IF I were to make a small speech about my country (PNG) anywhere in the world, it
would be themed: “PNG is a niche!”
Everybody
knows that we are culturally diverse and linguistically rich – having about 850
different dialects.
Back
in the 1990s, an anthropology friend told me that many prominent anthropologists
in the world did their field work in PNG.
After
Independence the world came to us for copper, gold and other precious metals
and then they went for the oil too.
Today
our Ministers and Government are excited about liquefied natural gas (LNG) and
are scouting for interested developers.
Just
last week, a Minister spoke about the potential of black coal in at least three
provinces in PNG.
A
few years ago, a French scientist said something to the effect that PNG is an enviable
niche for any biologist in the world to study the diverse plant and animal life
– from the tip of the highest mountains in the Highlands to the depths of the Bismarck
Sea.
All
those niches are here – for sure. However, there is a niche that is still
untapped and that must be brought up and brought out to the rest of the world.
That
niche has to do with stories – the old, old stories or the current/contemporary
stories that have yet to be truly told. Those are the stories that scratch
below the surface, the stories that are more than just news that are 200-300-word
long.
The
problem with us here in PNG is we are short of good and eager storytellers –
people who can see, listen and document stories before telling or sharing them,
and I mean telling stories in the form of poetry, short stories, novels and
scripts.
That
niche is here – but as yet it seems people are unaware that it is here because
we over time have trained ourselves to think that all that is good must be
touched, felt, traded for fast money, ergo.
Stories
are rich too. If we treasure them – and tell them with some sense of appreciation,
we can get paid too for the effort.
It
is this story world in PNG that I think is an untapped mine that we must try to
tap into.
In
the process, we protect our own identity and heritage when we document such
stories in the form of poetry, short stories, novels or films.
That
is my belief.
Think
about this: In a decade all the LNG and black coal may have been extracted with
big holes and rusting pipes left behind, but our stories captured will still
remain, if we manage to document them.
