PHIL FITZPATRICK

PAPUA New Guineans are different from the rest of us, both within themselves and as a whole.

For most of my life I’ve believed that - colour, cult and creed notwithstanding - all human beings are basically the same.

The obvious corollary from this being that everyone should be regarded and treated the same.

This belief has served me reasonably well because it has made life a lot less complex. I haven’t had to configure into my behaviour such preoccupying aberrations as racism and bigotry, for example.

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

MICHAEL DOM

What I was told by someone old
Is, “Do your best, be brave; be bold
God does the rest, He knows your needs
If others spite you, don’t take heed.
Trust God who told
The sun to shine, trust Him who holds
The moon in tow – in thought, in deed,
Keep faith – it grows like mustard seeds
With fruits ten-fold.”
Do your best, as cruel life unfolds,
Remember then what you were told,
For all the things we think we need
Will break or fade and death will cede
Love peace; seek harmony – win gold
So I was told.

RAYMOND SIGIMET

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

This tale is not based on real people or events but explains how tertiary student associations settle disputes and bring peace to conflicting members

I was forking a half-eaten fried sausage on my mostly empty plate, thinking about an unfinished post-colonial literature assignment, when someone brushed past me and took the chair at the other end of the dining table.

I looked up and was greeted with a smile. It was Mack, a good friend, originally from the Karawari River basin, one of the tributaries of the Sepik River.

“Ah, yes, bro. I’m about to finish my lunch na yu kam kamap,” I quipped.

“No worries bro, I had to deal with a situation in the dorm and didn’t notice of the time,” he explained. “But at least I made it before closing time. Mi kisim taim, hangere kilim mi stret.”

PHILIP G KAUPA

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

Dedicated to my daughter Everfree who recently turned three

Dear Lord

Thank you for creating me rare
when I was two, I learned to pray
today I am three because you care

John 14:14 is my favorite Bible verse
Lord whatever I ask you always bless
thank you for the pinky pinky dress

last week I had an awful injury
Lord you were there in my misery
with you nothing is more scary

DANIEL KUMBON

WE, James Serugo, a colleague from Uganda, and I, went to London for a week to visit media organisations. One afternoon we decided to go and explore the city.

We crossed Baker Street and went into the underground tube station and departed on the Circle Line. We intended to see as much of the city as possible. At our first stop, Victoria, we came across a girl begging.

Her memory will always be in my mind. She was young and pretty, only in her teens. She had short blond hair, blue eyes and was of medium built. She was pushing a baby in a pram at the entrance to the subway at Victoria in the heart of London.

“Ten pence please, only ten pence. See I have this baby to feed. Please give me ten pence,” she said, reaching out a hand to anybody who passed.

PNG TODAY

PAPUA New Guinea needs to take urgent action to save itself from a looming economic and financial storm, says former prime minister Sir Mekere Morauta.

Sir Mekere, who is an economist and former head of Treasury, the Bank of Papua New Guinea and other institutions, said the nation could not continue on its present course.

“The prime minister has had plenty of warning from his own expert advisers in Treasury and from eminent foreign institutions and observers,” Sir Mekere said.

“Good senior people in Treasury have been sidelined, sacked, or shipped out if a foreigner. Anyone who raises concerns suffers personal attack from the prime minister.

JEMIMA GARRETT | Pacific Beat, ABC | Extracts

AS Papua New Guinea Treasurer Patrick Pruaitch prepares to deliver his 2016 budget this week, economists are warning the country is facing a revenue collapse of historic proportions.

Economist Paul Flanagan, a former PNG Treasury official, said the budget due to be delivered on Tuesday will be "very, very tough", precipitated by what he described as "an extraordinary collapse in revenues".

"International commodity prices have dropped and that has taken about 10% of their revenues," Mr Flanagan told Pacific Beat.

Drought and other pressures such as exchange rate controls have slashed revenue predictions further.

JENNY HAYWARD JONES | The Interpreter, Lowy Institute | Edited

PAPUA New Guinean prime minister Peter O'Neill comprehensively headed off a motion of no confidence in parliament last week over corruption allegations.

O'Neill's assertion that his government is stable and will “continue to provide stability” ahead of handing down a difficult budget next week is convincing, particularly as he won a vote of confidence 78 votes to two.

But doubts remain about his government's commitment to the rule of law and freedom of speech.

I wrote about the O'Neill government's apparent lack of respect for the rule of law in June 2014. At that time, prime minister O'Neill had avoided an arrest warrant issued relating to his alleged connections to fraudulent payments from the PNG Finance Department to Paraka Lawyers.

GARY JUFFA | Facebook | Edited extracts

MEMBERS of Parliament of Milne Bay, since you are all in government, ask your beloved prime minister and Minister for the Independent Public Business Corporation this question.

Why have they failed to remit proceeds worth nearly K90 million from the recent (2015) sale of Sime Darby shares owned by our respective Oro and Milne Bay provincial governments to our governments.

These funds would be used to address our deteriorating oil palm feeder roads and assist our efforts to increase internal revenue. Our provinces have received nothing in dividends for almost 35 years while contributing to the PNG economy.

I have been passionately fighting for these shares since I entered parliament and have heard promises and lies.

JO-ANNE ROWNEY | Catholic Herald

THE Catholic Church has a unique role in combating belief in sorcery and mob reprisal attacks against sorcerers, a bishop in Papua New Guinea has said.

A shocking video emerged last week reportedly showing the torture of women suspected of witchcraft and accused of “invisibly” taking out a man’s heart after he fell ill in August.

The footage shows at least four women being stripped, tied up, burned and beaten, as they are prodded and threatened with machetes by men who shout questions at them. It is thought at least one died following the attack.

One woman pleads for her life, calling out “My son, stop it!” while another cries out “I’ve got nothing to do with it. I am the mother of five children.”