16/09/2025
Happy Independence to you all, my beloved. Congratulations to one and to all for bringing the dream of Unity to become a reality.
It is hard enough when one language is spoken, let alone 800.
You are a part of a people who thrived in the Stone Age no more than 4 generations ago. You are second and third generation to the national founding fathers.
For the last 50 years, it has been your loyalty to this idea of self-governance and self-determinationāraising the Papua New Guinea Flag overhead, singing the national anthem, and pledging your allegianceāthat has allowed this idea to manifest.
So Yes! This is your day. Enjoy the festivities, dance to the music, laugh at the jests performed by our wantoks, cherish and learn the traditional recitals, insignia, and arts created for today.
Your contributions have brought this country through Floods and Famines, Civil War and Tribal Conflicts, Global recession, and Deadly vector-borne disease.
Any of these formidable enemies could have squandered such a frail thing as a dream?
Yet every day you and yours wake up, ready yourselves and present yourselves to making the dreams of a few the reality for many.
You are the product of a generation of young, educated leaders, saying yes We Can.
You are the product of an ancient civilisation that thrived in a challenging environment for eons prior to āCivilisation.ā
You are the product of people willing to fight to protect the lives of others.
You are the product of an ancient wisdom that there is enough for everyone if everyone is willing to work and look after each other.
We should feel proud of who we are and who we have become in our 50 years a Nation and 5 Millennia as a people.
Our history is bolstered by triumphs: becoming a leader amongst our Melanesian neighbours, hosting the South Pacific Games on three occasions, and being home to the biggest mine in the South Pacific, the Panguna Mine.
Our history has also witnessed us claiming some unwanted titles. We have fallen behind in many social wellness indicators, now lagging behind our Melanesian neighbours. We now host some of the most corrupt officials and systems, and we stand to receive a grey list rating from the World Bank. The mishandling of Panguna Mine led to a 10-year conflict & eventually the independence of Bougainville.
But yes, we should celebrate today because it is through each and every one of our efforts that we, and every other nation in this world, know we are Papua New Guinea: a sovereign, independent, self-governing Nation made of people who agree that WE CAN.
We are indeed so fortunate that our founding fathers in their youth wrote such a utopian and balanced constitution for us to model our systems and policies upon.
This constitution, lauded by many, has great relevance today as it did 50 years ago. It is optimistic and idealistic. The Aspirational Goals should be taught in Primary school.
1. Integral Human Development: To improve every person's life through development in its fullest senseānot just economic, but social, political, and cultural.
2. Equality and Participation: To ensure all citizens have an equal opportunity to participate in, and benefit from, the development of the country.
3. National Sovereignty and Self-Reliance: To protect Papua New Guinea's independence and promote economic self-sufficiency.
4. Natural Resources and Environment: To wisely manage and conserve PNG's vast natural resources and environment for the benefit of both present and future generations. This is a deeply held principle.
5. Papua New Guinean Ways: To achieve development primarily through the context of traditional, Indigenous values and customs.
It is about liberation and success for all.
But was it naĆÆve to think that all 100+ members of consecutive parliaments would take such a selfless approach to their duties?
Could it be an error to think public officers are more concerned with their take-home pay than women being murdered accused of sorcery, or teachers and doctors going without pay?
So, what happens when the face-paint has dried, the PA systems are switched off and the performance stages are dismantled? What do we do with all the decisions that have culminated in 50 years of stories, individual and shared, heroic and evil, liberating and oppressive?
Where do we go with our History?
Do you know which is the most important day of History?
Tomorrow is the most important day. For tomorrow you get to choose whether you repeat the mistakes of the Past or achieve the goals our mothers and fathers set for us. You get to choose whether to move the scales in favour of health and wealth for the masses, or less taxes for the corporate elite.
We as Papua New Guineans need to expect better! We need to know our constitution. Its preamble should be re-introduced as a compulsory subject in primary school. In high school, the legislation of the Constitution should be made an elective. (Disclaimer: I only had the opportunity to attend Highschool once, so I apologize if any other high school does offer studies of the PNG Constitution as an elective).
After 50 years of Independence, selling rights and leases to mine the resources of our terrain and waters, our government should be able to supply free, top-quality education to 4 million children of PNG annually. And even if they canāt afford to, they still should.
Our people and an educated workforce are the most valuable investment towards our future!
In a world full of fearmongering and rhetoric, itās hard to navigate who we can trust. People readily relegate themselves to the āHaves and Have-nots,ā the Left or the Right Wings, Conservatives or Liberals.
One thing for sure in the democratic world, especially a capitalist regime, is that most want to belong to the Majority and not the minority.
Let me remind all of you: all these groups and more are needed in our country, per the constitution.
However, if you are to be wary of and reject a group of people, fear the Corrupt!
Reject those who occupy office and do not execute its functions.
Call out those who charge unwarranted and exorbitant fees for services they are meant to provide.
Protest against those that grow fat on the suffering of others. Stand against those who sell Papua New Guinean territory for their own benefit and not for the people.
Challenge them with all the good you have at your disposal when you know their intentions are vile.
We shouldnāt fear anyone based on assumptions; allegations and charges must be backed with hard evidence. But with this evidence, donāt lie and donāt lie still. Mobilise and move against wrongdoers.
The minority we should fear are not Chinese, or European, not Highlanders, not from Milne Bay, not Islam or Westernersāand yet they could be.
Detest the person who insists on operating dishonestly.
Reprimand those who take every chance to inflate prices.
Serve justice on those who take from the many to enrich a few.
The Corrupt are the minority who pose the greatest threat to you and our beautiful country.
If you are one of this minority, The Corrupt. Shame On You! And itās not too late to change!
Choose the most important day in history to make amends.
Choose Tomorrow!
Lewa blo mi em stap wantem yupela olgeta. Yupela olgeta em stap insait lo lewa blo mi.
TC
