Seeto Kui

In James Seeto’s Lae office is a larged framed photograph of his father Seeto Kui, his mother, as well as places precious to him such as Salamaua, Wau and Lae.
Theirs is a story of Salamaua, Wau, Lae, the horrors of war, and starting a company with only 100 Australia Pounds in war-devastated Lae into what is now a thriving business.
Seeto Kui was the founder of the current Seeto Kui Organisation, now a substantial multi-million Kina business with nearly 1000 employees, distributing throughout Papua New Guinea in the grocery, variety, supermarket, plumbing supplies, hardware, construction, and stationery and office supplies market.
He traveled from Canton, China, by ship and arrived in Rabaul, East New Britain, in 1914, at the tender age of 13 years to work as a tailor.
Some years later, he was sent to the then-thriving Salamaua, Morobe, to work as a trade store manager, where he earned himself sufficient money to go back to China in the early 1930s, where he married and returned to continue work and traveling back and forth to China.
James Seeto, Seeto Kui’s first son, first arrived at Salamaua with his mother and sister, Joyce, in 1938, to be with their father.
Unfortunately, his mother died some time after and was buried in the local cemetery.
“My memories of Salamaua are very limited,” Mr Seeto tells me.
“I went there when I was two or three years old.
“I went there about a year ago and the people made me feel very welcome.”
The family then moved to the gold rush town of Wau from Salamaua, where Seeto Kui opened his own trade store.
“Wau has always had a very cool climate,” Mr Seeto remembers.
“I would run around, playing.
“I remember one day, when I went over a cliff and got hurt.”
In early 1942, World War 11 came to Wau with Japanese aircraft bombing the area.
“All I can remember about Wau is the bombing.
“We were glad to evacuate.”
Men women and children were to be evacuated by two aircraft but unfortunately, one of the aircraft was damaged when a vehicle accidentally struck its landing wheels, disabling it and leaving only one aircraft to take the women and children.
The men, including Seeto Kui, were forced to escape the invading Japanese by trekking the whole way from Wau to Port Moresby over the infamous Bulldog Trail.
The family was reunited in Port Moresby and then evacuated by the famous ship “Macdhui” MV to Sydney, Australia, where they stayed in a refugee camp until the war ended.
During April of 1948, the family returned to Lae by Qantas DC3 aircraft, which then took two days to arrive, with an overnight stop at the Queens Hotel, Townsville, Australia.
Seeto Kui arrived in Lae with only 100 Australian Pounds in his pocket from war compensation, and with this, he built his own trade store in the Lae Chinatown area.
He was assisted in building the store by fellow Chinese residents, displaying the community spirit that was possible in those days.
Young James Seeto commenced boarding school in Sydney during early 1950 but was recalled back to Lae in 1952 due to his father’s illness and to take over the running of the family trade store.
He has been involved in the running of the business ever since.
Seeto Kui passed away on March 18, 1972, and was buried in Lae.
James Seeto has been active in the Lae community over the years including participation in fundraising committees, social clubs and organisations, local government councils and government statutory institutions.
He has held the following positions in the past, by election, appointment, or voluntarily:
Lae Chinese Club – Foundation Member, President for many years;
Morobe Chinese Association – Foundation member, President for many years;
Lae Rotary Club – member, all directorships, President;
Lae Golf Club – member, Vice President, Life Member;
Bank of Papua New Guinea Board – board member by appointment;
Lae Harbour Board – board member by appointment;
Town Advisory Council – board member by appointment;
Lae City Council – Elected, as board member of 14 years, the various positions held from times as Executive Finance Chairman, Building Board Chairman, and Vice President.
Mr Seeto has also been a member of committees in various organisations including:
Salvation Army;
Red Cross Appeal;
Heart Foundation Appeal;
University of Technology Appeal;
Lae Chamber of Commerce;
Disaster appeals created as required from time to time and supported by the Seeto Kui Group of Companies.
His efforts and contribution to the community have been officially recognised with the award of an MBE in 1980, and more recently, a CSM and the PNG Anniversary Medal during 2006.
The Seeto Kui business was further developed extensively with the assistance of James’ brothers, Robert, Ronald and Danny, and included the establishment of further wholesale and distribution outlets in Lae, dealing in trade store goods, general merchandise and supermarket lines.
Additional branches were subsequently established in Port Moresby, Mount Hagen and Goroka.
The Mt Hagen and Goroka outlets have since been sold, but the business with the Highlands has in fact grown since then through trading with clients based in those areas, serviced by traveling representatives, who also travel extensively throughout the country to service customers.
James Seeto and the Seeto Kui Organisation has been involved in Mainland Plumbing Supplies (N.G.) Limited, based in Lae, since its incorporation in 1972, in both a managerial and minor equity capacity.
The majority shares in the company were purchased by the Seeto Kui organisation during 1989 and a branch has since been opened in Port Moresby.
Ardrossan Investments Pty Ltd, trading under the name of Bowmans – Lae, was purchased in 1991 and this hardware and construction business has further grown with diversification and the development of the stationery and office supplies division.
The business that was started by Seeto Kui with 100 Pounds nearly 70 years ago is now a substantial multi-million Kina business with nearly 1000 employees, distributing throughout Papua New Guinea in the grocery, variety, supermarket, plumbing supplies, hardware, construction, and stationery and office supplies market.
The Seeto Kui Organisation holds an enviable portfolio of local and overseas agencies including many internationally-recognised brands and the component of this business continues to grow.
The development of training facilities within the organisation has been highly successful with a large number of in-house training programmes on offer.
This is considered an important investment in, not only the development of the workforce, but also in the long-term success of the business.
The Seeto family has traditionally preferred to reinvest in growing the business and creating employment within Papua New Guinea, rather than transfer profits offshore.
The establishment of the Food Mart supermarket in Lae is a recent example of this policy and represented a huge investment in the local community.
The Seeto Kui Group of Companies underwent a company amalgamation during early 2005 and the organisation now trades as Seeto Kui (Holdings) Limited.
James Seeto and his family have lived and worked in Papua New Guinea for four generations and their shared vision is to continue to invest and assist in the development of Papua New Guinea for now and the future.
“Seeto Kui, from day one up until now, has never looked back,” Mr Seeto says.
“We always try to look forward.
“We keep adding.
“We keep going into trade that is compatible with our business.
“I think our company is now in a much better situation.”
Now aged 73, Mr Seeto has not retired, and remains active in running the company.
He also has a lot of time for wife Anna, children Belinda, Anthony, and Raymond, as well as his six grandchildren.
“I’m in the process of activating the next generation to take over,” he says with a smile.
“I know that I will not last forever.
“In my own way, I do my part in looking after my company, my family and our interests in Lae.”
Mr Seeto makes no secret that Papua New Guinea, and particularly Lae, is in his blood, and particularly stresses that Seeto Kui is not a “fly by night company” and is here for the long haul.
He remembers the country’s Independence in 1975 when a lot of paranoid expatriates moved out of the country.
“A lot of people moved out of Lae because they feared Independence would cause chaos and problems,” Mr Seeto says frankly.
“I stayed!
“All I can say is that the company has confidence in Papua New Guinea.
“We’d like to think that we help the country by providing employment.
“Papua New Guinea has been good to us and we hope that we, in turn, can help Papua New Guinea.
“If I wasn’t confident in the country, I would not be here now.
“I’ve been here for too long and I think Papua New Guinea is in my blood.”

Papua New Guinea’s medicine woman

If Dr Quinn is television’s “medicine woman”, then Minnie Bate is Papua New Guinea’s answer to her.
This quietly-spoken woman from Wedau village in Rabaraba, Milne Bay Province, has become a national icon since her herbal medicine products started winning wide acclaim.
She shot to prominence at the PNG-Made Trade Fair in Lae in 2003 when she won awards for “Small Business Encouragement” and “Best New Product” and has since never looked back.
The sky is now the limit as she awaits clinical trials and certification of her herbal products by an independent international team of scientific researchers.
“The ball is now in their court,” she tells me.
“Appropriate license will be issued upon show of evidence of clinical trials.
“That’s when the real business begins.”
Mrs Bate currently produces herbal soap, hair and scalp care cream, face and body care cream, multi-purpose herbal cream, and multi-purpose herbal oil under her Gemins brand name.
All these are produced at her humble backyard.
She was enjoying a quite cup of tea on a typically-beautiful Milne Bay afternoon at her home at Goilanai Heights in Alotau when I drove in unexpectedly for a chat.
Her products are selling well all over the country, with Popondetta, Lae, Port Moresby and Madang leading the charge.
“I have reports from people in high places, especially ladies, who have opted to use our products,” Mrs Bate tells me.
“They have found out that our products are better and also cheaper.
“They have done away with imported products and are using our products.
“Our fastest seller is the soap, sales of which are really picking up.
“All are products are made from traditional medicines.”
Mrs Bate’s humble beginnings with herbal medicine go back to 1987 when the qualified medical technologist successfully treated a young student who had a serious wart problem for seven years with herbal medicines.
“We successfully treated it using the traditional medicine we are now using in our products,” she recalls.
“We conducted research into all techniques, products had to be tried out and modified where necessary.
“Over the years, we developed a list of all sorts of problems this product could treat like asthma, arthritis and all forms of skin diseases.
“In year 2003, we participated in the PNG-Made Trade Fair in Lae and we were recognised by being awarded ‘Small Business Encouragement Award’ and ‘Best New Product’.
“That really opened up another chapter where we have to now look seriously at what we can do to get our products recognised by the Health Department.
“We were taken to all kinds of workshops by different organisations, including one on traditional medicine.
“This was more or less the Government recognising what we were doing.
“I think it was also a World Health Organisation direction to look at traditional medicine in the region.”
Mrs Bate was trained as a medical technologist at the then Papuan Medical College in 1972 and 1973, worked for eight years with the Health Department, and then went back to the same school from 1980 to 1983 where she completed her Diploma in Medical Technology.
She then joined the Department of Agriculture and Livestock and taught basic science, nutrition and health to diploma students at the Vudal Agricultural College outside Rabaul from 1986 to 1990.
She then moved over to the Popondetta Agricultural College from 1990 to 1996 “when I stopped because of this thing (herbal medicine)”.
“While I was teaching,” Mrs Bate confesses, “I was also doing my personal research.
“When I finished from the public service, the product was already there and just had to be developed.
“A company was established in 1993 called Pomins Ltd.
“That happened during my long leave.
“While working, I was selling and promoting my products.
“Most of my promotion happened in Oro Province.
“Here I was, trying to create a change of attitude in people from imported medicine to traditional medicine.”
Mrs Bate’s big break came in 1995 when she attended a workshop in Fiji on traditional medicine.
“From that workshop,” she remembers, “one thing that really hit me was the income that could be generated from traditional medicine, so we started producing multi-purpose herbal cream and multi-purpose herbal oil.
“It was quite exciting.”
In 2002, she attended further workshops in Vanuatu and Fiji, where she learned about how seaweed could be blended into her products.
“I successfully produced seaweed-based products blended with herbs, mainly for face and baby care creams, as well as soap, which are now in high demand.
“The soap production thing has now evolved into a community-based project, as people have coconuts as resources we need to produce coconut oil for soap.”
Mrs Bate, despite being pressed, would not reveal the ingredients or recipes for her products – which are a closely guarded trade secret.
Everything is produced in her backyard with the help of a very-supportive husband from Bubuleta village on the East Cape of Milne Bay, as well as her four grown-up sons.
“I depend on my family for support,” Mrs Bate says.
“From the very beginning, they understood that I was trying to develop traditional medicine commercially.
“I have a very understanding family which has stood behind me in very tough times.
“Once I get my license (when the products are certified), I can do business in a big way.
“That’s when employment will come in.”
Mrs Bate can be contacted on telephone/facsimile (675) 6410699.

Missionaries, Headhunters & Colonial Officers

James Chalmers was the so-called “Livingstone of New Guinea”.
He was a star in the London Missionary Society’s firmament.
For 34 years from the 1860s onwards he preached the Gospel in the South Seas.
He also loved whisky, enjoyed exploring the unknown territory and had a genuine rapport with the Papuan people.
But not even this charisma and courage could save him when late in his career he and his party were lured into an ambush on Goaribari Island.
They were beheaded and eaten by the natives.
It is the Goaribari incident that lies at the heart of Peter Maiden’s extraordinary history of what was then British New Guinea.
This is a history that proves that fact is indeed stranger than fiction.
Sorcery, magic, head-hunting and cannibalism were rife.
To possess a skull collection was to enhance one’s standing in the spirit world.
In 1901, on Goaribari Island alone, a missionary, Harry Dauncey, found about 10,000 skulls in the island’s Long Houses.
The second half of Maiden’s history focuses on the career and tragic end of the very first Australian-born governor of British New Guinea, the Brisbane solicitor Christopher Robinson.
He arrived in BNG in May 1903 and soon afterwards witnessed a savage conflict between the native constabulary and Papuan warriors.
In March 1904, Governor Robinson committed a catastrophic error in the Goaribari Affray.
June 9th, 1903, was a proud day for Queenslanders in general, but most particularly for the people of Brisbane, for that day the Australian Prime Minister, Edmund Barton, had appointed a local man, 30-year-old Christopher Robinson, as acting-governor of British New Guinea (BNG).
Robinson spent practically all his life in Brisbane, settling here as a five-year-old boy, after his father became rector of All Saints, Brisbane in 1878.
Christopher was educated in Brisbane, and then articled to T. W. Daly, a Brisbane solicitor.
A clever student, Robinson graduated top of his year and was admitted as a solicitor in 1895.
He practiced law briefly on the Etheridge and Croydon goldfields, before returning to Brisbane where he took up a private practice in 1898.
He was a handsome and highly presentable bachelor and the first Australian born governor of BNG.
However, it was a difficult assignment and despite his legal skills Robinson was quite inexperienced.
For this shortcoming he was to pay a terrible price.
In 1903, Britain was in the process of passing control of BNG to the Australian government and the colony’s administrators, operating on a shoestring budget, faced fearful difficulties.
Sorcery, cannibalism and headhunting were endemic in Papuan society.
Sorcery was a criminal offence but still it flourished.
Its practitioners “spoke” directly to the Spirit World and could simply frighten a Papuan to death.
A sorcerer had only to tap his victim on the shoulder, tell him he would soon die and within a week the unfortunate native would be in his grave.
And these magicians seemed omnipotent.
In 1903, for instance, a disgruntled sorcerer in eastern New Guinea announced that within three days he was turning every man in the village into a woman, and every woman into a man.
The men were panic stricken, New Guinea being such a male dominated society, but, as the investigating white magistrate observed, “the women viewed the threat with supreme complacency”.
Headhunting was another obsession.
To possess a skull collection was to enhance one’s standing in the spirit world.
In 1901, on Goaribari Island in the Gulf of Papua, a missionary, Harry Dauncey, found 10,000 skulls in the island’s Long Houses.
Even as late as 1957, Australian government officials on one occasion confiscated 78 skulls on Papua’s Casuarina Coast.
Fortunately, cannibalism was not quite as widely practiced.
As one writer, Wilfred Beaver, pointed out, “the population would eventually be reduced to small proportions”, if everybody was a cannibal.
The weakest tribes were most vulnerable.
West of Port Moresby the Mohohai tribe, according to Beaver, was regarded as “a kind of larder” for the predatory Ukiaravi warriors.
Elsewhere, the Scottish missionary, James Chalmers, newly arrived at Suau in 1878, was pleased to be invited to his first tribal feast – before learning that a terrified young boy was on the menu.
Chalmers, the so-called “Livingstone of New Guinea” was a star in the London Missionary Society’s firmament.
For 34 years he served in the South Seas islands as a near-perfect example of “muscular Christianity”.
Chalmers was a physically impressive man with a commanding presence and he possessed a cool head in a dangerous situation.
He liked whisky, loved exploring the magnificent countryside and had a genuine, albeit paternal affection for the Papuan people.
But for a white man, life in New Guinea was anything but a sinecure.
‘If a man escaped dying of fever in the first three weeks he was eaten by cannibals within the fourth week’, wrote Wilfred Beaver.
And if that wasn’t bad enough, even the humble toothache could be a major problem.
With dental help thousands of kilometres away, treatment could be crude: “A red-hot wire jammed into the gum, or a crystal of crude carbolic inserted into the raging stump.”
Murder and massacres were commonplace.
In 1900 a single government patrol led by the ex-Queensland policeman, turned magistrate, William Armit, killed at least 54 natives on the Upper Kumusi River.
In 1901 Alexander Elliot’s constables killed 42
On another patrol, magistrate Allan Walsh’s men disposed of 32 more Papuans in 1902, and in 1903, Whitmore ‘Old Shoot and Loot’ Monckton, a highly regarded magistrate, allowed his constables to kill 18 Paiwa natives.
Of course, the Papuan warriors, too, were aggressive.
Numerous lonely miners and missionaries met with a grisly end, most notably in 1901 when the Reverend Chalmers’ party of 12 was lured into an ambush on Goaribari Island.
There they were beheaded and eaten by natives.
This atrocity demanded revenge and more than 20 Goaribaris were killed in a government reprisal raid.
Soon after arriving in BNG, Christopher Robinson joined a government patrol along the Yodda River and saw at first hand the savage conflict between the native constabulary and Papuan warriors.
This patrol appears to have soured Robinson’s attitude towards the Papuans.
Afterwards, Robinson seemed to show little sympathy to the indigenous population.
He once declared that he had “an intense loathing” for these “inhuman creatures”.
He had no friends among the colourful Port Moresby expatriates and he was overwhelmed by a monumental backlog of work.
Robinson was capable and one local identity described him as ‘one of the most promising officers New Guinea ever possessed’.
Others, though, believed he was arrogant, and even frightened by the very people he was supposed to be protecting.
In March 1904 Robinson led a strongly armed commando to Goaribari, intent on arresting those responsible for the Chalmers’ missionary massacre.
Unfortunately his serious mismanagement of a confrontation with the Goaribaris became the subject of a sensational Royal Commission in Sydney in July.
While the native bowmen fired only a handful of arrows in anger, Robinson’s men replied with a murderous fusillade of 250 rounds.
At least eight natives were shot dead and two European witnesses testified that the governor had shot at least three of the Papuans.
Robinson’s career prospects were in tatters.
The lonely young governor, now afflicted with a severe bout of malaria lost heart and fell into a mood of deep depression that worsened as the date of the Royal commission approached.
Finally, on June 20th, 1904, Robinson took his own life under the flagpole at government house, Port Moresby.
This is a history that makes the clash of the proselytising white colonials with the Papuan warriors come vividly alive.
It is a story of dedication and courage, but also a story of tragic failure.
A riveting read.


Missionaries, Cannibals and Colonial Officers
British New Guinea and the Goaribari Affair 1860s-1907
Written by Peter Maiden
Central Queensland University Press RRP $25.95

Plans to build five-star hotel in famous Lae Botanical Garden kick up a stink

(Note: If you wish to make a comment on this burning issue, click comments at the bottom of this posting or vote at top right)

Talks going on between the Forest Ministry and a private company to build a hotel in the middle of the famous Lae Botanical Garden have kicked up a stink.
Forestry Minister Belden Namah revealed in Parliament last week that his Ministry was making K7 million available to rehabilitate the Lae BotanicalGarden.
He said the plan to build the hotel was purposely to make the Lae Botanical Garden, which is one of the Papua New Guinea's biggest of its type, to sustain itself because for many years the Government had neglected this most-beautiful botanical gardens in the country.
Mr Namah said his ministry was in the process of signing the agreement between the company, the Morobe Provincial Government and the Forest Ministry for the proposed hotel development.
"The Government will now be making available K7 million to rehabilitate the botanical gardens and on top of that, there is a plan to give more than K100 million towards the proposed hotel project in the middle of the Lae Botanical Garden," he said.
B. Javanese wrote: “The proposal put forward by the PNG Gardener to have a five-star hotel right in the heart of the botanical garden as part of rejuvenating the gardens as a tourist attraction is seen as a blatant blow to the purpose this garden exists for.
“ I am sure if he puts up a hotel, all the grass roots will be stopped outright from going in and out for family reunions, meetings, sightseeing and other picnics and activities.
“I propose the garden be left as it is and just work on putting up facilities and upgrading the beautification of the gardens.
“Income from the hotel will not at all sustain it.
“It is a public facility for the people of PNG and should be maintained at the expense of the taxpayers of this country and not be given to private companies.
“ If that happens the primary reason why the garden exists will be defeated.”
Max Kuduk wrote: “While on the face of it, the idea might be a good one, there seems be something that does not add.
“The Government putting up K7 million for garden re-development and K100 million for hotel development?
“ Does not seem like a kosher deal to me.”
Former PNG Forest Authority staffer Dr Osia Gideon wrote: “This is the most outrageous proposal I have ever seen.
“We never seem to learn!
“ Who will own the hotel when constructed?
“How many government business ventures have been running profitably over the
years?
“Almost none.
“ Like Max I sense a very fishy deal, tailored for someone's benefit.
“Every Papua New Guinea must oppose this proposal.
“The National Botanical Garden belongs to the people of Papua New Guinea, and must remain that way.
“ Too much public land and property has gone to individuals with political connections.
“ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!”
Dr Simon Saulei of the University of PNG: “Like Dr Gideon, I am very concern about this outrageous proposal.
“Why not spend that K10 or so millions on upgrading the gradens than building a hotel?
“ I have more to say but let us see this proposal and make our comments on it or better still front up with the Minister and tell him and his Morobe counterpart about the purpose of the garden and what really needs to be done and be sustained over a longer period of time.”
Laden wrote: “There are few facts that minister Nama and his forestry advisors need to know about Botanical Garden.
“Lae National Botanic garden is about 0.00002 % of the PNG’s current forested land area (29473000 ha).
“This is a very tiny piece of forest area by comparison yet it houses an estimated; 5-10% of all the plant species occurring on the island of New Guinea.
“About 2% of these plant are endemic to the island of New Guinea (found nowhere else in the world).
“The garden also holds remnant flora from one of the world’s oldest land mass, namely; Madagascar.
“The garden is very unique in many facets.
“For example, it is the only piece of land in Lae that remains to this day to tell of the kind of native flora of the LAHI tribal land, it is the only botanical garden in the entire PNG that has both the montane and lowland forest species coexisting, it is the only place in PNG that our children and their children can get to see one of the giant tree species Shoraea sp (Dipterocarpaceae), it is the only botanic garden in PNG which our children can see world’s most primitive flora.
“The botanic garden also provides a refuge for a rich resident bird fauna in the middle of all the noisy streets and ugly buildings.
“The Lae Botanical garden is certainly a great natural emporia of the New Guinea flora which primary schools, high schools, secondary high schools, colleges, and universities utilise in their curriculum.
“It is a Natural Heritage and warrants a designation equivalent to all our protected areas.
“Its biological, ecological, and esthetic values are clearly of national and global significance.
“ Lae Botanic garden indeed is perhaps the only significant piece of forest which has the capacity to effectively sequestrate all the toxic fumes generated in Lae city.
“The native plant species in the Botanic garden can be used as wild plant parent genetic material (PGR) that can produce new and improved tree crops that may be more resilient.
“The conversion of botanic garden to hotel will result in loss of the endemic species which would mean not only a loss to PNG, but a loss to the world as well.
“Minister should also know about the rate of deforestation in PNG.
“ PNG’s current rate of deforestation is 0.44 %, according to FAO report of the United Nations (1995-2005).
“ Deforestation rate in Japan, Australia, and USA; is 0.17%, 0.17%, and -0.10% respectively.
“It would seem that in our blindness in rushing to catch-up with their development, such as the crazy proposed hotel in the middle of botanic garden; we have neglected to see the greater care they have put into guarding their natural heritage and resources.”
“A case in point; the Didipa clan of Kau wildlife area in Madang, they did not have the necessary formal education in biodiversity and conservation that ministers advisors have, but what they were able to achieve in conserving and saving their forest is something that would make any conservationist proud.
“They have with limited resources, no formal education and little capital of their own, been able to set aside their small area of forested land all because they had the belief that what they were doing was right.
“Some of the plant species in the Lae Botanical Garden have little scientific data on their biology.
“Hence PNG has a country needs to preserve and conserve these species for future research to fulfill its global responsibility to protect and maintain all species within its borders.
“This knowledge is also critical for the development of effective conservation measures and for the preservation of biodiversity.
“What Lae Botanic Garden needs now to restore its former glory is a stand alone funding and not a squeezed-up funding from PNGFRI as is the case now.
“The Botanic garden has been in the past able to attract hundreds and thousands of tourists in a year without a hotel.
“ Records should show that not a single one of the tourists ask to see a five-star hotel in the botanic garden, so where is this crazy idea coming from?
“Come on! Wake up Minister and Advisors from this callous!”
Thomas Warr wrote: "I would suggest someone or a group in Lae to organise a meeting for us to talk about this.
"In saying that I think we should organise the Lae communities/groups to protest against this proposal."

Three Papua New Guineans and how their Blogs are helping the country

Mathew Yakai, a former The National colleague now studying in Changchun, China, has now found a great way to share the thrill and adventure of living there with family and friends back home in Papua New Guinea.
He writes Asia-Pacific Perspective: China +, a weekly column that is published by the weekly Sunday Chronicle newspaper in Port Moresby, and the Islands Sun in the Solomon Islands.
“My writings look at Chinese society, culture, economy, governance and China's role within the Asia Pacific region and the world over,” Mathew says.
“It mainly focuses on how island countries can learn from China's experience.
“I am a PNG student in China.”
Recently, when Mathew sent me one of his regular emails, I suggested to him that he – together with regular newspaper columnists like Frank Kolma, Jack Metta and Kevin Pamba (The National), as well as Mathew, Susuve Laumaea and Dominic Sengi (Sunday Chronicle) – should collate all the columns they have been writing over the years and put them on a Blog.
Mathew took my advice and started Asia-Pacific Perspective: China + on URL http://mathewyakai.blogspot.com/ , which is essential viewing for Papua New Guineans interested in China, as well as students wanting to study there.
David Ulg Ketepa, from Mount Hagen in the Western Highlands province, left for the first time in the fall of 2000 for the United States and has lived in the United States ever since.
He now lives in the ‘motor state’ of Michigan and was inspired by my writing in The National to start his own Blog.
David’s Blog is ‘Kange Nga Kona’, which can be found on URL http://pngemmiyet.blogspot.com/ , and which focuses on life in the USA as a dedicated Lutheran as well as encouraging more PNG students to take up study opportunities there.
“It is my desire to write this Blog to help those who are less-fortunate in a country that is run by people who only think about themselves,” he emphasises.
“I am trying to do my little part as a Papua New Guinean to show some light at the end of the dark tunnel.
“If we can do something little to help each other, I think Papua New Guinea can be a friendly country prospering with all wantoks working hand in hand with a common goal to achieve gender equality.”
David has encouraging words for PNG students wanting to study in the USA: “I am delighted that I can share this information with those who are interested in studying abroad as this kind of information rarely comes by in PNG's context.
“As long as I am here, I'll try my best to help any PNGean in ways I can.
“For now, I want you to look at different American universities and colleges, which offer masters degrees.
“Click onto this link: http://www.euroeducation.net/us/us.htm and you'll find all the information you need.
“Email/write directly and explain your interest to them.
“Ask also for international student scholarships.
“I am sure that they offer a lot of scholarships too and they will also give you the procedures to follow to be qualified for the scholarship.
“The above link also has all the universities from different states.
“Send emails to all the different universities directly for the information.
“The next thing is, if you're a Lutheran, go to the Lutheran Church where you worship and ask the pastor for a Lutheran International Student Scholarship application form (I don't know much about other churches and their scholarship guidelines) but if they are the same as the Lutherans, approach them and show your desire in studying aboard.
“When you fill the application, send it to Lutheran Church head office in Ampo, Lae, P. O. Box 80, Morobe province.
“Ask them to recomend you to a scholarship in the US.
“There are three Lutheran Churches in Papua New Guinea that can help you.
“The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea (ELC-PNG), Gutnius Lutheran of Papua New Guinea (GLC-PNG) and the Melpa Lutheran Church in Papua New Guinea (MLC-PNG).
“My understanding is, you don't have to be a Lutheran to apply for scholarships, but if you ask kindly for these churches for assistance, I think they might consider you too.
“I hope the churches will help you.
“There are tons and tons of scholarships offered by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and other churches here in America but the problem is that your application should be endorsed by a Lutheran World Federation member church in PNG...either the ELC-PNG, Gutnius Lutheran Church in Wabag or the Catholic Church before the American Lutheran Church headquarters in Chicago or other churches in America give you a full scholarship that covers everything.
“My wantoks, the problem we have with the churches in PNG, is that there are a lot of politics within the churches so, as the government, that hinders the spread of the gospel of the Lord.
“I hope and pray that our church leaders in PNG put their differences aside to win souls for the Lord.
“I am praying each and every day that our good Lord will give me the strength and opportunity to help other members of the God's family to come this far to gain the skills and knowledge to extend God's kingdom to fulfill their dreams and aspirations.”
Tiri Kuimbakul, 43, is from Mount Hagen in the Western Highlands and 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 (2001-2007)
He currently manages a coffee marketing project, advises two community development associations in Western Highlands Province, does church work, writes and publishes books, conducts seminars, and speaks to students and young people when he gets the opportunity.
His Blog http://tirikuimbakul.blogspot.com/ is targeted at students and young people in the country and is essential viewing.
“I aspire to motivate, inspire and empower students and young people in general to succeed academically, professionally, financially, personally, socially and spiritually through writing, speaking, seminars, workshops, coaching and mentoring,” Tiri says.
“The motto of Secos Books, my publishing company, is: ‘We Empower People through The Written Word’."

Zia Writers of Waria

From July 10-15, 2000, in the beginning of the new millennium, a novel development took place in Unu village, along the great Waria River of Morobe Province.
Unu hosted the first writers’ workshop of the new millennium, attracting mostly villagers who started writing two years earlier when a conference on Zia language, culture and traditional knowledge systems was organised in Dona village.
Workshop participants included husbands, wives and children, medical officers, village court magistrates, non-government organisation workers, teachers, village elders and youths.
Their lowest educational standard was grade two and the eldest was about 64.
They all wrote creatively their life stories, histories, biographies and the Zia culture during the week-long workshop, which was coordinated by Zia language speaker and University of Papua New Guinea lecturer Sakarepe Kamene, assisted by his colleague Dr Steven Winduo.
The stories talk about Waria people and how their life style is fused into nature, and how it is nurtured in the rich alluvial plain of the Waria River.
They talk about the river that in ordinary times remains tame and harmless, but in the wet season runs wild like a raging boar, causing destruction and misery to people and the surrounding areas.
Some of these stories capture and exhibit the strong sense of moral lessons.
Other stories show a much bigger picture of how nature is closely linked with society and its people.
There are also stories that recount new and sometimes strange experiences when people relocate themselves into new places or situations.
From the workshop has come an 80-page book titled Raitim Stori Bilong Laip (Writing Stories about Life): Zia Writers of Waria, which was first published in 2004 by UPNG’s Melanesian and Pacific Studies (MAPS) Centre, however, is a publication that very little people know about.
In fact I had never seen or heard of the book until Dr Winduo gave me a copy as an example of recent MAPS publications.
The collection of writings by the Waria writers is the first of its kind in Papua New Guinea and could serve as a benchmark for future projects in literacy and awareness throughout the country.
“Even though it has taken a long time for this publication to come out, we hope the end product of this publication will benefit others who will read this book,” Mr Kamene and Dr Winduo wrote in the book’s preface.
“It is a publication we feel confident will stand on its own.
“The stories are written in the Zia language, Tokpisin and English.
“The use of all languages in creativity is encouraged.
“In editing this book for publication, we tried to make sure the way in which the writers expressed themselves was maintained, except for basic production issues.
“Through the initial project, we knew we had moved on from basic literacy to literacy that involves people writing their stories and lives down on paper.
“We wanted to make sure those who received literacy training used the skills acquired to transform their lives.
“In the Zia writers’ workshop, this was accomplished.
“The experience we had in running the Zia writers’ workshop and in the production of this book convince us that literacy programmes and awareness programmes must go beyond basic literacy skills.
“Literacy skills and development of these skills must be encouraged.
“Inclusion of literature and various techniques of reading and writing is a must in literacy and awareness programmes.
“This publication proves that anyone can write and have their books published.”
The Zia experience greatly touched Dr Winduo, senior UPNG literature lecture, established writer, director of MAPS, and chairman of the National Literature Board.
“In a week of enthusiasm and nerves to see that our objectives to facilitate the knowledge and skills already present in the participants’ lives accomplished our goals, we were excited that the workshop was a success,” he observed.
“The participants had begun to write their stories.
“Most of them felt that they had achieved what was impossible.
“They can now write their lives down with confidence.
“The Zia people can write their history, culture and lives in books without having to go to university to study literature or how to write books.
“In my view, these students were the most-serious ones and were able to prove to me that writing is not only for those in schools or those studying literature at the university.
“Writing was always with them!
“All they needed was a catalyst to take them one step further.”
Dr Winduo feels that what has happened to the Zia people is also applicable to other villages in Papua New Guinea.
“They village people, especially youths and women, need new kinds of training that involves skills and knowledge already present in their societies,” he says.
“Indigenous forms of learning need to be encouraged.
“Developing new ways of documenting cultural and traditional knowledge systems was the way forward.
“This is one way to renew and revive the skills of reading and writing.
“People are presented with skills of reading and writing everyday, but are never given the opportunity to use the skills to empower themselves in their way of life.”
Dr Winduo has strong words.
“In a book fair in Port Moresby, a lot of views were expressed about the right to read and write, but many people consider writing as a process that empowers individuals and people.
“Writing has the power to transform a nation’s consciousness!
“If a nation can develop its own works of literature consistently, it can continuously evaluate itself and reinvent its consciousness.”

Raitim Stori Bilong Laip: Zia Writers of Waria. Edited by Sakarepe Kamene and Steven Edmund Winduo. Melanesia and Pacific Studies (MAPS), University of Papua New Guinea. Port Moresby, 2004. 80 pages. ISBN 9980-9962-0-X

Melissa Aigilo is Papua New Guinea's leading woman writer

Melissa Aigilo does not hide the fact that she is passionate about writing and its role in shaping Papua New Guinea.
At only 25, Aigilo is currently the country’s leading woman writer, with a book of poetry, Falling Foliage, published in 2005.
A collection of short stories and another anthology of poetry await publication.
This immensely-talented and intelligent young woman has a big following, especially among high school students, and her work is even being studied in the USA and Australia.
Her mentors, especially University of Papua New Guinea literature lecturers Dr Steven Winduo and Russel Soaba, extol the virtues of their protégé.
Soaba compares her writing to that of the great English woman writer Emily Dickenson.
However, as I found out, Aigilo is a quietly-spoken young woman who shuns the limelight to dwell on writing.
“My one book is called Falling Foliage,” she tells me.
“I also have my poems which are recorded on CD and tape in the International Library of Poetry in America.
“Falling Foliage was published in 2005.
“I’ve written two books so far which haven’t gone in for publication.
“One is a collection of short stories and the other is an anthology of poetry.
“ABC has a website where my poems have been aired.
“The University of Melbourne analyses some of my poems in their literature classes.
“Since my book was published, a lot of high schools and international schools have been ordering a lot.
“I think they’ve run out of copies at the university bookshop.
“I can see the support there.”
In saying this, Aigilo empathises with the women of Papua New Guinea, saying that they are not given enough support to air their voices.
“If only other women writers were given that same support, we could change the face of Papua New Guinea because writing is a very powerful political tool.
“Women have as much to offer as men and their views and opinions need to be expressed.
“Some important issues (concerning women) are still not addressed by today’s government and need to be looked at seriously.
“It is my very strong belief that women are the backbone of society.
“So I’m calling on people in authority to give women a chance to voice their concerns, politically, and socially, through writing.
“We have a lot of women writers, but the problem is not identifying them and assisting them to bring out their work.”
Aigilo graduated from the University of Papua New Guinea in 2006 with a Bachelor of Arts in Literature degree.
She was at university from 2001 to 2005, including a year studying law; however, she found that she preferred the solitude of writing to noisy courtroom antics.
Before campus, Aigilo attended St Joseph’s International Primary School, Marianville Girls Catholic High School, and then Port Moresby National High School.
She is the eldest in a family of two sisters and two brothers.
Her father, former Police Commissioner and graduate lawyer Peter Aigilo, played a significant role in her opting for a life of writing.
One of her poems , The Guardian, published in a recent issue of the literary publication , Savannah Flames, is dedicated to her father.
“My dad is my mentor,” she says.
“He’s my strength.
“As a woman, I can say that.
“I like writing anything to do with prose, poetry, short stories, drama, plays.
“I think when I began to learnt how to write, I came up with ideas.
“Basically, because my dad is a lawyer, he emphasised reading and he is a reader himself.
“He used to read to me when I was younger, and that opened up my avenues for creating, so when I learnt to write, I put that creativity on paper.
“Writing is a form of liberation for me because I guess I’m a quite person.
“What I think and feel is expressed on paper.
“…some people keep journals.
“I find that poetry is like my journal.
“I am able to hide behind my words, and the style of poetry that I write is abstract.
“It’s a form of release for me.
“My saving grace!”
Aigilo could be described as a true Papua New Guinean, seeing her family connections.
“I’m from four provinces,” she elaborates.
“My mother’s part East New Britain and Morobe, and my father’s part West New Britain and East Sepik.”
Her future?
“I’ve always wanted to pass on my skills of writing to students, so while writing remains my No.1 passion, my second goal in life is to teach creative writing and literature.
“I look forward to writing more books, with the kind of assistance I’m getting from my lecturers and you in the media.”
Aigilo is blunt about her belief that writing is one of the most-important things in any society.
“I would say that, as I said, writing is a very powerful political tool.
“There are two forms of literature.
“The one that is oral is spoken and forgotten about.
“But the one which is written is preserved, and can be looked at to pave the way for the future in any aspect, whether it be social, political, religious.
“I believe that writing can change the way in which people think.
“The mind is a very complex thing.
“When you change someone’s mind, you are capable of changing a whole democracy.”

SCRIPTWRITERS

Imprinted
Letters so brashly written
Bidding attention
That's what you already have.
Words
They are hard to speak
So they come out as inscriptions.

You and I
Have something in common
You flaunt your inner self
On bus stop seats
And engrave your thoughts
On walls and dust engased shop windows
Scoring for yourself.

What would you like the world to imagine
When it reads your markings?
I create the images of a dramatist
In my mind and I envision you.
Would you remember my concealed scripts?
The way I know yours by heart
If you read them
Would you be able to fashion my personna
The way I mould your form

The words I read
Haunt me at night
Are you really out there