Commemorating Republic Day

Malta celebrated the 44th anniversary of the Republic with a military parade in Valletta, an address by President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca and the awarding of Republic Day honours. Dr Coleiro Preca, giving her last Republic Day speech, expressed her gratitude to those who criticised her “at times in haste and with lack of forethought”, saying she had learnt from the experience. Among those honoured was traffic policeman Simon Schembri, who nearly lost his life in a harrowing hit-and-run incident earlier this year, who was given the Midalja għall-Qadi tar-Repubblika.

What made the headlines

Court orders PSC to stop promotion exercise: The Public Service Commission was ordered by a court to stop a promotion and to give access to all information to a government employee who claimed the exercise was vitiated. Following a lawsuit against the PSC and the Gozo Ministry by Joseph Bajada, an engineer who felt aggrieved by a recent promotion exercise, Judge Wenzu Mintoff ordered the PSC to freeze the exercise and to give Mr Bajada access to all the information required in order to defend his position. The issue goes back to last summer when the Gozo Ministry issued a call for the post of Assistant Director for Public Cleansing in Gozo.

Gafà tension pits PM against deputy: Prime Minister Joseph Muscat stood by embattled government official Neville Gafà who Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne ordered to be fired. The Times of Malta first reported that Mr Gafà’s contract at the Foundation for Medical Services had been rescinded on the orders of Mr Fearne, who is also Minister for Health. The move followed another report by this newspaper that Mr Gafà was seen speaking to a notorious militia leader during a contentious trip to Libya last month. The day after he was ‘sacked’, however, Dr Muscat defended Mr Gafà, insisting he was doing “very good work” for the administration. The contrasting positions between Dr Muscat and Mr Fearne sent ripples through the governing Labour Party, with sources saying it offered a rare glimpse of tensions between the two party heavyweights.

Activists ‘assaulted’ in Valletta: Occupy Justice and Repubblika said some of their activists were “assaulted” during a peaceful protest at the Great Siege memorial in Valletta. The event consisted of the placing of flowers and candles in remembrance of slain journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Mobile footage released by Occupy Justice showed a woman hurling verbal insults at an activist and the filming device the activist was holding subsequently ending on the floor. Repubblika said a police report was filed after two activists were “beaten” by a woman and a mobile phone destroyed.

‘Rule of law hindered by power imbalances’: The rule of law in Malta is being hindered by power imbalances, according to a Council of Europe advisory body. The European Commission for Democracy through Law, better known as the Venice Commission, said the Office of the Prime Minister was at “the centre of power”, leaving other important bodies such as the President, Parliament, Cabinet, the judiciary, and the Ombudsman in too weak an institutional position to provide sufficient checks and balances.

ODZ villa permit for Electrogas businessman: Electrogas businessman Mark Gasan, the Gasan Group CEO, is set to be given a permit to build a one-floor villa on secluded outside development zone land falling within Wied il-Ħesri, in Żebbuġ, the Times of Malta revealed. This follows a decision by the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal which overturned a decision by the Planning Authority. The area in question, known as Ta’ Bordin, is surrounded by fields between Żebbuġ and Siġġiewi.

Younger gamblers visiting village gaming parlours: Village gaming parlours are experiencing a stratospheric increase in young visitors, a survey commissioned by the Malta Gaming Authority showed. The survey shows that visits to gaming parlours increased by almost 50 per cent in 2016 when compared to a year earlier. In 2017, another significant increase of 30.5 per cent was registered at the same gambling shops over 2016. The visits to gaming parlours increased mostly for players under 35, the survey notes. There are 52 approved gaming shops in Malta, with visits by players surpassing half a million. The majority of visitors were Maltese.

Panama Papers saga drags on as minister claims rights are breached: Just when the Panama Appeals Court saga appeared to be nearing an end, a new twist came about through a constitutional application filed by Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi claiming a breach of his right to a fair hearing. As one of seven high-profile individuals, targeted by a decision by Magistrate Ian Farrugia green-lighting an investigation in their regard following revelations emerging from the Panama Papers, Dr Mizzi is now claimed that the judicial process, sparked off by former Opposition leader Simon Busuttil, was nothing more than an attempt “to cast a shadow upon his integrity”.

What trended

When one man’s treasure is another man’s trash

Beverage receptacles will cost an extra 10c once a bottle recycling scheme comes into force next year, authorities announced this week in news which divided readers down the middle.

Steve, for instance, felt it was a good idea that could have the added benefit of being “a new get- rich-quick scheme”.

“Hopefully bottles are now going to be picked up and not left everywhere on the floor!” he augured.

But one man’s treasure is another man’s trash, somebody once said, and never a truer word was spoken.

“10c is not enough,” sniffed Annika. “Nobody will bother to go collect 10c”.

Her perspective was lent a measure of historical credence by Paul, who thought back to a previous time when returning glass bottles came with a financial incentive.

“10c is practically four Maltese cents,” he noted. “Glass bottles were refunded at five Maltese cents at the time, and still thousands were dumped in the countryside and in the sea.”

Complicated rules of orthography

It feels like the country has been arguing over how to spell English loan words in Maltese for so long that it hardly even matter anymore.

Don’t tell that to the language experts though, because this week they finally published their legally-binding conclusions.

Their reasoning inevitably drew criticism. Some of it was succinct and sarcastic – “Ħaw ridikjulis”, take a bow – while others were more willing to explain their reasoning.

“Maltese is hated by many Maltese people because grammarians always came up with complicated rules of orthography which make a lot of sense to philologists but not to the man in the street,” argued Peter.

“These new rules continue in the same tradition. Nobody will follow these rules except students scared of failing exams, after which they would merrily forget all about them.”

Joe thought there was nothing wrong with words morphing into Maltese over time, citing the example of bonjour evolving into bonġu.

“But to wholesale retrofit English, and presumably other foreign-words in one fell swoop is small-minded, confusing and ridiculous,” he wrote.

Anthony wasn’t sure what the whole point was, arguing that “some other languages don’t have an academy to protect them and they’re doing fine”, while V. headed in the complete opposite direction and suggested the Kunsill Nazzjonali tal-Malti “could do worse than hold a national conference to discuss the Act and make changes”.

Good to see we’re all in agreement, then.

What they said

“As you all know, I am not a fan of ceremonies but there is one kind of ceremony that I always try to attend – graduations. I see parents with tears in their eyes as their children walk up to get their certificates – that is social mobility.”

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat speaking at the Naxxar Labour Party club.

“People ask why we keep talking about corruption; it is because the government continues to go on with corrupt practices.”

Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia speaking on NET FM.

“We have already shown that when we talk about major projects, we deliver. This is why we are credible when we talk about delivering this Malta-Gozo link.”

Transport Minister Ian Borg speaking during an open Cabinet meeting when he announced that a call for tenders for a tunnel linking Malta and Gozo will be issued in the next six months.

“We need to get over the myth that all Maltese understand English.”

University lecturer Michael Spagnol lamenting the fact that a number of ministries’ websites are not available in Maltese.

“Let us use the Singapore example. Try dropping rubbish there.”

Real estate entrepreneur Frank Salt, writing in the Times of Malta, urging foreign visitors to behave well and respect Malta.