PNG’s traditional values and norms slowly fading

Minister for Tourism Arts and Culture Belden Namah said modernization has immensely impacted how people are living in communities.

Minister Namah said a report by the Tourism Promotion Authority also revealed that Papua New Guinea's traditional values , norms and belief systems are in a dying trend.

He told Parliament that PNG's next generation lack the original traditions including the skills to develop local art.

Minister Namah said the biggest fear is losing tok pisin and mother tongue of the Provinces in Papua New Guinea.

The Minister for Tourism believes PNG's art, culture and language must be included in the school curriculum.

"It's time we think seriously about teaching Tok Pisin [Pidgin] from grade one to grade ten.  To remind our kids what Tok Pisin is. And the same applies to Tok Ples. 

"Our kids now don't know their mother tongue, their language. They don't know how to even perform their cultures. Our culture has now been reinvented. We see brass bands, painting ourselves with black paint or oil. That's not us, that's not Papua New Guinea, that's not Melanesia.

"Let's now think seriously about protecting and preserving our culture and our heart in the country by promoting this in our villages, in our districts, in our province, and in our country," Namah said.