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

National Repentance Day: How Then Shall We Live??

By Ganjiki D Wayne
 
As we near the first National Repentance Day, let’s take some time to reflect on its significance. During the reign of the last government our then Acting Prime Minister and the National Executive Council became convinced that such a commemoration was pivotal to national change (and I could not agree more). And so, August 26 will be National Repentance Day for Papua New Guinea.
 
My humble question: Do Papua New Guineans understand the meaning of Repentance? And therefore do we understand the significance of this day?
 
What is REPENTANCE? It is quite a religious word these days. Perhaps its earliest usage in the English language (at least in the Bible) was when it appeared in the King James Bible exactly 400 years ago. It is an expression especially familiar with the Christian faith. “Repent! For the Kingdom of God is at hand!" Christians proclaim to this lost world, echoing the Lord Jesus and his announcer John the Baptist. I’m not sure if we really know what we are saying. Non-Christians or the irreligious would probably balk at this concept; concluding confidently that it does not apply to them. Christians would embrace it ecstatically; believing its high time the whole nation REPENTS or at least appreciates its eternal importance.
 
In chasing the definition of REPENTANCE the most obvious meaning jumps out: CHANGE OF MIND. The English word REPENTANCE comes from the Greek word matenoeo (metanoia—meta “after, with”, noeo “after one’s mind”), a compound word which simply means “a change of mind”, it can also refer to “change of conduct” and “change of consciousness” (but strictly speaking it refers to change of mind). Change of mind means changing beliefs and perceptions on a certain subject matter. If not believing something in the past, Repentance means now believing it.  In the Christian context repentance means believing in the Lord Jesus, having previously NOT believed and turning away from sin. If I did not think a certain way before, I would now embrace that way of thinking.  Change in the thinking is supposed to naturally show in the conduct.
 
In the Christian context repentance is associated with sin. True repentance is supposed to mean no longer allowing sin to reign in us. In the ordinary non-religious context repentance generally relates to changing the way we think. And on both notes I think PNG is well overdue for repentance. Never before has changing of the mind been so vital to national progress than it is today. We cannot continue in our way of thinking if we are to see real long-lasting change in our Nation. This is something that Patriots PNG has been campaigning for (changing of mindset) since its inception and which the Church has been pushing for since coming to PNG (repentance from sin and faith in God). Steve Biko, in the movie Cry Freedom, says it clearly: "Change the way people think, and things will never be the same."
 
I do not know exactly what stifles our progress as a nation. But I have a clue that it has a lot to do with our mindsets: individually and collectively. WE NEED TO CHANGE OUR MIND. Then and only then will we see changes in our lives and in our country. Repentance usually means change “for the better”. If we do not show signs of becoming better people, better citizens, better leaders etc. after 26/08; then we have missed the mark in commemorating a day dedicated to REPENTANCE and our mindsets would not have changed.
 
One thing for sure in the religious and irreligious context: true Repentance must be preceded by an understanding of that which you must change your mind about. If I used to think that spitting beetle-nut all over the streets was ok (or if I DO NOT THINK IT IS WRONG), before changing my mind about it I would have to first be convinced in my mind that it is indeed wrong. Otherwise there would be no basis on which I would then “change my mind” and stop such a habit. So if there has to be any real repenting, any real minded-change, there will have to be some real hard-hitting revelation (I tried to find a less-religious word but this is most appropriate) of the defects in our current way of thinking and conduct. The kind of revelation would cause us to swallow our pride and humbly accept that we need to change.
 
That part of the process (revealing our defective ways of thinking) has to be intensified in PNG. The people need to appreciate what need to be repented of. We need to appreciate what’s wrong with our current mindset, our current beliefs, our conduct, etc. before any successful effort can be made to improve or change.
 
Every person who understands the wrongness of a belief or conduct must make it his duty to inform others so as to help them change their thinking and conduct. And the Church must not slack of in speaking out against sin and what is morally wrong. And every individual has a duty to reflect on his current beliefs and perceptions, attitudes and conduct. Please do not assume that repentance is an exercise only for the religious. We all have things that we can and should change. Some honest self-reflection will reveal a lot. We ALL can do with some change of mind...some repentance...

As a facebook user posted so profoundly “no person or country can change until they face the hard ugly truth about themselves”. True.
 
For only then will you be compelled to truly repent.
 
REFLECTION PRECEDES REPENTANCE
 
God Bless PNG.
 
Heavenise Day!
 
gg