DBTI celebrates culture

By TABITHA NERO
THE Don Bosco Technological Institute (DBTI) at Taurama in Port Moresby, hosted a colourful, bi-annual cultural show last Saturday.
Guest speaker and director general of the Office of Tourism Arts and Culture Marianna Ellingson emphasised the importance of national unity despite cultural diversity.
She read the theme of the show, “Bungim pasin tumbuna wantaim bel isi (uniting culture with peace)” and said that there was a certain form of unity that Papua New Guineans lived with although they did not understand it.
“Even before nationhood we were already united and we believed in a united and peaceful PNG,” Ellingson said, while reflecting on her days as a student at the University of Papua New Guinea in the pre-independence period.
In concluding her speech, Ellingson said, “Despite the recent happenings in our government that are quite significant, we will always fall back on our culture and the strength of our culture. And we are united. Although we do not understand it we live it.”
The show started with a parade of young men and women each showcasing their province and dancing in pairs to their traditional music, in front of over 20 invited guests from a number of diplomatic missions and business houses in the city.
Invited guests present at the show were Japanese Ambassador Morio Matsumoto, Indonesian Ambassador Ronald Josef Pariaman Manik and his wife, Australian High Commissioner Bruce Davis, and South Korean Ambassador Kim Seong-Choon as well as representatives from Brian Bell, PNG Power Ltd and other business houses in the city.
After the parade, about 10 minutes was given to each traditional group representing provinces to dance and for two representatives (a male and a female) to explain the significance of their dance and their traditional attire.