On the Dot...

Shame on the two radio presenters who thought they were being "cool" when, during a late afternoon show on Maundy Thursday, one spoke of "Big Friday" and the other of the "Seven bars" (referring to the Seven Visits to altars of the repose traditionally held on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Religious fundamentalism and extremism is condemnable but so is bad taste. They should apologise publicly.

High Notes

On March 28 a concert was held at the Mosta Rotunda to celebrate the restoration of the church organ, the biggest in Malta and a masterpiece of Pacifico Inzoli. This mammoth task was sponsored by the Mosta Gunners. Had it not been for their initiative, another of Malta's treasures would have ended up in rack and ruin.

Launching Pad

Some weeks ago, this column had complained about the state of the pavement literally a stone's throw away from the Valletta police station. The problem about people alighting from the Park and Ride buses straight onto the broken bit, risking twisted ankles or worse, has now been thoroughly solved. The mini-vans stop a couple of metres down, where the pavement is in relatively good shape.

Counting Chickens

Some adults may think it is seasonally cute for children to be given chicks or ducklings as pets-cum-toys for Easter. This is wrong on two counts. Besides being at the shallow end of animal cruelty, this practice does not take into account that children, especially those under five years of age, may possibly be at risk of being exposed to certain strains of salmonella.

Cats' Cradles

The Renmark Paringa Council of Australia has drafted a by-law whereby each domestic cat is accorded a 300 square metre area of living space. Ironically, it does not mention the culling of strays. This means, basically, that each household will not be allowed to have in excess of three felines, although there are plans for applications for extensions of this. This by-law is set to control cat numbers; but, unfortunately, it is not domestic cats that are responsible for burgeoning cat populations.

Milked Dry

It had been called the "nail house" because it refused to be hammered down, yet the lone residence in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality was demolished Monday evening. Wu Ping and Yang Wu had been adamant about not leaving the development zone, despite the fact that they were the only residents left. One wonders what will happen in the somewhat similar local issue, where a milk producer lives on a farm situated on land earmarked for the SmartCity project.

Well Kept

Part of the sum in the region of €30 million went in restoration works on parts of the bastions at the Vittoriosa entrance. The rest will be used up gradually in an ongoing campaign. This money, from the EU Structural Funds, would perhaps make it easier for us to enjoy our heritage. Hopefully, works will not only consist of costly repairs but would start before, so that it would be more a matter of upkeep than repair.

Price List

Many people are under the mistaken impression that roaming charges also apply to SMSs sent from one country to another. This is not the case at all. Alas, this is not made clear in any advertisement by mobile telephony companies. Rather than concentrating on special offers and one-upmanship, it would not be an altogether bad thing to focus on the humdrum issues, occasionally.