OK, so in yesterday’s post on guns in PNG I briefly mentioned about a gun incident during a political rally in the Enga province.

Well, it seems things are not quite what may appear in the newspapers. We are now led to belive there was no such incident! The only gun firing done was by the police. To break up the huge crowd that had gathered to hear MP Don Polye speak. The crowd got rowdy and police had to discharge their firearms to break the crowd up.

No matter how hard the Tourism Promotion Authority of PNG had tried over these past few years to change the image and slogans to promote PNG as a tourist destination, the slogan – The land of the unexpected – still seems to be best description of PNG. Slogans like “Experience PNG” or “Discover Paradise” and others have been used in promotional campaigns but “The Land Of The Unexpected” is loved by all. I can’t remember what year this slogan was first introduced. The TPA may be wondering now, ‘why did we ever introduced it? Now we can’t get rid of it’.

I think generally, many PNGeans love this slogan. It’s the best description of PNG! You just don’t know what will happen. A peacefull gathering may turn rowdy and into an all out tribal warfare in a matter of minutes.

Having said that, good things can also happen unexpectedly! If you ever decide to visit PNG, I recommend you to drop whatever perceptions you have about PNG. You just don’t know that will happen. Do not belive everything I say either!

Because PNG is still the land of the unexpected.