Listen to me: A call from the prison

The National Weekender

By THEO YASAUSE

‘LISTEN TO ME’ is the time to listen and act to take back PNG to make it the prosperous black nation.
The call by our leaders and government is echoing in the shadows. What are we all going do as individuals to shape our future and our destiny?
Listen to me is a call from the Prison.
Bomana prison inmate Sam Tom has taken the initiative to work on a music album ‘Titled Listen to Me’ to be released sometime later this year.
This album is the second production from his debut album released in 2014.
It focuses on raising awareness on law for life and associated law and order issues affecting our communities that are reported in both social and mainstream media every day.
Sam Tom and his team comprising of his brother Dandan Tom and several female detainees namely Ethel Kila, Maisen Henry, Serah Simon, Serah James and Correctional Service Officer Corporal Agnes have collectively decided to support raising awareness on several social issues of this through message in songs.
The team was asked to give a reason for the productions of this album and they pointed out four main themes for the album covering law for life, law literacy awareness, social empowerment and an instrument for reform.
The significance of each platform is discussed below along with the sub-theme Song.

Why Listen to Me?
Raise the profile of law and order issues through message. The songs were composed as a result of the prison experience the vocalists have gone through while detained. It is also to provide a platform and space to bring public consciousness on issues such as child abuse, violence against woman and girls, drug and alcohol and many more issue intrinsic and causing harm in our society at present.
If Papua New Guinea as a nation wish to prosper people’s attitude and behaviour need to be changed for the better tomorrow.
The future for us today and for our children is at stake if our people are not educated and are literate about basic social issues that every community and family is faced with as they go about their life. There are 12 songs and out of that four theme hit songs are covered below.

Awareness for Life – Song 1 –
Children’s Future at Stake
Our life and future is at stake if we allow law and order issues such as drunkard and disorderly, taking illicit drugs, abuse of our woman, girls and children.
Going forward, our children are at serious risks of being affected by the continuous crime and abuse that occur in our society.
The children learn from their seniors, peers and adults through observations and copy what goes around their surroundings.
We all have the responsibility to create a conducive environment for children to live, learn and prosper. PNG will reach 50 years as an independent nation in five years’ time (2025). The level of awareness of social ills is limited.
There are many people in our towns, cities, settlements and rural communities continue to commit crime and enter the prison camps throughout the country.
The simple reason is that many have limited level of consciousness of the consequences’ of criminal behaviour.
Awareness for life is to infuse knowledge at the primary or basic level in order for the citizens particularly the marginalized and under privilege to have the knowledge and information to live better lives and fight the social injustices that confront them frequently.
Every citizen wherever we are placed have a responsibility to care for our children who reside with us and for them to live in peace and comfort.

Literacy on Choices (Whatever you
choose – choices and decisions you
make makes you and me)
There is a saying in the prison that anyone who is illiterate enters the prison. Sad but true.
Even those who have been to university and higher learning institutions end up in the prison.
The level of literacy among various sectors of the community is limited or in the absence of that many find their way in to the prison.
This sad scenario calls for us as a country to lift our literacy levels in various aspects of life from business to law to everyday relationships.
The basis for any action and reaction is based on the decisions and choices we make as individuals and as groups. These decisions either make us or break us. The song “whatever you choose” is premised on the understanding of choice to lift our literacy levels on law and order issues.
We therefore needed to prioritise and pay attention to these choices to help us deal with everyday issues.
We must commit to self awareness to transform the landscape of our relationship with others near and far. This will help us to set boundaries to how we should behave and relate to one another.
We have to choose and make decision wisely to navigate how we live and conduct ourselves. This is the lesson learnt.

Social Empowerment (Listen to me)
The song ‘Listen to me’ is the title of this album initiated by Sam Tom who is sitting inside the prison with a life-year sentence for the past 16 years. He has taken upon himself as the lead vocalist and composer of the songs to bring enlightenment on may social issues affecting our country currently.
Listen to me is the cover song for the album. The aim is to make the listeners become smarter and more mindful of many social issues that are currently out of control.
The song calls for everyone to make a difference, to identify the strengths and the weaknesses so we can deal with issues in a smarter way to achieve success and peace in our communities.
The need to heighten and bring to attention the need for the citizens to feel responsible for one and another so that we all live in harmony and respect each other.
It is a call to enlighten the masses and bring about social empowerment to create a sense of responsibility to collectively shape the discourse for change of attitude and behaviour.
Through the message in songs we can gather valuable input to change the discourse, engage the community at large and appeal to their conscience to feel the pain and suffering we inflict on certain segments of our society by our deeds and behaviour.

Instrument of Reform (One
Nation)
The song ‘One Nation’ calls for our collective effort to use this medium as an instrument of reform. The song call for unity and promotions of change and re-examination of our individual and collective behaviour and how we relate to one and another as nations. Discrimination is a thing of the past.
The expression of love and cordial relations should bind us as a nation to work together collectively for the greater good, Greed and self extra-edification destroys us as a society. This song is embeds in the process of transformation to bring change to our lives.
It calls for the renewing of the mind to prove what is good and acceptable to create a perfect society.
The songs one listens to is the agent of change reflected in appearance, enrichment and stability bring stability.
How can we know someone has been reformed? It is the hope that after listening to the songs narrated above, it can instil change. It is our firm believe that we all can be the agent of change and a small’s step can make a big difference.
As human we have the will to change or the refusal to do so. If we all desire to change, our world, our place will be a better place for everyone.
We must act both individually and collectively as a group to make the change for the better.

Conclusion
We all have heard about a phrase ‘silent witnesses’ and we are all a reflection of ourselves, our family and society including as Christians. It is the one thing that we project to others around us.
What do you do that makes the different and have the lasting effect in someone’s mind and life?
Listen to me is a call for change and transformation both as individuals and collectively as a society.
Every day we are confronted with social problems associated with the effects from drugs and alcohol.
The abuse of our woman and girls including child abuse is on the rise.
We must all do something about the prevalence of law and order issues in our society.
Turning a blind eye will come to haunt us all when one of us, yourself, your mother or wife, sister and niece or any relative get into facing this problem.
We all have the responsibility to shine the light where there is darkness.
The album Listen to me does that and to hit the waves soon sometimes in September 2019.

  • Theo Yasause is an inmate at Bomana Prison