Poor attendance for opening of legal year in Madang

THE 2011 legal year opening at Madang did not have the usual turnout and the handful of lawyers and policemen present minus the warders were asked the question whether they were faithful and diligent in carrying out their tasks.
Pastor Daniel Wong of Lutheran Memorial church in town said this to the law enforcement agencies making the sermon interesting with slides of inspirational messages and songs while stressing the message of faithfulness.
Wong, a Chinese who had difficulty in explaining in English, was all smiles and very apologetic as he tried to share a few lawyer jokes with resident judge David Cannings, senior provincial magistrate Sere William Seneka upfront in the pew and others, putting a few smiles on the faces of those present.
In Wong’s light moments, he stressed that no matter who you were or what your profession, God wants you to be faithful.
“No matter what, you have to be the light. If the wise king Solomon can go to God for wisdom then you should follow his example and continue to serve faithfully,” he said.
After the blessing of Cannings and the other lawyers, Cannings took the podium to challenge the lawyers to take stock and be challenged in the way they conducted their work.
“We should take stock of the constitution and its values and how we relate to them. It is one of the longest in the world but it is so inspirational. Where it says, ‘we reject violence, that power belongs to the people and that we have our fundamental rights and freedom’, all these should inspire everyone to do their work,” he said.
He said, at that most times, lawyers placed enormous trust in the police force but we should look in the mirror and ask: “Am I doing the best I can to see these constitutional values upheld?”
Cannings said that village court officials, private lawyers, police, warders, volunteer probationary officers and support service staff should ensure that justice was done and that they should never stop being available to do it.
Warders were not there, nor was there any parade band due to late notices given out, hence the church was half full.