It is unusual for a popular folksong to feature on the website of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. But since 2004, a famous composer and singer has been working in the OPMC.

His name: Edwin Nanau Sitori and he gave us permission to tell this story.

Now in his mid 70s, ‘Eddie’ was a young electrician in the 1950s working at the Honiara Power House which provided the post-war town with electricity.

Eddie’s home is Onepusu in the Are are region of Malaita, and like many young people he went to Honiara to seek his fortune. He often refers to Onepusu as ‘OP harbour’ and has sung about his home village.

But his major and lasting work, which is considered the national song of not only Solomon Islands, but also of Melanesia, is ‘Wakabauti long Chinatown’. It has been learned by people from different parts of the world who have visited Solomon Islands, and it can be heard all across the Pacific Islands region where musicians find it very popular with young and old.

He composed it with two other wantoks Rone Naqu of Kolobangara and Jason Que of Vella Lavella. We believe Rone passed away a long time ago, but Eddie has not heard from Jason Que for a long time.

In faraway countries grown men have linked arms and become very emotional while singing it. Younger people who find themselves in groups overseas and who are often asked to sing a Solomon Islands song, often ask why they should sing about Chinatown! Of all destinations in our nearly 1000 islands, we sing about Chinatown! Even after it was burned down! Why nostalgia for Chinatown?

Eddie and some of his friends can now give some background to the song.

Honiara was a town built after World War 2 ended in 1943. There was no village where central Honiara is today and most of the early buildings were made from wartime material. Some of these remain today.

The Police accommodations were at Rove and Central Police station, and there were pockets of accommodation for single staff at Clerk’s quarters, where Seaking Restaurant is today. But most of the young and single girls were accommodated at the nurses quarters at Central Hospital - Number 9 as it was designated by the military during WW2.

Most evenings the young men from Rove and central Honiara would walk across the old Mataniko bridge, through Chinatown road to try and meet nurses.

The story behind the song is really about boys passing through Chinatown hoping to meet girls. The ‘boys’ could walk the main road or take a short-cut between two Chinatown houses on their way to the nurses accommodation.

The nautical terms of the times can be heard as in ‘markem course, anchor long corner’. The ‘corner’ is the big bend in chinatown road. ‘Suti apu, sekem heti kikim bakete eni kaeni’ meant doing outlandish things including kicking the garbage can to attract attention. The song is about romance sought, won, lost or just wished!

Famous broadcaster Bill Bennett heard of the song and recorded them for the then Solomon Islands Broadcasting Service. He called them the “Three High Voltage Boys” and aired their song on SIBS. It immediately became popular and was then recorded by “Solomon Dakei and his Solomon Islanders”, a group of hospital staff. Dakei played steel guitar, two nurses sung with a young few men who played guitar and sung back-up. The song became an even bigger hit!

The sung became an international hit when Fiji’s most famous entertainer and musician the late Sakiusa Bulicokocoko transformed it from a laid-back island country tune to a rock-and-roll number. He took it around the Pacific and into the larger neighbouring countries as part of his repertoire and many more musicians have since sung and recorded it.

And Eddie? Well he has travelled as far as his song! Sometime in the 1960s he joined an overseas shipping company as the shipboard electrician and has travelled the pacific ocean between Asia and America and to most Pacific islands. He retired from the sea in the early 1980s and went back to his old skills as an electrician.

If you visit the Prime Minister’s Office, please ask for Eddie and shake his hand and thank him for his lasting contribution. He will be very happy!

If you need a copy of the words of the song, please email lggalo@pmc.gov.sb. Soon we may be able to have a music file on the web which you can download. If you want to make a donation to Eddie to keep for his retirement, you can send it direct to him at PO Box G1, Honiara.  As far as we know, Eddie and his friends never claimed copyright for this song.

Eddie recalls playing in several other bands including: The Beachcombers, Kuper’s Band, Kiu Band, Honiara Band, Duituturanga’s Entertainers and Fleetswingers. At a Christmas party in 2008, some senior staff of the OPMC asked for Eddie to sing with the band. Many were surprised to find that Eddie had sung many popular songs back in the 50s and 60s and could still belt them out!