this poem was graciously sent to us by Alfred Magri.
Din id-darba Alternattiva
se nivvota kif nixtieq.
Mhux lin-nies li gà bieghuna
li jaghtuna biss bis-sieq.
Mhux se nitfa l-vot fil-kaxxa
biex igawdu l-ftit ta’ gewwa.
Se nivvota Alternattiva
ghax kapaci w jghidu s-sewwa
Mhux se ntih lill-kuntratturi
mhux se npaxxi l-kaccaturi
mhux se ncedi ’l dawk li saqu
qishom gaffa minn fuq rasi
mhux se ntih ’il min ga staghna
minn fuq dahar it-taxxi taghna
mhux se ntih lic-caqnijiet
biex nitmermer hawn fis-skiet.
Jien dad-dritt mhux se ncedih.
Dan il-vot mhux se nahlih.
Ma nibzax minn popli ohra
mit-twemmin u mill-kulur
Imma nibza’ mir-razzizmu,
mill-mibgħeda, mit-terrur
Ma nibzax mid-differenzi
il-bnedmin hekk maghmulin.
Ahna kollha lwien f’qawsalla
li jixghelu lil xulxin.
Jien did-darba rrid il-bidla
mhux politka tat-tpacpic
mhux min jiflah tih ha jhawwel
go dar-renju tat-tghaffig.
Dal-vot tieghi, xejn hlief tieghi,
u se naghmel bih li rrid.
Tghid mhux se naghtih lill-klikka
li staghniet ghax tal-partit?!
Tista’ toqghod hemm titbissem,
Tista’ tidhaq, int, kemm trid...
Se nivvota Alternattiva
biex ghal darba nghid li rrid.
Jien irrid partit li jahdem
biex dal-bini ma jkomplix
biex din l-arja tkun nadifa
biex l-iskart ma jordomnix.
Biex inharsu dil-kampanja
Biex fis-sema nara t-tajr
biex il-bahar ma jkunx mandra...
Dal-partit, avolja zghir,
ghandu l-hila, l-konvinzjoni
ghandu l-gazz, ghandu l-vizjoni.
Din id-darba Alternattiva:
Tghid li trid it-Times li ghandna.
Jghid li jrid xi Fr. Peter,
hawn eluf li xebghu bhalna.
Mhux se nahli l-vot did-darba
fuq xi kiesah b’mohh ta’ bott
fuq xi hadd li bena Malta
fuq xi pampalun korrott
fuq mudell ta’ l-arroganza
fuq min ligi mhemmx ghalih
fuq min jhedded u jitpastaz -
jien dal-vot mhux se nahlih
Din id-darba Alternattiva
ghazla bhalhom zgur li mhemmx.
Din id-darba Alternattiva
forsi fl-ahhar titla ix-xemx!
ALFRED MAGRI
Saturday 16 February 2008
Sunday 10 February 2008
e-Politics
A neighbour stopped her car by the kerb to ask me to explain an sms message on her mobile. The government has informed her that unemployment benefits would be credited to her account. Her question was: “How do they know my number? How do they know my account number?”
Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, the government’s ability to please you personally on the eve of an election knows no bounds. My advice to my neighbour was to make hay while the sun shines. It was in sharp contrast to a widow who has been denied her widow’s pension because her husband and she arranged for a separation of acquest before he died.
The Director of Social Services deemed the marriage at an end even though the couple did not separate, did not have a judicial separation and in fact lived happily together until death did them part. The widow was obliged to contest the DSS decision in the appropriate tribunal for several years until she was proved right. The DSS has still not paid her a cent many months later. Perhaps this is the season for her to return to the assault.
Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, the government’s ability to please you personally on the eve of an election knows no bounds. My advice to my neighbour was to make hay while the sun shines. It was in sharp contrast to a widow who has been denied her widow’s pension because her husband and she arranged for a separation of acquest before he died.
The Director of Social Services deemed the marriage at an end even though the couple did not separate, did not have a judicial separation and in fact lived happily together until death did them part. The widow was obliged to contest the DSS decision in the appropriate tribunal for several years until she was proved right. The DSS has still not paid her a cent many months later. Perhaps this is the season for her to return to the assault.
Saturday 9 February 2008
Friends and Neighbours
Mrs M smiled serenely as we settled down in her front room. It was an election house call and she knew it. Her smile broadened as she said: “I must let you know that I am very happy with the government’s performance”
I smiled back. “In that case I will not disturb your evident happiness” I said. “Since you are so happy with the PN, I assume that you are keen to avoid a Labour government and in that case, may I point out that you would do well to give AD your last preference vote. If things pan out in the way they did in the 2004 EP elections AD will be left to compete against the MLP when the last PN candidate is eliminated. In that case you may want your very last preference to come to bear in favour of AD against the MLP and not waste your last vote completely as happened with the PN surplus in 2004.”
“But what if the last two candidates left in the running are PN and MLP?” she asked. “What happens to my vote?”
“In that case the AD candidate will never get your vote and you will have done your best for your party” I replied. “Will you consider giving AD your last vote?”
“Yes, certainly. Once I have voted for all my party’s candidates I could not use it better” Mrs M smiled again.
It was a very pleasant exchange. I do not feel that Mrs M is an adversary and I sincerely do not want to disturb her happiness. It seems so very rare. In almost a year of canvassing I have never heard anyone justify their support of the PN in such terms. It is usually a lesser evil decision. Nobody else claimed to be so satisfied with the government’s performance.
I left her house with a broad smile. The votes that will take any AD candidate to parliament will come from people like her and I am comfortable about being answerable to her. Many Labour voters will do precisely the same and that is a unique feeling.
Clearly the bulk of our support has to be in first preference votes but No 2 and later preferences are also essential. The thought that they will come from both sides of the political divide means that we are a meeting point in Maltese politics, a precious place. If we are not the bridge between Labour and PN, we are the hope of finding the foundations for such a bridge sometime in the future.
While the panic and tensions of an election campaign mount around us, Mrs M and I smile serenely. We are friends and neighbours. We always will be.
I smiled back. “In that case I will not disturb your evident happiness” I said. “Since you are so happy with the PN, I assume that you are keen to avoid a Labour government and in that case, may I point out that you would do well to give AD your last preference vote. If things pan out in the way they did in the 2004 EP elections AD will be left to compete against the MLP when the last PN candidate is eliminated. In that case you may want your very last preference to come to bear in favour of AD against the MLP and not waste your last vote completely as happened with the PN surplus in 2004.”
“But what if the last two candidates left in the running are PN and MLP?” she asked. “What happens to my vote?”
“In that case the AD candidate will never get your vote and you will have done your best for your party” I replied. “Will you consider giving AD your last vote?”
“Yes, certainly. Once I have voted for all my party’s candidates I could not use it better” Mrs M smiled again.
It was a very pleasant exchange. I do not feel that Mrs M is an adversary and I sincerely do not want to disturb her happiness. It seems so very rare. In almost a year of canvassing I have never heard anyone justify their support of the PN in such terms. It is usually a lesser evil decision. Nobody else claimed to be so satisfied with the government’s performance.
I left her house with a broad smile. The votes that will take any AD candidate to parliament will come from people like her and I am comfortable about being answerable to her. Many Labour voters will do precisely the same and that is a unique feeling.
Clearly the bulk of our support has to be in first preference votes but No 2 and later preferences are also essential. The thought that they will come from both sides of the political divide means that we are a meeting point in Maltese politics, a precious place. If we are not the bridge between Labour and PN, we are the hope of finding the foundations for such a bridge sometime in the future.
While the panic and tensions of an election campaign mount around us, Mrs M and I smile serenely. We are friends and neighbours. We always will be.
Friday 8 February 2008
Hello
Every civil servant in the country has received a personal letter from the Prime Minister thanking him or her for his or her splendid service in the last five years. The achievements of the Civil Service were duly listed and ascribed to their devotion to duty. It sounds wonderful.
The recipients are well aware that between election campaigns this government has acted enthusiastically on the policy of shedding everything run by government employees. Privatisation is a religion. We have privatized the Lotto Department for reasons as yet unexplained. At every point PN Ministers have justified their dedication to the privatize-at-all-costs religion by claiming that the civil service is inefficient costly and slow. I wish they would make their minds up.
Mr C retired from the Civil Service two years ago after giving 42 years service. From the lowest clerical grade to the top of his profession and through an amazing array of difficulties he evidently served his masters to their satisfaction. On his last day at work he cleared his desk, as Head of Department and went home. No Minister called him upstairs for a drink, there was no souvenir watch to take with him for long and faithful service. Nothing at all. No private employer, not the worst possible would see of an employee of 42 years standing so despicably.
Prime Minister Gonzi’s state paid election publicity may not be as effective as he hopes.
The recipients are well aware that between election campaigns this government has acted enthusiastically on the policy of shedding everything run by government employees. Privatisation is a religion. We have privatized the Lotto Department for reasons as yet unexplained. At every point PN Ministers have justified their dedication to the privatize-at-all-costs religion by claiming that the civil service is inefficient costly and slow. I wish they would make their minds up.
Mr C retired from the Civil Service two years ago after giving 42 years service. From the lowest clerical grade to the top of his profession and through an amazing array of difficulties he evidently served his masters to their satisfaction. On his last day at work he cleared his desk, as Head of Department and went home. No Minister called him upstairs for a drink, there was no souvenir watch to take with him for long and faithful service. Nothing at all. No private employer, not the worst possible would see of an employee of 42 years standing so despicably.
Prime Minister Gonzi’s state paid election publicity may not be as effective as he hopes.
Thursday 7 February 2008
In Two Minds
The PN campaign song about togetherness is almost frightening. It is not about being together with others but about being together alone. To promote a single party government as togetherness is the height of exclusion. It is the ultimate expression of our political duality.
To those singing and to those to whom the song is addressed the limits of the universe stand within the PN. It is the only way that they can romanticise togetherness in the middle of a bitter contest for power against their adversaries whom they claim to despise.
It makes my hair stand on end to hear it. Now I have had my fill of political propaganda these last 18 years. I feel that I have heard it all before. I am a jaded politician myself but this form of “togetherness” gives me the creeps.
It is exactly the opposite of togetherness. It is the inward looking political pathology that makes a political party sufficient unto itself, detached from the rest of the country in which it operates. No doubt the Labour party suffers from the same syndrome. I have constant experience of two realities in the same space existing quite separately from one another.
If all your friends are blue or all your friends are red, you may already have fallen victim to it. You are at least exposed to it. Thankfully most people and particularly young people have developed immunity for political dualism. They are able to change their minds and are proud of the fact. They resent being politically labeled and their friends are their friends, period. They are the future.
For healthy people togetherness implies being with others and not a concentration of the like minded to the exclusion of all others. Today people enjoy diversity and they can cope with it easily. They can support a party on one issue and its adversary on another. They can turn up at a protest without promising their eternal political soul to the organizers. They can keep all political parties on their toes.
In the bad old days Labour Ministers stood on trucks in their singlets and shouted: “All we have is for Labourites, what remains is for Labourites and if Nationalists want a share they must become Labourites” Exclusion politics fully expressed. Nobody could be so brutal today. Instead we have a song about togetherness, a togetherness that excludes instead of embracing diversity.
The only thing that scares me more is that the people promoting and enjoying this “togetherness” have no insight of their political pathology. So what else is new?
To those singing and to those to whom the song is addressed the limits of the universe stand within the PN. It is the only way that they can romanticise togetherness in the middle of a bitter contest for power against their adversaries whom they claim to despise.
It makes my hair stand on end to hear it. Now I have had my fill of political propaganda these last 18 years. I feel that I have heard it all before. I am a jaded politician myself but this form of “togetherness” gives me the creeps.
It is exactly the opposite of togetherness. It is the inward looking political pathology that makes a political party sufficient unto itself, detached from the rest of the country in which it operates. No doubt the Labour party suffers from the same syndrome. I have constant experience of two realities in the same space existing quite separately from one another.
If all your friends are blue or all your friends are red, you may already have fallen victim to it. You are at least exposed to it. Thankfully most people and particularly young people have developed immunity for political dualism. They are able to change their minds and are proud of the fact. They resent being politically labeled and their friends are their friends, period. They are the future.
For healthy people togetherness implies being with others and not a concentration of the like minded to the exclusion of all others. Today people enjoy diversity and they can cope with it easily. They can support a party on one issue and its adversary on another. They can turn up at a protest without promising their eternal political soul to the organizers. They can keep all political parties on their toes.
In the bad old days Labour Ministers stood on trucks in their singlets and shouted: “All we have is for Labourites, what remains is for Labourites and if Nationalists want a share they must become Labourites” Exclusion politics fully expressed. Nobody could be so brutal today. Instead we have a song about togetherness, a togetherness that excludes instead of embracing diversity.
The only thing that scares me more is that the people promoting and enjoying this “togetherness” have no insight of their political pathology. So what else is new?
Wednesday 6 February 2008
A Million (Wo)Man Years
In a study carried out across the EU it is estimated that it will take a million (wo)man years to achieve compliance with the new regulations on the energy efficiency of properties. It means jobs and work for whoever wants it. It means money and money well spent on salaries and materials which insulate not only against heat and cold but also against the rising cost of energy.
Malta also has its share. It also has much, much more. With over 192,000 properties 40% of which require significant repairs, how many man or woman years would it take to get them up to scratch? It is not my field to make such estimates but just one look around me tells me that nobody in the construction industry will ever be out of a job if we ever get going.
It is clearly our future. With a surplus of 53,000 properties which can never be occupied because we would not be able to withstand the influx of 100,000 and never be able to supply them with basic water and electricity services, new building is bound to be reduced to an absolute minimum in the very near future.
Ironically the shift from new construction to maintenance and restoration was the express policy of a Nationalist Minister: Michael Falzon in 1988. Nothing serious was ever done about it. We continued to expand greenfield take up right up to the bizarre extension of development zones in 2006. Or was this the plan, to drive the country far over sustainable limits until the shift to restoration and maintenance becomes inevitable? What a way to govern a country?
Saturday 2 February 2008
A Quick Word
This morning I was stopped by a stranger while going about my business in Valletta. He wanted to thank the Greens for the service we give the country. In 18 years nobody has been so clear. It took me completely by surprise.
I was busy. My mind was far from politics. It was almost a shock to be told in one or two short sentences that somebody has understood not only our message but also our motivation. It is usually “I like the way you talk” or “You have it right on this or that issue”. This was a “Thank you” and not on any particular or personal service.
What this stranger cannot possibly understand is that it is his encouragement that keeps us going. Let’s face it: if one is in politics for gratitude perhaps a visit to a shrink is called for. We do not expect gratitude for doing what we consider to be everybody’s duty.
Precisely because we do not ask for it, an expression of appreciation is embarrassingly welcome. More than that there is the joy of meeting minds, the mutual recognition of people who have gone beyond the fear and mental blackmail of the two-party dilemma.
That laconic “Thank you” spoke volumes about the need for change, a change of system and not merely an alternation of one-party governments. There was no need for lengthy explanations.
I was busy. My mind was far from politics. It was almost a shock to be told in one or two short sentences that somebody has understood not only our message but also our motivation. It is usually “I like the way you talk” or “You have it right on this or that issue”. This was a “Thank you” and not on any particular or personal service.
What this stranger cannot possibly understand is that it is his encouragement that keeps us going. Let’s face it: if one is in politics for gratitude perhaps a visit to a shrink is called for. We do not expect gratitude for doing what we consider to be everybody’s duty.
Precisely because we do not ask for it, an expression of appreciation is embarrassingly welcome. More than that there is the joy of meeting minds, the mutual recognition of people who have gone beyond the fear and mental blackmail of the two-party dilemma.
That laconic “Thank you” spoke volumes about the need for change, a change of system and not merely an alternation of one-party governments. There was no need for lengthy explanations.
Friday 1 February 2008
Leave All Hope Behind
The most commented news item on the Times website in the past week was the report of a female traffic warden cleared of a charge of posing naked in public. The comments reveal that some of us are not as batty as our legal system. All of them pour scorn on this prosecution.
It all adds spice to our next traffic fine since we can now speculate that we are being penalized by a wannabe porn star. Withholding her name from publication only adds mystery and possibly infuriates more of her colleagues who may not be as inclined to display their birthday suits.
Pity that my latest day in court was not so amusing. I was there on a rare visit as counsel to a witness in a prosecution of a bar owner for playing infernally loud music in the small hours of the morning. It meant that I heard all other loud music cases bundled together for that morning’s sitting.
It was a rout for the prosecution. In every case a Malta Tourism Authority official swore that according to the license conditions in his file these people had no permit to disturb the neighbourhood. The Police also raised the general rule against loud noises after 11.00 pm. Then defence raised the issue of the original licenses issued by the police a record of which may not have been transferred to the MTA. A minute doubt was sown that these establishments may somehow have been given a permit sometime in the past.
They were all acquitted. It seemed like nonsense to me. The court made monkeys of the police. The neighbours who had plucked up courage to report the Mafiosi who run these joints had been thrown out of court more naked than our beloved warden. Will they ever try again? Will the police waste their time again?
The court claims to be powerless. The police are impotent and the site neighbours are mocked by the system. Some clever dick somewhere has figured a way to sabotage almost any prosecution by ensuring that the MTA records cannot be certified as complete. In this way the system appears to work or grind its way slowly forward through reports at police stations and appearances in court but in fact nothing will ever be done to address neighbours’ complaints. The mysterious operator of the system has figured out a way to give everybody a non-answer and to keep the Mafiosi more than satisfied.
My client has made the mistake of buying a flat for Lm85,000 over the neighbours from hell. There is no way out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
