PEOPLE

Siblings bring joy to jobless dad

By JAMIE HARO

“I am a proud father to have two of my children graduate at the same time from UPNG after 29 years since I graduated from the institution.”

A DAD’S sacrifice has paid off when he witnessed his two children walk up to the podium to receive their science degrees.
Dad Joseph Hariwange from East Sepik shed tears of joy when he watched his daughter Hilma and son Samson graduate from the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) on Friday, April 29.
Since graduating with a Bachelor of Education (Science major) in 1993, Joseph has been teaching general and applied mathematics at the PNG Maritime College in Madang.
As the only bread winner in a family of seven children, Joseph encountered a problem while working at the college.
“I was employed with the institution from October 1994 up to June 2011 when I was terminated by then principal.”
He said at that time, daughter Hilma was in Grade 10 at Tusbab Secondary School while Samson was in Grade 6 at nearby Kusbau Primary School while the other siblings were also in primary and high school.
A year before that, (2010) Joseph and the mother of his children split due to an unstable marriage. A decision was made by his older children Seth and Lavinia to let go of their mother and remain with their dad. At that time, Hilma and Samson were only 15 and 11 years old respecitively.
In the same year of his termination (2011), he re-married his current wife who also had two children from her previous marriage.
“I re-married at the beginning of 2011 and then I got terminated from work in June 2011 over a student protest at the college which the then management suspected that I was the frontliner,” he said.
He went to court over unlawful termination knowing that he had to put food on the table and pay school fees for his children.
“When I became unemployed, my kids were put in critical stages of their education, some soon to sit for their exams; this situation affected them psychologically but they all managed to pass their exams and moved onto the next level of their studies,” he said.
Joseph started facing bigger financial challenges so he started volunteering for jobs to earn an income to meet his family’s needs.
“I had to push a lawn mower from house to house to cut grass just to earn a few kina to at least put some food on the table. I even volunteered to be a marker for Flexible Open and Distance (Fode) students, while the children’s stepmother supported by doing marketing.”
He said this enabled them both to cater for their family needs on a daily basis. By year 2014, his daughter Hilma got accepted into the Science Foundation programme at UPNG after completing high school while Samson had just made it into Grade 9 at Tusbab Secondary School.
By 2015, Hilma was already in second year of studies majoring in environmental studies but then withdrew in 2016 due to financial constraints.
She re-enrolled to continue the third year but flunked the first semester due to failure to submit assignments while being away after an older sibling Pauline passed away.
“Hilma was excluded for three semesters in 2017-2018. Samson on the other hand, pursued in his studies and continued to do Grades 11 and 12 at the Kerevat National High School before he got accepted to study Science Founation at UPNG by year 2018,” he added.

Joseph said his son was able to get support from his cousin sisters and brothers in-law who provided for him when he came to study in Port Moresby.
“Through dedication and hard work, Samson persevered, as an added bonus, he maintained his Tertiary Education Scholarship Assistance Scheme (Tesas) before streaming into his major in Chemistry. Samson’s overpayments from the scholarship eased my burden to pay for Hilma’s school fees when she returned to re-enroll in 2019,” the proud father said.
While trying to keep up with his children in UPNG, Joseph was still going through the courts to fight his way back to being employed where he eventually won his case.
“After almost eight months of fighting my battle, the courts declared my termination unlawful and ordered my reinstatement in December 2020. It was a sigh of relief, knowing that I could now be able to take care of my children.”
By last year Samson had made it to final year and Hilma was expected to graduate, however, fell short of credit points so she had to remain with her brother and complete a semester.
At the end of each semester, Samson still had overpayments in his school account due to the Tesas scholarship he had.
“Despite all these difficulties, I am a proud father to have two of my children graduate at the same time at UPNG after 29 years since I graduated.”
Hilma, now 27, has graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Environmental Science &and Geography) while Samson, 23, graduated with Bachelor of Science (Chemistry).
“My children accepted the situation I encountered but focused more on their education.”
Joseph also appreciates and also acknowledges his closest family members and friends who have supported his children through finances, accommodation and other forms of help or prayers.
“We all have face hardships and have different stories to tell. But above all, always put your trust in God, be patient with the unfortunate situation you’re in, do not worry about tomorrow but live one day at a time.”
My message to the younger folks is, “Do not let the situation around you suppress you to failure, even if it is your parents’ marital problems such as divorce, break ups, abuses and many more. You have the capability to soar beyond what you expected of yourself. Learn to be content with what you have.”

Adopted son of Eastern Highlands

By PAUL MINGA
NATURALISED citizen and Bintangor Goroka Lahahnis franchise owner Simon Sia’s heart and personality are evident through his actions of philanthropy in Eastern Highlands.
They are a testimony indicating how passionate he is towards the place he calls his second home.
The word “passion,” according to the Oxford mini dictionary is firstly, very strong emotion. The second meaning is intense love, and thirdly, great enthusiasm.
When a person shows passion for his job or for other people it is evident in the fruit of his work output or his conduct would speak volumes along with actions and tangible developments confirming as evidence to prove a person being passionate about something with his job or some other undertaking.
We have heard stories of different famous people around the world who have been passionate about their jobs or countries in putting their lives on the line in war, political unrest, protests or in serving in public office with integrity and honesty no matter what the circumstances.
In PNG one politician who was passionate to see PNG become independent and have all citizens come together as one people and one nation was our founding Prime Minister Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare. Two other former prime ministers who might not have been as passionate but were honest in setting clean records during their terms were Sir Rabbie Namaliu and the late Sir Mekere Morauta.
And there are other politicians, business people, public servants, private sector workers including ordinary citizens who are passionate and performing different tasks or conducting business in parts of the country in silence, whether in the rural or urban ares. They are continuing with what they are passionate about.
Back to the word passion, and the person of interest in this story is naturalised citizen Simon Sia – the owner and managing director of Bintangor Trading in Goroka, Eastern Highlands.
If Sia was not as passionate, the love he showed for the “Nokondi” or “Apo” land would have been shallow. Just imagine his Bintangor Trading stepping in as major sponsor and franchise owner of the Goroka Lahahnis rugby league team with a continuous 13-year sponsorship package of more than K30 million from 2008 to 2021. If doubt if any other expatriate businessman will dare to spend such an amount on sports.
There is a typical PNG perception that Asians worry about money, so much so that even a five toea matters a lot to them. But let us spare a thought on the K30 million-plus spent on a sponsorship package for the Eastern Highlands provincial rugby league team apart from other undertakings. This is a lot of much money.
Few other businessman will ever spend hard earned money like that. Whether anyone else can do that in future is a question.
Apart from sponsoring the pride of Eastern Highlands, the Goroka Lahahnis, Sia is as generous in leaving his office door open for both big and small people to go in see him. Though he is not holding a public office as a politician or public servant he makes time available for people with their problems. This is indeed something unique which politicians and public servants must learn and adopt so they cannot go wrong in serving their people and country.
His good qualities are like turning points for us to learn from this Malaysian naturalised citizen. He uses his business proceeds to build teachers’ houses, classrooms, aid posts, churches, and in supporting women, youth, church groups, sporting teams and others. The businessman has lived in Goroka long enough to understand the different cultures, norms and customary practices of the Eastern Highlands people. When he hears of an occasion such as a bride price, compensation, funeral, peace ceremony and other customary gathering taking place he makes a point of attending
At times he leaves the comfort of his home or office and take part, giving a share of his contribution towards those cultural practices.
For the disadvantaged students of Eastern Highlands, some of their burdens were made lighter by Sia. Even those with health complications have been saved through the compassion of “Papa blong Lahahnis.”
Aspiring politicians, public servants and students must emulate the qualities and character of a good servant from Sia if they wish to leave a good legacy behind. What is really amazing about this man who also known as ‘Mr Generosity’ is that at times he leaves behind his comfort zone, wealth, family and home to trek to some very remote villages and parts of Eastern Highlands getting a glimpse of the hardships of the people living in remote and outback places.
At one time after his return from a trekking trip to a remote part of Eastern Highlands Sia said, “How do our politicians write up their development plans when they do not physically pay site visits to villages or communities to see for themselves what and how it is like for people over there?”

• Paul Minga is a freelance writer.