May 24, 2012
By Fuana Tmarsel —-
During the two years in Palau, he has participated in a lot of customary events and concludes that Palau is a society of pay backs. “You keep records of people who give money at your customs so that when it is their turn, you go to give back what they have given to you. The giving is not out of the heart to help, but it obligates you to return the favor someday. In this way, it becomes a burden for many. It is wrong attitude for giving.” I sat there silently nodding to his observations of our customs and thinking to myself- he is right, giving should proceed from a desire to alleviate a burden, to provide for a need, to quench a longing, to offer friendship, but most of all to communicate love to others. So why do practice obligatory giving? Is it out of insecurity, control, or what?
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May 21, 2012
By Jackson Henry —-
Palau Airways is the newest bird flying over our airspace marking another milestone achievement for our fledging nation and a vote of confidence for Palau’s hospitality industry. The new airline made a spectacular splash inTaiwan’s media as well as in Asia’s aviation community with the maiden flight of its Boeing 757 from Taipei to Palauan May 6th. The airline is based in Palauwith its high profile headquarter located in Koror’s central business district.Palau salutes the investors of this airline for their bold action, despite the risks and uncertainties associated with start-up ventures. Mr. Ho and his group deserve a standing ovation and support from us all.
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May 16, 2012
By Santy Asanuma —-
In tribute to the mothers of Palau a friend of mine who I deeply respect showed his poems that he wrote in 1987 on day that surely will burn in our history as people and nation. I knew right away that I would use them to celebrate the woman and the mother. Like a mother Palau has gone through great pains in the past up to today just so she can take care of us her children, the Palauan people.
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May 15, 2012
By Fuana Tmarsel —-
There are so many words and still they are being coined in every discovery, recovery or accidentally. Do you ever wonder why some words are pronounced the way they are spelled while some don’t; like spelling, cat, bowl, kitchen, greetings and silly sally etc? Other words contain some letters which pronunciations are not permissible. I am talking about tongue, harangue, fatigue, and dialogue. Yet words like barbecue, and queue need an e to permit the sound of u.
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May 14, 2012
By Jackson Henry —-
Henry Kissinger once said, “Power is man’s ultimate aphrodisiac”. With democracy alive and well inPalau, every citizen has the right to wield power through the ballot box. It is election year so aspiring politicians are wooing voters with bold promises, social engineering, and political strategies to improve the lives of every Palauan citizen. But the road to high offices will also be paved with propaganda, rhetoric, finger pointing and even mud slinging, as the candidates complete for every votes. But that is perfectly fine. It is a big component of our democratic machinery. However, the ultimate determinants of electoral outcomes inPalauremain kinship and family ties. Voters must have the moxie to look beyond the BBQs, money and emotional speeches for the sake of our economy.
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May 9, 2012
By Santy Asanuma —-
A friend of mine was lamenting (ngoumekngingit el reng) when he prayed during a gathering with friends and was harshly criticized. He was upset when another friend who was covered by the same prayer said to him afterwards that “how can anybody who is so sinful like you should pray?” The sinful man retorted (a milekingang) to his friend that if the plate was cracked but was able to hold the food he should have just paid attention to the food because he was not going to eat the crack after all. I suppose the prayer critic represents the majority of us when we size up other people and tally their faults against any possible chance of being worthy to stand among us. I am beginning to believe that this is one of the main reasons why people would rather remain silent on wrongdoing in our social group, family, clan, church, or government for fear of being evaluated to the pulp (medirk el di mo techel).
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May 8, 2012
By Jackson Henry —-
History has it that the ancient Romans, under the reign of Caesar Trajan over 2,000 years ago, were the first to institute a Food Stamp Program (FSP), to feed the Plebeians or lower class citizens who fell into the “cracks and crevices” of poverty. Free breads were distributed to the poor, elderly and disabled, as means to alleviate hardships for those economically straddled on the fringes of theRome’s prosperous society. Critics called Trajan’s welfare as a form of bribery. However, Trajan sealed his place in history as the first ruler to initiate a government welfare program.
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May 7, 2012
By Fuana Tmarsel —-
Klio is now a young man, and recently had a baby of his own. He has no money, education, and his family does not participate much in his life, so his baby lives with the mother while he visits regularly. He used to attend school when he was a young boy, but eventually dropped out and his parents didn’t care to walk him back to school. Instead they scolded him and withheld food from him so he began to steal to fill his stomach. First he grabbed little things here and there, but when his appetite developed, he snatched wallets and purses. Eventually, the law caught on and he has been in and out of jail. In many ways, Klio has been invisible to his family – they know that he exist, but they just don’t care to see him. And his young child,…….well….
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May 5, 2012
By Kambes Kesolei —-
Here are some information taken from the 2005 Census of Population and Housing. These are official government figures compiled by the Office of Planning and Statistics.
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May 1, 2012
By Santy Asanuma —-
April 2012 is another monumental (klou el olangch) milestone in my life when I found myself struggling for words to explain myself to one eighteen years old young man and a forty one years old lady. For those who know me struggling for words got to be an irony (sel diak desang el kmo sebechel dubech) in my life. These two persons were perfectly normal and were obviously amused by my difficulty in speaking to them as they were smiling and giggling at my disability. They happened only to be deaf and mute out of the group of people with other forms of disability. I just did not know their language and they are Palauans. I do not do sign language and I have never felt so inadequate (olengesonges) to help people that I thought I was going to help during a three days workshop on Human Rights for persons with disability in Palau.
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April 30, 2012
By Jackson Henry —-
In ancientPalau, folks skilled in building canoes or fishing were highly revered and admired in the villages. Their skills secured their future. That is understood since the ancient Palauan economy revolved around self subsistence and survival did not depend on cash. In this modern world, cash management for this generation of Palauans has become a crucial tool for survival and self advancement. Thus, financial literacy can no longer be considered a folly but a skill required to navigate our way in this “jungle” of money and finance. Hence, we need to teach basic finance to our youth today so they do not squander their future.
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April 29, 2012
By Kambes Kesolei —-
My observations from Tommy’s declaration at Hokkons annex by Peleliu CLub last Saturday April 21, 2012.
First, those who took the mic at Hokkons Park mostly touched around the theme of “struggling to make ends meet in these hard economic times,” while it sounded clichéd, it was a reality as shown on the people faces.
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April 28, 2012
By Santy Asanuma —-
(rerun 2/5/2003 Whatanow Column)
Alii Lorna,
There is a story that is becoming popular in Palau lately to make fun of the situation that is happening almost everywhere in this country. A child watched her mother break a dish while washing dishes and wished out loud by saying, “baiderengum e mommy le ng diak a oklau” (lucky you mom for not getting any scolding from anybody). The child represents the common people (“a re mechebuul”) and the mother represents the few powerful people (“a re ngarebad el chad”) in Palau today.
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April 23, 2012
By Jackson Henry —-
Greek Philosopher Epicurus said over 2000 ago, “you are what you eat”. Today, nutritionists affirm Epicurus’ point by advising us to eat healthy food to stay fit and to avoid fatty, salty and over sweetened processed foods. However, many in Palaudo not heed Epicurus’ message or are simply obsessed with imported foods. This has led many to poor health and driven Palauup the rank as the world’s 7th most obese nation.
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April 21, 2012
By Santy Asanuma —-
“Dou lel a tuu er ngii” is used to describe a person when one takes no seriousness or commitment on an issue or work that he/she is undertaking. This expression is disappearing as banana trees are obviously not lining the street sides of Koror as it used to up to 1980’s. Banana leafs are very light and would sway on the slightest wind. And the fact that banana leafs easily wither (mo moualech el mo merat). Also most of the time they are not tended to and leaving them in a mess. These are the characters implied on a person when he/she does not perform up to the expectation.
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April 19, 2012
By Kambes Kesolei
What makes you a Palauan? This is an age old question that without a doubt been asked gazillion times in various social settings. And I’m sure you’ve heard the same question many times over as well, and perhaps already have had your turn to proffer an answer yourself. It is a question that stimulates your mind and challenges you on the conceptual side. It doesn’t have a ready made or any one satisfactory answer that defines being a Palauan - at least to me.
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April 17, 2012
By Fuana Tmarsel —-
“Politicians are expected to fashion a positive public image, burnishing it to a lustrous shine through self-serving press releases and adroit spin-doctoring, but their real character often gets revealed through their private choices far from the spotlight. Certainly a person’s behind-the-scene moral decisions – their marital fidelity and fundamental honesty in their relationships – are relevant to how they will conduct the business of the people. After all, they unmask the true individual.” This is an observation of Lee Strobel in his book, The Case for Faith (2000).
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April 12, 2012
By Santy Asanuma —-
(3/28/2003 Whatanow Column)
Alii Roger,
People of Palau should come to realization (“melchesuar”) that OEK is where success or failure of Palau is determined (“meketmokl e moterkokl”). Senator Koshiba recently challenged his colleagues during a session by pushing a question on all senators and delegates: “kid kede ultechei” (are we deformed?). The word “ultechei” has a deeper negative connotation (“mekngit el belkul”) in Palauan implications (“omtechakl a tekoi”) that one is vile and despised (“mercherached e checherd a rengud e rengii”) by people. It also implies that one is not mentally sound (“telekib el longesonges a btelul”). This is the lowest Palauan regard that can be given to someone you do not respect or care about. Is this question befitting (“ungil a deruchellel el tekoi dousbech e rengii el mesaod ra rechad”) people chosen by Palauan people to seat in the OEK?
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April 9, 2012
By Jackson Henry —-
USPresidential hopeful Mitt Romney delivered a riveting message to an audience during one of his political rallies when he said, “Free enterprise has liberated more people from of poverty, created more jobs and improved more lives than all government programs combined”. Bravo ! I could not agree more. It is a thrilled to hear leaders who are Gung Ho on business. Romney’s words motivate and inspire us folks inPalau’s private sector.
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April 6, 2012
By Santy Asanuma —-
We should get rid of our traditional leaders and our culture and be all modern, democratic, free, equal, economic, and be one happy society. “We should not allow traditions to hold us down and miss our chance in progress and development,” openly expressed in public discussion by more and more of younger generations of Palauans. This mentality implies (ua lolekoi) that money is enough to satisfy our needs and fulfill the purpose of our life as human beings.
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