'ACE' Bulolo 2008 Ambrose won by Mapai Transport

The annual PNG Forest Products Bulolo Ambrose three-day golf event in Bulolo last weekend was highlighted by a Hole in One by Chrissie Brunskil of the Amalpack team from Lae.

The annual three-day event held in fine and sunny weather was won by Lae-based Mapai Transport No.1 team, with DJ Wheels from Goroka second and Unitech No.3 third.

The Bulwa Trophy, originally donated in perpetuity to Bulolo Club in 1964 to commemorate the former Bulwa Club, was presented to winners Mapai Transport by president Brian Boustridge, who acknowledged the historical nature of the Bulolo Golf Club.

In his address, Bulolo Club patron Toney Honey acknowledged the growing list of sponsors from within PNG and overseas, without whom the Ambrose would not be what it is.

He congratulated the club on the work put in by a dedicated team of volunteers and welcomed the large number of players who annually make the Bulolo Ambrose such a success.

He also welcomed the large number of new players taking part, which was also good for the future of the game in Bulolo.

The Bulolo Ambrose Weekend is such a popular and sociable event that teams from Port Moresby, Mt. Hagen, Goroka and Ramu and Lae are often joined by players from Australia, NZ, and Philippines.

Results: Gross Winners, DJ Wheels (Goroka) R/Up, Lahanis (Goroka)

Overall Nett Winners: Mapai Transport No.1 (Lae), 2^nd DJ Wheels (Goroka), 3^rd Unitech No2.

Fri/Sat Nett winners: Delixi (Bulolo), 2^nd Bushman (Bulolo), 3^rd Mainland Plumbing Lefties (NZ)

Sat/Sun Nett winners: Mapai Transport No.1 (Lae), 2^nd DJ Wheels (Goroka), 3^rd Unitech No.2 (Lae)

The extraordinary life of Ian Boden

When The National’s news editor Jacqueline Kapigeno told me the sad news of the passing of Ian Boden early this morning, a deep and profound sense of loss went through my heart, a feeling on behalf of all the people of our beloved country Papua New Guinea.

Boden’s is a story that surpasses 40 years in Papua New Guinea, starting as a young Australian Broadcasting Broadcaster in Rabaul in 1964, seeing the birth of the National Broadcasting Commission in 1973, working with a fledgling public service after independence in 1975, working through the dark days of the Bougainville Crisis, starting with a brand new daily newspaper called The National and bringing joy to thousands of people the world over with his writing style, and teaching young Papua New Guineans about journalism until the day he died.

I told Jacqui that earlier this year, while at Divine Word University in Madang, he gave me the rare opportunity to do an in-depth interview with him, however, asked me not to write anything a short while later, as he felt it would be an orbituary.

So I threw my notebook into my cabinet, and forgot all about it, until the news of the passing of this great scribe, broadcaster, thespian and journalist trainer extraordinaire.

I now realise that in fact, Ian gave me the last chance anyone has had to interview him, and that he had granted me an unsual privilege

Read any of the editorials he has written for The National over the last 15 years and you will see that they are unmatched for content and writing style.

His Column 1 has an international following through the online pages of The National.

He was the mainstay of National Broadcasting Commission’s popular radio dramas in the 1970’s and 1980’s, and he was actively involved with the Port Moresby Arts Theatre.

Ian Boden first set foot in Papua New Guinea as a young 23-year-old Australian Broadcasting Commission employee in August 1964.

“I came as a relieving radio announcer for three months,” he told me in that last fateful interview in Madang.

“I was supposed to be going to Rabaul.

“I did go to Rabaul, but from August to Christmas I was in Port Moresby, and then I went to Rabaul.

“9RB (radio station) was the furthest-flung station of the ABC empire.

“Rabaul was it!

“I lived in Rabaul for the next five years.

“It was the kind of station where you had to be a jack-of-all-trades, from playing records to fine tuning broadcasts, in an ad hoc way trying to train PNG staff, something that Port Moresby had started earlier.

“We had quite a collection of Tolai announcers, young guys.

“At least three of them are still alive.

“One of them is Anton Kaut, he was probably the youngest.

“The others were Jack Ainui, Robin Popat and Nelson Bale.

“They were the core of the presenting staff outside of Port Moresby.

“Outside of Port Moresby, there was no ABC station apart from Rabaul.

“The ABC was housed in a Nissan Hut left over from the Second World War, which is still there in Rabaul.

“That building has been everything from a copra storage shed to a Catholic church.

“At the same time in town there was a DIES (Department of Information & Extension Services) station as well.

“Ninety per cent of broadcast was in English.

“The logic behind the station was to provide news and entertainment for all the dimdims (expatriates) in the area who ran plantations.

“There was quite a substantial number of Papua New Guineans in what was substantially a very small radio station.

“We had programmes like Blue Hills which ran twice a day, classical music and religious programmes.

“It was very much European-oriented.

“Sports tended to be European-oriented such as football, cricket, bowls and croquet.

“The town (Rabaul) itself was like something out of a page by Somerset Maugham.

“It was quite remarkable.

“The population was divided into three clearly-defined groups: Australians, Ambonese and Chinese.

“They inhabited what became known as China Town.

“It was an interesting town.

“It had everything going for it

“It had a couple of cinemas: Native Cinema and Palms Cinema.

“There were a lot of expat clubs.

“New Guinea Club, for example, had been started by a German.

“We were in a hostel on the top of Namanula Hill.

“That became the ABC Hostel.

“I built myself a bush material house, and lived there: ‘Boden’s gone tropo’.

“There were so many eccentric people in Rabaul.

“They were straight from the pages of a novel.”

In 1969, Boden got married to Delma from Raluana village in the old registry office in Rabaul, and was transferred to Port Moresby by the ABC.

“I continued with the ABC until 1973, which was self government, at which point a number of us chose to remain on secondment to the NBC,” he continues.

“In fact, I was on the committee that set up the NBC with people like Luke Sela, Sam Piniau and quite a handful of individuals from the ABC.

“If my memories are correct, we started broadcasting on December 1^st, 1973.

“The thing with the NBC was that I had moved away from broadcasting.

“I became a liaison officer between the provincial radio stations and the national station.

“In 1975, immediately after independence, I flew to London and worked for the BBC.

“That came about because I was invited on a further secondment.

“They (BBC) broadcast from London to the South Pacific.

“So I found myself going to London.

“I was there for 14 months, working for BBC World Service.

“Then, more or less for family reasons, I came back (to PNG).

“By this time we had four children.

“I became principal training officer of the NBC.

“That’s how I came into a training role with people like Justin Kili, Memafu Kapera, so on and so on.

“They were already accomplished broadcasters but there was ongoing training.

“There was very good training at that time.

“For one person from each division of provincial government, we could train them to be good announcers, for purely the interests of their own department.

“By the time we left at the end of three weeks, we had reasonable competent announcers.

“Being radio, this meant that we could reach very remote areas.

“It was a two-way exercise.

“We reached out to them but we also monitored the reaction.

“Apart from that I was involved in producing a lot of radio drama, taking part in a lot of radio drama by people like Peter Trish, who was a very good producer, and lots of people who are very well known today.

“By 1980, I decided it was time to move on.

“I was offered a special project within the very-oddly named Department of Public Service Commission.

“There was a need for this particular project to be done.

“Then they asked me to be ‘Director of Information’’ and acted as a provider of information and statistics for anyone in the PSC.”

In 1986, the government tried to reconstruct the public service, under then Public Service Minister the late Sir Anthony Siaguru, and Ian Boden was actively behind the scenes.

In 1988, he was asked to be Press Secretary to Prime Minister Sir Rabbie Namaliu, at a time when the Bouganville Crisis was just about to erupt.

“These were very difficult times, because in 1989, that was the beginning of the Bougainville conflict,” Boden recalls.

“It was obvious that trouble was brewing, and of course, it got worse and worse.

“Bougainville Copper Limited ceased to operate, the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting was in Kuala Lumpur, (Sir) Rabbie asked me to go to Bougainville and act as a source of information for him.

“I went and a lot of the BRA and other people were aware that I was around.

“I had some meetings with them.

“There were 20 dead people at one time and they maintained that these people had been killed by the PNG Defence Force.

“They asked me to investigate.

“I did investigate but it was extremely difficult.

“It was also difficult to get information back to (Sir) Rabbie.

“I traveled back and forth and was aware of terrible atrocities.

“I went on one occasion with a group of international observers and were to be witness to ‘laying down of arms’.

“An Air Niugini aircraft was sent to pick us up.

“At Kieta, we traveled from there by convoy to what had been Aropa Airport.

“We were stopped at several points along the way.

“One of our numbers, journalist Wally Hiambohn, was pulled out and severely beaten.

“My role in that (Bouganville Crisis) was very minor.

“The election was in 1992 and (Sir) Rabbie lost out by the casting vote of Bill Skate as Speaker.”

Boden remain in politics until the formation of the brand-new The National newspaper in November 1993, when he joined as executive editor.

“I got kicked out of the country in 1999,” he recalls.

“I had written a rather sharp editorial at that time criticising the prime minister of the day.

“I left The National to come to Divine Word University in 2003.”

Boden talks passionately about Papua New Guinea, the country that he has come to call home, as well as the future of journalism in this country.

“It’s a place that has become my home,” he says.

“I’ve developed a great affection for Papua New Guinea and its people and the direction that the country can go in.

“I have to say that after all these years, nothing has changed (for me).

“I still feel the same way about the country and its people.

“I know there are problems.

“I think we become bogged down and we fail to see the very real achievements that are being made.”

I ended my interview with Boden by asking him about Divine Word University and his decision to go there and teach journalism.

“I think, at my age, that it’s great to have the opportunity to pass on whatever skills you might have and watch young tertiary students seize the chance and rapidly become competent media personnel.

“We have people just about anywhere and everywhere.

“We have people in the mainstream media, in NGOs, government information units, large-scale resource companies like Porgera and Lihir and in the realm of corporate enterprise and statutory bodies.

“I suppose the ultimate goal of young Papua New Guineans is to see personal development opportunities, and through their contributions, ensure the development of the country.”

 

 

Philemon passes his condolences on passing of Boden

Former Media Council president and Post-Courier editor-in-chief Oseah Philemon has extended his condolences to management and staff of The National, family, friends, colleagues and students of the late Ian Boden on his sudden passing early this (Monday, November 03, 2008) morning.

Mr Philemon was sitting at a roadside cafeteria in Lae yesterday morning when his son Moses called him from Divine Word University in Madang to inform him of Mr Boden’s passing at Modilon Hospital in Madang.

He immediately called The National to pass on his condolences.

“I want to extend to the management and staff of The National, and the administration and students of Communication Arts at Divine Word University, my deepest condolences and sympathy for the untimely passing of Ian Boden,” Mr Philemon said.

“Ian was a man of inspiration.

“He inspired many young journalists and students with his style of writing and also his wide experience in journalism.

“His death is a great loss to our attempts to train young journalists for the future.

“Papua New Guinea has lost a great journalist and a great journalism educator.

“He has left a great vacuum at the Divine Word University and it will be very difficult to fill his shoes with the kind of quality and experience he possessed.”

 

 

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea celebrates Reformation Day

This week on Lutheran Churches throughout the world celebrate with worship services the Reformation Day.

 It was on October 31 in 1517 that Dr Martin Luther posted the 95 theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, for discussion by the theological faculty of Wittenberg University toward improving the spiritual situation of the church at that time. Those theses triggered series of meetings and conferences within the church and with the government of the day on the theological issues concerned.

 When in 1530 the church of the day and the government did not accept the theological position of the Lutheran party, the Lutheran pastors and theologians began to organise themselves into what is now the Lutheran Church.

The teaching of the Lutheran Church then and now is based on the following four pillars: Christ alone, Faith alone, Grace alone and Scripture alone.

 Everything else, including the church practice, is subordinate to and needs to relate to these four for their acceptance and application for Christian faith and witness.

For the Lutheran Church the Word of the Gospel is the prime means by which Christ, Grace and Faith are offered to God’s people.

The Lutheran Church throughout the world is conducting worship services of thanksgiving and praise to God for offering those blessings to His church.

 Just as much as it has received so much from God free, so the church lives to offer services to others including the civil society.

 According to a summary of Luther’s own teaching where he uses an illustration that a fruit tree bears delicious fruits not for its own use but for others to enjoy, so should the Christian do with what he or she has.

Christians are there not to serve themselves but to serve God and others.

 According to Luther’s ethics of economy, anything else one has as extra, is for his or her neighbor.

 If all the members of the church followed that principle, Papua New Guinea should have enough for everyone and the country should be well off.

According to the ELCPNG Church Secretary Mr Isaac Teo the members of the ELCPNG should rise up and take their calling and responsibility in the church and society and contribute positively.

There is so much for the members of the church to do and contribute.

Those who are responsible to preach the Gospel must do their job faithfully and the rest of the members need to put the Word of God into action and provide for their neighbors and the needs of the wider community.

The celebration should be about life and life in its fullness as God offers us in His Son. So the members of the church should provide their services to those in need in fullness just as they have received theirs from God in fullness.

 And that is the message of the church to its members throughout Papua New Guinea for this year’s Reformation Day Celebration.  

On July 12 this year the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea celebrated its 122 years of service in Papua New Guinea.

 

 

 

Message from Acting Head Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of PNG, Reverend Zau Rapa, on the event of Reformation Day

What thoughts does the Evangelical Lutheran Church of PNG have on the Reformations started by Martin Luther in 1517 and today and onwards?

ELCPNG has a lot of work to do to strengthen the faith of its members.

The Lutheran Church is a reformed church and one of the major churches in the world.

Lutherans all over the world are spreading the Word of God like Martin Luther.

ELCPNG is one of the major churches in this country with more than 1.2 million followers, including active pastors and evangelists.

The Lutheran Church does not stand on history alone as there are many changes taking place.

We have the job of spreading the good news to all our followers as well as be careful of pitfalls along the way.

The Lutheran Church not only strengthens the faith but is also a partner in development in areas such as education, health, Yangpela Didiman, development services, youth, women, Sunday School and others.

The first classes will start in 2010 at the Lutheran University in Lae.

We have our own beliefs; however, we must work together with other mainstream churches in the country under the PNG Council of Churches.

I appeal to all followers to look at the presence and blessings of God in their lives.

At this juncture, ELCPNG will be looking at a replacement for the late Head Bishop Reverend Doctor Wesley Kigasung, who God called into His presence on May 14 this year.

His position is now vacant.

I have been Acting Head Bishop since Dr Kigasung’s death.

We must pray for a good Head Bishop to take over from where the late Dr Kigasung left us.

The next Synod will be held in January 2010 in Lae, Morobe province.

I ask all followers of the Church not to make a political issue out of this.

We need a good spiritual leader to guide the Church and we must pray to God for one.

We must stop beating our chests and start humbling ourselves.

Nominations will open at the Church Council in November this year and the nomination committee can start doing its job.

I appeal to all Lutherans to take heed of the pearls of wisdom from our founder Martin Luther when he started the Reformation all those years ago.

Thank you and God Bless you all on this most important day in our long Church history.

 

Reverend Zau Rapa

Acting Head Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of PNG

 

Message from Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea General Secretary Isaac Teo

What thoughts does the Evangelical Lutheran Church of PNG have on the Reformations started by Martin Luther in 1517 and today and onwards?

ELCPNG has a lot of work to do to strengthen the faith of its members.

The Lutheran Church is a reformed church and one of the major churches in the world.

Lutherans all over the world are spreading the Word of God like Martin Luther.

ELCPNG is one of the major churches in this country with more than 1.2 million followers, including active pastors and evangelists.

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea is a faith-driven church.

In my capacity as ELCPNG General Church Secretary, I have seen faith in action in the members of ELCPNG.

We are indebted to Martin Luther, the great reformer who established the church’s foundation based on Christ Alone, Faith Alone, Scripture Alone and Grace Alone.

People traveled many miles by foot to spread the Gospel.

Laymen/women pledged their time and life for the mission of God.

Our pastors laboured for the Gospel with thankful hearts and sacrificed their lives and families for the Gospel.

In one of my recent trips, I met a pastor in remote Kaintiba, Gulf province, who gave his life to God’s work and sacrificed his children’s education.

It touched my heart to witness such sacrifice and dedication.

Most members of our Church are rural-based.

Their contribution to the Church of God is immeasurable.

The challenge is now upon us, the administration of the Church, to look at the value of these contributions and try to encourage them to use it more in the word of God.

We must empower them, both spiritually and physically, to take ownership of the Church and be responsible for its wellbeing.

In our attempt to realise this vision, the Church has developed what is called ‘Vision 2020’, a policy framework and guideline document for programme formulation for its strategic plans.

The ‘Vision 2020’ will focus on the household.

It aims to achieve balanced human development, addressing both physical and spiritual development needs of every human person.

The Church, under the Vision 2020 framework, will attempt to carry out revisioning, reviewing and revitalising the Church to be missional.

Why we are saying ‘missional’ is because we need to go back to our roots and ‘evangelise’ as per our name.

In our attempt to introduce new measures such as Vision 2020, we must walk together with ordinary men and women of the Church, hence, our 2008 Synod theme, ‘Wokabaut Wantaim Bilong Ol Bilip Manmeri (Sharing the Faith, Building the Church)’.

Our people must now take ownership of this vision and be part of ‘Sharing the Faith, Building the Church’.

We must also walk together with other mainstream churches that are part of the PNG Council of Churches, our Pacific Council of Churches as well as the World Body of Christian Churches.

Lutheran Church in Papua New Guinea is a member of the Lutheran World Federation and World Council of Churches.

It has six partner churches: Bavarian Lutheran Church in Germany, Northhelbian Lutheran Church in Germany, Laipzig Lutheran Church in Germany, Australian Lutheran Church, American Lutheran Church and Lutheran Church in Canada.

These six partners participate in and subside many of the programmes run by the ELCPNG.

My challenge to the Lutheran members on Reformation Day is to revisit the legacy of words bestowed upon us by our late Head Bishop, Reverend Doctor Wesley Kigasung.

The late Dr Kigasung saw the Church as a “rainbow colour”.

The colour resembles talents, skills, experience and vast knowledge, that when put together, creates a “rainbow colour”.

The Church needs to realise its strengths and regather to share the faith and build the Church.

Dr Kigasung often encouraged the Church to reconcile, revitalise, and go forth to take the challenge head on.

It is my prayer that, on this day, we as members of the ELCPNG remember the wisdom of Martin Luther and Dr Kigasung and make a difference in our Christian life.

 

 

ICE - - 'In Case of Emergency' - an idea being used in America - thought I would share this concept...

ICE - 'In Case of Emergency'
We all carry our mobile phones with names and numbers stored in its memory but nobody, other than ourselves, knows which of these numbers belong to our closest family or friends.
If we were to be involved in an accident or were taken ill, the people attending us would have our mobile phone but wouldn't know who to call. Yes, there are hundreds of numbers stored but which one is the contact person in case of an emergency? Hence this 'ICE' (In Case of Emergency) Campaign.
The concept of 'ICE' is catching on quickly. It is a method of contact during emergency situations. As cell(mobile) phones are carried by the majority of the population, all you need to do is store the number of a contact person or persons who should be contacted during emergency under the name 'ICE' ( In Case Of Emergency).
The idea was thought up by a paramedic who found that when he went to the scenes of accidents, there were always mobile phones with patients, but they didn't know which number to call. He therefore thought that it would be a good idea if there was a nationally recognised name for this purpose. In an emergency situation, Emergency Service personnel and hospital Staff would be able to quickly contact the right person by simply dialing the number you have stored as 'ICE.'
For more than one contact name simply enter ICE1, ICE2 and ICE3 etc. A great idea that will make a difference!
Let's spread the concept of ICE by storing an ICE number in our Mobile phones today!

AND A RESPONSE TO THIS SUGGESTION WAS: 'I too, have had the ICE thing on my phone, but I have it as ICE Husband, ICE mom cell, and ICE mom home. This way they know who they are talking to when they call this person, and how they are related to me'.