Spending Time PNG-style
Areca nuts, called buai in the local language, are almost always in the mouths of people in PNG. Many chew areca nuts all day, until their teeth are red.
Residents of Port Moresby spend their time playing cards.
Staying overnight in Koki village on the coast of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, I heard three gunshots. I imagined fighting between rival gangs.
"What is that?" I asked my host Helen, trembling.
"That\'s an NCDC officer," said Helen, referring to the National Capital District Commission, the local government in the capital city of Port Moresby. “They are driving areca nut traders out the market at the end of the village."
Areca nuts, called buai in the local language, are almost always in the mouths of people in PNG. Many chew areca nuts all day, until their teeth are red. The main problem with this habit is cleanliness. Areca nut skins are scattered everywhere because people throw them all over the place. People also often spit chewed areca nuts carelessly, leaving red spots on walls and streets, which are difficult to clean.
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The city government has totally banned the sale of areca nuts. In the afternoon, NCDC officers come to disperse crowds at the buai market by spraying tear gas and firing shots. People run hurriedly and riots break out. Areca nut traders who are caught are imprisoned but are released after paying a fine.
***
After the gunfire died down, Jo, Helen\'s son-in-law, who had dreadlocks like Bob Marley, invited me to experience the PNG lifestyle: loafing around. Lazily spending time aimlessly on the streets.
We went back down to the paved main road. Under the dim street lights, dozens of children were playing while screaming. They immediately surrounded me screaming, “Boss! Boss! Photograph me!” or “China! China!" Jo chased them away by snapping fiercely.
For adults, the main activity while loafing around is chewing areca nuts. Jo bought an areca nut at 1 kina (Rp 5,000). For me, he bought a small slice of areca nut that had been peeled for 20 toea.
Children in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea look happy in the village area.
I took a bite of a small piece, tasting the bitterness, which made me wince. I also got a tough green daka (mustard) plant, dipped it in lime powder, took a bite and chewed it with the areca nut still in my mouth.
In Indonesia there is also a tradition of chewing concoctions of betel leaves, areca nuts and lime powder like this. It was in PNG that I realized the meaning of the Malay expression, “sekapur sirih”, because chewing betel leaves or areca nuts is always accompanied by lime, and the complete package of betel leaf and lime used to be mandatory to welcome guests in Sumatran culture.
In this day and age, I cannot remember the last time I saw Indonesian people around me chewing betel leaves.
In my childhood in Java, the massage therapist simbok who often came to our house always chewed a lump of betel leaves, which resembled a small ball of red string, and they seemed to never leave her mouth. My mother forbade me to taste them. In this day and age, I cannot remember the last time I saw Indonesian people around me chewing betel leaves.
Meanwhile in PNG, this tradition is still strong. Almost everyone chews betel nuts all day long. However, I have not found where the pleasure is. My throat seemed to be burning, and tears were dripping down my face. My head was spinning so that I staggered. I was drunk from just one bite of the betel nut.
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Jo hastily gave me a drink of water. "Don\'t swallow the liquid of the areca nut! Spit it out!” he said.
The youths surrounding us burst into laughter upon seeing my reaction. It is precisely this feeling of being drunk and floating that they enjoy from chewing areca nuts. Areca nuts do have a stimulant effect, and it can be a difficult addiction to stop.
The Chef\'s Village in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
A young man with red teeth, because of betel chewing, expressed his frustration with the Port Moresby government for banning the sale of areca nuts. He called areca nuts the identity and pride of PNG culture and said they should not be banned.
"Moreover, chewing areca nuts is always accompanied by lime. Lime is calcium, good for teeth. Chewing areca nuts is the same as brushing the teeth,” he said.
***
Friday evenings are peak times for cheerful loafing activities for local residents.
That is because workers in PNG get their wages every two weeks, which are generally paid on Friday afternoons. Many people immediately spend the money to buy beer. As a result, the streets are filled with drunken people.
As a foreigner, being able to enjoy the streets of the Koki residential settlement, which is famous as a crime-prone area of Port Moresby, is a rare opportunity indeed. It was solely because I had a great bodyguard. Jo is a local resident who is stocky like a wrestler.
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However not all PNG people can serve as bodyguards. When visiting a village, we must be accompanied by people from that village. Every village in Port Moresby is inhabited by people of a different race who come from a particular region. A fellow PNG person from a different region of origin can be attacked if he or she enters the wrong neighborhood.
This capital city is like a sprinkling of tribes that are still at war with each other.
(This article was translated by Hyginus Hardoyo).
