Written by Haihavu Pairava
This was a conversation told to me by a close acquaintance of mine. It explains the views of a Malaysian contract officer, regarding Papua New Guinea. I have found it to be quite an interesting perspective from a foreigner living in our country, it comes with numerous gems of truth, and in your face reality that specifically pertains to our attitudes towards the wealth that we take for granted - at least those of us that have the means to affect positive change. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it.
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Baba has worked for most of his life in Port Moresby. His Job as a copy-print technician has brought into his field of experiences various personalities that populate the offices of Government Departments, Non-Government Organisations, Schools, Business houses and even the homes of the self-employed. Suffice to say, the nature of his chosen vocation has allowed him to meet people of all stations and ethnic backgrounds, and has given rise to numerous instances of interest.
On one such occasion, upon attending to a service call, he vividly recounts a conversation he had with an employee of a Malaysian company operating in Port Moresby
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The day was hot, and the air-conditioned office- apartment was a welcomed respite from the glaring white heat of mid-morning Port Moresby. There to meet him at the office reception was a youngish looking Malaysian man whom Baba estimated to be in his early to mid-30s.
He led him into an inner room which was divided into the office kitchen on one side and the obvious copy room where the reported malfunctioning printer was stationed. Baba soon got onto it and before long he had identified the fault, but knowing that this job would be charged on an hourly rate and that his pickup would not be due for at least another hour, he decided to stall his timing at least until his driver had returned. As the minutes drew on, Baba decided to strike up a conversation with his host, who apparently had nothing better to do than to sit idle under the booming AC unit and watch his progress.
“So you’re from Korea mate” said Baba as he worked at replacing some plastic gears. He knew the man wasn’t Korean, but he decided to play the dumb card as his first hand.
“Do I look like I’m Korean?” Came the reply. There was nothing indignant in it, save for an expressive tone of amused bewilderment.
“Oh I don’t know, you all kind of look the same to me. Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Filipinos, Indonesians, Malaysians….” Baba spoke with a slight grin that just as suddenly change into his serious poker face.
“You know, I could say the same for you” came the Malaysian’s reply and this with just as much seriousness as Baba.
“Keremas, Sepiks and Madangs, Centrals and Milne Bays and Manusians, Morobes and West New Britains, East New Britains and New Irelanders and Bougainvillians, Chimbus and Gorokas, Hageners and Wabags, Helas and Mendis”.
“Sounds like you’ve been around” said Baba, as he continued to examine the cogs that made up the internals of the malfunctioning copy machine.
“Oh yes I have at that” came the Malaysian’s reply followed by a long silence that made Baba stop and look up from where he was just to see if the Malaysian was still there.
“And let me tell you, of all the countries I’ve visited there is nothing that can come close to the beauty of the land and people of Papua New Guinea”
Baba wasn’t sure what to make of this statement. Apart from realising that it made him self-aware of the fact that he had lived for the most part of his 30 something years in Port Moresby without having to see the “astounding beauty” that this well-travelled foreigner was speaking of.
“The first time I came to PNG, I flew in from Malaysia. Arriving in Port Moresby the first thing that took my attention was not the people, or the city itself but the hills. You see where I come from, there are no hills. It’s relatively flat, and every place you go looks like the place you just came from, there is not much by way of diversity and it’s really not all that people make it out to be”.
“But what about all those places” said Baba pointing to the wall of Malaysian tourism promotional posters
The Malaysian Laughed “That’s just about all we have, and what we have is fairly limited. Like I said every place you go is just the same as the place you came from – There is nothing dynamic or diverse. It’s all monotonous in nature”.
“And PNG isn’t”?
“Most definitely not. You know the saying expect the unexpected in PNG?”
“Who doesn’t”
“Well those words have never been truer than when making reference to PNG. This is truly the land of the unexpected. I can tell you many stories of my experience on how the land and people have lived up to these words.”
“Well now you’ve got me curious.” Said Baba looking up from behind the printer / copier
“Please, tell me some of your experiences”
The Malaysian sat up thoughtfully before continuing.
“There was this one time when I was assigned to take some cargo up to a logging camp somewhere in the hinterlands in the western part of the Gulf Province. Normally we would’ve jumped on to a chopper but we had heard that the company barge was docked up river near the closest district station so that’s where we stopped.
At that time the crew were in the process of negotiating with the locals on transporting their copra and buai down to Kerema upon our return. I had only just arrived in time to load my cargo on the barge when I was approached by a young villager carrying the largest Barramundi I had ever seen. From the looks of it, it was a fresh catch and it was longer than my arm and far heavier than I would give credit for. I expected the young man to bargain with me to buy the fish – I suspect he saw the look of interest I gave it. But unexpectedly he offered it to me, his only compensation the unopened packet of Marlborough’s in my left shirt pocket”.
“That’s a good story” said Baba as he proceeded to close up the machine for a test run
“But that doesn’t explain the idea of expecting the unexpected”
“Not if you knew the value of what was exchanged” replied the Malaysian as he rose to prepare two cups of Coffee from the percolator.
“You have to understand that I come from a country where nothing is for free. In the least the exchange would have been regarded as highly unfair and unbalanced, a whole barramundi for a packet of smokes hardly constitutes an exchange of any worth, not in this day and age. In my country, a fish of that size and quality would have cost me a considerable amount of money. Most notably for a packet of cigarettes, I would never have received an entire fish even if it was a tenth of the size of the one I was given”.
“If you’re saying, that Papua New Guineans are very generous by nature, I can attest that this is hardly the case.” Baba was sure the Malaysian was making it up, but then again, why would someone he had just met make up a story like that?
“I know many Papua New Guineans who would’ve bargained for more if it were them – I know I would’ve”
The Malaysian only smiled as he poured two cups of coffee with sugar and cream and then placed one on the table nearest to Baba, of which he nodded his thanks.
“I have also noticed that the views of people change when the environment changes. You live in the city, where there is a price on resources, here money is King, and I can only assume that those you are referring to also live in the city. But out in the bush where there are no shops and kaibar, clubs and discos there is no use for money or in the very least, its relevance reduces the further one moves away from the Urban areas. But in saying this, the further one moves away from the relevance of money, so too do we see an increase in the relevance of natural wealth, this being the wealth taken from the land, the sea and wealth of tradition. This is truly where your strength lies as a people”.
“You asked me if I thought Papua New Guineans are generous by nature, I tell you yes. Generosity is not a sign of pride of wealth – rather, it is an indication of wealth. After all, why would anybody be so generous in giving if they didn’t feel that they already had more than enough to give – in such a case a packet of cigarettes would have been a most notable gain for the simple villager”
“You have a point there, I’ll give you that” said Baba as he rose to take up the hot cup of coffee.
“So then” continued the Malaysian,
“Then there is the issue of the 98% ownership of the land by the people. I know of no other country that has allowed as much, in almost all cases the land belongs to the state, and it is the state that decides what happens to the resources and people found on-top or under it. Papua New Guinea is the only country I know of that has a strong customary tie to the land that has been recognised in your constitution.
If anything I would have to say that your founding fathers saw far enough to realise that this is where the key to your success as an emerging nation would come from. The ownership of the land and its resources.
“Yes but even so” said Baba taking a sip from his cup -
“There is still nothing that we as a people have to show for. We are only land owners because we say we are – but in actuality, the government holds all the cards”
“That is true, but only to a certain extent. As an outsider I can see a number of abnormalities in the way you are governed”
“Abnormalities indeed, that’s one way to describe it” scoffed Baba "But please continue"
“Firstly, you have weak leaders”
“I won’t argue with that”
“Your leaders are more inclined to holding office for as long as they can rather than delivering services. Secondly you all seem to think that the Australians hold the key to your future when in truth all they care about is sucking you dry”
“I could say the same for you Asians” retorted Baba
“Ah but at least we don’t hide our intentions. We are clear about what we want and how we are going to get it”
“Thirdly most Papua New Guineans are gullible, even the ones that went to universities on the outside – you people think of getting rich quick by using the system that your former colonisers designed specifically to suck you dry. That is why your politicians are so easily corrupted simply because they fear that putting the effort to do the right thing by you, will result in them losing their opportunity to get rich. That and the fact that they hold such low moral standards both in public and private. But these problems are not unique to just one social class, or even to PNG, it stems from the very top down to the very bottom of your society. It was a disease that was injected into you by the white man for his gain and not yours”.
Baba nodded thoughtfully, thinking deeply on the Malaysians statement.
“And where do you Asians fit into all this – what role do you play in all our progress or our demise?”
“We see the abnormalities, the gaps that you yourselves create as a result of listening to the Westerners, and we capitalise. That is why you see an influx of Asians in almost every town around your country, even as far in as the most remote mountain range or lowland river systems. Where there is natural wealth to be extracted you will find us, where there is money to be made you will find us – you yourselves have the propensity to do exactly what we are doing, but you have been brainwashed into believing that your opportunities lie in your cities and towns, when the truth is your wealth lies freely for you in your own traditional lands. You think that you can go to school and become doctors , lawyers , engineers , politians and businessmen and affect change by remaining in your cities and towns, all the while outsiders have short-cut your opportunities and have gone straight to the source of your wealth your Traditional Lands and have made unbalanced deals with your simple village folk, allowing them to take more than what they pay for”
Baba sat silent, pondering on what was discussed “What you have said, gives me nothing to feel good about – but it is the truth”
“And it will only get worse” Continued the Malaysian
“in 2018 you will be hosting the APEC summit. Imagine if you will, that not only will the leaders of the great nations be here to see and experience the beauty and the wealth of your country, but also a good many MNCs . If you think that you cannot stop all the negativity that is taking control of your beautiful land now, gods help you when these Corporations set their desire on acquiring your lands and your resources if they haven’t begun already”.
“You mentioned something about the government holding sway to an extent, can you explain further on this?”
“As I have said, the true power lies in the silent majority. The Landowners in which your constitution speaks exclusively on. The natural wealth of your country can be your blessing if you allow it, by developing your resources on your own, without the indoctrination of outsiders and the negative influence of the government you can free yourselves from the potential of perpetual enslavement.
But to do this, you need to be educated in the ways of the Westerners not just to understand them, but to understand how the system they created holds you down.
At the same time, you need to re-evaluate your Customary Laws not necessarily to change them but to organise them in manner that safe guards you and your children’s future. The secret is in the law not politics or economics but in the law. Your laws must reflect who you are. If they are not a reflection of your sovereign identity, then the chances are that they reflect those that would oppress you. Legality is not a matter of justice it is in fact a matter of power”.
“How is it that you seem to care so much for this country when you have readily admitted that you and your people are only here to maximise on our weaknesses”
“When I first came here, I was as fresh and as green as any young graduate, I dreamt of making my riches and going back home to my country to live the life my own parents could not provide me. But this land grew into me I had spent much of my time traversing the length and breadth of your country, I ate and slept with the people until at last I began to identify myself with the land.
When my contract had expired I was sent to another country much closer in culture to my own, but I felt like a stranger. Even when I returned home on my break I could not shake this indescribable longing for something. It was only when I had a chance meeting with a beautiful Papua New Guinean exchange student, did I realise what I was missing. I was homesick for a country that I wasn’t even born into, and she reminded me of everything I had left behind. She was even from the same place where a local family had adopted me, they even gave me a ‘Peles Name’ I felt it the highest honour anyone could’ve received. When I returned to PNG, it was with the girl who is now my wife. For all its issues and problems there is no other place that I would whole heartedly call my home.
It is a feeling that only a Papua New Guinea can understand – when you are a million miles away from home, you tend to think more of the simpler things that you took for granted, like the sunset over a seaside village, or the smell of mumu, or even the cool breeze that can only be felt on a misty mountain in the late afternoon – I tell you, this land, it quickens my soul ”.
The conversation with the Malaysian obviously had an effect on Baba. When next he saw me, he spoke emphatically about it, and as I listen quietly I too began to feel the urgency within.
“That’s amazing” was all I could say after he had recounted the conversation
“I know it sounds strange” said Baba, as he took a swig from his SP. “But then again what do you expect in the land of the unexpected?”
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