Hope you had a Wonderful Christmas

And now we all look forward to a Happy New Year

 

I hope all of you, the many hundreds of readers of this blog from all corners of the world; have had a wonderful Christmas with your families and all the best for New Year 2009.

Thank you, on behalf of my four young children, for all the support and kind words you have given me since the untimely death of my wife Hula on Easter Sunday this year.

We missed her terribly in this, our first Christmas without her, however, we have come to accept that life must go on.

I had a quite Christmas period with the four children, watched VCDs, read a lot of literature classics by Charles Dickens – A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist and A Tale of Two Cities – and am now back at work.

I am an avid reader of the classic works of literature, which I read over and over again, because it helps in a lot in my work as a journalist and editor.

I can assure you of a lot more quality articles in this blog next year.

Thank you once again for all your support and keep those comments rolling in so that we can make this blog even bigger and better.

Take care and God Bless you all real good.

 

Malum Nalu

PUBLIC AFFAIRS BY SUSUVE LAUMAEA

Somare in no rush to exit

 

THERE’S no hurry by or even a signal yet from the Prime Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare to retire from active politics. Somare is in no rush to exit. The grand old man of PNG politics has a knack of keeping everyone guessing. He’s not throwing in the towel just yet. He did not start the rumor. Others did for their own selfish reasons. Despite such a reality that favorite pastime of our politicians has reared its ugly head again. Several of them – from within the governing coalition’s own ranks and elsewhere -- want to be the next Prime Minister. They want the job during this term of Parliament. The message implied in this latest move is that there are some in the Grand Chief’s own governing coalition who think he is either not doing a good job as head of government or that at his age he should be spared all the pressures, heavy workload and the long hours that go with the job as Prime Minister. The aspirants want Sir Michael to retire gracefully and sooner the better. The people who are spreading this kind of aspersions are not from the National Alliance Party. They are people cared for and made an integral part of the government by the good grace of the man they seek to destroy and dethrone. It’s a case of people seeking to chop off the hand that feeds them. It’s sad but true that many before them have unsuccessfully tried similar tactics to fulfill their ambition to be Prime Minister by short-cut methods and not through electoral mandate over the years since independence. Many could not take their failures calmly and have actually died or dropped into the political wilderness and have become “no names”. The flipside of Sir Michael not stepping down from the top job voluntarily sooner rather than later is that those ambitious aspirants vying for the top job are also planning to use Section 145 of the National Constitution to move a Motion of No Confidence in the Prime Minister at the “appropriate” time. The appropriate time is when the 18 months grace period of the government to remain unchallenged in office expires at the end of February in early March. Should such a motion proceed, it will be a tall order for success for the perpetrators of the move. The government is solidly entrenched to thwart such a challenge. It is foolish of those seeking to destabilise government and politics for the sake of wielding political power. Okay, it is granted that there are many potential Prime Minister material among the present crop of MPs. A few standouts include current Deputy Prime Minister Dr Puka Temu, Treasurer Patrick Pruaitch, State Enterprises Minister Arthur Somare, Transport, Works and Civil Aviation Minister Don Polye, Public Service Minister Peter O’Neill, Southern Highlands Governor Anderson Agiru, Opposition Leader Sir Mekere Morauta and Deputy Opposition Leader Bart Philemon. PNG-style politics is heavily dependent on numbers and money. One must have plenty of both underpinned by a great deal of charismatic influence to succeed as a candidate for Prime Minister. Every MP is qualified – by virtue of being a Member of Parliament – to aspire to be Prime Minister. But when you do not have your own extra money, the numbers and the influence to outsmart other aspirants, just forget about trying for something you cannot have. The job will never be handed to anyone a golden platter. It’s a job for very special and talented people with vision and humility and are God-fearing servant leaders. What more do our MPs want? The Somare-led government has looked after them extremely well in terms of pay and perks. The present MPs get very good pay and millions of kina for electorate development as opposed to predecessors who served up to around 1992. All those seeking to be Prime Minister ahead of Sir Michael’s announcement of his retirement from active politics sometime in the foreseeable future will not succeed. There shall be no change of Prime Minister any time between now and 2012.  Any change will happen at the pleasure of the incumbent. And the reshuffle of Ministers recently mooted by the Grand Chief will be a “small one” affecting only three or four ministries. All speculation to the contrary on these two issues is just that – speculation spun by uninformed political opportunists. Sir Michael will announce changes to the ministry after he hosts the special meeting of leaders the Pacific Islands Forum states in Port Moresby in late January. It’s most likely that the merit-based changes will be made before he flies out on a State Visit to New Zealand and Australia in March. Sir Michael will make the changes at his pleasure and not hurriedly as consequence of coercion and pressure put on him by individuals within NA and by his coalition partners. The prime ministerial change and leadership succession of National Alliance Party are two different issues. Under Section 142 (2) of the National Constitution the Prime Minister is appointed by Parliament at the first meeting of Parliament following a national general election and otherwise from time to time as the occasion for the appointment of a Prime Minister arises, by the Head of State acting in accordance with a decision of the Parliament. The Prime Minister is usually the leader of a political party. The emergence of a new National Alliance Party leader is an in-house matter. The party’s National Convention comprising its parliamentary wing, its national council, and regional executive and foundation members shall elect the new party leader. Right now no vacancy exists for a Prime Minister and for NA’s parliamentary leader. Sir Michael and his ruling National Alliance Party will determine the appropriate time, place and space for Sir Michael to step down as party leader and Prime Minister. Everyone -- including NA’s coalition partners -- who’re seeking to accelerate the National Alliance leadership succession before the end of the present parliamentary term by April 2012 shall have to wait. There is no leadership succession problem within NA at present. The last thing that the rank and file of NA wants is hang their dirty linen out publicly. NA’s four regional organisations at peace with each other and are committed to the resolve that the party will collectively decide what is good for them in terms of appointing a successor to take over from Sir Michael when he chooses to retire. Until such time is at hand, there is no leadership vacancy in NA.  Sir Michael deeply respects his parliamentary wing MPs who have been loyal and supportive of his tenure as party leader and as Prime Minister since August 2002. He is not going to keep his party’s national executive and his parliamentary wing members guessing for ever. The Grand Chief is very passionate about the party and will always stand in support of his loyalists. No one in PNG politics should be discourteous about forcing the grand old man of PNG politics and the Pacific’s eldest statesman out of his active role as Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea and parliamentary leader of National Alliance Party. Sooner or later he shall give the signal for his retirement. When that happens appropriate provisions of the National Alliance constitution, the Organic Law on Integrity of Political Parties, the Standing Orders of Parliament and the National Constitution come into play – firstly for the appointment of a new NA leader and secondly for appointment by Parliament of a new Prime Minister.

• Share your views with the writer at mailto: suslaumaea@gmail.com or send SMS to 675-6845168

 

Sir George laid to rest in Brisbane

MORE than 600 people, including Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare, attended the funeral of slain businessman Sir George Constantinou in Brisbane, Australia, yesterday, The National newspaper reports.

There was standing room only at the Greek Orthodox church of St George as Brisbane’s Greek community joined a large contingent of PNG civic and business leaders, and others, for the service.

Hundreds, many bearing flowers, signed condolence books outside the church, below both Greek and Australian flags, before moving into the ornately-painted church. After the funeral ceremony, conducted in Greek, Sir George’s family and other mourners filed past the coffin.

A large funeral cortege followed the hearse to the Mt Gravatt cemetery for the burial, then returned to Brisbane’s Greek Club for a wake.

Sir Michael, who attended with his whole family, said he and the nation had lost a wonderful friend. “I’ve known him for more than 33 years,” Sir Michael said.

 “He’s been a great man, very visionary, (an) innovator, and all his investment was in PNG.

 “He expanded, done his business, employed a lot of Papua New Guineans and I think everyone of us will miss him.

“This tragic incident had ended his life, but for those of us who remember him, he was a great man.

“He’ll be really honoured and I think he’ll have a special place in our record books in Papua New Guinea as someone who came from nothing some 54 years ago and built himself till now.

“We lost a great man in George Constantinou.”

Brisbane architect and businessman Tony Dempsey said Sir George was dedicated to PNG.

“If ever a guy was more impassioned about PNG, you’d be hard-pressed to find one,” Mr Dempsey said.

He said one of Sir George’s main concerns was to ensure employment for his PNG workforce.

Apart from PNG, Sir George also had business interests in the Solomon Islands and in Queensland, Australia.

He established Papuan Welders in 1954 and proceeded to build a business empire in PNG that employed thousands of Papua New Guineans, until his murder last Tuesday near Tete settlement at Gerehu. – AAP

 

Suspects charged

7 accused remanded at Bomana

By SAMSON KENDEMAN

SEVEN suspects allegedly involved in the killing of pioneer businessman Sir George Constantinou last week have been charged with wilful murder and remanded at Bomana prison outside Port Moresby, The National newspaper reported today.

NCD metropolitan commander Supt Fred Yakasa yesterday said the suspects were expected to appear in court later this week.

Out of the seven suspects arrested by NCD police last week, six were said to be from the Goilala district of Central province while one was from Morobe province. If convicted, they could face the death penalty.

Supt Yakasa also dismissed rumours swirling in Port Moresby in the last few days that two of the suspects were ill or injured and were taken to Port Moresby General Hospital for treatment.

“All the seven suspects are detained at Bomana police cells, which has to be confirmed with the Correctional Institute Service officers. None of them were admitted to hospital while in police custody,” Supt Yakasa said.

He said the reactions against the demolition of Tete settlement by various authorities and members of the public were noted, but he questioned who would do the job if they did not.

“It (killing) has portrayed a bad image of the country. Police have done it in the best interest of the nation. It’s a wake-up call for everybody,” Supt Yakasa said.

He again defended the police action at the settlement, which has now been restrained by an order from the National Court at Waigani.

 

Twas the Night Before Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.

And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,

Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow

Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature sleigh, and eight tinny reindeer.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

"Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!

On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen!

To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!

Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.

So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,

With the sleigh full of Toys, and St Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.

A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.

His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,

And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.

He had a broad face and a little round belly,

That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,

And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.

And laying his finger aside of his nose,

And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

Clement Clarke Moore (1779 - 1863) wrote the poem Twas the night before Christmas also called “A Visit from St. Nicholas" in 1822. It is now the tradition in many American families to read the poem every Christmas Eve. The poem Twas the night before Christmas has redefined our image of Christmas and Santa Claus. Prior to the creation of the story of Twas the night before Christmas St. Nicholas, the patron saint of children, had never been associated with a sleigh or reindeers! The author of the poem Twas the night before Christmas was a reticent man and it is believed that a family friend, Miss H. Butler, sent a copy of the poem to the New York Sentinel who published the poem. The condition of publication was that the author of Twas the night before Christmas was to remain anonymous. The first publication date was 23rd December 1823 and it was an immediate success. It was not until 1844 that Clement Clarke Moore claimed ownership when the work was included in a book of his poetry. Clement Clarke Moore came from a prominent family and his father Benjamin Moore was the Bishop of New York who was famous for officiating at the inauguration of George Washington. The tradition of reading Twas the night before Christmas poem on Christmas Eve is now a worldwide institution.

Source: http://www.carols.org.uk/

Hark the Herald Angels Sing

Christmas carols are based on Christian lyrics and relate, in the main, to the Nativity. Christmas carols were introduced in to church services by St Francis of Assisi in the 12th century.
As for the word carols, "carol" is a derivative of the French word caroller, the interpretation of which means dancing around in a circle.
Carol and carols, eventually came to mean not only to dance but included music and lyrics - hence Christmas Caroling.
 The joyous themes for many traditional Christmas carols were banned in England by the staunch Protestant Oliver Cromwell and many of the very old Christmas carols and songs were subsequently lost for all time.
Christmas carols were only fully popularised again during the Victorian era when they again expressed joyful and merry themes in their carol lyrics as opposed to the normal, more sombre, Christian lyrics found in hymns.
As religious observances in the United States and England were closely linked the popularity of Christmas carols grew in both countries in the 19th century.
Many Christmas traditions are relatively recent such as Santa Claus and reindeer and bear no relation to Christmas carols.
We have reflected this in the unusual and beautiful Victorian Angel Pictures we have included for your pleasure and enjoyment.
Today Christmas songs and carols are also fast becoming a tradition.     
 Merry Christmas and enjoy singing the wonderful words and lyrics to the Christmas carols and Christmas songs:

Carol of the Bells
Angels from the Realms of Glory
Ave Maria
Away in a Manger carol
Christians Awake salute the Happy Morn
Deck the Halls carol
Ding Dong Merrily on High
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Good Christian Men Rejoice
Good King Wenceslas carol
Hark the Herald Angels Sing
I Saw Three Ships carol
It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
 Christmas Sheet Music
Joy to the World
O Christmas Tree carol
O Come All Ye Faithful
O Come O Come Emmanuel
O Little Town of Bethlehem
Once in Royal Davids City
Silent Night carol
The First Noel carol
The Holly and the Ivy
The Wassail Song
We Three Kings of Orient are
While Shepherds Watched

Source: http://www.carols.org.uk

A Christmas Carol has strong lessons for Papua New Guinea

A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, is one of the classic works of literature featuring the inimitable Scrooge and how his selfish and miserly life is transformed by the Three Christmas Ghosts.
It has many lessons for Papua New Guinea, especially when we are so resource-rich, and yet, we are so poor; when the rich seem to be getting richer and the poor seem to be getting poorer.
In writing A Christmas Carol Dickens was motivated by real concern for the welfare of the poorest section of the population.
He had suffered considerable personal hardship and poverty during his upbringing and echoes of this can be seen in descriptions throughout the book: "Alleys and archways, like so many cesspools, disgorged their offences of smell and dirt, and life upon the straggling street; and the whole quarter reeked with crime, with filth, and misery”.
Dickens was keenly interested in the welfare of poor children in the cities and believed that education was the key to improving the childrens' lives.
This interest is reflected in his descriptions of Ignorance and Want, depicted as two children huddled for protection beneath the cloak of the Ghost of Christmas Present –
Scrooge is warned especially to beware of Ignorance.
Dickens became a supporter of the Ragged Schools in which the children of poor families received education without being charged fees, though compulsory education for all was not introduced until 1870, the year of Dickens' death.
“I have endeavored in this Ghostly little book to raise the Ghost of an Idea which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me,” he writes in the foreword to his great book.
“May it haunt their house pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it.
“Their faithful Friend and Servant, C.D. December, 1843.”
A Christmas Carol, describing the redemption of the wretchedly miserly Ebenezer Scrooge, is the best known of Charles Dickens' works and has become a Christmas tradition loved by children and adults alike.
It is composed in five staves, of which the central three describe Scrooge's visitation by three Spirits - the Spirit of Christmas Past, the Spirit of Christmas Present, and the Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come.
The remaining staves act as prologue and epilogue.
Dickens began writing the Carol in October 1843 and had finished it by the end of November so that it could be published for the Christmas season of that year.
The author took special pains to ensure that it was produced of the best quality but priced at a level that enabled it to be enjoyed by the widest possible audience.
This meant that, although the book was popular from the start, it produced relatively modest revenues for the author who had arranged the finances of the publication himself.
We are introduced to Ebenezer Scrooge, miser and man of 'business' (though the exact nature of the business is never made explicit) in no uncertain terms - "Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner”!
Scrooge is the surviving partner of the firm Scrooge and Marley, following the death of Jacob Marley exactly seven years previously - "Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail... There is no doubt that Marley was dead. This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate”.
In life, Jacob Marley had been as miserly and self-absorbed as Scrooge and as a direct consequence he had suffered great torments in the afterlife.
Marley's ghost visits Scrooge to offer him a chance of salvation, an opportunity to avoid the same fate as Marley if he is prepared to change his lifestyle.
Initially reluctant to believe his senses, Scrooge blames the spirit's appearance on indigestion - "You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato. There's more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are”!
 Finally convinced, Scrooge is told to expect three Spirits...
The first spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Past, shows Scrooge scenes from his past including a Christmas party held by Mr Fezziwig for whom he worked as an apprentice.
The pleasure generated by the party was considerable yet the financial outlay to Mr Fezziwig was relatively modest.
Scrooge is deeply affected - "His heart and soul were in the scene, and with his former self. He corroborated everything... and underwent the strangest agitation”.
Scrooge wonders whether he should not have treated his clerk, Bob Cratchit, more kindly at Christmas.
The second spirit, The Ghost of Christmas Present, takes Scrooge to the house of his ill-treated clerk Bob Cratchit.
Despite this family's poverty, the household derives joy from simple pleasures - though a sense of impending darkness is provided by the description of Cratchit's crippled son, Tiny Tim.
 "I see a vacant seat," replied the Ghost, "in the poor chimney corner, and a crutch without an owner, carefully preserved. If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, this child will die”.
Scrooge is distraught (again we witness signs of his transformation) but the Spirit uses Scrooge's earlier words against him - "If he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population”.
At the end of the third stave, the Spirit draws aside his cloak to reveal two piteous children - "This boy is Ignorance, This girl is Want”.
Scrooge recoils in disgust, asking whether there is no refuge for the two waifs, and again is rebuffed by the Spirit using his own words against him - "Are there no prisons? ...Are there no workhouses”? The Ghost of Christmas Past makes way for the third, and most disturbing, Spirit.
 The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is the spirit which Scrooge fears the most, and it has an appropriately troubling appearance - "draped and hooded, coming like a mist along the ground towards him”.
In his company, Scrooge is shown the reactions of various groups to the death of an unidentified man.
No one appears to show any sympathy for his death and Scrooge wonders whom they may be discussing, though there is a suggestion that he may have his suspicions - "The case of this unhappy man might be my own. My life tends that way now”.
In contrast to the un-mourned death of this unnamed man, the Spirit shows Scrooge the household of Bob Cratchit where Tiny Tim is no longer present.
The scene is described with the utmost poignancy by Dickens, but Scrooge's reaction to the scene is not recorded.
Instead the Spirit draws Scrooge to a neglected grave - "choked up with too much burying; fat with repleted appetite".
As Scrooge confronts his own name on the grave, he promises that the intercession of the Spirits has changed him - "I am not the man I was. I will not be the man I must have been but for this intercourse”.
The final stave sees the complete, and sustained, transformation of Scrooge - "...to Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man as the good old City knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough in the good old world”.