Leave Your suit and Tie at Home

While I was in PNG to work I don’t intend making much reference to work in this blog though there are a few anecdotes worth sharing.

The attached photo is of me (a somewhat younger model) geared up for work in Rabaul on the beautiful island of West New Britain. What a contrast from the formal dark suits and ties I had left behind in Belfast.

I can’t recall wearing a tie once in my  time in Papua New Guinea and I certainly never wore a suit, as I didn’t have one there.

In contrast to Europe and more akin to Australia, work was much more informal in PNG. That’s not to say one didn’t work hard… one did, but one played hard too.

I recall my first encounter with the senior partner of the accounting firm I was working with – some three weeks after arrival (why it took so long is another story). Being polite, or rather having had it indoctrinated into me in Belfast, I said ‘Good morning, Mr Txxxxx’ (name removed). His response was ‘What the bloody hell are you talking about? The name’s Doug. If you call me Mr Txxxx again you’re fired’. Had I adopted such informally at the time in Belfast I would have been sacked on the spot.

The second utterance of this dinky di Aussie from Perth related his intent to give me a pay rise – I had only been in the country three weeks and hadn’t even had a telephone conversation with him by that point. Naturally I didn’t argue. Doug, as I came to know him, was a bit of a rough diamond but well suited to the rough and tumble of PNG.

The attire I was wearing was typical Australian public service (civil service) tropical wear though, as I was to find out in my post PNG days, in Darwin, there was a tendency towards brown rather than blue in Australia. As brown is not my colour and the rig was going out of fashion, outside the trades, by that stage I didn’t partake of it in Darwin. In Port Moresby, where most businesses had air conditioning that at least sort of worked, I generally wore long pants.

This blog entry is one of a group (loop) of entries based on a couple of years living and working in Papua New Guinea. I suggest you continue with my next entry – The Asaro Mudmen –  or to start this loop at the beginning go to my introductory entry – Papua New Guinea – Personal Memories.