The Masuros

The last time i bought a CHM cassette was a 'Demas Saul' album at CHM Kokopo in 2001. The reason: well it was mostly because i missed Madang so much after completing my 2nd year at DWU Madang...

Well this afternoon, close to nine years later, i bought another CHM cassette. This time it was cassette titled ' the Masuro's ' from the Madang Christian Book Store. They had recorded under the CHM label in Port Moresby. I had listened to one of their songs called 'Hobi Hobi' two weeks ago while was inside the store. I waited until i had some coins, which was like today, and then went to buy it. It wasnt cheap at K17.00 but hey, somehow i just wanted to have that cassette. The Masuros are a family gospel group from Garaina in the hinterlands of Morobe Province and were formed in 2002.

Having just listened to it now im impressed by the Donna Masuro, the lead vocalist. The musical arrangement is simple and the vocals are outstanding. The song 'Lovely Lord' is a song I've heard a long long time ago in my high school days by an American band called 'Petra' and it was good to hear it again. The other songs 'Hamamas long haus' , ' Hearts' , ' Hokeetemi ' and ' Gates ' are simple songs but Donna's voice makes it easy on the ears. The song 'Hobi hobi' is still my favourite and is sung in Pidgin and Garaina.

If you have the chance to, please buy their cassette becasue im sure you will really enjoy listening this lovely album.

Kumuls!

I sat on the floor looking at the tv screen. The Australian Kangaroos had beaten PNG Kumuls by 42 points. In rugby league terms, that was a total flogging.


I felt sad, angry, ashamed and even foolish. I wondered why i was so pumped at the start of the game, when the defence was outstanding and the big hits were bone jarring. I knew we had hope for an upset. When they got a penalty, i was elated. The referee was clinical but didnt have a feel for the match. I shouted everytime a huge hit was made on the kangaroos by PNG players. But by the end of the game, i felt deflated...why did i care so much for this rugby league team called the Kumuls? Did i have to feel so hurt and demoralised by the end of the game? Did it even have to matter to care?

Yes it did have to matter! We wanted to prove to the world again that rugby league was all about passion, bravery, camaraderie, skill and style. We wanted to show the world that this was our national sport, something that we cherished and to play for ones country was something to be cherished forever. We wanted to show these Australian 'professional' players who had huge salaries that money couldnt buy our love for 'the greatest game of all'. We wanted them to know we knew how to play the thinking man's game too. Above all, we wanted respect on the field.

But alas, we let the game slip out of our hands and got a 42-0 flogging. We were much better than that but we didnt get to show it. We let our mistakes ruin every oportunity we had.

I guess my post about the kumuls is a symptom of me wanting to see PNG succeed in sports at the international level. Over the years, there have been patches of brillance from individuals such Geua Tau, Ryan Pini and Dika Toua, Lynch Ipera but teams sports havent made their mark too often.

Success by PNG at the international level, in any sport, is and always should be our ultimate goal. Why? Because, as cliche as it might sound, success in sport goes a long, long way in uniting this country. The last time i celebrated and had tears in my eyes was when Ryan Pini won Gold at the Commonwealth games. He sure did make me proud to be a Papua New Guinean that night in 2006. We shouted and danced in the corridors and talked about it for days. That night was special for this country. I wanted all nights to be like that...

There are only a few sports that are played in almost all parts of PNG. Rugby league is one of them. For a sport that is well liked, it pains me to see us get 42 put aganist us.

To the Kumuls, we love you regardless because you wear the red, black and gold. Play strong in the next game against New Zealand and put some respectibility back into the jumper!