Keith Jackson & Friends: PNG ATTITUDE

The Odd Tumbler

AKILINO POWESIU

There’s a belief that, the will to receive is essentially a desire for creatures to enjoy, corresponding to the abundance and pleasure that comes from the Great Spirit. Creatures great and small, creatures like me, creatures like the weary and cunning Mr. Corvus or busy Polly. Creatures, born into this world with that will, attached like a membrane of the heart.

A gift from the Great Spirit, thought Kito to herself, as her thorax lay in all fragility in the pupal case hanging by the surface of a miniature pond.

Rich with ammonia and carbon dioxide, the pond, mainly damp, was due to the leaking underbelly of a pipe that partly extended into the shower basin of house forty-eight, in the Port Moresby suburb of Tokarara.

School demands students pay K250,000 reparation for sports death

JIMMY AWAGL

THE Rosary Secondary School at Kondiu in Simbu Province began its third term on a dramatic note when students were told to show up with K100 before normal classes would resume.

The students were asked to jointly contribute a sum of K250,000 in compensation for the death last month of a Grade 11 student during a schoolboys rugby league match between Kondiu and Kerowagi Secondary.

The relatives of the victim demanded that his school, Kondiu, pay the K250,000. The amount was divided among all students, teachers, and ancillary staff. Students were told to return to school after the second term holiday with nothing less than K100.

When students returned to school they found that the payment had to be made before they could attend classes. From last Monday, the principal persistently demanded the students to provide K100 each.

Classes did not commence and students were told to go home and return with the K100 compensation.

Queen Alexandra

CAROLINE EVARI

Alexandra, Queen of the forest
Your beauty is compared to none
As you soar in style amongst others

You are admired by many
You carry dignity and identity on your wings
You represent the pride of the land

The perimeters of home are within your limit
Every river you know by name
You bear the strength of warriors

Peace thrives in your presence
Alexandra Queen of the forest
Your beauty is compared to none

Move over, big momma

MARLENE DEE GRAY POTOURA

I looked around and couldn’t see any empty seats. Big momma occupied three quarters of the double seat in the bus. 

It was obvious that all the passengers did not want to share that one quarter with big momma.

I looked at big momma.

Goodness me, a generous amount of body, decorated with accessories.

Big momma had huge arms that dangled with bracelets, bangles and gold rings.

Books

ESSY JOYCE

Books  ... books!
You are my friends
You talk to me

You make me happy
You make me sad … 
And you make me angry too

Books … books!
You are my friends
I love you

A simple word at the right time – and something good happens

EDITED BY KEITH JACKSON

IT'S amazing what can happen when you least expect it. From a simple word at the right time.

This year in Pittsworth, Queensland, Rotarians Aub Schulstad and Trevor Shields got talking about providing help for an 89-year old disabled gentleman who retired to the Pittsworth area after living in Papua New Guinea for over 40 years.

When Trevor Shields heard the words 'Papua New Guinea' he thought of a major book project his club was about to undertake for PNG.

The request for help from Pittsworth Rotary came from Angela Sowai Gizoria from the village of Pes in PNG.

Angela wanted to establish a library in a bush primary school near Aitape in Sandaun Province. She was hoping to fulfill a lifelong dream by establishing the library to service 500 students from nine villages.

The new Papua New Guinea: Where the intimidators drive Toyotas

SAM KOIM

THE white 5-door Toyota LandCruiser (registration BDV653) and the unmarked blue 10-seater camped camping in front of the gate of my home on Friday evening from 7:30pm.

At 11pm, other policemen went there to check out my place, only to find their own colleagues waiting for me to come home.

I was at my office all day, so why did not they go there or ask me to come to the police station.

I am not a common criminal on the run and for what offence are they pursuing me?

PNG & West Papua must unite: We are a Melanesian brotherhood

FELIX BARAKA

WEST Papua is culturally part of the diverse Melanesian society in the south-west Pacific. Melanesia is not a country but a "culture area" - a term used by anthropologists to refer to a geographical region where people share many of the same traits.

In our case, these traits include family structure, marriage rules, social organisation and ways of surviving or making a living.

Melanesia itself is part of the larger Oceania culture area that includes Melanesia, Polynesia, Micronesia and Australasia.

A scary dream

TOM KAUPA

I had a dream the other night that I was sitting by a beautiful creek. And I watched the water flowing slowly down the stream.

I saw all kinds of plants growing near the river. There were trees, ferns and wild flowers.

I was sitting under a big Yomba (cedar) tree on the bank of the river.

The place was cool and peaceful and the birds were singing sweetly in the trees.

The gentle breeze made me want to sleep.

Suddenly the water started turning and I saw some legs. They looked like a monster’s legs but covered with thick long hair. I wondered what it could be.

As I eagerly watched, the water started to bubble.

I looked into the bubbling water and something that looked like a head was slowly rising up.

I could see big bulging eyes staring at me. A pink tongue poked out and tasted the air.

Japan gets serious in the Pacific: Abe’s K480 million gift to PNG

JIJI PRESS

JAPAN’S prime minister Shinzo Abe has said Japan will provide ¥20 billion (K480 million) in official development assistance to Papua New Guinea over the next three years.

Abe’s pledge came as he met with PNG prime minister Peter O’Neill in Port Moresby.

Japan is willing to help PNG develop human resources and improve infrastructure for disaster prevention, he told O’Neill.

In the meeting, Abe explained the reinterpretation of the Japanese constitution his government has made to allow Japan to exercise the right of collective self-defence. O’Neill supported the move.

Get used to it, the world is just one giant selfie….

GARY JUFFA

THE world is one giant selfie…. That’s the conclusion I reached some time ago when I saw a post by a friend on Facebook.

Yes, Facebook, the social media network for communicating and posting your opinions, photos of anything and everything, and staying in touch. I went back to Facebook after avoiding it for about a year.

I took time out so I could concentrate on what I needed to do. That’s the official reason.

Actually, I got off it because I kept finding myself having to respond to comments and react and act and correct and so forth. I was getting frustrated at having to explain every time to everyone who wanted to know something. The cartoon above says it all.

Till my work is done: A prayer for these times

JOHN K KAMASUA

In the work of life in this world, in this time, in this age
There is much work to do.
More faithful workers needed to carry the torch
Over lofty mountains, through valleys deep,
Across rivers swift, in galleys narrow; and across cruel seas
Cannot rest on my laurels, till my work is done

Preserve me in memory’s palm
In the presence of goodness, when I am gone
Though pressed by burden of work
No sound of despair shall escape my breath;
Always the bearer of good tidings,
Even when the rain of plenty stalls

New poetry collection presents surprising lessons in life

PR WEB

Lessons in Life by Alfred Momia Lulu Sione, Picture Book, 44 pages; 978-1-4797-9794-3. Hardcover $58.84; Ebook $4.27

ALFRED Momia Lulu Sione’s Lessons in Life is a small collection of poetry on life that muses on often amusing dramas that pass the eye due to their commonality.

The poems dissect these aspects and expound on them, giving readers an insight into matters that, while seemingly trivial in life, may have a grain of surprising profoundness within them.

Alfred Momia Lulu Sione is from the Mortlock Islands in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville and holds a Bachelor of Technology (Accounting) degree from the PNG University of Technology. He has lived and worked in Arawa since leaving university.

Anthology offers 500 pages of PNG's best creative writing

KEITH JACKSON

AS I write this, editor Phil Fitzpatrick is easing the Crocodile Prize Anthology 2014 through its final stages before production.

The Anthology, the fourth annual collection of the best of Papua New Guinea’s creative writing, is easily the biggest yet – assembling in its 507 pages and 140,000 words, poetry, stories and essays from throughout the nation. All but one of PNG’s 22 provinces is represented.

It includes the winning entries in this year’s literary contest and, of course, the names of the winning authors who will each take home a trophy and a K5,000 prize when the awards are presented in Port Moresby on Thursday 18 September.

And, below, we’ve listed all the creative works that have been selected for inclusion in this year’s Anthology.

It is the intention of the Crocodile Prize Organising Group, COG, to announce the names of the winners towards the end of August in the hope that they may all be able to attend the awards ceremony at the Australian High Commission.

Getting rid of the cults, the gangs & school fights in Lae

JULIE SUGOHO

SCHOOL fights have become a serious issue for most schools in Papua New Guinea, especially in Lae, Morobe Province.

It has become routine for students to chase others of their number from schools on to roads and cause havoc and hindrance to the general public and motorists.

Many people blame these school fights on cult groups in schools and have sought the aid of the Provincial Education Department to solve the problem.

The Education Department and the Provincial Governor have come up with zero tolerance on fights and alcohol consumption in schools. If students are caught breaking these rules, they are expelled immediately.

The story of the Upe hat of the Wakunai people

ISHMAEL PALIPAL

UPE is a traditional hat worn by boys especially in Terra and Rau Constituencies in the Wakunai area, Central Bougainville. The hat is not worn randomly, only in specific rituals.

This may be when young men, especially first born males, are taken high up in the mountain forests of Wakunai to be initiated into manhood. Or on important occasions such as when a prime minister or president visits.

Such ritual grounds are not allowed to be stepped upon by women. The consequence of breaking this taboo is believed to be a curse: sickness or, in worse cases, death. It is believed that nature knows who is at fault when violating the norm.

At such places in the forest, women are not even allowed to cross the ground where the people with the Upe have walked.

Kua says 2nd letter signed by O'Neill undermines forgery claims

LIAM COCHRANE |
ABC Papua New Guinea Correspondent

Papua New Guinea's former attorney-general says Peter O'Neill's attempt to explain a crucial letter in a corruption case undermines the prime minister's later claim that the letter was forged.

Mr O'Neill has confirmed to the ABC that he signed a letter in 2013 that clarified the intent of an earlier directive to process legal bills, but insists he misunderstood what he was signing.

Mr O'Neill says his chief of staff, Isaac Lupari, drafted the letter for him to sign but Mr Lupari has refused to confirm that he was the author.

"If [Mr O'Neill] says that he didn't sign the first letter, then how is it that in the second letter he refers to the first letter by date?" former attorney-general Kerenga Kua said.

Mr Kua was dismissed for questioning Mr O'Neill's leadership but remains an MP for Sinasina-Yonggamugl.

A legal and political scandal has raged in PNG since police served Mr O'Neill with an arrest warrant for official corruption on June 16.

The 1991 Bougainville unilateral declaration of independence

LEONARD FONG ROKA

ACCORDING to Ulukalala Lavaka Ata’s 1998 work, The Bougainville Crisis and PNG-Australia Relations, “it is a feeling deep down in our hearts that Bougainville is totally different from PNG, geographically, culturally. It’s been a separate place since time immemorial. Ever since God created the universe, Bougainville has been separate, has been different.”

This difference, of course, was exacerbated by the reckless influx of non-Bougainvilleans after 1900. As historian James Griffin, who had a close relationship with Bougainville, wrote, when over 1,000 Bougainvilleans attended a United Nations mission visit to Kieta in 1962 and they told the UN to remove the mandate from Australia and give it to the US, they were treated like pigs and dogs.

Bougainville’s anti-Australia, anti-mining and anti-PNG campaign, despite being ignored as baseless, slowly developed over time.

And, on 1 September 1975, the first peoples’ attempt to unilaterally declare independence occurred.

It shocked Michael Somare’s PNG government that was to receive its own independece in just two weeks’ time.

From the Kundiawa News 50 years ago today

KEITH JACKSON

The thirteenth issue of the Kundiawa News was published on 10 July 1964, its circulation having increased from 50 to 80 over the previous three months. The newsletter ran to 14 pages and included news, comment, an article (‘Behind the Iron Curtain’), satire, social items and sport. Malaria School operative Harry Lake was the caricaturist.

MY IMPRESSIONS OF THE FIRST HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY OPENING

By Johanes Yonduai (Senior Orderly, Kundiawa Hospital)

Recently I witnessed the opening of the House of Assembly abd the following are my impressions of this plus other comments. While in Port Moresby I was very impressed at the sight of warships in the harbour and many different types of aircraft. I was also amazed at the size of Port Moresby and its many houses and the endless line of cars.

The Governor-General opened the House, having inspected a Police guard of honour while a band played. I realised how much Australia has assisted our country and I was very touched by this ceremony. The Australian Government has freely given to our country, a gesture which we should not forget.

Reprisals follow murder of Fr Jerry Inau: Goilala in despair

FR GIORGIO LICINI | Catholic Reporter

MORE than five weeks on, there is still no police report on the killing of Fr Jerry Inau and Communion Minister Benedict in the Goilala mountains of Kamulai on the first Sunday of May.

“The men in uniform have run out of funds and have left the area,” said Bishop Rochus Tatamai of Bereina (pictured). “We only know what people say and it’s not good news.”

Fr Jerry’s plea when he was fatally shot that his killing not be avenged has not been respected, according to Bishop Rochus.

“The rumours are that seven murders have followed, including that of the young culprit.”

Peter O’Neill: the consummate power player in PNG politics

BOMAI D WITNE

THE concept of power is inherent in politics and is seen as the ability to influence the people to do things that they may not want to do.

After the last national election in 2011, the current O’Neill-Dion government derived its legitimacy from the people through universal suffrage and the secret ballot.

The result of this was the eventual formation of a coalition government which promised free education, an emphasis on health care, major road construction and many other initiatives.

Peter O’Neill also proved to be a prime minister who was enthusiastic about keeping in touch with his own people.

Wherever the prime minister goes, and he visits some of the remotest parts of the country, he makes sure a number of ministers and backbenchers accompany him.

Protest

CAROLINE EVARI

The veils of evil we will remove
With force carved within our soul
We will fight with weapons buried within our land
For what we believe in and for what we hope for
Let the wheels of justice turn to our song
As it burn down the camps where greed is nurtured
For our home and for our pride
And for the generations to come

Re-introduce corporal punishment to the education system

AGNES ARE

IN an article, Order and Control in Schools, D Orere (2006) said children today are “developing behaviours … which are not expected of them as students.”

This leads to the question of whether corporal punishment should be re-introduced into the education system in Papua New Guinea.

While Orere stressed it would be difficult to impart knowledge to frightened students, there are other reasons for corporal punishment to be reinstated.

Teachers are held responsible and criticised for the wrongdoing of the youngsters even as society becomes more lawless, violent and undisciplined.

Going Nuts, the PNG Way

HINAFUMI ONAFIMO

The climb,
Oh Tura
Was chest arching
But when you arrived
The happiness on their faces
Is relevant to the relationship between
The fruit and man.

We look forward to visit by Japanese PM says Peter O’Neill

JAPANESE prime minister Shinzo Abe will arrive in Port Moresby tomorrow for a two day visit to Papua New Guinea.

Abe, the leader of the world’s third biggest economy, will be accompanied by more than 150 Japanese business and government leaders.

PNG prime minister Peter O’Neill said he is looking forward to have discussions on a number of key issues including trade with Mr Abe.

“We are trying to encourage more trade between the two countries. He is leading a large delegation of Japanese leaders,” Mr O’Neill said.

“Japan is one of the biggest investors in this country and the biggest buyer of our natural resources.

“We will continue to engaging and strengthening bilateral relations with the Japanese government and Japanese people.

Reporter bashed and injured by police in unprovoked attack

DAVID EPHRAIM

THE head political reporter of the Sunday Chronicle and Midweek Chronicle newspapers, Benny Malaisa, has been ambushed and bashed by police in an act of police brutality.

M Malaisa was in a taxi on his way home last Thursday night when a vehicle drove in front of the cab and blocked it near the Aopi Centre in Port Moresby.

Two police emerged from what was apparently an unmarked police vehicle, registration BCG 006.

The two police accused the journalist of swearing at them. Mr Malaisa said he was not aware of what they were talking about as it was the first time he had seen the officers.

However he admitted to calling two Lamana Motel security guards ‘idiots who should be looking after their customers’ after they had mocked him when he threw up outside the motel.

Sam Koim: 'Our leaders are now on dangerous ground'

KEITH JACKSON

ON a day when prime minister Peter O'Neill instructed his lawyers to withdraw court proceedings against an arrest warrant (but the government continued its own proceedings), new Attorney-General Ano Pala (pictured) claimed the allegedly fraudulent Paraka Lawyers invoices that triggered the current PNG crisis are in fact legitimate.

Sacked corruption fighter Sam Koim late yesterday used Facebook to respond to this assertion, asking rhetorically: “Do our leaders know they are now treading on dangerous grounds in their quest for self-preservation?”

Mr Koim continued with a description of the work he and his investigators in former Task Force Sweep undertook to establish the facts of what is now known as Parakagate.

Simbu writers dominate Crocodile Prize 2014 entries

KEITH JACKSON

AFTER the Crocodile Prize was established in 2011 and the closing date for entries passed, Phil Fitzpatrick and I got down to the judging.

There were 105 contributions from 40 writers to read and assess in three categories: short stories, poetry and essays.

As the judging progressed, Phil and I noticed that the women’s entries were relatively small in number and it seemed certain the first awards would be dominated by men.

So, at the last minute, we initiated an award for women’s writing and Dame Carol Kidu was gracious enough to lend her name to it.

It was the last time we had to offer a special award for women. From 2011 on, when it came to literature, the women of Papua New Guinea showed they were every bit as good and competitive as the men.

In 2014, we have received more than 600 entries from 130 writers, 46% of them female. We consider this a very satisfactory outcome.

I am a Woman

STEPHANIE AISI

This poem is dedicated to my mother and all other women before us
who paved the way for women of this generation to be heard

I am a woman
Clothed with culture
I speak
They can’t hear me

I am a woman
Sewn together by religion
I speak
Why can’t they hear me?

Bougainvillean students harassed at Divine Word University

LEONARD FONG ROKA

THREE Bougainvillean students have been attacked by drunken fellow students from elsewhere in Papua New Guinea while inspecting building works for a new university campus supermarket.

The two drunkards aggressively demanded a handshake but, when first year Accounting student Gideon Davika giggled, violence erupted.

“Why yu lap? (Why are you laughing?),” one of the drunkards said to Davika.

Then his mate unexpectedly punched Peter Karatapi, a contributing writer to the Bougainville 24 website, also an Accounting student.

The Bougainvilleans retaliated, outmuscling their attackers until other students intervened and stopped the brawl.

Literacy

DINAH KYAKAS

Oh literacy
you are a true life saver

My old father did not believe in your powers
he told me my place was in the kitchen
and school fees were a huge burden

I was both confused
and lost in deep thought

Maria Goretti & Peter ToRot show the way for today’s PNG

FR GIORGIO LICINI

BISHOP Rochus Tatamai of Bereina has said the forgiving attitude shown after the 1902 murder of St Maria Goretti challenges Papua New Guinean payback practice and mentality.

He was speaking at a meeting of Catholic youth at Divine Word University in Madang at the weekend.

Bishop Rochus said the way the murder of the 12-year-old Italian came about reflects very much current PNG social issues and problems.

Maria Goretti lived in poverty, was illiterate but very religious, and suffered violence and death as a child by a person she knew very well as a family friend.

Road to Ok Tedi mine re-opened after serious landslip

OK TEDI MINING LTD

THE road link between Tabubil and the Ok Tedi mine has been re-established after excavation work over the weekend cleared soil and debris from last week’s landslip at Yuk Creek.

Until the road is fully restored, access is allowed only for OTML vehicles and authorised personnel. The road will be closed to all traffic from 9am-4pm and 7:30pm-5:30am to allow remedial works to continue. 

The copper concentrate pipeline remains dislodged from its footings, but is still intact. Company engineers are working on this and it may take up to two weeks before production returns to normal.

The OTML Community Relations Department have advised settlers in the vicinity of Yuk Creek to evacuate the area for their own safety as the soil structure at the top of the creek remains unstable and is still moving with continued high rainfall.

Do Malaysian loggers now run the government of PNG?

ANDREW LATTAS

I have just returned home from Pomio, where the clear felling of the bush and subsequent oil palm planting are in full swing despite the vast majority of villagers opposing both.

Villagers are powerless to stop these activities, which continue even though the special agriculture and business leases (SABLs) have recently supposedly been revoked.

This looks likely to have the same status as the Police Commissioner’s public order of December 2011 that police be pulled out of logging camp sites. The police were never removed.

Why my paintings are black and grey

IMELDA YABARA

Take a glimpse at this painting I named my life,
Daubs of memories are splattered far and wide,
They show a picture of my reasons why

So with words I paint,
With my weapon slash brush in my hand,
My mighty and trusty pen

The two types of PNG landowner: the legitimate & the fake

FELIX BARAKA

PAPUA New Guinea is among the few nations in the world where ordinary people by virtue of birth can claim to secure access land.

Land in PNG directly supports about 80% of the population, the vast majority of whom live in rural areas.

It is impossible to imagine how PNG could provide for its rural population if villagers had no land. People's attachment to the land is intimately tied to their notions of independence, identity and security.

When the state intrudes on land to exploit natural resources in the name of greater national self-sufficiency, and therefore greater national independence, village people may see it as a new form of colonisation.

Sew richly - rightly serve

LINDSAY F BOND

Some few of words
sew rich in fabric-
ations and nations.

Lo, miners delve
through earth and titill-
ating legations.

Too, miners dig
though unearthed is ore
sought less as folk thought.

Panguna, the early days: ‘Geologists, you're trespassers…’

BILL BROWN

I had been a kiap for 16 years, in the Sepik District for more than ten (the last four at Maprik), and back from leave ten days, when, on 2 June 1966, DC Ted Hicks came on the radio to tell me that I had been transferred to the Bougainville District.

The situation was urgent; as soon as we were packed, we would be flown direct to Bougainville by a Caribou aircraft. Director Keith McCarthy’s letter arrived the next day:

….[because] of the possibility of large scale mineral development in … the Bougainville District … [and] various local factors and problems involved in this possible development which require … an additional experienced and capable officer … I have decided to transfer Mr W. T. Brown, District Officer, … for duty in the Kieta Sub-District.

We packed, and waited, and waited. A fortnight later, two single-engined Norseman aircraft began shuttling our household and effects to the Wewak airstrip, Boram, where they were manhandled into the waiting Douglas Dakota, the military version of the Douglas DC-3 aircraft.

We were to have flown direct from Wewak to Bougainville, but mechanical failure caused a diversion to Madang, followed by an overnight stop at Rabaul, so we were a day late when we arrived; the grass airstrip, Aropa, was deserted, and the only shade was under the aircraft’s wing.

Taking a different look at corruption: bribery or luksave

TIMOTHY PIRINDUO

An entry in the Crocodile Prize
PNG Chamber of Mines & Petroleum
Award for Essays & Journalism

“The optimist sees opportunity in every danger; the pessimist sees danger in every opportunity”  -  Winston Churchill

LUKSAVE - a Tok Pisin word that means to acknowledge those people that you know.

Luksave is commonly expressed in Papua New Guinea to mean that one is obliged to recognise those who have helped the process of making a claim by paying certain tips or commission.

Another dramatic week as PNG PM ‘fights to the very last breath’

BAL KAMA | DevPolicy Blog

PAPUA New Guinea currently faces one of the toughest challenges yet again in the fight against corruption when a warrant of arrest was issued against the country’s Prime Minister Peter O’Neill on allegations of official corruption.

What resulted was the sacking and suspension of high ranking government officials including Attorney General Kerenga Kua and Assistant Police Commissioner Simon Kauba as the Prime Minister appeared determined to “fight to the very last breath.”

The Prime Minister also disbanded the Task Force Sweep (TFS), an anti-corruption body he created when he first took office in 2011. TFS had played a major role in fighting corruption in the country since its inception.

An expatriate's life at Telefomin in the late 1950s

BILL BROWN

IT was July 1959, and just five weeks earlier Pamela and I had been married in Sydney, Australia.

Now we were the only passengers in a three-engined Junkers JU52, an old German-designed aircraft with corrugated duralumin sides, an undercarriage that did not retract, and a cruising speed of 160 kilometres per hour – and we were flying into the mountains of New Guinea.

Twenty-five years earlier, Adolf Hitler had trundled around Germany in the same type of aircraft, but it was unlikely that his aircraft had the passengers sitting just behind a huge stack of sawn timber, and it may have been equipped with a toilet.

An Old Man’s Death

PAUL WAUGLA WII

An entry in The Crocodile Prize
Kina Securities Award for Poetry

He stares at the beckoning wall of nothingness.
It is here and here alone
On his death bed
That the entire scheme of life
What has been, is now, and would ever be
Is put in absolute perspective.
The nothingness before him
Is an intertwining maze of blackness
That  emerges and merges into a million interlocking threads.

$3.3M a day revenue loss as landslip blocks Ok Tedi access

KEITH JACKSON

A major landslip in the Western Province last Wednesday, which cut off road access between Tabubil (pictured) and the copper mine, is costing Ok Tedi Mining $3.3 million a day in lost revenue.

While no deaths or injuries were reported, people living in settlements in the vicinity of the slip zone have been advised to vacate their homes.

A number of villages are cut off and arrangements have been made to airlift food supplies if road access is not restored in the next few days.

The origin of the human race in Watut mythology

GODWIN J AIAWA

An entry in The Crocodile Prize
Cleland Family Award for Heritage Writing

The Bible teaches in the book of Genesis that God created man from dust and all things both living and non-living. Science teaches that man evolved over time from a single celled molecule into fish, tadpole, monkey and eventually into humans beings through the theory of evolution inspired by Charles Darwin.

My people from the Upper Watut of Awatengo sub-clan have their own version of how man came into existence. My father told me this story when I was a little child. He explained how and why there are people with various skin colours, unique languages and cultures that we have today. This is the legend I wish to share.

LONG, long time ago there lived a man and his two wives, who were sisters. The husband’s name was Pawoyawo, and the two wives names were Maikuni and Naboai.

They were the only humans who lived alone in a house deep within the forest. They had no children. Their house was constructed from wood, tree barks, dried grass and was circular in shape, resting on the earth floor, also covered with dried grass and leaves.

Fighting against sleep

HINAFUMI ONAFIMO

An entry in The Crocodile Prize
Kina Securities Award for Poetry

We don’t own the night.
Night, we must understand
Is a gift from a departing day.

In this long silent corridor
We are not partakers of sleep
So hang your anger on the wall
And follow as sublime as the spider
The path of sleep.

The most commented & liked articles in June’s PNG Attitude

KEITH JACKSON

ONE of the wondrous things about this labour of love which is the daily compilation of PNG Attitude is that not a month goes by in Papua New Guinea without some soaring moments of exhilaration and an occasional black mood of despair. June was no exception.

The exhilaration arrived in scores of emails as the Crocodile Prize moved towards the closing date for entries. It was also experienced observing the courage of corruption fighter Sam Koim and police investigators as they refused to respond with defeatism to their malevolent sacking by Peter O’Neill. And, yes Peter, you did get that very wrong.

On the last day of June, entries closed for Crocodile Prize 2014 – with 612 contributions received from 130 writers. It was a magnificent result and, among those 600 poems, stories and essays, were many that would excel in any company.

If I Could

EMMANUEL MAROSI

An entry in The Crocodile Prize
Kina Securities Award for Poetry

If I could write music
It would be the tune that sank Titanic

If I could write a song
It would be the lyric that brought forth tears

If I could sing a love song
It would be a melody sweet to unite us

The two best friends, Mekeo & Roro

PHILOMENA OAEKE

An entry in The Crocodile Prize
People’s Award for Short Stories

This is a fictional story based on a real life situation in Bereina District, Central Province, where the barter system still exists. The main characters are two best friends, Mekeo and Roro, who try everything to change the mindsets of the local people to do better than just chewing  betelnut or selling it to other people. In this story, betelnut is referred to as mafe and toea is Papua New Guinea’ coin currency.

MEKEO and Roro were very good friends. Roro was a good fisherman and Mekeo was a good gardener.

Roro caught many fish and prawns while Mekeo planted many bananas, tomatoes, beans, corn and tulip leaves to feed his family.Whenever Roro ran out of garden food he would run to Mekeo in exchange for garden produce.

Corruption in Bougainville is letting down all that we fought for

LEONARD FONG ROKA

AS a student without any connection with the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) or Bougainville Administration, I have no influence over the decisions my necktie-wearing, long sleeved and polished booted bureaucrats do in their fine Buka offices and elsewhere in Bougainville.

But I can talk as a Bougainvillean who endured the pain of the 10-year crisis after 1988 and who has a desire to see my Solomon Island of Bougainville move forward into the nationhood that is our goal and which we paid for with our tears and blood.

Corruption is an ailment affecting Bougainville, public and private Bougainville institutions and the Bougainvillean people.

Corruption is in Buka town and its surrounding villages; corruption is in northern Bougainville right across to Kereaka.

Corruption is in the Kongara area of central Bougainville, in the highlands, it extends to the fine beaches of Pokpok Island, and into Panguna and Wakunai and Tinputz.

friday six pm

PAULINE RIMAN

An entry in The Crocodile Prize
Kina Securities Award for Poetry

violet crimson magenta wilting hibiscus
baby warm six pm jasmine scent noni oil
coconut kernel clouds ripe underside mangoes
chopping sticky aibika frying fatty corned beef
browning heliconia sugar loving ants
opaque louvers wag tail eating dust moth
rice hot boil burst thick percussion symphony
glass cups slipping sliding dishwater
mobile phones cold dark silent sentry
geckoes locking tales son reciting timetables
private beauty miniscule drama
You’re not here to share it with me.
You have gone to be with another.