The journey of a credit union star

By SHIRLEY MAULUDU
IT was 38 years ago, at the age of 19, that Teachers Savings and Loans Society chief executive Michael Koisen said he “caught the credit union fever”. He hasn’t looked back since.
Koisen was awarded the Order of the British Empire in this  month’s Queen’s Birthday honours for his services to finance management, especially in the credit union.
“It is an honour to receive this award. Awards are nice but all glory and praise goes to the living God, Jehovah,” Koisen said.
“In a pair of shorts, a T-shirt and a pair of thongs, I was walking down to the tiny shopping centre in my hometown Port Moresby, when the manager of the PNG Teachers Savings and Loan Society Regley Tokana, who I met through a shared passion in music, pulled over to say hi.
“He asked me if I was still at (University of Papua New Guinea) and I said my circumstances now demanded I find a job.
“He said he might have a job for me at the credit union. So that was my first day at work in 1979, dressed in a pair of shorts, T-shirt and thongs. That was the start of a wonderful journey. The rest is history.”
Koisen said to serve in the credit union movement requires heart and passion – driven by his love of people.
“The rewards are not financial, but in the simple things like seeing the smiling face of a father who is able to buy a fishing net to catch fish to sell at the market, to pay school fees for his children, a child who is able to pay for the medical bills of his parents and is able buy a new fishing net for his or her father,” he said.
“My joy and passion of service has been just that. When a young person meets me in the streets introduces themselves and reaches out to shake my hand, thanking me for helping his or her parents in helping them make a living and funding his or her educational expenses, that brings me great joy. Strangers greet me with a smile, and a courtesy, acknowledging they are direct or indirect beneficiaries of my service over several years, validates the work I do.
“I am sincerely thankful for the many fellow credit union and financial sector giants – individuals and institutions, whose shoulders I have stood on to see beyond my horizon, see beyond the obstacles and cut my own path.
“On behalf of my family I express my sincere gratitude to her Majesty the Queen for her kind recognition of my humble contribution.
In May 2012, Koisen was elected Oceania Confederation of Credit Union Leagues’ first non-executive chair, until his voluntary resignation in October 2013 and in May 2014 was awarded the Distinguished Service Award by World Council of Credit Unions.
This is the highest honour bestowed by the global credit union system.
Koisen’s wife Margaret is from      New Ireland and they have seven children.