Status – Wantok System

Wantok System by Agustin’s Wibowo

March 21, 2023June 14, 2021 by endagadlek

Locals walk with foreigners in Daru, Papua New Guinea.

Looking at the economy in Daru, Papua New Guinea (PNG), a few questions come up. Why is it that Chinese residents who have run a business for less than 10 years have been able to control the economy, while the local people still trade in the same way their ancestors did hundreds of years ago?

Mekha Eho\’o, my host, explained that a unique trait of Melanesians was that they could live without money.

“The Western world is a capitalistic world that pursues materialistic happiness, while the Melanesian world is [based on] a ‘wantok’ system that believes happiness exists in human relationships,” explained Mekha.

Wantok in Tok Pisin, the official language of Papua New Guinea, derives from “one talk” in English, and means one language, literally meaning that people speak the same language.

PNG has the highest linguistic diversity in the world. The country, which occupies half of the island of New Guinea, is home to 840 languages. With so many languages, different languages might be spoken in two villages separated by just 5 kilometers.

Consequentially, linguistic similarity is very important. In a society where the concept of ethnicity remains strong, sharing the same language indicates shared tribal and regional origins.

The concept of wantok has also expanded beyond people speaking the same language and can be interpreted as close friends, neighbors, comrades in arms, compatriots, and all kinds of strong social ties.

But in the big cities, people from various ethnic and linguistic backgrounds live together. The concept of wantok has also expanded beyond people speaking the same language and can be interpreted as close friends, neighbors, comrades in arms, compatriots, and all kinds of strong social ties.

“In the wantok system, you protect the people in your wantok without asking for anything in return or payment,” explained Mekha. “Fellow wantok [members] are expected to help and protect each other.”

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Wantok-ism is a universal societal system among the Melanesian people of PNG. However, wantok as a concept is not a monopoly of PNG. The idea of wantok also exists in Indonesian culture. When I came to PNG, the Indonesian ambassador, a Batak man, welcomed me like I was a family member, because we were fellow Indonesians. Likewise, the Chinese people who own supermarkets in Daru were immediately hospitable towards me, even giving me instant noodles for free, simply because my ancestors came from the same province as they did.

The atmosphere of one corner of Daru, Papua New Guinea. The wantok system allows Daru residents to live without money.

For Mekha, wantok is an ideal way of life for Melanesians. “All problems can be solved when the warring parties sit down together as wantok,” he said.

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The people of PNG, especially those living in the hinterlands, can indeed live without money, because they live in tribal communities on customary lands. They have land for farming, rivers or seas for fishing, and forests for hunting. When the members of a tribe go hunting, the kill they bring bag is not for their own consumption, but for distribution among the tribespeople who do not hunt.

This is the original wantok system, and can be thought of as a traditional social security net.

Mekha said that an Indonesian friend once asked him why the friend had not seen any development during his five years in PNG. Mekha replied: “We are not a materialistic nation. For us, what is more important is building human-to-human relationships.”

Mekha added that wantok was an investment for the people of PNG. “If you have sustenance, you share it with your wantok. Then one day when you need help, you just ask your wantok for help. Isn\’t that also the logic of saving, investing, and insurance in the West? The difference is, we don\’t calculate profit and loss like in the West,” he said.

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Saving money is not an established habit in PNG society. Many people who get a salary spend it immediately and run out of money that same day. Most of the money is distributed to members of large families in their wantok who do not work.

Likewise, when people trade, there are always members of their wantok who come to their shop asking for this and that. The wantok system does not allow the traders to charge members of their wantok who come to get goods from their shop.

The worst impact of this system is nepotism. The boss usually recruits subordinates who come from his own wantok, regardless of whether they are competent or not. High corruption is also due to the elite paying a debt of gratitude to their wantok.

However, Mekha considers wantok to be a part of PNG identity that should be preserved. He regretted that the PNG government sent the country\’s best students to study in Australia, which glorified individualism and materialism.

On the other hand, Mekha had found that the system in Indonesia was balanced. Indonesians, in his eyes, were neither completely materialistic nor blindly devoted to wantok.

“Wantok is still important, they must still be [supported]. But they are not number one. My main priority now is my own children. They are my main investment for the future,” he said.

(This article was translated by Kurniawan Siswoko).

Editor: NARANASRULLAH

Kekuatan Allah Dalam Tiga Unsur Bumi yang Kita Rasakan Setiap Saat

November 10, 2020 by endagadlek

1. TANAH
2. AIR
3. UDARA

1. TANAH

Setiap manusia di muka bumi diciptakan oleh tanah liat, tanpa terkecuali, sehingga kekuatan Allah salah satunya adalah Tanah. Diatas mama saya saya bisa bernafas bergera Melihat dan mengelola hasil kekayaan yang TUHAN berikan kepada kita, sehingga kita kelola sesuai hikmat Allah yang berikan kepada kita sebagai manusia sejati di dunia ini. apa bila saya tidak bekerja diatas tanah saya maka saya tidak dapat makan, tetapi ketika saya bekerja diatas tanah yang TUHAN berikan disitu maka saya merasakan kuasa Allah melalui ciptakan yang TUHAN berikan kepada saya.

2. AIR

Kita manusia dimuka bumi ada karena KEKUATAN AIR adalah Darah. Bila belum ada AIR maka saya seperti batu yang tidak bisa bergerak dari tempat seperti itu, tetapi kuasa Allah luar biasa melalui AIR maka tubuh saya digerakan oleh Mesin Allah Yaitu AIR adalah Darah.

3. UDARA

Manusia didunia tanpa UDARA segar tidak bisa bernafas sehingga kekuatan Allah salah satunya adalah UDARA. KEKUATAN/kuasa Allah sangat luar biasa yang Allah melimpahkan kepada kita dengan cuma-cuma untuk itu KEKUATAN Allah mampu menghidupkan kita.

Dengan demikian sebagai ciptakan Tuhan mari kita Gunakan kuasa Allah dengan bersorak sorai mengandalkan Kasih Allah yang sangat dasyat itu.

Untuk sebagai manusia didunia mari kita sadar dan bertobat dengan mengandalkan apa yang Ugatame berikan kepada kita.

Makii kaa…tetaii
Mee kaa…teakatee taii

DAMAI DUBATO INI UTA AKI GAIPEU

DAMAI DENGAN MANUSIA, ALLAM DAN DENGAN SEGALA CIPTAAN ALLAH SEMUANYA.

SYLLOM DAMAI
BIDAOO.

Vanuatu pastor wants to keep Islam out

December 14, 2021October 26, 2016 by endagadlek

A prominent Vanuatu Presbyterian pastor wants the Muslim faith kept out of the country.

Alan Nafuki and several supporters staged a march in the capital Port Vila recently with the aim of reinforcing the country’s Christian identity.

It was held as Muslims in Vanuatu were preparing to host a major international meeting which has now reportedly been called off.

Pastor Nafuki says Vanuatu already has enough religions and doesn’t need any new ones coming in.

By: Bruce Hill

Source: https://www.abc.net.au/

The Cost of the “Wantok System”

March 21, 2023February 16, 2008 by endagadlek

The wantok system has often been described as a ‘safety net’ and for a country like the Solomon Islands where there are no social service schemes, this may be true.

To those who do not know, the wantok system stems from the word ‘one talk’, which could be loosely defined as those speaking the same language.

In Solomon Islands, there are close to 220 different languages spoken and those that speak the same language, or ‘one talk’, traditionally ‘look out’ for each other.

The wantok system could be seen as an unwritten social contract, between those that speak the same language, to assist each other in times of need. This ranges from little things such as assistance in school fees to favors that border corruption, such as offering a job or contract to a person or persons because they are a ‘wantok’.

Many commentators have written about the cost it has to the overall economy, Henry Toley on the other hand, represents those on the ground that face up to the harsh reality of such a system.

“It is very difficult…I am a gardener and even with my very small salary, I am expected to pay for school fees of wantoks that are unemployed,” said Mr. Toley. “Not only that, I also pay for food in a house full of wantoks, it is very difficult”

Mr. Toley represents a growing number of low income urban residents finding it hard to survive because of the high dependence of wantoks.

In Honiara where the population has almost doubled in the past ten years, many from the rural areas have come to the capital seeking out jobs.

Unfortunately, with the high unemployment rate and the slow pace of job creation, people like Mr. Toley will continue to act as a ‘safety net’.

“I think the system is making us very poor, and we will continue to be poor if we encourage it,” said Mr. Toley when asked about his thoughts on the wantok system.

1. TANAH

2. AIR

3. UDARA

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