Award those who give their time

Letters, Normal
Source:

The National, Thursday 18th April 2013

 I DISAGREE with your editorial suggesting Pa­pua New Guineans wor­king abroad should be con­sidered for our national awards.

I do not know the criteria but logic tells me that 

it is a PNG-based award and, as such, those who have had direct impact on a cross-section of Papua New Guineans should be recognised.

It is for the people, re­gardless of their pay le-vel, who give a large part of their time to serve the country.

Expatriate Papua New Guineans do contribute to our development in some ways but it would be dif­ficult to quantify their input.

The argument to use them as role models is a good one but, again, how do we quantify that? 

There are many varia­bles which need to be considered.

For example, Marcus Bai was considered a role model when he was playing for Melbourne Storm 10 years ago.

How many Papua New Guineans are now play-ing in the NRL?

I believe none of the current crop of PNG 

players in the NRL have parents who live in a vil-lage like Bai’s parents in Ulamona, Bialla.

For now, let the awards be bestowed on people who give their time to serve PNG.

I suggest setting up a different award system for PNG expatriates helping the country or bringing in foreign remittance, as they are also national assets.

 

Kindin

Queensland