Country will miss Sir Michael

WITH the clock ticking down, so too is the beating of the garamut from the Murik Lakes as Papua New Guinea prepares to farewell the father of the nation.
Grand Chief Sir Michael Thomas Somare will lie-in-state today before the funeral service on Friday.
Sir Michael will take his final journey home to Wewak on Sunday.
As alluded to by son Arthur: “There will be a traditional farewell to be performed by the people of Murik Lakes, East Sepik, which will involve providing him with a canoe, spear and a basket.
Sir Michael, Tunga was not just a political leader in the country but he was a customary leader as well.
His canoe is called the muntai, his basket is called the sun and his spear called the yamdar.
This will all be a part of his journey to the next life as the garamut of the Murik Lakes continues to beat until he is laid to rest.
Sir Michael’s people of Murik Lakes share the same traditional culture with the Bogia people of Madang.
When a big man dies, they call people to the village using the garamut. His (Sir Michael) people did the same.
A leader from Bogia explained that they beat the garamut two times; the first signalled for silence and the second signalled people to go for mourning.
Sir Michael’s life was all about celebrations, something he grew up with.
In his book Sana, he says life in the village was never dull. There were frequent feasts. Our people understood life to be a celebration. Nothing became a dull routine to them.
In his Murik culture, every human act was important and significant.
The making of a canoe, for example, became an important event in a person’s life.
Their livelihood depended on canoes and fishing.
He explains about a canoe in his area.
The canoe is usually built jointly by two brothers.
One of the brothers would own the front and the other, the back of the canoe.
To launch a canoe, they had to prepare a big feast for the whole village.
The owner and their friends then sailed the canoe far out into the sea until it almost disappeared behind the horizon.
When the canoe returned and approached the shore, the people waiting there shot their spears at it.
The owners had to bring in their canoe through a hail of spears.
While that was happening, the couch shells were blown and the drums beaten.
He shared about how his people taught him that men were equal and should have equal opportunities.
Disputes can be solved by discussion and decisions should be arrived at by consensus.
Using his cultural teaching, Sir Michael danced beautifully from the Murik Lakes to Waigani in Port Moresby to lead us to Independence.
It was a beautifully choreographed dance – a mixture of vision, hard-nosed political insights and instincts combined with a dedication and commitment to follow the beat of political kundu drum.
His ability and capacity to adapt to the different dances of the four regions – Southern, New Guinea Islands, Mamose and Highlands – allowed others to participate and be part of development and prosperity.
Sir Michael belonged to an era in which the nation saw the rise of some PNG’s brightest political stars such as Sir John Guise, Sir Albert Maori Kiki, Sir Obia Olewale and Sir Kingsford Dibela among others.
PNG politics will miss a fire-brand politician and perhaps one of the best at relating to people across the socio-economic and political spectrums.
Vale, Sir Michael.