So I was going to start of this blog with a huge write-up on Moti. Yes, yes I know apparently it is a ‘done’ issue but how can something be ‘done’ when nothing has been resolved. Since I’m waiting to clarify on some matters concerning it and after I read this article from the Post I thought, what better way to start of this blog then to talk about the most pressing issue in PNG today which is not Moti, or Australia’s ‘interventionist’ Government, or Digicel, or Arthur, Bertha and Michael Somare but rather HIV/Aids.
http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20070827/mohome.htm
Yes, I too sometimes forget we have an epidemic in PNG, you know with all the election hoopla going on and me, you and everyone else’s concerns about Digicel and its license. But it’s there, it’s more than a problem and I really can’t say the Government of PNG is doing enough about it.
Now I’m not sure how accurate this article is- the Post is not always the most credible source of info- but it seems statistics of people dying of Aids is not enough to make news anymore, it’s old, it’s ‘done’ instead what makes news are desperate unimaginable stories like this. HIV/Aids (in all its capacities) is occurring in PNG on such a wide-scale that it has become accepted as just another facet of PNG life, moved to the side and ignored. Just like corruption. Yes they’re comparable because they truly represent not only the mind-set of PNGeans but the hopelessness of it all. The ‘done’ (though half-way and not even) nature of PNG and PNGeans.
Let’s brainstorm these issues.
Corruption: Illegal, a problem, rife, accepted, acceptable, the norm, unprotested, ignored, side-tracked, not front story news, no solution indicated, systematic, protected, inaction, high NGO scrutiny (pretty much always indicates that there is a huuuge problem).
HIV/Aids: epidemic, accepted though not acceptable, rife, unprotested, ignored, side-tracked, not front story news, lack of commitment, inaction, high NGO participation, systematic.
Similar much????
Corruption is rife, nothing much is done about it, PNGeans do not feel empowered to do anything about so instead they ignore it/accept is as part of PNG and life (bulk of the population)/blame anyone but the people responsible, preferably the Aussies- not just for their part of it but for the entirety of the problem/get in amongst it/talk, talk and talk about it some more- well hey look who’s talking (I try)/ try to fight it but fail (cast your mind to UPNG student demonstrations 2001)/ try and keep on trying and trying (NGOs)…what a choice eh. This my friends demonstrates PNG and PNGeans in just about every situation of difficulty on a national scale. And this can be applied to the HIV/Aids situation in PNG.
Is it our fault, society’s fault or the Government’s fault that we find ourselves in this position? Who/what disempowered us, and if they/it could do that can they/it also empower us? Are empowerment and disempowerment an external force or can we as a people empower and disempower ourselves? And if we can empower ourselves how do we go about it, how do we get PNGeans to unite and have a clear coherent voice, to say what we want and mean it, to end desperation or learn to deal with desperation so we can look beyond the K2 today for the schools, hospitals and effective governance of the future.
It’s difficult and I have no magic solution though I do have one idea. Ideology. To preach it, teach it, embed it in children’s minds, basically to brain-wash them. Teach children all through their schooling years to have national pride, care for the nation, do what is best for the nation, to have a social conscience. Have them rhyme it, sing it, repeat it, turn into a motto, a subject, an important part of their learning and you will turn out committed citizens. Take Indonesia and the pancasila- unity, unity, unity- because unity was important to them as an ‘invented’ nation. Cuba and socialism. USA and rights. Is there a bad side? Of course, if you teach it in an intolerant manner but there is also the good. Indonesia is still a united nation, Cuba has one the best health-care systems in the world and a 97% literacy rate and Americans will do anything to protect their rights.
This isn’t such a new proposal for PNG, right before and after independence there was a lot of national pride, a want to benefit the nation, a sense of opportunity, hope, a love of this country that went beyond the current ‘ples ya’ which implies that whilst there is so much wrong with PNG we love it because it’s home. This shouldn’t be the case, we should love it because of all that is right, not for purely sentimental reasons but because it is a land of opportunity because it is the land of the ‘free and the brave,’ because we built this nation and we are proud of what it is and because we follow through with everything. Because nothing is ever done until it’s done. Because we have an accountable and transparent government. Because we are not downtrodden desperate people but a proud forward-looking nation. That should be why and if this feeling isn’t going to come around naturally then we create it, we teach it and we preach it. We embed it in the minds of the next generation and along the way we come to believe it ourselves. It could happen.
On a side-note: All hail Powes Parkop for getting in there and showing people how it should be done. This my friends, is what a politician in a democratic system is about, just in case anyone needed clarification on that point.
http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20070827/mohome.htm
Yes, I too sometimes forget we have an epidemic in PNG, you know with all the election hoopla going on and me, you and everyone else’s concerns about Digicel and its license. But it’s there, it’s more than a problem and I really can’t say the Government of PNG is doing enough about it.
Now I’m not sure how accurate this article is- the Post is not always the most credible source of info- but it seems statistics of people dying of Aids is not enough to make news anymore, it’s old, it’s ‘done’ instead what makes news are desperate unimaginable stories like this. HIV/Aids (in all its capacities) is occurring in PNG on such a wide-scale that it has become accepted as just another facet of PNG life, moved to the side and ignored. Just like corruption. Yes they’re comparable because they truly represent not only the mind-set of PNGeans but the hopelessness of it all. The ‘done’ (though half-way and not even) nature of PNG and PNGeans.
Let’s brainstorm these issues.
Corruption: Illegal, a problem, rife, accepted, acceptable, the norm, unprotested, ignored, side-tracked, not front story news, no solution indicated, systematic, protected, inaction, high NGO scrutiny (pretty much always indicates that there is a huuuge problem).
HIV/Aids: epidemic, accepted though not acceptable, rife, unprotested, ignored, side-tracked, not front story news, lack of commitment, inaction, high NGO participation, systematic.
Similar much????
Corruption is rife, nothing much is done about it, PNGeans do not feel empowered to do anything about so instead they ignore it/accept is as part of PNG and life (bulk of the population)/blame anyone but the people responsible, preferably the Aussies- not just for their part of it but for the entirety of the problem/get in amongst it/talk, talk and talk about it some more- well hey look who’s talking (I try)/ try to fight it but fail (cast your mind to UPNG student demonstrations 2001)/ try and keep on trying and trying (NGOs)…what a choice eh. This my friends demonstrates PNG and PNGeans in just about every situation of difficulty on a national scale. And this can be applied to the HIV/Aids situation in PNG.
Is it our fault, society’s fault or the Government’s fault that we find ourselves in this position? Who/what disempowered us, and if they/it could do that can they/it also empower us? Are empowerment and disempowerment an external force or can we as a people empower and disempower ourselves? And if we can empower ourselves how do we go about it, how do we get PNGeans to unite and have a clear coherent voice, to say what we want and mean it, to end desperation or learn to deal with desperation so we can look beyond the K2 today for the schools, hospitals and effective governance of the future.
It’s difficult and I have no magic solution though I do have one idea. Ideology. To preach it, teach it, embed it in children’s minds, basically to brain-wash them. Teach children all through their schooling years to have national pride, care for the nation, do what is best for the nation, to have a social conscience. Have them rhyme it, sing it, repeat it, turn into a motto, a subject, an important part of their learning and you will turn out committed citizens. Take Indonesia and the pancasila- unity, unity, unity- because unity was important to them as an ‘invented’ nation. Cuba and socialism. USA and rights. Is there a bad side? Of course, if you teach it in an intolerant manner but there is also the good. Indonesia is still a united nation, Cuba has one the best health-care systems in the world and a 97% literacy rate and Americans will do anything to protect their rights.
This isn’t such a new proposal for PNG, right before and after independence there was a lot of national pride, a want to benefit the nation, a sense of opportunity, hope, a love of this country that went beyond the current ‘ples ya’ which implies that whilst there is so much wrong with PNG we love it because it’s home. This shouldn’t be the case, we should love it because of all that is right, not for purely sentimental reasons but because it is a land of opportunity because it is the land of the ‘free and the brave,’ because we built this nation and we are proud of what it is and because we follow through with everything. Because nothing is ever done until it’s done. Because we have an accountable and transparent government. Because we are not downtrodden desperate people but a proud forward-looking nation. That should be why and if this feeling isn’t going to come around naturally then we create it, we teach it and we preach it. We embed it in the minds of the next generation and along the way we come to believe it ourselves. It could happen.
On a side-note: All hail Powes Parkop for getting in there and showing people how it should be done. This my friends, is what a politician in a democratic system is about, just in case anyone needed clarification on that point.
