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| Joe Kaowai in Venice |
In the night of Monday 14 February 2022, our wonderful friend, servant-leader, educator, and colleague Joe Kaowai passed away in Angau hospital only 39 years and 9 months old. He is survived by his wife Joy, son Alberto and daughter Paulina. As a sign of our special bond and true friendship, he kindly named his son and his daughter after myself and my wife.
I met Joe for the first time on the 7th of February 2012 when I gave my first speech as Vice-Chancellor. The former Chancellor has just spoken gloomily in a mixture of pidgin - which I did not understand at the time -, and English about how we had to try to keep the UNITECH ship afloat. I though this was not a proper way to address incoming, enthusiastic and hopeful students. Instead, I told the students they had to take their studies seriously, because their hard-working, studious peers in India, Europe and elsewhere would compete with them in the job market.
Next, I explained my vision for the future of the university in which graduate employment, support from industry, and bringing UNITECH into the 21st century by providing access to fast, campus-wide internet would be the focus of my Vice-Chancellorship. The students understood that I had come to serve them and not myself or the forever university staff and selfish former University Council and management team members.
At the end of my speech, I said "Together we can make UNITECH fly!". Joe, who was SRC President at the time, liked this so much that he repeated it several times, and got great applause from the student body. I became known, of course, as the flying Dutchman.
Physically, Joe was not imposing, but his exceptional spirit gave him a great presence and natural leadership. He had a tremendous smile, which looked as if a volcano erupted inside, and he laughed loud and often. He was a true servant leader, and his CV states "solving problems for others" as his main goal.
Physically, Joe was not imposing, but his exceptional spirit gave him a great presence and natural leadership. He had a tremendous smile, which looked as if a volcano erupted inside, and he laughed loud and often. He was a true servant leader, and his CV states "solving problems for others" as his main goal.
Remembering his life, there are three episodes that stand out which shows his leadership, his tireless efforts to pursue a modern formal education, and his successful attempts to bring people together and peace-making.
As SRC President in 2012, Joe always showed exceptional leadership and strong commitment to non-violence. After several weeks of dithering and evasion by the Peter O'Neill government, for example, some hot heads among the student in Lae had hatched a plan to set fire to the port. I had been warned by Joe through a series of text messaged, and was asked to talk with them. Unfortunately, I was new to the university and unwisely took the advise from unintelligent colleagues not to engage physically with them.
The hothead students of course proceeded with their plans, and loaded up three vehicles with barrels of diesel fuel. Only by physically preventing them from exiting the university gate, was Joe able to prevent them from achieving their goals. Imagine what would have happened, the material damage and the violence unleashed by the police on the students. Joe on his own did what I should have done.
Similarly, he also had a major role in preventing worse when Peter O'Neill order the shooting of peacefully demonstrating students on the UPNG campus in Port Moresby on 8 June 2016. The PNGUoT students had been protesting on the same national issue, and unsuccessfully trying to convince Peter O'Neill to submit himself to an inquiry into serious accusations of corruption. He never gave in, but as a result he took political control of the universities by abusing the Higher Education Act of 2014, and silenced the voice of the students by suspending the SRCs indefinitely in breach of the University Acts.
After the shooting in Port Moresby, the news spread that a student had been killed, and PNG was again briefly world news, for all the wrong reasons. I had seen on twitter that a body had not been found in the Port Moresby General Hospital, and decided to accept the offer of the Lae Metropolitan Police Superintendent Anthony Wagambie Jr. offer to come and talk to the PNGUoT students on campus.
Fearing for the MetSup's safety, I went out to get him, telling the students that this was a good policeman, not the same police as had been shooting at their fellow students in Port Moresby. Only the Vice-Chancellor office assistant and driver accompanied me, none of my colleagues.
We tried to hold a forum outside, but there was too much unrest. Then, out of nowhere, Joe appeared and decided the meeting would be moved to the Council room. This allowed us to hold a productive meeting and the students were somewhat reassured and asked not to pursue their demonstrations outside campus. Again in times of crisis, Joe played a major role.
Non-Violent Student Protests
The student protests in April 2012 in Lae aimed to bring about a transparent and accountable governance at the Papua New Guinea University of Technology (PNGUoT or UNITECH). In Port Moresby, at the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) students were protesting against the anti-democratic "judicial conduct act", which was one of the first of many attempts by the Peter O'Neill government to destroy democracy in the country. The protests there were led by UPNG SRC President Emmanuel Isaac and were successful. With support from AusAid, I had encouraged both groups of students to coordinate their actions, strategize and assure a non-violent behaviours. In my view, a strong SRC leadership would help end the wild boycott culture, and prevent things from spiraling out of control.As SRC President in 2012, Joe always showed exceptional leadership and strong commitment to non-violence. After several weeks of dithering and evasion by the Peter O'Neill government, for example, some hot heads among the student in Lae had hatched a plan to set fire to the port. I had been warned by Joe through a series of text messaged, and was asked to talk with them. Unfortunately, I was new to the university and unwisely took the advise from unintelligent colleagues not to engage physically with them.
The hothead students of course proceeded with their plans, and loaded up three vehicles with barrels of diesel fuel. Only by physically preventing them from exiting the university gate, was Joe able to prevent them from achieving their goals. Imagine what would have happened, the material damage and the violence unleashed by the police on the students. Joe on his own did what I should have done.
Similarly, he also had a major role in preventing worse when Peter O'Neill order the shooting of peacefully demonstrating students on the UPNG campus in Port Moresby on 8 June 2016. The PNGUoT students had been protesting on the same national issue, and unsuccessfully trying to convince Peter O'Neill to submit himself to an inquiry into serious accusations of corruption. He never gave in, but as a result he took political control of the universities by abusing the Higher Education Act of 2014, and silenced the voice of the students by suspending the SRCs indefinitely in breach of the University Acts.
After the shooting in Port Moresby, the news spread that a student had been killed, and PNG was again briefly world news, for all the wrong reasons. I had seen on twitter that a body had not been found in the Port Moresby General Hospital, and decided to accept the offer of the Lae Metropolitan Police Superintendent Anthony Wagambie Jr. offer to come and talk to the PNGUoT students on campus.
Fearing for the MetSup's safety, I went out to get him, telling the students that this was a good policeman, not the same police as had been shooting at their fellow students in Port Moresby. Only the Vice-Chancellor office assistant and driver accompanied me, none of my colleagues.
We tried to hold a forum outside, but there was too much unrest. Then, out of nowhere, Joe appeared and decided the meeting would be moved to the Council room. This allowed us to hold a productive meeting and the students were somewhat reassured and asked not to pursue their demonstrations outside campus. Again in times of crisis, Joe played a major role.
The obtuse and illegitimate government of Peter O'Neill (2012-2019) never understood that people like Joe and myself were key in order to modernize universities, and end the boycott culture of students born out of frustation with lack of progress.
Joe's Studies
When Joe and his siblings were children, the area of Enga province was suffering from constant tribal warfare. In order to lower the intensity, most bridges across the many rivers had been destroyed. In Joe's village children simply miss out on school. Only Joe's father decided his children should attend school, although he himself had not been able to go to school at all. In those days, however, Engan men would receive a great informal education in the hausman in which values of honesty, respect for others, and wisdom were firmly instilled.
The persistence of Joe's father in getting his children a modern education, meant a long 2 hour walk to school, where he had to carry his children on his shoulders across the rivers. Several years later, we met Joe's late father, who only spoke Engan. This was another highlight. Despite the language barriers we had an evening of simple fun at a Chinese restaurant in Lae, where we got to know him and his family better.
Although sadly long walks to school are far from uncommon in PNG, we greatly admire the exceptional persistence and courage of Joe's father. As a result, Joe managed to finish grade 10 in Enga, but then had to do grade 11 and grade 12 through distance learning. Eventually, he came to the PNGUoT already 30 years old.
Nevertheless, at the PNGUoT Joe graduated in time and proved to be a good student. After graduation, we became good friends. I thought him eminently suitable for studies abroad in Europe, which had become possible after I signed an Erasmus Mundus program agreements with the European Commission.
The persistence of Joe's father in getting his children a modern education, meant a long 2 hour walk to school, where he had to carry his children on his shoulders across the rivers. Several years later, we met Joe's late father, who only spoke Engan. This was another highlight. Despite the language barriers we had an evening of simple fun at a Chinese restaurant in Lae, where we got to know him and his family better.
Although sadly long walks to school are far from uncommon in PNG, we greatly admire the exceptional persistence and courage of Joe's father. As a result, Joe managed to finish grade 10 in Enga, but then had to do grade 11 and grade 12 through distance learning. Eventually, he came to the PNGUoT already 30 years old.
Nevertheless, at the PNGUoT Joe graduated in time and proved to be a good student. After graduation, we became good friends. I thought him eminently suitable for studies abroad in Europe, which had become possible after I signed an Erasmus Mundus program agreements with the European Commission.
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| Joe in Venice, during his studies in Europe |
Moreover, studies abroad had become necessary for Joe because some spiteful former Council members had made it impossible for him to find a job in Lae. This was the Council that had been sacked in its entirety by the Minister of Higher Education due to extensive fraud and mismanagement of funds.
Joe was accepted for an MBA program in Madrid, Spain, and passed almost all his exams. As often happens with PNGeans studying abroad, he became part of a group of Christian African students, and they learned much from each other. Sadly, because of backward Spanish laws, one subject was only offered in Spanish, and though Joe learned to speak some Spanish, he was unable to pass this exam.
When studying in Spain, September 2014 he decided to come visit us in nearby Italy, where we were enjoying our annual leave, while at the same time negotiating beneficial agreement for the PNGUoT with European universities. My wife and I will always remember these days spent with Joe at our home, and showing him the historical sites in the region, talking about the future of PNG, and enjoying the local food. In September, it is the time of the grape harvest and Joe had developed a great liking for this fruit.
On 14th of September 2014, we visited Venice together. It was just a fun day, but we also discussed wisdom and governance Roman empire, and the Venetian Republic, being able to see and touch for ourselves what remained of these great civilisations, that produced what would become the modern university.
Joe was accepted for an MBA program in Madrid, Spain, and passed almost all his exams. As often happens with PNGeans studying abroad, he became part of a group of Christian African students, and they learned much from each other. Sadly, because of backward Spanish laws, one subject was only offered in Spanish, and though Joe learned to speak some Spanish, he was unable to pass this exam.
When studying in Spain, September 2014 he decided to come visit us in nearby Italy, where we were enjoying our annual leave, while at the same time negotiating beneficial agreement for the PNGUoT with European universities. My wife and I will always remember these days spent with Joe at our home, and showing him the historical sites in the region, talking about the future of PNG, and enjoying the local food. In September, it is the time of the grape harvest and Joe had developed a great liking for this fruit.
On 14th of September 2014, we visited Venice together. It was just a fun day, but we also discussed wisdom and governance Roman empire, and the Venetian Republic, being able to see and touch for ourselves what remained of these great civilisations, that produced what would become the modern university.
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| Joe having fun posing with the lion of St. Mark, symbol of Venice |
We posed with our UNITECH I will make UNITECH Fly!" shirt in front of the Doge palace, where the elected leaders of the Venetian republic ruled. We spoke much about how to bring about a better future for PNG, after such an obvious and general leadership failure after independence.
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| Making UNITECH Fly in front of the Doge's Palace in Venice |
In Closing
During the last years he enjoyed a stable and loving family life, enjoy his job as a trainer at DATEC, and this year even started his MBA at UNITECH, so at to complete his graduate studies. He was frustrated by the fact that the O'Neill government had rolled back all the positive changes at PNG universities, and installed again politically connected do-nothings in the councils and management of the PNGUoT.
The torch that Joe lit, however, has been passed on to younger generations, who understand that a fake, corrupt university education is not worth anything, and does not contribute to nation building at all. The final victory will not be for those who try to pervert the democratic constitution of Papua New Guinea, and violate the constitutional rights of its citizens.
The country can not afford to lose clear-headed, servant leaders like Joe Kaowai so young. He will always live on in our memory, and we will celebrate his life dedicated to family, education, and peace making. As a Christian, he had no fear of death, and his last words were for his family.
The torch that Joe lit, however, has been passed on to younger generations, who understand that a fake, corrupt university education is not worth anything, and does not contribute to nation building at all. The final victory will not be for those who try to pervert the democratic constitution of Papua New Guinea, and violate the constitutional rights of its citizens.
The country can not afford to lose clear-headed, servant leaders like Joe Kaowai so young. He will always live on in our memory, and we will celebrate his life dedicated to family, education, and peace making. As a Christian, he had no fear of death, and his last words were for his family.
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| Joe welcomed as a lost son by Omas after his studies in Europe in 2015 |
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