NIUS BILONG YUMI

A newsletter for former students & staff of Lae International High School

& the senior campus of The International School of Lae

Greetings one and all. Hope 2005 has been a good one for you so far. Just when you are starting to look around for something good to read, here’s the 2^nd edition of Nius Bilong Yumi for the year. Many thanks to all of you who continue to stay in contact and provide the news and updates which keep this newsletter going.

Just a reminder that the “News and Current Contacts” section is now in a “columns” format rather than a “table” format. This was done to reduce the size of the file (to allow it to more easily be attached to, and downloaded from, an e-mail) and to reduce the number of pages to just 23 (down from 35 last year!). Each entry is this section is set out as follows:

Surname, first name. Years at LIHS (classes) (if provided). Contact details (for those that haven’t requested privacy. “News (if provided) [date of receipt if different from when last heard from]”. (date of last contact)

Don’t forget, if you know of any other ex-LIHS/TISOL people who may be interested in being on the circulation list for this newsletter, please pass on their contact details or have them contact AlumniLIHS directly. Pages xx-xx show the names of people who AlumniLIHS has attempted to contact but either “hasn’t heard from” or had “letters/emails returned” from last known addresses. If you happen to be in contact with any of these people, please let them know of AlumniLIHS and the availability of Nius Bilong Yumi.

The contact details for AlumniLIHS are as follows:

Postal Address: GPO Box 1003, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia.

E-mail Address: alumnilihs@yahoo.com.au

Telephone: (02) 6288 0550 (within Australia); +61 2 6288 0550 (from overseas)

Nius Bilong Yumi editor: Brenton Clark

And remember, don’t stop sending in your news, updates and anecdotes – always on the look out for material to include in future editions of this newsletter.

Just a reminder that it would be appreciated if the AlumniLIHS e-mail address was only included in e-mails that specifically relate to ex-LIHS matters. Please do not include this e-mail address in e-mails related to other matters, especially chain e-mails. Many thanks for your cooperation.

Hotmail and Yahoo E-mail accounts

Did you know that Hotmail and Yahoo e-mail accounts now have as standard 250MB and 1.0GB of storage, respectively, and that you can send and receive three attachments up to a total of 10MB in each e-mail? If you are using one of these accounts and you don’t have this storage capacity yet, just contact the provider and request that your account be upgraded to standard. The relatively recent upgrades to Hotmail and Yahoo certainly makes it much easier to receive Nius Bilong Yumi as an attachment to an e-mail, with much fewer “account full” messages being received these days.

Alternative contact details

Quite a number of ex-LIHS/TISOL were “found” in the past six months, and that is terrific news. However, during the same period, a number of people went “missing” with e-mails being returned with ‘user unknown’, ‘does not like recipient’ and ‘account disabled’ messages. If you don’t want to fall into the “lost” category, perhaps you may wish to consider establishing an alternative e-mail account (like the free Hotmail or Yahoo ones described above) or providing a mailing address (to be kept private if you wish) so that AlumniLIHS has some way of contacting you in the event that your primary e-mail address fails at some point.

Talk about reunions…..

There was very little response to the question about whether anyone was interested in a reunion – only 5 e-mails were received which suggests that few people are interested at this stage. Accordingly, for the time being at least, it may be best if reunions are pursued by people from individual classes or groups of classes/years. Perhaps a particular anniversary is needed to generate greater interest? Any suggestions would be welcome. AlumniLIHS would be happy to continue to provide anyone with updates on contact details should they wish to organise any particular reunion.

Remember when…..

Lysander Ramas remembers “1986-1988 when we used to play hand ball by the tuck shop. The crazy hockey game under the building where we had our dances. Our biology class where we had cows eyes to play with. The dungeons and dragons and chess played at the library. The colours we had to wear during sports day and the crazy French and German classes we had so much fun doing because we had crazy teachers. And for the guys I will never forget our geography class because maps were not as important as what little clothes our lady teacher was wearing that day. And the experiment gone wrong that left a permanent mark on the roof of one of the chemistry class room, and the computer class we had, and all we did was play games especially that mine game looking for crystals!!! To a great Place LIHS.”

Carole Saunders asks “can anyone remember the issue in 84 that caused so many problems? What was that all about? All the teachers resigning, Mr Warren taking over…..”

If you want to contribute some thoughts about a particular event or activity that happened during your time at the school, or interesting extracts from old school magazines, etc, just send in your contribution.

Then & Now

Any views from recent visitors to Lae & those still living there would be very welcome for future newsletters.

Some interesting bits & pieces…..

Stephen Barbour writes “Well don’t know if it is of any interest but a Documentary I worked on years ago as an assistant editor, “Black Harvest” has just been made the subject of a book called “The Making of Black Harvest” in which Bob Connolly (the film’s co-director and book’s author) describes what he and his wife Robin dealt with in making the Documentary on the Garniga tribe in the New Guinea Highlands. Robin sadly has since passed away from cancer but as a team she and Bob made “First Contact”, “Joe Leah’s Neighbours” and finally “Black Harvest”, all of them in New Guinea. I worked on two films with them; “Black Harvest” and later “Rats in the Ranks” about the Leichhardt council in Sydney during a Mayoral election, a Documentary that went on to inspire a Drama series on the ABC about a local council. So if anyone is interested they may find Bob’s thoughts on trying to make a Documentary in the New Guinea highlands “The Making of Black Harvest” interesting.

I should say I recently had a screening of a trailer for a Documentary I am trying to raise money for to a small gathering of people in Sydney recently and a woman in the audience approached me and asked if I was a student at Lae High, much to my surprise I have to say, so I said yes and she said she thought she had once taught someone called Barbour at that school. Turns out her name is Robyn Maloney or Mrs Maloney as she was known and taught my brother David’s year at high school. We have been in contact since and spoken of course of old times in Lae. To think though that a private screening of a Documentary Trailer I have made (about Japan, Russia and China before WW2) to an audience of mostly Japanese people I know and some of their friends (enter Mrs. Maloney who teaches languages in Sydney now) would produce this meeting between us after over 20 years showed just what a small world we really do live in.

My brother David by the way is currently working on the second series of his show Celebrity Overhaul which is due out on 9 in the near future.”

Interesting books/publications

If anyone knows of PNG related books or publications which may be of interest to people receiving this newsletter, just let AlumniLIHS know the details for inclusion in future editions.

The following publications may be of interest:

“Markham Tom” by Tom Leahy who tells about his time in the Morobe District, his family, etc. Jim Dudgeon advised of this book & noted that it contained many great stories, including Tom’s time as a Member of Parliament. According to Jim, the book is put out by TJ&PM & its ISBN is 1 86333 242 1.

"Territory Kids" by Genevieve Rogers (http://www.seaviewpress.com.au/more.asp?id=135 ). Released in 2000. The publisher is Seaview Press & the contact details are as follows: PO Box 234, Henley Beach SA 5022, Australia.

Tel: (08) 8235 1535. Fax: (08) 8235 9144. Cost is $A39.60 plus postage & handling.

Publisher's summary:

"Territory of Papua & New Guinea 1945-1975. The Territory Kids have a unique place in Australian history: they are the children of Australia’s only colony & their story is unlike any other Australian story. The European children of the Australian colonial presence in the Territory of Papua & New Guinea speak here of their childhoods in a place now lost to history forever. The Territory Kids recall with affection & insight the place & the people of their formative years. Theirs is a moving tribute to the extraordinary environment in which they were fashioned in circumstances radically different from the Australian mainland which had formed their own parents. From the awesome power of volcanoes & tidal waves to the wonder & magic of the sing sings; from the tedium of correspondence education to the emotional wrench of ‘going South’ to Australian boarding schools; from the caring ministrations of the bois & meris to the demands of mainland life, the Territory Kids drew lessons & life experience which set them apart from other Australians. With the robustness peculiar to children everywhere they seized the opportunities in their small world, & they look back now with few regrets. Their recollections are charming, frank, refreshing & perceptive: a vivid recreation of a time & a place now gone. Foreword by the Hon Alastair Nicholson, AO RFD, Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia. 256 pages, B5, ISBN 1740080874."

“Golden Gateway: Lae & the Province of Morobe” by James Sinclair. Released in December 1998. The publisher is Crawford House & the contact details are as follows: PO Box 50, Belair SA 5052, Australia. Tel: (08) 8370 3566. Fax: (08) 8370 3555.

Publisher's summary:

“Lae, second city of Papua New Guinea, was born of gold. This book tells of the discovery, prospectors, the great mining companies, the extraordinary developments in civil aviation that followed the discovery. It tells, too, the history of Morobe Province, from its settlement by the Germans, through World War II, to the present. Profusely illustrated with 354 black-&-white photographs & four maps, this large volume will be of immense interest to the thousands of Australians who, over the years, lived, fought & worked in Lae, Wau, Bulolo & Salamaua. xvi + 470 pages, 289 x 214 mm, hardcover, ISBN 1 86333 149 2.”

“Una Voce” – the journal of the Papua New Guinea Association of Australia (formerly Retired Officers Association of Papua New Guinea Inc). It is published quarterly & membership of the Association is open to anyone who has lived in PNG or who has an abiding interest in the country. The annual fee is $A15 & application forms are available from: The Secretary, PNGAA, PO Box 452, Roseville NSW 2069, Australia or from the website http://www.pngaa.net.

PNGAA has also published a book "Tales of Papua New Guinea" which contains a selection of some of the best stories, articles & anecdotes from past issues of Una Voce. 200 pages, hard cover, more than 50 illustrations, ISBN 0-9579695-0-3. Cost for non-ROAPNG members is $A30 plus postage & handling.

“Garamut” – the journal of the Gold Coast Papua New Guinea Club, Inc. It is published quarterly & the annual fee is $A8 for single membership & $A10 for married membership. Subscription forms are available from: GCPNGC, PO Box 951, Surfers Paradise QLD 4217, Australia.

Interesting web sites

The following internet web sites may be of interest.

NEW! Elizer Gemaguim notes “I created a yahoo groups as lihs_png@yahoogroups.com and I was hoping you could include this in your newsletter for those who wish to join it. Basically you email anything but spam and/or hoax mails to this and everyone that is a member of this will receive your email.”

NEW! Sharon Pech notes “Wendy Phillips contacted me through schoolfriends.com. She has set up a Lae Primary Schools website and is always keen to obtain new material (class photos etc.). Has a Coronation (primary school) student list of 300 and 41 ex-students on a future reunion list. The site also includes photos from Bulae, St Mary's, Huonville and Lae High. Web site address is http://www.wendyclarke.com/Coronation%20primary%20pages/index.html”

CHANGE! The School Friends web site has been renamed Friends Reunited – new web site address is: http://www.friendsreunited.com.au/ although http://www.schoolfriends.com.au/ still gets you there. While there has been a bit of re-arranging of the information, it is still a good site for Australian school alumni information, including overseas Australian schools such as LIHS which is listed as "Lae High School" (with a small number of people also listed under “International School Lae”). Add your name when you get the time!

PNG Business Resources Directory: http://www.pngwebdirectory.com/. Another excellent site listing PNG related web sites, including a useful forum area:

LIHS/TISOL - http://www.pngwebdirectory.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=7 and a more general one for Lae - http://www.pngwebdirectory.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=77

Pages & pages of the 1980 Lae International High School magazine have been reproduced at http://www.pngbd.com/forum/t6507s.html thanks to Papua New Guinea Tourism & Business Directory

& the Thomas family.

Kokoda Trail tourism web site: www.kokodatrail.com.au

Alumni Net: http://www.alumni.net/Australia_-_Oceania/Papua_New_Guinea/Lae_International_High_School/. A site dedicated to school alumni information, with a link having been established for LIHS. However, the site is becoming increasingly difficult to use, especially when trying to send messages – and too much advertising gets in the way.

International Education Agency of PNG: http://www.iea.ac.pg/. This site includes information on the international schools in PNG (not just LIHS/TISOL).

Rob’s PNG Links: http://home.iprimus.com.au/rdew/Information/information.html. A comprehensive site listing many PNG related links. Also check out Rob's Dreambook http://books.dreambook.com/robspng/main.html - you might come across a familiar name or two - and you can add your own if you wish.

Air Niugini: http://www.airniugini.com.pg/

Post Courier newspaper: http://www.postcourier.com.pg/

The National newspaper: http://www.thenational.com.pg

The Papua New Guinea Gossip Newsletter: http://www.png-gossip.com/news/apply.html

Telikom PNG Limited: http://www.telikompng.com.pg/. The site includes a searchable PNG White Pages telephone directory.

Wantok's Forum: http://www.niugini.com/wwwboard/index.html

Expat Expert: http://www.expatexpert.com/. An interesting site for “expats”.

An article entitled “Papua New Guinea on the Brink” (Issue Analysis 30) from the Centre for Independent Studies: http://www.cis.org.au

If you want to bring other internet sites to the attention of readers of this newsletter, please send the information to AlumniLIHS for inclusion in future editions.

Can you help?

AlumniLIHS is still looking for copies of the school’s magazines from 1988, 1989, 1991, 1995 & 1996 to have as a source of information for future editions of the newsletter. If anyone has a spare copy of any of the magazines from these years (or could lend a copy to be photocopied and then returned to you), please contact AlumniLIHS.

News & Current Contacts

In the interests of privacy, a person’s contact details will only be included in this newsletter if that person has given AlumniLIHS approval to do so. Otherwise, individual contact details will not be disclosed. If you wish to get in touch with people who have requested that their details not be published, you can do so by contacting AlumniLIHS with your request. AlumniLIHS will forward the message on your behalf and it would then be up to the recipient to respond to you if they wish.

Just a reminder for people overseas trying to call Australian land-line telephone numbers, you will need to dial the country code (61), the area code without the zero & then the telephone number - see the AlumniLIHS contact details on page 1 as an example. For calls to mobile phones, you need to dial just the country code (61) & then the mobile number without the first zero.

The information listed on the following pages has been sent directly by the person concerned and is current as at 4 October 2005.