Tracing our freedom to the ancient Magna Carta

The spectacular Salisbury Cathedral - home of
the Magna Carter.

By Patrick Matbob
 
Papua New Guinea is among many countries in the world that have constitutions that guarantee their citizens basic rights and freedoms.
Since independence, some of these rights and freedoms have come under scrutiny by politicians who wanted to restrict them – especially the freedoms of expression and of movement. Fortunately this has not happened.
The freedoms we have gained have not come easily. We can trace their history back almost 800 years ago to what took place in Britain under the reign of King John. At the time, the king’s subjects objected to his oppressive demands on them by imposing extortionate taxes and severely punishing defaulters. Eventually, the barons rebelled against the king and took up arms capturing London in May 1215. They demanded a charter guaranteeing their rights and freedom and to protect them against the King’s arbitrary behaviour.
The baron’s forced the King to sign an agreement at Runnymede in return for their loyalty which became known as the Magna Carta - a Latin word meaning ‘Great Charter’.
The Magna Carta restored the rights and freedom of the subjects of the king and ensured that they were dealt with justly.
Over the centuries as the British Empire expanded, the Magna Carta became the basis upon which many constitutions and laws of liberty were framed in the countries throughout the world. These countries had ties with Britain such as US, Australia and Papua New Guinea.
Four copies of the original Magna Carta survive today. Two are held at the British Library while the others can be seen in the cathedral archives at Lincoln and Salisbury.
I recently travelled to Salisbury Cathedral to see for myself this historical piece of document.
The 750 year old Cathedral situated in the city of Salisbury is itself a splendid work of architecture and rich with history. It has a spectacular 123m high tower and spire, the highest in Britain, and its front walls are adorned with sculptures.
Built in early English Gothic style, it took 38 years to complete and is believed to hold the oldest working clock in the world (ca. 1386).
The Magna Carta is held in the Chapter House at the side of the cathedral which was originally the meeting place of the clergy.
It is beautifully written in Latin on vellum (quality paper) and contains some 3,500 words, many of them abbreviated, a line over the top of a word indicating where letters had been omitted. The seal of King John has not survived but a photograph of similar seal is also exhibited. Unfortunately, no photographs were allowed to be taken in the room.
While the articles in the Magna Carta addressed the situation at the time, two of them proclaimed the basic freedoms that we enjoy today.
Article 1 (translated) states that “all freedoms set out herein are given to all free-men of our realm, for us and our heirs forever.”
Article 39 says that “no Freeman shall be taken, or imprisoned, or be dispossessed of his freehold, or liberties, or free customs, or be enslaved or exiled, but by lawful judgment of his Peers or by the law of the land”.
The rights and freedoms these early Englishmen had fought for and achieved are now under serious threat. The modern world no longer respects the spirit of this ancient charter.
Since September 11 attack on the Twin Towers, the world has become obsessed with security issues. Governments have taken action to tighten security laws in their respective countries and some rights and freedoms enjoyed by citizens have become strictly regulated. In some nations security forces have been given special powers to detain, search and arrest persons.
Recently our Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare experienced this overwhelming fear and insecurity in Australia when he was subjected to body searches.
In Papua New Guinea the abuse of people’s basic rights and freedoms has been going on for some time. Take for example the body-and-bag-searching security guards at the entrance of some of our supermarkets. What law empowers these guards to conduct their searches discriminately usually against those who are powerless in society?
PNG is not alone. Similar actions are happening in the first world countries where people have been arrested and detained on suspicion of being ‘terrorists’. Some of these people may be innocent however, they have little chance of a sympathetic hearing because the world has been scared into thinking it is better to be safe than sorry.
The situation is not likely to improve especially now with the tensions increasing over the nuclear arms treaty issue.
The medieval barons who fought hard to achieve our rights and freedoms must be turning in their graves to see what is happening today.
The world still has its equivalents of King John today. They are the powerful who are trotting the globe and exerting their dominance over the world’s resources with little regard for the rights of others.
The powerless who have been condemned to suffer however, are fighting back. If there is going to be peace, then the rights and freedom of the oppressed have to be restored and respected.
Another ‘magna carta’ is what the world desperately needs today.

Voting in UK elections

Voting in UK elections

 

By Patrick Matbob

The card came through the post. It had my name and address on it, plus the electorate where I was residing – North Cardiff – and where the polling booth would be. It had instructions for me to show it to the polling officials when I go to vote on Thursday, May 5.

 

It must be a mistake, I thought to myself. I certainly can’t vote in UK. I am neither British nor a UK citizen.
Still I was fascinated and decided to ask my friends and lecturers about it. They were no help.
“Oh I don’t know about that,” rattled Claire a British lecturer when I asked if I was eligible to vote. She had not received a card either.
It must really be a mistake I thought to myself. Then I had this bright idea. I planned to go to the polling booth on Thursday May 5 and see what happens. If they reject me which I was sure would happen then the experience would make a good story. It would be better still if I got to vote.
Comforted in the thought of a good story, I prepared myself for the ‘election experience’.
The conviction that I was not eligible to vote in Britain or anywhere else in the world prevented me from finding out further why I had received the card.
Surprisingly, the person who knew more about the electoral laws in UK was not British, but American. Christine and I were together in a module for Reporting Business & Finance and one of our project was to debate the economic policies of the three major parties in UK – Labour, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. The project required us to do some research on the manifestos and policies of the three parties. While preparing for our debate, I asked Christine if she knew who was eligible to vote in the UK elections.
“If you are British, Commonwealth or European Union citizen,” she said without hesitation. I was astounded.
“Really?” I asked rather foolishly. Here I was a Commonwealth citizen and a journalist and I was unaware that I was eligible to vote in UK.
I was not alone in my ignorance. There were other Commonwealth and European Union students who were not aware that they were eligible to vote as well.
So finally I did what I should have done earlier – an internet search about my query. Sure enough. The electoral office in UK revealed exactly what Christine had said. I was eligible and it was not a mistake that I received my voting card.
As my embarrassment passed, my PNG election instincts took over. After all national elections are the biggest thing to happen in PNG every five years. While only 59 per cent of the eligible voters in Britain turned out to vote in the last elections, more than 100 per cent of the PNG eligible voters must have voted in the 2002 elections. They included the ghost names and all those who cheated and double voted.
For PNG journalists, covering the national election every five years is an exciting moment in their careers. No two elections are same and they create all types of stories - from the boring campaign speeches to bloody and fatal clashes between supporters of candidates. A reporter’s training in journalism ethics is tested vigorously by discreet offer of bribes, as well as invites to campaign festivities with all costs paid by the intending candidates. Nepotism reigns above professional ethics and journalists often do not know who to trust – the government officers, polling officials, the police or the candidates. Journalists also risk their lives when they are caught up in election battles.
But here in UK, the election was mostly a media affair. There were no posters smiling down patronisingly and defacing building fronts, light poles and tree trunks. There were no noisy floats blaring messages around the surburbs either – just orderly party rallies in buildings and chosen sites. Noticeably missing were the six to six beer parties with free barbecued lamb flaps and all night dancing courtesy of the local candidate. I asked the British students about these things hoping I could attend one but they looked at me blankly. Most were not interested in elections any way.
So I looked up the candidates for Cardiff North where I was going to vote. I was horrified. There were only five candidates! Five - I thought. What happened to the other 35? Surely there must be a mistake. Forty seems to be the popular number in PNG.
My next dilemma was who to vote for. I did not know the candidates and had to read the bio data provided. I decided to vote along party lines because party politics is dominant in UK. It had to be a toss up between Labour and Conservatives because Liberal Democrats were never really in the race.
That was the good thing about the pre-election polls in UK – you could generally trust them.
My leanings had always been towards Labour considering how well Britain had performed economically since Labour came into power in 1997. Like many other people though, my greatest disappointment had been Iraq. While Britain had every right to protect itself against terrorist threats, I felt this did not include having to follow Bush and wage war on a country of lesser military might. Thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians have been killed and massive suffering inflicted on those who survived. Of course, we know now Iraq never had weapons of mass destruction – so there was no excuse at all for the war.
On the other hand, the Conservatives were not an attractive alternative either. In fact, if it was not for Iraq, Blair would not have had to struggle in this election since Howard did not seem a popular choice for the people.
Another issue was the Conservative stance on immigration which while appealing to the right wing in UK, was not going to win any support from the Third World voters.
The party’s insistence on deregulation also revived painful memories of Thatcher’s free market policies. While the policy may have worked well in Britain which has an economy strong enough to cushion the effects of deregulation and privatisation, it spelt disaster for many Third World nations. This happened because Thatcher and Reagan’s insisted that the World Bank and IMF make deregulation and privatisation a condition for loans to the Third World nations. Hence, many third world countries were hit hard as the structural adjustment policies increased suffering by causing job losses, loss of food subsidies and increasing costs of basic services. In PNG privatisation remains a contentious issue.
So it was a question of choosing the lesser evil. I chose Labour mostly because the alternative was less attractive.
Finally came the big day on Thursday May 5. As I marched in to vote, I found the polling room empty except for the three polling officials. There were no scrutinisers, no armed police, no posters, no cordoned area, no queues and no-one hanging about! Amazing! I handed over my card, and picked up the ballot paper. I looked around for the indelible ink but they were none. The official just tore my card up and ticked my name.
Smiling sweetly at the polling official, I introduced myself and told her it was my first time to vote in a UK election and would she mind taking a picture of me. She and her colleagues were amused and happy to oblige.
Well Labour has won North Cardiff seat and I feel satisfied contributing my one vote worth.
As I sit here in my room, I wonder whether there can be some personal benefits for backing the winner. After all it seems to be a Papua New Guinean thing to do!
A job as a brief case carrier with the member perhaps? Or better still a ticket to the Carribean for the summer?

Bargains at Batas

By Patrick Matbob

Batas market on the PNG Indonesian border about 30 minutes’ drive from Vanimo town has become a popular place for people hunting for cheap Asian goods.
The market’s reputation has spread and people from Sandaun, East Sepik, Madang and other areas of PNG are flocking to the border. These people are not traditional border crossers and many do not own a passport, but are allowed temporarilyto venture a few meters into a foreign country to shop.

Wide range of snacks at Batas.

They are attracted by the goods, mainly electronic items such as television sets, stereos and mobile phones that are sold at bargain prices.
Curious about this market, I decided to see for myself the business that was going on there. Going to Vanimo from Madang was not easy, unless one wanted to travel by sea, which was not an attractive choice in December with hundreds of holiday makers. The next best option was to travel to Port Moresby then get a direct flight to Vanimo which was expensive but convenient. Cost for overnight accommodation in Port Moresby was solved when I met a close family friend, former PNG Defence Force commander Brigadier General Jerry Singirok (retired), who kindly offered his home. Next morning, I boarded my favorite plane; Air Niugini’s Q400 and jetted off to Vanimo.

As the aircraft approached the border town, I studied the scenery below me. It had been more than 25 years since I last visited and there were signs of development everywhere. Network of gravel roads crisscrossed the lush forests that surrounded the town showing that the logging was still the main industrial activity in the province.


Entering Indonesia at Wutung.

I disembarked at Vanimo airport with some apprehension as I had not planned my Batas trip due to some changes in travel plans that forced me to bring the trip forward. However, I had prayed earnestly for help and it seemed my prayer was answered. At the airport, the first familiar face I met amongst the crowd of strangers was a former media colleague Winnis Map. It just so happened that Winnis was now the coordinator of the Border Development Authority (BDA) and was travelling regularly to the border for business. BDA is the government body set up to develop the border areas of PNG providing infrastructures that would help authorities such as the Customs & Immigration, Foreign Affairs officers and security forces to do their work. And he was happy to help me with my trip as early as next morning!
I spent rest of Sunday attending mass and then wandered through the small town sightseeing in the blazing heat. There were changes with new buildings in parts of the town but the general layout remained the same. The new additions were a two-storey provincial government complex, a court house, an AusAID funded extension to the main hospital rated as one of the best in the country, an Indonesian embassy, new residential homes mainly linked with the logging industry, a new hotel and several lodges that have been established to cater for the growth of surfing in the province. The restaurant at the hospital served the best and cheapest lunches and is frequented by many customers.

After passing through the military roadblock, there were more surprises for me at the border post. The officer in charge of the border, Jacqueline Winuan, is a PNG Studies graduate of Divine Word University and it was good to see her after some years. And the customs officer there was a friend whom I had not seen for many years. After exchanging niceties, I was told to put my name on a form and join the crowd crossing to Batas.
Amongst the border crossers were the traditional crossers from Wutung who were crossing mainly to tend their gardens on the other side each day. These people have been victimized by the artificial border that cuts across their traditional land. Their daily activities pose a challenge for quarantine officers who have to check the garden crops they bring to and fro for insects, pests and diseases.
Walking the short stretch to the Indonesian border post, there were obvious signs that we were moving from one country to another. The most telling difference was in the design of the roads and buildings on the Indonesian side. There was the well paved road with high embankments and neatly paved foot paths on both sides that led all the way to the Indonesian post. The buildings at the post were ‘Asian’ in architecture with thick walls, steep red terracotta roofs that were fenced by solid concrete posts and picket fences. Unlike the PNG border post, all crossers were required to enter the building where two soldiers in military uniforms frisked each individual and checked their bags. Then you were allowed to emerge in Indonesia and stroll some 50 metres passing the well-guardedIndonesian military base at Skouwto Batas market.
Despite its fame, the market was no more than a clutter of hurriedly nailed together timber and iron roof sheds packed with cheap varieties of Asian goods coveted in PNG. On sale were clothing and household goods, electronic gadgets, TVs, a range of basic food items such as rice, flour, noodles and oil mostly sold in bulk, building and hardware materials and even a makeshift repair shop for motor scooters. One could bargain for the prices of goods which started at around K10. It was obvious that the Indonesians were after the stronger PNG Kina and in the absence of any currency exchange facilities, all items were priced in PNG Kina. It is still to be determined what exactly happens to the thousands of kina that goes across the border. But soon after my visit, the Bank of South Pacific in Vanimo ran out of cash because of the huge amounts being withdrawn and spent across the border.
During the weekends, the market is said to be packed with buyers and vendors however that day the market was not crowded. Yet there was a steady flow of goods being bought and brought into PNG over the border. PNG Customs charges a tax on each of the expensive and larger items such as TV sets, scooters, building materials and rice and flour bales. The PMV operators also charge a fee on each item. Even after the tax and fees, the items are cheaper than if purchased in Vanimo where prices are comparatively higher. PMVs wait in an orderly queue for goods to be loaded and taken back to Vanimo or the villages. On the PNG side of the border, a few stalls sold PNG goods that were in demand across the border. These include PNG tinned foods such as Ox &Palm, Besta and souvenirs. Otherwise, the business is one way with Asian manufactured goods flooding into PNG.
I also noted a bustling betel nut market set up by West Papuan people from Wamena. Wamena is in the highlands of West Papua and,like the highlanders of PNG, the Wamena people are resourceful and business minded. I was told that PNG betel nut was purchased and brought to Jayapura where it was packed and supplied to Timika at the large Freeport copper mine.
A notable Asian influence at the border is the growth in numbers of motor scooters as cheap transportfor Wutung and nearby villagers.
I bought some souvenirs for my children and a 4 gig flash drive which cost roughly the same in PNG. I had to ask specifically for an empty flash drive as most flash drives sold there are loaded with popular PNG music and are part of the piracy racket that has badly affected the local music industry. With my few souvenirs, I headed back across the border for the long trip home.

Cult leader Tari escapes again

Cult leader Steven Tari was among more than 40 prisoners to escape from Madang prison recently. This is the second time Tari has managed to escape from authorities. Tari who attracted international attention after calling himself 'black Jesus' was serving a 20-year prison term for rape. Below is the story of his sentencing in 2010.

 

By Patrick Matbob

December 2010

The PNG cult leader whose notoriety and claims had captured international attention two years ago is now behind bars.

Steven Tari who named himself ‘Black Jesus’ was sentenced to 20 years by a PNG national court after being found guilty of rape.

Tari was able to avoid a crushing sentence of 52 years after the court presiding judge Justice David Cannings reasoned that it would be ‘tantamount to imposing a life sentence’ on the 35 year old.

He had raped four teenage girls who were part of the 63 ‘flower girls’ in his ‘Culture Ministry’.
It is believed he had sexually abused many of the girls but the state was only able to get four of the girls in the remote mountains of Madang to testify against the cult leader.
He was also suspected of being responsible for the deaths of two young girls allegedly killed in a sacrificial ritual. But the PNG police could not get any witnesses.
Tari’s claim to the title ‘Black Jesus’ attracted the interest of international media, including the BBC which considered documenting his story. However, the provincial government did not give permission because of the negative publicity.
Throughout his three-year long court case, Tari had maintained he had done nothing wrong and was only following the laws of his ‘ministry’.
He told the girls then aged between 15 and 17 that they needed to have sex with him in order for them to go to heaven.
The court found that the consent that each victim gave was not free and voluntary and Tari had abused his position of trust, authority and power.
Tari was raised by his mother and stepfather after his biological father had divorced his mother.
The judge described his upbringing as unstable after Tari told the court that as a child he was a ‘street wanderer’.
His formal education went as far as Grade 5 although he had tried to do some training as a Lutheran church pastor at a bible college in Madang. However, he left the college and went into the mountains where he began his cult activities.
Tari’s cult activities were revealed in 2005 when his followers numbering in the hundreds had clashed with the local people in the mountains of Madang.
The conflict resulted in two villages razed to the ground and hundreds of people fleeing for safety.
According to police, Tari had teamed up with some prison escapees who supported him in his work.
Initial attempts by the police to capture him failed due to the rugged mountainous terrain where he was operating.
Eventually, one of PNG’s top police officers with specialist counter terrorist training planned and carried out a successful operation capturing him.
Tari was locked away awaiting court appearance when he managed to collude with a probation officer, who was a Lutheran Church pastor and a secret follower of the cult.
The pastor managed to convince the court to release Tari under his care while waiting for trial.
However, Tari and the pastor disappeared into the mountains. He remained elusive until March 2007 when eight village men were secretly paid by police to set upon him while he was asleep and captured him.
He was trussed up like a pig and carried over the mountains and handed over to the police. He was locked away securely until last month when he was sentenced.
 Tari’s last word to the court when asked to speak was to warn that there would be a World War III.

 

 

 

Subam, Sanguma and the sounds of the 80s

By Patrick Matbob

The death of Tony Subam; musician, composer, arranger and the leader of PNG’s 80s contemporary ethno jazz group Sanguma has focused attention on the achievements of this unique music group more than 20 years ago.


Late Tony Subam: leader of Sanguma.

The group’s beginning is synonymous with the birth of a new nation some 40 years ago. It was a time when Papua New Guinea was preparing for independence, and looking to forge a nation out of hundreds of tribes, languages and cultures. The architects were also conscious that this process could cause the loss of the rich cultural heritage that the new nation possessed. To help ensure the preservation and development of the traditional cultures, institutions were set up and funded to carry out the work. The institutions set up under the National Cultural Council of PNG included the Institute of PNG studies, Skul Bilong Wokim Piksa (Film institute), the National Theatre Company, and the Creative Arts Centre (later renamed the National Arts School). Today only the Institute of PNG Studies, the National Film Institute and the National Performing Arts Troupe remain. The Art School which is now a part of University of PNG offered two basic courses – fine arts and music. It was from the music school that Tony and Sanguma would emerge.



Tony made an immediate impact at the National Art School in 1977 together with fellow students who had formed Sanguma. Sanguma was the ensemble through which the students could express their musical creations. Two of the founding members Thomas Komboi (trumpet, composer/arranger) and Sebastian Miyoni (composer/arranger) would remain with him. Other key members who joined later were Buruka Tau (keyboards), Raymond Hakena (drums), Aaron Murray (composer/arranger, flute), Apa Saun (bass), Paul Yabo (composer/arranger, trumpet) and Leonard Taligatus (lead guitar). Other musicians who performed with the group at various times since 1977 were Peter Piruke, Jessie James Pongap, Bill Stevens, Robinson Guta, Hilary Laris, Josepha Tamelagai and guest musicians Les Maclaren and Rick Halstead.

Sanguma in the 80s.

Sebastian Miyoni, a pioneer Sanguma recalled that Madang was one of the first province’s that Sanguma toured in 1977 soon after it was formed. “We played during the Maborasa festival at Laiwaden oval”.

Tony who had grown a distinct dreadlock was a standout figure on stage during the group’s 1977 independence celebration tour that inspired many young Papua New Guineans. His recreation of the popular traditional Madang songs like Rorombe and Naiyo, Naiyo from his mother’s Yabob village with a blend of modern and traditional musical instruments left a lasting impression. Equally was Komboi’s Morobe arrangment of Spangane.

The PNG education department was encouraging traditional cultures and songs to be taught at schools in keeping with the growth of a new nation, and Sanguma’s fresh approach to adapting traditional PNG music fired the imagination of many. For the generation of the time, Sanguma was comparable to the famous British Afro group Osibisa whose music was a fusion of African, Carribean, Jazz, Rock and R&B. Aaron Murray later contributed Yalikoe, Wanjo and other compositions that also became the signature songs of Sanguma. These songs had commercial value if they could be rearranged into the popular genres of the time. Black Brothers of West Papua demonstrated this when they rearranged Yalikoe which made it on the British Disco charts in the early 80s. However, this was not the aim of Sanguma, who only released two recordings as a group through the National Broadcasting Corporation. A demo recording done in the early 80s in Sydney of Pongap’s Namilai definitely had commercial prospects however, the group never pursued it.

The western musical instruments that the group used included keyboards, brass, flutes, drums and electric guitars. The PNG instruments were Manus garamuts, Bougainville bamboo trumpets, panpipes, Sepik bamboo flutes, kundu drums, shakers, rattles and highlands kuakumba flutes. Subam’s arrangement of the kuakumba piece with keyboard accompaniment remains a classic. Their musical arrangements included experimenting with complex jazz harmonies and rhythms as heard in Miyoni’s Garden Song.  At the height of their fame in the late 80s, Sanguma had developed into a class of its own incomparable to anything PNG had ever produced. International music critics had problems identifying their music, or fitting it into any popular western music genre. Writers often dubbed their music as a fusion of ethnic jazz rock. Members of the group when asked to describe their music would simply reply ‘Sanguma’. 

For their graduation in 1980, Tony and Sebastian would release two suites through CHM studios in Port Moresby. Tony’s work was based on the legend of Honpain, the spirit woman who created pottery for the Yabob people where Tony’s mother comes from. Sebastian based his piece on the exploits of his Milne Bay province’s powerful witches.

Besides Sanguma, Tony had contributed immensely to the development of PNG music over the years. Little known is his involvement in writing and recording the sound track for PNG’s first feature length movie Marabe produced by the PNG government. The use of traditional instruments and percussions feature heavily in the film with the most memorable piece being Marabe’s farewell written by Sebastian Miyoni featuring Aaron Murray on the flute and Tony on the classical guitar. Tony was also one of the principal writers of “Eberia” the stage opera by one of PNG’s great actors William Takaku. He also wrote music for “My Brother, My Enemy” with Sebastian which was a play about the West Papuan independence struggle. He also wrote music for John Kasaipwalova’s musical production “Sail the Midnight Sun” and co-wrote music for “Nights of Emotions” with Sebastian. 

When the PNG Government opened its new High Commission building in Canberra in the early 80s, Sanguma was invited to the ceremony. Tony wrote the song Welcome to the House for the occasion.

Tony was also passionate about the political and socio-economic situations in the country. After independence, he and fellow PNG artists would be affected by political decisions that were being made by the leaders of the time. One of the enduring decisions would be made by Prime Minister Sir Julius Chan in the early 1980s to cut funding for arts and culture because of the financial difficulties the country was facing. The National Arts School was going to be closed down however after strong protests by students and supporters, the decision was reversed. However, funding was cut back and the school was eventually taken over by the University of PNG.

 Tony would express his views on the impact of development on PNG and on political struggles of West Papua in another recording with Pacific Gold. This was a personal recording of songs he had written which were in English and had powerful personal messages and experiences. Among the songs was the track “Indonesia, leave our people alone” dedicated to the West Papua struggle for independence. Later he and Sebastian assisted in the peace process on Bougainville by organizing the youths around Arawa to perform the peace treaty song “Spirit of Love” written by William Takaku.

With Sanguma, Tony travelled the world performing in Germany, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the Pacific Islands and lived and performed in US. The group disbanded in 1989 which manager Peggy Reed attributed to “a split between the original members and the new comers”.

Tony’s influence was wider than often realised. He was an inspiration for his relatives in Madang which saw the growth of creative song writing and recording in the province. Musicians like his late nephew, Sandy Gabriel and Kales, Willie Tropu, Old Dog and the Offbeats and Demas Saul would emerge through Chris Seeto’s Tumbuna Track commercial studio. Today their ‘Madang’ sound has established itself amongst the popular PNG music.

Tony teamed up with the famous American guitar virtuoso Bob Brozman in 2003-4 to record East New Britain stringbands to produce the album Songs of the Volcano. He was also in Australia last year to run workshops on PNG music.

Early in December, Tony travelled to the Milne Bay islands to spend a few days with his Sanguma mates Sebastian Miyoni, Thomas Komboi and Raymond Hakena.

“We slept on the beach under the stars and open sky, reminiscing about the good old days, spoke about our families but not about Sanguma” Sebastian recalled. “Sanguma was going to be the topic for another trip, and sad to say that trip with our brother was the last trip that we shared with him.”

“Our bond is much closer than his (Tony’s) own blood brothers”, said Thomas Komboi who helped formed Sanguma. “When we are on stage, he is always at my side … everywhere in the world we go … ”

Tony is survived by his two partners and five children, four boys and one girl. He was head of the music strand at the University of PNG at the time of his death.

Tony was laid to rest on tiny Mareg Island at Yabob amongst many of his maternal ancestors.

Landowner factions likely to clash over PMIZ development plans

By Patrick Matbob

 PNG government’s determination to push ahead with the development of the Pacific Marine Industrial Zone is likely to cause a clash amongst landowners if outstanding issues are not adequately addressed.

Minister for Trade, Commerce and Industry Richard Maru has been talking with a faction of the landowner group that has instigated court proceedings to halt the project,

Entrance to the PMIZ project area that remains undeveloped.

but has not included the landowner umbrella companies set up under the Somare regime.

The two umbrella companies, Rehamb and KIL, have questioned Maru’s meetings with the landowner faction represented by plaintiffs Frank Don, Francis Gem and Bager Wamm. Chairmen of Rehamb and KIL Alfonse Miai and Rudolf Aiyu want to know what sorts of benefits have been given by the government to the three plaintiffs. The umbrella companies threatened not to support the project if the government ignored their existence. They said that Maru had ignored them in a December meeting and only met with the plaintiffs. They have instead called for an open dialogue with all landowners.

The project which the O’Neal government has decided last year to develop as a general industrial zone to cater for other economic activities with tuna as the underwriter, has been stalled by a court case taken out by a faction of landowners opposing its development.

Minister Maru has met with the three plaintiffs and asked them to set aside the court case and renegotiate the PMIZ deal. Maru has also arranged for the group to be taken to General Santos City in Philippines to see how a similar special economic zone project is run.

Maru believes the landowners have been misled by ‘environmentalists and greenies’ about the pollution that would be created by marine park.

“We want to prove to them that there is no such thing. We want them to look at big marine parks, like the one in the Philippines,” he said.

This will be a second trip of landowners to Philippines. In 2009, another group of landowners were taken to Philippines and the experience changed the views of all but one of the member to support the project. The lone group member opposing the project, Francis Gem, is one of the plaintiffs in the recent court case.

Meanwhile, Maru has announced that a France fishing company Sapmer-Piriou Joint Venture has been engaged to develop the project and will spend US$500 million to build a 300m long fisheries wharf, a value-added tuna processing facility, a 400m dry dock and a shipyard.

He said the project was significant because it would allow duty-free access into the European Union market for PNG canned tuna and tuna loins and create 2,500 jobs.

He said the company would also build the country’s first shipbuilding yard.

One of plaintiffs, Frank Don, said recently that they were prepared to ‘shelve’ the court case if the project was renegotiated to ensure that it benefited all the people in the project area and not just few landowner leaders.

He also said that they (plaintiffs) realised that the PMIZ land has become state land and therefore, the government had the right to develop it. He said however that they were concerned that the project would have a negative impact on the local people who still lived a subsistence lifestyle. He said the people have to be empowered so that they can be able to live with and benefit from the changes that would affect them.

Mihalic – wantok tru bilong PNG

 

Fr Frank Mihalic

By Patrick Matbob

On August 5 this year (2010)Tok Pisin newspaper Wantok will celebrate 40 years. Today many people know little about the history of this newspaper that has been informing and entertaining the grassroots population of the country.

, PNG’s popular

Wantok was the brainchild of Fr Frank Mihalic, an American Catholic priest of the Order of Divine Word Missionaries (SVD) who was tasked by the Catholic Bishops Conference of PNG in 1967 to start the paper. The first issue rolled off the press on August 5, 1970 in Wirui, East Sepik Province. The paper was one of a number of notable contributions that Tok Pisin language.

The 40-year-old Wantok niuspepa.

Mihalic has made to PNG in the field of education, health, media and in particular the development of the

The first edition of Wantok that Mihalic produced was nothing like the tabloid sized paper one sees today. It was an A-4 size with an intricately designed masthead and a logo depicting a handshake. Wantok literally means ‘one language’ and the word is used to describe a person from the same language group, or province or region.

Launch of Wantok in Wirui, Wewak. Mihalic (left).

 Wantok is however, not the first pidgin language newspaper in PNG. The first paper was Nu Gini Toktok which was often called the most smoked newspaper in the world! Wantok would later claim the title. Nu Gini Toktok was edited and produced in the 1950s by a Papua New Guinean, Muttu Gware, of Morobe province. Muttu was then working for a newspaper called the Times Courier in Lae.

Mihalic can however claim to be the first to produce a newspaper in the standardized version of the pidgin language which is now known as Tok Pisin.

Mihalic arrived in the country in 1948 soon after his ordination to priesthood. He was the son of a Pennsylvania railway man and was born on November 24, 1916. Mihalic was named after his father who was a man of Croatian descent and had a flair for languages. His mum was Slovakian.

Mihalic’s training included philosophy, theology, Greek and Latin and he also found time for medical studies at the Chicago College of Medical Technology.

His first place after arrival was the Divine Word Catholic Mission Headquarters at Alexishafen in Madang which had been reduced to rubble during the war. He wrote: “Our homes are like our Lord's tomb: close to the ground. They are ramshackle lean-to's of termited timber holding aloft a tin roof - for the time being. We have gunny sack walls and rainwater for drinking and washing. The work most of us priests did here over the past weeks was anything but clerical: overhauling jeeps, servicing diesel boat motors, hauling supplies by air and land and sea, setting up leftover army machinery and building.”

After some weeks he received his first posting as the parish priest at Marienberg in the East Sepik. Here one of his parishioners was a young boy named Michael Somare who later became the first prime minister of Papua New Guinea. He was later sent to the island of Kairiru off the coast of Wewak to rebuild the Catechist school there. He was fluent in Tok Pisin which was the language used for teaching at the time and developed his own teaching materials. He also obtained a license as a medical assistant and helped to provide health services to the people affected by numerous illnesses, particularly tuberculosis. He soon caught the disease himself in 1954 and was sent to a sanitorium in California where he was bedridden for 22 months. After recovering, he spent some more time learning to walk again. It was during his time in hospital that he turned to linguistics, and first began translating the New Testament into Tok Pisin. However, he abandoned the project when he learnt that the Lutheran Church had already started its own translation. Instead he started collecting a Tok Pisin lexicon which was to grow into his famous Tok Pisin dictionary and grammar.

As he recovered from his illness, he worked for some time as hospital chaplain, and in 1957, took the Norman, Oklahoma, Summer Institute of Linguistics course, for a formal training in linguistics. He also enrolled in the University of Michigan Graduate School and was given a teaching assistantship. In the meantime, he also published his dictionary and started work on his M. A. thesis. However, he was suddenly recalled to PNG and he left his studies unfinished. He moved to Enga where he was a parish priest until he was called to Rome in 1959 where he would be for the next 8 years. In mid 1967, the Bishops Conference of PNG asked him to come to start a Tok Pisin newspaper in the country.

He began in 1969 with no focus, no printing equipment and no media experience. He gained all three within a year. The offices were set up in Wewak and Frank trained the staff for the first issue himself. He explained: “Wantok is a typical Pidgin word which literally means someone speaking the same language. The word also implies being a friend, a chum, a confidant. We want the paper to be all those things to its readers.”

He added: “One of the things we are going to have to settle before we even start printing is the smokeability of the paper we are using. That will help to sell papers. People here have the custom of rolling their home-grown tobacco into cigarettes with newsprint. They don't like the usual thin tissue paper for roll-your-owns. It burns too fast. They like newsprint-but not every kind-it must burn a certain way and produce a white ash. So we are experimenting among our staff with various samples from the paper manufacturers. We want to make sure that we have the best smoking paper in the country. Then we can advertise it that way. And we’ll have to print a warning on the front page stating: PLEASE READ THIS PAPER BEFORE YOU SMOKE IT. Maybe someday we'll get into the Guinness Book of Records as the most smoked newspaper in the world.”

When Wantok moved to Port Moresby in 1976, it had become a weekly with a circulation of 9,000. Today it has circulation of 30,000 and a readership of 200,000. In 1979 Mihalic resigned as editor and spent a few years traveling through Papua New Guinea as a roving reporter writing feature articles for Wantok. Publishing had in the meantime gone to Word Publishing, a press sponsored by Divine Word Missionaries.

In the meantime Mihalic had revised his grammar and dictionary for the new Jacaranda publication, which appeared in 1971 and was reprinted many times until 1983. He also found time to translate the PNG Constitution into Tok Pisin, and in 1981 he was awarded the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for “services rendered to Pidgin in Papua New Guinea.”

Recognition also came from the University of Papua New Guinea which gave him an honorary doctorate of linguistics. While for some, the honors would have meant retirement, but there was no such thing for him. He was invited to join the newly established Divine Word Institute in 1983 where he set up the journalism training school within the Communication Arts Department and trained journalists for the next 8 years.

Mihalic recalled that when he first came to DWI, he did not possess any academic qualifications in journalism or its related fields. “All I had was 12 years of experience in newspaper editing, news gathering and reporting, proofreading, typesetting, page layout, advertising, distributing, photography and translation”. But that did not worry him to much. He was a practical person and believed in George Bernard Shaw’s philosophy that “those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.”

His journalism students found him to be one of the best teachers they ever had. One of his student recalled: “From Mihalic we learnt to be our own greatest critic. We were taught never to be satisfied with what we wrote and continue to rewrite because the story will improve each time it was rewritten. He showed us examples of how many times he had rewritten his own stories. He taught us to criticise each other’s work, the exact phrase he used was ‘tear it apart’, because then ‘you were really helping each other.’

Another wrote: “Fr Mihalic also taught us a lot by the type of person he was. His eyes almost always twinkled with humor. I had never seen him get angry. For him things either happened or did not. You won or lost. You succeeded or failed. So what’s the big deal he would ask? He would shrug his shoulder regretfully and say, ‘Oh shucks,’ and that was that”.

By the end of 1990, he retired from teaching at DWI because he said, “DWI had accumulated properly degreed and academically fine-tuned professors for my department so I yielded to them ...”

However, with his vast experience in journalism, he was still needed and returned to DWU finally giving his last lesson on August 7, 1997. He told journalism students: “This is where my teaching career ends.”

In 1994 Mihalic was in a reflective mood when he wrote modestly about his many achievements. He wrote: “Playing second fiddle, doing ancillary or supportive work has been the story of my life. It has meant being a stopgap to fill some temporary need, or being a spare part that either helps to start something or keeps it going. The euphoria of being continually needed could easily have inflated my ego had I not luckily chanced upon a very sobering biblical text. One day I looked up the word ‘need’ in my concordance and was shocked to find out that only once in the entire New Testament had the Lord ever said that he had need of anything. It was the time he was going up to Jerusalem. He said he had need of a jackass!

I took the hint. And ever since, Luke 19:34 has become my text. You will find it on my desk, scrawled across a snapshot of a genuine donkey patiently standing at the Damascus Gate”.

In 1999 he left PNG for the last time and in Port Moresby was fare welled by a large group of his former journalism students at a luncheon. He passed away in US aged 85 on December 8th, 2001.

Mihalic has made valuable contributions to PNG firstly in his role as a priest and pastor at the parishes he worked in, as a health worker, an author of 30 books, publisher of the first dictionary of Melanesian Pidgin and grammar, a mission teacher and journalism lecturer and mentor for 52 years.