Two new books from the guy who was PNG's deputy sheriff
17 July 2014
KEITH JACKSON
Curse of the Lamisi by Baka Barakove Bina, 90pp, $8.50, CreateSpace
Haffies are made; they are not born by Baka Barakove Bina, 38pp, $6, CreateSpace
IT has been a long time between drinks, so to speak, for Baka Bina. His last book, Zymur, was published by Oxford University Press in 2003 and the high school teacher turned lawyer has been greatly anticipating his next effort.
Well, the time has come, and Baka has produced two interesting books which are now available through Amazon subsidiary, Create Space.
Baka is from Kotiyufa village near Iufi Iufa in the Eastern Highlands. He originally trained at Goroka Teachers College as a high school English teacher then, in 2003, completed a law degree at the University of Papua New Guinea.
Before becoming Assistant Registrar in Common Law with the National Court he had spent 20 years as Deputy Sheriff in the same jurisdiction.
Baka, 52, has four adult children and, he says, “a growing number of grandchildren.” His partner in crime as illustrator is the talented Eddie Kanaupa, a young self-taught artist who was in Year 11 when the drawings for the books were done.
In Curse of the Lamisi the author interweaves a local legend explaining why a papa is still a bachelor boy with the dilemma of why a growing number of families have a large number of girl-children.
Perhaps they are living under the curse of the Lamisi!
Haffies are made; they are not born is a story about schoolkids who are addicted to smoking marijuana.
In the tropics, the land is lush and fertile. Marijuana plants grow profusely wherever the seeds are scattered, so they are readily available.
“What the smokers don't have,” says Baka, “is proper knowledge of the effects and the harm of smoking marijuana.
“Children are vulnerable as they copy the adults. In rural areas of Papua New Guinea, they have very little choice of role models.”
Baka hopes the book will be used in schools to stop young children from smoking cigarettes and marijuana.
Congratulations Mr B. Tingim yupla olgeta yet. Ex Paga.
Posted by: Maureen Wari | 21 July 2014 at 05:19 PM
Congratulations, Mr. Bina on your new books. Tur'ave!
Posted by: Kela Kapkora Sil Bolkin | 17 July 2014 at 02:04 PM
Well done - it is another milestone in the literature of PNG.
It is for schools in PNG to use as resource books rather than novels should feature literature devices and questions in a comprehension method.
Posted by: Jimmy Awagl | 17 July 2014 at 10:00 AM
Baka is a born story-teller, one who is able and committed to documenting, in a realistic and sometimes humorous manner, the challenges and delights and the cultural diktats of day-to-day life in PNG.
The interweaving of tok pisin and tok ples within his stories adds to their authenticity and provides non-PNGan readers with a glimpse of what makes PNG cultures 'different'.
The underlying morality of his tales make them eminently worthy of a wide readership, in PNG and elsewhere, and I, like many others, hope that this will be achieved. Well done, Baka!
Posted by: Ed Brumby | 17 July 2014 at 09:51 AM
A fine achievement. Congratulations. The Education Department should now seriously look at promoting locally written books in schools.
Posted by: Arnold Mundua | 17 July 2014 at 07:23 AM
Congratulations and well done Baka.
Posted by: Michael Dom | 17 July 2014 at 06:41 AM