PNG Bloggers that I follow

s we come to the end of yet another week I would like to take a few moments to reflect on and acknowledge a few PNG bloggers and their blogs - ones that I regularly follow, read and if inspired drop in a comment or two.

Note that I have not personally met any of these fellow bloggers. Although I follow their contributions with anticipation and am slowly getting to “know” them over time through their blogs, they remain enigmatic and very much anonymous. Interestingly and in different ways I have grown to admire, respect and appreciate the contribution that they make to the community and ultimately Papua New Guinea as a nation.

Blogging for me has become an opportunity for creative expression; the online medium of the internet facilitates a sharing of my individuality with an amazing diversity and number of readers. All of the bloggers that I’m going to mention have achieved all of the above - each in their own way.

With many other quality PNG blogs out there - I would like to offer advance apologies to those I have omitted - I’m going to focus on just four - ones that I read/follow with authors that post regularly and also write on the subject of Papua New Guinea and its people.

#1 - PNG Gossip Newsletter

PNG Gossip Newsletter Home Page

The original! Around the scene long before many others followed. An excellent source of all things Papua New Guinean. Although technically not a Blog but a newsletter, it is rich in content and offers its readers quality and current information and facts on a diverse range of local topics. I 1st subscribed to the fortnightly newsletter back in early 2005 when I started lecturing at UNITECH and have followed Mr Giaman’s contributions ever since. Those that are privileged to get mention in the newsletter are guaranteed an instant surge of online visitors to their blog. Although I really appreciate the newsletter and acknowledge the effort that goes into publishing it - I remain curious whether we will ever see a “Giaman” blog emerge.

#2 - The Masalai Blog

The Masalai Blog Home Page

Mr Emmanuel! A great effort with his Masalai Blog. Although only around for a couple of years the blog has taken off like a rocket and picked up a hoard of followers, this can be attributed to the regularity and diversity of written articles. Emmanuel’s writing style and command of language on such a diverse range of topics - from Technology to Music and from Current Affairs to Sports, in my opinion makes his blog top notch! Although the blog is restricted by the fact that it is a hosted blog - I sense Emmanuel’s eagerness to test drive some of the functionality available to those of us fortunate enough to run a self hosted setup.

#3 - Malum Nalu

Malum Nalu Blog

Although Malum has only just arrived on the blogging scene he is an accomplished writer and a well known journalist in Papua New Guinea. His contributions over the past couple of months have been excellent. Malum’s articles are about Papua New Guinea and it’s people. His coverage of local history is the best I have seen to date and the photos that Malum publishes along side his articles are well worth checking out. A few weeks ago Malum ran a series of articles on Blogging in PNG and in my opinion these caused quite a stir. Also worth mentioning are Malum’s articles on IT and Technology. One little tip for Malum - the main page needs to be revised - it takes for ever to load.

#4 - Madang - Ples Bilong Mi

Madang - Ples Bilong Mi Blog

And last but not least is this magnificent blog called “Madang - Ples Bilong Mi”. I don’t even know the author’s name and only recently starting reading the postings but already I have become an admirer and fan of the bloke that describes his log as: “The Weblog of a Permanent Resident of Paradise”. How’s that for a description of the Land of the Unexpected! The articles in this blog are about everyday life and the author seems to have an uncanny ability to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. Simplicity, honesty and creative expression at its best - if I may say so. The author appears to have quite an extensive knowledge (and love) for plants, trees and flowers. Also worth checking out is the superb photography.

So there ya go folks - four PNG blogs that rock!!

And before I head of somewhere else - two tips:

1) Use a news aggregator to read and stay in touch with your favourite blogs. It’s going to save you a tonne of energy, reading time and kinas on ISP and Telikom bills. I subscribe to around 100 various online news feeds (including blogs) and it takes me about half an hour a day to get through all the posts. If you’re not sure what a News Aggregator is - check out Wikipedia!

2) Last tip for the evening is once you get a blog of the ground you better like what you are using because moving your content from one blog to another is hard yakka and it is’nt what I call fun. So to all those folks out there thinking about starting a blog - put some time and thought into your choice!!

NB: Eli is doing OK and should be out of Hospital some time over the weekend. Thanks for all your get well wishes - these have been passed on to my sweetheart.