CHAMPIONS LISTEN ...

Photo: Another shot of Wewak town from Wewak Hill. TK, the brother, once lived there too.

THE IMPORTANCE OF LISTENING … Some years ago, I met TK, a man who is about a decade older than me and hails from one of the islands to the south of the Manus mainland. We were going to the same church and during breaks he (and other elders) would tell stories with me. They would talk about the old days when order was there. People knew how to listen and obey. He told me about his elder brother and himself growing up back on their island. TK said whenever the father talked, the older brother never listened.

The father warned the son on many occasions but the son did not listen.

TK, on the other hand, would keep quiet and listen.

When the father said it was time to go fishing or gardening, TK would not object – he would just obey.

In years to come TK furthered his education while the brother never went beyond Manus.

As far as I know, TK also happened to be the first Papua New Guinean to play soccer as a professional/semi-professional when he had a stint in Australia in the early 1970s. (TK, a humble man, never told me that. I found that out later.)

When I returned to Port Moresby in 2010, after two years away, TK’s wife came to came to me after church and told me with tears in her eyes: “Your brother has left us.”

Thanks TK. You are champion – and champions listen.

PLS friends, do take note. Champions listen.