Papua New Guinea buai Chewers are financially drained

Betel nut, in Melanesian Tok-Pisin it's called buai. It's a seed, covered with hard skin/cover. It's grown on an areca palm tree.

Chewing buai or betel nut is a tradition in Papua New Guinea, especially in three regions, namely MOMASE, Island and Papua/southern regions. It’s a generation pass on practice and continuing to date. 

In the highland’s region, chewing buai was not commonly practice.  It was introduced by three regions, and now they have huge buai trading at the grassroots level.  The Highlanders travel to three regions to buy buai and ship them to the highlands region.

The buai has advantages and disadvantages.

The good side of Buai /Betel nut.

In all social gatherings especially in three regions, buai is a must part of the social gathering. Buai infuse the energy,  vibe that enriches the social gathering spirit.

The people share buai to establish friendships with nearby or other communities. Buai opens the dialogue of friendship and goodwill.

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Chewing buai culture ignites social fun, many storytellings and, it’s a form of social stress relief way of life.

It brings families and friends together to share their feelings being togetherness. Like in the western world, a cup of coffee generates business ideas, establish business contacts, networking, and friendship of people of different social background, so in Papua New Guinea buai plays similar social roles. Buai builds and strengthens friendships.

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For the buai farmers, it’s a form of

 income for the families. The farmer sells buai to the wholesale buyers, then they sell them to retailers. It’s a huge business at the grassroots level, Buai is a cash economy and it's the fastest-selling product in the local market.

The bad side of Buai/Betel nut.

Albeit buai has a good side of the story but it also has its bad sides as well.

Buai can cause mouth cancer buai-blamed-for-cancer/, heart attack, gum decay, peptic ulcer high blood pressure (etc.) all in all, buai has caused significant health risks to chewers.  

Buai contributes to poor self and environmental hygiene. Many chewers have bad personal hygiene like dirty teeth, buai stained clothes. The chewers without care spite red buai out causing changes in the public

infrastructures like buildings, road, noticeboard (etc.). The buai skin or the hardcovers adds too much rubbish on the streets. The people’s attitude in chewing buai can shift government development funding priority to clean up the mess created by buai chewers.

Lots of people spend lots of money on buai. Many people said they are spending PGK10.00 to

PGK20 per day. Sometimes these can increase given with extended family members during chewing buai time. So, if someone is spending PGK10.00 on daily basis, in a year he can spend up to PGK3,650.00, so in ten years it will be PGK36,600.00.

A person can work out how much they spend on buai in a year. Chewers never go for holiday chewing buai, every day they chew. Therefore, to understand how much one spends should multiply by 365 days in a year and that’s how one spends on such a bad social habit.

Chewers outlook is always not appealing, so it's highly likely to affect the relationship with co-workers. Buai habits can reduce chances of job promotions or getting new getting a job.

Buai can drain all our money and make us poor and financially dry all the time.