More on violence in PNG…

Regarding what would appear to be an “oversupply” of violent crimes in PNG, one needs to consider the fact that most crimes are for a reason. The random and opportunistic crimes such as hold-ups, muggings and break and enters, in my opinion are few and far between. In fact I would probably not be far of the mark if I said that my home town Sydney is far less safer and more violent than the big towns here in PNG.

I have now lived in Lae, on paper one of the most violent cities in the world, for the past 18 months. And I have managed to stay 100% safe. There is a commonsense to staying safe in PNG and most whites never cotton on to how. See, the whites do become targets – especially the
ones that remain isolated and segregated. In fact many of the ex-pats, the so called club types, the one’s on big salaries – automatically become targets. Not because their skin is white or even that they are loaded with cash – but simply because they choose not to interact.

Interaction almost guarantees one’s safety in PNG.

So in most cases and unless one is the reason for retaliation or so called payback – there is little concern. Some of the whities can get into deep waters when they sleep around with the local girls. The newspapers have reported ethic clashes in Lae this past week. Yes, the PNG men certainly know how to fight and in most cases are in their element when trouble appears. The thing is that the anger or violence is always directed at a person or persons and for a reason. So when these bush knife wielding Engans and Western Highlanders were marching through
town the other day and even if the two would have engaged in face to face fighting – a bystander would have been relatively safe – a word of warning though… one needs to watch out for those flying rocks – PNG men love to throw rocks when they fight.