Been a long time!

R

R

Cheers,

Nick Reese

I suppose it is horses for courses. Some people find the place enchanting (and I am/ was one of those), but enchantment is not quite enough. Sooner or later, one has to find satisfaction, contentment and decency, all of which both can be sometimes hard to find in PNG, simply because of a society which reduces all of those qualities.

I am thoroughly sick of hearing of some churchgoer, who when the pastor regales the congregation with the evils of having sexual relationships in the family, nods wisely with the congregation, and then proceeds straight home to have sex with his 9 year old daughter.

Of course, the geography is world class, and I count so many great days looking at the limestone cliffs of Chimbu, the azure blue waters of the Trobriand Islands. But the best views in the world do not mitigate against the person who has just removed K5,000 from the joint bank account.

I am envious of those who can stick it out here, what with the persistent stealing, robbery, betrayals, deals going bad, pervasive and persistent mis-trust, and the unrelenting “moni cum” chant.

I will be leaving happy with what I did, unhappy with what I did not achieve, but I can rest my head on my pillow that I did not rip anyone off, steal from a person’s wallet, or betray a friendship.

Man will always self preserve, and that’s what I am doing.

Good luck with what you are doing.

The whole country is rotten with theft of all kinds and at all levels, and by all sorts of people. I really do not like my use of the word “whole” because it implies everyone, but sometimes it seems that way.

Just look at the politicians, who must be the masters of stealing. What we read in the media is probably one fifth of what is stolen.

What is the fascinating bit is that there seems to be no compunction or remorse felt in stealing, even when is from close family members. And the good churchgoers seemingly forget the eighth commandment when they pocket ill gotten gains.

I have lost many many thousands of kinas worth of personal goods and money.

My PNG partner has over the years systematically milked joint bank accounts. The only solution for me was to have my own bank accounts.

I too, have seen many white men come to this country only to leave with the shirt on their backs, and the only reason they kept their shirt was that they slept in it the night before their go pinis flight !

They have paid school fees for so many children, provide for and nurtured them, and yet still the stealing and lying continues.

Never go into business with a local. Never put a telephone on their desk with international access. Never have joint bank accounts. Never give them a computer with internet access.

Luckily, my time is coming to an end in PNG. I am not bitter – I went into it with my eyes open – but I am a wiser man today. I did re-arrange my financial affairs some time ago, and that saved me.

Nick got it right – travel lightly and leave any valuable and sentimental items back home, including your emotions.

I found the secret was to be friendly and approachable, but after many betrayals, I gradually placed a small distance between myself and most of the locals.

I see many Australians who opted for PNG citizenship, and are bitterly regretting it now. Many have asked me for a glowing reference to support their re-claim of Oz citizenship. I am always glad to help – to see an Australian regain something of a life again. They realised some years after getting PNG citizenship, becoming a Papua New Guinean ensures that you are on the slow road to destitution.

The sad thing about all this is that Papua New Guineans can be some of the best people I have met in my life, and I count many great friends here – it’s just that they cannot be trusted, so I leave any trust out of my friendship equation with them. If there is any money involved, I manage it to my rules.

Need some rice ? – no problems – come with me to the store and we will buy the rice – but no, I will not give you the money.

School fees to be paid ? -no problems – give me the name and telephone number of the school, the completed enrolment form, and I will confirm all that. I will also visit the school. When I am satisfied all is kosher, I will deposit the fees to the schools bank account. And no, you will not be given the cash.

PNG is a great country. There are many beautiful people here, and they deserve a better life than they are currently experiencing. But trust seems to have flown out the window, and this causes such hardship.

And just to finish, be a little wary of some of the whites (thankfully a small number). Some of them are only marginally better than the locals.

The way I am starting to see things and relating it to the story about the 2x bags of rice never quite reaching your mate’s dad…. it is very plausible that the old man actually lied to you and that in fact he did receive the 2x 5kg bags!

R

I stayed at a mates village about ten years ago, and when I got back to the nearby town I bought two five kilo bags of rice and gave them to my mates brother to give to his father as a thankyou gift. The father later thanked me – “thankyou for that one small bag of rice”.

This is also the reason for when I lived in Honiara I made sure I owned almost nothing except a few household items. It just goes with the territory. It’s also why government just doesn’t work without corruption (If I don’t steal it, someone else will!!).

“Nothing tastes better than stolen pig-pig”