Heard in the Hive

Middlesea Insurance plc have gathered together works by 25 renowned Maltese artists as part of its 25th anniversary celebrations, in a unique exhibition, currently being held at its premises in Floriana.

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi inaugurated the exhibition, titled 25 Years of Maltese Art, in the presence of many of the artists (some are sadly deceased) and distinguished guests.

The artists are: Caesar Attard, Paul Haber, Frank Portelli, Isabelle Borg, Alfred Camilleri, Alfred Chircop, Gabriel Caruana, Harry Alden, Antoine Camilleri, Carmenu Mangion, Anthony Calleja, Pawl Carbonaro, Anthony Spagnol, Salvu Mallia, Josette Caruana, Vince Briffa, Neville Ferry, Ray Pitrè, Luciano Micallef, Marco Cremona, Norbert Francis Attard, Austin Camilleri, John Grima, Richard England and Patrick Fenech.

In his remarks at the opening, Dr Gonzi praised Middlesea for its initiatives in corporate social responsibility (CSR), extending CSR to encompass heritage, culture and the art. "Insurance is finding a guarantee for the future," he said.

"I see a connection with art for this is what our artists have been doing in the past 25 years to guarantee our future." He urged local artists to go beyond our shores and expressed his pride in the quality of their work.

Middlesea Group chairman and CEO Mario C. Grech said business and society today are more interdependent. He spoke of the group's continuing commitment to CSR and to improve the quality of life of the workforce, their families, the local community and society in general. Mr Grech said: "Middlesea has great honour in being a patron and promoter of the arts and culture in Malta. This pioneering step of creating a greater awareness of the works of Maltese artists has continued and today I am aware that our calendar is awaited and sought after by various people locally and overseas."

On occasion of the exhibition, curated by Dennis Vella, Middlesea Insurance also published a commemorative catalogue which places the exhibited works in their historic context.

French National Day reception

French Ambassador Jean Marc Rives and Mme Anne-Dominique Rives hosted a reception at the picturesque castle at the Grand Hotel Mercure Selmun Palace, Selmun, last Friday week, the Quatorze Juillet to celebrate the French National Day.

The numerous guests, headed by President and Mrs Eddie Fenech Adami, Cabinet Minis-ters, MPs from both sides of the House, members of the diplomatic corps, the business community and the media, were welcomed by the Ambassador and members of the embassy staff at the entrance to the castle.

Apart from the decoration of the castle with the French national colours, there was a miniature Eiffel Tower made of balloons, also in the French national colours. After sunset, the castle was lit up and there were eye-catching fjakkoli to illuminate the pathways.

M. Rives started his speech in Maltese, thanking all the guests for coming. He then spoke in French, with an English translation, outlining the importance of the siege of the Bastille in Paris on July 14, 1789, which marked the beginning of the French Republic.

This prison fortress symbolised all that people revolted against: oppression and injustice. The motto "liberty, equality, fraternity" was adopted in 1848 and began to be displayed on government buildings from 1880. Although often confused with "solidarity", the three values had to be taken together.

"The history of the French Revolution in itself and the history of the past century, with its trail of horrors, proved and continue to prove that progress that was so much celebrated in the Age of Enlightenment is still a new idea for Europe and the rest of the world," M. Rives said.

"Today, more than ever, this experience invites us, both as individuals and as communities, to remain vigilant, lucid, clear-sighted and humble in the face of potential deviations."

Referring to the long-standing bonds that linked the two countries, M. Rives said: "The Maltese nation, the Republic of Malta and the people of Malta share with France, in Europe, in the Mediterranean and in the rest of the world, the values which are the hallmark of our Republic.

"Malta, as an independent, sovereign and friendly nation carries with us, profoundly anchored in its choices, this political - and ambitious - project of a shared future for Europe, in peace, prosperity and in respect of the other."

He urged his compatriots "never to forget that, wherever they are and whatever they do, they carry the responsibility and honour of representing France with dignity, just like my team and I strive to do, in this beautiful country that Malta is, so distinctive in its warm hospitality".

Following a toast, President Fenech Adami, in his reply, associated himself with M. Rive's thoughts on liberty, fraternity and equality, and on solidarity. This concept, he said, had been extended through membership of the European Union with solidarity within the union and third countries.

Both Malta and France shared common ideals and responsibilities to its peoples to promote democracy, and now, more than ever before, the Maltese could share these ideals in their everyday life.

The national anthems of the two countries were sung, respectively, by Miriam Cauchi (Maltese) and Joseph Aquilina (French), accompanies by musicians Silvio Zammit and Anne Marie Camilleri Podestà.

A singer at the hotel, Gaëlle, and the Atelier Chansons, a group of students from the Alliance Française de Malte, also performed, ensuring a good mixture of entertainment and culture.

Funds raised for children's charities

The Attard parish hall Pope John Paul II was the perfect venue to host a VE Day 60th anniversary musical organised by Lions Club La Valletta in conjunction with "Happy Faces" on behalf of the Children's Charity in North Wales.

An all-star cast, who were flown over from England, delivered a full production show in costumes of the Forties with songs that won the war. In the UK, this performance raised a total of £40,000 which was also donated to the Children's Charity in North Wales. Lions Club La Valletta said that the proceeds gathered from this event amounted to Lm800 which were divided between two beneficiaries - the Malta Wireless and Talking Books For the Blind Foundation and the Children's Charity in North Wales.

With great satisfaction, the Lions Club La Valletta and the Children's Charity in North Wales agreed that this show proved to be a great success and are looking forward to putting up the show again in Malta during the coming months.

Lions Club La Valletta thanked all the sponsors who supported this event, particularly VolksWagon Cars, Lion Anthony Hammett MJF, Sunseeker Holiday Complex, Clamus Centre, Exotique Music Shops, Optika Ltd and Nexos Lighting.

Special appreciation also went to the cast and to the Lions Club La Valletta organising committee who harmoniously co-ordinated the event to ensure it was a huge success.

Election to European Epilepsy Academy

At the seventh European Congress on Epileptology held in Helsinki, earlier this month, Dr Janet Mifsud, senior lecturer at the Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics was re-elected general secretary to the European Epilepsy Academy, EUREPA.

The European Epilepsy Academy is the educational arm of European Advisory Council (EAC) and the Commission on European Affairs of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE). It takes responsibility for improving epileptological knowledge and consequently the quality of care throughout Europe. It is building a network of co-ordinated, certified epileptological education activities throughout Europe and offers and develops distance education courses via the e-learning platform Virtual Epilepsy Academy (VirEpA).

EUREPA also initiates and co-ordinates concerted research on matters relating to epilepsy, which are particularly well-suited for supranational European action. Dr Mifsud is also the co-ordinator of the project "Curricular education for PAMs working in the field of epilepsy", which is funded by the Socrates Grundtvig 2 programme of the EU with partners from Germany and Hungary.

This project, which has just had its funding confirmed for the third year, involves the development of the pedagogical skills needed for both individual and organised learning and the promotion of strategies for change in this educational sphere of adult learning, which to date has been very fragmented. The main methods used were e-learning, elements of the moderation method, group work and problem-based learning. This also ensures that PAMs use and disseminate up-to-date teaching methodology.

Last month two information and interactive seminars were held in Malta and Gozo to pilot the first outcomes of the project.

Park Hotel supports Ursuline Sisters

Charles Selvaggi, general manager of the Park Hotel in Sliema, accompanied by Carmen Sammut Alessi and Aldo Costa, presented a cheque for Lm2,209 to Sr Joan and Sr Roberta of the Ursuline Sisters in Sliema.

In his short speech Mr Selvaggi thanked the staff and sponsors for their hard work, dedication and initiative for organising this annual fund-raising lunch and raffle at the Park Hotel last May.

Sr Joan and Sr Roberta thanked Mr Selvaggi and all the staff for their noble gesture and explained how the donation will come in useful to cater for the needs of their children.

Embassy of Ireland's new address

The new address of the Embassy of Ireland is Whitehall Mansions, Ta' Xbiex Seafront, Ta' Xbiex MSD 11. Contact the embassy on 2133-4744 or on fax 2133-4755 or by e-mail: vallettaembassy@dfa.ie

Bugeja - Xuereb

The Metropolitan Cathedral, Mdina, was recently the wedding venue for Charmaine Bugeja, daughter of Carmel and Angela Bugeja, of Balzan, and Richard Xuereb, son of Angelo and Josephine Xuereb, of Rabat.

Nuptial Mass was celebrated by Fr Joseph Bugeja, uncle of the bride. The ceremony was witnessed by the groom's uncle, Paul Xuereb, and the bride's close friend Maria Palmier Gonzi (LRSM). John Bugeja and Ryan Azzopardi carried out the duties of best man. The bride was attended by Claire Xuereb as maid of honour, Josette Bugeja and Denise Xuereb as bridesmaids and Emma Dunford as flower-girl.

A reception was later held at Palazzo Parisio, Naxxar. The couple spent their honeymoon in the United States and cruising the Caribbean.

People

ANDREW BORG was recently conferred with a doctorate from the Univ-ersity of York in the field of Computer Science. Dr Borg's res-earch work focused on novel memory models for real-time systems and real-time Java in particular.

During his four years research period, Dr Borg published several papers and attended various conferences in the UK, USA, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Cyprus. His publications include papers at the 2003 and 2006 Euromicro Conferences on Real Time Systems and the 2003 and 2004 workshops on Java Technologies for Real-Time and Embedded Systems.

Dr Borg obtained his secondary education at St Edwards College and post-secondary education at St Aloysius' College.

In 2001 he graduated with a First Class B.Sc. (Hons) degree in IT from the University of Malta. In October 2001 he began reading for his Ph.D. at the University of York where he was awarded an Overseas Research Scholarship (ORS) for the duration of his studies. In 2003 he was granted the University of York's Gibbs/ Plessey Award, enabling him to carry out three months of research at the University of Washington in St Louis, USA.

Dr Borg is currently working as a research associate at the University of York. His research centers on developing a Java processor core for embedded real-time systems. This work is sponsored by Sun Microsystems and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in the UK.

Dr Borg is the son of Godwin A. Borg B.Sc. (Eng.), BA (Arch.), A&CE, and Mary Ann née Ciliberti, and is a brother to Dr Matthew Borg B.Sc. (Hons), Ph.D. (UMIST).

For your diary

Ward u Zghar is organising an Ghanja Maltija evening at the Centru Hidma Socjali in St Venera on Wednesday at 7 p.m. It is also meeting for a timpana night and disco on Saturday at 8 p.m. Bookings will be accepted till Wednesday. For more information phone on 9947-2868.

The Knights Hospitallers of the Sovereign Order of St John of Jerusalem are organising a fund-raising barbecue at Castello dei Baroni, Wardija, on Wednesday at 8 p.m. For more information phone 7949-7000, 9947-5761 or 9980-4481.

A day's outing in aid of the Little Sisters of the Poor will be held at the Cavallieri Hotel, St Julian's, on Wednesday, August 2, from 10 a.m. For bookings and information phone Blanche Martin on 2133-0387. Please book early.

The President and Mrs Fenech Adami's engagements: July 24-30

Tomorrow
7.30 p.m. The President inaugurates an exhibition of works by Giuseppe Briffa at the Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta.

Tuesday
10 a.m. Mrs Fenech Adami visits the day centre for the elderly at the Birkirkara Civic Centre.

8 p.m. The President and Mrs Fenech Adami attend a reception hosted by the Egyptian Ambassador Abdelkarim Soliman and Mrs Soliman on Egypt's National Day at their residence in Kappara.

Wednesday
8.30 p.m. The President and Mrs Fenech Adami host a reception in honour of the delegates participating in a seminar organised by the International Society for the Study of European Ideas at San Anton Gardens.

Thursday
9.30 a.m. The President receives the Prime Minister at the Palace, Valletta.

Friday
7 p.m. The President presides over the President's Gold Award Ceremony at the Palace, Valletta.

8.30 p.m. The President and Mrs Fenech Adami attend the annual dinner of Din L-Art Helwa at San Anton Gardens.

Saturday
10 a.m. The President views a band display and is accorded the national anthem by the King's Own Band Club on the occasion of the feast of St Dominic at the Palace, Valletta.

Sunday
9.45 a.m. The President and Mrs Fenech Adami attend Mass on the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows at the parish church in St Paul's Bay.