HOSTAGES TO FORTUNE

Dr. Joe Ketan

By Dr. Joe Ketan

Most dictionaries define "hostages to fortune" as "an act, commitment, or remark which is regarded as unwise because it invites trouble or could prove difficult to live up to".
A nice young lady had recently declared to the world that she has successfully finished her postgraduate degree. She had forgotten that a degree goes through a slow marking and assessment process that can take up to six months or a year. Her boss promoted her. Her parents slaughtered thirty pigs for a massive graduation feast. Graduation Feast - yes, that is what it was called, and duly reported in the social media. The poor girl did not graduate. She cannot graduate because examiners found serious errors with her thesis.

Keeping a lid on things is hard for most of us who live in kin-based societies with oral traditions. We tend to release information to the public too early, or prematurely.
I have read numerous announcements in the social media on PNG students taking up opportunities to study overseas. I am pleased to note that many have gone onto complete their studies successfully. Unfortunately, a few have not made it.
The publicity will often come back to haunt you if you do not live up to it. Do not set yourself up as a hostage to fortune.

Students should celebrate when they finish, preferably with good grades; parliamentarians should not celebrate groundbreaking ceremonies; parents should not celebrate gestation, but they ought to wait until the child is actually born. Premature celebrations can be embarrassing, to say the least. MY MESSAGE TO STUDENTS IS THAT YOU MUST KEEP THE LID ON - UNTILL YOU GRADUATE.