living Spotted in ... six-month scholarship program and I thought, why not.” Eight years on, he is still in Japan. Among his early achievements, which resulted in his current leadership role, was writing an SMS code in tok pisin and several other PNG languages. That’s still a work in progress. He has a business partner with whom he is working to make it commercially viable. Kula comes from a high-achieving family. His father, Gaikovina, runs his own consultancy, RL Environment Consultant Services. His three sisters are equally successful. The eldest, Winifred, is also an IT specialist; Elma works as part of the financial team of the Pacific Games; the youngest, Emily, manages the Anez family day care centre in Port Moresby. Which brings us back to Papua New Guineans’ language ability and how it could develop a vibrant IT sector. “Learning a language like Japanese or English, you really have to understand the culture behind
98 Paradise – Air Niugini’s in-flight magazine
culture
the language and this is much more complex, much more subtle than just learning code. “Everyone in the country has this potential. As Papua new Guineans we really have a language advantage because we know so many languages. “With languages and coding, the secret is syntax and semantics. Coding is more straightforward than learning a language.” Kula believes every school-age child in PNG should learn how to code and that it should be an everyday subject in schools. “Code no longer needs to be so complex. It’s a higher level language these days, and not so much zeros and ones.” He is also a firm believer in the power of the internet to improve the life of villagers in remote parts of PNG. “Once the cost of the internet goes down and we become more connected to the world, I can see a big boom because there are a lot of young, vibrant IT professionals in PNG.
“If you compare PNG to Japan and see the accessibility and what people are doing here, what they use the internet for to improve their lives, I think we can learn much. It will really change how all Pacific islanders live. 0Life in Osaka is always a treat, he says, with the unique Japanese culture and new life experiences, personally and academically. “I spend a lot of time with friends, and I do the usual Japanese stuff. I go to karaoke bars and eat sushi. I love the food, and the culture of being on time. They are also very safety conscious. You could probably lose your wallet somewhere and it will still be there when you come back.”