Comments

It is disappointing, but I would like to highlight that not all students do this. Some drink for relaxation purposes, which I will elaborate on in my second article. But yes, the way some students drink is concerning, and I hope studies like this will shed some light on the current drinking trends in universities, and get universities to address it appropriately. Thanks for the comment!

It is so disappointing to ready this because (1) The way these students start their lives is not promising. They will one day be important decision makers of the country and as such being a responsible drinker would make sense (at least limit the amounts and time taken as young adults). (2) As a parent, very disappointing as we parents work very hard to make sure they have a future and yet they waste those hard earned money on rubbish. I am looking forward to seeing a bit of what they want in life after going through University.

So the blame should be on all the Dorm Deans

Yes all about going out there is like winning a lottery!!! We are extremely desperate of coming over to work to earn and increase our standard of living.

Firstly, we should all know and agree that our constitution is not gender biased. Both men and women have the equal right to be nominated and run for elections. We are making it seem as if our constitution is biased to men only, NO!!! Secondly and most importantly, the voters will decide who they want as their representative in the parliament. If they want a woman as their rep, they'll vote for her, or otherwise for man. There is no need for such "reserved seat" policy for women. We all have the equal right and equal opportunity to run for election if we choose, it is ultimately the voters who have the power to decide. Our constitution provides equal opportunity and equal participation for both genders to run for election. Our government needs to stop such notion and focus on delivering services to the people.

Agreed 100%.

Thanks Max. Good to hear from you. Khaiyum and Bainimarama refuse to listen to anyone else. We're heading to the worsening of the disaster

Enjoyed reading this book by Dr. Transform Aqorau. Highly recommended!

It is clear that the situation among different countries in "The Pacific" can be very different. The porous border of PNG with Indonesia means an isolation strategy can not work for long. Moreover, the export and higher education sectors still depend on foreign knowledge workers, which are now in short supply. Tough times ahead.

Hi Jake Your story is extreme and can frighten anyone. I live in Aus and visited Pom many times. 3mths ago I was in Pom, acompanied by 2x friends I drove 80km out of Pom to a rural area called Doa, Gabadi in the Hiritamo Hwy and back to Pom safely at 6:45pm. When you create fear it haunts you.. when you present positivity you receive positive experience.

Thank you those are very valid points. Fiji is now in the top-10 in terms of COVID-19 contagion risk in the world (see: http://bit.ly/harvardtracker). The government has also introduced an open-ended emergency law, which it abuses to clamp down further on the opposition, academics and press. In PNG individual rights of all citizens, especially the poor and powerless, continue to be violated in a more haphazard manner by a venal and violent police force, with promised reforms still behind the horizon. What makes the isolation strategy for PNG particularly harmful, is their dependence on skilled foreign labour not only for their export sectors, but also for their education and health systems. PNG universities, for example, which had been put under government control since 2018 and saw a first wave of academics return to their own countries, now find it impossible to attract people to replace them. Since they have refused to connect to broadband internet, and improve their programs, they continue to spew out graduates without the expected competences. Overall, therefore, universities possibly produce negative value for society and their imminent closure due to COVID-19 panic might be a good thing.

Excellent summary and identification of poor decision making, victims and causes of a national problem leading to sensible solutions. Hopefully this will be the spark for a new attack on the virus.