Updated: Student newspaper was reported by fellow students

Joseph Ellis

Feb 22nd 2010, 01:15

This is getting even more absurd. I distinctly recall the university authorities stating that their attention was drawn to the contents of Realta' by the university chaplain. If this were not the case, why was no disclaimer ever issued ? Whatever the case, I sincerely believe that when the rector reported the newspaper editor to the police, his action was based on a mistaken interpretation of the Education Act. Writing in the Times of 4 December, the rector declared "As rector I am legally responsible in terms of Article 74(11) and Article 82 of the Education Act to ensure that the law is upheld within the University precincts.” However, the rector has no such powers or responsibilities as article 74(11) gives him legal representation of the University and article 82 only talks about administrative responsibilities. Observance of law and order on the university premises remains the responsibility of the executive police. The rector could have filed a report to the police in his personal capacity but I found no provision in the Education Act empowering him to ban the newspaper and ordering the beadles to remove it from the university premises.

Stefan Vella

Feb 21st 2010, 22:24

@G. Curmi I was by no means impressed by the literary piece, however, who will decide what is "literary sewage" deserving of censorship? You? A commitee? Sorry mate, I don't trust my freedom in anybody's hands. I can classify the material but will never accept censorship. @L. Zammit By university age, your daughters should be able to critically read and review the story. You should have faith in your parenting skills and in their upbringing. Censorship has always made teens rebel even more.

G. Curmi

Feb 21st 2010, 15:08

How interesting that the self-styled "literary genius" Alex Vella Gera and others are offended by the "censorship" directed at Vella Gera’s self-described “masterpiece”. The product of this "genius" is a jumble of disconnected sentences peppered with grammatical and syntactical errors and overflowing with a mixture of vulgarities, obscenities, and blasphemies (btw the proper Maltese spelling is dagħa) that reveal the "author's" misogyny – his hate towards women.

In short, Vella Gera’s “contribution” is nothing but the lowest form of trash. Authorship of such trash does not require a university education; even a poorly educated guttersnipe is capable of producing it. Vella Gera’s trash not only offends our collective sense of decency, but it humiliates us internationally. Our nation is undeserving of such trash and humiliation. As much as I am opposed to censorship, in this case, the literary sewage produced by Vella Gera richly deserves the condemnation and the censorship that it has provoked.

Ernest Vella

Feb 21st 2010, 14:14

Meta l-MP Owen Bonnici jhalli lill-uliedu jaqraw dik it-tip ta kitba u jaghmlu dak li tghid il-kitba, nasal almenu nipprova nifhem ghax m'ghandux ikun hemm censura, imma safrattant irid ibelgha l-hmieg lill-ulied il-poplu waqt li hu ma jippermettiex lill-uliedu jaqraw dik it-tip ta letteratura ( litreture-liter)...fejn hija d-dritt ta l-espressjoni u d-dritt li taqra dak li trid li tant jippriedka fuqu l-onorevoli...vera progressiv indeed...

Li tasal tghid hekk tfisser biss konvenjenza politika u cahda tal-valuri fundamentali li fuqha hija mibnija s-Socjeta Maltija...frott ir-relativizmu, l-iluminizzmu...ma nafx imma zgur li dan qieghed jherri l-pajjizna fil-moralita tieghu...kemm konna ahjar meta konna aghar

Chris Fenech

Feb 21st 2010, 10:40

@ G. Caruana

1. Dik li kiteb Alex Vella Gera fil-gazzetta Ir-Realta' hija storja fittizja u stejjer qosra fittizji huma komuni f'gazzetti (avolja ma tantx issib fil-gazzetti t'hawn Malta).

2. Storja fittizja tista tinkludi kliem li huwa kkunsidrat oxxen. Fil-Kas ta' Li Tkisser Sewwi din kienet importanti fil-kuntest tal-istorja minħabba li in-narratur (li mhuwiex l-awtur) huwa bniedem li jitkellem b'dak il-mod u jagħmel dawk l-affarijiet. Kieku dawk il-kliem ma ġewx miktuba, l-istorja kienet titlef is-sens u ma tibqax realistika.

3. Il-gazzetta ħadha biex jaqraha min ried biss u bniedem faċilment seta jieħu id-deċizzjoni li ma jiġborix minn fejn kienet u ma jaqrahix. Ħadd ma ġiel lil ħadd biex jaqra xi ħaġa ta' bilfors.

4. Min irrappurtaha seta faċilment jikkritika il-kitba b'mod dimokratiku u jsemma leħnu (li għandu kull dritt għalih) minflok ma rrappurtaha biex jittieħdu passi legali kontra l-editur tal-gazzetta.

5. Li ma kienx hemm tabella li tgħid li l-gazzetta kien fiha materjal li jista jiġi ikkunsidrat bħala espliċitu kien zball, zball li mhux se jiġi ripetut. Kif stajt tara, l-edizzjoni 9 tal-istess gazzetta kellha disclaimer fuq il-qoxra. Għalkemm jien tal-idea li b'tabella bħal dik, iktar se titqajjem kurzita'.

G. Caruana

Feb 21st 2010, 04:25

Some are calling this student a 'hero'. Is he really? I read the story - and even if it had a 'message' to deliver and some sort of storyline... well, it was just a humble of vulgar words. Hemm bzonn tkun Universitarju biex turi kemm taf titkellem hazin u turih f' gazzetta? Nerga nghid ma kontx offiz lanqas xejn - I am 22 and God knows I did my share... pero biex tippublika xeba da' u kliem hazin fuq gazzetta... bla sens fil- fhema tieghi - u kull min irrapporta ghamel sew.

Anyways... good day to all :)

andre scehmbri

Feb 20th 2010, 20:24

@V Battistino ...
mella ir-realta banned mil-junior collage ukoll (minn issue 2) u skond il-principal tal-junior collage baqqat titqassam hemm gew bla permess tant li keccewhom is-security guards xi darba ghax kienu gewwa (skond xi text available fuq is-site tar-realta) ...
li qed nghid huwa ghax issib il-gazzetta gewwa ma iffisirx li mhux banned just iffiser li probabilment xi hadt ma tax kass l-ordni tar-rettur...

Chris Fenech

Feb 20th 2010, 15:30

Please read the last comment on the issue, published by the Collective Ir-Realta'
http://www.realtamadwarek.org/realta/chatterbox.php?ID=513

Robert Grech

Feb 20th 2010, 10:20

@V Battistino: wise words. Glad to see some sense being posted in here.

Ramon Casha

Feb 20th 2010, 05:53

@lzammit: If I had children - even daughters - of university age, I wouldn't be telling them what they may or may not read.

@Joseph Calleja and others: According to this witness, it was the KSU who FIRST brought this to the attention of the rector. It does not say that the Chaplain did not, only that someone beat him to the finish line.

G.Schembri

Feb 20th 2010, 00:19

Mark Camilleri has just answered KSU. See www.realtamadwarek.org

Chris Reiff

Feb 20th 2010, 00:07

Ok this is the first year I'm gonna vote in the KSu elections, and it definitely won't be SDM!

D.Galea

Feb 19th 2010, 23:10

SO! Some self-pretending 'sinless' threw the stone & hid away, ok plausible. I don't call for these persons to be exposed to everyone as certainly I'm not a brainless mob type in fact I am against such medieval policy but at least they should give due apologies for the turnout of events on those targeted, It's a personal action which I would suggest they do. Of course consider the possibility that this person might have reported in bona fide in the first place, after all in the end these were triggers.

d.attard

Feb 19th 2010, 22:49

one may look at a censorship culture; stitching, the nadur carnival, this story, ruffled feathers at undressed mannequins and other episodes ... systematic? Any links to the ‘criminalization’ of any kind of protest or opposition to the core power-base? Notice how it is never a time to protest? How devious action regularly dilutes reality into a cloud of erasure? Realta’, can it be a turning point? I think not.

V Battistino

Feb 19th 2010, 22:13

Realta is not banned at University...the recent edition was available free of charge last week, placed near the canteen stairs for all to pick up and read....and this is exactly the wrong thing about it all...and not censorship.

Having product information available is a right of the reader.....placing this paper in a public place, free of charge with no 'forewarning' is what went wrong...other similiar explicit material is not found available free of charge on public stairs.....it is usually placed at the top shelves, and possibly grouped with other similiar material, so that the prospective reader can actually choose to view the contents or simply refrain.

This is not a censorship issue at all...it is all about editorial (and marketing) responsibility ! and I hope people stop hitching a ride on a cheap publicity campaign !

J Grima

Feb 19th 2010, 21:45

I have a feeling that many people are defending an article which they have not read. FYI, article is available online on http://www.realtamadwarek.org/ir-realta/realta8-small%20size.pdf ... A word of caution: It is not for the faint hearted ... The first few lines were enough to make me sick! To me, the issue is not about freedom of expression, but about decency ... or complete lack of it. I find it highly improper that the editors felt it appropriate to post the article online, available to all. I don't think that any 'child safe internet browsing' software will be able to filter out this article given it is Maltese. Is this fair?

A.Cassar

Feb 19th 2010, 21:01

Sometimes I wonder wether we are living all in the same planet , more and more in the same EU . Everybody seems to have got scandalised by a few words , yet they all forget the vulgar and obscene actions they participate in there private lives . When you read the comments one would assume that Malta is a country full of angels . More like devils in disguise . Poplu Malti Qum !!

JSaliba

Feb 19th 2010, 20:50

What were the motives of Mr Camilleri's publication of the article? Was it a case of shocking his readers by, for the first time, putting in print the vulgar and obscene language a section of Maltese society use to express themselves? I expected this explanation in the Xarabank programme but was disappointed. I now firmly believe, quoting J Farrugia below, that is just a case of 'students who think so highly of themselves as if they were untouchables'.

G.Schembri

Feb 19th 2010, 20:47

@ Joseph Calleja - Wasn't it the Rector himself who said that the chaplain had brought the said article to his notice. Seems that the Rector has to apologize to the Chaplain and to the public.
@ J Farrugia - It seems these students only report certain things, they did not report SDM when Norman Lowell was allowed to be interviewed by an SDM official in the KSU office.

Joe Xuereb

Feb 19th 2010, 19:00

1) First off. I, as a mentally mature adult, have a right to be offended. The 'offending' material could well be useful to me (and others). @L.Zammit. No, I would not allow children to read this material. Children are too young to process this sort of stuff. Happy now? I went out of my way to get hold of 'Li Tkisser Sewwi'. Not great literature but, the author, Alex Vella Gera IS a hero (you there J.Farrugia?) - this subject matter, in Maltese to boot, in the first person, was a first. Very brave. A true hero. I could, and have done, write in a similar vein but it wouldn't attract so much attention because my Maltese is infinitely better than Vella's. cont./

Mario Farrugia

Feb 19th 2010, 18:42

There is no censorship of publications in Malta. It was removed long ago in 1839 - 171 long years ago. What there is is in fact the responsibilty for what you publish freely. That's as it should be. You cannot libel, publish financial advice without a licence, or incite towards racial hatred - to give just a few examples. For the editor of this 'student newspaper' to expect to be above the law is ludicrous. He published a piece that denigrates women, to put it very mildly. He should be responsible for what he published and that was in fact never ever censored. It's for the magistrate in the case to decide whether an obscenity was committed. Dr Owen Bonnici's party up to the present actually pursue criminal libel proceedings against journalists. If he's serious, Dr Bonnici should convince his party that libel proceedings instituted by his party should be civil and never criminal. Practising what he preaches would do wonders for Dr Bonnici's credibility. Posturing and giving the impression that there is publication censorship - when there is nothing of the sort - doesn't.

lzammit

Feb 19th 2010, 18:33

I too am 100% in favour of freedom of expression. BUT, I repeat the question, that has been asked several times, to those who are in favour of the story in question. Would you let your children, especially daughters read that ?

JP Piscopo

Feb 19th 2010, 18:28

@ Joseph Calleja If an apology must be given, it must be given from the same KSU who had not enough courage to say who reported what, and when asked what stand will they take, they said they had no stand even though they were the ones who wanted this censorship.

Randolph De Battista

Feb 19th 2010, 18:21

So now KSU has turned into a Big Brother??

J Farrugia

Feb 19th 2010, 18:19

Every sensible person who has the good of the nation at heart, should have reported these persons for their vulgarity and obscenities. They are no heroes.

J Farrugia

Feb 19th 2010, 18:17

Thank God that at the University there are students who are level headed and do not accept vulgarities and obscenities. They should be proud that they are the true future of Malta. You should be really proud of yourselves for standing up to be counted, and not to be led from your nose by these vulgar students who think so highly of themselves as if they are untouchables.

Joseph Calleja

Feb 19th 2010, 18:06

It seems like somebody owes Fr Michael a big public apology!

J. Debono

Feb 19th 2010, 17:37

I am 100% in favour of freedom of expression. However freedom of expression means you are able to voice your opinion, whatever it may be, without fear of being arrested or prosecuted. However to voice your opinion/experience, in vulgar language, swearing, and degrading the females to a sexual toy, is simply unacceptable. Somewhere a line has to be drawn. He could have written the same article, in much milder language and with the same message - now that would be 'art', not using the most vulgar words in Maltese language.

Jason Borg

Feb 19th 2010, 17:33

Student newspaper was reported by fellow students, not by priest - editor - FL-AHHAR HARGET IR-REALTA`.

Gregory Ellul

Feb 19th 2010, 17:13

I never doubted that Fr Michael would do such a thing. He is an excellent pastor who would not harm anyone like the KSU and University Authorities did. Even though he may disagree with you he is always a very respectful person.

Muscat. Pat

Feb 19th 2010, 17:04

Dawn l-ufficjali zaghzagh -Nazzjonalisti li irraportaw lil awtur- anqas jidhlu fin-norma ta studenti idijalisti terrible meta ghadhom zghar, ahseb u ara kemm ghanqbut u moffa se jkollhom meta ikollhom zmien daqsi; diehel fis-sebghejiet!