Loss of identity and value reconstruction
SOME time ago, a reader requested an article regarding the loss of identity suffered by some people, especially youths.
This happens when a society experiences rapid changes by the onslaught of foreign values.
The local people are ill-prepared to accept and integrate these values into their own systems and culture.
Over the last 60 to 70 years, Western influence has made a profound impact on Melanesian societies and many traditional values have been lost.
Sadly enough, foreign values were not offered as an alternative but were imposed on people.
Western education played a major role in this imposition, displacing Melanesian cultural norms and values.
The interaction between conventional and introduced values does not happen so easily.
In some circumstances, clashes of ideals and their expressions may take place.
It may also bring about the dwindling of values long treasured by people.
In PNG, we are beginning to experience the pressures of the cultural assimilation, and the emergence of new value ideals and expressions that hardly become satisfying to people.
Indeed, the acceptance of alien values happened without the people’s involvement in guiding the process.
On many fronts, people lack the discernment necessary to discriminate what is beneficial or destructive.
Values that were introduced were accepted at face value and PNG now finds itself at a crossroad. Confusion is widespread.
The assimilation of foreign values can be found in all facets of human life and activity, be it social, economic, political or religious.
In the social sphere, clans are falling apart as intense urban drift gains momentum.
As a result of European urbanisation plans to cater for administrative and commercial venues, livelihood activities at the village level are less attractive compared to the bright lights of town life and many people end up living in slums.
Social disintegration induces also the loss of a sense of belonging.
As pressure of modernisation gains momentum, social obligations are given less consideration than individual needs.
At the same time, there seem to be a dependency mentality in which productivity and hard work are shunned, giving way to a culture of begging.
The idea of community support in any activity seems to be absent.
In the economic sphere, the introduction of money as the medium of exchange has made a profound impact on people’s life.
Money now offers rich alternatives for trade and exchange.
Money has replaced many of the traditional valued items such as shells, plumes and other ornaments.
The cash economy has made people to give less consideration to the land and the natural environment.
In the economic arena, the gap between the rich and the poor is widening at an incredible rate.
PNG is categorised as a poor country, despite its rich resources.
Very few people earn big money while the majority live on borrowed money. The nation as a whole is forced to borrow money which increases debt service.
The great craving for money has pushed people into activities that will have negative bearing on the socioeconomic status of this country.
In the political arena, the introduction of state democracy has overridden the concept of hausman politics.
Parliament is where power and wealth now reside, while the hausman is arid and cold, devoid of power and spirit.
Greed and corruption have replaced good sense of governance and leadership in Parliament.
As state democracy has had its way, elections and the democratic process are abused, creating a culture of modern “big man” infatuated by money.
The real leadership needed for political decisions is missing.
In the religious arena, the Judeo-Christian belief has fast replaced the beliefs in the ancestors and natural spirit and other creator gods.
For many Papua New Guineans, the Judeo-Christian scripture has been the new force in which people find meaning and purpose and also direction in life.
Despite that, denominations are fighting among themselves and the many congregations trying to profess their truth claims at the expense of other.
As a consequence, indoctrination and syncretism are commonly found in people’s religion.
On the other hand, we witness an increase in all the abuses of human rights, an issue proper for the churches to advocate.
We can affirm that PNG is facing immense crises of identity and lack purpose and direction.
People have lost good cultural, spiritual and humane values that used to hold them together.
However, there is still hope towards rebuilding a new value system.
We can only do that by considering what is good and beneficial in both Melanesian and Western value systems.
The idea is to see which of the social, economic, political and religious values are possible to enhance human being and their dignity to those that bring destruction and degradation.
In the reconstruction social values, consideration should be given to forming relationships, the respect that each individual deserves, the importance of family values of sharing, educating, and caring for progeny, and the value and respect women deserve.
In the realm of economic values, the land and the natural environment should be valued and the preservation of and sustainable development of all resources development should be undertaken.
Money, as it is said, is the root of all evil because of its great role in abusing and manipulating others.
An appreciation and proper use and disposal of money should be required.
Poverty is the result of people not putting effort into labour and productivity.
A proper work ethnic should be developed to appreciate the sweat of human labour rather than steal money with no sweat equivalence.
Politics should now promote democratic values and shun corruption.
Good leadership qualities of our forefathers should be imbued into young politicians, and the idea of a free and fair representation during election time may be disseminated to people.
Religious and spiritual values should help people to realise that there is a supernatural power that we all owe our existence, and that nothing in this world is by fluke.
Only in recognising a higher being and order will give motivation for other values.
The church’s mission is to uphold cultural, spiritual and humane values, as it often does in history.
It is more imperative for the churches mission as value consideration is now a major doldrums confronting the people of PNG today.
 
China has changed the world
By MIKE MOORE
I JUST made my 20th visit to China and my conclusion is that it will not change the modern world. It already has.
It has taken more than a million people a month out of extreme poverty over the past 20 years, lifting hundreds of millions out of poverty, and now generate wealth, jobs and growth everywhere.
Over a thousand new vehicles are registered every hour!
The new airport at Beijing will welcome, efficiently, over a million passengers a week.
From being self-sufficient in energy 20 years ago, it is now the second biggest importer.
The increase in its energy demands over the past five years equals Japan’s total energy consumption.
Wages in coastal China exceed wages in the Philippines and Indonesia. Salaries are up 13% last year in the Pearl River delta.
New labour laws have raised wages and awareness of Chinese workers.
During the past year, 1,000 shoe factories have closed, and the Hong Kong Industry Federation expects up to 7,000 of Hong Kong-owned factories to close this year.
Many have moved inland in search of lower wages, some are moving to Africa and Vietnam.
This shows the circular nature of wealth creation caused by globalisation; Japan in the 1950s, then South Korea, Taiwan, now China and India; and as incomes grow, new opportunities open for poor countries. It becomes their turn.
Africa missed out on globalisation but is now catching up. There are now a million Chinese working in Africa.
African exports to China have increased by 40% since 2002. Of the top 20 fastest growing economies in 2006, five are in Africa, three in the top 10. As late as 1990, China’s GDP was US$390 billion, and Africa US$405 billion, now China’s economy is about five times bigger.
The largest-ever investment in Africa has been concluded by China into a South African bank.
Africa is still home to the worst conditions but there is reason to hope and invest.
In 1999, Nigeria had less than 500,000 telephone subscribers, today there are 36 million.
Political power has imperfectly changed hands democratically twice!
Now China is integrated into the world economy, its is facing the kind of threats to its reputation that all major mature nations face.
Pressure is mounting over China’s investments and arms sales to Sudan. The appalling crisis in Darfur now needs China’s intervention and good offices to put pressure on the government. And they are beginning to.
Senior politicians in the US and UK have publicly acknowledged that China is now working behind the scenes to nudge change.
The Olympics in Beijing is an opportunity for all sorts of causes to be raised, and China, like any other country, must respond.
This is unfamiliar territory for China. They never had to care about global opinion before. Now they do.
Some of the criticism is unfair but that’s the price of global integration. Reputation is everything.
When the grandmothers of America get scared about lead in toys, they will not purchase from China. That is economic democracy; choice.
All this is splendid, it is a better world when we rely on each other for growth and success.
Old-fashioned, discredited protectionist moods and methods are never far away.
Protectionism is raising its ugly reactionary head again in the US election campaign, and it is getting some traction. If it this bad with 5% unemployment, just imagine what it will be like with 10% unemployment.
A new target is the so-called sovereign funds. Most of these are state-owned funds or state-influenced funds.
It is not just the resource-rich nations, it is state-owned pension funds, and the welcome fact that after the Asian crisis, most governments have prudently built up financial reserves.
More mature economies – Singapore, Norway, Australia and New Zealand – with aging populations, now have investment funds managed and influenced by governments.
It is good but poses new challenges.
China now has the world’s largest reserves, bigger than Japan. Russia has billions in reserves. A Russian group is trying to buy a Singapore-listed China steelmaker.
An Indian, UK-based, now owns the biggest steel-making global conglomerate.
But when governments can back major commercial takeovers, questions will be asked.
There is a danger that governments can back their national champions now they are flush with cash.
What happens when a Chinese state-owned aluminium company moves into a bidding war for aluminium giants Rio Tinto, BHP, Billiton who with Alcoa, are dancing around one of the biggest takeovers or mergers in commercial history?
These reserves must go somewhere, the money in many cases is welcome.
Countries from the US to New Zealand have rebuffed investments from the Middle East, while investing madly themselves everywhere.
What is needed is transparency, global predictable rules and standards.
Eventually a global agreement on investment will be created.
When this was suggested a decade ago, there was outrage by many anti-globalisation supporters. Many are now demanding action. They were wrong then, they are right now.
Over-reaction would be even worse.
Capitalism and global financial movements has never faced such a situation before.
We have learnt one thing – protectionism makes us all poorer, investment is a good thing. But there needs to be predictable, transparent rules.

Note: Mike Moore was prime minister of New Zealand in 1990 and became leader of the opposition when his Labour Party lost in the subsequent general election. In 1999, he became director-general of the World Organisation, serving for four years. He is now Adjunct Professor at the La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, and writes a regular newspaper column in five countries. He has also written a number of books, ranging from politics to the Pacific.
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