We set so many records this year that breaking them in 2024 is the challenge we have set for ourselves as a country, a government and a people of many colours, tribes and languages. For the record, in the general scheme of things in Papua New Guinea, we heralded positive vibes as well as negative best of bests or as that famous movie depicts - the good, the bad and the ugly. Record billion-kina budgets, record membership numbers in the ruling coalition, record tax collection, record shortages of foreign currency, record this, record that, record unemployment, record baby boom, record inflation, records of all manner, shapes and sizes. The most frighteningly ambiguous record was a kidnap for ransom event in Mount Bosavi on the border of the Western Province and Southern Highlands. The ordeal of a university professor and several students, including females, garnered international attention. It was dramatic but the hostages were later released unharmed and we met them at the Jackson's Airport. For the record, we, your nambawan nation building newspaper recorded it all on our front pages throughout this year. Even the global leadership got into our record books. Knowing or unknowingly, guided by foreign policy and developing regional security tumult, four powerful world leaders stepped ashore in Port Moresby. That is a record-breaking event this year in the name of peace and security for the presidents of China, France and Indonesia and Prime Minister of India to suddenly realise that there is a Pacific nation north of Australia that holds the key to regional harmony and balance in the Pacific. These four regional superpowers along with Australia trotted along with deep pockets to invest in their interests in the region. Australia - Bilateral Security Agreement worth K455 million; a strategic record. People's Republic of China - K50 million grant to build business and technical facilities in selected schools in PNG; tempting a record. France - K344 million to PNG's forest management, a super record. United States of America - the Defence Cooperation Agreement and the Ship Riders Agreement, new records. Indonesia - a direct air service between Bali and Port Moresby and 2000 student scholarships for PNG students to study in Indonesia, an overdue record. Israel - PNG opened an embassy in Jerusalem, and entered into an agreement for training Papua New Guineans in specialist agriculture, a Bible prophecy inspired record. India - US$1 million in relief assistance to volcano affected citizens. A volcanic record. South Korea - K151 to PNG and all other South Pacific nations in climate change support up to 2027, a REDD+ record. The European Union - contributed K210 million for the Forestry, Climate Change, and Biodiversity Program, co-ordinated by French President Emmanuel Macron. PNG government - K27.377 billion national budget passed for 2024. How to spend every penny of that record budget to impact and benefit every PNG citizen, and especially those in the rural areas of PNG, is the challenge the government must fulfil. Some records are good for the country. Some are sinister. But there are those that fiddle our hearts and girdle our hopes with glee. And so locally, we did not struggle. We heralded some of the very best moments at the Pacific Games in Honiara, Solomon Islands. A rash of gold medals. A sigh of relief for businesses, and a breath of fresh air for investors when the government reopened the Porgera Gold Mine two weeks ago. The record for this is the landowner-oriented agreement which gives Enga and its people 18 per cent ownership in Porgera. The government's 'Leave No Child Behind' promise to children got a generous beefing from Australia which ensured the free education is still available to all school age children in the country. But this was tampered at the University level when HECAS and TESAS funds for the second half of this year were not released on time, leaving hardened professors scratching their heads. One little record - a first in PNG - was when twin sisters from Mount Hagen featured in the top 10 of the Year Ten national exams. The Link PNG excursion is slowly but surely, at a snail's pace, crawling up steep mountains and meandering into hidden valleys and crossing pristine rivers as the government buds a record attempt to link the country through a super highway grid. In 2024, the sky is the limit for old and new records.