PNG Chinese and the Rabaul Connection

-

Just read the very interesting account of the history of PNG's Chinese and their hardships, struggles and challenges over the years since the German colonisation. I am always interested in the history of my country and this is one piece of historical account by Sir Ling James Seeto that has broadened my knowledge of my country. 

I am from Matupit Island and I grew up in the late 60s at a time when the PNG or rather Rabaul-Chinese influence and presence was at its best. I knew the days of China Town and Malay Town and the Ambonese Club, the Quamintang (excuse my spelling), Atam and the list goes on. 

The memories of a unique aroma of chinese food is very much alive and vivid in my mind; at around 6pm everyday, you would drive through Matupit Farm and Malay Twon and you would be totally overwhelmed by the sweet aroma of Chinese food. 

There would be grand of Chinese ladies and men walking the streets, saying hello to their Tolai wantoks selling buai outiside the Chinese shops, others riding bicycles, others chatting over the hibiscus edges while the rest would be doing the everyday things that ordinary folks do on a normal day. 

The Rabaul "bung" or market every Saturday was always a hive of activity, more like theatre and there would be an abundance of Chinese vegetables, many of which I still don't know the names of, and freshly-picked flowers grown in the Burma Road area towards Navunaram, and specially sold to the Europeans and Chinese. This was Rabaul that is only in my memory. 

This was PNG at its different best and a far cry and two worlds apart and away from the PNG and Rabaul that I know today. There used to be Palms Theater for the Europeans and there was also the native theatre for the "natives" at the time like me and my father, the good old Mr. Mago used to take me to the native theatre to watch old black and white movies and at times, he would sneak me into the European theatre, with the assistance of now deceased Bernard Gangloff, a Chinese/German/Rabaul relative of my father's who was married to Mona. 

Then there was the Chinese "Old People's Home", whose equivalent today would be the "nursing homes" in Australia where you would find grand old Chinese men and women who were placed there by their children and relative. 

I now realise the rich and colorful history that surrounds Rabaul and I am today even more proud to be a Tolai and to have lived through the later part of the good years; a time when the PNG-born Chinese lived in perfect harmony with their Tolai wantoks as "barturana (s)", brothers and there was not feeling of animosity. 

At the time, everyone lived and got alone very well and there was no distinction of color. At the time, everyone was a Tolai, a Papua New Guinean and everyone respected each other.

Thank you for bringing back the good memories of my early years.

Steven Mago
Matupit Islander
__________________
MTS

Comments

  1. mervAugust 8, 2020 at 9:11 AM

    Hi Steven, is there a way I can contact you to hear more information about your accounts in Rabaul? My dad was born in Rabaul has so many questions and stories he would like to talk to you about.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

FPA: Organizational Process Model

-
This model centers on the fact that different bureaucracies have different standard operating procedures. These procedures are made in order to allow day to day operations to be carried out. Thus, a foreign policy decision is made based on these standard operating procedures. It is hard for a bureaucracy to make a decision or let alone function out of character or contrary to their standard operating procedure. The reading Chapter 4: Foreign policy shares a straight forward explanation of the OPM: "An alternative to the rational model of decision making is the organizational process model. In this model, foreign policy decision makers generally skip the labor-intensive process of identifying goals and alternative actions, relying instead for most decisions on standardized responses or standard operating procedures. For example, the U.S. State Department everyday receives more than a thousand reports or inquiries from its embassies around the world and sends out more than a
Read more

Commercial liberalism and the six norms

-
Image
Liberal internationalism is defined by Griffiths, O'Callaghan and Roach (2008, p.190) as a project to transform international relations so that they conform to models of peace, freedom, and prosperity allegedly enjoyed within constitutional liberal democracies. The same scholars go further by dividing liberalism into three distinct groups. They say these are the three ways to implement the project. The way they present liberal internationalism as a project makes their work interesting. Three distinct groups Firstly, commercial liberalism is about free trade between states. States bilaterally or multilaterally via a platform like APEC pursue the goal of trade liberalization. Griffiths, O'Callagahan and Roach (ibid.) argued that economic interdependence would decrease the likelihood of going to war. Republican liberalism is about democratic peace. The scholars argued that the spread of democracy among states so that governments will be accountable to their citizens makes it di
Read more

Rise and fall realism

-
Image
By Colin Elman and Michael A. Jensen Source: Williams, P. D. (Ed.). (2008). Security studies: an introduction . London: Routledge Taylor and Francis Group. What is rise and fall realism? Rise and fall realism remerge as a powerful alternative to the balance of power theories that predominated international relations scholarship during the 1950’s. Central theme Hegemony is the foundation for peace while balance is often associated with war (Organski). Dynamics Rise and fall realism emphasizes that war between major powers is least likely when the international system is dominated by a single state and when there are no rising challengers vying for system leadership. Given its privileged position, a dominant state is capable of shaping the rules and practices of the international system in such a way as to satisfy its selfish interest. Stability is a product of this hegemonic order, as states which are dissatisfied with the status quo lack the capabilities to change it.
Read more