• It is good to note that the Ministry of Finance, the Economy and Investment, in collaboration with the University Students’ Council, is seeking the input of students on the upcoming Budget through a public consultation meeting with Minister Tonio Fenech. It would be interesting to see how many of the topics mooted will actually make it to the actual Budget.

Manoeuvres

• Catching a bus from Pietà to Valletta is an exercise in patience. No less than 15 buses are indicated as passing from there; and yet, it took 20 minutes for one of them to turn up.

Meanders

• On the other hand, there are buses like the X4 route to Ħal Far that never fail to turn up on time. But some of them are filthy, with dingy yellow bars and black fingerprints on the ceiling. Air conditioners leave pools of water on the bus-floor, and the window panes are too grubby to see.

Machines

• Meanwhile, on Tuesday, October 23, an old Gudja bus in pristine condition was seen in service as a private hire vehicle. One wonders whether similar buses could be painted in Arriva livery and used on routes that do not really need large buses.

Manual

• Many years ago, people used to stare in awe as one lone artiste worked at re-building the Chadwick Lakes rubble walls single-handedly and with artisanship. Later, a system wherein blocks of stones were put in place was set up. In time, however, precious little else was done by way of conservation of this scenic heritage.

Match

• Another wall that desperately needs attention is the one that leads downhill from the Domus Romana in Rabat. It is gradually deteriorating, and logic indicates that it would be better to see to it now rather than allow it to weaken further.

Marker

• There is a new habit of using flimsy grey plastic covers for drain holes, rather than heavy solid metal ones. The former break with the slightest of pressure, especially when they are not round, and not small. A case in point is the one across the road from the Bank of Valletta in Fleur de Lys Road, by the traffic lights and bus stop.

Mailbox

• It would seem that commercial entities still believe that sending unsolicited mail to potential clients will drum up business. This is not the case at all, for some households have taken not to patronise these shops as a matter of principle. An opt-out clause is, unfortunately, not available locally.

Management

• Wardens still have a predilection for booking drivers who have not parked their vehicles in allocated berths. This could be because they are easier to book, being, as it were, a captive audience. Meanwhile, drivers using cell phones or even texting away drive merrily by.

Manuscripts

• The Inizjamed annual Mediterranean Literature Festival was a resounding success. Activities like this give a new slant to literary gatherings that are sometimes more centred on publicity and merchandising.

Mystery

• Whatever happened to the polluter pays principle? Pollution is not merely a case of dirtying the air and the environment. It is also a case of the construction industry failing to clean up after itself. This includes using drains to discard water laden with building debris, some of which tends to harden and block the grilles, making future drainage difficult.

Midway

• It is also ironic that shop-owners in certain areas of Valletta treat storm drains as their personal water disposal chutes. Surely it is not right that water laden with detergents and disinfectants is poured into public systems?

Mote

• It may be understandable, although still questionable, that shops catering to tourists would inflate prices in order to make more profit. Yet it is also reasonable to expect that a Maltese person would not be asked to pay €10 for a jar of honey, the same brand of which sells for €7.50 at the convenience shop next door.

Magnificent

• Mgr Victor Grech is a local hero. The European Citizen prize he was awarded is a well-deserved recognition of this person’s selflessness in dedication to the well-being of the troubled and the unfortunate.

Measurements

• When tunnels used to be lined with white tiles, some of them either fell off or were stolen. Surely in this day and age there is a kind of fluorescent paint that would make any kind of tiling or other covering of the walls superfluous? A hosing-down every so often would help, too.

Mutts

• Dog-owners are supposed to clean up after their animals – and yet it is clear that some of them do not bother, if they think no one is around to see them shirk their responsibilities. Moreover there are times when the mess is not easily removable by the reversal of a plastic bag over a person’s hand.

Media

• It is a pity that media personalities, and not only newscasters, do not even bother to do basic research before going on air. The way that they mispronounce proper nouns, as in personal names or place-names, leaves much to be desired. Whatever happened to professional pride?

Missed

• Is it possible that local councils and clubs that organise activities do not have the services of a liaison officer? It sometimes happens that one-time events are held on the same day, and the performances overlap by an amount of time that would make it impossible for a person to attend both, even if he would be willing to miss a part of one of them.