I read with interest the last two articles about “Poverty in PNG” by Dr R.M. (Mike) Bourke in The National.
The first article, I would say, stirred some mixed feelings about the issue and some one did hit back at the Doctor in the same paper some days later.
So Dr Bourke wrote a second article entitled “The poorest people are found in the rural areas of PNG”, a well researched paper coming from an outside observer who has lived and studied human geography in PNG for some time now.
Although poverty is not something many in PNG would want to openly talk about, it’s a reality in the lives of many Papua New Guineans.
So while Dr Bourke was analyzing the issue of poverty in PNG based on the realities facing the PNG people and the findings from years of studying human geography in PNG, the insider criticized him saying that he was an outsider and how would he know what he was talking about and went on to imply that money is not really important in the rural areas or wealth in the rural areas was based on how many pigs you have or how well you can make a garden and all the other traditional rituals that Papua New Guineans have been holding onto for hundreds and hundreds of years.
So what made Dr Bourke’s articles a good reading?
It was the fact that PNG is richly blessed with all sorts of non-renewable and renewable resources yet not all Papua New Guineans will ever live to realise either personal wealth and or community development as far as wealth distribution is concerned.
I mean we have oil, gold, diamond, copper, tin, silver, natural gas, geo thermal energy, wind energy, wave energy, hydro energy, fertile soil for cash crop commodities, such as coffee, copra, cocoa, vanilla, we have timber and marine resources, what else do we have…yet PNG people are so poor in their own country.
But here is another perspective of this issue. Over the years Papua New Guineans have generally become lazy. Lazy in saving money, in learning how to invest in their own personal wealth, in working hard to achieve success in their personal lives, in their own personal development, and in a lot of things that affect their livelihood, that is why Papua New Guineans are poor whether they are living in the city and towns or in the villages.
Success leaves clues, yet Papua New Guineas are gullible to get-rich-quick pyramid schemes like “money rain” and the likes of them, they would rather sit down and rely on Government hand outs, or drink booze every weekend and be merry, or gamble their paycheck at the horse race, pokies, bingo, and just loaf around watch movies all day and be useless, or just talk about other people and small petty issues, wasting time on work politic and universities politics, and all the negative things that do not add to their lives, and not even taking action to do something positive in their lives.
Just observe the Asian business community in PNG. While a lot of Papua New Guineans are suffering in their poor state of mind. They are working hard from scratch and through team effort within their community to build a striving business. You would not dare to open a tucker shop down the road in a not so safe neighborhood but they would. They are not only established only in the towns and cities, mind you, but they are also operating at the fringes of the rural communities.
My point here is that there is money floating around in this country. Money is being made every day and every where in this country. Take a good look around you and grab your share if you so desire. Be bold and stake your claim.
But I guess not many Papua New Guineans are conditioned to see the opportunities around them and do not try to make an effort at building personal wealth.
Some one said that you can not change people but people can change themselves.
Until the people of PNG become aware of the importance of their own personal and financial development and take responsibility for their own actions, no matter how much hand out the members of parliament give to their people, no matter how much the economy has improved and not matter how much money is floating around in PNG, many people in PNG will still remain poor.
Why have many Papua New Guineas generally become lazy to make a success of their lives? Leave me a comment with your thoughts.
Labels: Lifestyles