Two Years in the Hell of Madang

Leonard Fong Roka

After all the years in the comfort and freedom of my Solomon Island of Bougainville, at the cool age of 31, I left Bougainville on the 03 of February 2011 by ship, MV Solomon Queen to be educated by Divine Word University.

At 7 PM on the night of 06 February 2011, strained weak by the journey through the tempestuous seas and over the land of New Guinea I did walk through the boom gates of Divine Word University proudly that now I was a university student.

From a non-school leaver self-sponsored student in 2011 I secured a place in the government backed list of students categorized as the HECAS student in 2012.

Yah, it’s cool! But to me, I just don’t like the culture in this university. To me Bougainville is freedom and life. I love it; I mean, Bougainville.

Divine Word University to me, as being hell to my social welfare and life; one could wonder why, is has this shit being going on with me. But the tale is too long!

A student boozer sleeping

 

One Papua New Guinean poet, Jack Lahui wrote a poem titled, The Dark Side of a Niuginian’s Teeth that shows what I am trying to say here. The poetry line reads: ‘I am a Niuginian and this happens to be my age of pretentiousness…’

The lawns of Divine Word University and its student populace, exactly is what this line of Jack Lahui’s poetry talks about. We are liars and cheats! In the midst of the so-called intellectuals of PNG in the making, I live with rascals, cowards, dastards and you name it. They are all here within the perimeters of this university and it is not a majority, but a minor bunch of irresponsible brains.

To this, I could say that the future of PNG is still dirty. I think, these students, without realizing it, are fighting to keep the status quo going.

In 2011, students had a strike for the lack of safety inside the university campus. In fact, the security threat and attack on students came about because of students’ recklessness when boozing in the squatter settlements that surrounds the university itself. You know, an ant does not sting unless you threaten its livelihood.

We pestered the DWU administration to do this and that without acknowledging that by far it is us the student are catalyst of the public ill feeling towards us.

To this culture of having dirt on our eyes and trying to clean up another’s problems, I had suffered. We see thieves outside and keep our wolves-under-sheep-coating to grow fat every day.

To these dogs, we feed; I lost a shirt and computer mouse in June 2011 followed on by a pick of K200.00 cash. To me this was a shock, a shock because as a Bougainvillean just coming out of civil war I see New Guineans as running ahead of my island in economic and social terms. Worst, I was robbed in a Catholic run school.

Me and my lost camera

 

But 2012 has shown me that New Guineans in general are too poor so that is why they robbed me, a Bougainvillean.

Over the course of this year, I had lost a K900.00 and two K200.00 mobile phones; with them went a K100 Digicel modem, some cash, my DWI ID Card and BSP banking card all in the midst of Divine Word University students, the great intellectuals of Papua New Guinea who every day fill the DWU chapel every Sunday and sing like saints.

It’s not my problem but I need to express my side of this hell.

Beside this, I irresponsibility is another issue. The so praised DWU intellectuals never want to respect university policies or our student leaders.

Simple latrine rules are ignored before my eyes; littering is like rain in our dorms. We have a lawn that is beautified by patches of white disposals from the rooms. But, the moment a great man like the prime minister is to be landing on our soil, I do get shocks that our lawns are so green; pure green! That is pretentiousness! The same thing our Waigani leaders do by resisting external comments when told by Australia and so on that PNG need to get rid of corruption.

One of the doors without hinges in our dorm

 

Respect of authority is absolutely lacking. Students just ignore the school’s zero tolerance to alcohol and turn our dorms into boozing night clubs. I just feign to enjoy it with a weeping heart.

Students here are also good to be classified as accessories after the fact if the law enforcement of this university is effective. Any student can break the rules like destroy property but his fellow friends will never report that to relevant school authority. This is wantok system at work!

It is a common sight where you see doors without doors. Doors are there but they are not attached to timber with a hinges.

In our midst there are also student leaders with big mouths but empty heads to navigate their course in a firm political base of justice.

One such acting-leader that is so vocal in challenging the DWU administration with student issues stoned our new dorms because—may be—he was fired in a meeting somewhere. I watched him dancing in joy when his stones penetrated the fibro walling and window louvers went off. But not a soul reported this prick yet a fellow Bougainvillean student this year was terminated for breaking a fibro wall in the senior cottages.

This new dorm was stoned by a big-mouthed student that has not being reported

 

Anywhere, this is PNG and its ways; ways so celebrated by the late Bernard Narakobi, if I report the New Guineans will eradicate me because I am a BRA rebel.

Yet to this, I had one swine that as threaten me and my learning and now my New Guinean DWU enemy. He acts tough because I am not standing here on Bougainville soil. But, I pray he must arrive in Bougainville and I will give him a taste of what his New Guinea has given us all through our history. I will just eradicate him.

But cool I am here and so thus I keep silent and wonder what this peoples’ future is.