All about Timothy Bonga, Dr Florian Gubon and the Taiwan deal

The Taiwanese government and media have have implicated Timothy Bonga and Dr Florian Gubon in the the US 30 million deal from money that was supposed to come to PNG.
I received this email from Taiwan TV yesterday trying to do an interview with me on background about Timothy Bonga.
Malum
-----Original Message-----
From: Regina Ho [mailto:raychuho@yahoo.com.tw]
Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2008 6:20 PM
To: Regina Ho; malumnalu@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: about Timothy bonga
Dear Sir
I haven't got your response yet. However, we would really like to do a phone interview with you. Will it be possible for you to accept be interviewed by us?
My TV station is a 24-hour cable news channel. You can clarify or state your opinions on our news to describe what you know about Mr. Bonga. Wish to hear from you soon.

Best wishes,
Regina
--- Regina Ho f
> Dear Sir
>
> I was searching on the net hoping to find out who MR.
> TIMOTHY BONGA is and I found your blog.
>
> I am a Taiwanese TV journalist and the media of the whole island now
> is trying to look for Mr. Timothy Bonga and Florian Gubon who are the
> people involve in our foreign affair schandal.
>
> Below is the report from AP wire news to give you a rough idea. I was
> wondering if it's possible for you, can we interveiw you about what
> kind of the person Mr.
> Timothy Bonga is.
>
> Hope to receive your mail soon.
>
> Best Wishes,
>
> Regina HO
> ETTV news, Taipie, TAIWAN
> 8862 23118000 ext 7310
>
>
> ===============================================
>
> TAIPEI, Taiwan - Two senior Taiwanese officials resigned Tuesday over
> the loss of millions of dollars
> (euros) in a failed attempt to lure Papua New Guinea to officially
> recognize Taiwan.
>
> The government said Foreign Minister James Huang and Deputy Premier
> Chiou I-jen were leaving their posts.
>
> The resignations follow last week's revelations that Taiwan lost
> US$29.8 million (?19.2 million) in a failed 2006 attempt to establish
> ties with Papua New Guinea.
>
> The money was intended as economic aid for Papua New Guinea, providing
> it switched its recognition from rival China.
>
> It was given to two middlemen in 2006 on the assumption they could
> induce the impoverished Pacific nation to abandon Beijing. The attempt
> was abandoned after only several months, when Taiwanese authorities
> concluded they could not convince Papua New Guinea to cross over into
> the Taiwanese diplomatic column.
>
> One of the middlemen, Ching Chi-ju, has since disappeared, along with
> the money.
>
> Announcing his decision Tuesday, Chiou said he was deeply sorry for
> his role in the fiasco.
>
> "I have trusted the wrong people with the Papua New Guinea project and
> caused great damage and turmoil to the country, so I am resigning from
> my post," he said.
>
> Huang and Chiou have acknowledged their involvement with the middlemen
> but denied any criminal wrongdoing.
> Their homes were searched early Tuesday for evidence linked to the
> fraud.
>
> The diplomatic bungle underscores the seamier side of the
> no-holds-barred struggle between Taipei and Beijing to curry favor
> among potential foreign allies.
>
> The two sides split amid civil war in 1949. Taipei is fighting a
> desperate rearguard action to bolster its stable of overseas partners
> as a way of asserting its claims to sovereignty.
>
> President Chen Shui-bian also apologized for the affair earlier
> Tuesday, saying it had brought disrepute to Taiwan.
>
> "I am deeply sorry about how the Papua New Guinea project has hurt the
> image of the country and the government," Chen said.
>
> The president also said he had no part in the execution of the
> project.
>
> "I neither directed nor participated," he said.
>
>
>

Inspirational Quotes

I’ve just been supervising the design of our Mothers’ Day supplement, which, for me and my children, will be different this year without their Mum, my wife.

I quickly surfed the Internet and found some inspirational words, which I though I’d share with you:

Inspirational Quotes on Grief, Bereavement and Death and Dying

Grief can become an overwhelming emotion. These inspirational quotes on death and grief could offer a more enlightening, comprehensive perspective on one of life's most serious topics.
More words of inspiration and daily inspiration can be found in "Life and Other Options."
For widows,widowers or anyone suffering through mourning or bereavement -- the death and loss of a close loved one -- the overwhelming sorrow and grief is unbearable. These inspirational quotes on death and grief were specially chosen for widows or widowers to offer a more enlightening, comprehensive perspective on one of life's most serious and emotional topics. Death and dying, loss and sorrow, mourning widow or widower and hopeful survivor -- all are aspects of life's larger plan.


We miss and need and pine for our dead, but we also areangry at them for having abandoned us.-- Judith Viorst


You don't really get over it; you get used to it.-- Robert S. Weiss

Funny thing about families. You think they'll hangtogether after a loss. But death doesn't necessarilyunite you.-- Anne Hosansky

You can prepare for death, but you can't grieve inadvance.-- Rabbi Howard Jaffe

Life is a series of experiences, each of which makesus bigger, even though it is hard to realize this. For the world was built to develop character, and wemust learn that the setbacks and griefs which weendure, help us in our marching onward.-- Henry Ford

Memory is more indelible than ink.-- Anita Loos

Preserve your memories. They're all that's left you.-- Paul Simon

Do not stand at my grave and weep.I am not there. I do not sleep.I am a thousand winds that blow.I am the diamond glints on snow.I am the sunlight on ripened grain.I am the gentle autumn rain.When you awake in the morning's hushI am the soft uplifting rushof quiet birds in circling flight.I am the soft star thatshines at night.Do not stand at my grave and cryI am not there.I did not die.-- Anonymous

Pictures of Daru, Western province, March 2008

Telikom tower in Daru

Prawns galore in Daru

Barramundi and seafood are plentiful in Daru

Site of the new port in Daru

Daru hospital...so much room for improvement

Canoes in Daru

More pictures of my beloved wife, Hula Debe Nalu, who passed away so suddenly and tragically on Easter Sunday 2008 (see story further below below)

Papua New Guineans reap rewards from Endeavour Awards

By MALUM NALU

Papua New Guinea has been an eligible country for Endeavour Awards since the inception of the awards.

The Endeavour Awards are managed by the Australian Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR).

They were established as part of the 2003 International Education package ‘Engaging the World Through Education’.

Picture above: Robert Bino with his Masters from the Australian National University in 2006.

This is an academically-elite program, bringing high achieving students, researchers and professionals from the region to Australia each year to undertake short or long term study, research and professional development in a broad range of disciplines.

Papua New Guinean applicants are selected using the same merit-based application process as all other applicants from all countries.

In 2007, 57 Papua New Guineans applied for an Endeavour Award, nine of whom were successful in receiving an Endeavour Award.

This included four Vocational Education and Training Awards and three Postgraduate Awards; six females and three males were successful Endeavour Award recipients.

Award Holder fields of research include land and food sciences, business management, computer engineering, tourism, midwifery and marine and tropical biology

In 2008, 45 Papua New Guineans applied for an Endeavour award, seven of whom were successful in receiving an Endeavour Award.

This included five Vocational Education and Training Awards, one Executive Award and one Postgraduate Award; five males and two females were successful Endeavour Award recipients.

Award Holder fields of research include language and communication studies, information technology, electronic systems, Pacific and Asian studies, aerospace studies, English language teaching and logistics.

In April 2008, a series of Award holder functions will take place around the capital cities of Australia to celebrate the Endeavour Awards.

The 2009 application round of Endeavour Awards opens on April 9, 2008, and closes on July 31, 2008.


Dulcie Dennis completed Grade 12 at the Port Moresby Grammar School in 2004 and from 2005– 2006, studied Certificate 2 in Tourism and Hospitality at the IEA College of TAFE at the Ela Beach Campus, Port Moresby.

Last year, Dulcie won a scholarship under the Endeavour Award for a Diploma in Tourism & Travel Management at the South bank Institute of Technology in Brisbane, Australia.

“It is a great honour and privilege to be a recipient for such an award, which opens up a lot more opportunities for me in the future,” she says.

“The course that I am currently undertaking will certainly prepare me well for a career in Tourism and Management in PNG.

“This is an industry that has a lot to offer toward economic growth and nation building and I am eager to offer my service in this area.

“I have enjoyed every moment of my time and studies under this award and want to encourage future recipients to strive to be the best, commit time to studies, remain focused and value this wonderful and prestigious opportunity.

“It is a promising foundation of a fruitful future.”

Eunice Dus is a Masters in Applied Science student at the James Cook University.

“I agree that a lot of Papua New Guineans do not know about this Endeavour Award,” she reveals.

“I did not know until July, 2006, when the Australian Universities came up to Goroka, as well as Lae and Port Moresby, to showcase their universities.

“While attached with the PNG Wildlife Conservation Society in Goroka, as an Intern Ecologist, I applied for the Endeavour Award.

“Knowing that it was a prestigious award, I underestimated myself and was a little reluctant. However, I went ahead and applied. Honestly, I was shocked when I won the award.

“I would like to encourage other Papua New Guineans to apply for this award.

“Never underestimate yourself!!!”


Konio Kwalimu Pala, who teaches geography and ESL with the Port Moresby International School, remarks: “Participating in the Endeavour Executive Awards Program was a long and rigorous process.

“With its comprehensive criteria, stringent time frames, hours of negotiation with host institutions to secure a place, and evidence required to prove one worthy of being a recipient made the challenge for applying even more difficult.

“Being a recipient of this prestigious award is a great privilege as it enabled me to undertake Professional Development outside of PNG.

“Whilst attending University of Queensland, I participated in two courses.

“The first, the CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults), a Cambridge University course offered by ICTE-UQ, provided both theory and practical components.

“In addition I undertook work experience at the Institute of Continuing & TESOL Education – UQ, enabling me to further my teaching skills.

“The second programme is the (IDLTM) International Diploma in Language Teaching Management.

“This course has a face-to-face element as well as an online component which I will complete in October 2008.”

Noel Wangunu is a Papua New Guinea marine biologist who has always wanted to do his best for the country and for local coastal communities in assisting communities manage their marine resources, and is now doing his Masters in Applied Science at James Cook University.

“Working with Conservation International (CI) in the Milne Bay Marine Conservation Project was a good start for my career,” he says.

“The decision of taking up studies or furthering my education has always been with me ever since I graduated from the University of Papua New Guinea.

“This opportunity of study here now provides me with a better opportunity to work and learn a lot from institutions in Australia, especially Queensland Turtle Research, in working on issues in managing turtle and dugong which are listed as Endangered species under CITES.

“My future plans are to complete my studies and go back to Papua New Guinea and continue work in Marine and Terrestrial environment in helping my country and its people manage its natural resources.”

Robert Bino is currently undergoing PhD post-graduate studies at the
Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University.

“Not many Papua New Guineans have benefited from the Endeavour Scholarship Awards,” he says.

“For instance in 2008, I am the only Papua New Guinean awardee in the Postgraduate Award category to do PhD studies.

“It is mostly the Asian countries who have been getting the bulk of the scholarships as opposed to Pacific Island countries.

“So I would like to encourage more Papua New Guineans to try out this opportunity as well.

“You can never know until you've tried.

“I thought I should also mention my topic for my PhD research which may interest many PNG citizens because it is currently a hot issue for the PNG and Australian governments.

“My thesis will be a cost-benefit analysis of the conservation and economic benefits of the Kokoda Track.

“I will also look at how this issue is affecting the politics of the bilateral relationship between PNG and Australia.

“I am also interested at how the conservation and development incentives and arrangements for the Kokoda Track can be applied to other similar projects and situations in PNG.”

Visit http://www.endeavour.dest.gov.au/. for more information about applications or the awards in general

Introducing accounting to PNG

A second revised edition of Panditha Bandara’s book ‘Introductory Accounting for Papua New Guinea’ was launched on Thursday, April 24.
Governor-General Sir Paulias Matane officially launched the book at the Main Lecture Theatre of the University of Papua New Guinea.
Author Bandara is a lecturer in accounting at the School of Business Administration of UPNG.
Prior to joining the university he served as deputy principal and senior lecturer at Goroka Business College.
He has authored 29 publications including 25 books and four study packs for use of various levels of students.
These publications are currently used in schools and professional institutions, and universities in Sri Lanka.
The current publication is a text book in accounting for beginners.
The target readers are secondary school students, business and technical college students and university students.
The book is designed following a uniform sequence.
A chapter is divided into several sections and graded exercises have been included at the end of each section to revise prior to move on to the next section.
Throughout the book illustrative examples are given prior to the exercises, so that readers can study the example and move on the exercises.
A separate workbook is also supplied to accompany the text book for students to complete exercises.
Answers to selected exercises are also provided as guidance for students.
Text is written in simple lucid language.
Examples, business names and practical situations explained in the text have been taken from an environment familiar to the students.

By using different strategies, the author simplifies the theoretical concepts demonstrating experience in the profession.
Introduction to accounting, Accounting Equation, Double Entry Accounting, Accounting for Trading Businesses, Source Documents, Journals for Cash Transactions, Journals for Credit Sales and Purchases, General Journal, Accounting for GST, Posting Journals, Subsidiary Ledgers and Control Accounts, Petty Cash Transactions, Bank Reconciliation, Financial Statements, Balance Day Adjustments and Financial Statements: Worksheet Method are the 16 chapters included in the book.
“Accounting is a practical subject,” Mr Bandara says.
“Those who are learning accounting should learn this subject to practice.
“Therefore, skill development is very important.
“Students should work out exercises based on actual or close to actual situations.
“This book contains sufficient exercises taken from practical business situations.”
The book was published by New Age Publications of India and sells at UPNG Bookshop and PJB Rait School Supplies for K150.
The author can be contacted on email bandarap@upng.ac.pg or mobile 6875850.

Teaching our young people about running business

It was one of those typically-beautiful, sunny, Friday afternoons on the banks of the murky-brown and meandering Laloki River last Friday.
Here, 17 teachers – from Kilakila, Mount Diamond, Marianville, Gerehu, De La Salle, Iarowari, Badihagwa, Gordon, Jubilee and Laloki high schools – graduated as qualified ‘Know About Business (KAB)’ instructors after a week-long workshop at Bluff Inn outside Port Moresby.
KBA is an internationally-recognised programme of the International Labour Organisation and is being implemented in many countries of the world.
The teachers, from the National Capital District and Central province, are better placed to teach business after their graduation the KAB workshop conducted by the Small Business Development Corporation.
Kokopo Secondary School in East New Britain province is a case in point as a school which is undergoing a quite revolution as its students become real-life entrepreneurs.
To see the determination of these youngsters to be young stars, especially at a time when so many of their peers all over the country are sinking into a quagmire of poverty and unemployment, gives you so much optimism for the future.
Kokopo Secondary School is indeed a parable for the youth of Papua New Guinea.
These young men and women – Grade 9, 10, 11 and 12 students - are into various businesses such as vegetable growing, tailoring, trade stores, poultry, cooking food, laplaps, meri blouses, coconut oil, baking, and many more.
They are trained by their teachers in all facets of small business such as producing, buying, marketing, selling, bookkeeping and banking.
They are independent and no longer rely on their parents for school fees and pocket money.
SBDC has partnered the Education Department since 2006 by training teachers in the Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) Division teaching in vocational institutions in the country and is now working in partnership with the Curriculum Development and Assessment (CDA) Division to have the KAB programme piloted in secondary schools.
“We believe that this is a key strategic alliance with the Department of Education for the success of KAB, given the Department of Education’s overall mandate and the existing educational system/institutions throughout PNG,” SBDC caretaker managing director Diri Kobla said at last Friday’s graduation.
“The current trend of young people leaving the education system into the labour market continues to increase every year over the past years and will continue to increase.
“The future of these young people is much left to be desired as they do not have options, appropriate entrepreneurial skills and knowledge to identify opportunities in their communities.

“The KAB programme tries to contribute towards the creation of an enterprise culture in their society, by promoting awareness among people of the opportunities and challenges of entrepreneurship and self-employment and the role of young people in shaping their future and that of country’s economy and social development by engaging in meaningful opportunities.”
The KAB programme was introduced into the country by SBDC in 2005 and programme implementation was in 2006.
Towards the end of 2007, SBDC’s collaboration with the Curriculum Development and Assessment Division to have the KAB programme introduced into the secondary curricular has been warmly accepted by the department.
Developing a business culture is the way to go forward in Papua New Guinea and it has to start at the formal education level.
The current education system in this country does not train students at an early age to be entrepreneurial.
As a result, the prospects of securing employment through formal education is becoming increasingly challenging.
Therefore, the development of entrepreneurial skills whilst they are still in a school environment is for their own benefit, if and when they do not make it further in our formal education process.
However, all this may change soon, if KAB takes off in the country.
KAB means to understand the role of business in society, its contribution to the wealth of nations and its social responsibility; entrepreneurial attitudes and behaviour and to be informed how an enterprise is functioning.
KAB is a training programme for trainers and teachers in vocational education, secondary education and also higher education designed for a 120-hours course for young students between 15 and 18 years.
KAB’s general objective is to contribute towards the creation of an enterprise culture in a country or society, by promoting awareness among young people of the opportunities and challenges of entrepreneurship and self-employment, and of their role in shaping their future and that of their country’s economic and social development.
The SBDC is a government statutory authority under the Ministry of Trade and Industry charged with the responsibility of promotion and development of the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Sector.
One of SBDC’s core activities is the delivery of a range of entrepreneurial skills development training.
The more notable one is the Start Improve Your Business (SIYB) training programme, which is an ILO-developed programme that it has implemented since 1996 under AusAID sponsorship.
SBDC has developed partnerships with a few educational institutions under the Department of Education in the past to train teachers and students in entrepreneurial education.
KAB is a new educational program that has been made possible through studies conducted by ILO since the end of the 1980s and beginning of the 1990s.

In its efforts to develop SMEs and vocational education training, ILO worked with a number of projects involving government and private sector institutions to develop entrepreneurs.
Entrepreneurship education was seen as an important element to developing entrepreneurial attitudes for the future.
No specific training programmes, however, were available.
To close this gap, ILO in Geneva, Switzerland, and International Training Centre in Turin, Italy, provided funds in 1996 to develop a training package for Technical Vocational Education Training institutions that included entrepreneurial education and business skills.
A workshop was organised in Turin with the help of specific resource people from ILO, ITC and University of Illinois, USA, to develop the KAB training materials for trainers and instructors of TVET institutions.
The material was field tested in Kenya and then finalised and printed.
A number of countries including Papua New Guinea have adopted KAB in their National Education Program since 2000.
The experience with KAB and the increasing demand for introduction and adaptation of KAB in other countries led to a decision to review and update KAB so that it corresponded better to the needs of education programmes in a fast-changing world.
The focus of KAB has since been extended from vocational training to general secondary education.

Waiting for an apology and compensation from Timothy Bonga

Now that Timothy Bonga has been recycled as MP for Nawaeb, perhaps he can apologise to me and compensate me for the beating that I received at his hands last year before the elections.

The good people of Nawaeb and the rest of Papua New Guinea should know that for no apparent reason, outgoing Eda Ranu executive chairman Mr Bonga harassed, insulted, and then assaulted me at the Lamana Gold Club on Friday evening, May 4, 2007.

The incident happened as I was about to leave Lamana after a few “Happy Hour” drinks with workmates.

Mr Bonga confronted me as I was leaving – out of the blues - and accused me of working together with Lae MP and New Generation Party leader Bart Philemon to bring him down.

He made reference to the recent newspaper reports about his payout from Eda Ranu.

I denied this, saying that I was no longer working as a fulltime journalist, and walked out to catch a taxi, but Mr Bonga followed me outside where he punched me, pushed me to the ground, and then proceeded to kick me in full view of security guards.

I suffered a black eye, a sore face and a painful back.

This was a criminal matter, which I wanted to pursue further with police, but decided not to, lest his election chances be jeopardised.

In true Papua New Guinea style, it is only fitting that Mr Bonga compensate me, my family, and my friends, given that he has already received his big pay cheque from Eda Ranu and is now Nawaeb MP.

Malum Nalu

Port Moresby

PNG Coffee estival Website

The PNG Coffee Festival web address is below.
If you have time take a look.


http://www.pngcoffeefestival.com

Morobe taps into its human resource

Morobe province today remains one of the most-populated provinces of Papua New Guinea with nine districts.

Apart from Lae, an urban district, the other eight districts – Kabwum, Tewai/Siassi, Finschhafen, Nawaeb, Huon, Markham, Bulolo and Menyamya - are in remote, far-flung rural outposts.

Many of the thousands of children in Morobe are inadequately educated, or receive no education at all.

Picture caption: A proud Morobe Governor Luther Wenge (front), Education Advisor Murika Bihoro (left) and Deputy Administrator Geoving Bilong with UPNG graduates last.Nationalpic by LUCY KAPI.

Hundreds do not complete primary education, which means that, sadly, they ultimately cannot go on to university.

The individual and societal consequences of this chronic national crisis are profound.

Children are consigned to poverty and isolation—just like their parents—never knowing what the light of learning could mean in their lives.

At the same time, the government struggles to compete in a rapidly-evolving, global information economy, hobbled by a vast and increasingly urban underclass that cannot support itself, much less contribute to the commonweal, because it lacks the tools to do so.

It is time to rethink this equation.

Given the resources that poor countries like Papua New Guinea can reasonably allocate to education—sometimes less than US$20 (K60) per year per pupil, compared to the approximately US$7500 (K22, 500) per pupil spent annually in the U.S.—even a doubled or redoubled national commitment to traditional education, augmented by external and private funding, would not get the job done.

Moreover, experience strongly suggests that an incremental increase of ‘more of the same’—building schools, hiring teachers, buying books and equipment—is a laudable but insufficient response to the problem of bringing true learning possibilities to the vast numbers of children in the developing world.

Standing still is a reliable recipe for going backward.

Any nation's most precious natural resource is its children.

Papua New Guinea can leverage this resource by tapping into the children's innate capacities to learn, share, and create on their own.

In 2003, visionary Morobe Governor Luther Wenge, Provincial Administrator Manasupe Zurenuoc and Provincial Education Advisor Murika Bihoro decided that Morobe must not be left behind in this rapidly-globalising world.

They made a landmark decision to sponsor full tuition fees for Morobe students attending major tertiary institutions like the University of PNG, University of Technology, University of Goroka, Pacific Adventist University and Don Bosco Technological Institute.

Thus was launched the Gerson/Solulu Scholarship, named after two of the province’s most-profound educationists, Michael Gerson and Joe Solulu.

Since the scholarship scheme began in 2003, the Morobe government has spent over K9.5 million, and produced over 1,000 graduates, who do not necessarily have to work for the province.

It was a proud Mr Wenge, Mr Zurenuoc (now Secretary for Provincial Affairs) and Mr Bihoro who witnessed the first lot of 34 Morobe students graduate from UPNG last Friday.

“Most of the students who get picked to come to university are children of people in rural areas, whose economic and financial base is very low,” a proud Mr Wenge told The National.

“God, in his wisdom, has given them intellectual abilities, and also, to be someone eventually, and will serve the province and the nation in whatever discipline they are trained in.

“Unfortunately, our rural people don’t have the financial capacity to sponsor their kids to these schools.

“And we, the provincial government, felt that we must help.

“It doesn’t matter whether they are poor kids or not, but we must help by providing money to get them trained.

“We are proud, and we share the sentiments of the parents, whose kids are graduating today.
“Morobe is entitled to be an intellectual community.

“We, as the provincial government, must seriously invest in our human resources for the education of our children.

“The world is changing.

“It’s becoming an intellectual world.

“We must do something to meet the challenges of the world.

“We think that education is the way.

“Since we began in 2003, we have spent K9.5 million.

“We have already produced, so far, 900 graduates, and with this year’s graduates, the number is now more than 1,000.

“We are paying 100% parental component.

“Say, for instance, if the parental component is K5, 000, we pay the full K5, 000.

“The mission we have set to achieve our intellectuals, I think we have achieved that.

“The programme will continue and we are going to sponsor a bill in Tutumang (provincial assembly) so there is a minimum funding annually for our kids to go to school.”

Mr Bihoro said: “This is the first lot of graduates of UPNG.

“It (scholarship scheme) started because the universities started charging high fees.

“We saw that there were a lot of Morobe students coming to university from Bugandi, Bumayong and Wawin (high schools) at that.

“A lot of children are from very-remote places in Morobe.

“Parents definitely cannot afford those high fees.

“Even to this day, we recognise that parents cannot afford those high fees.

“So Governor Wenge saw the need and he started discussions with Administrator Manasupe Zurenuoc and myself.

“We saw that we could help somewhere along the provincial government budget.

“Our political leaders supported it in the Tutumang with the initial allocation of K2 million.

“For the students that are graduating today, I can see that the scheme is truly helping Morobe students.

“Students from all nine districts are represented.

“Through this scheme, we are able to know how many of our children complete secondary school and go on to university.

“We also know which particular village, Local Level Government and district they are coming from.

“I think that’s the best thing that’s happened to Morobe in human resource development at that level.”

“In terms of planning for our education system, we have captured the cream and we know where it is.”

Technical education has not gone unheeded, and the Morobe provincial government’s next project, is to sponsor students attending technical and vocational schools

“Now, we are going to work on the middle part,” Mr Bihoro said.

“Next, we should concentrate on vocational and technical education, basically, to skill our middle-level children who will not go on to university.”

Mr Wenge injected:” We will be sponsoring kids to technical schools.

“We will be building more technical skills, value education between intellectual and technical students, producing mechanics, carpenters, etc.

“We are fortunate to have so many companies investing in the city of Lae and creating job opportunities.

“Our employment rate has in fact increased, so jobs are guranteed for graduates.”

mnalu@thenational.com.pg

Gogodala Canoe Festival on again

The popular Gogodala Canoe Festival will be held from April 23-24 in remote Balimo town of Western province.

It will be a celebration of the spectacular canoes, arts and crafts and traditions of the Gogodala people.

The festival was incepted as the Balimo District Agricultural and Cultural Show five years ago and has grown to be bigger and better each year.

Picture caption: One of the spectacular war canoes of the Gogodala people. Picture courtesy of National Cultural Commission.

The Middle Fly district administration, on behalf of the Western province administration, organises the event every year with financial support from the National Cultural Commission and Rimbunan Hijau.

“In Middle Fly district, and particularly in the Gogodala area, canoes are part of the people’s lives,” said NCC senior festival officer David Taim.

“Their culture is associated with the canoe and many depend entirely on canoes for their daily survival.

“Apart from that, the Gogodala are most-prolific artists.

“Many of their creative imagination art works surround animal figures associated with clans.
“And each clan has its own war canoes which are a massive 40 metres or more in length.

“These were the war canoes used in the olden days for warfare between tribes.

Now, the Gogodala Canoe Festival strives for continual maintenance of this important culture.”

Further information on the Gogodala Canoe Festival can be obtained from Mr Taim on telephone (675) 3235120, facsimile 3259119 or email ncc@culturetok.org.pg

Iruupi, like every place you’ve never been

Typical Iruupi village house

Papua New Guinea today remains one of the most culturally-diverse and unexplored nations on the planet.
Scattered inland are many small villages, each group practicing their own native tongue and traditions, eking out a living from the surrounding land.
Travel to the remote village of Iruupi, Western province, and you will have to be prepared to do lots of walking.
To travel to Iruupi, you have to fly in to Daru Island, and then be prepared to make a crossing back to the mainland on a fiberglass dinghy.
Despite the short crossing, with a heavily-laden boat, it can be quite treacherous at times when winds make for heavy seas.
Once across the strait, the dinghy sets a course adjacent to the mainland shore along the beach and an extensive coastal coconut grove comes into view, the subject of a fierce land dispute between Badu-suki tribe and others for centuries.
The dinghy gives the mouth of the Fly River a wide berth, paying respect to its strong currents before again trekking close to the shore, and to the mouth of the Kura River about 30 minutes later.
From here the 5 to 8km journey along the Kura is much slower, low tides necessitating care is exercised in negotiating fallen trees, sand banks, the occasional goanna and keeping an ever-present watch for a disgruntled crocodile.
Finally, it reaches the landing point Lani, the mangroves and palms along the muddy riverbanks giving way to grassland and a few of the ubiquitous gardens that would later become evident.
From Lani is a narrow marsh road to Iruupi village.
A short walk by village standards, some 5-6km, weaves through overgrown grasses, bamboo forests, swamps, marshes, and surprisingly, many eucalypts.
For the people of the village, every tree, every scratch in the dirt and ever tract of water is inextricably linked to some significant story or event.
Traversing a waist-deep small swamp reveals the first sighting of traditional Iruupi houses – bamboo constructions on the outskirts of the village, supported by poles with an under storey platform where inhabitants can gather away from the heat of the day, each distinctively different in those erected in other provinces through Papua New Guinea.
Upstairs are verandahs, bedrooms and a traditional kitchen – the timber strutted floors covered with woven mats to maximise comfort (in Daru, many of the more ‘westernised’ pre-fabricated houses still have a traditional bamboo kitchen erected at the rear).
In the main village, houses are erected around the periphery, enabling the central areas to be used as common meeting, play and performance areas.
Villagers do all the hunting, cooking, washing and other chores, leaving visitors idle to simply enjoy the surroundings.
Villagers tend to their gardens each day, rich with taro, bananas, greens, melons, pineapple and other fruits planted for harvesting in the dry season.
Skilled hunters meant there is a ready supply of deer, wild pig, wallaby and cassowaries.
These will be brought back to the village strung over bamboo poles, while hunting implements are carried in a free hand.
Kupilute is a large lagoon, believed to be sourced by a well of unknown depth in the middle, and linked to creation stories of the Bewani people.
It is believed the well forms the basis of a tunnel that goes all the way to the Australian mainland.
When diving for fish, prawns or lobster in the lagoon, locals skirt the edges, fearful of an encounter with Sapi-dade, a dreaming spirit.
Paying homage to the spirits in the appropriate way ensures there is a plentiful supply of seafood.
Yet another walk to a place called Imbade reveals a broad and pristine river that must be crossed in a dugout canoe or outrigger to reach the village of Masingara, home of warring tribes and family of the Badu-suki tribe of Iruupi village, some 2-3 hours away.
Most nights are filled with exotic and traditional dance in preparation for an upcoming event.
Pointing the torch to the lagoon beyond the washhouse reveals the red eyes of a crocodile, each night keeping watch.
For the people of the village, a simple taro or coconut is treated as a prize, yet readily shared among others, to ensure no one goes without.
Each and every person is proud of and well-schooled in their culture and identity, benefiting from an almost unspoiled existence with limited contact with the white people, in contrast to some of the major centres where the negative effects of colonisation and decolonisation, subsequent to Independence, can be observed.
In leaving the village for the long walk to Lani, through a procession of well-wishers and tearful souls, one can enjoy the breathtaking scenery.
At Lani, it is last goodbyes, the sun poking through and the promise of a return in the future to renew special bonds, as the dinghy heads for the open sea.
Minji, Mamne, Ato!

An exciting new Papua New Guinea Blog

My good friend and writer TIRI KUIMBAKUL now has his own Blog at this address http://tirikuimbakul.blogspot.com/.

Have a look at this Blog to see what books he has on offer as well as what else he is writing about.

A good day to you all.

Malum

Daru on the verge of something good

Canoes in Daru. -Picture by MALUM NALU

Daru is a place that has to be seen to be believed.
Wherever there is a large tidal range, it is usual to find at low tide mud flats, rock pools and a general air of desolation.
True, at Daru, there are mud flats and rock pools.
But desolation is not the word for the waterfront of the capital of Western province.

Every day, outboard motor-powered dinghies and sailing canoes come in from outlying villages.

The passengers are coming to town for a variety of reasons: those from nearby villages may be coming to work – an idyllic way to travel, provided there is a favorable breeze and no rain squalls; others may be bringing their produce to market.
Not that they are likely to do a booming trade – but it gives them a good chance to chinwag with their friends while waiting for a sale.
And then there is the entrepreurial class: fishermen with barramundi catches, prawns, lobsters, sea cucumber, or live dugongs and turtles for cutting up and sale at the water’s edge; farmers with pigs, again for sale on the beach.
Several canoes are anchored semi-permanently on the mudflats, floating homes at high tide.
There are no elaborate cabins on them, just a sail thrown tent fashion over the boom.
More permanent boat homes have sago palm roofs.
No one worries about privacy on the mud flats of Daru.
The town still has that frontier feeling from the colonial days still about, as I found out last week.
It is a place of fishermen, traders, crocodile shooters, conmen, smugglers, and so on.
Australia, specifically the Torres Strait islands, is closer to Daru than Port Moresby and the drug trade proliferates.
Things are pretty slow here and the people seem to be too busy chewing buai, smoking, chatting and drinking away than to cut the tall grass all over town.
That dismal image, however, may change soon with the development of the Daru Port.
Air Niugini is also looking at restoring Dash 8 services to Daru to compete with Airlines PNG.
Indeed, Daru is on the verge of greater things.

A tribute to my wife

At our house in Goroka, 1999

In life, my wife, Hula, often talked about the natural Eden-like beauty of her remote Iruupi village in the Western province, just across the Torres Strait from Australia.
We had talked many times about visiting Iruupi during our 10 years together, however, this was not to be.
My dear wife told me many-a-time of the natural beauty of Iruupi – a virtual Garden of Eden - with its waterways, barramundi, prawns, deer, wild pig, wallaby, cassowaries, taro, bananas, greens, melons, pineapple and other fruits.
She implored me to go and write a feature article of the place and take pictures of its breathtaking scenery.

Sadly, this would never be, as my beloved wife passed away so suddenly and tragically at Daru hospital on Easter Sunday, March 23, so far away from me and our four young children Malum Jr (7), Gedi (6), Moasing (3), and baby Keith (9 months) in Port Moresby.
Hula had been suffering from suspected post-natal complications following the birth of Keith last June.
She visited Iruupi to be with family, however, in the process, fell ill and was admitted to Daru hospital on Easter Saturday, but died the next day, leaving behind a broken-hearted husband and four young children.
Memories of another day came swirling in my mind as I struggled to come to terms with the reality that Hula, who was only 31 years of age, would never grow old with me and watch our four wonderful young children grow up.
My thoughts went back to 1998 in Lae, when I met the most-beautiful woman I had ever seen, and fell head-over-heels in love with her.
Hula, who was then living in Australia with her uncle and auntie, was in Lae for holiday when I first courted her and would not take ‘no’ for an answer.
We started dating, and our love blossomed, to the point that she left for Australia with the promise that she would be back to live with me as my wife.
Towards the end of 1998, I secured a job with the Coffee Industry Corporation in Goroka, and Hula joined me in early 1999.
We had a big three-bedroom house at the Rotary Park in West Goroka, with a big backyard and garden, and life was a dream to a young couple like us.
We’d roll on the grass like children, grow our own vegetables, take long walks along the streets of Goroka, go to market, have long lunches at the Bird of Paradise Hotel followed by a dip in the pool, lie in the park at the airport watching planes land, and catch a PMV or take a long drive to Lae as I pointed out places of interest to Hula.
Yes, indeed, life was a wonderful, carefree dream for us star-crossed lovers.
We were active members of the St John’s Lutheran Church at West Goroka, with Hula being a member of the church choir, and I have so many fond memories of watching her practice and then walking back home with our hands around each other on those cold Goroka nights.
Hula’s radiant personality and friendliness won us so many friends among the people of Goroka.
In early 2000, she became pregnant, and on Saturday, November 4, 2000, I held her at the Goroka Base Hospital and cried after she gave birth to our first son Malum Jr.
We regaled in the joy of becoming parents and enjoyed every minute of Jr growing up at our new home at North Goroka.
Our second son, Gedi, was also born in Goroka on February 13, 2002.
The laid-back lifestyle of Goroka, however, was to end later in 2002 when the CIC underwent a major retrenchment exercise in which about 75% of its staff, including me, was laid off.
We moved to the big smoke of Port Moresby, and although life was good, we never quite got to enjoy the privacy and happiness we once had in Goroka.
Hula, being the good wife that she was, stuck with me through thick and thin.
We were blessed with a third child, a girl named Moasing after my mother, in August 2004 and she brought so much joy to our hearts.
Keith came along last June to complete our hat-trick of boys and complete our basketball team.
At the end of last year, when my three-year contract was up, I decided – after consultation with Hula – to move on to The National where we both believed I could contribute more to the country.
To mark the occasion, we family celebrated by booking a room at the Holiday Inn, where we ate and drank as much as we wanted to.
At the beginning of this year, Hula started complaining of burning sensations in her body, which doctors said was heartburn brought about by child birth.
She was put on medication, however, the sensations continued, by which time Hula insisted that she go home to her village in Iruupi.
I tried to stop her, as she was due for an internal scan and x-ray, however, she would not be moved and flew to Daru, with a relative of hers as babysitter to take care of our children in Port Moresby.
I would never see her alive again.
On Easter Monday, my daughter Moasing and I traveled to Daru with Hula’s coffin, helped to dress her up, I kissed her for the last time, and it was homeward bound on the dinghy hearse for Iruupi.
I held Moasing and cried all the way from Daru Island to Iruupi on the mainland, as all those charming places Hula had told me so many times about, came into view.
We buried her the next morning, next to her beloved father, amidst a throng of mourners.
Before I very reluctantly let her off to Daru, Hula held me, and told me: “Darling, I love you very much.
“ If I do not come back, I want you to take the children to Church every Sunday, and to make sure that they all go to university, because I never went to university.”
I know Hula is in God’s arms, away from all the evil of this earth, and will do everything I can to honour her memory.
Minji, Mamne, Ato!

Death of my beloved wife

It is my sad duty to inform all you readers of this Blog of the untimely death of my beloved wife, Hula Debe Nalu, in Daru on Easter Sunday, March 23, 2008.



Hula had been suffering from suspected post-natal complications following the birth of our fourth child, Keith, last June.



She visited Daru to be with family, however, in the process feel ill and was admitted to Daru hospital on Easter Saturday, but died the next day, leaving behind me and four broken-hearted young children.



She was laid to rest at her Irupi village on Tuesday, March 25.



I was away for a week because of this totally-unexpected tragedy which has befell me, and returned to Port Moresby on Saturday, March 29.



Please think of me and my four young children, as well as our beloved wife and mother, in your prayers.



Hula is pictured above giving a seesaw to our one and only daughter Moasing.



Good Bless You All!

Young men with An ICT vision

Anyone familiar with computers will know the famous stories of the enterprising young men who started Google and Yahoo in the USA.

That, however, is not a far-fetched dream.

What started off as a dream started off by a group of visionary young computer students at the University of Papua New Guinea has now become a thriving business.

Itel (PNG) Microtech is a young new Information and Communications Technology (ICT) company started by young graduates of UPNG, which specialises in removing computer viruses.

It was founded as a student academic group at the UPNG Waigani campus in 2006 by Panu Kasar, a young man of Madang and Morobean parentage, doing IT Services of PC repairs, printing, scanning and computer virus removal.

It was a group which consisted of students of the Electronic Computing Strand. The aim was to start a business of the same name after completing studies.

It was initially started as Itel PNG, IT for information technology and EL for electronics.
So strong was the desire to start business, however, after completing school, all members went their own ways, due to the hardships in life faced outside the campus, leaving only Kasar.

Having determination and courage of starting the business, which he initiated, he pursued the dream, while everyone who knew, were watching to see if he would still continue with the idea or give up.

Giving up would be an insult to him, so against all odds, he struggled all through 2007, putting up notices on public notice boards and doing part-time freelance jobs.

By then, he had saved enough money which enabled him to purchase more equipment.

He also registered the business and opened a bank account within the same year.

He was then ready to provide competition to existing firms and realise his dream of being founder of his very own IT firm.

Upon registration with IPA, the business was registered as Itel (PNG) Microtech in 2007.

Business started at a residential house at Waigani until November 2007, when an office space was sought at Five-Mile.

More equipment was purchased including new computers for the business.

With the new office, the client base increased, which saw contracts obtained from new business partners.

Four new members added extra manpower to the business, giving strength and hope to the new business.

“It took a year to fully experiment and carefully test the IT industry before drawing up marketing strategies,” Kasar says.

“The boys had decided to focus at a more specific area than general IT.

“Using the Itel (PNG) Microtech banner, we initiated The PC Clinic to specialise in Computer Virus Removal and Scanning.

“It is sort of a PC Pest Control Service; it became one of the first to fully specialise in that field of IT, that is, virus removal.

“During our one year of experimenting, we tested all sorts of viruses and made a tally of them.

“From these, we were able to purchase specific software, removal tool and fixes for each viral threat.

“We even went as far as infecting our own computers and stayed up all night to figure the counter active measures through careful study of their behavior patterns and symptoms.

“With each exposure, we have gained invaluable knowledge and experience in this specific field, and it is our dream to become the ‘best’ as the years go by.

“This service is in great demand, due to the increase in PC users in Port Moresby.

“Latest threats identified by The PC Clinic are the destruction of data by a virus known as infostealer aka W32.Gammina.

“This virus hides all data in the flash USB disc, making files inaccessible.

“The files exist but they become hidden for the user to access.

“This has caused frustration to the point that the user formats the USB drive, destroying all the data present.

“The PC Clinic provides solutions to this through data recovery techniques.

“This problem has caused businesses in Port Moresby millions of kina in the second half of 2007.”

“The PC Clinic’s basic services are:

PC virus detection, removal and monitoring;
Anti virus software installation
LAN firewall configuration;
Data recovery from USB and external drives;
PC Boot failure repairs from infections; and
Anti virus software definition updating.

The PC Clinic has established business ties with various government departments as well as business houses.

It monitor their systems on a monthly basis, updating their anti virus software and checking their infection rates.

Apart from The PC Clinic, other services are also provided such as website designing, basic PC repairs, database designing and management.

“Our aim is to further the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ by supporting Ministry,” Kasar reveals.

“We believe in ourselves and want to become role models for upcoming PNG businessmen and women in the technological industry.

“It is our desire to tell Papua New Guineans that all success is a result of hard work and nothing comes free.

“Lazy people have no place in this country!

“ If only Papua New Guineans stop criticising and start doing what they were born to do, this nation would rise up to the competitive global arena.

“It’s not about money but simply doing what you were born to do, excelling in it thus fulfilling the purpose of your life by helping others”.

The PC Clinic Crew can be contacted on telephone 325 8912 or 6890616 or72072701 and email http://us.f529.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=pkasar@mail.com .

Their service is on the spot and available 24 hours a day.

mnalu@thenational.com.pg

An ICT revolution in PNG

A quite revolution is taking place in Papua New Guinea which promises to bring about massive development to our beloved country.

This is the development of what is known as PNGARNet, short for Papua New Guinea Academic and Research Network, which is being spearheaded by our universities, in particular the Divine Word University in Madang.

PNGARNET, set to be launched next month, is a company wholly-owned by the PNG Vice-Chancellors Committee.

PNGARNET was formed with the express purpose of facilitating the efficient cost-effective delivery of Internet services to Institutions of Higher Education (IHE) and research in PNG so that PNG tertiary students can receive a world-class education.

Potentially, all those organisations, which are part of the Office of Higher Education (OHE) in PNG, can become involved in PNGARNET.

In its initial and start-up phase, the original formation group of the PNG universities is spearheading the development.

The Universities of PNG are either state-funded or non state-funded.

The state-funded universities are University of Goroka, University of Papua New Guinea, University of Technology and Vudal University.

The non state-funded universities are Divine Word University and Pacific Adventist University.
These six universities are the founding institutions of PNGARNET along with National Research Institute (NRI) and National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI).

PNGARNET is providing efficient Internet resources to its members through a satellite Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN).

The typology of PNGARNET attempts to provide each member institution with complete institutional integrity as well a provide potentials for intercommunications.

At Divine Word University in Madang last weekend, I was able to see for myself initial work on this exciting project, which promises to bring about untold development.

PNGARNET was formed three years ago by the OHE and its stakeholders, the six universities, with DWU’s visionary president Father Jan Czuba appointed as chairman to commence dialogue with Telikom and PANGTEL.

“The benefits will be tremendous,” Fr Czuba said in an interview.

“The whole approach to teaching and learning in PNG will change.

“Having access to information will significantly reduce the cost of higher education.

“Instead of flying in professors, they can teach using video conferencing.

“To improve our quality of higher education, we need to have resources, which are very expensive.

“The PNGARNET will allow have student to have access (to these resources).

“That’s a huge advantage.

“It will open up new opportunities for PNG students, with unlimited access to universities in US, Australia and New Zealand.”

Fr Czuba said ARNET had the full backing of Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare and his Ministers.

The PNGARNET system is designed around a VLAN implemented through satellite technology.
It is designed to help answer the challenge that the universities of PNG offer a quality education to PNG citizens.

The third PNG National Educational Plan offers the challenge that the universities provide a world class education to its citizens.

This plan presumes that PNG tertiary students will be able to access the learning resources that are commonly provided via Internet connections, thus, PNG students must become world learners.

PNGARNET will employ satellite technology to link the universities of PNG to each other and to the World Wide Web.

To achieve this linkage, PNGARNET provides the infrastructure to coordinate the satellite system.

PNGARNET enables the satellite dishes to coordinate with central servers, which happen to be installed at this point in time, in Hong Kong.

The company, PNGARNET, also provides the central skill base in order to train staff for each institution.

PNGARNET is designed to not limit the independence of any university and to maximise the skill sharing for all universities.

The vision of PNGARNET is that this satellite link will connect all the institutions of higher education in PNG.

This linking will take time, and in the first stages, the major partners are all the universities of PNG, NRI and NARI.

It is hoped that other institutions of higher education will join the scheme as funding becomes available, as they grow in confidence in the scheme, and as the scheme matures into benefits for PNG tertiary students.

It is also anticipated that other schemes will evolve, similar to PNGARNET, for higher education.
It is hoped that hospitals and secondary schools might also develop similar projects to enhance their provision of services and to better attain their goals.

PNGARNET has the mission to provide efficient, cost-effective Internet to institutions of higher education in PNG.

The objectives of PNGARNET are simple ones.

These objectives are to offer PNG higher education institutions increased bandwidth that is reliable, cost effective and of a bandwidth suitable to be educationally advantageous.

At the same time, PNGARNET seeks to maintain and promote institutional independence and encourage collaboration.

Further, PNGARNET seeks to develop skills and ICT capacities in all its institutions by enabling skill-sharing, inter-institution training, and bringing new skills sets into play.

As these possibilities are exploited and used in daily teaching and administration tasks, then the goals of PNGARNET are being achieved.

Chandana Silva, ICT manager of DWU, and his team have collated the equipment needs of the major initial PNGARNET partners.

The equipment including satellite dishes, antennae and Block Up Converters (BUCs) – a device used in the transmission of satellite signals - for the sites of the PNGARNET partners has been sourced mainly from China.

The coordination of this equipment has been a large undertaking.

Mr Silva is in Hong Kong this week to commission the PNGARNet set-up there in time for the launch next month.

All over this increasingly-globalised world, a massive Information Revolution is taking place as economies use ICT as a passport to what economists call the “New Economy”.

Papua New Guinea will continue to remain light years behind the rest of the world if we do not jump on the ICT bandwagon in this globalised world.

Access to Internet, adequate infrastructure, human capacity building and appropriate policies on ICT are central issues in addressing the digital divide.

Success in this globalised world is predicated on ICT knowledge and successful knowledge-based economies will be based on the efficient and widespread use of ICT by all sectors within any given country.

ARNET is indeed a giant step in the right direction for Papua New Guinea.

Kuimbakul writes another bestseller

I was pleasantly surprised this week to receive a visit from my good friend, writer and former colleague at the Coffee Industry Corporation in Goroka, Tiri Kuimbakul.

He came into my office at The National after collecting five samples of his new book, Young Money, which were hot off the press at The National’s sister company, Star Printers.

It is expected to be launched later this month by none other than the country’s most-prolific book author and Governor-General Sir Paulias Matane.

It includes a foreword by Samuel Tam, founder of the famous Personal Viability Programme, and is a huge vote-of-confidence in the book.

The excited Kuimbakul handed me one of the first copies of Young Money, which like its predecessor Success after Graduation, is destined to become a runaway bestseller in Papua New Guinea.

Young Money basically touches on what working class people need to know and do to achieve financial independence and freedom.

If you have been academically bright or are professionally successful, does that necessarily mean that you are financially successful?

According to this book, the answer is NO!

But everyone, including you, can succeed financially.

Here is what you need to know and do to achieve financial independence and freedom.

In order to succeed in the area of personal finance, you need to budget your money, know what are needs, wants, assets and liabilities, avoid bad spending habits (such as betelnut, cigarettes, alcohol and poker machines), control your cashflow, save and invest (rather than continue to borrow money from the ‘money market’ down the road).

This book covers all these and more, and has been written with your financial success in mind.
In 21st Century Papua New Guinea, or wherever you may be reading from, financial success is so vital that if you fail financially, you fail in every other area of life.

Think about that!

Every other area of your life is influenced by how much money you earn and what you do with it.
This book is about what you do with your money.

If you apply the common-sense advice in this book, you will succeed where 95% of working class people have failed all over the world.

“I wrote this book in view of the fact that many people are struggling financially,” Kuimbakul tells me.

“Most are living in debt.

“What I found out is that it’s not because we don’t earn enough.

“This may be true in some aspects, but generally, what people earn is sufficient, but the problem is management.

“I wrote the book to help working people manage their personal finances.

“That’s what I want to get across to the people.

“It’s not how much you earn that matters, what matters is what you do with what you earn.
“Financial success is so vital that if you fail financially, you fail in every other area of life.

“This book is also timely because of the recent concerns expressed by the government, through the chief secretary, over attempts to stop public servants borrowing from finance companies and informal money lenders, or what you call ‘loan sharks’.”

Kuimbakul’s first book Success after Graduation has become a runaway bestseller since its launch in November 2006.

Since the launch of the book – aimed at young people in general – hundreds of copies have been sold all over the country.

And his star has continued to rise since the launch, with interviews with both local and overseas media; a weekly newspaper column for young people; and meeting many people personally and through an avalanche of emails, faxes, letters, and telephone calls.

This was all something new for the quietly-spoken layman pastor.

“When I first came upon the idea of writing books sometime in July 2005, I did not know what lay ahead of me,” he reflects.

“It has been like launching out into deep waters not knowing what will happen.

“It has really been a journey of faith.

“And I have met so many people I would never have known had I not written this book, many through correspondence.

Kuimbakul, 42, is from Mount Hagen in the Western Highlands, however, graduated with an honours degree in economics from University of Papua New Guinea in 1988.

Kuimbakul has worked as an economist with the Department of Agriculture & Livestock (1989-1990); assistant Export Manager with Coffee International Limited (1991-1992); economist and general manager of Industry Affairs Division, Coffee Industry Corporation (1993-1999); export Manager with Kongo Coffee Limited (2000); and freelance consultant (2001-2008)

He currently manages coffee marketing projects, advises community development associations, does church work, writes and publishes books, conducts seminars, and speaks to students and young people when he gets the opportunity.

Young Money was actually completed last year and was supposed to have been printed then but this was put off by a year.

“My third book is titled ‘Be Your Own Boss’,” Kuimbakul continues.

“It’s aimed at motivating people or readers, especially students and unemployed youth, to go into business for themselves.

“I’m trying to relate all these books to one another.

“My plan is to have 10 books out by the end of 2010.

“These books will cover how people can succeed in school, professionally and financially.

“I’m writing four other books aimed at empowering students to do well.

“From these four books, I have developed a workshop which I’m calling Academic Excellence Workshop.

“This workshop will take students through areas such as goal setting, time management, note taking, revision, preparation for exams, etc.

“This workshop will be conducted during school holidays.”

Young Money. By Tiri Kuimbakul. Published by SECOS Books. Goroka, 2007. 180 pages. ISBN 9980-86 -038-3. K60.Phone/fax: (675) 7323950. Mobile: (675) 6880033. Email: secos@global.net.pg .

History being rewritten with Bulolo Airport

Many people who have been long fascinated by the story of the gold rush days of the 1930’s, feel that history is being rewritten with the re-opening of the Bulolo Airport.

The greatest airlift the world had ever known started from Lae to the Bulolo goldfields in the 1930s.

Built in June 1930, originally the Bulolo strip was 1,150 yards by 120 yards.

Later it was expanded to 1,300 yards in length, covered with grass.

This airstrip was used in conjunction with flying supplies and equipment for gold dredging at Wau and Bulolo.

On January 21, 1942, Japanese Zeros and bombers attacked Bulolo.

At Bulolo, they set fire to three of the Junkers G31 tri-motors on the ground, destroying them.
Gold dredging work ceased as most of the men employed entered military service.

Five days, later, on February 5, 1942, Bulolo was bombed at 11am by five twin-engine bombers.

The discovery of gold at Edie Creek above Wau in 1926 sparked off a gold rush which led to the exploitation of the rich deposits of the Bulolo-Watut river system by large-scale mechanised mining.

The rigours and cost of the eight-day walk into the goldfields and the difficulty of building a road from the coast led to the early introduction of an aviation service.

The driving force behind the development of the goldfields was Cecil J. Levien, a former Morobe District Officer, who has been described as a “rare and formidable combination of opportunist, practical man and visionary”.

Levien persuaded the directors of Guinea Gold N.L. that startling profits would be made by any aviation company that could provide a service to eliminate the arduous walk between Salamaua and Wau.

He secured an option on a small DH-37 plane in Melbourne and engaged a pilot, E. A. “Pard” Mustar, to bring it to New Guinea.

The aviation service was a success from the start.

After two unsuccessful flights around the mountains south of the Markham no one knew exactly how to find Wau from the air.

Mustar landed at Wau for the first time on April 16, 1937.

He began the service the next day with a shipment of six 100 lb bags of rice, charging a shilling a 16, and, making two trips a day, five days a week, carried 84 passengers and 27, 000 lbs of cargo in the first three months.

Rival aviation companies were not long in arriving to share the profits.

Ray Parer, the proprietor of Bulolo Goldfields Air Service who had been competing keenly with Mustar to be the first to land at Lae, came from Rabaul after many delays, and A. “Jerry” Pentland and P. “Skip” Moody soon joined them.

There was ample business for all, and by April 1928, a year after the service began, Guinea Airways (the aviation company that grew from Guinea Gold N.L.) had acquired two extra planes and was employing three further pilots and two more mechanics.

Then in March 1929 a new company, Morlae Airlines, began a weekly Lae-Port Moresby run, meeting ships from Australia and bringing passengers and frozen foods across to Wau, Bulolo, Salamaua and Lae.

At first Bulolo Gold Dredging Ltd and its parent company, Placer Development Ltd, had thought of building a road to the goldfields, but the length of time it would take and the high cost of construction and maintenance persuaded the companies to accept Guinea Airways' proposition that “skyways are the cheapest highways”.

On the advice of Mustar, Bulolo Gold Dredging purchased three all-metal, tri-motored Junkers G-31 aircraft from Germany, which Guinea Airways was to operate under licence for the gold mining company.

Guinea Airways also purchased a Junkers G-31 of its own.

They were huge planes, each capable of carrying a payload of 7100 lbs or 14 short tons together.

The airlift began in April 1931 and continued for eight years: the first dredge began work in March 1932, the eighth in November, 1939.

Another crane at the airstrip lifted the heavy machinery into the planes and a rail crane unloaded them at Bulolo.

Eventually operations became so efficient that nine round trips a day were possible.

The airlift was a remarkable undertaking.

It pioneered the use of aviation in the transport of heavy cargo and, in the words of one writer, “in every respect it constituted a world record”.