Newspapers in PNG can reduce sports gambling among young people

 Gambling in many countries is often thought of as a form of entertainment, characterized by betting or wagering something valuable or financial such as money (WHO, 2024). The furthest I have delved into gambling may have been playing Bingo when I was in the village over the Christmas holidays. But believe me when I say that gambling has risen in Papua New Guinea especially among vulnerable groups such as young people (ABC Pacific, 2023).

Casino gambling came into the scene through the passing by PNG Parliament of the Gaming Control Bill 2007 that allows casinos and internet gambling in PNG (Rayel et al., 2016). Over the years, as internet became easily accessible, Papua New Guineans began to take up online gambling with some ordinary punters loosing up to K1000 (US$300) in a year on Australian National Rugby League betting application NRL 365 (ABC Pacific, 2023). In Australia, around 80,000 to 160,000 Australians experience problem or addictive gambling which includes a range of negative social outcomes such as criminality, housing instability, relationship problems, financial difficulties such as indebtedness, and domestic violence (Miller et al., 2014). This might be happening in PNG too though there is little research being done on this. In Australia, younger men are most at risk of falling into gambling because they are more exposed to sports betting normalisation processes such advertising during NRL games on TV or on social media platforms during sports updates (Seal et al., 2022).

Young people who are not careful can loose their hard earned cash to online gambling

However, the media can be an avenue to call out addictive gambling especially newspapers which can help vulnerable groups such as young people. Firstly, Miller et al, noted that newspapers should frame stories around gambling by including the voices of problem gamblers. While these problem gamblers might be reluctant to share their stories, at least the story begins the debate around reducing the addictive nature of gambling. Journalists have a responsibility to reduce gambling in our communities by finding problem gamblers or reformed gamblers and doing their stories. Secondly, another way to tackle problem gambling is to combat it with advertising. There is already evidence that advertising leads to increased risk of gambling (McGrane et al., 2023) so newspapers must turn this around by using advertisements to reduce addictive gambling patterns by providing strategies such as setting personal limits on betting (ABC Pacific, 2023). Who will foot the advertising bill? Miller et al (2014), pointed out that there must be collaboration between the media and health organizations to develop ways to financially back advertising against gambling.

Newspapers can be a used by public health organisations to reduce gambling among young people

So personally, I believe that if you have never tried online gambling, do not try it as it can become addictive and lead to social and health problems for you down the line. Even if you already began sports betting, seek to set a limit for bets or never bet more than you can lose. The PNG Government must also see this as a rising problem and find ways to address this before many more social and health problems arise.

 

References

ABC Pacific. (2023). Online sports betting is on the rise in Papua New Guinea, but experts warn of risks associated with gambling. Retreived from: https://www.abc.net.au/pacific/programs/pacificbeat/png-gambling/102006846

McGrane, E., Wardle, H., Clowes, M., Blank, L., Pryce, R., Field, M., Sharpe, C., & Goyder, E. (2023). What is the evidence that advertising policies could have an impact on gambling-related harms? A systematic umbrella review of the literature. Retrieved from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0033350622003420

Miller, H. E., Thomas, S. L., Robinson, P., & Daube, M. (2014). How the causes, consequences and solutions for problem gambling are reported in Australian newspapers: A qualitative content analysis. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 38(6), 529–535. Retreived from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1326020023022124?via%3Dihub

Rayel, J., Manohar, P., Atu, I., & Raka, R. (2016). Gambling Tourism in PNG- A Grace or a Curse?: Implications of the Proposed Casino Gambling as Perceived by the Community. Retreived from: https://devpolicy.org/Events/2016/PNG-Update/4c_Rayel.pdf

Seal, E., Cardak, B. A., Nicholson, M., Donaldson, A., O’Halloran, P., Randle, E., & Staley, K. (2022). The Gambling Behaviour and Attitudes to Sports Betting of Sports Fans. In Journal of Gambling Studies (Vol. 38, Issue 4). Springer US. Retreived from: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-021-10101-7

WHO. (2024). Addictive Behaiours: Overview. Addictive Behaviours. Retreived from: https://www.who.int/health-topics/addictive-behaviour#tab=tab_1

 

Amazing Pero Pero

Madang has some really good places to visit if you are looking for a getaway.  

I recently took my children for a tip to a rural guest house on Karkar Island in Madang. You have to travel for about an hour out of Madang town until you reach Megiar village. Then you can get on a boat and travel for another hour on a speed boat to get to Kuburne village. 

On arrival, you will see that the guest house is located in the village setting but the owners have moved a bit to the edge of the village and set up their lovely guest house. The guest house, set in the lovely Kuburne village, has two bungalows which are well made and comfortable. The interior of the two houses are done well - you have polised wooden floors, comfortable chairs, proper solar lighting, running water for bathrooms and toilets.  

The meals prepared by the owners were great and we loved the lemonade made in glasses with straws. We had fruits, eggs, buns, fish, fried chicken during meals and my kids enjoyed it. 

You can watch the full video of our trip on YouTube: Amazing Pero Pero

See you there!

Bridging the Digital Divide?

Sometimes I see my relatives in the village have good phones - smart phones - despite us being in a rural and remote area. Most use it to call others, send text message and watch stored videos. Apart from that, they use it for internet access ocassionally as network coverage is not full especially on the coastlines. However, as they move up the mountains they are able to get access since Mt. Pawih a good reception.  So when I'm in the village (Liap/Derimbat village, Manus Province) and you see that people own good touch screen phones then I thought best to conduct a small session the usage of Whatsapp. 

This includes explaining the concepts of basic flow of data from phones through internet to reach others. This basic overview provides my relative with an understanding how how they can purchase data to use tools such as WhatsApp to communicate personally or in business. 

Manus is a difficult place to do business, especially for SME's to thrive. This, in my belief, is due to the high cost of fuel. It is the single most important factor because everyone as to consider the cost of fuel and factor it into their prices of the goods and services they sell. So using tools online can reduce some of the costs especially those around communication, advertising and ordering items. I hope my relatives can use these digital tools and thus reduce the digital divide that continues to be present in our country. 

Rempi Youtube #madang #Madang #explore #papuanewguinea

People grieve differently...

As Janet entered the student mess, her mind was still on that assignment she had submitted. It was 6.30am but the mess was abuzz with student voices and sounds of laughter filled the corners of the large room with its tiled floor and wooden tables. As she scanned her student ID card at the entrance, she wondered how she was so late in handing the major paper to her lecturer. She had done it again. She promised herself that she would never hand in her assignment late again. But that was last year. She just couldn’t repeat the unit one more year. She was 27. She was too old to be in Year 3 again. Her cohort had all completed four years in the Bachelor of Communication Arts program. That was four years ago. This was the second time she was repeating this 'Mass Media Theory' unit. Maybe learning at university was not her cup of tea.   

The worker behind the mess counter didn’t even look as he gave her four slices of bread. Everyone knew him as ‘Tino’ but none of the students knew his real name. He was too busy sorting out the thin slices of bread for the next student behind Janet in the student line. The white bread didn’t look appetizing. Her stomach growled as if to confirm its dislike for the dry bread. But she knew she had to eat this and drown it down with the cup of black tea. This mess was her only place to eat. Her dad had paid for her school fees while working the coffee gardens back in the cool Erap mountains in Nawaeb District. He was as strong as a bull on the Markham plains, worked hard during the coffee season and his financial support for his daughter was unwavering. Janet knew this and never asked more of her father than what was required. Once she arrived at Divine Word University campus in Madang from Morobe, she ate all her meals at the mess and saved the money her father had given her, for toiletries.     

Janet placed her porcelain cup of tea on the table and then pulled the green plastic but sturdy chair away the blue table. She slumped down. She had sat close to the wired window of the mess and away from the rest of the students. She didn’t want the bright and chirpy students to invade her moment. As Janet took the first bite of the bread and swallowed, she wondered why Mrs. Kisanumbuki had allowed her to submit the assignment late. She was a good teacher – cheerful and bright in her class presentations but she was as tough as nails and took great importance in making sure every student submitted on time. She had been teaching at the university for 18 years and never accepted late work. But she had just accepted Janet’s late work. Did she care about Janet? Did she feel sorry for Janet? 

The next mouthful of bread was too dry to swallow. Janet dipped the white bread slice into her tea cup. If Mrs. Kisanumbuki accepted her assignment, then maybe she had felt sorry for Janet. When Janet handed in the handwritten paper assignment a day later after the due date, Mrs. Kisanumbuki didn’t say a word. She just accepted the assignment as if Janet had not submitted late. Janet remembered that earlier on in the semester, Tony and Palek had handed in their assignment late by just 30 minutes but Mrs. Kisanumbuki came into class the next day and made a big fuss about students submitting late. But this had not happened when Janet handed in the assignment. The bread was already soggy and Janet used her spoon to scoop the bread and swallowed it on one gulp. She didn’t like it one bit.

Janet lifted her head and saw that she was alone on the table that could seat 10 students. She was lonely as a single cloud in the sky. She didn’t care about being alone. Even though she was in a class of 30 other students, she never really connected with anyone. Did the other students in class look down on her as a repeating student? Was that why Mrs. Kisanumbuki did not scold her for being late? Did Mrs. Kisanumbuki look down on her as well? She took another sip of tea. Looking around the mess, the students began to line up to get breakfast. The line didn’t move quickly. Tino was arguing with a student at the counter. Janet didn’t bother to hear what the argument was about. She sipped her tea again. She was like this. She didn’t bother with those who had no impact or influence on her life. She just got on with what she was tasked to do. This was the quality that Hornibrooks PNG Limited saw in her when they first recruited her two years ago when she dropped out at Uni. They loved her no nonsense leadership over the two years she worked at the Lae office. She did find a purpose in her work. They told her that if she completed her Bachelors Degree they would place her as the Area Manager for Momase Region. This was before COVID came and they had to let her go. She had found the motivation to come back to complete her studies.  

Janet decided it was time to leave the table. 

“May I sit here with you?” Janet’s train of thoughts were abruptly broken by a voice of someone familiar. It was Sevese! Of all people, it had to be Sevese. Janet really liked this guy but never had the courage to speak to him. Even in the classroom, she always avoided looking at his direction because if their eyes ever met, her heart would jump out of her chest! Janet couldn’t even muster a sentence and meekly said: “Yes em orait.” 

Sevese sat across from her. How could this lanky guy from Kerema just sit at her table? Janet’s heart raced a thousand beats in a minute! 

He dipped the slice of bread into his cup of tea. Before Janet could say anything, Sevese looked up from his tea cup, looked at her and in a quiet but stern voice he said: “Did you know that Mrs. Kisanumbuki’s daughter, looks so much like you? The one that passed away so suddenly at the beginning of this year?”

Janet sat still. She understood everything.

Ends////

Ps:  I have been telling students for the last couple of weeks to write a 1000 word short fiction in our PNG Literature class. We studied two short stories by Clive Hawigen titled 'Keeping the cold chain' and 'Revenge is such a bitch' and used it as inspiration to keep short stories to a particular activity rather than a series of activities due to the limited word count.

So this week I decided to bite the bullet and write my own short story to use as an example for the students. The theme of the short story is 'interconnectedness' which basically means people are connected in some way through their action or non-action. The message of the short fiction is that 'people grieve differently'.

The fiction story above is the example I gave in class.

Buying my first SLR camera

Sometimes buying something can be a moment you remember for a long time.

I remember the day I bought by first SRL camera with my own money. It was a day around February of 2023. I had gone to Theodist a few days earlier and checked the shelves where the camera were. I took some pictures of the various camera and their prices. Then I went home and did some very basic research - I checked video reviews of each of the brands that I had seen. 

I guess the reviews that are online on YouTube are really good.  Some like these:

 Some of these videos are great and provide valuable advice on the use and functionality of the camera.

The next day, I took the bus to Eriku, walked down the pathway to the main road and walked to Theodist. I went straight it and and went to the camera section. It was morning and there were not a lot of people around. I told the sales representative that I wanted to purchase the camera. She went away and came with a camera that was still in the box. We went to the counter and I paid using my card. It was like a blur but all the money that I had saved up from the recent SME work, I put into the camera. I felt proud of myself but at the same time I felt that I had placed all my eggs into one basket. It was like a do or die moment but I wanted this. I knew this was a step up from the phone I was using to shoot videos. It was time to move up. 

So after I got the camera, I decided to do a test run and see the different functionalities. I did a video for my old organisation - PNGFHA. This was the organisation that gave me a job straight out from University so I wanted to do something from them. So I thought this would be the best opportunity to do this video for them. 

Here is the video:

So yes this is a small story of me purchasing my very first SLR with my own money. It was a great investment and will help me as I undertake my video making journey. 

Doing the hard yards in small holder rubber in Manus

 IN the last Papua New Guinea census in 2011, a total of 7.2 million persons were enumerated in 1.3 million citizen households in the country.

This gives an average household size of around 5.5 persons per household. Manus province had a population of 60,480 people with 10,360 households but now 10 years has passed since and the population would have certainly grown. According to the 2021 National Budget Volume 1 document, Covid-19 had an impact on the PNG economy in 2020 leading to a job loss of 35 per cent and both the private and the public sectors, including the agriculture sector, declined by 12 per cent.

However, farmers all around the country have not given up with major strides taken in industries relating to cocoa, coffee, vanilla, etc. Rubber has been one such industry that has gone through a lot and has still maintained a stronghold as a key cash crop in PNG’s economy.

Rubber’s long history

Published research by Hirohata (2017) point out that natural rubber has had a long history in Papua New Guinea since the early 1900s because the rubber tree, Hevea brasiliensis has been planted here since 1903. There are two technically specific rubber (TSR 10) factories in the country, one natural rubber estate in Doa, Central province while another, privately owned in Western Province and they export some 300,000 to 400,000 tonnes every month.

Individual farmers are doing their bit too to make sure they maintain, harvest and sell their rubber. One such farmer is Mark Patlau, 59, of Liap village in Manus Province. Liap village is on the northern coastline of Manus and is situated in the Pomotu Ndrehet Kurti Andra (PNKA) Local Level Government area. According to the last national census in 2011, PNKA holds around 12.2 per cent of the total Manus population of 60,480 with an average household of 6.4 people.

Patlau is a humble and hardworking smallholder rubber farmer who has 500 trees on his land. According to the Department of Agriculture and Livestock (DAL) website, Patlau is one of around 60,000 rubber farmers in eight provinces in the country. These include Central, Gulf, New Ireland, Manus, Northern, Western, East Sepik and West Sepik.

He first planted his rubber trees in 1987 but did not utilise this cash crop. However, in 2012, the Manus Division of Agriculture and Livestock initiated a training for 15 farmers and gave them 200 cup holders each and a tapping knife. Using this, he begun harvesting his rubber trees. He explained that it took around two hours for the latex to collect in each cup. He harvests what scientists call a natural rubber polymer known as ‘cup lump’ rubber. Cup lump is a coagulated rubber that is produced when the latex is left uncollected and allowed to coagulate under bacterial action.

Once collected, he stores the rubber in the plantation area. He cannot take it home as the smell emanating from the latex is foul, like rotten fish. After a few weeks, he collects all the rubber that has dried and carries them from his plantation back to his house. It is rigorous work carrying the harvested rubber from the plantation area to home as he has to go back and forth multiple times carrying heavy sacks.

 His extended family also provide a helping hand. His first harvest in 2012 was 50 kg and then over subsequent years his harvests grew. He has never looked back, with his minimum of 120 kg and maximum of 360kg harvested since. He always transports the cup lump rubber to Lorengau where he sells it at the Manus Division of Agriculture and Livestock at Tamat for K3 per kilogram.

It hasn’t been an easy job harvesting the rubber for this father of six but this year he has gone to another level. This year, Patlau and his nephew Ari Longowei, 35, spent three months harvesting close to two two tonnes of latex from 300 of his 500 trees. He couldn’t harvest from all his trees due to the shortage of cups. It is no mean feat considering it was only a two-man operation. But the journey is not complete as he now has to bring the rubber to Lorengau town to sell.

Big challenges

While Patlau continues this labour-intensive work, his challenges are even greater. Most problematic has been the lack of cups in the province to capture the latex and secondly, there are high transportation costs when he has to bring his rubber to Lorengau town to sell. He has to hire a boat to transport his rubber to town, further digging into his pockets.

At the national level, rubber nursery development has been allocated K1 million under the 2021 National Budget but that money has not trickled down to farmers like Patlau in Manus. Even to make matters worse, earlier this year, money meant for agriculture in PNG was squandered such as the recent revelations in the mass media that K22.7 million that was misused.

While rubber is a viable crop for farmers in PNG, in my opinion, there needs to be more government funding allocated to finance rubber nurseries, processing infrastructure developed or provided to small holder farmers, extension efforts improved and maybe small loan programmes initiated to assist framers establish proper rubber blocks on their customary land.

Only then can smallholder farmers like Patlau who live in rural areas truly experience the true value of their work, add cash flow to the local economy and support their families as well.

A visit to Lowa village

Walked from the house three hours to visit Lowa village market and the walked back - a total of six hours. My phone said 13 km but I swear it must have been further than that.

My escorts - Peechee and Ku-uh

When we crossed from Liap to Lowa, we entered into the Lelemadih-Bupichupeu LLG area. Liap is in the Pomotu Ndrehet Kurti Andra LLG area of Manus so we literaly crossed one local government area into another. It wasnt a great market today but i got betelnuts, fish, mumu tapiok and some donuts. I say it wasnt great because it wasnt as busy as could be. Usually the place would be packed with people from Liap, Lowa, Mwaramuan, Lopahan, Drayau, Ahus and Powat 

The village soccer field is next to the market. Wanpla selfie pastaim!

Not too many people came today but I still got my betelnuts!

Then strolled to the edge of the village where there is a famous hole in a stone island. As you stand there you look eastwards towards Mwaramuan, Lopahan, Drayau and Powat villages respectively. People from these villages including Liap and Ahus Islanders congregate every Saturday here at the market.

One of the best things about this village are the clean 'streets' which cut through and across the whole village. 

The seashore at the the village

Im trying to pose while someone interjects..lol

The streets! Thats me and papa at the back

The village is virtually at sea level and is also part of the swamp area. There are mangroves at the back of the village so there are definitely crabs and seashells around. 

Just lying about in the mud at the village

Look at these shells!

 One of the most significant structure is a stone just across the seashore looking towards Lopahan village on the east. This stone rises above the sea line and has a whole - a perfect circle - which may have been carved out long ago. Here is a picture of the stone.

The stone is furthest is the one that has a hole on it.

Anyway, that is my story today. Life does really go on....

Nyapio islanders in Manus start a guest house

 MANUS is around 2,100 square kilometers in land area and amongst its vast open 220,00 square kilometer seas, lie many islands, some inhabited and others not. While some of these islands are large and can sustain multiple villagers like Lou, Rambutso, Pak and Baluan, others like Nyapio are so small no one would think people lived on them.

Nyapio island, more popularly known as Johnston Island, today, has 14 households and a population of just under 50 or so people who call this remote island their home. The island, on the south coast of Manus is part of Ward 6 of the Pobum local level government area. Nyapio is around a kilometer long, around 300 meters wide and has sparse vegetation. These Titan language speaking people do not have a trade store, a school or an aid post on the island. Their livelihood and major source of income is fishing. They fish from the sea and then sell their catch to villages along mainland Manus or to Lorengau for cash or exchange fish with the Lou islanders for fresh vegetables.

Not much grows on the island.  

On the island, they have coconuts, banana, taro and very few sago trees but nothing much grows here as the island is just three to four metes above sea level. Even water is scarce on this island and when the seasonal trade winds become harsh, food from the sea becomes even harder to find making hunger an issue at times. The Nyapio sail on outrigger canoes to mainland Manus or the surrounding islands of M’buke, Lou or Baluan or sail to the nearest health service provider at Patu Health Centre on the mainland of Manus some two to four hours away.

One person I talked to explained that once, he had to take two children who were very sick most probably with malaria, with their mothers, and sail on his outrigger canoe all the way to Lorengau town. They began the journey in the middle of the night using the stars as their guide. All along the journey, the mothers kept keeping a cold press on the children’s bodies just to keep their fever at bay for that three-hour journey on the high open seas. They arrived in Lorengau, just as daylight broke out.

While their story seems sad and difficult, it is what makes them resilient in the face of constant hardship and continued difficulties. I usually write on my blog lopoki.com about community initiatives in Manus so I was pleasantly surprised when I was invited by the community in September to come see a small project they had started early this year.

You see, being resilient means that when everything seems to be going wrong or difficult, strong people emerge and stand up to provide solutions to the problems faced by their communities. The Nyapio people are resilient. They sat down and thought long and hard about how they could solve some of their community problems. They knew that the island would, in its simplest and mundane form, still provide the solution.

They decided to build a community-based resort of sorts that would provide a means of an income to support their livelihood on the island. They had this understanding that through such an enterprise, much more would come and eventually a school or an aid post would become viable on their little island.

In that way, they wouldn’t have to send their kids away to the mainland of Manus for months on end to gain basic education or sail the high open seas just to have access to life saving medication. The young elite of the village, who live in Port Moresby, supported this move and began by chipping in cash and kind. Around 10 young men on the island eventually built two bungalows – one completed – using traditional materials like wood, sago leaves, bamboo thatched walls, etc., while the other, still to complete, has iron roofing. They are also building a septic toilet and shower room too. They sourced the raw materials from mainland Manus and shipped the rest of the materials from Lorengau.

A community resort

In November, through my small not-for-profit non-governmental organisation called Lopoki Inc, I organised a three-day basic housekeeping training for 10 of the locals. The community resort fully funded the three-day training on their island. Lopoki worked in partnership with the Manus Provincial Government’s Commerce Division and the Manus Training Centre to carry out the training. The Division of Commerce through their business development officer Pius Kuweh and Manus Training Centre’s Tourism and Hospitality instructor Albert Pih were both at the island to conduct the sessions.

Pih focused his training on three main areas of housekeeping (storeroom and stock control), accommodation and guest laundry, and room servicing. The training provided basic housekeeping skills to the participants and increased their knowledge and capacity to manage guests.

I can already see that the community has taken the initiative to build two semi-permanent buildings housing four rooms for around eight guests when they visit the community based resort.

The Nyapio islanders have proven that they want to bring change to their community and so they worked with Lopoki Inc. to ensure this training occurred.

The very fact that they do not have an aid post or even an elementary school speaks volumes about the suffering that they have had to go through all these years. It is inspiring to see the islanders stand on their own two feet and build something that will sustain them as a community.

If you want to visit Nyapio Island Getaway Resort, please visit the website: https://nyapioislandgetawayresort.com for more information.

You won’t regret your decision to visit. If you do visit, please commit yourself to give something back to the island with a programme or session while you are there through your passion, education and work so that greater cultural learning is mutual.