24/6/09 OUR FISH ARE BIGGER.....

Sepik (Lowland), Mount Hagen (Highland) and Bougainville (Island) are three provinces of the Papua New Guinea (PNG) that represent the distinct differences among them. The Sepik or the Lowland people a bit shorter, fairly dark skin, with a bit big and much pointed nose, their hairs are curly and short. The Mt. Hagen (Higlanders), they are much bigger in size, darker skin, and with big nose. The Bougainville have real dark skin, they are taller, brown curly hair are normal among their ladies.

In Sepik, the trees, the crocodile, the prawn, etc are always big, bigger than any other places in the PNG. While the fruits and birds: the banana, the taro, cassowaries, etc are bigger in Mount Hagen. In Bougainville, being a coral Island in the South Pacific, they have lots of real good fish. Basically, each region has it own superiority. They are proud of their territorial superiority. So much so that, when the three met, they used to argue among themselves, trying to claim who is more superior then the others. This may lead to a fight. The fight among them is normal, be it in town, in the playfields, in school or even in colleges and universities. It is sort of territorial marking (registration), such that, since it is sort of a norm, thus they created a joke out of it!

2. One day, three boys, good old lik lik monkey friends, (lik lik monkey is a pigin word for small kid) from the three Provinces went fishing by the coast of Port Moresby (POM), the capital city of PNG, and usually being called Moseby among the local. Fish are abundant here. As they throw the lines into the water, immediately they began to load all sort of fishes. They caught real lots of Fish.

3. The Bougainville boy was not happy with the catch, he began to grumble, saying aloud, why are the fishes in Moseby are small? He sort of shouting, why is there no big fish in Moseby! This is not good! In Bougainville, he added, all those fishes that they caught would be thrown back to the sea. He claims loudly, that in Bougainville they only take big, real big fish! Fish in Bougainville are really big, holding his hand apart, to show how big the fishes in Bougainville are.

4. Seeing such an act, the Mt Hagen boy get annoyed. He though this Bougainville, must be wanting to show off, by the way he describes the size of the fishes in Bougainville. He immediately stretch his arm to the widest, and said to the peak of his voice, the Mt Hagen fish are bigger, bigger than my arm length. Yeahh, surely such an act is considered as a challenge to the Bougainville, so the argument between the Bougainville and Mt Hagen boy began, and they almost put a fight.

5. But suddenly, both of them fall silent when they saw the Sepik boy swinging his arm? Making big circle! To their annoyment, the Sepik even grin his teeth, smile at them with his hand, swinging making even larger circle. Both of them shouted at him. What are you doing? The Sepik boy just shook his head, smile and grin at them. That makes the two boys becoming more annoyed. They shout at him. Hey you long long! (long long means mad in Pigin). What do you want to say! Ha…Sepik fish are bigger! The eyes of the Sepik fish, are as big as this, again making bigger circle with his hand, both hands even! That how it goes, yeahhh, boys don’t easily fight, they just jump splashing at each others in the water. They really keep the spirit of the Man Belong Hook (fisherman, in Pigin language)of the Valley, the Highland, the Island.


Wewak, Sepik, PNG
23 June, 2009