More Than Words

 Need I say more?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 A friend of mine goes for the blues but he had the good sense of humour to pass me these images. 

_::sja::

 

The Return of Lockyer

Like most Papua New Guineans, I avidly follow Rugby League both here and overseas, especially the NRL. As a result, Friday evenings usually find me glued in front of the TV for the Friday night NRL games.
Last Friday night’s clash between the Parramatta Eels and the Brisbane Broncos was something spectacular. It was nothing short of a thriller and in my book; it rates with some of the best interstate games.

Earlier during the week, Fatty and the boys from the Footy Show panel had all leaned in favour of the Broncos to win easily given the Eels somewhat lackluster performance in their recent matches as well as the scheduled return of my main man Lockyer after recuperating from a knee injury.

From the first whistle blow, the game was anything but what the punters predicted. It had more than its fare share of blood, guts and glory, stars and villains. Both teams were going neck to neck all the way to the final hooter of the siren.

As the game was approaching fulltime, Krisnan Inu touched down at the 75th minute  for his second brilliant try to level the scores at 26 all. This brought the house down and Phil Gould, the co-commentator that night just screamed out “The gods of Rugby are surely smiling down at the Eels tonight”.  

The 5 minutes that followed had everybody on the very edge of their seats. Everyone was bracing themselves as to who would be the one to steal the cliffhanger with a drop goal. Brisbane’s attempts for a try were foiled twice within that time. So was Brett Finch’s attempt for a field goal.

Just as the final siren went off, the ball came into the possession of Lockyer – but rather awkwardly I should point out, eliminating any possibility of him getting off that one pointer that we were all expecting, leaving everybody to think the game would be carried into extra time for golden point.

But Lockyer simply jogged up and placed a neat chip over the heads of the Eels towards the left flank to land in the arms of Denan Kemp. The crowd, the commentators, the officials, everybody just lost it and the stadium exploded as the speedster Kemp crashed into Tryland for his fourth of the night.

That was the instant I passed out. The last words echoing in my ear as liquid blackness enveloped me were these ecstatic words from the commentators’ box:

“No, no, no. Lockyer, in fact you might be the football God”.

_::sja::

 

• Read more here: Brisbane Broncos 30 d. Parramatta Eels

 

Sick Go Hungry in PNG

Despite Papua New Guinea’s various staple food crops, today’s urban residents mainly rely on rice as their staple diet. Apart from the urban households, rice also features as the base in most menus in almost all of the public and private run institutions like schools, colleges, correctional facilities and hospitals.

Lately I could not help but notice that news relating to the shortage of rice and food stocks all over the world has persistently maintained a regular presence on the pages of the morning dailies. Then the headlines “Sick go hungry” (The National, 07/05/2008) and “Medics attribute child deaths to lack of food” (The National, 09/05/2008) nailed home the stark reality of this bleak predicament that we are in.

The headlines mentioned above highlight only a fraction of the plight of our medical services in this country. Apart from limited supply of food, the delivery of basic medical supplies, drugs and anti-venoms scandals, deteriorating standards of the wards and basic medical facilities are all issues that have plagued the medical sector of recent times.

Amongst other basic rights of a human being, the right to adequate food, shelter and medical care (Article 25, Universal Declaration of Human Rights) are the very fundamentals of life as we know. As such, when an organisation installed by the government of the common people is empowered to guard and protect the well-being of its citizens, it has to perform it diligently.

In failing, whether through mismanagement, ignorance or pure negligence, the party responsible for this tragedy is in direct violation of the basic human rights, as in the case of these children who sadly and unnecessarily lost their lives. They therefore should be held accountable for it and should be penalised accordingly.

Is this a preview of things to come? What can the authorities, policy makers and even us as individuals do about it? With the current rice(food) crisis, the rising cost of fuel and the pass-the-cost-to-the-consumer formula combined with an outdated minimum wage, there is a high probability of headlines like “Sick go hungry II” and “Sick go hungry III” appearing more often.

The government has to see this as a wake up call and has to ACT NOW to address the issue of food shortage and rising costs. Maybe our government can take a leaf out of the Indonesian, Fijian and the Tongan government’s initiative by temporarily reducing or even eliminating import duty on all basic food items coming into the country. At least that is one option worth considering.

Failure in doing so may see a breakdown in social order, eventually leading to mass abuse of human rights in the fight for survival, giving rise to a humanitarian crisis. Then a heading like “More Sick Starve to Death” may not even raise eyebrows, much less sell a paper.

Or is this a big call?

_::sja::

Note:

• As a participating blogger in the Bloggers Unite for Human Rights campaign, I was planning to write about the abuse of “power” by some odd elements within the Royal Police Constabulary of Papua New Guinea, mainly on the juvenile sector of the population, as brought to the public’s attention and knowledge through the power of mass media. However, seeing the food shortage crisis as a more pressing issue, I decided upon this post.
• To Give is Twice Blessed
  I would also like to make a special mention on the effort of some members of the community who selflessly and tirelessly put in their time, effort and resources into helping others through donations of cash, kind and human service. One such group are the United Church mothers who weekly make visiting rounds to the Port Moresby General Hospital as highlighted in the news report above. Your work is truly appreciated and God will immensely bless you.The effort of all medical personal all over the country as well as the world should not go without a mention too. For giving your best to saving lives; at often times with scant resources and at the expense of your own health and comfort. Thank you and God Bless.

Some Links worth checking out

1. Human Rights Watch - Overview of various Human Rights issues in PNG
2. Every Human Has Rights - Read and Sign the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
3. Amnesty International

_::sja::

Bloggers Unite for Human Rights

Marking the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, BlogCatalog  has initiated the Bloggers Unite for Human Rights campaign.

This campaign is supported by Amnesty International  who will be drawing attention to bloggers that participate in this cause so that they can be brought to attention collectively at one given time.

In this campaign, bloggers all over the world who participate will post a blog on the 15th of May 2008, photo or video to highlight cases of Human Rights abuse. It can be any instance of human rights abuse that has already been brought to attention by the mass media or maybe a local case that is isolated to your locale and needs to be brought to the attention of the outside world . Some resources have been provided on Amnesty International’s website as listed here.

If you are a blogger out there and want to take a stand for human rights then join us and grab a badge for your blog here.

::sja::

Kaspersky is the Shiiiiit!

^{A simple, yet twisted narration of praise for a software (….and some afterthoughts)}

This is the first time in my life(!)that I am tapping away at the keyboard with a huge grin on my dial. Not that I have never done that. Heck, I live this shiit! :-) On most cases when you see me doing that, it is usually when I am exchanging stupid jokes with friends over the net or when I am “whispering” some sweet nothings into the virtual ears of some sweet, petite little flirt mates somewhere in the blue beyond of the World Wide Web. (Which reminds me. I caught on the tubic *box that some of these “girls” at often times turn out to be some mean, moustached, neck-less hulk, who had dropped one too many bars of soap in the shower block during their days in the Pen. Some say they would have easily passed for a hairy version of the hunchback of Notre Dame if only for a hunch and not the vandalism and desecration of their skin with buzzing needles and flowing ink. Uuugghhh… Shiver me timbers! Have to stop this, really :-p ). 

 

No. The reason I am grinning loudly enough for my gums and teeth to dry up from overexposure is because of Kaspersky. This is the first time I am actually singing praises for a computer software and am actually writing it down. Kaspersky is an anti-virus software. After considerable review and benchmark testing of all the big names in the area of virus protection, it is rated by most sites as the Numero Uno(or at least close)in the defence against these little gremlins. But first, let me explain why I am grinning and having enough affinity towards something as inanimate as a piece of software to take time out to write this piece on it.

 

I recently had my computer infected with a virus. It just totally prevented me from accessing the registry of my computer (regedit) to manually check for any discrepancies in the settings. I could not even get to load up any command prompt window. I tried everything all to no avail except the last resort of going through the tedious process of backing up my data files and doing a disk reformat and a clean re-install of the operating system.:-( Oh yeah. After pulling out what’s left of my hair, of course. 

 

But guess what? I finally got it up now! No, it’s not Viagra. After loading up my trial version of Kaspersky with the latest virus definitions, I ran a scan and cleaned up my PC with it. It cleaned up the machine pretty good. And now I can get both the regedit and cmd files working. The final thing I have to do is to find the respective removal tools and all should be good. Hopefully. 

 

Here concludes the story,
of how my hair was quickly saved from being crudely shaved!
of how “The Old Axe” was revived with a test drive!

Thanks Dr. Green Thumb. You’re the Shiiiit.
Oops! I meant,
Thanks Kaspersky. You’re the bomb!
Fo shizzle, fizzle,
wizzle, weazles,  Of Mice and Men, rats and referees,
dizzle, benzin, petrol,  kerosin, 
price is reaching for the stars na mi diring kold-o warra
Spoils of my soiled pants and toil to Inter-oil for my own oil
Hell!
And the rest of the “izzle” shizzles are waitin on the bench

for now….

——-

*Tubic- Derived from the word Tube and Cubic, the former word for the glass cathode ray tube  found inside the traditional TV set, and the latter to describe the general shape of the encasement(box) of a traditional TV set. Hence, the word tubic is used to refer to a TV set. 

Its usage is usually in precession with the word ‘box’, but technically speaking, such a collaborative usage would be deemed as a case of repetition in a sentence.

 

Go tell the world where you first heard this word. That’s right. History in the making, baby!

Wo-o-o-o-o-ord!

_::sja::

Mystique Beauty

^{An indecent perversion or an appreciation of feminine beauty?}

She had no name.

She drifted into view in all her radiant beauty when I was out shopping last Monday. She was clad in gear that would have easily passed for rags on anybody else, but it was haute couture on her.

She removed her Aviator shades to reveal bright brown eyes that reminded me of sweat brown sugar at sunset. She perched it on a mass of lustrous black hair that had been pulled back in a bun, giving it an extra sheen as if she needed any.

She had that don’t-give-a-damn way about her in the way she carried herself and went about her business. Despite her seemingly nonchalant air, she moved with such grace with those well toned limbs, she was pure majesty. She was slow-motion in real life. She was poetry in motion.

As she turned, you could just make out parts of a painted claw reaching out for her neck from beneath the canvass of a tight-fitting Rip Curl t-shirt. This contrast enhanced the flawless tone and texture of her skin. She wore a pair of faded calf-length jeans, the left leg folded up knee-high. More golden brown of super smooth skin teasingly peered out from behind those jeans through silent tears where the majority of the cotton strands seemed to have surrendered to the abrasive demands of constant laundering.

After paying for her items she casually drifted into the liquor section and picked up a 12-pack Paradise white can, payed for it and made her exit.

Awed by such beauty and intrigued with her mysticism, I had to see how the story ended. Whether she got on her horse and rode out into the sunset or just disappeared into a tinted ride and into the arms of her Romeo.

But she was way too good for such cheap tricks. She came out and walked past every – mostly flashy – looking vehicle in the parking lot. Right at the end near the entrance was a beat up Land Cruiser, covered with caked mud and grime with a few 44 gallon fuel drums at the back. The entire setting was neatly complemented with three scruffy looking older gentlemen who were sitting at the back.

As she approached, they clambered down and she handed them a few sticks of Spear cigarettes and a Five Kina note for their buai. After helping themselves, two of them returned to their posts by the fuel drums and the oldest of the lot got behind the wheel. They left soon after, leaving behind a smoke screen of diesel fumes which hung lazily in the air but for a few seconds.

That was the last I ever saw of her. I probably will never see her again. Perhaps she was just a figment of my imagination. She disappeared just the way she appeared.

She still had no name.

_::sja::

Ryan Pini - Trupla Man

Last night I came home late and turned on the TV and managed to catch “Nexus“, a show aired on the Australian Network. It is mainly taylored for viewers who have English as their second or third Language.

There was a story about Ryan Pini on. I am very proud of this young Papua New Guinean and of his achievements. I was so impressed by what he had to say about swimming, his achievements and Papua New Guinea, I noted down a reminder to obtain a transcript of his interview. The link to the original site is http://australianetwork.com/nexus/stories/s2049134.htm .

The Transcript of Ryan Pini’s Interview on Nexus (Australian Network)

 RYAN PINI: I was born in Papua New Guinea in ‘81 and I lived there most of my life. I moved down into Australia to better my training and I’ve been here for seven years so far. This is my parents’ place that I’m staying at at Kangaroo Point here. And it’s very convenient to me. The pool’s only about 10 minutes away.

My height - I’m six foot four, six foot five - in between there. My foot size is a 14, so it helps in the water. Same with my hands. I’ve got big hands. It all comes into account. The…even your wingspan. I think the Australians did a study on wingspan compared to the height and if you’ve got longer arms, the better chances of you becoming a good swimmer. So I think my wingspan is about 15 centimetres longer than my body. There’s so many reasons why swimming in Australia is a lot better. There’s, obviously, a pool that’s open. They’ve…from what I understand is they’ve closed the 50-metre pool in Port Moresby. So they’re training in a 25-metre pool at a school which is…it’s just hard. It’s too hard to try and… ‘Cause you’ve got, you know, other school members that want to swim as well and to be able to maintain that and keep swimmers in the water is very difficult.

I train with Andrew Mewing who’s actually on the… ..he’s been on the Australian team for the 200 freestyle and so there’s him and I that train very closely together. And we’re very competitive and that’s…it keeps you… ..it’s an incentive to keep training harder and try to beat them by, you know, 0.1 of a second if you can. And it just… it improves your swimming and readies you for racing. ‘Cause in Papua New Guinea, when I go back up there for holidays, I’m training by myself, basically, and it’s very hard to keep motivated.

Well, I do nine sessions of swimming a week and they range from an hour and a half to two hours, so that’s fairly intensive and it takes a lot out of you. I’ve got two gym programs a week and I have pilates. Then I’ve got one or two massage and physiotherapy things I go to as well. Usually by the end of the week I’m pretty worn out and just wanting to spend Saturday just… ..Saturday and Sunday afternoon just completely doing nothing, just relaxing.

‘99, the SP Games back then, that was the first gold medal I won for an international competition. And winning that was, you know, a huge experience back then when I was in high school. Ever since then, you know, you go away to overseas competitions. You may not be winning gold medals, but you’re sort of improving your times to standards which you never thought you’d get to. And being able to do that gives you a sense of pride and wanting to better yourself. Every year after that, I was bettering myself by a good second, I know, in the 100 fly, just dropping my time down. And then, I don’t know, it was sort of just a goal of mine to be able to sort of make it maybe into the top 15 Australian, top 10. And then, you know, coming into the top 10 in the world, I was just, like, “OK,” you know. It’s just a… You sort of don’t expect to be able to get there, but you just keep pushing yourself to make sure you can. And, yeah, it’s just an overwhelming feeling to be in the top 10 in the world for something that I love to do and, you know, I couldn’t change that.

I just love swimming, either way. Commonwealth Games last year, 2006, it was just amazing to win gold for Papua New Guinea. That was one of my biggest achievements. It was a lot bigger than what I, sort of, even thought. At that time when I won the gold medal it was just, um, you know… Hearing the national anthem was pretty incredible, but arriving back home into Port Moresby, seeing thousands of people there welcoming the team back, it was a huge emotional feeling and it was very, very honourable. It’s given people in Papua New Guinea someone to look up to. Hopefully, that I can, you know, give someone that incentive to keep training or maybe the government… you know, they have put a bit more funding into swimming and the rest of the sports, which is really good. I guess, you know, it’s an achievement in itself to be able to give that to Papua New Guinea and hopefully better the sports in Papua New Guinea, get better facilities and things like that.

Check out Ryan Pini on Wikipedia.

_::sja::