial state.

What happens these days is that we still hang on to these commodities that were introduced by our colonizers but they control the price.

It is an issue of supply and demand, there is a demand for commodities like coffee and tea including cocoa and copra but we are not the price controllers.

Transnational corporations that buy our commodities set the price, because the supply of agricultural commodities is abundant, if the Transnational corporation buys coffee for example says $1 USD a kilo that’s the price! if one country doesn’t agree they have no choice or the buyer will always buy elsewhere, but it is so cheap, right?

to make more money farmers produce more and that's when overproduction happens, and in Economics we know that when supply increases price drops. 

It’s a vicious cycle, we work hard and overproduce but we end up having little to gain from the increase in supply except for low price, that’s Neo-Colonialism right there.

These cheap commodities which countries like my own Papua New Guinea try our hardest to work our butts off for are somewhere being produced in mass quantities and at lower prices.

Okay the other thing is tariffs, this is tax put on items that are being imported or exported, import tariffs add more cost to the specified item forcing those importing commodities from our country to pay less when buying from us, they face losing money on tariffs.

For countries like Papua New Guinea which produce the more expensive commodities like Gold and Oil we think we should be making money right, “no way Jose” just a little off the top maybe but these transnational corporations end up getting tax breaks???
What solutions are there to help us, poor peripheral people?

Honestly we will never escape Neo-Colonialism unless we somehow start building weapons of mass destruction and vaporize half of the world, meaning vaporizing the established countries and transnational corporations, and then maybe we will be the superpower.

The other outlandish dream could be we form transnational corporations of our own, you see transnational corporations are spread throughout the world ever-expanding in Search for the cheapest production locations to maximize profit and maintain a competitive edge.

They have geographical flexibility easy to shift resources and operations across the world and are responsible for 75% of world trade and one-third of global output

Companies like Coke, Mac Donald’s, and Oil companies minimize costs and exist to make money for shareholders so they keep moving to find more markets, in places where wages are a lot cheaper and at a fraction of a cost to ship back products to developed nations.

I say PNG should have a transnational company that buys technology from the west and invests money to develop the technology. 

A corporatocracy invest all the money to the corporation and it looks after the Government and its people, we invest and make money instead of slaving over cheap commodities.

But that would be preposterous because PNG as a country has a GDP of fewer than 30billion USD, Jeff Bezos the world’s richest man owner of Amazon the e-commerce giant has a net worth of 149.4 billion USD and the biggest transnational corporation listed number one in the fortune 500 is US-based retailer Walmart with a revenue of more than $486 billion a year.

Now let me just cast the biggest shadow over all this and blanket the shame of Papua New Guinea and most African countries. 

I almost felt the back pain and the hurt our rural farmer go through when it comes to looking after the cheap commodities like cocoa and coffee, my Autonomous Region of Bougainville one of the highest producers of cocoa this is the reality.

Between 2016 and 2019, the monthly price of cocoa worldwide peaked in mid-2016 at about 3,122 U.S. dollars per metric ton.

This roughly estimates to K10, 000 per ton of cocoa not that much considering its hard work to look after and harvest the cocoa.

On average Papua New Guinea’s combined export is 40,000 tons K380 million a year that’s 100 million USD really hard to contribute much into the economy may be for smallholder farmers it’s a plus.

So there you have it the reality we are still controlled by the west neo colonized what have we got to say for ourselves.

Well it’s not like we have a choice. Wait a cotton-picking moment!
We can change like South Korea who from the post-Korean War was the biggest receiver of aid to aid givers, and a technologically advanced country.

Samsung like my phone the A50 is South Korean made, that’s right they have a transnational corporation which is second only to Apple in the mobile phone market and second to Sony in the sale of flat-screen TV’s. Hey what the hey! I know right it seems too good to be true.

When America was rejecting ideas from its citizens South Korea was buying them and improving them what a way to prove the dependency theory wrong.

Anyway that’s about it, for now, I will be discussing the Modernization theory in my next write up

Poverty and Agriculture : The scourge of Colonization

An adventurer’s dream! Casing through the jungles of uncertainty, after “Terra nullius” to take from hosts like pests they came.

The Renaissance man whose plight of exploration and exploitation, met with arrows and spiteful resentment, modern muskets verses crafty bows and Stone Age weapons.

The start of greed and forced labor, what kind of back story is that, it’s like telling your kids “its okay we are better off than our ancestors who would not have survived this far?

Hang on a minute humanity evolved at its own pace in different societies, it took wits and innovation, it was all about the survival of the species, eat or be eaten, it was about making sure society was civilized enough to understand what caused death and what it took to survive.

Famous cartoon of Cecil Rhodes Colonial Giant 

Was there poverty in our ancestry? I am talking about native simple societies, before a perceived emancipated monetized world, by greedy empires. 

Perhaps a few abominations were seen as punishment, superficial superstition had its fair share in the dark ages of humans, a swipe at modern man in a perceived sense.

Subjected to ties to the underworld so to speak other than that humanity chugged on pacing itself evermore aware each time someone tasted something and died.

No one saw poverty, for with surplus came barter and as man relished the taste of trade without designer printed toilet paper, poverty was not present.

 Fast forward to colonization and poverty these days is marked by affordability of goods and living within a bench mark that is the US Dollar, how much you can earn to live in a complex world filled with inequalities, where the rich get richer and the poor are still poor.

Hell if you were living off the grid on sustainable agriculture or a hermit for crying out loud, US dollar is just another devil to you, heaven won’t be waiting for your perceived poverty stricken ass, because you aren’t dying anytime soon, you could use paper money as toilet paper and still cook your greens and live to witness another beautiful sun rise and breath fresh air.

Let’s scoot on down to the city where limited opportunity, controlled by corporate greed, seeks the common man to slave for a pay cheque to buy overpriced goods sold by two timing traders who with no grind of any axe chop away on your life like diabetic ulcer.

 The modern man establishes institutions, they are placed to monitor and bring order to a so called functioning modern nation.

When the world was into what we call a civilized state of mind, taxes were introduced to help the monarchy or whatever established institution.

 “The Man” uses minimal tax revenue to build poor infrastructure while hoarding the rest to build a glorious empire stepping on hard working individuals to climb even higher in the list of top 100 assholes.

It’s easy, when you introduce a “Nobel lie” people see past reality, and see you as the only savior, and your regime is the answer, it, may not be taken in by the first generation but as time goes on and the future generations are forced to learn this nobel lie at birth it sits with them as how the world works.

The forced colonization by renaissance Europe caught man in a web of modernity and cultural entwine which led to “clan based thinking”.

You can research the answer

“Clan based thinking” is the Act of choosing your own kin and society, and not making full use of the talents of the population.

What choice did we have the world was already changed by renascence Europe.

In modern times tax dollars go to established institutions and makes its way into the “mini clans” where it gets pocketed, why because you bloody well know, your clan won’t rat you out.

It’s a bloody clan everyone benefits unless jealousy gets the better of the clan members, while you and your bloody clan are swimming in dirty money, the poor get below negative zero US Dollars and the smart rich people get richer.

Notice I said smart rich people that’s right, not all rich people are criminals some work hard for their money and make smart informed decisions.

There is one thing that rich countries and rich people have moved on from and that’s “culture”, an emancipated mind, hell we are forced to be in this globalized post-apocalyptic world spinning on an axis like a slow “lechon roast”, as we tear ever more into the ozone layer.

Please people get rid of superstition, warlocks and witches and other bad omen bullshit, keep holding on and you’re bound to be poor.

“I don’t know I went to school earned a degree but I can’t find a job, it’s my bloody blood line and my ungrateful clan that have cursed my sorry ass,” this is what most would say in a third world country, the tropical and sub Sarah, regions where the poor are slaves to superstition.

Why would they say that? The voodoo shit, you claim that someone has control over your life?

 The superstitions maybe true because they sure did last this long, heck why wouldn’t they be true? People say some convincing stories of being cursed by certain people, but still we claim to be a Christian country, how Ironic is that.

Too much religion is also bad. Why do the poorly educated and seemingly marginalized populations rely heavily on religion in so called third world economies? It’s all desperation.

 I am a Christian and believe in the principals of the Catholic Church, but I am not waiting to die and go to heaven, yes the poor are considered to have a place in Heaven, but if everyone is poor who will help the poor?

 Being lazy is also a sin, your life choices has made you face poverty somehow in some way but turning to God and praying will not help “God helps those who help themselves.

The solution to all this is simple, for Papua New Guinea is…., this is my own country so I will use it as an example.

Majority of the land is customary owned, so why is there still poverty, for goodness sake the land is the reason why we were colonized, with bullshit 99 year leases.

Okay majority of the population in Papua New Guinea live in the rural areas, since the urban areas have slums with majority of people who have lost identities to their rural kin, let’s leave them out of the picture.

All the genuine village people who actually have some idea of their kinship ties can write down their family trees and list their living relatives, okay since we have collected all the population figures of the rural based legitimate landowners.

Than the Government can now give each of the villages startup capital to fuel an agriculture revolution, since the rural population have an agriculture revolution, now that Government should buy all the overseas owned industrial machinery and downstream processing facilities and start prepping for overseas export.

To limit corrupt and greedy village people, religious and community service institutions must be established in rural areas as so to teach the people the principalities of being a productive citizen.

When you steal or pocket the clans money than you will be beaten up by the clan taskforce and bought to the institutions, for political and religious otherwise ethical reeducation , if you are a repeat offender you will have to flip a coin either you be locked up or shot dead.

Since it’s a luck based lose, lose situation people will be compelled to focus on their institutional reeducation and keep their life.

Also severe punishment to perpetrators will have them fearful of causing trouble, your clan will feel more pain and will demand answers if you back stab them, it’s either reeducation death or lockup.

Okay since the rural areas are growing the urban area will have a limited influx of rural to urban drift, crime will be lowered and all the poor people living on the streets can be put into skills training building and construction, because there will be a large demand for hotels and resorts, because why? Tourists will want to come to a country with low crime rates.

With much money from the exports of food to countries like China, who by now are ravaged by acid rain and pollution, labor lost through modern diseases we are making money.

This will work because PNG people have enough and adequate land to sustain an agricultural revolution, plus it’s the foreign owned businesses who are sending money overseas and all our good produce is been downgraded because of their stupid WHO certified bullshit, we have been eating our own food and survived, its quality and organic, screw the genetically modified and packaged lifestyle diseases they export to us.

Modern Industrial Scale Agriculture methods 

But it’s a far fetched reality, we are not trained to do industrialized farming in a large scale and the world has its own standard of food which is imported, the bigger powers like America and Australia, have far better machines and techniques to grow food and improve yield, sad that they could not share that with us, once they took control of the colonial government. 

Sad reality is that, we can survive on our own food but is it enough to feed PNG and export, is it quality?

Zimbabwe tried to chase all the Whiteman and take over their businesses but it didn’t work, why because the locals were in capable of understanding the intricacies involved in Agriculture and of course “Clan Based Thinking”.

Simple explanation of this is that we have been introduced to fast food, who loves good old chips and chicken, standard potato wedges are long, we in the country have small potatoes, and cannot supply enough of the long potato wedges, so we import why?, because of stupid world standards.

We have been fed the “Nobel Lie” so we want to be on par with western standards of “fries”, bull shit you still shit the same shit, even if the wedges you ate are tiny.

PNG was not built on patriotic values of the combined population instead it suffers the scourge colonization, there are two sides to a coin, you may agree colonization helped us that’s on you, this is my blog.

We were never allowed to build on our strengths, we were exploited for our resources, we survived thus far through civilization using Agriculture and a blessed land that could yield quality with no chemical input, instead that fear of surpassing the colonizers in their own industry meant we were bound to be suppressed, racial borderline tactics.

We could be growing cattle and planting rice what the modern man is living on, but no we were the land of gold and coconut plantations.

”Control the food and you control the population”, importing food from the very people who had been living with us and hiding the truth, it’s like the wolf in sheep’s clothing fable.

An ere example America’s counter insurgency in the middle east cannot improve the export market of Afghanistan, a country that can produce large amount of cotton, instead US cannot get them to revolutionize their potential because US is the leader in Cotton trade. Put that into perspective. 

The nation of Papua New Guinea makes over 60% of the budget through income Tax, but yet the country relay’s heavily on imports and overseas investments.

An Agriculture revolution can create more jobs, and reduce imports which will lead to lower income tax, simple.

Agriculture in this day and age is still seen as a means of survival for the rural population, simple farmers with limited innovative tools and machinery toil the land with a yield only reasonable for a specific population and not capable to feed over 8 million people which is the population of PNG.

The likely solution to the problem has been with us, man’s survival was through agricultural innovation, a more industrialized agriculture and livestock regime can lower some poverty relief of this nation. 

Media influence and the core and periphery

I may have stumbled upon something I think I was born to do, an enlightened me in the past couple of weeks has been contemplating why I am here on this earth.

I have no clue what so ever about zoology, but I see animals as more clearly defined with their role on earth compared to a human being like myself, living in a world where time waits for no one, thinking is a waste of time if it amounts to just imagination and what if’s, it’s a few minutes or hours you can’t take back, most often the thought it self of thinking is wasted effort.

A series of questions pop up, why seems to start off the questions, answers need to be given to those that ask why?

Sometimes you need not look further with the role of mass media in society clearly driving the popular culture, a scroll through facebook or twitter and you get a glimpse of what the world has driven itself into.

A world of opportunity with so much promise, a world torn by war under the guise of counter insurgency and differences in political and religious opinion.

I am not a dissident to start with but a Papua New Guinean with some understanding of how countries relate with each other.

Back in university I was fascinated with the theory of Hegemony, one of my favorite Authors is Noam Chomsky, I even used his knowledge of Hegemony for my final year research on Mass Media and Patriotism.

Definition of Hegemony

Hegemony is a Marxist theory by Antonio Gramsci in simple definition it is when a ruling class promotes its ideals and values to become the world view; one of this is promoting world view through mass media.

Some of you may clearly see this in your everyday life yet regard this as normal, let me say it in my own understanding after trying my utter best to understand it and put into a real world context.

Okay America is seen as a super power, we most haven’t been to America I myself dream of being a tourist to the stars and stripes, but alas I be just a simple journalist with a meager income a pennyworth in the eyes of some of you reading.

Yes sad but true, but back to the point, America’s dominance is broadcast through mass media, magazines, internet, newspapers, movies.

Let me take one off the cuff just by my own understanding of America’s hegemonic influence through mass media.

Every time you watch a movie and when Aliens from out of space invade the Earth who defends it, America of course, with their technology and weapons “the super power”, even certain super heroes are from America I need not touch on this.

We come in peace that’s what America would say to the Alien race as representatives from Earth, portraying that they are the protector of Earth and its people.

hopefully it is all science fiction and no real pending invasion is being planned at the moment by some new beings outside the orbiting third planet in the milky way.

back to my simple understanding, from what I have gathered American hegemony started in World War II when all its allies were torn down after war, America stood tall with its country intact, after the war it became the home of the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

American Hegemony illustration 

It had a strong military and dominant economy; it was a political and technological power.

All this is portrayed through media in news and Hollywood, entertainment where America’s ideals are ever present, we all know America through mass media, and you can learn everything through internet about the country.

okay we have established US as a super power a country that has set most of the world view, on what terrorism is what counter insurgency is and what home land security should look like for countries.

but Papua New Guinea is just another small nation where do we fit into this world?

Let me throw another theory into the works The Theory of Core and Periphery, in the world countries can be divided into two major world regions: the "core" and the "periphery."

The core includes major world powers and the countries that contain much of the wealth of the planet. 

The periphery has those countries that are not reaping the benefits of global wealth and globalization.

I know it’s hard to believe this but it’s true my country is nowhere near the core.

Core Periphery relations illustration 

Here is another fun fact People in positions of power and influence around the world are often brought up or educated in the core (nearly 90 percent of world leaders have a degree from a Western university).

Another fun fact is that the periphery is just like Papua New Guinea where Many people living in rural areas perceive opportunities in cities and take action to migrate there, even though there are not enough jobs or housing to support them.

But where did all this classification start well during colonization European Countries established colonial governments and introduced everyone to what the core countries were doing.

Sad but true we were all hunters and gathers forced to learn the Whiteman’s way of life, because we had to be tamed for our resources.

Core nations had to have some sort of suppression on the periphery, because of the raw materials present and the abundance of resources; we supply the core nations with raw materials if we all become core nations who would become periphery.

Not all countries have advantages to progress into a core nation the world maintains a rough and limiting geography for the majority in the periphery.

So for your information and knowledge please do look up the theories I mentioned, I will write more about them in future.

Education System needs to be fixed by everyone

For you that think you are better than everyone else, it’s time you took the mirror and have a good look at yourself, ask yourself, why have all my dreams just remain as that and my reality does not fit what I imagined.

Your imagination is perfect but circumstances can’t make an exact copy of what you picture in your mind to every detail.

A quote by Albert Einstein on Imagination

Simple because you are one part of a complex system of the human race, human beings evolved through trial and error and ingenuity through each other’s adaptation of their ever changing environment.

 You can conjure up things but you can’t bring others into your mind to be in sync  with your perceived reality, people have their own demons to fight.

This has led me to realize that there is no such thing as perfection, what you create will be shined by some other person who betters your creation, by finding your flaws and improving on them.

Possibilities are endless when imagining things but it takes a lifetime to try and perfect something, like the saying goes if it’s not broken don’t fix it, just improve it and things keep progressing.

I am not a “dissident” nor am I here to please or create enemies but to offer some satirical insight into some issues blazing through PNG.

I think too much for my age I am just 30 years old and I thought why not I start a satire blog?

 I am not perfect rather a statistic of some study of human kind, no one is perfect, how can you be a perfect human, when being human is being alive.

Humans have a timeline and no one can accomplish everything in a time frame, you still leave something undone once you’re done in this lifetime.

Despite being the same species, everyone has an opinion and no one’s opinion matter because you feel what others say is not right in some way.

 Everyone desires some form of standard but what you see as perfect is just an imagined concept.

That brings me to a point.

There is so much that people want to say on social media, but sometimes it’s not written well, it’s joyous to laugh at these spelling errors and wrong tenses and misconception of words, on Facebook, the screen shots of peoples poor English is funny but fun and laughter aside it’s at   the cost of proud Papua New Guineas failed by the Government Education System and their society.

Notice two things mentioned, education system and society.

The education system in Papua New Guinea is somewhat flawed, some people who themselves could not master the GPA to warrant a tertiary education, yet self-sponsored themselves to a diploma in education.

Now that has got to be a crime, they had limited choices but institutions need the finance to survive and end up undermining the level of quality they should be setting to the growing population.

Schools have limited resources to provide for students, and lack innovation to provide even extra-curricular activities to support their budding pupils, reading clubs, adventure clubs something to get the students acquainted to the real world, to be thematic in their approach to issues at their level.

And then the bottle neck system of a huge number of primary schools, less number of secondary schools and limited spaces in tertiary institutions, why so competitive when all you get in the government education system is winners and losers, winners advance and losers get the “F” laterally.

But who introduced us to western education?

Let’s take a History lesson, the Three G’s God, Gold and Glory, short cut colonization, when we were colonized it was for the glory of the expansion of ideals, ideals like Christianity and the search of wealth.

The Three Gs

Expansion and exploration was for the superior nations, for the empire the claiming of “Terra nullius”, the uncivilized bought into civilization through Christianity and with it indoctrination.

Plantations popped up as the ancestors worked for the empire.

Let’s get this straight we were colonized by empires, established nations with intellectuals who formed policies and ideals who had a common interest to grow the empire.

Some were in search of new land as theirs crumbled into chaos; some also had personal malicious intent.

The systems put in place were to protect their national interest and their world view.

The PNG education system is career driven and a “caste system”, you get A’s and you get to be a Doctor, Lawyer, engineer, and so on and so forth.

Some information on the education system in Papua New Guinea

Those that don’t make it through the system are left with limited opportunities.

Only a few will achieve their dreams where the path they charted is right before them, otherwise you will settle for something else.

The other point comes in society, PNG is said to be built on a system of leadership, and close community survival.

Society has not survived without any form of leadership, teamwork and innovation.

They say family is the foundation, but simple jealousy and pride, because of unequal distribution of wealth among families, is a deterrent.

Put differences aside and focus on the benefits of family, you only live once why not share your knowledge; everyone has some piece of advice to offer.

Let me put it this way, if we are able to learn from mistakes and see improvement in our lives than our children and younger siblings should not be lagging behind in the education system.

If teachers are not up to standard than those in the family system should be working together to innovate ways to improve the teaching and learning aspects of children.

The education system is too far gone to fix, but households and extended families can improve the system by making it their business to teach the fundamentals of reading and writing and correct grammar as foundation to more pressing issues in the ever changing world.

Children are at an age where they have so much potential and if the society they grow up in is intelligent but lack empathy for the breakdown in simple fundamentals in education than we have a problem.

Teachers need to be more innovative and committed, an educated nation is a smart nation, and teachers need to be prioritized.

With the internet streaming everything in multiple windows and tabs so much information, rewarding humorous, filth and all sorts are being digested in seconds of each scroll and tap by the pointer or the thumb.

If things don’t get fixed than we will continue on with the current trend,

We will have individuals who have no real guidance at home from their immediate and extended family, coupled with poor performing teachers who are struggling with their socio economic problems.

Resulting in individual’s writing things on facebook with their imagination thinking that it is perfect, but instead it creates a lot of ridicule for this nation and its citizens.

 The Government must see this as priority improving the whole system of education how teachers are recruited, and how they are trained, and how they can instill more than just basic education, while for  parents and the extended do not  blame the system but help improve their children’s understanding by correcting and guiding where teachers have failed.

Kato’s mum invited to watch Raiders’ match (Post Courier 13/03/18)

from left Mana Lisa Ottio Katos youngest sibling, Joyce Ottio his mother and Marie Ottio his sister at thier home in Tatana Village pic by FIDELIS SUKINA

RUGBY LEAGUE

BY FIDELIS SUKINA

JOYCE Ottio, the mother of late rugby league icon Kato Ottio has accepted an invite by the Canberra Raiders, Kato’s former club, to watch their first home game against the Newcastle Knights in the second round of the National Rugby League.

Joyce was at their home in Tatana village when Post-Courier caught up with her and the family after the Canberra Raiders announced on Saturday that they will be flying her and a few family members to watch the game.

Joyce Ottio, Ahulo Ottio, Opao Ottio and Helai Matthew will be travelling together on Friday to watch the match on Sunday and return on Monday.

It was her first time to speak to the media after the loss of her son and she broke down in tears when she mentioned her son’s name.

She said it was his dream for her to watch him if he made it into the first grade.

“Ol lain lo Canberra laik mipela go watsim home gem blo ol wantaim Newcastle. Ol invitim mipela lo go mipela ba fly lo Friday. Dis wik ba ol givim tiket.

“Mi bin les lo pastaim bikos mi sore stap na tu em bin tok mi ron aut lo bikpela grade now ba mi igat sans lo travel olsem, but Ahulo Ottio Junior encouragim mi lo go.

(“Canberra Raiders invited us to go and I accepted it at first I was reluctant because I was still coping with the loss. And as well, he said I would fly over if he made it to first grade in the National Rugby League competition but Ahulo Ottio, the big brother encouraged me to go and we have done all our passports and visas. We are just waiting for the tickets,” Mrs Ottio said.)

The Canberra Raiders will host a memorial mass after the match with both the Raiders and Knights players involved, and the Capital Wantoks will perform during and after the match, with Ottio's family also potentially on the field for the service.

They're also looking at setting up a scholarship for PNG rugby league players.

They'll wear a "cultural jersey" with Ottio's name on it, which will probably be for their round 10 game against the Cronulla Sharks at Canberra Stadium on May 13.

Those jerseys will be auctioned to raise further money for Ottio's memorial fund.

The Raiders have helped raise A$11,745 (estimated K29,920) so far through their Gofundme page for Ottio to help go towards buying his mother a house.

Mrs Ottio added that Kato would have turned 24 on March 20 this year and she will return on Monday March 19 to prepare for his birthday celebration which will coincide with a thank you kaikai to all that helped out during his death.

“Mipela kam bek ba mi wokim liklik kaikai blo em, em bai kamap 24-pla krimas, every year mi save wokim, na tu just to say our thank you lo ol lain kam na ol e bin helpim lo dai bilong em.”

(“We will return on Monday before his birthday and celebrate it and as well thank all who helped us during his death,” Mrs Ottio said).

Broncos Impressed with fan following in Papua New Guinea (Post Courier 28/02/18)

Brisbane Broncos Prop Matt Lodge in front of a Papua New Guinea fans banner after their win against the Hunters
 pic by Fidelis Sukina.

BY FIDELIS SUKINA

The Brisbane Broncos have a huge following in PNG as they found out in their four day visit to Port Moresby to play the SP PNG Hunters.

Broncos captain Alex Glen said in the Post Match interview after the 26-12 win over the Hunters that he had only heard stories of the Broncos movement in PNG but soon witnessed the rock star treatment and what he described as a memorable experience.

“This is my first time to PNG and I always heard of the strong following we have up here but I didn’t expect it to be this big and this passionate it was out of control and we were treated like rock stars it’s our first trip here and I am not the only one that’s going to say we will remember this trip for the rest of our lives.

“Your welcome was phenomenal everywhere we went we had people waving at us and shouting at us we were just bringing smiles to their faces and we were doing nothing its just surreal and it’s an experience I will cherish a lot of respect to the PNG Community and the following you give to the club,” Glen said

He added that the match on Sunday had a great atmosphere and he could not thank the public enough for their support, the crowd was filled with Broncos Banners and a frenzy atmosphere.

“I thought the atmosphere the way it was put together it was controlled both teams got a lot out of it and at the end of the day the real winner was rugby league and the community I can’t thank everyone enough the support they gave both teams when both teams were scoring try’s everyone was showing fair play and that’s all we can ask from the community thank you to everyone who turned up and watched the game on TV as well,” Glen said

Brisbane Broncos Assistant Coach Jason Demetriou said the game itself came second to the wonderful experience they had during their stay.

“The game was second to the occasion and I think the weekend for us and the crowd today how the Hunters played is exactly the representation of your country and your people it’s been honor to come here and play in Papua New Guinea,” Demetriou said.

Broncos to put in more than a good word (Post Courier 27/02/18)

Broncos Captain Alex Glen and Assistant coach Jason Demitriou at the post match press conference against the Broncos
pic by FS

BY FIDELIS SUKINA

Brisbane Broncos assistant coach Jason Demetriou says the team will put in more than a good word for rugby league in Papua New Guinea when they go back to Australia.

Demetriou was vocal about the Broncos experience in Port Moresby and said it was humbling for the team to see what rugby league meant for the people.

He was the former coach of Northern Pride in the Intrust Super Cup and knows the Premiership of the Hunters in the Intrust Super Cup is a stepping stone into the National Rugby League Competition.

“I heard a few people in PNG rugby league and the council and Government talking about us coming back and spreading the word about PNG as a country and about rugby league in the country I can say from us and everyone at the Broncos we will be passing more than a good word,” Dmetriou said.

He added that the Broncos in the NRL would do a lot to the country and added that the Broncos would be representing the push for NRL inclusion.

“I think it would be great to see the Hunters in the near future in the NRL and what it could bring for change socially to this country I think rugby league has got the ability to do that as a governing we should be doing everything we can to find a way to make that happen and the Broncos will be representing that,” Demetriou said.

In support of this Broncos head coach Wayne Bennett has commended the Oil Search National Football Stadium as one of the best.

“It’s a wonderful facility that you have built here it’s a real credit to oil search what they have done the facility I have been to a lot of places in the World but not all facilities are that overall and that grandstand and that actual full facility maxes I think anything I have ever been in, something you all should be proud of,” Bennett said.

Bennett says back to back Hunters premiership will be hard (Post Courier 27/02/18)

SP Hunters Burtler Morris tacles Brisbane Broncos winger jordan Kahu with the ball pic by Mark Talia Post Courier

BY FIDELIS SUKINA

Brisbane Broncos Coach Wayne Bennett says it’s a lot harder to go back to back on a premiership, with the second year challenges different from the premiership year.

The premiership winning coach made mention of this when acknowledging receipt of a gift from Papua New Guinea Rugby Football League Chairman Sandis Tsaka at the Stanley Hotel on Friday at the Hunters Gala dinner.

The seven times, premiership winning coach knows the challenges of back to back premierships, winning two back to back premierships in 1992 and 1993 the other in 1997 and 1998 with the Brisbane Broncos.

“I Speak from experience when I talk about it, and the challenges are totally different from the year that you won it, but that’s in front for the Hunters but I am sure Michael Marum has the boys for it at the end of the day all you can do is your best and when you have done your best you have done your best you have a lot less regrets than you do when you do your second best,” Bennett said.

Wayne also mentioned the importance of stability in a team, and so far Wayne will be in his 24th season with the Broncos.

He added that patience was important as well with a good example being the Melbourne Strom that has been constant with the same coach Craig Bellamy.

“For a successful rugby league team there has to be stability right from the chairman to the coach, we won’t always get it right, there will be times when we won’t have the season that you want us to have, but you can’t throw the baby out with the bath water.

“The Clubs that do that pay a great price for that, looking at our competition Melbourne Storm is the other successful club and they have had the same coach for up to well over a decade.

“It works but you have to be patient with it and you have been patient with it and you got some results, it’s going to be harder this year to get, it’s a different challenge once you have won a premiership to go back to back and win it, The Broncos are the only team to have done it back to back in the last 30 years,” Bennett added.

Wayne Bennett Says more PNG trips on the Agenda (Post Courier 26/02/18)

Broncos Coach Wayne Benneth at Vabukori village during the Hunters visit pic by Fidelis Sukina

BY FIDELIS SUKINA

Brisbane Broncos Head Coach Wayne Bennett says the team will be willing to make regular trips to Papua New Guinea.

Bennett was talking during the Papua New Guinea Rugby League fundraiser at the Stanley Hotel in Port Moresby on Friday.

He was recalled the last welcome he witnessed in the mid 90s when Allan Langer was still playing and they made the trip to Papua New Guinea with the Broncos team.

He added that he had a soft spot for Papua New Guinea because his younger brother had been here for six years.

“I have always had a soft spot for Papua New Guinea, mainly because my brother Bob Bennett came up here for six years to live and work.

“I was here in the mid 90’s that time Alf (Allan Langer) was a great player of our club he was a super star of his time and in that era the welcome was as great as it has been on this trip,” Bennett said.

He added that the Broncos would be making regular trips in the future with the last trip by the team 20 years ago, but he added the atmosphere and welcome was still the same.

“Nice to be back here privileged to be here you have humbled us with your sincerity and your love for the Broncos and I hope we can come back more on a regular basis.

“It’s been 20 years since we have been here the last time and I hope we can be back here on a regular basis, we will be back on a regular basis and I want to congratulate the team for the last four years and your success in the Intrust Super Cup championship.

“Michael Marum has done a great job with the team and I was just talking with the guests at our table that the Broncos have just built a 27million dollar training and admin area opposite our old training grounds and that’s because of the stability that our club has had for the last 30 odd years,” Bennett said.

Broncos had to re think strategy to win against Hunters

SP Hunters Enoch Maki wrapped up Brisbane Broncos interchange Joe Ofahengaue and his team mates on their goal mount pic by Mark Talia Post Courier

BY FIDELIS SUKINA

Broncos Captain Alex Glen said the team had to re think their strategy after a tough first half but says they expected the physical battle.

The 26-12 win by the Broncos did have a positive with both teams realizing their flaws and opportunities before the start of the season.

“The game is everything we expected you saw the score in the first half they didn’t stop kept putting pressure on us and they were getting a lot of momentum and we had to regroup in the second half got over our processes and make sure that we were not handing over the possession we were giving away too many field positions, and the Hunters to their credit were capitalizing on it,” Glen said.

Broncos Jason Demetriou said they adopted a different style of play in the second half that meant taking on the physical challenge head on.

“We spoke at halftime I don’t think we were respecting the Physicality and we were playing too lateral we needed to aim up and play more direct and not shy away from the physical battle.

“I felt when we did that, we took more control of the game, I had to commend the boys defense the best in a long time and that gives us confidence going into the season.

“The Huntres put us under a lot of pressure we had to fix a lot of things at half time we were under the pump and a credit to the Hunters,” Demetriou said.

SP PNG Hunters captain Stargroth Amean said the Hunters goal was to give a tough match but were left mediocre at times when they had six play the ball turn over’s.

“It was a physical game, we came in to give a strong challenge and compete and I think we did well, really proud of my teammate’s errors and play the ball that cost the game but all in all it was a good trial match,” Amean said.

SP PNG Hunters Assistant coach Nigel Hukula said they found out a great deal to work on playing with a club like the Broncos.

“We have come away learning from this game to see where we are and what we can work on in the coming weeks.

“Credit to the Broncos it is tough to come play in PNG we stuck to our processes first half but the Broncos came back in the second half with a good defensive effort.

“That’s where we found out that we needed to defend the ruck area and the simple play the ball cost us the game, the NRL is coming strong on the play the ball good to go down to the basics,” Hukula said

Broncos overcome spirited Hunters

Brisbane Broncos interchange Joe Ofahengaue (15) and SP Hunters Nixon Putt race for the ball in the Brisbane  Broncos in goal pic by Mark Talia Post Courier.

BY FIDELIS SUKINA

The Brisbane Broncos overcame a valiant SP PNG Hunters when they came from behind to win 26-12 at the Oil Search National Football Stadium on Saturday.

The crowd of over 14 thousand supporters graced the stadium and left satisfied with a tough match which saw the Hunters lead 12-6 at half time.

The Hunters held well in defense and with the Broncos having a few errors in play ensured the match was tight.

The Hunters simple mistakes made match referee Gavin Badger penalize them for failed “play the ball”, that’s when the Broncos opened the scoring.

The Hunters players were lifting their foot and rolling the ball under; the correct way was to place the ball on the ground and rolling it back with the foot, the Hunters failed six times in the match.

The Broncos used their forwards Matt Lodge and Josh Maguire among others to plunder the Hunters drawing in the defense line before full back Jamayne Isaako passed one to winger Jonus Pearson to dive over and score in the seventh minute, Jordan Kahu extending the lead to 6-0 with a successful sideline conversion.

The Broncos were strong numbering up in their tackles and giving a few solid hits, but when the Broncos missed their opportunities and gave away two penalties the Hunters took advantage.

A short ball by Wartovo Puara in the Broncos 10 meter saw Enoch Maki spin off Matt Lodge and Josh Maguire to bounce onto the try line, Charlie Simon nailing the two point conversion to draw 6-6.

Watson Boas at second receiver organized the attack with Puara out of dummy half, Watson’s grubber kick and re-gather try bought the team to a 12-6 lead in to half time.

The Broncos came back strong in the second half with a more direct approach using the forwards more and less ball outwide.

The Hunters held on to possession but poor execution, play the ball and fledgling defense saw the Broncos show grit and outplay the Hunters.

Radley Brawa was solid for the Hunters in attack he and Maki braved the Broncos line, but that wasn’t enough, with the Broncos running in four tries to win the match.

Captain Alex Glen scored first in the 48th minute, Milford put in a grubber for Prop Korbin Sims to score, Kahu went over untouched before Corey Oates dived over in spectacular fashion to end the match 26-12.

Brisbane Broncos coach says fans bring humbling experience

part of the big crowd of local Broncos fans holding a banner of Captain Alex Glen, which reads "Alex Glen Broncos Power picture by Simon Keslep of Post Courier 

BY FIDELIS SUKINA

With all the excitement at the top level of rugby league Brisbane Broncos coach Jason Demetriou says seeing the fans crowd the airport was a humbling experience.

He added that the young players should see what the game means to the people of Papua New Guinea.

“The players were shocked they knew there would be supporters there and fans but they didn’t know how big it would be it was really humbling for the players to see especially the young guys to see what rugby league means to the people to see what they do means a lot for a lot of people.

“They get caught up with all the money and the hype that goes with the NRL they come here and see the people appreciate the game especially at the Intrust Super Cup level and the grassroots level it’s a privilege for us to be here,” Demetriou said.

He added that its good for the team to travel out and see the fans have a chance to see the Broncos on PNG soil.

“It’s good for us to get away before the start of the season, a bit of an eye opener for the players and a humbling experience for us week in week out its good for the game good for the people of PNG to see the Broncos on home soil.

“It’s going to be a tough game they were the Queensland Cup Champions last year and they will be looking forward to play with us and I know from past experiences they won’t be holding back and they will be physical and will be a different dynamic from what we play,” Demetriou said.

SP PNG Hunters coach Michael Marum said the Hunters are excited and will be seeing the game as an opportunity to test out the team before the start of the season.


“We are excited to play the Broncos whenever we have the chance to travel down to Brisbane we try to catch a Broncos game, it will be a good game on Saturday there are some new guys in the team and we would like to see them play and see how we can select a team for the start of the season, We got the message that we will be the Broncos this year and as soon as I announced it to the boys they got excited,”Marum said.

Brisbane Broncos say trial match not a free ride through preseason (Post Courier 23/02/18)

from left SP PNG Hunters coach Michael Marum Captain Stargroth Amean, Broncos Captain Alex Glen and Coach Jason Demetriou pic by FIDELIS SUKINA

BY FIDELIS SUKINA

It’s was a rock star reception but it won’t be a free ride for the Broncos team says Captain Alex Glen.

Glen who was part of the Cook Islands team that lost to PNG in a test match last year has the experience of what Papua New Guinea player’s posses.

“I know it’s going to be physical against the Hunters I played with the Cook Islands team in the Pacific test and they were very physical and tough they played with a lot of skill swell and it won’t be easy they got a lot of skill and proved that winning the Intrust Super Cup.

“Preparation has been tough and we have been working hard in our training sessions preparing for the game, so we don’t think we going to come up here and it’s going to be a free ride just getting on with the 80minutes and not worrying about the results,” Glen said.

He told media at the Stanley Hotel that their welcome was a rock star reception, but that is part of the experience but Glen added that they have worked hard on ending their preseason on a high.

“This week has been tough we know we will be playing a physical side and they will be in front of their home crowd as well they want to make sure they do their best before round one.

“We want to make sure we are playing our game and playing our structure and walking out happy with the way pre season has gone leading into round one,” Glen said.

He was part of a rock star reception that he says only happens to rock stars that come to a city, and the welcome at the airport had all the glitz and glamour of it all.

“It was a rock star moment for me, as soon as the team walked out of the airport everyone was cheering and clapping and big smiles on their faces hundreds of cameras everywhere we saw hundreds of people up on the fence as well a rock star moment for stars when they come to a city,” Glen said

The second rower for the Broncos also commented on the humidity and the importance of hydration for the team.

“When we landed the pilot said it was 34 degrees and everyone gave a deep sigh and as soon as you walk outside you can feel the heat it’s going to be hot on Saturday and we better make sure we are hydrated,” Glen said.

Widnes Fans love the Albert brothers (Post Courier 13/02/18)

The Albert Brothers (Wellington)
with a fan holding a Kumuls World Cup
 merchandise with Brother Stanton
 pic by John Hughes Widnes Vikings club

RUGBY LEAGUE

BY FIDELIS SUKINA

THE Albert brothers, Wellington and Stanton are embracing the hospitality at their new Super League Club, the Widnes Vikings.

In an audio recording supplied to Post-Courier by John Hughes, director of communication and digital engagement with the Vikings confirmed the brothers’ amazement towards the support shown by the fans.

The brothers gave an interview of their experience so far at their first official public appearance for the club in a fan engagement meeting stronghold members and supporters on Friday where fans brought shirts, PNG flags and tributes to the late Kato Ottio.

Wellington Albert who made his debut for the club against the Catalan Dragons in a 40-12 win, said he enjoyed the sight of PNG flags and chants in his honour, in an overwhelming display of support for the two PNG internationals.

“Good to have the first win for the team. The crowd was good and they turned out in numbers. They were singing for me as well “Go Wellington Albert!” There were PNG flags as well I saw eight PNG flags out there and I thought I was playing a test match in the Kumuls because the Widnes fans bought the flags. Best debut I will never forget it.

“Fans here … they all love me and they shake hands with me and say welcome to Widnes. I have never experienced that before with other clubs. The fans go crazy supporting us and messaging us on Facebook as well and checking up on us. On how we are doing and if we needed help,” Wellington said.

Wellington added that training is good and he can’t wait to play alongside his brother Stanton who is yet to make his debut.

“Our first training session was really freezing. That was the day after we arrived. It was in the pouring rain and I think I got brain freeze but we are getting use to it.

The Albert Brothers Wellington (left) with a fan
holding a tribute to  the late Kato Ottio  with Brother Stanton
pic by John Hughes Widnes Vikings club

"I am really looking forward to Stanton playing alongside me. He is a big guy and we boast each other up in the game,” Wellington said.

Stanton said he still needed to train to get familiar with the combinations before he can make his debut. But he said the crowd was welcoming and can’t wait for his debut.

“Training going well coach wants me to do more combinations with the halves weather is quite different, the reaction is really amazing they are always crazy to see us make us feel welcome we love to be here. I would like to extend my thanks as well to the fans in PNG for their support since day one and keep on supporting us,” Stanton said.

NRL expansion plans to cater for PNG (Post Courier 6/02/18)

NRL Commissioner Peter Beattie

RUGBY LEAGUE

BY FIDELIS SUKINA

The National Rugby League (NRL) competition will certainly be expanding to include Papua New Guinea with PNG showing superb form in the Queensland Intrust Super Cup and the nations turn out and support for the game of rugby league.

In an exclusive correspondence via email with Post-Courier NRL Commissioner and former Queensland Premier Peter Beattie, who is touted to be the next chairman of Australia Rugby League, said PNG is certainly showing the right signs to see the country included in the expansion of the league.

“PNG have been one of the real success stories of the Intrust Super Cup and would clearly be in the mix when we consider expansion of the NRL competition.

“You could not help but be impressed by the PNG side in the World Cup and we know they will draw great crowds, especially at home. There is a long way to go before we make any decision on expansion but, when we do, I have no doubt that PNG will be one of the contenders,” Beattie said.

In a recent interview with the “daily telegraph” an Australian Newspaper Beattie has come out with a strong statement “the quality of the game is great but we’ve got to ensure it has a future. That’s why expansion is so important,” he said.

He gave a possibility of expanding the competition in 2022 with the new TV deal for the NRL due four years from now. He added; “Are we going to have another QLD team? Or is it PNG? Is it Perth or country NSW?

Beattie who is a Brisbane Broncos fan told Post Courier while there was a long way before PNG is considered for NRL expansion more games like the 24th of February match between the SP PNG Hunters and the Brisbane Broncos was great but would be on the clubs prerogative.

“I think it would be great to see more matches played in PNG. The atmosphere at Port Moresby for a Rugby League game has to be seen to be believed. Inevitably it will come down to costs and whether it is practical for clubs to take games to PNG. But I’d love to see it happen,” Beattie said.

But Beattie did acknowledge the crowd factor in PNG which he added boosts the rugby league atmosphere.

“One of my priorities, if I take on the role of Chairman of the ARL, will be to look at how we can improve crowds.

“And, as I’ve said, there is no more fanatical group of supporters than those in PNG. One thing is for sure… when NRL stars visit PNG the fans turn up in big numbers,” Beattie said.

Beattie is certain though that PNG Players are NRL material adding it is inevitable that players will be considered for NRL.

“The PNG players demonstrated in the World Cup that the standard of the game in your country is improving all the time. The PNG stars excelled in the Intrust Super Cup last year and again at the World Cup. I think it is inevitable that, as they continue to improve through the Queensland Cup, more and more players will catch the eye of NRL clubs,” Beattie said.

Lam stars in Papua New Guinea Kumuls win against USA (Post Courier 13/11/17)

Lam trowing a fist pump as he goes in for a try

BY FIDELIS SUKINA

Lachlan Lam was a standout in the Papua New Guinea LNG Kumuls 64-0 thumping of the United States of America as the Kumuls advance to the Rugby League World Cup quarterfinals.

The win certainly secures a quarter finals match against Wayne Bennett’s England team next Sunday in Melbourne.

In front of a sellout crowd at the Oil Search National Football Stadium in Port Moresby yesterday, the Kumuls ran in 11 tries with goal kicker Rhys Martin kicking 10 from 11 securing their highest ever win.

The crowd found a new hero in PNG Kumul and Roosters legend Adrian Lams son Lachlan with the 19 year old happy with the chants of “Lachlan Lachlan” when the debutant scored two tires and assisted in one.

Moses Meninga the other debutant for the Kumuls made 13 runs and gained 153meters with a try assist.

PNG were on a class of their own with USA Hawks struggling to hold on to the players, according to the Fox Sports Match Center USA made 40 missed tackles in the 80 minutes in their lackluster performance.

Lam at Kumuls training picture by Post Cou

It took just nine minutes for James Segeyaro to make the first break before and inside ball to Lam who dived under the posts Martin with an easy conversion taking them to a 6-0 lead, three minutes later Justin Olam scored their second after a good passage of play Martin this time missing the only conversion leaving the scores 10-0.

PNG added two more tries in the space of two minutes to James Segeyaro and Lam scoring his second for a 22-0 lead.

USA tried their best to hold their defense line but they still made a mess of it allowing Rod Griffin to stroll over for a try before Stargroth Amean literarily knocked down two defenders in a slow burst to score another easy try taking the Kumuls to a 34-0 lead into half time.

The second half proved more costly for the Hawks with just two minutes in David Mead dashing untouched with a 70 meter try to take the score to 40-0, another slip up in defense led to Wason Boas and Nene McDonald scoring before Justin Olam put the final two tries to end the match 64-0.

Garry Lo finished the game on the sidelines mid way into the second half after he got his leg caught underneath teammate Stargroth Amean while the duo were making a tackle.