Robert Eklund’s Papua New Guinea Page

Papua New Guinea (PNG)

Papua New Guinea is located in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Indonesia and north of Australia. It is slightly larger than California or Sweden. Its population is around 4 million. The country is of outmost interest from a linguistic point of view, since around 800 of the 5–8000 languages of the world (depending on how you count them) are spoken here. (Why that is, has been, and still is, discussed!). Most of these languages are so far not described, or given rudimentary descriptions only.

Location

So, where is PNG located? The following pictures are taken from Earth View. The red squares mark where Papua New Guinea is located. Click on the images for full size versions.

Day in Papua New Guinea.

Night in Papua New Guinea.

Port Moresby (Mosbi)

I have never been in Port Moresby (Mosbi in Tok Pisin) – not the safest place on earth – but here are a few pictures from the air, the airport and the Airways Hotel.

Airview of downtown Port Moresby Jackson Airport, Port Moresby Don’t smoke and don’t chew betelnut! The Airways Hotel, overlooking Jackson Airport The Airways Hotel restaurant, overlooking the airstrip

Health Care

During my first visit, I came down with an otitis, and was extremely well received at the hospitals and “helt stesens” in Namatanai, Lemau, and Kavieng.

My “Helt Buk”, given to me at the hospital in Kavieng.

Music

Introduction

Papua New Guinea has a thriving music life.

Popular Music

Besides traditional music, there is also contemporary pop music, most of which is created in the cultural center of Papua new Guinea, i.e., in the Rabaul area on the island New Britain.

One of the most influential studios, CHM Supersound, can be contacted by sending them an email.

Another succesful studio is Pacific Gold Studios.

Below, I’ve listed a few artists who have made recordings on the labels mentioned above, as well as a few comments.

George Telek is perhaps the most famous PNG artist. A native of New Britain, he has made CDs in Australia, and recently signed a contract with Peter Gabriel’s Real World Music.

Barike is one of PNG’s most popular groups. A music fan in a tape store in Kokopo told me that Fabian Tadoi is “namba wan drama long PNG” (the best drummer in PNG). Be that as it may, at least Barike is heard everywhere.

Kanai – or Kanai Pineri, which is his full name – was my first encounter with PNG pop. His “message song”, Opareisen Rausim Kwik, hit me like a hurricane, and I have used it during lectures all over Sweden to give people an idea both with regard to what Tok Pisin sounds like, as well as PNG pop.

Kanai again, with this more recent release. As the front man of Barike (see above), he was already famous when he launched his solo career. He is known for his “storyline” lyrics.

Sikal Kelep is a native of New Ireland. After having been a successful rock artist during the 80’s, he turned to gospel in the early 90’s. As a singer, he stands out from most other PNG artists, as “Em i sing olsem waitman” (He sings like a white man), as a friend in Lakurumau put it.

Quakes is one of PNG’s most successful groups, and they have had number one hits in Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and The Solomon Islands, which makes them the first PNG band to make it outside PNG. the pacific.

Robert Oeka, is a mainland artist. Notice that eight (sic!) languages are used on this tape.

Papua New Guinea Links

Here are some Papua New Guinea-related links. More links can be found on the New Ireland and New Britain pages. I’ve found that PNG related links aren’t very stable, (and that the general half-time of links is really short indeed!), so please tell me whether one or more of them has/have died.

General Information

National Statistical Office of PNG.

For information on the geography of PNG, click here.

A Swedish site: Utrikespolitiska Institutet.

An introduction to PNG.

Travel Information

A general travel link.

Post PNG.

And, of course, the Lonely Planet PNG site.

Hotels

A list of hotels throughout Papua New Guinea is found here.

Malaria

Before you get malaria, you’d better learn the basic facts. www.malaria.org is a good site.

Air Niugini

The Air Niugini homepage is found here.

National Research Institute

The homepage of the National Research Institute is found here.

Miscellaneous

Here you can find PNG greeting cards.

Want to discuss something with regard to PNG? Use the Wantok Forum.

... or perhaps the PNG Ring.

Another site: the Escape Artist’s link collection.


Airview of downtown Port Moresby	Jackson Airport, Port Moresby	Don’t smoke and don’t chew betelnut!	The Airways Hotel, overlooking Jackson Airport	The Airways Hotel restaurant, overlooking the airstrip

	George Telek is perhaps the most famous PNG artist. A native of New Britain, he has made CDs in Australia, and recently signed a contract with Peter Gabriel’s Real World Music.
	Barike is one of PNG’s most popular groups. A music fan in a tape store in Kokopo told me that Fabian Tadoi is “namba wan drama long PNG” (the best drummer in PNG). Be that as it may, at least Barike is heard everywhere.
	Kanai – or Kanai Pineri, which is his full name – was my first encounter with PNG pop. His “message song”, Opareisen Rausim Kwik, hit me like a hurricane, and I have used it during lectures all over Sweden to give people an idea both with regard to what Tok Pisin sounds like, as well as PNG pop.
	Kanai again, with this more recent release. As the front man of Barike (see above), he was already famous when he launched his solo career. He is known for his “storyline” lyrics.
	Sikal Kelep is a native of New Ireland. After having been a successful rock artist during the 80’s, he turned to gospel in the early 90’s. As a singer, he stands out from most other PNG artists, as “Em i sing olsem waitman” (He sings like a white man), as a friend in Lakurumau put it.
	Quakes is one of PNG’s most successful groups, and they have had number one hits in Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and The Solomon Islands, which makes them the first PNG band to make it outside PNG. the pacific.
	Robert Oeka, is a mainland artist. Notice that eight (sic!) languages are used on this tape.