Comment
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Talk of land reclamation
Land reclamation is a means to an end, not an end in itself. It entails major costs – both financial and environmental – so its aims, together with any potential benefits or disadvantages, should be openly laid out. Before dumping tonnes of...
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Bizarre fees
Why is it that my wife can go to Dr G. with a serious chest infection and be charged €7, while I go to a podiatrist, Mr Anonymous, and get charged €20 to have a small piece of my big toenail removed? Does it, I wonder, have anything to do with...
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Cheap clothes, bare principles
During my 2009 visit to Bangladesh, in my capacity as vice president of the Delegation of the European Parliament for relations with South Asia, I had an hour’s discussion with Sheikh Hasina, who had become Prime Minister that year. Although our...
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Boiler Wharf permit and development
Times of Malta reported on the illegal development at Boiler Wharf and the retrospective approval of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority. Should we be surprised? Of equal if not greater importance to residents of Senglea is a planning...
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10-year political cycle
Religious orders have, through the years, adopted a very interesting system of how to elect their leaders from among their flock. This is based on a two-term rule, every term consisting of four or five years. Once the terms are over, the provincial...
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The state of education
I have been mulling about whether to pen this letter or a few years but the article that appeared on May 6 regarding the education system persuaded me to take the plunge. My opinion has not been formed through academic research and is not founded on...
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Tax avoidance and evasion
On a recent visit to the UK I had to make use of the London underground service. The free Metro newspaper issue of April 26 had the following headline: Write Your Own Tax Loopholes. It obviously caught my eye as it dealt with the end result of a...
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Brave children of the war
At every historical commemoration, the media lauds the valour of those adult personnel involved in wartime events. Various military regiments, both Maltese and British, well deserved such praise. The cohorts of children who bravely survived the...
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No need to fear difference
Millions of people around the world are today celebrating the ninth annual International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO). May 17 was chosen as it commemorates the decision by the World Health Organisation in 1990 to officially...
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Absentee ballot systems
There is something remarkably inefficient about flying people from one side of Europe to the other for them to cast their ballot in a general election. Especially when there are valid questions about who is eligible to vote in the first place. And...
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Unethical behaviour cannot be tolerated
Only one thing can be worse than an irresponsible media and that is a politician expecting to tell journalists what to do. The matter becomes even more serious when such a call is made by a senior Cabinet member who also happens to be the country’s...
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NCPE at work
Since the extension in its remit last year, the promotion of equality on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, as well as education and vocational training, became an area covered by National Commission for thePromotion...
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Edward de Bono turns 80
One day, discussing Edward de Bono’s work with Fr Peter Serracino-Inglott, I said my favourite work was the compendium of all his lateral thinking techniques, Serious Creativity. Fr Peter replied that his favourite was Why I Want To Be King of...
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Good corporate governance
A great deal has recently been said and written about appointments of chairmen, board members, chief executives and many other matters related to government entities and authorities. This all relates to corporate governance, which is nothing more...
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Boost to citizens’ rights
The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights became legally binding with the introduction of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009. There are six main areas in the charter: dignity, freedom, equality, solidarity, citizen’s rights and justice. Since the charter’s...
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Physical exercise prescription
“Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being while movement and methodical physical exercise save it and preserve it.” This often quoted phrase from Plato has never been so relevant as in our lifetime. Increased financial...
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Homosexuality and Christianity
To the believers, and not only those who profess the Christian faith, two men and two women can never constitute a couple that is comparable to that of a heterosexual couple. While homosexuals remain loved by God and can aspire to a life of...
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BBC interview
I was listening to the excellent BBC World Service programme titled From Our Own Correspondents on May 10. It included one of their correspondents visiting Malta, as there were strong murmurings among European Union countries that Malta would be the...
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The reality of spring hunting
Being a hunter, I was present in the field for practically all hours allowed for hunting and, contrary to the alleged carnage and lawlessness, the following is what I witnessed: Police presence and that of the Armed Force of Malta was on the high...
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Copycats
After all the ‘blah, blah, blah’, it now seems that the PN’s new strategy is seeing what Labour has done, only to say they can do it better. What a discovery! It also seems that the once coarse men have now vanished.
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