Embracing change the PNG way

LEAVING loved ones and the comforts of home to go and spend time in a foreign land can be a daunting experience. However, if one goes with an open mind, chances are they will thoroughly enjoy their time.
Such travel opportunities arise for diplomats, athletes, academics, business agents, military forces, missionaries and adventurers.
Researchers, who do field work to put together a thesis or paper often spend many months and years in foreign lands. Anthropology, the study of mankind or humanity, is one such field.
Researchers in this field have revealed amazing facts or findings about human life, regarding their cultures and traditions all around the world.
They go and live with particular communities for a certain amount of time and make observations, thus putting together their data for research.
One such person is New Zealander Fraser Macdonald who came to PNG in 2009 and did his anthropology fieldwork in remote Oksapmin village in West Sepik province, not far from the northern border of Western province.
He spent a year living with the local people, learnt their language and Tok Pisin.
“When I first went there, I was kind of in a shock but I eventually got used to it and was adopted into a clan there. It was such an interesting experience,” Macdonald recalled during an interview recently.
This was part of his fieldwork while doing his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) studies at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia.
He completed his undergraduate and masters degrees at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand.
His PhD thesis concentrates on indigenous Christianity, how the introduction of Christianity has affected the behaviour and thinking of people from Oksapmin.
It also looks at how Christianity has been mixed with traditional religion.
Macdonald also did some work in Maprik and Wewak in East Sepik and Gabagaba in Central, as part of his work conducted by the World Bank into resource allocation and benefit sharing.
He went back home after that and returned to PNG in July 2010 to work for Exxon Mobil, a company engaged with the PNG LNG Project.
In October of last year, he left Exxon Mobil and went back to Australia before being employed by a Japanese mineral resources company to work for a month in the Solomon Islands.
However, he has been visiting PNG occasionally and says he likes the PNG culture.
“I love the style of caring for one another and high communal values,” he said.
Asked about his observations of PNG during his fieldwork and job duty, he said many people wanted to adopt so much of the Western culture, where they always wanted to have possessions like money, ipods, DVD players and cars.
“They think Western people are well-off with all their luxury. But the PNG people’s culture and customs are to be enjoyed as they unite people. The Western culture is more towards individualism,” he said.
Macdonald, 29, said while PNG was looking forward to developing itself, it should also keep the balance with maintaining its traditional ways and protecting its land and environment, particularly when there was so much extraction of natural resources going on.
Prior to doing fieldwork in PNG, he said he had been to other parts of the world as well doing similar stuff.
He lived in local communities in Nigeria and visited England, USA and Singapore.
Macdonald said PNG society had undergone transformation very rapidly in a short space of time.
He said this transformation had brought about challenges for the people to overcome, and in doing so must uphold their communal values or traditions.
Macdonald plans to contribute a chapter to a volume of an academic publication from his research in PNG soon.
Apart from anthropological studies and work, Macdonald also has a passion for music.
“Music is a big thing in my life. While anthropology satisfies my mind, music satisfies my heart,” he said.
He recently met PNG musician, Robert Oeka and became involved in producing his latest album.
Macdonald sings the song “Mangi Mosbi” in the album.
Another expatriate, Kiara Worth (a South African), was also engaged by Oeka to produce the album. The new album is expected to be released early this year.