TSIUKE’S stirring up the neighbourhood, advocating the spirit of Christmas.
“It’s a time of sharing; a time for giving,” he preaches to all and sundry who cares to lend him an ear or two.
You first suspected that he was up to something but you weren’t sure if it was sinister or a genuinely, sincere plot to gain something, since you were still at least 30 paces away from him.
His voice carried through the air, indecipherable at first but the gaping smile on his face delivered the message that he was in a jovial mood, much like a cockatoo during mating season.
He had just hugged the widower from down the street and releasing him with much fanfare that you thought the man would suffocate with so much emotions – genuine and otherwise – heaped on him.
Still smiling as the widower walked off, Siuke glanced in your direction and you could almost swear that his face lit up with sunshine and the smile extended further towards his ears.
“Merry Christmas,” he beamed.
You returned the greeting.
He went straight to the point then.
“Can you give me your mobile phone?”
You: (Taken aback). Pardon?
Siuke: I’d really like a mobile phone and I’m asking you to give me yours, you know, a time of giving in the true spirit of Christmas.
You: “Do you want to make a call?
Siuke: No, but I’d like to have it.
You: Excuse me?
Siuke: Seeing that it’s that time of the year, you should be in a fairly high spirit of giving and sharing.
You: Are you saying that that should be the frame of mind I should be in?
Siuke: Yep.
You: And in that frame of mind, I should give you my mobile phone?
Siuke: Yep.
He was still smiling when you paused to condense the conversation.
By and by the smile dwindled and he blurted out, in a matter fact way, why he thought somebody should bless him with a mobile phone.
“I’ve been thinking about a mobile since I toured the World Trade Centre for my …”
“World Trade Centre?” you interrupted.
“The Boroko buai market but somebody coined the World Trade Centre tag because they sell everything from buai to fast food and extras in between.”
“Oh, what extras?”
“You know,” and proceeds to make a rude gesture with his fingers, looking slyly around to ensure no one was within earshot to notice his gesture.
“Mobile phones are the ‘in’ thing nowadays; everywhere you care to look, everybody has one, even the buai sellers. Why, the other day, I gave this buai seller K20 for K4 buai, and he calls his neighbour who was less than three stalls away down the line if he had the change for K20. They were able to make eye contact while speaking on the phone. Now that’s sophistication. I thought there and then I must have a mobile but I cannot afford one so I’m pinning my hope on the spirit of Christmas. Hopefully, someone, a kind, generous soul … someone like you, could oblige.
“Did he get his change?”
“Yep, he tucked some notes out of his pocket and counted out the change and sent somebody up with it.”
“So, you want to act like them, like … sophisticated?”
“Not really. Convenient, is the word. I could chat with the women fishing down by the sea and know if they had anything to offer; ask my relatives for help when I need it; pass the time in the toilet playing mobile phone games, and, call the family at the village and wish them Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year. Never have been able to do that, you know.
“Wow, you thought of everything.”
“I had the time to think things over.”
“Well, did you think of all the money you would spend buying prepaid cards for your phone calls?
“How much?”
“Well, depends. If your friends and relatives call you, you don’t pay, but if you call them, you pay and I really think you can’t afford that?”
“I’ll sell buai and smokes to make money …”
“It’s not as simple as that. People sell smokes and buai to supplement their income, you know, make a profit and use it to buy other things. They keep the principal to continue buying and selling. Skimming your meager income to buy prepaid or flex cards will eat away your income in no time. And what do you get out of it? A useless mobile phone to decorate your person or bolster your ego just to be a part of the ‘in’ crowd?
Siuke stood their taking it all in. The smile had simmered, replaced by a façade of a man in deep thought.
You felt obliged to cheer him up.
“You can have my Digicel phone for Christmas.”
He looks up with a start.
“I mean you could have it all day just to ring your family and friends up and wish them merry Christmas. Practically every second Papua New Guinean has a mobile phone and this would probably the first Christmas in history that you can be able to call people close to you and wish them a merry Christmas. Getting personal with those close to your heart is a beautiful thing and they’ll really appreciate it.
“Letters and Christmas cards are impersonal and does not really impart the emotions in your person. You would be sharing from the heart by words of mouth. What more can you ask for?”
“Giving?”
“Only when you have it. Giving is a two-way thing. You give it when you have it and knowing that you have given with all sincerity to people in need, the satisfaction of knowing that you’ve helped someone lighten his or her burden is reward enough in return. But if you don’t have it, well, a little expression from the heart through the word of the mouth will go a long way in assuring your loved ones that you think and care about them.
“Be mindful of the Wise Counsellor’s words: ‘The only people you should try to get even with are those who helped you …’”
And to you, dear reader, a Merry Christmas and blessed New Year.
God bless!

 

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