By Martyn Namorong

This post is dedicated to Effrey Dademo na ol bata long Goroka Secondary School; Slaytox, JayAshK59, JWK59,GRimz, Lycans, C-Red, Snake, CasterMai and Twing

I asked some of my friends on a chat site to highlight some issues that were of concern to them. Those that responded mentioned issues such as the lack of good governance, access to education, poor health indicators and ATTITUDE PROBLEM. Many viewed a change in people’s attitude as a precondition for REAL CHANGE elsewhere.

What then do people mean when they refer to the ATTITUDE PROBLEM? For Governor Parkop of the Nation’s Capital, it centers on littering and respect for public property. The Police think it’s to do with crime and public nuisance. Teachers believe it’s to do with juvenile delinquency and students think it’s to d with the School being mismanaged or teachers not attending class.

Most people think it’s the urban drifters who need to be prevented from leaving their villages by the Vagrancy Act. The urban drifters and anyone who isn’t a politician thinks it’s the corrupt, pot bellied big shots that wear cowboy hats and drive in Toyota land cruisers, as J Febi once stated.

It seems that everyone has an attitude problem, including me, and that’s according to the woman who gave birth to me.

In describing the concept of the State, someone wrote that because the State belongs to everyone, it belongs to no-one. In applying this to the so called Attitude Problem, one can say that because everyone has an ATTITUDE PROBLEM, no-one has and ATTITUDE Problem. Sounds counter-intuitive, doesn’t it? Yet it makes sense. Because if everyone wears pink, no-one is out of order.

What if Governor Parkop didn’t blame the General Public for the mess and reflected on how inefficient the garbage collection mechanism was thus creating the eyesore. What if the teachers saw that they had enrolled more students than they could manage? What if the students reflected on the high demand on school resources that led to a lack of capacity? What if the urban dwellers reflected on the push factors that forced people to move to the city, because decisions made by powerful city elite did not serve the interests of the rural majority?

I always thought street vendors were a public nuisance until I became one. Interestingly, my customers would think every other street vendor except me should be sent packing. I never knew how kind Goilala people could be until I met my buai mums – the woman whom I buy betelnut from to resell.

The ATTITUDE PROBLEM is a façade. It is being used a lot by influential people over the mass media, in order to distort the truth. Unfortunately, many of us have joined the band wagon and are pointing the fingers at each other. It has become a term that is now synonymous with the fringe dwellers of the city – the poorly educated urban poor.

Because these people are of lower socio economic and educational background, they are unable to articulate their arguments the way their critics do. They do not put out media statements or appear on television to defend their dignity. Thus the one-sided prejudiced attacks are now seen by many uncritical minds as the gospel truth.

Every time there is a failure on the part of Police they are able to find a convenient excuse and blame the ‘publics’ ATTITUDE PROBLEM. Politicians who are poorly managing the affairs of the State cry foul over the public’s Pasin (attitude). Senisim Pasin (change of attitude) seems to be a favorite mantra, even amongst so called advocates of CHANGE.

So does PNG have an issue called the Attitude Problem? Yes it does but it isn’t what is being sold on the mainstream media. The Attitude Problem is one of a failure to build a modern multi-cultural society and a sense of communal existence. There are no modern communities in all towns and cities. What we have are enclaves of tribal or neo-tribal groupings. There is little person to person interaction outside of one’s personally defined social zone. There is a failure to coexist in a modern society and so by default, people live as if they are still in their traditional tribal territories.

The task that no one is up to is social engineering- building communities and fusion points. Sports has an important role in building new fusion communities. Sadly, popular sports such as Rugby league are perpetuating the status quo by having tribalistic province based clubs.

Schools also are places to develop new mindsets; however educators perpetuate the cultural baggage. Instead of deliberately encouraging cross-cultural interaction, students are tagged and boxed into traditional cultural groupings during so called cultural shows. Imagine an Asaro mud men dance being performed by Sepik students. The Sepik students learn to appreciate the art, culture and mythology of the Asaro people and begin to empathize and identify common ground with their peers.

No one is building communities and defining a new modern society. We all are stuck in our social enclaves and hurling abuse at those outside. So the People, whom you think have an ATTITUDE PROBLEM, also believe that you have an ATTITUDE PROBLEM.