Cultural breakdown causing social issues

SOCIAL, law and order breakdowns can be best addressed through their revival and implementation across Papua New Guinea, says cultural specialist Jack Kulam.
Kulam, the cultural chairman of the Karkionza Cultural Group and a cultural advocate of Jiwaka, said PNG faced huge cultural breakdowns over the years which were now evident in the social and law and order breakdowns.
He said the government through the National Cultural Commission (NCC) should take immediate action to preserve and revive all of PNG’s 7,000 cultures before they fell off the radar.
He said the NCC needed to take approach to truly understand PNG cultures rather than regard them as objects for tourism attractions.
“The Europeans were surprised to see that our primitive society had a structured way of life that was similar to theirs as we had political system through chieftains and had laws and social orders associated with it.
“However our cultures were strictly associated to customs and rituals that shaped the people how to act and behave socially as they were unofficial laws (not written) had guided and shaped the people on how to act, talk and behave in their societies with penalties in place to address the breakdowns.
“There were social values and virtues existed that they had respects for one another.”