By Ganjiki
I’m depressed
I see them shred our Constitution on every side
I turn to the right, to the left, I see they’ve lied
Interpret it selfishly
Apply it abusively
Change it recklessly
I see us constantly using its letter to destroy its spirit
My heart bleeds, as it loses its feet
Oh Narakobi, you must be turning in your grave?!
See how we lose ourselves in these ideas the white man gave?
That Melanesian Way you tried to help us see?
It’s drowned out in our modern humanity
I’m confused. Why can’t they see??
It’s right there; look and let it be!
The spirit of our Nation, our Sovereignty
Our guide no longer has a heart
They ripped it out that vital part
How can we who can’t define ourselves,
Expect to stop this rotting mess?
How can we of a thousand tongues,
Claim basic conscience on which all hangs?
That dear House standing on a Hill
Ruled by a master who does not yield
To this dear Mama Lo, our Nation’s Word
He rules by his chair, if only he had his sword...
I see more chairs, carrying worthless bodies
Puppets who love to tickle our ears
They put on a show and the world laughs
I hang my head in shame...in my fathers’ house?
I see good men fall, respect tumbles
Integrity sold, no longer humbles
I see good women...no I don’t see them
So now they stake their claim
Momis please make a stand, give us sight
Tell us we’re not doing this right
Tell us we need to talk to the people
Isn’t that what you did when you wrote the fundamental?
Leave that Document alone
Let it guide us, I say
Stand by its spirit
It’ll show the way...
God Bless Papua New Guinea...
(23/11/11)
Thoughts and Ideas for and regarding Papua New Guinea, the country I love.
23 November 2011
16 November 2011
"In Conclusion" (Graduates' Response 2008--53rd UPNG Graduation)
Graduates' Response
(4th April 2008, Afternoon Session)
"IN CONCLUSION"
by
GDW
The Governor General of PNG His Excellency Grand Chief Sir Paulias Matane and Lady Kaludia; Chancellor Stephen Pokawin and Distinguished Members of the UPNG Council; Prof. Ross Hynes and Members of the UPNG Senior Management; Academic and Non-Academic Staff of UPNG; Parents and Family of the Graduates; and lastly to fellow graduates...Good Afternoon.
It is truly a great honour and privilege for me to stand before you to deliver this Graduate's Response. I am also sincerely humbled to be given this opportunity.
Firstly our gratitude.
Firstly to the greatest and only God there is. To the Maker of the Heavens and the Earth. To God in whom we live and move and have our being. Outside of whom we cannot find purpose and reason and meaning. To our Great God Jehovah The Great I AM...."I Thank you....For All You've Done"
To our families and especially to our Parents. Take this moment as for yourselves. To Every Father and Every Mother who worked so hard to see us get to where we are, on behalf of every graduate and myself I say this "Thank you from the deepest parts of our hearts. We would not have made it without you...God Bless You...We Love You"
To the University Administration and Staff, both Academic and non-academic, we thank you for your dedication to the development of the graduates and students. For those lecturers and tutors who are overworked and grossly underpaid, we applaud your dedication and attitude of service towards this nation. Thankyou for not giving up along the way like a lot of others. God Bless you and Your families.
Finally to every one who has played a part, one way or another, in assisting these graduates through their pursuit of education: You can also take a moment for yourself. I say simply "Thank you and God Bless You"
It is said that the most exciting phrase in Graduation speeches is the phrase "And In Conclusion" and so I am content that if this talk needs a title I should call it "In Conclusion".
The theme for this 53rd Graduation carries quite a great deal of words but the key phrase I'd like to point out is "higher education as the key driver of good governance in PNG democracy".
After four years of undergraduate study I have arrived with perhaps one conclusion. This conclusion that I would like to share with you all is not new and this won't be the last time you hear it. The one person who has always spoken on this topic, and I am deeply honoured to stand before him to present this talk, is the good Governor General Sir Paulius Matane. But my prayer is that you hear this as if for the first time. It is my hope that every single person listening today would appreciate the sentiments expressed from this podium. I sincerely believe that true change and progress would come about if everyone would appreciate this very simple truth and act upon it. Every graduate and every continuing student and ultimately every Papua New Guinean citizen should appreciate this simple truth.
So what is this conclusion that I would like to present?
The Conclusion is this: that the KEY to good governance, or good leadership (or bad leadership), is all wrapped up in this one word: ATTITUDE.
It is the ATTITUDE of the most important & fundamental unit of any human society. It is the unit of the SELF (myself and yourself). Ultimately it is my own attitude that either makes or breaks me. And eventually it is my attitude that would bring this nation out of the mess that it is in. Likewise your attitude.
It does not take a University Graduate to realize that this nation suffers from lack of good governance and leadership and that it is performing well below its potential. So whose responsibility is it to change this country?
Everyone thinks it's someone else's responsibility to change and make a difference. This is having an adverse effect on our attitude and ultimately on our actions as units of a single nation.
For four years I have been watching us. We who are often referred to as 'future leaders' and the 'hope of the nation'. Those phrases come from what they call "The Knowledge Myth". That good leadership comes from good education. If this was true PNG would be one of the greatest nations in the world because we have some of the world's top brains in our leadership. There shouldn't be any problems with the usual evils that we read about each day. But NO! We are still struggling to compete with even our smaller and younger neighbours in the Pacific. Obviously education isn't helping.
I regret to say that I have observed over the last four years that we, so-called future leaders, have devoted more time to gaining more knowledge and have neglected building our character and developing positive attitude. I have witnessed from a national University, active ethnic differences amongst the educated elite. And yet we criticize and condemn nepotism and wantok system in government and bureaucracy? I have witness destructive little habits such as vandalism of state property by us the educated elite. Little things such as graffiti and the stain of beetle nut all over our infrastructure and land. And yet we expect our grassroots and leaders to show respect to each other and for property? I have witnessed drunken brawls and fights and have even witnessed domestic violence and abuse of women here on campus. Only very few are committed to building good character and attitude. And yet they call us 'future leaders'…I am often embarrassed by those tags.
Unfortunately our education system has not and still does not actively promote the building of good character and values. I would like to challenge the government and the University and other Education institutions to focus on developing character and not just equipping with education. I do not believe that education alone is paramount in the building of our human resource. The building of our human resource lies in our laying down values which eventually shape our character. Good attitude in people means effective human resource and eventually good leadership.
I believe that this nation can be great. I believe that it will be. I am confidant because I feel, and so should every one of you, that the responsibility for progress in this nation rest upon me...It rests on the improvement of SELF. It starts and ends with the SELF. As an individual I have to change. I have to move towards building character and a positive attitude within myself. We have to Change our mentality in thinking that everyone else has to change for this world to change. Leo Tolstoy describes the defect in our way of thinking like this: "Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself".
It is an issue of responsibility. Do you know that the responsibility for change and progress rests solely on you? 'Cause if you think it is someone else's than you will not take any steps to changing...to growing as a leader and as a good citizen of this nation. And if you stop growing and developing positively in your character....There's only one other direction for your character to go...DOWN...it starts decaying. Even Michael Jackson understood that if you wanted to make a difference you have to start with the "Man in the Mirror". It's my responsibility. It's YOURS. It Starts and Ends with me. That should be our attitude.
RESPONSIBILITY comes from two words: Response and ability. So if you have the ability to respond then you cannot deny that you have a responsibility. Your ability to respond lies in first changing yourself, something that is within your power.
As student leaders we are fond of criticizing our current leaders. We talk about their failure and their corruption. But let me challenge ourselves with this question to the SELF: "Am I going to be any different?"… "Will people say positive things about me when they talk about me?"… "One day when my name is on the papers will they treat me with contempt or with deepest respect?"
The building of good attitudes and character does not happen overnight. It's a long process that needs patience and discipline. Are we in that process? Have we started yet? Because we can't wait another day to start changing. We can be confident if we are changing because if we change positively; like fire that attitude of change will spread and eventually the whole nation will catch on. Good leadership is not a phenomenon that arises in a day. It is a daily process of development and change.
What are the qualities you and I demand from our leaders? Selfless-ness? Sacrifice? Integrity? Honesty? Loyalty? Nationalism? Respect? Honour? Courage against Corruption? Those same things are demanded of us no matter what capacity we are in. You are always in a position to influence those around you, and they influence you. Will you give in to corruption in the tiniest of measures. What have you and I done for ourselves that would see the development of these traits within us. The good Governor General always stresses these qualities and Henry Kila has stressed them to us today as well; what are we doing to improve ourselves and develop these qualities cause you cannot sleep and wakeup one day all of a sudden have an attitude of sacrifice and loyalty to this nation. More importantly what are you and I doing now? If we do not embrace them we will always only be criticizing others and developing ourselves into hypocrites.
These are challenges that we have to really ask ourselves and think about and act upon. And we have to act now to develop ourselves. Maybe when we do we can really earn the tag future leaders. Only by being different can we really make a difference.
I leave us with this quote from one of the history's greatest leaders Benjamin Franklin: "By improving yourself the world is made better".
That is all I have to share with you: these small thoughts that every citizen of this great nation should appreciate.
Again to all who have played a role in the achievements of these fine women and men...our deepest gratitude.
And to the fellow Graduates...I wish everyone, not just success, I wish you satisfaction and fulfillment in whatever path you trod in the next steps of your lives. In whatever role you play in life and whatever roles you play in this country; that you shall find your purpose and be fulfilled.
Congratulations!
Thank you and God Bless You All!
--
Ganjiki
"INSPIRING PASSION"
"INSPIRING PASSION"
09 November 2011
Ambassadors: For Better of For Worse...
By GDW
I walked down the streets of Suva in a T-shirt proudly declaring “I LOVE PNG”. In the wake of a recent Rugby League clash between the Kumuls and Fiji Batis—the Kumuls thrashing the Batis 26-Nil—I was sort of rubbing it in on our Melenesian brothers. The few I chatted with conceded how strong PNG was. “The first game was a fluke eh?” one of them said. I don’t know. Our boys made too many handling errors the first game in Mt. Hagen and “gave the game away”. Maybe…
In stark contrast to my beloved capital city, Suva looked very…“international”. Everyone was from everywhere. We travelled into Nandi the day before and the international Airport was packed! The connection to Suva even more so. Tourists! They flocked in and out like we flock to our buai-markets every day at home.
One word sticks out when I arrogantly contrast this city to mine back home: CLEAN. Anyone who’s been here knows this. Not only was there no beetle-nut sputum anywhere, there was no rubbish. No plastic bags, chewing-gum packets, soft-drink cans, bottles. Nothing! (It wasn’t perfectly clean of course, but you know what I mean). I dream of POM city being like this. Yes as much as the realists hate to see it, some of us still dream. Impossible? Not in a hundred years? I dream.
At breakfast (sandwich and coffee) at the market I helped out a beggar (yes they have one or two). A Fijian, seated next to my colleague and I, seems impressed and asked where we’re from. I proudly tell him. He mentions he met a PNGean not many days ago: a law student here at USP. We talk about the rugby. We ask about Fiji, the Melanesians. We are seated at a bench at the markets were the native Fijians have set up stalls to sell coffee, cakes, sandwiches and packs of cassava and fish. This seems to be what they can do. And we are only too happy to support them. Our friend says thanks for supporting. “You’re welcome.”
Since I’m wearing the T-shirt—but not only because of that—I am conscious that people not only see me, they see my country. I reflect my beloved nation. I feel an urge to say things like “Oh do come to PNG, we are a great people!” but I refrain. I’ll just do my thing and hope that my conduct is sufficient to arouse within them a desire to come visit our country.
In the evening I went to a small PNG men’s fellowship where five guys meet to share the Word of God and pray together. My former lecturer Douveri invited me. We study God’s Word. We pray for PNG. We pray for Fiji. And we pray for Israel. Driving home afterwards my brothers lament to me how they have observed many PNGeans—not all, but many—who come to visit Suva, squander their lives by living loosely and wrecklessly: to their own disgrace and country’s. In fact one of the main reasons they started having the regular fellowship was to strengthen each other in upholding the Godly principles they had subscribed to. To live well and honourably, attempting to keep from being negative ambassadors for God and country.
Everywhere in the world there are Papua New Guineans: living, working, schooling, playing. They are ambassadors, clothed with the beauty of our nation. All who look upon them see not only the individuals, they see PNG. Being overseas might demand a more conscious watch over every word and deed you say or do. You need to deliberately choose to be good.
I know people are not dumb. They won’t conclude automatically that a PNGean they see out there is what every PNGean is like back home. Indeed it may be a far cry. But they catch a glimpse of who we are. I hope that when you give the world a glimpse of our nation, they will like what they see.
I don’t really know how you would do that. I know how I would if I was out there. I’d be proud of my country. Carry its flag always. Physically whenever I can—on a t-shirt, an armband or scarf—but always in my heart. I’d try to ensure that whatever I did was both an accurate reflection of my people, and a good one. This means I would have to understand my country: its fundamental ideals, our collective character and conscience. I would have to know what we stand for. What makes us unique in this world apart from our geographical location, skin colour, and diversity? What is the common thread that runs through our divergent individual cultures? Because when I’m out there I won’t be a Sepik, Tolai, Papuan or Engan. I’d only be Papua New Guinean. Therefore my philosophy would have to correspond to whole of Papua New Guinea’s.
Are we a kind? Hospitable? Decent? Family-oriented? Fun-loving? Teachable? Patient? Are we “wiser, smarter, fairer” yet? What kind of people are we supposed to be?
We need to be great people. Which means we need fundamental shifts in the way we behave. Which means we need fundamental shifts in the way we perceive ourselves. Our beliefs need to be re-affirmed.
I started out talking about the streets and ended up with international representatives of our nation—short trippers to permanent residents. We are all PNG. Why? Because our conduct, both abroad and local, reflects what we believe of ourselves. Our squandering of our Moresby and Lae streets, or our representation at an international meets, reflects badly on us. Let’s change it around. For our nation to be greater, we must become better. We are clothed with our nation’s beauty. Change Starts With Me.
Heavenise Day!
Ganjiki
I walked down the streets of Suva in a T-shirt proudly declaring “I LOVE PNG”. In the wake of a recent Rugby League clash between the Kumuls and Fiji Batis—the Kumuls thrashing the Batis 26-Nil—I was sort of rubbing it in on our Melenesian brothers. The few I chatted with conceded how strong PNG was. “The first game was a fluke eh?” one of them said. I don’t know. Our boys made too many handling errors the first game in Mt. Hagen and “gave the game away”. Maybe…
In stark contrast to my beloved capital city, Suva looked very…“international”. Everyone was from everywhere. We travelled into Nandi the day before and the international Airport was packed! The connection to Suva even more so. Tourists! They flocked in and out like we flock to our buai-markets every day at home.
One word sticks out when I arrogantly contrast this city to mine back home: CLEAN. Anyone who’s been here knows this. Not only was there no beetle-nut sputum anywhere, there was no rubbish. No plastic bags, chewing-gum packets, soft-drink cans, bottles. Nothing! (It wasn’t perfectly clean of course, but you know what I mean). I dream of POM city being like this. Yes as much as the realists hate to see it, some of us still dream. Impossible? Not in a hundred years? I dream.
At breakfast (sandwich and coffee) at the market I helped out a beggar (yes they have one or two). A Fijian, seated next to my colleague and I, seems impressed and asked where we’re from. I proudly tell him. He mentions he met a PNGean not many days ago: a law student here at USP. We talk about the rugby. We ask about Fiji, the Melanesians. We are seated at a bench at the markets were the native Fijians have set up stalls to sell coffee, cakes, sandwiches and packs of cassava and fish. This seems to be what they can do. And we are only too happy to support them. Our friend says thanks for supporting. “You’re welcome.”
Since I’m wearing the T-shirt—but not only because of that—I am conscious that people not only see me, they see my country. I reflect my beloved nation. I feel an urge to say things like “Oh do come to PNG, we are a great people!” but I refrain. I’ll just do my thing and hope that my conduct is sufficient to arouse within them a desire to come visit our country.
In the evening I went to a small PNG men’s fellowship where five guys meet to share the Word of God and pray together. My former lecturer Douveri invited me. We study God’s Word. We pray for PNG. We pray for Fiji. And we pray for Israel. Driving home afterwards my brothers lament to me how they have observed many PNGeans—not all, but many—who come to visit Suva, squander their lives by living loosely and wrecklessly: to their own disgrace and country’s. In fact one of the main reasons they started having the regular fellowship was to strengthen each other in upholding the Godly principles they had subscribed to. To live well and honourably, attempting to keep from being negative ambassadors for God and country.
Everywhere in the world there are Papua New Guineans: living, working, schooling, playing. They are ambassadors, clothed with the beauty of our nation. All who look upon them see not only the individuals, they see PNG. Being overseas might demand a more conscious watch over every word and deed you say or do. You need to deliberately choose to be good.
I know people are not dumb. They won’t conclude automatically that a PNGean they see out there is what every PNGean is like back home. Indeed it may be a far cry. But they catch a glimpse of who we are. I hope that when you give the world a glimpse of our nation, they will like what they see.
I don’t really know how you would do that. I know how I would if I was out there. I’d be proud of my country. Carry its flag always. Physically whenever I can—on a t-shirt, an armband or scarf—but always in my heart. I’d try to ensure that whatever I did was both an accurate reflection of my people, and a good one. This means I would have to understand my country: its fundamental ideals, our collective character and conscience. I would have to know what we stand for. What makes us unique in this world apart from our geographical location, skin colour, and diversity? What is the common thread that runs through our divergent individual cultures? Because when I’m out there I won’t be a Sepik, Tolai, Papuan or Engan. I’d only be Papua New Guinean. Therefore my philosophy would have to correspond to whole of Papua New Guinea’s.
Are we a kind? Hospitable? Decent? Family-oriented? Fun-loving? Teachable? Patient? Are we “wiser, smarter, fairer” yet? What kind of people are we supposed to be?
We need to be great people. Which means we need fundamental shifts in the way we behave. Which means we need fundamental shifts in the way we perceive ourselves. Our beliefs need to be re-affirmed.
I started out talking about the streets and ended up with international representatives of our nation—short trippers to permanent residents. We are all PNG. Why? Because our conduct, both abroad and local, reflects what we believe of ourselves. Our squandering of our Moresby and Lae streets, or our representation at an international meets, reflects badly on us. Let’s change it around. For our nation to be greater, we must become better. We are clothed with our nation’s beauty. Change Starts With Me.
Heavenise Day!
Ganjiki
03 November 2011
Change Starts With Me
By Ganjiki D Wayne
“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself”~Leo Tolstoy
The theme of changing ourselves before demanding change in others is slowly gaining a footing in the mindsets of our people. Slowly we are starting to realise that in order for real change to happen in our land, “I must change”. From adamant cynics—who blame the system, the unstable social structures, the ineffective legislation, weak procedures, inadequate funding, bad planning, corrupt leadership, foreign dominance/influx, non-education, and a whole list of social evils, etc—to self-evaluating citizens, questioning their own contribution to society and who are now taking responsibility. A soft breeze of self-change is blowing through our country.
Increasingly we are now measuring our own worth and value to this nation. On which side of the ledger do we sit? We either add value to our nation, or we don’t...in our micro-economy and budget-setting, peer interaction, family-leadership, and our primary stewardship, etc. In EVERYTHING we do we either make our nation better off, or we keep it from getting better.
For one we need to seriously question our habitual littering of our streets. Good ol’ BSP tries vainly to clean up once a year. NASFUND too. Hours later and we’re back to square one. Bai yumi weit wanpla yiar gen lo narap’la klinup?! But should we wait for our kind corporate citizens or our government to clean up our streets? Perhaps we wouldn’t have to wait if we just DON’T LITTER like our communities were big dumps?! And don’t use lack of bins as an excuse—I’ve stood at bus-stops watching people who will not take a 5meter walk to the nearest bin to dispose their rubbish..or spit their buai!
We should also question why we love colouring our pavements with our endurable red spittle that puts Taubmans to shame. Should we be proud of ourselves for this simple atrocity when it makes us look bad and stupid; and brings the likes of Powes Parkop and his family literally onto their knees to scrub the Waigani junctions?? Spitting has always been, and still is, an ancient significant symbol of utter disgust and contempt.
And we spit on our country...every single day...
Surely we have a love for our land somewhere in us that should keep us from such a contemptuous deed! Surely we’re better than that!
I wonder if calculating the financial cost of our actions and inactions would help. If we know how the litter and spittle on our streets keep ten-thousand high-paying tourists away? If we knew how many were not only turned away and made no plans to return, but also did not extend a heartfelt recommendation to their wantoks to “go to PNG”—because PNG’s cities scared the daylights out of them, despite the fact that they loved our rural locations? If we knew how much money we don’t get and then waste cleaning up again? Would knowing such projections help us change? I doubt it. If we don’t change out of a genuine love for our land I doubt we’d change for the love of money.
How can we expect others to love and appreciate our land when we have an attitude that’s a far cry from patriotism? If we have no interest in helping ourselves yet demand the massive improvements? If, through our habitual lateness and procrastination (2 of my great sins I admit!), we aren’t very productive yet expect high productivity and growth! The only thing growing at top speed is our population!
This nation is not just the trees, the rivers, the rocks, or the roads and the buildings...it’s the people. You. Me. We are PNG. And if it must be greater, we must become better citizens. “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek” said Obama. But I like how Michael Jackson put it in his song: “I’m starting with the man in the mirror, I’m asking him to change his ways....If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make the change!”
Let’s do the little things right. Perhaps they will add to great change. Stop littering. Stop spitting the buai indiscriminately. Stop being late to work and taking off early. Stop abusing your spouse and kids; love them. Cut the prejudice and extend love beyond your tribe, your province or your region. Make peace quickly. Respect yourself so you can respect others. Celebrate your countryman’s success; don’t haul them down. Have some pride in our country...it’s the only one of its kind. Defend her honour. Give more than you take. Go the extra mile for her.
Just....be a great citizen!
God knows this nation needs better citizens than what we’ve all been to her.
The best formula for this wind of change is of course articulated by my Lord: “Hypocrite! FIRST remove the plank from YOUR OWN eye, THEN you will SEE CLEARLY to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” JESUS....
Hard words. But can the world truly change any other way?
Let’s Change!
Ganjiki
Patriots PNG Inc
“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself”~Leo Tolstoy
The theme of changing ourselves before demanding change in others is slowly gaining a footing in the mindsets of our people. Slowly we are starting to realise that in order for real change to happen in our land, “I must change”. From adamant cynics—who blame the system, the unstable social structures, the ineffective legislation, weak procedures, inadequate funding, bad planning, corrupt leadership, foreign dominance/influx, non-education, and a whole list of social evils, etc—to self-evaluating citizens, questioning their own contribution to society and who are now taking responsibility. A soft breeze of self-change is blowing through our country.
Increasingly we are now measuring our own worth and value to this nation. On which side of the ledger do we sit? We either add value to our nation, or we don’t...in our micro-economy and budget-setting, peer interaction, family-leadership, and our primary stewardship, etc. In EVERYTHING we do we either make our nation better off, or we keep it from getting better.
For one we need to seriously question our habitual littering of our streets. Good ol’ BSP tries vainly to clean up once a year. NASFUND too. Hours later and we’re back to square one. Bai yumi weit wanpla yiar gen lo narap’la klinup?! But should we wait for our kind corporate citizens or our government to clean up our streets? Perhaps we wouldn’t have to wait if we just DON’T LITTER like our communities were big dumps?! And don’t use lack of bins as an excuse—I’ve stood at bus-stops watching people who will not take a 5meter walk to the nearest bin to dispose their rubbish..or spit their buai!
We should also question why we love colouring our pavements with our endurable red spittle that puts Taubmans to shame. Should we be proud of ourselves for this simple atrocity when it makes us look bad and stupid; and brings the likes of Powes Parkop and his family literally onto their knees to scrub the Waigani junctions?? Spitting has always been, and still is, an ancient significant symbol of utter disgust and contempt.
And we spit on our country...every single day...
Surely we have a love for our land somewhere in us that should keep us from such a contemptuous deed! Surely we’re better than that!
I wonder if calculating the financial cost of our actions and inactions would help. If we know how the litter and spittle on our streets keep ten-thousand high-paying tourists away? If we knew how many were not only turned away and made no plans to return, but also did not extend a heartfelt recommendation to their wantoks to “go to PNG”—because PNG’s cities scared the daylights out of them, despite the fact that they loved our rural locations? If we knew how much money we don’t get and then waste cleaning up again? Would knowing such projections help us change? I doubt it. If we don’t change out of a genuine love for our land I doubt we’d change for the love of money.
How can we expect others to love and appreciate our land when we have an attitude that’s a far cry from patriotism? If we have no interest in helping ourselves yet demand the massive improvements? If, through our habitual lateness and procrastination (2 of my great sins I admit!), we aren’t very productive yet expect high productivity and growth! The only thing growing at top speed is our population!
This nation is not just the trees, the rivers, the rocks, or the roads and the buildings...it’s the people. You. Me. We are PNG. And if it must be greater, we must become better citizens. “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek” said Obama. But I like how Michael Jackson put it in his song: “I’m starting with the man in the mirror, I’m asking him to change his ways....If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make the change!”
Let’s do the little things right. Perhaps they will add to great change. Stop littering. Stop spitting the buai indiscriminately. Stop being late to work and taking off early. Stop abusing your spouse and kids; love them. Cut the prejudice and extend love beyond your tribe, your province or your region. Make peace quickly. Respect yourself so you can respect others. Celebrate your countryman’s success; don’t haul them down. Have some pride in our country...it’s the only one of its kind. Defend her honour. Give more than you take. Go the extra mile for her.
Just....be a great citizen!
God knows this nation needs better citizens than what we’ve all been to her.
The best formula for this wind of change is of course articulated by my Lord: “Hypocrite! FIRST remove the plank from YOUR OWN eye, THEN you will SEE CLEARLY to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” JESUS....
Hard words. But can the world truly change any other way?
Let’s Change!
Ganjiki
Patriots PNG Inc
30 October 2011
COMPLAINING COMPETITION
Sometimes I think we’re all in one big competition. Trying to see who can complain the best. Who can articulate society’s problems most cleverly and clearly? And who can say it first? Who can best fuel the flames of frustration and get most people on the same whinging-wagon? Who can promote a complaint to get the admiration of our people—with praises that we’ve “hit the nail on the head”? We want people to adore our complaints and extend them till we’re singing a dirge together. Now there’s not a great deal of wrongs with complaining. It is a form of noise and perhaps when enough noise is made, action can be taken.
David Sode once said that it’s like we humans are built to complain. If all the problems we currently complain about were to be solved, we would then complain about how imperfect those solutions are! We just have to...it’s human nature!
Turn to the letters section of any daily newspaper and see how many people are complaining (among them my proposed solutions). Now with technology and the internet it’s very easy to get a better glimpse of the degree of complaining going on.
I complain too. So I’m talking to myself as well. But I try to limit my significant complaints to matters that I am ABLE to do something about. Or to communicate them to people who can do something about them. And I try to include potential solutions in my complaints.
I once read about a leadership guru who got so tired of his people complaining a lot to him that he set a rule. No one was allowed to bring a complaint to him unless they also brought along three possible solutions to that problem. Immediately the number of people complaining in his organisation decreased greatly; and the problem-solvers rose up. This is because it takes less wit to identify a problem than it takes to identify a solution. I think one solution is worth ten complaints when it comes to using our mind power (an unscientific assessment of course).
The problem is people want to SAY things...but they don’t want to THINK too much. So the solution to that problem is easy. Say things that don’t require much thinking; ergo...COMPLAIN! Problem solved! We said much without having to think much!
Are you a complainer or a problem-solver? You don’t have to think about solving the world’s problems. But you can think about solutions to problems in your immediate sphere of influence. Think about those little problems that you CAN impact. Then THINK HARDER about the solutions to those problems. I’m quite confident that you’ll become more influential as you continue to work within that sphere—solving those problems that you can solve. Eventually that sphere will get larger. Complaining and worrying won’t extend your borders.
As my Lord Jesus says, “Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?”
Happy Problem-Solving!!
Heavenise day!
Ganjiki
(27/10/11)
David Sode once said that it’s like we humans are built to complain. If all the problems we currently complain about were to be solved, we would then complain about how imperfect those solutions are! We just have to...it’s human nature!
Turn to the letters section of any daily newspaper and see how many people are complaining (among them my proposed solutions). Now with technology and the internet it’s very easy to get a better glimpse of the degree of complaining going on.
I complain too. So I’m talking to myself as well. But I try to limit my significant complaints to matters that I am ABLE to do something about. Or to communicate them to people who can do something about them. And I try to include potential solutions in my complaints.
I once read about a leadership guru who got so tired of his people complaining a lot to him that he set a rule. No one was allowed to bring a complaint to him unless they also brought along three possible solutions to that problem. Immediately the number of people complaining in his organisation decreased greatly; and the problem-solvers rose up. This is because it takes less wit to identify a problem than it takes to identify a solution. I think one solution is worth ten complaints when it comes to using our mind power (an unscientific assessment of course).
The problem is people want to SAY things...but they don’t want to THINK too much. So the solution to that problem is easy. Say things that don’t require much thinking; ergo...COMPLAIN! Problem solved! We said much without having to think much!
Are you a complainer or a problem-solver? You don’t have to think about solving the world’s problems. But you can think about solutions to problems in your immediate sphere of influence. Think about those little problems that you CAN impact. Then THINK HARDER about the solutions to those problems. I’m quite confident that you’ll become more influential as you continue to work within that sphere—solving those problems that you can solve. Eventually that sphere will get larger. Complaining and worrying won’t extend your borders.
As my Lord Jesus says, “Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?”
Happy Problem-Solving!!
Heavenise day!
Ganjiki
(27/10/11)
READING CULTURE GROWING: SLOWLY BUT SURELY
By Ganjiki D Wayne
Following my last commentary on the reading culture (or lack of) in PNG, it seems the bookworms have really been let out. Responses are quite uplifting. We heard from people who share the same burden for the reading culture in PNG. People were starting small book club programs at their homes, getting their families in on the action, even reading to their babies in the womb! And they were seeing positive impacts of such programs. A few colleagues of mine were so encouraged that they’ve suggested we do book club at work. So now we’ve designated a lunch time once a fortnight to have book reviews.
I was even encouraged to start an online book club. I didn’t think it would be received well at first, but I did so anyway—on facebook. The response was overwhelming. The facebook page “PNG BookClub” grew to 2800 members (and climbing!) in the space of four days! I’ve never been so happy to be proven wrong. There are people out there who are actually reading books like crazy...and they’re quite excited that they have a forum in which they could just talk books! People are conversing as if they’ve known each other for years...all because they share a common love for books and favourite authors!
On that page people have been recommending books and authors; giving snippets of books they’re currently reading or just completed or starting. They’re setting up meetings with each other to exchange books. More stories of family book clubs are shared. People who lost the passion for reading are telling us that they’re now picking up books again—inspired by the collective passion. Aspiring writers (including me) now have hope that we will surely have readers for our books when they’re published. People have expressed frustration too with the fact that the public libraries in the major centres are non-existent and that access to books is almost zero at the moment for rural and semi-urban areas. A story of a boy named Ngaru Nen—who goes to school in the US—distributing books to rural Watut has warmed our hearts. And news of others also attempting such deeds is encouraging. People with an abundance of books are even willing to contribute to a distribution effort—from within and abroad!
There’s even talk going on to materialise the movement into a formal club—aimed at building and sustaining the reading culture in PNG. A blog for book reviews and a website have been created (but not yet complete). People want a place where they can meet and exchange books both physically and in cyberspace. They also want to get involved in distributing books to people (especially children) who need them. Many ideas are put forward but we’re keen to just take it one step at a time. All good things are built slowly.
Bottom line is that people are being encouraged to read. We don’t yet know the full extent of the influence of the PNG BookClub on facebook. All we know is that members of the page are being encouraged to read more, and whoever they interact with (beyond facebook) are also being inspired to read...and a lot of them are! That gives us hope.
Vision2050 expresses a desire to see PNG people become “smarter, wiser”. These qualities are slowly being realised as more and more people pick up books and read. We can’t rely only on our Education system to make people smarter and wiser. Nor do we have to wait for the government to make things happen. It can start with us; wherever we are. We hope that you will pick up book soon—if you haven’t. And that you will encourage those within your sphere of influence to read books. You can prod them along by holding book review meetings—which are both educational and fun. Give books to them and follow-up regularly. Eventually your involvement will become unnecessary as they will soon get hooked on reading.
Most young people in PNG know Dr. Ben Carson’s story. The power of reading is well-illustrated in his story. Yet many still need to unlock their reading passions. There’s no doubt that if we are to become smarter and wiser, we must read. It takes more than just one week a year to highlight the importance of book-reading. We must prod the young people of our young nation to get their heads out of the clouds and into the books. True and long-lasting change starts right there. To change the attitude of people we need to change the mind of people. Books can do that.
Happy Reading PNG!
Heavenise Day
Ganjiki
"INSPIRING PASSION"
Following my last commentary on the reading culture (or lack of) in PNG, it seems the bookworms have really been let out. Responses are quite uplifting. We heard from people who share the same burden for the reading culture in PNG. People were starting small book club programs at their homes, getting their families in on the action, even reading to their babies in the womb! And they were seeing positive impacts of such programs. A few colleagues of mine were so encouraged that they’ve suggested we do book club at work. So now we’ve designated a lunch time once a fortnight to have book reviews.
I was even encouraged to start an online book club. I didn’t think it would be received well at first, but I did so anyway—on facebook. The response was overwhelming. The facebook page “PNG BookClub” grew to 2800 members (and climbing!) in the space of four days! I’ve never been so happy to be proven wrong. There are people out there who are actually reading books like crazy...and they’re quite excited that they have a forum in which they could just talk books! People are conversing as if they’ve known each other for years...all because they share a common love for books and favourite authors!
On that page people have been recommending books and authors; giving snippets of books they’re currently reading or just completed or starting. They’re setting up meetings with each other to exchange books. More stories of family book clubs are shared. People who lost the passion for reading are telling us that they’re now picking up books again—inspired by the collective passion. Aspiring writers (including me) now have hope that we will surely have readers for our books when they’re published. People have expressed frustration too with the fact that the public libraries in the major centres are non-existent and that access to books is almost zero at the moment for rural and semi-urban areas. A story of a boy named Ngaru Nen—who goes to school in the US—distributing books to rural Watut has warmed our hearts. And news of others also attempting such deeds is encouraging. People with an abundance of books are even willing to contribute to a distribution effort—from within and abroad!
There’s even talk going on to materialise the movement into a formal club—aimed at building and sustaining the reading culture in PNG. A blog for book reviews and a website have been created (but not yet complete). People want a place where they can meet and exchange books both physically and in cyberspace. They also want to get involved in distributing books to people (especially children) who need them. Many ideas are put forward but we’re keen to just take it one step at a time. All good things are built slowly.
Bottom line is that people are being encouraged to read. We don’t yet know the full extent of the influence of the PNG BookClub on facebook. All we know is that members of the page are being encouraged to read more, and whoever they interact with (beyond facebook) are also being inspired to read...and a lot of them are! That gives us hope.
Vision2050 expresses a desire to see PNG people become “smarter, wiser”. These qualities are slowly being realised as more and more people pick up books and read. We can’t rely only on our Education system to make people smarter and wiser. Nor do we have to wait for the government to make things happen. It can start with us; wherever we are. We hope that you will pick up book soon—if you haven’t. And that you will encourage those within your sphere of influence to read books. You can prod them along by holding book review meetings—which are both educational and fun. Give books to them and follow-up regularly. Eventually your involvement will become unnecessary as they will soon get hooked on reading.
Most young people in PNG know Dr. Ben Carson’s story. The power of reading is well-illustrated in his story. Yet many still need to unlock their reading passions. There’s no doubt that if we are to become smarter and wiser, we must read. It takes more than just one week a year to highlight the importance of book-reading. We must prod the young people of our young nation to get their heads out of the clouds and into the books. True and long-lasting change starts right there. To change the attitude of people we need to change the mind of people. Books can do that.
Happy Reading PNG!
Heavenise Day
Ganjiki
"INSPIRING PASSION"
11 October 2011
WHO LET THE BOOKWORMS OUT?!
By Ganjiki
I’ve commented before on reading in PNG and I’d like to do so again. Because I think it is such an underrated activity in PNG. For most PNGeans reading is a hard laborious and boring activity. We’d rather chew our beetle-nut and carry on with mindless chatter with our equally narrow-minded peers, or watch a movie that stimulates none of the imaginative and creative power of the brain, or allow desperate songwriters to shape our thinking by listening to their garbage. Reading is just not a PNG thing. And perhaps in our access to social network and blogging we have worked ourselves into a false sense of security—that reading short comments and blogs is sufficient reading—besides, this way we can challenge the author right!? And feel good about ourselves!
The few times I see my fellow PNGeans reading a book, be it on the bus commuting to and fro, or at a park, or wherever, it thrills me. It’s thrilling because it’s such a rare sight. One day while sitting and waiting for an appointment outside our Revenue Haus, I was reading a Robert Ludlum novel. An expatriate stopped, checked out the title of my book and asked me where I got it. After I told him he simply said: “It’s rare to see PNGeans reading...”
Things like facebook and blogs and the newspapers are huge hits with our people. I dare say we delight in reading generally junk (or snippets of junk). We seem to have such a short attention span that we can tolerate newspaper articles, blogs and fb comments...but great books by great authors are not at all in our scope of interest.
It’s even occurred to me that while most PNGeans like to posses KNOWLEDGE, we hate LEARNING. Have you ever wondered how odd it was for flunking Uni students to go riot over grading system? That was in my time and I’m still embarrassed because I didn’t think we deserved any grade higher than what we got! We didn’t like learning but we wanted the As. And if we our lecturers didn’t give it we tried to squeeze it out of them by threatening to burn a few cars!...Comeone PNG let’s change and create a true culture of reading and learning...
Wouldnt it be nice to see a lot more countrymen read. This is why I truly appreciate some great organisations whose mission is to make as many books accessible to as many people as possible. But we can all play our part in creating a new culture of READING...
At home I’ve started a book-club with my hauslain. Everyone was given a task to read a book and give a review at Book Review Night every week. This evening (10/10) we had our first Book Review night. My brothers and cousins from primary school to working/Uni class all gave reviews on their books followed by some comments and questions. It’s a way of getting us out of the trivial and generally unhelpful activities such as watching movies, playing computer games etc...and getting into more positive activities.
This is a simple way to bring change to our nation. We start with the ones at home; start by helping them broaden their worldview, enlarge their brain power as well as their vocabulary. Simple things like this can make a huge difference in the lives of people who are within our immediate sphere of influence. Please consider this an option for your household.
Reading short comments on fb and blogs may be helpful but reading books is priceless if you really want to gain real wisdom and knowledge. I implore you all to read further than this. Even though I’d love for you to read my blog-posts and comments, and emails, and “like” them and “share” or “forward” them...it would do you and this nation much better if you NOW decide to pick up a good book and dive into it.
Like Abigail Adams says: “Learning is not attained by chance. It must be sought for with ardour [zeal, passion, intention]”
Happy Reading everyone!
Heavenise Day.
Ganjiki
I’ve commented before on reading in PNG and I’d like to do so again. Because I think it is such an underrated activity in PNG. For most PNGeans reading is a hard laborious and boring activity. We’d rather chew our beetle-nut and carry on with mindless chatter with our equally narrow-minded peers, or watch a movie that stimulates none of the imaginative and creative power of the brain, or allow desperate songwriters to shape our thinking by listening to their garbage. Reading is just not a PNG thing. And perhaps in our access to social network and blogging we have worked ourselves into a false sense of security—that reading short comments and blogs is sufficient reading—besides, this way we can challenge the author right!? And feel good about ourselves!
The few times I see my fellow PNGeans reading a book, be it on the bus commuting to and fro, or at a park, or wherever, it thrills me. It’s thrilling because it’s such a rare sight. One day while sitting and waiting for an appointment outside our Revenue Haus, I was reading a Robert Ludlum novel. An expatriate stopped, checked out the title of my book and asked me where I got it. After I told him he simply said: “It’s rare to see PNGeans reading...”
Things like facebook and blogs and the newspapers are huge hits with our people. I dare say we delight in reading generally junk (or snippets of junk). We seem to have such a short attention span that we can tolerate newspaper articles, blogs and fb comments...but great books by great authors are not at all in our scope of interest.
It’s even occurred to me that while most PNGeans like to posses KNOWLEDGE, we hate LEARNING. Have you ever wondered how odd it was for flunking Uni students to go riot over grading system? That was in my time and I’m still embarrassed because I didn’t think we deserved any grade higher than what we got! We didn’t like learning but we wanted the As. And if we our lecturers didn’t give it we tried to squeeze it out of them by threatening to burn a few cars!...Comeone PNG let’s change and create a true culture of reading and learning...
Wouldnt it be nice to see a lot more countrymen read. This is why I truly appreciate some great organisations whose mission is to make as many books accessible to as many people as possible. But we can all play our part in creating a new culture of READING...
At home I’ve started a book-club with my hauslain. Everyone was given a task to read a book and give a review at Book Review Night every week. This evening (10/10) we had our first Book Review night. My brothers and cousins from primary school to working/Uni class all gave reviews on their books followed by some comments and questions. It’s a way of getting us out of the trivial and generally unhelpful activities such as watching movies, playing computer games etc...and getting into more positive activities.
This is a simple way to bring change to our nation. We start with the ones at home; start by helping them broaden their worldview, enlarge their brain power as well as their vocabulary. Simple things like this can make a huge difference in the lives of people who are within our immediate sphere of influence. Please consider this an option for your household.
Reading short comments on fb and blogs may be helpful but reading books is priceless if you really want to gain real wisdom and knowledge. I implore you all to read further than this. Even though I’d love for you to read my blog-posts and comments, and emails, and “like” them and “share” or “forward” them...it would do you and this nation much better if you NOW decide to pick up a good book and dive into it.
Like Abigail Adams says: “Learning is not attained by chance. It must be sought for with ardour [zeal, passion, intention]”
Happy Reading everyone!
Heavenise Day.
Ganjiki
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