Fern Ridge (Safla Rama) Digest

 Callan Services worker examines girl --courtesy of Callan Services   We hear little about the world of deaf and hard and hearing in Papua New Guinea. In recent times I was contacted by an old friend and colleague, Steven Wawaf Labuan. I was thrilled with the contact after so many years. Wawaf, as I had known him, was teaching linguistics as a tutor at the University of Papua New Guinea before he returned to the Morobe province. The first thought I had was that Wawaf had completed a book of poems chronicalling a bohemian life outside the corridors of high learning in the great grassland of Markham Valley. That was possible, rememberingWawaf as that radical poet willing to recite nationalisticpoems along side those streect preachers at the crowded Boroko commercial center. But not so, I would soon discover several emails later. Steven Wawaf Labuan is a different kind of poet altogether. He is someone who is more interested in working with teaching language to the deaf an...

The link between literacy and democracy in contemporary Papua New Guinea needs our attention at this time. The general election is around the corner few months away. Papua New Guineans will vote their favored leaders to represent them in the National Parliament. The election process is both cumbersome and challenging for most people. The educated ones will find the voting exercise meaningful and easier to do, but the majority of Papua New Guineans living in our rural villages will need more than a helping hand to participate in the election process. More than 50% of our people have no basic literacy to help them with the election process. Most times we assume they understand the meaning of, democracy, election, voting system, and what makes good leaders. Most people who vote do so because of what they understood as an important exercise in citizenry. Last Christmas students in some of our tertiary institutions used their vacation period to educate and inform their communities about...

I sometimes envy writers in our society who struggle so hard to have their writings published. I have been writing since the early 1980s through sheer conviction that what I do is for the sake of doing what I do best even without having to get paid for it. That conviction has led me to do extraordinary things and discover extraordinary people around the world. Over time I managed to have my own writings published around the world. I also managed to give readings of my work in PNG, Fiji, Sydney, Hawai’i, Canada, and Minnesota, USA. The life of a writer is never one that is static, but it is one that is full of creative spirit and commitment to transfer human thoughts to print with as much honesty, passion, and integrity. Writing helps a writer to breath life where there is no life, no conscience, and truth making. In the journey I made as a writer in this country I discovered interesting aspects of such a life. To write a good book takes many months or years before it is published. Th...

 Children need social protection   Social reform is very much a product of political will in any society. Many of the changes in our life-styles and way of life are by-products of our political will to participate in the changing world. The hard reality is that the wheels of change affect our lives no matter where we live in this country. The argument that our societies will remain unchanged has no loyalists in this country or elsewhere in the world. All societies change because of the need to or because of the political will exercised by its citizenry and political leadership. Others change unseemingly because of the innovation of technology and global movement of capital in all corners of the world. The challenge is fixed on the ability of the people to adopt to these changes. In so doing societies must develop visions, strategic plans, and road maps to take them down the road of progress. So often this means making sacrifices in order to fit into the scheme of things. The ...

For one year my family had no TV. The one we had no longer worked. Without a TV I found myself watching cheap pirated DVDs on the home PC. For news and other inforrmation I relied on the daily newspapers, radio, and other electronic media such as the internet and Face Book. I can easily get my news in seconds using the internet or on my mobile phone. Incredible, within one year the world of information was just at my finger tip—I didn’t have to wait until the 6.00pm news or for &.30 Report for my news. I depend on my traditional print media for other news and information. I walk every morning down to Waigani market and shopping centre to pick up my newspaper. In doing so I am also exercising and refreshing myself before tackling the challenges of the day. I’m usually up by 4.00am and by 6.00am I need an hour’s walk to and back from Waigani. There aren’t many people in the mornings so it is kind of nice. By the time I head back to my house I meet people making their way to work,...

  I was honored to speak at Waigani Primary School Speech Day on 08 December 2011. The following is an edited version of my speech. In his book, Change Your Thinking Change Your Life, Brian Tracy says: “You can learn anything you need to learn, to accomplish any goal you can set for yourself. This principle offers the way for you to take complete control over your future.” I urged the graduating students to take complete control of their life and future: “This is not an easy rule, but it is definitely simple,” as one would agree with Brian Tracy. Everyone can be anything they want to be once they have set their goals for themselves and work on achieving such goals. One of the greatest President of America, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, once said: “The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith.” In realizing our Independence some 36 years ago our founding fathers had no doubt about the futur...

I asked myself if the column I created is of any value to me as a writer. I have given a lot of thoughts about it. At first I wanted to close the window for ever.As it turned out the loyal followers of Steven’s Window seem unrelenting in that the window must open again. I did resist the temptation to open the window last year. This year is a new chapter in our lives. We have to pick up from where we have fallen and move on. The world is changing every second. So many things happened in the year 2011 that were not brought to those who follow Steven’s Window column. I was unable to contribute anything for the column. I watched, the world go by, beginning with the political whirlwind and change of regimes in the world: Egypt, Syria, Tunisia, Lybia; USA captures and executes Osama bin Ladin, earthquake in Christchurch, then Japan’s worst Tsunami and near nuclear disaster, and at the home front, the change of the guards between the Somare group and the O’Neill group, and the worst ever p...