On the Dot...

A client of an HSBC Branch was told she would need to purchase a minimum of €50 when she only needed €5. A few minutes walk to the Bank of Valletta branch, where this person does not hold an account, met with a more positive result; the currency note was handed over without any further ado whatsoever. Why this discrepancy between the two major banks in Malta?

Stand to Attention

Is any one in charge of protocol when foreign dignitaries are visiting Malta? One sometimes notices that guests are sometimes to the left of foreign dignitaries, or even local dignitaries who are guests of others, and sometimes to the right. During dinners of course, the protocol is different when it comes to seating arrangements. In vehicles, although the rile "last in first out" takes precedence, when both doors of a limousine are opened simultaneously, the other rules apply.

E-Proxy Voting?

Estonia is the first country in Europe where e-voting for the national elections has taken place. Some time ago this column had suggested the same system to be used in posting one's vote for the elections by shareholders for the annual meetings. Several company administrations had indicated that it would be 'impossible' to monitor such systems. The mind boggles.

Green Weak

We are being led to believe that most government departments have an environmentally friendly image, partly through indicating that they collect paper for recycling. All correspondence is still sent to the public in spanking new logoed envelopes, and nowhere does "made from recycled paper" feature, whether on the envelopes themselves, or on the A4 sheets upon which the correspondence is printed.

Dog Gone

Every year, during Eastertide and Yuletide, many entities run a fund-raising bazaar. This not to mention the peaking of a number of various lotteries that are also held. One animal welfare society is currently holding a bazaar in the old Hollywood Cinema complex in Hamrun; they have the right idea.

Cutting Corners

The course for becoming a tour guide is held at the Institute of Tourism Studies, and lasts three years. However, one notes that there appears to be a proliferation of people, both Maltese and foreign, showing groups around Valletta and other places of interest. How often are spot-checks made to ensure that these are fully-licensed guides? Meanwhile, one notes that the skips standing in several street corners are more often than not full to over-brimming.

Toy Tow

Is it still illegal for toys connected with warfare to be sold? One notes that during carnival, there were a number of costumes that necessitated "bearing arms", some of which, if used, could inflict serious bodily harm. How many fines were handed out by wardens and/or policemen for this contravention?

Schools of Thought

Every so often, someone decides to take a toll count of absentees in schools. Some go even further, and indicate a day - one would guess it were Monday - where the number of children not at their desks, peaks. What is being done to follow this through? A simple walk along towns and villages is enough to indicate that many children are not, in fact, confined to bed when they are not at school.

Stamp Duty

Carnival is over - in reality as well as in the song. However, shops and Maltapost branches are still selling eight cents stamps issued for Christmas 2006, two months after the feast. Lent is already in progress, and the excuse that stocks are being depleted before definitive stamps are sold, does not really hold water.

Striped Bare

How often are the white lines in zebra crossings painted, preferably not during rush hours? Jay walkers are usually brought up short by a squeal of brakes, when drivers do not realise that they would have shot a pedestrian crossing until it is almost too late. It would seem that lights are not enough to warn drivers of the existence of faded crossings, especially during the daytime.

Garden Lore

This column had long been suggesting a thorough refurbishment of the Mall Gardens in Floriana, to the extent of making them good enough for Pell Mell to be played there again. However, the job appears to be taking far longer than necessary, with workers milling about and appearing confused as to what ought to be done next. One would have thought the glorious hours of sunshine would have ensured that the work was done at a steady pace.

Written Off

Boston Globe sports writer Ron Borges was recently forbidden from making television appearances, and suspended from his job on no pay for two months for plagiarising a Washington reporter's column. This, in spite of the fact that he lifted the material from an online "notes network," a pool where sports reporters share information, and a disclaimer at the end reading that "material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report". Would that Maltese journalists be treated similarly, even when they just translate verbatim from the internet and present the work as their own!

onthedot@timesofmalta.com