Dear Editor,
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus says, “No one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined.” This powerful teaching is not just spiritual, it’s deeply practical. It warns against trying to force new solutions into old systems. And in Palau, we are living proof of this truth.
We keep trying to build a future using the same broken patterns from the past. We dress up our problems with new clothes, but as the old Palauan saying goes, “we have new clothes but keep the same old underwear”. We like to look successful, but the reality underneath hasn’t changed. Instead of transformation, we settle for performance. Our current economic behavior shows this clearly. Too many of our leaders sell their names so foreign businesses can claim “Palauan ownership” and avoid filing with the Foreign Investment Board. This is not an innovation, it’s surrender disguised as strategy. We are not developing industries we are developing loopholes. When our leaders prioritize personal gain over national development, they betray the very people they are meant to serve.
And while we’re stuck playing political games, outsiders come into Palau and succeed. Why? Because they come with a different mindset. They collaborate. They invest in systems. They don’t let ego or jealousy get in the way. They don’t suffer from the crab mentality, that toxic behavior where, like crabs in a bucket, we pull each other down rather than lift each other up. We Palauans are experts at tearing each other down. We say, “Back in 1969 we did it this way,” or “Why don’t they do it like we used to?” These are not questions of wisdom. These are expressions of fear, fear of losing relevance, fear of change, and worst of all, fear of someone else succeeding more than us.
This selfishness creates a cycle: when it was your turn, you only think of yourself. So now that it’s my turn, I do the same. And in this cycle, we forget the people. We forget what it means to serve. We make excuses, “I have too many customs, so I need the money.” But what we really need is not more money. What we need is each other.
Yes, customs are important. But let us remember, customs are human-made. If we make them, we can change them. But first, we must understand why they exist. Palauan customs are rooted in relationship, not profit. No one else in the world does it like us. So why are we selling our identity for short-term gain?
We must teach our young people the value of what makes us Palauan. Relationship. Service. Honor. Let us help them navigate this world of TikTok, influencers, and fast fame with roots that go deeper than trends. The strength of Palauan identity lies not in how loud we shout our traditions, but in how we live them out with dignity and purpose in a changing world.
This is how we build a new industry not just with foreign investors or flashy projects, but with a new mindset. A mindset that invests in people. A mindset that honors tradition but is not afraid to evolve. A mindset that pours new wine into new wineskins.
Let us rise, not just as individuals, but as a people. Let us reject the crab mentality and climb together. Let us trade our old underwear for a new foundation, one built not on ego or profit, but on service, relationship, and vision.
Because in the end, it’s not about the money you made. It’s about the legacy you left behind and the people you helped.
Your Humble Servant
Al Kahalic