MAKE THIS CHRISTMAS A PURPOSEFUL ONE – CHIEF SECRETARY POMALEU
It is this time of the year that our families and friends from far and wide come together to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was during this time, more than 2000 years ago, that Christ came into this world as a human child and today, we Papua New Guineans continue to embrace this moment on every Christmas Day.
The birth of Jesus was for a purpose that God had. To bring salvation to all mankind through his son’s birth, death and resurrection to life. Quite appropriately, the original Christmas story was during a census program.
So, today, let us reflect on our lives and find our purposes of being alive right now. We only live and die once and so, while we appreciate the process of physical human growth, we must find our purposes and embrace them as well. The journey of life is not smooth sailing because we are confronted with challenges at all levels every single day. However, as captains of our own vessels, we can navigate through these troubled waters and reach our destinations successfully.
My fellow Papua New Guineans, it is not easy to go through life’s journey but if we remain focused, we will surely identify our purposes and fulfil them. Our purposes are distinct from one and other but we must focus on positive outcomes from these purposes. All outcomes are triggered by having positive mindsets and that will only lead to prosperity of this great nation. As we discover what we are here for, we will begin to appreciate what contributions we must make to live in a better community, village and country than the one we were born into.
Having a positive outlook in life will allow us to change our own situation, deal with the current law & order, health, education and improve our economic situation of this country. To correct these situations, there are simple ways of making this nation great again and that is by respecting the rule of law; upholding justice and equality; protecting lives and properties; caring for our elderly people, children, womenfolk, girls, boys and menfolk and stopping corrupt practices. There will also be order in society when there is self-respect and respect for others.
In the new year, the country will begin its acknowledgement and celebrations of the 50th Independence Anniversary of our country. It will be a milestone of sovereignty as a nation from when we attained Independence in 1975 to now. A lot has happened in the last 49 years. But a lot more remains incomplete and will require concerted and undivided effort on the part of our public service machinery to step up.
As the Chief Secretary to Government, I am charged to ensure that there is governance, accountability and transparency in the Public Service. I am also charged to ensure that policy decisions are implemented. The Public Service machinery is huge but it must be effective. It must be the interface between the government and the people. We are to implement the government’s policies without fear or favor.
Like any other developed and developing nations, Papua New Guinea has its shares of challenges and these challenges cannot go unnoticed as we have committed public servants living and working throughout the country to ensure our people are served well.
Papua New Guinea will be greater as a nation if we, the people, start collaborating to ensure MV PNG does not submerge after 49 long years of navigating through the rough seas. So, we are duty bound to keep Papua New Guinea propelling forward to a new and greater height.
My fellow Papua New Guineans, we have come this far, so let us now continue on our journey as a nation to achieve together yet another 50 years with the same purpose of having ‘zero rulership’ by foreigners on our own land.
Celebrate peacefully and safely with your loved ones and as much as possible try to keep out of trouble. Let’s make your Christmas and my Christmas a purposeful one this year!
Merry Christmas, everyone!