Column 1

Letter to Santa
A father saw a letter from his six-year-old son addressed to Santa. It reads: “Dear Santa Claus, I want a drone this Christmas.” The school year has ended and the pissed-off dad himself is looking for Santa.
Mrs Claus
A child’s letter to Santa ended with the note: “Thanks for everything you have done Santa. And please say Hi to Mrs Claus!”
Cutting costs
Prime Minister James Marape attended a Christmas party with staff of his department on Tuesday and thanked those who organised it for keeping everything in-house. It was held at the ground floor of the Manasupe Haus, with catering provided by Parliament Haus. “We used our own building and our parliament services for catering. So we give back funds to our own constitutional offices. We can even hold conferences here.”
Saving K5
Prime Minister James Marape advised staff in his department they can save K5 a day if they give up buai, smoke or fizzy drinks. In 10 years’ time, they should have saved enough to buy their own homes.
Stolen beer
Two men appeared in court yesterday charged with receiving more than 200 cartons of beer allegedly stolen from our local brewer. That works out to 100 cartons each. Hopefully they are not thinking of drinking all by themselves.
Biggest family
Maybe we have one such big family in PNG but Britain’s biggest family of 22 siblings belong to the Radfords – Noel, 48, and Sue, 44. They have 21 and are expecting another in the spring. The children are hoping Santa will come visiting this Christmas although they know he will be needing a huge sleigh.
Baby Jesus
One of the most popular Christmas songs is Away in a Manger. Students of Whitehall Primary School in Chingford, London were told to say “Baby Boy Jesus” instead of “Lord Jesus” while singing so that pupils of all faiths can join in. Really?