EDWARD Manu would probably go down in history as the man who delicately tried to juggle his time between his work and advocating a better future for the young generation.
“We were young once and what we are now is the direct result of the direction that our older generation aimed us,” Manu says. “Today, we are repeating the cycle; we are now the older generation trying to direct our young towards a worthy goal.
“Today’s generation is controlled by whims and schemes. They are highly vulnerable to the bad influences of the contemporary society, where drugs and alcohol and the good times in discos and night clubs are taking control. These things never existed during our time but we had our good times, which was good, clean fun.”
And Manu should know.
You see, Manu, like most Papua New Guineans comes from a big family of nine children, he being the third last of four boys and five girls.
His is a close knit family of 11, parents inclusive, which revolve around love and respect for one another and their traditional values.
Today, all his brothers are involved in the technical side of the building and mining industry while one of his sisters ‘managed’ to shrug off the role of housewife that his other sisters took on, to become an executive of a prominent local firm.
“I guess you could say that the careers we have chosen had been pre-ordained for us by the powers that be. We just needed guidance and the persistence to actually get there. Obviously, our initial guides were our parents, later our teachers and the rest you encountered on your pathway to life’s goal.”
Manu believes persistence in whatever one does or pursues is the key in any endeavour or challenge in life.
“You have to stay in there and chip away until you achieve your goal. It may sound easier than done but you don’t have to have an IQ of a rocket scientist or the marks of an A-student to achieve your goals.”
From the outset, the Rigo, Central, youthful person you meet would exude an air of a well-disciplined and reserved gentlemen, his disposition reminiscent of that ageless young man in fairy tale named Peter Pan.
That disposition perhaps contributed to our becoming instant friends when he invited me to visit his old high school at Kwikila mid this year.
Manu had fond memories of the school. He remembers his time at the school some 20 years ago as if it was only yesterday.
“That was an era when PNG was still controlled by the colonial administrators and believe you me, discipline was strict. I guess you could say that our teachers then and the discipline that they enforced were the later guides towards shaping our future,” he says. “You only had to persist your pursuit of success.
“I wanted to be a pilot but you needed top marks in Maths and a couple of other subjects,” Manu says modesty. “I just wasn’t up to that. But I became a lawyer and that’s what I mean about not being an A-student. I just persisted in achieving my mindset to be a lawyer.”
That mindset was arrived at when he was at Passam National High School near Wewak completing his secondary studies. The other pieces of jigsaw puzzle fell in place when he attended University of Papua New Guinea.
It was during the latter that Manu encountered two other “guides” in his life – martial arts and the Japanese language.
His knack for the Japanese language earned him a two-year stint at Asian University in Japan where he became a keen student of Shoringji Kemp martial arts and attaining a brown belt. When he returned home, he joined another version of that Japanese martial arts called Choy Lee Fut Kempo and eventually achieved black belt and instructor status.
“Martial arts is not only about self-defence tactics and moves but also about discipline. It’s about character building and confidence, things that help you get through the whines and grinds of life’s struggles.”
Manu speaks fluent Japanese, an asset he had not hesitated to exploit for its full potential.
One of his major achievements was securing funding from the Japanese government for four double classrooms at Bina Primary School in his Rigo village in 2002.
“The Japanese are very respectful people,” he reflects, “and spending two years in Japan, a little bit of that trait rubs off onto you.”
Manu opened his practice exactly 11 years ago tomorrow, one year after he graduated from law school and currently employs three lawyers in two offices in Port Moresby and Lae.
“I started my business very early in my career because I had good guidance all along. For that I am eternally grateful to the powers that be who charted my pathway in life.”
Manu says his practice has offered its services free of charge to the grassroots people, landowners in particular, who have felt that they had been betrayed by the system.
“Developers have a tendency to exploit our people because of their ignorance. They take land from the people without getting the people to organise themselves. When the people complain, they tell them to organise themselves and while they are doing that, the developer continues with its exploitation. Our people are the ultimate losers in the whole deal because they have no one representing their legal rights.
“We have offered our legal services in excess of a million kina free of charge to the landowners. We have done that not because we feel that they are potential paying clients when they get their dues but because we understand that they cannot afford the fees that private lawyers charge,” Manu says.
“It’s a moral concept. Life has become so hard, people tend to keep to themselves and by doing so, they are reluctant to reach out to others in need.
“Some of us have succeeded in life because we feel we are morally obliged to put back something – not all of it, but at least a little something – back to those in need, in acknowledgement and appreciation.”
His advice to all and sundry in passing: “When the signs point to a direction that you should take, persist.”
Manu celebrates his 39th birthday and the 11th anniversary of his law practice tomorrow and we wish the legal eagle, martial artist, Japanese language enthusiast and a potential philanthropist all the best in life. Congratulations and be mindful of the Wise Counsellor’s words: “One who demands mercy and shows none, ruins the bridge over which he himself is to pass …”

 

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