AFM officer returns from Lebanon deployment

Sherese Atkins

Jul 5th 2011, 15:44

"All Maltese boys and girls at the age of 18 should spend five years at the army and deployed to other countries."

Did you do that yourself?

Mr daniel Gordon

Jul 5th 2011, 16:40

@ Ms Atkins:

Even if Mr Pule didn't do it (although I think he did), he still had the gumption to come up with a sensible dialog, offered for debate.

You, on the other hand, have added nothing of any use to the issue.

And before you ask, I have done 6 years in the British Army, have been to quite a few places and would like to think that I am open minded to the issues that this world faces.

Conscription has its time and place, and I feel that maybe a 10 year trial period of Maltese conscription wouldn't be a bad thing at all. If it works, keep it. If not go back to the old ways.

Self discipline, self respect and general knowledge of the rest of the world are not bad targets to aim for.

Mr Carmel Pule'

Jul 5th 2011, 20:56

Here is a brief of what I did Mr Atkins, so you may judge my pains and my efforts. Against my father's will, I left school and joined the Royal Naval Dockyard at the age of 14. Since the age of 14, I never asked any one for any money, not even my parents, nor the government nor anybody for scholarships and what not. At the age of 16 I left Malta to go to Chatham on my own, still working in the Royal Navy. When it came to conscription, the Royal Navy, put in a good word for me and I was required to stay at Chatham working on Gunnery control and sectet coding machines ( KDF7 American Machines) I had to pay my own rent , cook my own meals and wash my own clothes. In Malta No one ever told me thatI could go to University and when a British Gentleman informed me that I could do it, I studied on my own and got all I could Ordinary and Higher national certificates with distinctions, and I studeied for my O and A levels, obtaining on my own,. Maltese, French, Italian, English, Mathematics, PHysics, Applied Mathematics, Geometry, Then the Royal Navy wanted me to serve at ASWE, Admiralty surface wepeon establishments but I prefered to go to University at Newcasle where I paied my own way. by working thorough Easter, Chgristmas and summer holiodays and worked part time at Nothumberland Technical College. The Royal Navy wanted me back to work as a principal Scientific officer at the Lake District where the Bouncing ball Bomb for the Dam Buster Missions in Germany was developed. After suffering hunger during my education , I decided to come to MaltA and build a family, and now after the hard work and the hard life I lived , I enjoy writing a few comments in the Times of Malta, and I do not being shot at by anybody, even Dominc Mintoff in my time. It is all water off a duck's back for me , but I wish more people would know what is behind all the comments I do write in the Times of Malta, As Churchill described my life so well, sweat, toil and shear stuborness to deliver what I promised. Most of my friends in UK did their spell in the Army, Airforce and Navy. I wish I dii but as I said, I was required to give my services working on Gunnery control stabilized by gyros and fed information from Radar and also the secret machines I spoke about. Incidentally I lived in a cold attic and while all others went home at Chrismas, I stayed on my own looking at the snow thorugh a small window. I suppose that is equivalent to a conscripted phase is it not?

Sherese Atkins

Jul 5th 2011, 21:57

Mr Daniel Gordon,

With all due respect, no one forced you to serve time in the British army. Although I do not know you and therefore have no idea of the circumstances in which you joined the army and chose to serve in it, I am assuming that you did it willingly. On the other hand, I have absolutely no intention whatsoever of following your path, choosing instead to focus on my studies and building my dream career. I do not want to risk life and limb fighting another country's battle.

I consider myself to be quite self disciplined and have sufficient self respect. As to general knowledge of the rest of the world, well, I read foreign newspapers and donate money to causes I believe in. Should I find myself lacking in one or more of those aspects, your suggestion has been duly noted but I don't think I will take you up on that.

With regards to not adding anything of use to the issue, that was never my intention. The point I wanted to drive home was to live and let live, and to emphasize that nobody has any right whatsoever to force Maltese youngsters to join an army without dire need (a foreign one at that); not Mr Pule nor anyone else.

Sherese Atkins

Jul 5th 2011, 22:03

Do not get me wrong, I highly admire those who have the gall to do this very honorable deed. It's a beautiful ambition to aspire to and I hold you in very high esteem for doing what you have done, Mr Gordon. However I do not think that anybody should be forced into doing it without them wanting to.

If you have some spare time, I suggest that you read one of my favorite pieces of literature on the subject; http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/owen1.html

Bill Jensen

Jul 6th 2011, 07:52

Right on..... I wish they would bring back National Service here in Australia, just might give some of the kids some direction in life

Mr Carmel Pule'

Jul 6th 2011, 09:26

Peole are so lucky these days in following their dream career after others fought and worked so hard for their liberty to do so. It is trully a dream, for living in a real world without other people defending it for you, where they take the bones while you take the meat, at least for a brief period one should get to know that in reality there are only a few components one should strife for, 1. food, 2, a shelter, 3. Defending it.

Anything else is superfluous and those that have it should thank others for it. During the last was if there were no people like tha AFM who fought it out with Hitler trying to take our " Shelter" we all would have been burned in an oven and Living under Nazi Regime or Gaddafi or Saddam regime will not enable you to follow your dreams.

So go and read your litterature and spare a moment for those who grow your food , give you shelter and enable you to read your literature and follow your dream carreer. YOu are certainly a lucky person, but the least you could have done was not to write anything negative and perhaps encourage and thank all those who contribute with sweat and toil to enable you live as you do, while it lasts, till perhaps Gaddaffi decides to change it all, We areonly 100 miles away and a homing modern rocket travelling at 4000 miles an hour could reach Malta and your home in a couple of minutes. It would be an army officer to press a button and counteract such an issue when others are reading thier literature and listening to nice music as they hate serving in the army.
Anyway serving in the army for a few years, is to show you the real side of life and not the dreamy part and it has nothing to do with the army. It could be an outward bound school as they have in the lake district which my pwn brother attended. The idea is that at a certain age we should leave home and see what we are worth by leaving our parents and our country. Our worth is not passing examinations for a carreer. Our worth is totally fifferent from that and we only get to know it by living on our own for a length of time.

After the age of 18 we should make and form our own examinations and deliver the essentials for our own comforts, shelter and learn how to defend it. If you do not learn to do that, you are driding on someone's back and fooling others to earn money of their weakness.

The army and the police and other defence mechanism is one of the primary cost of any good ECONOMY while the others is earning FOOD and SHELTER. It is so unfortunately that many in a comfortable country go for servicing carreers llike CLOWNS, entertaining others to earn their keep and with the money they get they spend it on food and shelter. All developed countried are overweighter with such dream carreers adn topple over quickly when the time comes. Toppling over Religiously, financially, politically, legally, insue=rance, educationally and so forth, for all carreers except those directly growing food and shelters are totally superfluous, as people in Libya and other African and Communistic countries well found out and aMERICA THROUGH FINANCIAL EMBEZELMENT and others through religious influence kept people in the dark and poverty as Muslem and Catholic countries.
The most honourable dream carreers ar those where one grows and builds his own food and shelters and his defence mechanism. and that you will only get a taste of if one leaves home to live alone. Anthing else , just thank all other people's who contribute to the basic career necessary for living. If you do not then there will come a day when you leave your dream career to fight to keep it.

Sherese Atkins

Jul 6th 2011, 14:24

Mr Pule,

You seem to have taken to heart what I said about choosing to focus on my studies and building my dream career. Tell me, why shouldn't I do that if I so wish? As to writing negative things, I have no idea what you mean by that. Pray, point an example out for me.

However much I have enjoyed this lively debate, I do not think that we will exactly see eye to eye on this subject. That is fine, as different people are entitled to have different views, thus I bid you good day.

Mr Carmel Pule'

Jul 7th 2011, 16:27

Wish you luck with your dream career. The only dream career I know of is that of a dreamer actor, who in public always tries to fit in some sort of personality, but never his own, and he spends all his life, entertaining people around him , while he never finds who he really is, appalls being on his own, and rides on the back of others, prepared to ridicule himself for an applause, while he recites all that he read from a book or literature prepared by others. A dreamer never really gets to know himself as he really is, he dreams, for he is afraid of what reality throws at us. One will probably understand the value of these words after we reach the age of 65, when reality shows you the real way and leaves dreams to the young ones. Fair enough I guess as long as there are others around to ride on their back, and you are clever enough to find such people. Or is it?