We are waiting at the Saidor "airport terminal" for our flight... |
As a result of all this travel and transition, one of my favourite Tok Pisin praise songs is God, Yu Gutpela Wasman. I think it might be the theme song for PNG missionaries!
Ladies and Gentlemen, please prepare to board... |
God, yu gutpela wasman (God, you are a good watchman)
Yu was oltaim long laip bilong mi (you always keep watch for my life)
Long olgeta hap mi go (everywhere that I go)
Long olgeta hap mi stap (everywhere that I stay)
Yu was oltaim long laip bilong mi (you always keep watch for my life)
Taim mi kalap long balus (when I fly on a plane)
Taim mi ran antap long sip (when I sail on a ship)
Taim mi kalap long haiwe bas na ran i go (when I ride on a PMV/car that just keeps going and going)
Yu was oltaim long laip bilong mi (you always keep watch for my life)
The sense of was in the song is to look out for, keep watch for, protect. So, a wasman is a man who looks out for things, is protective, or keeps watch (in the manner of the old police watchman who made his rounds late at night carrying a nightstick and a clever bowler hat).