What are we celebrating?

WHAT is Independence?
Do we all really know what it means?
Forty-five years have passed since the Australian flag was lowered and the Papua New Guinea flag was raised.
How have we progressed in 45 years?
Every Sept 16, we dress in bright yellow, red, black and white and sing, shout, and show the world that we are independent.
But are we really independent?
Forty-five years have passed and we still cannot look after our sick, our children, and our elderly.
Our hospitals run short of drugs, our health centres and aid posts in provinces and districts are not providing expected services to our people.
Pregnant mothers die every day due to lack of good roads to travel to towns and cities.
Children in most districts have no education.
Corruption is bigger than ever, and foreigners continue to defy laws of the land.
Land-grabbing has gone to another level, our streets and roads are filthy with rubbish and betel nut spittle, and people are illegally occupying land and are demanding compensation when eviction notices are given to them.
Bus drivers don’t complete their routes and both they, including taxi drivers almost never adhere to traffic rules.
When someone is arrested, he/she can easily pay his/her way out.
Soldiers in uniform destroy public property and are never arrested or charged.
Wives are killed by husbands as if it is a norm.
Women in the highlands are being accused and tortured for practising sorcery.
Military and police-issue firearms are being used by so-called warlords in the highlands to shoot and kill police personnel.
Police are bashing up people without properly questioning them.
All this happens every day and we call ourselves independent?
How can we be proud of being independent when we are our own worst enemies?
There is no pride, no respect and no loyalty to our country.
Every son and daughter of Papua New Guinea needs a reality check.
We need a change in our attitudes.
Rubbish bins are provided yet we throw rubbish in the drains.
We blame others for corrupt practices yet we ourselves allow corruption to thrive by approving payments when we know it is not right.
We allow corruption to thrive by keeping quiet.
We allow corruption to thrive because we accept payment when we were not supposed to.
Our politicians make grand speeches yet cannot make the simple changes to bring about proper development.
Our people are easily conned with cheap services and cheap infrastructure and we are either too blind or stupid to realise and keep voting for the same people at every election.
We demand compensation when a new road is be built but we don’t realise that the road is what we need to bring healthcare and other necessary services.
So what are we celebrating?
Are we celebrating because our districts have no roads, hospitals, and schools?
If we are independent, we should have roads, schools and hospitals.
Are celebrating that rubbish fills our streets?
If we are independent, we will use our heads and dispose rubbish in the bins provided.
Are we celebrating that our hospitals have no medicines?
Are we celebrating that our mothers are dying during childbirth because they had to walk or be carried on makeshift stretchers on roads that are inaccessible by vehicles?
Are we celebrating that we steal land and demand compensation when the rightful owners want their land back?
Are we celebrating because we duplicate land titles and forge certificates and cause innocent people to suffer?
Are we celebrating because we have no respect for one another, yet when a white man walks on our land, we treat him like a king?
Are we celebrating because we can spend millions on fancy Maserati cars but cannot renovate our general hospitals for just a few thousands of kina?

Tired of Independence
Celebrations