MOST COMMENTED UPON PIECES IN AUGUST

22 comments - Writers from across PNG are 2015 Crocodile Prize winners (Phil Fitzpatrick & Keith Jackson). Writers from seven provinces feature in the nine prizes awarded in this year’s Crocodile Prize. One of them,20-year old medical student Hazel Kutkue, won both the Martens’ Award for Young Writers and the national short story prize. The Ok Tedi Mining Book of the Year went to Baka Bina for Man of Calibre in a field of 10 contenders while the inaugural SP Brewery Award for Illustration went to another Eastern Highlander, Emmanuel Landu. Other provinces represented in the prize winners are Enga, Simbu, Milne Bay, Morobe, Madang and the National Capital District.

19 comments - The Crocodile Prize – is this the end of five wonderful years? (Keith Jackson). Well no, it won’t be, but the possum had to be stirred, as we say Down Under, to get the main administrative burden of the national literary contest moving more decisively in the direction of PNG. By early September there were some signs of real progress in achieving this respect – which will be a true PNG triumph if we can all pull it off.

17 comments - Another fine example of the literary talent coming out of PNG (Phil Fitzpatrick). The wealth of literary talent in PNG showed itself again in the publication of a first novel by university student Samantha Kusari.  When the River Destroys is loosely based on the early childhood of Samantha’s father.

14 comments - Misuse & abuse: The great treason of our politicians (Paul Amatio). A passionate essay directed full responsibility to the nation’s politicians for the huge disconnects emerging in PNG culture, society and politics. Paul asked “how my beloved country will cater for my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren long after I am gone and forgotten.”

11 comments - Open defiance: The new threat to the rule of law in PNG (Busa Jeremiah Wenogo). In his first outing after winning the essay award in the 2015 Crocodile Prize, Busa wrote this revelatory piece on how criminals and street thugs seem to operate with impunity across large parts of the national capital. “Drunks roam about harassing anyone who comes into their line of sight while the bus stop is infested with petty criminals who act as if it is their personal property. What is concerning is that the police seem to lack the resources to tackle these problems. Their absence has led to a clear defiance of our nation’s laws.”

8 comments - Why is it that in PNG we have to destroy everything of our history?(Bishop Cesare Bonivento). In a pastoral letter to the faithful of the Vanimo Diocese in Sandaun Province, a concerned Bishop Cesare took to task the recent practice of destroying traditional cultural objects in PNG in the name of the Christian religion. “We understand that this is not a program of the government,” he wrote. “It appears to be a private program and personal initiative of somebody who wants to use the name of the honourable office of the Speaker of Parliament to promote private beliefs.”

8 comments - Dear Mister Speaker, I am very concerned…. (Raymond Sigimet). And in the same vein Raymond addressed his open letter to Speaker Theo Zurenuoc. “Does it not occur to you that some of these cultural items and objects are uniquely Papua New Guinean and are representations of our people and country’s contribution to world art and culture?”

8 comments - Literature & art make us who we really are, says prize winner (Keith Jackson). The destruction of PNG’s traditional inheritance would not be approved by David Landu, winner of the SP Brewery Award for Illustration in the Crocodile Prize. “Writers and artists are alike,” said David. “We create things most people can only imagine or dream about. My word of encouragement would be to sustain such an initiative and continue to maintain our culture and tradition in the best way that we know how.”

8 comments - Do you know who I am? The secret life of the PNG woman (Rashmii Amoah Bell). Rashmii is another new talent to grace the columns of PNG Attitude and the annals of the Crocodile Prize. Writing with wit and flair on contemporary PNG society, Rashmii is already a popular favourite of readers.

8 comments - PNG’s grand chief reflects on how he helped build a nation (Sir Michael Somare). The Grand Chief reflected on those pre-independence years when a nation was being conceived. “Celebrate the past, understand the present and make calculated plans for the future,” he wrote. Listen up, Speaker Zurenuoc!

MOST LIKED PIECES IN AUGUST

635 likes - The true inside story of the saga of the PNG flag (Hal Holman)

482 likes - Paga Hill Development’s gift provides kids’ books to schools (Keith Jackson)

187 likes - Dear Mister Speaker, I am very concerned…. (Raymond Sigimet)

174 likes - 'Frightening': PNG budget in disarray as deficit soars (Rowan Callick)

100 likes - Australia's foreign minister had to intervene over PNG aid fraud (Ean Higgins)

90 likes - 2015 Crocodile Prize Award event is all set to roll in Kundiawa (Crocodile Prize Organisation)

84 likes - Air Niugini to link Brisbane directly to Mt Hagen and Alotau (Keith Jackson)

74 likes - Writers from across PNG are 2015 Crocodile Prize winners (Phil Fitzpatrick & Keith Jackson)

57 likes - O’Neill says aid money wasted on middlemen; calls for rethink (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

54 likes - The place of the traditional bilum in modern-day PNG (Florence Jonduo)