2017 MILNE BAY DAY

EVENT REPORT

TOGETHER WE CAN, FOR MILNE BAY

 Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my fellow students for their trust in

me. It is truly an honour working alongside aspiring young
leaders having served as an executive for the UPNG Milne
Bay Students Union as we tackled the challenges while in
the position of treasurer in 2016 and president in 2017.
Each challenge was faced diligently and new relationships
were created as we achieved our objectives together with a
common goal to see our people progress.

I would also like to acknowledge the support of our Deputy

Prime Minister Hon. Charles Abel for his valuable time and
continuous support towards the event throughout 2016 and
in 2017 towards the cause.

The 2017 MILNE BAY DAY is by far the biggest provincial day
held in the capital city with more than 10,000 participants.
All would not have been possible without a supportive team
to organise the events. In saying this, I salute each member
of the Milne Bay Day (Organising)Committee and the UPNG
Milne Bay Students Union for all your efforts in setting a new
bench mark. This is not just a cultural show but a time for
our people to come together and appreciate their identity.

Kagutoki

Prakash Mowana
2017 President
UPNG Milne Bay Students Union

As Matron for the MBSU and Vice-Chairperson of the Milne

Bay Day Organising Committee I would like to congratulate
the team for hosting a successful event despite the
constraints and hardships faced. Unlike the previous years
celebrations, these last two years have had minimal support
from the government and corporate houses despite
numerous attempts to seek support. The committee has
learnt to be self-reliant, yet accommodate for interests
to support the cause. Apart from help from significant
individuals from the Milne Bay community, I would like to
acknowledge the support of Lae Biscuit Company Ltd being
the only business house to donate in kind towards the event
throughout 2016 & 2017.

Due to the popularity of the 2016 Milne Bay Day, we received

interest from the not just within Port Moresby but also from
the Milne Bay Province to make this years event a success.

I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all individuals

and groups that either purchased a stall, performed on the
day and basically just buying a ticket and turning up on the
day. Milne Bay Day would not have been Milne Bay Day,
without all your support.

Tinani Baneina, avi tanikiuem, Kagutoki, Amatoi, Kadatokisi,

Siule.

Jeanne Taligatus
2017 Matron
UPNG Milne Bay Students Union
 Content

Page
The Cause 3

Establishing Dialogue 4

James Chalmers Memorial High School

Findings

Official Launch 5

Milne Bay Day Committee launch 2017

Milne Bay Day

2017 Milne Bay Day Celebrations 6

Milne Bay Day
Milne Bay Nite 7
Financial Report 8
Donations
Expens/Revenue Timeline
Financial Statement 9
Conclusion 10
Recommendations
The Cause
Since 2016, organising Milne Bay Provincial Day
celebration has been the sole responsibility of the Milne
Bay Day Committee (MBDC). The main objective behind this
event is to bring together the wider Milne Bay community
in Port Moresby and to celebrate through traditional and
cultural performances in an effort to support local initiatives.
The MBDC committee was formed in September of 2016
after the Milne Bay Students Union (MBSU) from the
University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) sought help from
the Milne Bay Community in Port Moresby to stage the 2016
Milne Bay Day. MBDC now comprises of a team of executives
from the MBSU supported by a handful of like-minded
individuals from the Milne Bay Community.
Into its second year this partnership has fostered the
strengthening of relationship between the MBSU and the
Milne Bay community at large as well as with stakeholders.
This partnership has led to the successful staging of the 2
major provincial day celebrations in 2016 and 2017 and
continues to move forward under the banner:
Together we can, for Milne Bay.
In 2015, the MBSU visited the James Chalmers Memorial
High School in Fife Bay Suau LLG, under the leadership of
Mr Lyle Daniel through its annual Education and Awareness
programs. The visit prompted the need to support the
school after having learnt of the schools consistent high
academic performance toping the country despite lacking
basic infrastructure.
In 2016, the campaign initiated the first fundraising
activity in efforts to support the local school under the
leadership of then MBSU President Abraham Matafolu.
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Establishing Dialogue
James Chalmers Memorial High School
James Chalmers Memorial High School also known as Suau
High School was built on the same location of what was once
the Lawes College Campus of London Missionary Society/
United Church set up in 1894 by the first Missionary to Pap-
ua New Guinea, Dr William George Lawes.* The school was
formally established on the 23rd of March, 2012 and is cur-
rently run by headmaster, Mr Leonard Pwaka. The school
was an initiative of the local United Church and supported
by member for Alotau Open Hon, Charles Abel.
Since the establishment of the school in 2012, JCMHS has
been recognised as among the top 10 schools from around
the country whose students perform exceptionally well in
the grade 10 exams. The school has maintained this record
for the past 5 years. Apart from learning space, the school
continues to exist without a library, a proper mess and trav-
elling to the school was often difficult. The usual mode of
transport for students getting to the school was by sea on a
canoe or walking over the mountain range from the nearby
villages
The Milne Bay Provincial Day Committee (MBPDC) began
preparations for the 2017 Milne Bay Provincial Day with the
first of its kind visit to the James Chalmers Memorial High
School (JCMHS), a boarding school in rural Fife Bay, Suau
Local Level Government (LLG), Milne Bay Province. The
*http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/lawes-william-george-3999
Establishing Dialogue
main purpose of the visit to JCMHS was to establish a
dialogue and identify areas that the committee can assist the
school through fundraising activities in Port Moresby.
Findings
On the 15th of April 2017, Mr Jimmy Segodi Chairman of the
Milne Bay Day Committee and a team of volunteers from the
Milne Bay Day Committee travelled to Fife Bay to visit the
school to establish contact and report on the current state
of the school. Upon visit, the team gathered footage and in-
terviewed the Headmaster of JCMHS, Mr Leonard Pwaka, to
initiate the conversation on the committees plan to support
the school through the provincial day fundraising. From this
visit the team identified these key areas of need:
A library facility / research/resource centre
Upgrade mess facilities
Alternate power source
Alternative transportation: Vehicle and/or sea
vessel (banana boat and outboard motor)
Science laboratory
Classroom & dormitory buildings
Administration building
4

Official Launch
Milne Bay Day Committee launch 2017 Milne Bay
Day
The 2017 Milne Bay Day was formally launched on Sunday
28th May at the Wardstrip Demonstration Primary School
and was witnessed by the Milne Bay Community represent-
atives from Port Moresby.
Matron of the UPNG Milne Bay Students Union Jeanne Talig-
atus in her welcome note acknowledged the representatives
from the community that turned up for the launch. In her
speech, she stated that if we wanted to see change in our
community, the change has to start with you as an individual
and to not wait upon others. Henceforth, this year the MBSU
have taken on this new initiative to raise funds to support
the James Chalmers Memorial High School in Fife Bay, on top
of the annual education & awareness programs the students
conduct at the end of every year in their home province.
MBSU President Prakash Mowana, informed the community
in his speech that there will be 2 major fundraising events
this year.
Agenda 1: 2017 Milne Bay Day Celebrations
The first being none other than the ever-popular Milne Bay
Day followed by the Milne Bay Nite. Both events are con-
firmed for the 12th of August 2017. The 2017 Milne Bay Day
will be held on the grounds of the Sir John Guise Stadium
outside the indoor complex directly opposite the Vision City
Mega Mall from 9am till 5pm. The Milne Bay Nite will follow
straight after Milne Bay Day and will commence 6pm till late
at the Cosmopolitan, Vision City.
Official Launch
The funds raised from Milne Bay Day will go towards funding
the corporate/gala event anticipated to generate more rev-
enue for the cause. This decision was made in the instance a
major sponsor was not secured for the corporate event.
Agenda 2: Corporate Dinner/ Gala event
The second major event planned by the Milne Bay Day Com-
mittee (MBDC) is a corporate gala event which details will
be given after the Milne Bay Provincial Day celebrations. The
purpose of the corporate event is to raise funds to support
the James Chalmers Memorial High School in Fife Bay, Suau
LLG Milne Bay Province.
The committee was fortunate to establish a dialogue with
the high school after representatives from MBDC visited the
school in April this year and learned of its dire need for ba-
sic infrastructure. James Chalmers Memorial High School is
among the top 5 high schools in Papua New Guinea, whose
grade 10 students have performed exceptionally well since
the school was established in 2012.
The 2017 Milne Bay Day aims to incorporate equal
representation of performance from all the districts in Milne
Bay Province. The celebration seeks to involve Milne Bay
Fellowships and community groups within Port Moresby as
well as participation of our very own Milne Bay Artists. The
Milne Bay Day Committee assured the community that Milne
Bay Day this year will be bigger and better.
Motto: Together we can, for Milne Bay Province
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2017 Milne Bay Day Celebrations
Milne Bay Day
The turn-around time for preparations prior to Milne Bay
Day was 3months after the launch in May. The committee
embarked on the first challenge of seeking sponsors for the
event through letters written to business houses and gov-
ernment bodies here in Port Moresby and in Milne Bay. The
key areas of sponsorship request were, venue sponsorship,
sound system, event set-up and stage, band sponsors, secu-
rity and incentives. Feedback was slow and little response
was received. Lae Biscuit Company Ltd was the only favour-
able response with 10 boxes of biscuits and Lae Snax Tigers
Merchandise which was utilised by the committee on the
day. Other requests were either, pledges to support and or
not responded to.
Venue: Sir John Guise Stadium Indoor Complex - Field
The committee was able to secure the venue through part
payment 2 months prior to the event on the agreement with
the venue that complete payment be made a week prior to
the event. This payment was made possible through the
sale of space allocation for stalls which had been sold out 2
weeks prior to the event due to mass awareness and popu-
larity of the event.
Performance
The event saw a total of 19 performances on the day rang-
ing from live bands to church fellowship groups to the core
attraction of the event, the cultural groups. Unlike previous
years, there were no fees required to register performers.
It was of free will that performers had to express to the
committee to be a part of the event. Three bands travelled
from Alotau to join the celebrations in the nations capital.
These were the Bahaki Slabs, Corner Joins and the Honour-
able Deputy Prime Ministers band the Wabo Knights. Also
on this entourage was 2016-17 Vocal Fusion Finalist from
Alotau auditions, Isaiah Manoa. Upon expression of interest
2017 Milne Bay Day Celebrations
the committee assisted these performers with letters to se-
cure sponsorship for the airfares to and from Port Moresby.
The committee assisted with accommodation for the dura-
tion of their stay.
From Port Moresby, we were privileged to have 4 perform-
ing groups including 28 Magic (Garfield & the Boys), the
Samarai Serenaders comprising of Mari Ellingson, Mitchell
Napoleon (2015 Vocal Fusion Finalist) and band, 2016 Yuh
Em Khax Grand Finalist Noiziik beatbox and the Despacito
Misima remix sensation Kali-D and Mwasiana.
The program was officiated with a flag raising and singing
of the National Anthem by the Rev. Sione Kami Memori-
al Church Milne Bay Fellowship. We were also fortunate to
have the presence of young Philip Diudi who travelled from
Alotau with the Wabo Knights band to be Master of Ceremo-
ny at the event.
Program
The venue was opened as early as 6:30am for stall owners
and stage set-up. Formalities began at 9am with a flag rais-
ing and singing of the National Anthem by the Rev. Sione
Kami Memorial Church Milne Bay Fellowship and arrival of
guests at 10:00am. Our invited guests included:
Deputy Prime Minister Hon Charles Abel
Member for Alotau Open, Minister for Treasury
Ms Matilda Pilaccapio
Former representative in the Milne Bay House of As-
sembly
Chief John Kasaipwalova KCC
SAGOBI Supervisor and Governor Open Book Impera-
tive UPNG Press & Bookshop
Mr Roma Tuidam
Education Advisor for Milne Bay Province
Mr Ugwalubu Mowana
General Secretary of PNG Teachers Association
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Cultural Dance Groups
A total of 11 cultural performances performed on the day
with equal representation from the province ranging from
the beautiful Trobriand Islands to Misima, Duau to Suau and
the fearsome Tawala. As follows, these are the names of the
11 groups that showcased Milne Bay Culture through dance
and were the highlight of the day.
MBSU Traditional Group
Duau
Tawala (Ainaga)
Suau (Ken Vovoki)
Medfac Group
Ealeba (PAU)
Misima (Arnold Mundi)
Joeymils (Tony Roger)
Coronation Primary Dance Group
Parani Girls (Trobriand Islands)
East West Ealeba
The highlight of the cultural performance was a symbolic
ritual done by the JoeyMils traditional group whereby the
group presented the issues identified by the people of Milne
Bay Province on a Mango tree branch which was received by
leader, Member for Alotau and Deputy Prime Minister Hon-
ourable Charles Abel.
All in all, from the gate takings it was estimated that over
10,000 and even more people would have attended the
event. By lunch 12 noon the Sir John Guise Stadium venue
was completely full with crowds gathering still outside the
gate of the venue. By 3pm security the gate was closed to the
public entry despite having more people at the gate.
Entry fee was; K10-Adults, K5 Students, K2 -Children with
children under 7years were free.
2017 Milne Bay Day Celebrations
Milne Bay Nite
The 2017 MILNE BAY NITE according to the management
of the Cosmopolitan was by far the most popular event for
2017 with increasing hits on media. The initial post made
advertising the event received more than 1,000 reactions
and 125 shares on social media. The cosmopolitan report-
ed over 3,000 likes and 98 shares on their official Facebook
page. Ticket sales began 3 weeks prior, and were sold out on
the day with presold tickets at K30 while K40 at the gate. It
was however, reported that gate takings had been more on
the night with the club reaching maximum capacity by 10pm
through gate sales. By 11pm the club had closed entry. Pro-
gram ended by 12midnight with resident DJ Silent Loudness
taking over. The highlights were the performers, including
Waboknights,
Corner Joins,
Bahaki Slabs,
Noiziik,
Ffive Sstar,
Isaiah Manoa and
Kali-D and Mwasiana.
It was an unfortunate circumstance for the Samarai
Serenaders having cancelled their performance on the
night due to losing a family at the event.
The Milne Bay Day Committee is saddened at the loss
of a long time supporter of the Milne Bay Day, the late
Assistant Police Commissioner Jerry Frank who passed
away on the night due to a heart failure. We convey our
heartfelt condolences towards the family of this great
man.
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Financial Report
The reason behind the 2017 Milne Bay Day was to raise
money to serve two key areas:
1. Generate revenue for the Milne Bay Students Unions
Activities
2. Act as a sponsor for the Corporate Dinner/Gala event
from which the funds will either go directly to the James
Chalmers Memorial High School or towards the pro-
posed new library building in case the committee is un-
able to secure a sponsor for the event.
The cost of organising the 2017 Milne Bay Day was esti-
mated to be at K40,000. The organising committee was al-
located K10,000 from MBSU to begin preparations. Initial
spending began when the committee embarked on estab-
lishing dialogue with the school in Fife Bay, Suau LLG. MBSU
assisted Chairman of the MBD Committee with K400 which
went towards vehicle hire. All other costs including travel,
accommodation, media and logistics were met at his teams
expense.
Following the school visit which turned out be a success, the
Graph 1. Expense/ Revenue Timeline
K 2017 Milne Bay Day Expense vs Revenue
100000
50000
0
March April May
Expense
Financial Report
committee hosted the launch for the 2017 Milne Bay Day in
May whereby the general Milne Bay Community was invit-
ed to be informed of the plans leading up to the event. The
committee also secured both venues for the day and night
events and used the revenue earned to offset some of the
remaining costs.
Although we did not receive any funding from the Provincial
government or the corporate houses the existing finances
were managed well and there were no over spending.
Donations
On the day of the event The Deputy Prime Minister Hon.
Charles Abel presented to the MBSU K5000 in cash which
was received and then acknowledged by the MBSU Presi-
dent Prakash Mowana who also presented a long yam to the
deputy Prime Minister as a token of appreciation. A second
donation was made a week later by Chief John Kasaipwalova
from the UPNG Press and Bookshop from sales of books on
Milne Bay Day, a total of K500 towards the cause.
Below is a timeline of expenses starting from April from
which initial preparations began.
June June August
Revenue
8
 Financial Statement

2017 MILNE BAY DAY FINANCIAL REPORT

K

CAPITAL 10,000

REVENUE
Day Presold 1,500
Day Gate Takings 33,000
Night Presold 15,000
Night Gate 20,380
Spaces 9,000
Donations (Dpm Charles Abel) 5,000

TOTAL REVENUE 83,880

EXPENSES
Launching 400
Sir John Guise Venue 6,800
Charges On Stall Set Up 2,000
Music Bands 9,000
Music Artists 2,300
Cultural Groups 3,500
Sound Systems 2,500
Rehearsal Venue 1,100
Transport 1,500
Taxi Fares 300
Stage Decoration 200
Skylar Entertainment (Marquee) 550
Night Ticket Printing 250
Accommodation 6,480
Meals For Bands 1,500
Green Van 200
T-Shirts 780
Printer Ink (61) 80
Paints 400
Refreshments 1,130
Passes 165
Security (Oro Students Association) 1,000
Entertainment 1,000
Flex 500
Miscellaneous 4,245

TOTAL EXPENSE 47,880
PROFIT (Capital + Total Revenue-Total expense) 46,000

9

Conclusion
The 2017 Milne Bay Day was the first in line of provincial
days celebrated in the nations capital. According to the day
takings which amounted to more than K50,000, it is esti-
mated that over 7,000 people attended the event. Both the
day and night event generated over K80,000 in revenue with
more than K40,000 profit after remunerating the costs of
staging these events. Space allocation for stall spaces were
also sold out a week prior to the event. The event was organ-
ised with much difficulty yet executed successfully. Despite
the lack of external support, the committee hosted an event
that brought out a favourable response from the Milne Bay
population living in Port Moresby. It showed that our people
are willing to support, whatever the cause may be.
Together we can. For Milne Bay
Recommendations
To better the event the following recommendations are
made by the committee:
The committee should come under a well-established
body.
Together we can, for Milne Bay
Conclusion
The committee should sign an MOU with the MBSU to
take full control of the event. Especially in terms of plan-
ning and organisation and also the finances of the event.
This is to alleviate the burden of organising event from
the students.
The committee including the MBSU should request for
more support from the provincial government and cor-
porate houses specifically seeking financial support in
organising the next event.
The committee and the MBSU should look into organis-
ing for a bigger venue for both events in the future. After
this years turn out, it is evident that a larger venue is
necessary.
The committee and the MBSU should research more
into organising an Art and Craft display to showcase art
from Milne Bay, both for display and learning purpose.
10