Former schoolmates of the late Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare honoured Lae residents with their presence on Wednesday at the Raun Wara in Lae.
Morobe’s heavyweights; Sir Jerry Nalau, Anong Ahi, Mactuawe Gware-Stafford and Labo Nalau studied at the Dregerhafen Education Centre with Sir Michael.
They showed up to pay their respects in the final part of the residents’ two-day haus sore.
Guided by their relatives, they slowly but steadily made their way to the centre of the arena, where the late Grand Chief’s portrait was.
Morobe’s former premier and New Guinea’s former kiap, Sir Jerry, was a hulking 6-foot, 4-inches tall Jabem man in his prime. The years have not worn him down one bit as three physically strong adults struggled to hold him upright whilst he jokingly said: “Sapos mi pudaun bai graun tanim”.
Time stood still as the four looked at each other. It has been years since they saw each other.
The loudest of the lot, Sir Jerry, who was seated at the far right, extended his arm across Ahi and Nalau, calling out to his Butibam wantok to shake his hand.
“Hey, Mactuawe,” he called out.
Gware-Stafford laughed good naturedly at his antics.
“He’s too far,” she told the journalists standing next to her.
It was as if nothing had changed except for their physical appearance. The camaraderie and cheekiness was still there.
Sir Jerry had turned 83 on March 2nd – a few days after the passing of his big brother on February 26th.
“Mi no lapun yet,” he said. “Bikhet blo mi em lek tasol. Foot brake bagarap tasol hand brake na maus sap. Yu karangi kam mi holim yu, mi kakaim yu ba bun blo yu bruk.
“Mi Ahi ya,” he said amidst laughter from the crowd.
He then went on to share how the photo of the Bully Beef Club founding members came into their possession.
The former Morobe premier matter-of-factly said they removed the picture from the noticeboard when they were at the Administrative College at Waigani in 1965.
“If we hadn’t removed it, we would not have any evidence of our group,” he stated.
Pointing at the small frame of Yanga man, Ahi, Sir Jerry said they were the group that snuck off with the picture at night and never said a word when an announcement was made about the incident.
Later on, Sir Michael came to him and asked for a copy.
Ahi, who was a founding member of PANGU Pati but decided to be a civil servant instead, explained how they came up with the name Bully Beef Club.
“Taim mipla sa kaikai rais pinis, mipla save kisim displa bully beef ya, brukim namel lo mipla yet na kaikai,” he said.
“Jerry em blo yu, em blo Joseph Nombri, em blo Anong Ahi, em blo Gabriel Buana…na mipla stap. Mipla i no poret lo stap wantaim ol lain Koiari ya, ol tok ol sanguma.”
He further shared a story of how he surprised everyone with a bandicoot that he had caught behind the building. They killed and cooked the protein while those who had saved some leftover ‘kol’ rice distributed the goods and they all had a blast.
Gware-Stafford was the designated seamstress for the group when they were at Dregerhafen.
“Every time he tears his clothes, he would bring them to me to patch,” she said. “We saw each other as sisters and brothers.”
She said whenever the late Sir Michael wanted to travel to Wewak, he would leave Finschhafen and spend some time at Butibam before taking his flight out.
From Wewak, he would return to Lae and spend the night at Butibam before they all depart for Finschhafen via MV Morobe.
Labo Nalau was a junior at Dregerhafen. He said he strongly supported his seniors when they spoke of self-governance as they were not too happy when the colonisers called them kanaka.
He learnt a lot from them, saying as a Christian, he saw that Sir Michael and his peers received what they had believed in. And for that, he applauded them.
After regaling the residents with their colourful history, Sir Jerry requested for some traditional mourning songs to end the “tangibua”. In Jabem, tangi is ‘cry’ while bua is music that makes you cry.
And with the beating of kundu drums, the sun’s fading rays lightly caressed the corners of the late Grand Chief’s portrait, closing off another chapter in PNG’s history.
(Sir Jerry Nalau sharing his story whilst his peers patiently waited their turn)
