Saturday, November 17, 2007

Is there too much money in the economy??

The Government announced a whooping increase of K3 billion to the National Budget to around K8.4 billion. This is a record breaking budget ever since impendence and it brings a smile to all ministers and members of the Parliament.

Each district has been allocated K10 million which was raised from K1.5 million to K3 million earlier this month. The K10 million for each district seems too good to be true and each district now is preparing to use this money as the next year budget will also be K10 million if the current government stays on.

While PNG is smiling, I am screwing my face behind this computer as my economic senses are being put to test here. I welcome the budget so much…..yet somehow I feel there may be a problem that could be creeping in if our financial planners are not careful.

The problem I see is “Demand Pull Inflation”. Now let me try as much as possible to explain it in a layman’s term. Demand Pull Inflation refers to increase in Inflation due to an increase in demand in the economy. Because there is a lot of money pumped into the economy to be used in a short period of time, there will be a shortage of goods or services to meet the demand. Now because too much money is chasing so few goods, the price of that good will increase.

According to keynesian theory, the more firms will employ people, the more people are employed, and the higher aggregate demand will become. This greater demand will make firms employ more people in order to output more. Due to capacity constraints, this increase in output will eventually become so small that the price of the good will rise

Example: A bag of rice cost K3 at a local village store. Suddenly, 10 villagers who earns money front up to the shop to buy the rice for K3, but since there are only 5 packets of rice available, not all 10 will buy it. And since the shop owner wants to maximize his profit, he will raise the price to K5 to meet the demand.

This is commonly described as "too much money chasing too few goods". More accurately, it should be described as involving "too much money spent chasing too few goods", since only money that is spent on goods and services can cause inflation. This would not be expected to persist over time due to increases in supply, unless the economy is already at a full employment level.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

PNG going Green

Global warming has affected a lot of countries around the world and Papua New Guinea is no exception. Since PNG has so many small islands, most of them are in danger of being flooded due to rising sea level. For this cause, Grand Chief Somare is leading Papua New Guinea and pushing for more efforts in the Kyoto Protocol and asking countries to join the fight against climate changes.



Most of you have watched the documentary “Inconvenient Truth” by Al Gore, which gives you an idea of how important climate change is. The need of “Clean Energy” is in demand and the importance of Carbon Trade has now hit PNG.



Here is a write-up by Ogis Sanida explaining the rationale of Carbon Trade


==============================================================
The carbon trade rationale
By Ogis Sanida





Carbon trade is a new market-based mechanism which intends to encourage the reduction and/or offset of greenhouse gas emissions while, at same time, allows income creation. Such trade involves the buying and selling of ‘environmental services’. These services constitute activities that remove greenhouse gases which cause global warming from the atmosphere.
The carbon trade idea developed from the Kyoto Protocol that was signed in Kyoto, Japan, by some 180 countries in December 1997. The Protocol called for 38 industrialised countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions between the years 2008 to 2012 to levels lower than 5.2% of those in 1990. However, the Protocol did not give specific instructions on how countries will achieve their reductions. Carbon trade is a mechanism that was developed to address this shortcoming.






How does carbon trade work?
Carbon trade is supposed to work in the following way: An eco-consultancy firm, which plays the role of a broker or middleman, conducts an eco-audit of a client (individuals, industries/firms, or countries) and comes up with a reasonably accurate estimate of how much carbon the client's activities release to the atmosphere.



At the other end of the operation, the eco-consultant searches the world for environmental services that could offset its client's polluting emissions. These services are mainly forests and tree-planting projects, which are known in the carbon trade business as carbon assets or carbon sinks, because trees remove carbon from the atmosphere and retain it in their wood. Employing a variety of methodologies, the eco-consultant arrives at an estimate of how much carbon a particular sink retains, and then assigns it a monetary value and sells it to a client. The client then subtracts from its carbon account the carbon retained by its newly purchased carbon sink. The client is said to be carbon-neutral or climate-neutral when its carbon assets equal its carbon emissions.



In terms of income flows/creation, the eco-consultant receives money from its client and pays the environmental service providers, after subtracting its consultancy fees.



Types of carbon trade



There are three market-based ‘flexible’ systems of carbon trade: clean development mechanism (CDM), emissions trading system, and joint implementation system.




  • Clean development mechanism: This involves the trade of environmental services mainly between the industrialised and developing countries. The intention of CDM is to enable industrialised countries to meet their domestic emission reduction targets by investing in projects that reduce or offset greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries. Such projects typically focus on carbon-neutral projects such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, eco-forestry, wildlife conservation, and small-scale hydroelectric schemes. PNG is currently developing CDM projects through the Department of Environment and Conservation and other relevant stakeholders.


  • Emissions trading system: This mechanism mainly concerns trading of ‘pollution rights/permits’ among the industrialised countries. Under the system, countries or industries which exceed their pollution targets will have to buy extra quotas from companies or countries that undershoot their pollution targets.


  • Joint implementation system: This system is a specific form of the CDM where the Western and/or industrialised countries are to fund climate-friendly (or carbon-neutral) projects in the former Soviet Bloc.



The rationale
The rationale of carbon trade can be understood when we consider the impracticality of the environmental ‘purist’ argument on the one hand, and economic growth maximisation on the other.



Extremist environmental organisations argue that the only way to address climate change is for countries to undertake a direct reduction of carbon emissions by reducing ‘pollution-creating industrial activities’. These organisations contend that any other options are just an indirect blockage to the real solution to global warming which is reducing and finally eliminating fossil fuel burning. The idea that people can burn fossil fuels and then plant trees to clean up the carbon dioxide is simply wrong, so goes the argument. This false ‘solution’ will merely keep people digging up oil and coal. The only ‘solution’ is for countries to reduce carbon emissions.



However, the environmental ‘purist’ approach would be an ‘economic and social suicide’ for many countries. Outright reduction in industrial activities would lead to a fall in economic growth, loss of jobs and income. This would have a flow-on effect in the social arena where spending in health, education and other related activities will have to be cut. Because of such concerns, many countries have been reluctant to take the ‘purist’ approach. Until new technologies are commercialised, people will continue to drive cars, take flights and use energy from fossil fuel sources.



At the other extreme, some countries, mainly the big industrialised nations, are taking a rather passive approach to the global warming issue. These countries seem to think that they should continue to maximise industrial development and hope that future scientific advancement will provide the ‘vaccine’ to solve the global warming problem. If the adverse effects of global warming are correct, then outright ignorance of environmental issues would be detrimental to our welfare in the long term. The rights of citizens of a country or the global community, in general, to live in a secure environment would be compromised.



Given these two opposing scenarios, it is now obvious that carbon trade is the way forward. By reducing or containing carbon emissions and generating revenue, simultaneously, carbon trade addresses both the environmental and economic concerns. Carbon trade is not the perfect solution; however, it is the ‘best’, given the current situation.



Moreover, by its nature, carbon trade could have a wider appeal to governments and private sector entrepreneurs. The challenge facing countries venturing into this new form of international trade is how to plan for and implement it, in order to get the best value out of it, both in economic and environmental terms. In the PNG context, the current work of the Department of Environment and Conservation and the stakeholders in trying to get the CDM activities off the ground should be given full support by the Government, private sector and the NGOs.



Ogis Sanida is a Research Fellow with the Economics Studies Division of the National Research Institute

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Rest in Peace - Lucky Dube


Johannesburg - Reggae star Lucky Dube, 43, was shot dead in a hijacking in Rosettenville, Johannesburg, on Thursday night, police said.


Captain Cheryl Engelbrecht said the incident took place at about 20:20 when the singer and performer was driving in the Johannesburg suburb. She said Dube was dropping off his son in the area when he was attacked.



"His son was already out of the car. When he saw what was happening, he ran to ask for help."



The boy was too traumatised to provide police with any information, Engelbrecht said.



The hijackers were still at large.


Melvin Khumalo from Gallo Records - Dube's recording company - was not willing to comment on the incident, saying the company was attending to Dube's family.

Khumalo was on the scene in Rosettenville on Thursday.

Dube, born in Johannesburg in 1964, was named "Lucky" as he was born in poor health and doctors thought he would die, according to Wikipedia.

But Dube survived and went on to become a frontline artist in the reggae genre.

He had recorded over 20 albums in his music career which spanned over 20 years - according to the singer's website http://www.luckydubemusic.com/.

His albums included Rastas Never Die, Think About The Children, Soul Taker, Trinity and his latest, released in 2006, is called Respect.

The reggae sensation, who did not drink or smoke cigarettes or marijuana, despite the association of the substance with Rastafarians, had won over 20 awards for his music contribution locally and internationally.


Friday, October 12, 2007

Importance of Distance Learning


You can make a good thing better. With three successful deliveries its credit, the fourth series of the Microfinance Training of Trainers course opened on August 16 at the Tokyo Development Learning Center (TDLC), with 653 participants in 52 countries. It it the first time that the course incorporates Moodle, an open-source learning management system that is accessible free of charge to anyone with Internet access. The course is organized by the TDLC, the Asian Development Bank Institute, and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) in collaboration with the World Bank Institute.


The need to reach participants beyond capital cities drove the course team to experiment with the Moodle platform. Internet-based interactions are combined with videoconference sessions, but most participants experience the entire course online from registration to viewing the videoconference lectures via webcasting. New features to increase outreach and effectiveness keep the course current, and allow participants to tailor their learning experience to their individual needs. For example, nearly half of registered participants in this offering have selected online tutoring to help them complete the course


"Today we live in a world where more than three billion people do not have access to formal financial services. Providing access to microfinance is providing people a chance to improve their own lives", said Mario Lamberte, Director of Research at the Asian Development Bank Institute


The course runs through the end of November Participants will complete a final exam online, and successful candidates will be accredited as UNCDF Microfinance Distance Learning Course trainers. Since its first offering in 2005, the course has accredited 91 trainers. Eleven graduates of previous courses are serving as online tutors in this offering.


For more information visit http://mftot.jointokyo.org

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Why is GreenCom in shades?

Now that GreenCom is ready to play soccer, it be good now. I was trying to look up GreenCom on Google but I couldn’t locate them on the web this was earlier in the year when Digicel and Telikom was playing football.

Anyway, my search ends today as I finally found
Greencom on the web. But wait……the website is incomplete!! Oh……and to add to that, GreenCom is offering services to UK only. But wait……GreenCom is website says they are based in Ireland. Isn’t Digicel based also in Ireland?? I’ve always thought that GreenCom is an Indonesian Company. Maybe I should do a search on GreenCom

Now my nose may be stuffed or something but my mind is running crazy at the moment. Just last week
Pangtel accuse Digicel of illegally using Greencom’s mobile spectrum. Digicel and GreenCom did a joint statement that there was no illegal use of the spectrum. So if the owners of are from Ireland, could it be a coincidence?? Maybe they are owed by the same person or family or something??




Here is a link to check


http://www.unicef.ie/greencom.htm



Any so we will really have a mobile competition in Papua New Guinea at last

This is confusing now. I’ve always though that there will always going to be a mobile competition and the Government was NEVER going to throw Digicel out of the country. But Sir Mekere Morauta question Hon. Arthur Somare why the Government is doing a U-turn and letting Digicel stay.

Am I the one confused here or is Sir Mekere Morauta the one confused??

What I understand is that, there was never an intention by the Somare Government to do away with Digicel but to only give Digicel an OPERATOR license and not a CARRIER license. The carrier license should be owned by the STATE and Telikom is the sole CARRIER. B’mobil, Digicel and GreenCom are all OPERATORS using the Telikom’s gateway.

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Petition Against Family Violence

Post Courier on Tuesday 2nd October reported a most bizarre story I’ve ever read. It was a case of most horrific inhumane behavior a human being (of which I am ashamed to call myself a human) could have ever done.

The story of a man beating his wife, putting his hand through her genitals and pulled out the baby. He then proceeds to pour hot water into her genitals and later forced her to go to sleep. I could not imagine the extent to which human beings can bring themselves to but this has sparked calls by various women groups and leaders to make a petition to the floor of the Parliament.

Let us all wear balck to work on Tuesday when Dame Carol Kidu presents her petition to the floor of Parliament.

“The second Post Courier article of today's edition, also attached, recorded some of the reaction from the public condemning domestic violence,etc This incident is not an isolated one. There are many women and children out there who suffer this daily. As part of the need for the community at large to be informed of this cancerous behavior, and, which must be rid of, Minister Dame Carol Kidu, will be petitioning Parliament on Tuesday next week for proactive action to be taken against this sort of abuse. It has been proposed that a limited number ( as many as the parliament gallery will allow ) of people, men & women wearing black be in the gallery when Dame Carol is presenting the petition.”

Petition
Notes to the Petition:The Petition in relation to Violence against Women & children to be presented in Parliament on Tuesday in Parliament. It will be published on Monday's Post Courier.



  1. That there is a general, pervasive feeling of dismay and helplessness about the increasing levels of violence in all sectors of society, particularly violence within the family which should be a safe haven for all people - women, children and men.We remind honourable Members of some recent horrific crimes : last week a young pregnant woman was repeatedly beaten by her husband who then forced his hand into her vagina and ripped the unborn child from her womb – she may survive but psychologically and emotionally she is scarred forever; three weeks ago a woman was chopped to death by her husband in Gordons market watched by Security Guards – nobody helped and now she is dead ; a few months ago a young girl was reportedly raped by 30 men; in November last year Josephine was tortured for days - burnt with hot stones etc etc by her husband and died after this horrific ordeal; recently an innocent woman was attacked by her drunk husband who chopped her left wrist causing it to hang off. As she reached out to hold the chopped wrist the husband then slashed her right elbow cutting off the main tendon and nerve system then slashed her across the right shoulder blade also cutting off the main tendon. She is now unable to go to work and is unable to feed herself nor do anything as the injuries sustained have disabled her for life.Sadly, these horrific crimes are occurring on a daily basis somewhere in PNG – many of them are never recorded and never reported but we all know they are happening.

  2. We, as concerned citizens, acknowledge that governments over the last ten years have made significant progress with legislative and policy reforms in the social sector but we are concerned that the implementation of these reforms needs far greater commitment from both government and civil society.

Your Petitioners therefore humbly pray that:



  1. The problem of violence in families and society at large be treated as a matter of national importance by this, the eight National Parliament, and we call on each Member of Parliament to make a personal commitment to advocate against and take action against violence in their electorates, particularly violence against women and children.

  2. The government provides the necessary financial and technical support to complete the work presently in progress with the drafting of the Family Protection Bill and for each member of this Parliament to provide leadership to ensure that the citizens of this country have their rights protected as stated in our Constitution, laws and international agreements.

  3. The government forms partnership with key stakeholders including ngos, faith based organizations, business community, educational entities, relevant statutory government authorities and donor partners to ensure affirmative action against violence.

  4. The government provides resources to enhance the capacity of responsible government agencies to implement existing laws to protect women and children.

  5. The government establishes additional facilities and improve existing Family Support Centres to provide care and support to women and children who experience violence, abuse and exploitation.

  6. The government institutes a register to record all instances of family and gender-based violence at hospitals, clinics and care centres run by non-government organizations and churches to be used as a basis of planning preventative and support measures.


And your Petitioners, as in duty bound will ever pray.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Is Papua New Guinea really on a Break-through in Techonlogy?

Accessing Broadband Internet via HF Radio has stirred a lot of interesting companies in Papua New Guinea and the World. Interest in the new technology has given Telikom the run for its money especially with the looming competition with GreenCom and Digicel.

A good friend of mine pointed out something that arouses my interest so I decided to share with you my readers. So what’s that curiosity about?? It’s about JINDALEE!! Let me quote this article

“Australia is using a sophisticated new radar network that can detect stealth bombers, curb illegal immigration and spy on neighboring nations from at least 3000 kilometers away. The $A1.8 billion Jindalee Operational Radar Network (JORN) has taken more than 30 years to complete but is now undergoing final trials. JORN is designed to monitor air and sea movements across 37,000km of largely unprotected coastline and 9 million square kilometers of ocean. It is being used to cast a security shield across Australia's remote northern approaches without the high cost of maintaining constant maritime and air patrols.” View here

So can you see my line of thoughts yet?? Not quite??.....Okay……here are some more…
"JORN is the front-line of Australia's wide area surveillance capability and is likely to remain so for at least the next two decades," Mr. Ric Smith, Australia’s Secretary for Defense, said” View here

Still not seeing where I am coming?? Here is the last one
“The Jindaleee Radar System was a great example of the Australian ability to think outside the square. Scientists concluded that if the bomber could not be detected, perhaps the turbulence it makes passing through air could be. While standard radar sends a signal along line of sight until it bounces off a target ship or aircraft, Jindalee bounces signals off the ionosphere, which lies above the stratosphere and extends about 1000 kilometers above Earth. The signal then bounces down onto its target.” View here

The Broadband Internet via HF Radio uses the IONOSPEHRE to bounce of it’s signal as in my earlier posts……the Jindalee Radar System also uses the IONOSPEHRE to bounce of its’ signal. So if we can develop the system and build our communication network using the proposed project, Papua New Guinea will be looking to match Australia in its security effort.

But the only difference will be the cost. We can build the protective shield to detect stealth bombers for only $1.8 million while Australia’s is $1.8 billion…of course….they may be other infrastructural costs as well….but I’m just being funny here.

So can Papua New Guinea move forward now??? Lets wait and see!!

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Broadband Internet via HF Radio

Last time I posted something about accessing Email on HF Radio. Well, things have now changed. No longer can you just access email on HF Radio but you can also access broadband internet via the HF Radio. You can surf the net, watch TV, do Video Conference and so much more. This is all thanks to the Brilliance of one Papua New Guinean, Wilfred Amai.





Wilfred who owns Skylink Technology is putting Papua New Guinea at the Top of the World. PNG has now an alternative to satellite dish. Gone are the days of satellite, gone are the days of cables. PNG will go wireless and be the FIRST in the World to access Broadband via HF Radio. It is just as similar as using Email on HF Radio, but the only difference is SPEED.

It is a thousand times faster and you can download a 34Mbytes data less than 3 seconds and the speed is increasing. He is working on developing the speed to reach Giga bytes per second. It seems impossible at first but Wilfred as discovered an innovative NEW technology that has been PATENT in Australia. No-one can copy his work.

So the war is brewing now, as we have just made a presentation to
Telikom and already Digicel is calling for another presentation.


More to come!!

==================================================


Skylink:
SKYLINK Communication Limited is an IPA registered 100% Papua New Guinean owned company specializing in the research and development of innovative Communication Systems.

The main vision of the company is to develop and market a cheaper and more robust communication system that is user friendly and as an alternative to existing systems of telecommunication. The company derived its inspiration from the fact that PNG’s geographical and topographical setting rendered telecommunication in PNG very unreliable, ineffective and costly.

Rationale of behind the use of Ionosphere
The ionosphere is the upper most part of the atmosphere and is ionised by solar radiation. This gives ionosphere its property to refract radio waves such as short-wave. When using High Frequency bands, the ionosphere is utilized to reflect the transmitted radio beam. The beam returns to the earth’s surface, and then be reflected back into the ionosphere for a second bounce. The ionosphere in its sense acts as a satellite for Radio waves.


Ionosphere at 300km in the atmosphere will refract HF communication signals carrying large amount of data in real time improving on delay effects experienced by geo-stationary satellites at 36 000km.

The present invention relates generally to a data transmission system and in particular to a system for transmitting and receiving data at very high speed over a standard wireless HF communication link. Although HF radio frequency data transmission systems have been in existence for many years, no one has yet found a way to transmit large volumes of audio, video and data content in a real time, high speed environment. What that means is that this new invention can now enable people to send and access large volumes of data (through the internet) cheaply using the HF system everywhere, including rural areas.

This high speed communication system has also been developed to ensure the security of data communicated through the network, whilst redundancy has also been built into its systems so as to maintain uptime as much as possible.

Redundancy means having alternate routes for data traffic to be routed in the event of the default route malfunctioning. Redundancy also means having backup power in the likely event that main power goes off. It means building ‘intelligence’ into the network to enable it to automatically adapt to failing data traffic routes without human intervention i.e. the use of routers with automatically updated routing tables constantly determining the next best route.

In terms of compatibility, this communication system is compatible with all standard internationally approved equipment. This allows all types of computers and peripherals to be connected to the network. In fact, the system has been initially trialled in the presence of PANGTEL in January of this year, 2007, to ensure that it complied with regulatory standards of the use of the HF channel and that it didn’t interfere with other commercial users of the Radio Frequency Spectrum in any illegal way.

The trial involved downloading a 22 megabyte file in approximately 20 seconds using a narrow channel standard HF frequency at around 4.920 MHz. This translates into a speed of approximately 9 or 10 Mbps. This is more than 3,000 times faster than a commercial HF data transmission system. That is because commercial HF Data communication systems are only known to be able to work at speeds of up to around 24 kbps at the most. Apart from government and corporate dignitaries, there were also technical specialists from PANGTEL and other HF communications companies present at the trials to verify the system.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

World Development Report 2007: Development and the Next Generation

A year ago, I had the opportunity to attend the launching of the World Development Report for 2007 in Singapore. This launching coincided with the IMF/World Bank annual meeting for the year. The Report was focused on young people and is titled Development and the Next Generation. This particular report is interesting as it recognizes the importance of young people and encourages governments to invest in youths.

What is World Development Report?
The World Bank's annual World Development Report (WDR) is an invaluable guide to the economic, social and environmental state of the world today. Each year the WDR provides in depth analysis of a specific aspect of development. Past reports have considered such topics as the role of the state, transition economies, labor, infrastructure, health, the environment, and poverty. The reports are the Bank's best-known contribution to thinking about development.
World Development Report 2007: Development and the Next Generation.
So why is the World Bank interested in young people? Two simple reasons

Reason One
  • “There’s never been a better time than now for countries to invest in the next generation”
  • There has been an enormous progress over the past 30 years in terms of education world wide and the decrease in infant mortality
  • But this progress brings further challenges such as, “Are there enough jobs? Does the education prepare us for the daily lives? We encourage more primary education, but what about secondary education?”

Reason Two

  • We have the largest Youth Bulge ever
  • The youth bulge in the population pyramid due to decreasing fertility rate and growing aging population
  • Falling fertility rate leads to lower demographic dependence (a lot more working population) however this dependence will increase eventually in some countries due to the aging population.
  • Policies and institution matters- human capital and skills development
  • Which paths do developing countries follow?

The WDR lists the success and pitfalls in some countries.
The 2007 Report: Development and the Next Generation uses five transitional stages that youths go through in life and uses those transitional phase to find gaps for investment. These transitional stages are: Going to School, Staying healthy, finding a Job, Leaving home & starting a family and Exercising citizenship.

According to the World Development Report 2007: Development and the Next Generation, developing countries which invest in better education, healthcare, and job training for their record numbers of young people between the ages of 12 and 24 years of age, could produce surging economic growth and sharply reduced poverty.

With 1.3 billion young people now living in the developing world-the largest-ever youth group in history-the report says there has never been a better time to invest in youth because they are healthier and better educated than previous generations, and they will join the workforce with fewer dependents because of changing demographics.

"Such large numbers of young people living in developing countries present great opportunities, but also risks," says François Bourguignon, the World Bank's Chief Economist and Senior Vice President for Development Economics.

"The opportunities are great, as many countries will have a larger, more skilled labor force and fewer dependents. But these young people must be well-prepared in order to create and find good jobs."

The World Development Report 2007: Development and the Next Generation use three lenses to look at social issues affecting young people around the world. Expanding Opportunity, Enhancing Capacities and providing Second Chances.

  • Opportunity to build skills and safe guard them e.g. education, relevance of the education system.
  • Opportunity to be heard, positive ways to make that mark e.g. Brazil’s consultation with youth before policies are made
  • Is there support for young people to help them make right choices? E.g. In Bangladesh there are bank accounts in the names of girls as they were willing to study and remain unmarried until they do so this has helped increase the enrolment rate of girls in terms of education. It was very successful.
  • Second chances to allow young people to get back on track and recover
  • To ensure that there are no parallel system for those who have succeed and those who fail.
  • Restoration rather than retribution


"Most developing countries have a short window of opportunity to get this right before their record numbers of youth become middle-aged, and they lose their demographic dividend. This isn't just enlightened social policy. This may be one of the profound decisions a developing country will ever make to banish poverty and galvanize its economy," says Emmanuel Jimenez, lead author of the report, and Director of Human Development in the World Bank's East Asia and the Pacific Department.

Sunday, September 9, 2007

Pacific Youth Advocacy Training

Last time I wrote something about the Youth Coalition and what they are doing. Anyway, the same Youth Coalition is holding a Pacific Youth Advocacy Training at Nadi, Fiji in December 5th – 9th 2007.

So what really is the Youth Coalition??

YC is an international organization of young people between the ages of 15 & 29 committed to promoting youth sexual and reproductive rights at the national, regional and international levels. We are students, researchers, volunteers, educators, and activists.

The Youth Coalition envisions a world where the diversities of all young people are respected and celebrated, and where they are empowered and supported to fully and freely exercise their sexual and reproductive rights.

We believe that sexual and reproductive rights are human rights, and therefore apply equally to young people. As young people, we have a valuable contribution to make to society and must be given a voice in all policy and decision-making processes that is respected and fully incorporated.
The Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights (YC) is an international network of like-minded young advocates (aged 15-29) who are promoting sexual and reproductive rights of young people internationally. They are students, researchers, volunteers, educators, NGO (non-governmental organization) workers, and activists. The YC was formed during a meeting on the 5-year review of the United Nations International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD+5). Our activities are focused around three main areas: awareness raising, training, and information.


Pacific Youth Advocacy Training

The Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights is calling for applications to participate in training on sexual and reproductive rights, youth participation and advocacy. This 5-day training will bring together approximately 10 youth activists from the Pacific region. Participants will gain knowledge on the many aspects of sexual and reproductive rights and youth participation as well as advocacy tools to promote young people’s rights.

The application form for the training is attached. The YC is keen to receive applications from young people who:

· Fall between the ages of 15 – 29
· Have basic knowledge in the area of sexual and reproductive health and rights or another related field (i.e. gender equity, HIV/AIDS, youth participation, trafficking of young women, sexual orientation etc.).
· Are affiliated with an organisation/have some experience in working in the area of sexual and reproductive right or another related field (i.e. youth sexual health clinic, studies in related field, political work on youth issues etc.).
· Have a working knowledge of English AND can communicate proficiently in English with other training participants.
· Youth from the Pacific Islands and indigenous youth from Australia and New Zealand.

Please note that only those who fit the above criteria will be considered.

Friday, August 24, 2007

A World without Aids

The 8th International Conference on Aids in Asia and the Pacific came to an end on the 23rd of August 2007. The conference hosts skills building workshops, planetary sessions and discussions on Aids in the Asia Pacific Region.

While there was 19 plenary speakers one only slot was allocated to youths to raise their issues. This raised the concerns that young people are still being neglected and forgotten. Most people speak about issues of Aids, yet not many are doing anything to help the young people. The closing remark by Ari Laksman during the 8th ICCAP summaries the ignorance of leaders and academics about youth and thier issues.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
*ICAAP YOUTH STATEMENT, August 23, 2007*
Delivered at the Closing Ceremony by Ari Yuda Laksmana

Good morning ladies and gentlemen.

On behalf of the youth who participated in the youth forum, I would like to make a statement.

I would like to ask young people in the room who participated in the Youth Forum of the 8th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific to please stand, and remain standing during my remarks.

To the rest of you who are seated, I have a question for you. What is it like to live in a world without AIDS? All the people standing were born after the pandemic. We do not know a world without AIDS.

We are already responding in our own ways to HIV/AIDS. We are running programs, educating peers, pushing for social change and uniting in this fight around the world.

The value of our response has to be recognized as necessary, and mainstreamed.
We strongly urge you to begin viewing us as equal partners in the response to HIV/AIDS and to move beyond the rhetoric of youth participation by funding youth-led initiatives, engaging in true youth-adult partnerships and meaningfully involving young people in policy that affects our lives.

Therefore, we have laid out concrete steps to be taken to ensure the next
ICAAP, held in my country of Indonesia, builds on the process started here over the next two years and beyond.

We call upon those present here today to work with us to achieve the following in the next two years in Bali:

1. More than double the number of youth participants;
2. Include youth voices by providing space for a youth representative at the opening and closing ceremonies, ensuring a platform for youth to address all congress delegates. Future congresses should include representation for young people, including young people living with HIV/AIDS, in the different segments of the congress programme to provide for the youth perspectives on the different issues;
3. Develop a separate scholarship selection process for young people that address problems that youth face when applying to conference of this nature;
4. Provide support for a youth committee comprised of members from the previous ICAAP youth forums to create a clear process of coordination, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and hand-over of the Youth Forum;
5. Facilitate the meeting of youth at the Congress with high-level decision makers to advocate for youth-specific policy and to seek funding for their work;
6. Have a two-day youth pre-conference to discuss youth-issues of the region, network efficiently and adequately prepare youth to get the most out of ICAAP.
7. Technically and financially support the creation of a regional network of youth-run organizations working with youth.

Look around this room; what does that tell you about youth participation in this congress? Despite the fact that we comprise over half of all new infections, from the 19 plenary speakers at ICAAP, only “ONE” was a young person talking about youth issues.

For all the youth issues in the region and around the world, we had “ONE” chance to meaningfully address the entire congress had me speaking to you right now.

We were given only “ONE” day before the Congress to discuss, deliberate and strategize on all youth issues in all the countries that were represented here.

We stand firmly united against being tokenized on panels, relegated to abstract sessions and poster presentations, and denied funding to carry out our initiatives.

We hope that at the next ICAAP, we will not have to stand before you raising the same issues we are forced to raise again and again. We all know we need a great deal of CHANGE in the way we respond to AIDS in our region.

Many people think SOMEONE is doing something about the needs and concerns of youth and youth involvement; I did too until I saw the reality.

Constructive ways to ensure the momentum and successes of the previous 3 ICAAP youth forums in Melbourne, Kobe and now Colombo are sustained and expanded upon have already been raised with key conference organizers.

We will do all in our power and effort to ensure that a clear structure for planning, implementing and handing over the future ICAAP youth forums and programs is actioned and supported in full partnership with ALL ICAAP stakeholders. We hope that you'll make it to the table; we will be there, waiting for you.

It is our hope that one day when we ask the youth of the room to rise, they will be the ones who have known a world without AIDS.

See you in Bali.

*Statement composed by youth from Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India,
Australia, PNG, Japan and from the Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS*

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

History created


Papua New Guinea has created history when the National Alliance Party lead by it's party leader Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare was elected as the eight Prime Minister for Papua New Guinea. Papua New Guinea has never had a Prime Minister who served the full term and also to return from the election victorious to form the new government. With the re-election of Chief Sir Michael Somare, it is leading the country towards new direction.


Political stability has been created and will translate into so many tangible benefits for the country. Hopefully, we could also create stability within the Ministries and the former Ministers taking back their ministries. Political stability is the roadmap for investor confidence, it creates confidence within the economy and gives a positive outlook of Papua New Guinea.
Politics plays an important part of the economy, as it decides for the people who best we should use the resources and skills we have in Papua New Guinea together with the advance in technology. Prime Minister when annoucing his Care-taker Government says he is "determine to accelerate the process of bridging the infrstructure gap in the next 5 years', this is a sign of a committed leader and are sure that Grand Chief Somare will keep his word.
He has already proven that he wants competition within the Mobile Communication which sees Digicel, GreenCo and B'Mobile all having a carrier license. Despite so many critics, Papua New Guinea has had a very successful elections and continuation of the Government.


============================================================


NATIONAL ALLIANCE PARTY


STATEMENT ON BECOMING PRIME MINISTER, 13TH AUGUST 2007

Mr Speaker, Members of the Eighth National Parliament.

First of all, I congratulate every member for being elected to the 8th National Parliament.

And Mr Speaker, I congratulate you in your election as Speaker for another term.

On behalf of the National Alliance Party and its coalition partners, I humbly accept the decision of the people’s representatives to be Prime Minister again.

The National Alliance Party wishes to thank the people of Papua New Guinea for their confidence in mandating the Party under the law to continue to govern. The country needs stability and continuity to progress. The mandate we now collectively have is founded on the people’s desire for certainty.

The Party went to election and won a total of 27 seats at the poll. And since the return of the writs, 14 Independent Members of Parliament have joined the Party. As the Parliament meets for the first time today, the National Alliance Party has 41 members out of the 109-member Parliament. And out of the 20 provinces in the country, 19 have Members of Parliament who are members of the National Alliance Party.

Mr Speaker, our people have spoken. The National Alliance Party translated the mandate from the people by signing the Warangoi Agreement individually with 12 political parties. And together 13 political parties signed the Warangoi Coalition Accord on Friday 10th August 2007. The Party also recognizes 3 other political parties and has secured understanding with them. Two parties will merge with two coalition partners. And one has committed itself to support the government.

Mr Speaker, over the past 5 years we have experienced what would happen when we work together in the interest of our country. Papua New Guinea experienced economic growth that is unprecedented. This experience will be used to achieve even greater heights over the next 5 years.

Mr Speaker, this coalition government was formed in East New Britain. All four electorates in the East New Britain Province were involved in its formation. Members of Parliament and their support teams were accommodated in the Kokopo, Rabaul, Gazelle and Pomio electorates. The individual Agreements were signed in Kokopo Town in the Kokopo electorate. And the Collective Agreement was signed in Warangoi in the Pomio Electorate.

Mr Speaker, this is an example of what could happen if we link our provinces with needed infrastructures. Inspired by this, I am determined to accelerate the process of bridging the infrastructure gap in our country over the next 5 years.

Mr Speaker, this is the second time that National Alliance had received the invitation to form government. On receiving the invitation to form government from the Governor General this time, the National Alliance Party further extended the invitation to its coalition partners. Today I am happy to once again lead this large but manageable coalition government. It is made up of seasoned leaders and fresh, energetic, young and articulate leaders. We will not only lead and govern but we will also prepare leaders for tomorrow.

This coalition government will use the next five years to build on our collective achievements to move our country forward. Every citizen, investor and genuine friend is part of our development team.

We will work with all Members of Parliament to deliver services to our people.
We will guard the sovereignty of our country.
We will help all our neighbours wherever we can.
We will use what the world offers to benefit our people and our country.
We will do all these and more with the help of our people and our friends.

Mr Speaker, I now announce the formation of the caretaker government. Members of the Caretaker Government are:

1. Hon Gabriel Kapris - Transport and Civil Aviation, Defence and Fisheries
2. Hon William Duma - Petroleum and Energy, Environment and Conservation, and Justice and Attorney General
3. Hon Andrew Kumbakor - Education, Housing & Urban Development, & Inter Government Relations
4. Hon Peter O’Neill - Trade and Industry & Higher Education, Research, Science & Technology
5. Hon Michael Ogio - Correctional Services, Community Development, Health & Mining
6. Hon Don PombPolye - Works, Public Services, Culture and Tourism,
7. Hon Puka Temu - Lands and Physical Planning, Education, Labour and Industrial Relations & Internal Security
8. Hon Patrick Pruaitch - Treasury & Finance & Forestry
9. Hon Paul Tiensten - Agriculture & Livestock, Foreign Affairs and Immigration & Bougainville Affairs
10. Hon Arthur Somare - National Planning & Rural Development & Public Enterprise, Communication & Development Corporation
I will be Prime Minister.

The Warangoi Agreement and the Warangoi Coalition Accord will form the basis upon which the Cabinet will be constituted over the next few days.

Thank you Mr Speaker.


M T SOMARE
Parliamentary Leader – National Alliance Party




Sunday, August 5, 2007

ICT Policy and Mobile Competition

Before I start this discussion I would like to say that I fully support the idea of “Mobile Competition” in Papua New Guinea. There is so much potential in mobile communications especially the potential of “wireless broadband” in which mobile carriers could tap into so that no longer should I go to an internet café and discussion issues on scape but I can stay at home at do that also or even while drinking a martini on an imaginary boat that I possess.

Heni Goro gave a very interesting analysis (No such thing as open competition) in the Sunday Chronicles and Heni could not have done a better job as I was still trying to rearrange my thoughts. Please be mindful that the Grand Chief is a very patriotic person and will not be influenced by those outside of Papua New Guinea.

That being said, all competition including the mobile competition needs to take place within a solid policy framework which the Government as the protector of people must set in place. The ICT policy was set-up to protect the natural resource of the people of Papua New Guineans. So what is the so-called natural resource? The natural resource was the scarce AIRSPACE that Papua New Guinea owns.

International laws allows for AIRSPACE boundaries for every country including Papua New Guinea. The same can be said for Papua New Guinea’s sea boundaries which are covered under the International laws. The AIRSPACE and sea boundaries are the only natural scarce resources left where millions of kina can be generated with a solid policy framework for Papua New Guinea. We must be very careful on how our AIRSPACE is being used. Very soon Papua New Guinea will start to think about having its own satellite and move away from depending on Optus.


According to Sunday Chronicles commentary by Heni Goro, “The Net-co, Serv-Co model is the only option available – towards a monopolized regime structured to encourage competition”. I believe that was the message that the Grand Chief was giving out but people where too emotional to rationalize this. Papua New Guinea must control is natural resources and as such Common Carrier is a scarce resource.” It is the nerve center of whole telecommunication operation and only the State can have control over it, not outsiders……”

So where does it leave Digicel, GreenCom, and ServCo who are now access seekers under ICT policy that was passed? They can still operate in Papua New Guinea but it must be under the amended ICT policy which ICCC was instructed to issue to them in the NEC Decision 188/2007. I believe it is in the best interest of Digicel to stop these lawsuits and accept the NEC Decision 188/2007 as the Government is hell bent on protecting its scarce natural resource.

Thursday, August 2, 2007

9 year old Rhain Davis off to Manchester United


RHAIN Davis went to Manchester in pursuit of his dream. Yesterday he was the toast of all England.

The nine-year-old Australian boy came to the attention of soccer giant Manchester United after his grandfather sent the club DVD footage of him.

The Sun newspaper already thinks highly of his prospects, promoting him to the front page, his story read by 10 million people.

The story was then detailed inside Britain's biggest selling newspaper on pages normally reserved for serious news - pages four and five.

"Wonder kid Rhain Davis was signed by Manchester United after stunned scouts viewed a DVD featuring his mesmerising skills," it said.

By the fifth paragraph, however, the Poms had already begun the groundwork to claim him as their own.

"And the good news is that he could one day play for England as he has a UK passport through his mother's side," it said.

The extraordinary treatment from The Sun is unprecedented for a boy so young.

The front page lead hailed Rhain as a new Wayne Rooney, revealing his skills have been posted on YouTube and claiming they had already been seen by more than three million people.

The video footage uploaded shows Rhain has already perfected the samba-style stepover, popularised by Man United superstar Christiano Ronaldo, as well as displaying a tight control of the ball almost unheard of in a player so young.

Rhain's talents have also spread to clubs beyond Manchester United.

================================================================================

There is a poll of talent in Papua New Guinea's remote areas. Consider Marcus Bai as example or Toea Wisil to be another one. If only we can get scouts out to the remote areas and watch these kids play.....you'd be amazed how many of them make it in the big league.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Helen's Story - Use a Condom



Helen's Story is a documentary that has been aired on Emtv about an extra-ordinary woman who defies stigmatation and discrimination to "speak-out" and advocate on HIV/AIDS. This story airs tonight also on Emtv and while I have not seen the documentary, I have decided to interview Helen and do my own "Helen's Story" for 3 minutes on youtube.

In this short video Helen encourages young people who are sexually active to use a "condom" for protection as their is no other alternative. "Once you have the HIV virus thats something you will live with the rest of your life.......and if you are going to have sex, please use a condom and there is no other way I can recommend to you".


I meet Helen during a recent BAHA Masters Trainers workshop in Port Moresby. Helen is living with HIV/AIDS and works with Anglicare Stop Aids to advocate for those people who are living in AIDS and also to tell young people about the dangers of HIV/AIDS. Helen's Story is very motivating for those advocating for PLWHA that they are also human and they should be discriminated because of the HIV/AIDS statues.


HIV/AIDS victims have the same rights to living and basis services as you and I and it does not matter what their status is. Discrimination must have no place in our society. If you have a relative that is living with AIDS, make sure you know how best to take care of them. Having basic knowledge on HIV/AIDS helps one to care for thier relative living with AIDS.




Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Thankyou, Sir Rabbie Namaliu!

FORMER prime minister Rabbie Namaliu is the first high profile MP to lose his seat in the national elections.Sir Rabbie, who is leader of the country’s oldest political party, Pangu Pati, was beaten for the Kokopo Open seat which he has represented in Parliament since 1982. He was defeated by Patrick Tammur, the son of Oscar Tammur, the man he dethroned for that seat.Sir Rabbie, who was attending a gathering at his Raluana village in Kokopo at the time of the declaration, accepted his people’s verdict and thanked them for their support.



Sir Rabbie said he had been expecting a close race because five candidates including the MP-elect were from his LLG area. Despite losing, Sir Rabbie is confident Pangu Pati will get a good number of members into Parliament. He said Pangu candidates were doing well so far. On the leadership of the party, he said, a decision would be made later.

This would be done after all results were completed and declared.Sir Rabbie said he was looking forward to a break from politics adding he would be spending more time now with his family.The break would also allow him to decide on what to do in the future. Asked if this was the end for him in the political arena, he replied: “In politics, you never say never, because the circumstances may change but for now, I am out of politics.”

Sir Rabbie has been contributing alot to the development of Papua New Guinea during his tenure as Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and has held many folios within the government. The last post Sir Rabbie held was the Minister for Treasury which was given to him after Bart Philemon was removed.

He has gain international recognitions for his work and has worked alot with International Agencies such as the World Bank, European Union, Asian Development Bank, United Nations and foreign Embassies.
The last time I meet Sir Rabbie was September 2006 in Singapore. He was there to attend the annual IMF/World Bank meetings which I was also there to attend and witness the launch of the World Development Report 2007: Development and the Next Generation. Sir Rabbie hosted a dinner for the Papua New Guinean delegates and sent an invitation for me to attend.
It's a shame that Sir Rabbie has lost his seat but that is what the majority of people has chosen for the Kokopo Open Seat and I believe, it is their interests in Kokopo that must be taken into account regardless on who is and who is not a good leader.

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Free Education - OpenCourseWare

Free Education. That should be the battle cry of voters now that they have chosen their leaders over the next few days. But you can actually get a free education online. This is due to major and prestigious universities offering their courses for free – over the internet!



It’s called opencourseware or intellectual philanthropy. You can actually get an Ivy League college education or even a master’s degree by logging into the websites of these universities, read the lectures, hears or sees the lectures on video, and read the reference books and other materials. There is even a feedback mechanism. Try MIT. It has one of the best free course offerings.


How do you get to these universities? Well, buy a computer, and have a fast connection to the internet. If there are two or more of you sharing the computer, you can split the cost two or three way.



With the universities on the Internet, you have your menu of virtually unlimited options—choose the professors you want, read the books you want and jump from one course to another—journalism to engineering, management to geodetic engineering, back. There is no restriction. You can even specialize in climate change. The only limiting factor is your imagination.



Of course, on the Internet, you don’t need to cheat. If you do, you are fooling yourself. Did you know that majority of students in UPNG cheat? Even in the exams in their ethics class, they cheat.



With Universities and College education here has become so expensive; parents of students need a public office or a similarly remunerative racket (not drugs, please!) just to support their children.



I know can study my Japanese again and take up German language also. Oh…I’m also trying my hands on Electrical Engineering and Computer science!



Anyway, thanks to the world becoming flat, finally, premium education is universal. Accessible to all. For free.



News
01 Jun 2007 // Logging into learning.
Read more on The Hindu Business Line
21 May 2007 // Top Universities Offer Free Lectures Online.
Read more on KGO-TV
15 May 2007 // State colleges may offer free course materials.
Read more on HJNews.com
22 Apr 2007 // MIT OpenCourseWare nears completion.
Read more on insidevandy
15 Apr 2007 // MIT OCW named one of America's 100 best for 2007.
Read more...
10 Apr 2007 // Wanted: Single Standard for Open-Content Licenses.
Read more on eSchool News Online
10 Apr 2007 // Free MIT Course Materials and Supply Chain Seminars.
Read more on EDN
09 Apr 2007 // Public eduCommons Demo.
Read more on Iterating Toward Openness
04 Apr 2007 // Extraction Action.
Read more on The Chronicle of Higher Education
04 Apr 2007 // MIT Courses, Now in Chinese.
Read more on The Chronicle of Higher Education
04 Apr 2007 // UC Irvine launches Free Online Financial Planning Course.
Read more on American Digital Networks
03 Apr 2007 // MIT OpenCourseWare selected as one of the top 300 Political Science Web resources.
Read more...
03 Apr 2007 // Open Education 2007: Conference Call for Papers.
Read more on Iterating Toward Openness
02 Apr 2007 // Open Content Learning Portal Debuts.
Read more on eSchool News Online

Monday, July 2, 2007

Youth Coalitions

There are alot of youth organizations around the world that is taking up the challenge of airing out youth issues and fighting for their voice to be heard. Some of these youth organizations specificly target certain social issues while others are broad in nature. Some of these youth organizations are donor fundered while others operate for a profit.


Yet...all these youth organizations have one thing in common. And that is to advocate for the rights of young people. Rights that are agreed on by member countries in the UN Charters and Conventions. Some of these groups are Global Youth Coalition on HIV/Aids http://youthaidscoalition.org/, Taking It Global http://takingitglobal.org/ and even international organizations like World Bank and United Nations have their own youth section with their department.


Now when I did a posting on Sex Education....I sent a link to GYCA http://youthaidscoalition/ so young people visiting GYCA website can also visit the Yu Tok Blog. Well, I got a quite few visitors and some of those visitors wanted me to write something about their activities. One particular oranization, Youth Coalition http://youthcoalition.org/ wanted to invite me to a Pacific Training. This training is about Youth Sexual Reproductive Rights and it will be staged in Fiji early November 2007.


The interesting thing to note about Youth Coalition is that, unlike most NGO youths they actually have an office and have staffs that are working on contracts. Their office is based in Canada, have a full-time staff on contract and most amazingly...they have annual reports. Now talk about being organized for a youth group.......but thats not the end....they also have sponsors and some of their sponsors are Ford Foundation, Dutch Government and anonymouse donors.

Youth Coalition stands for the following values and principles:
  • Sexual and reproductive rights are human rights, and therefore apply equally to young people.

  • All human rights are universal and must not be limited on the grounds of conflict with religion, culture or tradition.

  • Sexuality and sexual expression are integral parts of the personal identity of all human beings, therefore applying equally to young people.

  • Youth participation is essential to ensure that sexual and reproductive health and rights programmes and policies address the needs of young people.

  • Young people have a valuable contribution to make to society and must be given a voice in all policy and decision-making processes which is recognized, respected and incorporated.

  • Sexual and reproductive health and rights information and education are vital in safeguarding and promoting the life, health, and well-being of young people.

  • Sexual and reproductive health services are vital in safeguarding and promoting the life, health, and well-being of young people.

  • All women, irrespective of age, have the right to medically safe, legal and accessible abortions.

  • The sexual and reproductive lives of young people must be free of coercion or the threat of violence.

  • Funding for sexual and reproductive health and rights programmes must meet the needs of all young people.

Now if you don't believe me.....visit the site http://www.youthcoalition.org/ yourself and see it.



Monday, June 18, 2007

Email on HF Radio

My friend Stanley got me going on this little project he did while in school. It was about using a HF radio and connecting to the internet. Anyway....Stanley aroused my interest so I did some searches on google and realise the potential HF Radio can be for PNG.


Currently in Africa, Bushmail is a worldwide Email that works via HF Radio. It is extremely robusts and can even work during a cyclone. If this was successful in Africa, imagine what advantage it can do for Papua New Guinea. With the difficulties in communication and transportation, this Email over HF Radio may be the saviour for many of our citizens.

It only requires;
  • Antenna (can be suspended on a tree)
  • HF Radio
  • HF Modem
  • Computer (Laptop will do also)
  • 12 Volts DC battery (Solar panel for rural areas)

If you have a landcruiser, you can have an antenna on it and have your laptop pc powered by the cigarette lighter plug and wollla !!!!, you can check you email and even send email on your HF Radio. You cannot browse the internet for that matter as the internet requires you to transmit at the same time.

Two-way radio is a classic half-duplex medium of communication, that is you either trasmitting -- push to talk-- or receiving, not both at the same time. So we can store emails and send and also receive emails and check them off-line.

I am going to try this at my backyard and see if it works. I wonder if I can use skpye on this also. Because I am either talking or listening. If it does work......imagine the possibilities endless calls for FREE!!!!

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Lets talk about Sex

I’ve been copied on this email email message for almost two weeks now. I can’t remember how many of this same email I got from dozen different senders but they all have the same context and message so I’m thinking, people must actually wanting to talk about sex.

So I’ll post the email I got copied on and lets discuss something on the subject. It may be interesting to see how many people actually going to comment to this post.

=======================================================================
1. Sex is a beauty treatment. Scientific tests find that when women make
love they produce amounts of the hormone estrogen, which makes hair
shine and skin smooth.

2. Gentle, relaxed lovemaking reduces your chances of suffering
dermatitis, skin rashes and blemishes. The sweat produced cleanses the
pores and makes your skin glow.

3. Lovemaking can burn up those calories you piled on during that
romantic dinner.

4. Sex is one of the safest sports you can take up. It stretches
and tones up just about every muscle in the body. It’s more enjoyable
than swimming 20 laps, and you don’t need special sneakers!

5. Sex is an instant cure for mild depression. It releases
endorphins into the bloodstream, producing a sense of euphoria and
leaving you with a feeling of well-being.

6. The more sex you have, the more you will be offered. The sexually
active body gives off greater quantities of chemicals called pheromones.
These subtle sex perfumes drive the opposite sex crazy!

7. Sex is the safest tranquilizer in the world. IT IS 10 TIMES MORE
EFFECTIVE THAN VALIUM.

8. Kissing each day will keep the dentist away. Kissing
encourages saliva to wash food from the teeth and lowers the level of
the acid that causes decay, preventing plaque build-up.

9. Sex actually relieves headaches. A lovemaking session can
release the tension that restricts blood vessels in the brain.

10. A lot of lovemaking can unblock a stuffy nose. Sex is a natural
antihistamine. It can help combat asthma and hay fever.
=====================================================


I’ve facilitated a few workshops last year with the topic “Youth and HIV/AIDS” during my work. The interesting thing about it is the my discussion always ends with “Sex Education“. I had alot of interesting discussion everytime and discussion always get heated up. There are people who argue that Sex should not be talked about openly and there are others who have a more open mind to the subject.

But let me gather my thoughts and will talk more about sex...

Music Tour

Papua New Guinea always go crazy when a band is visiting the country. I remember the likes of Makoma, Maxi Prist, Lucky Dube, O’yaba, Apprentish, Sharzy etc… coming to PNG and causing hysteria with the admirers. Most of those visits where always to promote their album in the country our music loving fans. Solomon Island seems to visit regular whenever a new group hit the charts.

Not far behind the visits from the Solomon Island bands of Apprentish and sharzy are the bands that we get from African countrys. Makoma, O’yaba and Lucky Dube. We may have some also from the Carribean Islands but I’d have to check CHM to get more infor on that.
And we are all used to the slow and sometimes reggae music that these band comes to promote. Maybe it's time we give some flavour to our taste in music.....something a little fast and that makes you wanna move and grove...
What if we get a band with the latest music on the chart to play in PNG?? The first band that springs to mind is "Blue Lagoon". With their hits, Isle of Paradise and their remix of Heart Breaker, Break my Stride, and Now that we found Love........I believe they would be a hit with our music lovers and not only that......they could actually sell a message in their tour.
What you all think?

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Pacific Youth Festival - Papeete










The little town of Papeete woke up to over a 1000 young people from 25 countries and territories in the Pacific. These energetic lads around the Pacific met for the 1st time to celebrate the Pacific Youth Festival which was the first of it's kind.


July 17th - 22nd was the date we all meet in Papeete, Tahiti. This beautiful sleeping town was filled with excited youths who wanted to tell their friends from around the Pacific what they are doing in their country.


The festival consists of workshops, meetings and cultural events. Having 25 different countries to show their culture was just amazing. But having Papua New Guinea to add to the richness with traditional displays of the 19 provinces just shows how rich in culture Papua New Guinea stood out.

The main focus of the Festival was to draw-up the Pacific Youth Charter which I will write about next. But the festival also is a time were young people are to make connections, create a network and learn from the experiences provided by their peers in another country. There was time also for picnic and sometime for a night disco where everyone can join.


Papua New Guinea contributed alot to the festival. Chief Ombudsman, Ila Geno was a guest speaker on corruption and Dame Kidu was also another guest speaker on HIV/AIDS in the Pacific. Every young person there had to facilitate a workshop and also is required to take part in the cultural performances.

But no matter where you go.....you will always miss PNG and I missed PNG so much I could not believe it. I guess it was the lack of rice in our food that makes me want to get back to PNG as soon as possible. Tahiti is a good place to visit, but I must say it's too expensive to live there.

Iaorana!!