Bernard Grech

Bernard Grech is a quiet, unassuming man endowed with what I perceive as the right values and vision. He's an articulate straighttalker and a doer.

Great potential lies concealed beneath his serene and gentle manner. He seems to me to be the embodiment of the phrase, “Still waters run deep.”

Just like his singing. Who would guess that hidden behind Dr Grech’s equable demeanour one can find such a passionate singer? I actually particularly like that Dr Grech has cultivated singing as a hobby. He has an undoubtedly pleasant voice and is at ease with himself and his abilities – he even sang in a promotional video with tenor Joseph Calleja! So Dr Grech can sing, knows he can sing, and not only does he enjoy his hobby but also shares it with his son! Extrapolate and you get the picture of a man who has what it takes to lead the country.

The polls suggest that Dr Grech has struck a chord with PN supporters, and beyond. Apparently, and unfortunately for him, the incumbent enjoys the support of only 17% of PN supporters surveyed. Adrian Delia has already given much – perhaps even too much – to party and country. He would certainly be perceived as doing the honourable thing if he were to bow to what the surveys are indicating and urge his followers to support Dr Grech. A drawn-out leadership campaign can only further enfeeble an Opposition that needs to grow strong.

Robert the Covid

The Scots have Robert the Bruce (a national hero); we, Robert the Covid (a national hero?). Scotland’s Robert assured military victory for his homeland; Malta’s Robert is assuring victory for Covid-19.

Dr Abela is making a dog’s dinner of public health. Why is he allowing reckless greed to shout down words of wisdom? One country after another‘s taking measures to close down travelling to and from Malta as a direct consequence of silly decisions taken by the weak Abela administration. Were these decisions taken in the national interest and for the common good?

It‘s true that Robert Abela had the unenviable task of trying to strike a balance between the economy and public health. Many thought it was just a matter of putting more weights on one pan and less on the other until the balance was struck. But instead of delicately adding or removing weights, former weightlifter Abela loaded too many weights and managed to break the balance!

Now we‘re witnessing a renewed health problem and a concurrent economic problem, with incoming tourism declining by the hour. Kudos Dr Abela! X’ċuċ hu Albert Einstein!

Greed and stupidity are the virus’ most valuable allies. Dr Abela should forget votes, and think of lives.

All said and done, the country would’ve been better off with Chris Fearne as Prime Minister.

Guido de Marco

Ten years ago, a Maltese luminary passed away: Guido de Marco. Many knew him mostly because he was a politician; I knew him as our criminal law professor. In 2011, during a conference at the Milan State University, an Italian professor I was sitting next to couldn’t stop talking highly of him – she had met him during a conference on the Maltese Criminal Code held in Venice in 2003/04, and he had utterly impressed her with his intellectual vim and vast culture.

I remember him fondly not just because he penned the Introduction for one of my books, but for other reasons too. He didn‘t teach us students the wording of the law, but how to think. His approach was so no-nonsense it gave the impression of intimidation. But, in reality, beneath that veneer lay immense warmth. Guido de Marco was one of the few people who would pay you a sincere compliment. In this world of malevolence, as Jordan Peterson loves referring to it, a sincere appraisal of one’s potential when one‘s still young has inestimable value. Professor de Marco was a smart man, brimming with courage and wisdom: a rare combination.

When my father was in Alfred Sant’s political secretariat, they had travelled somewhere on official business, and Guido de Marco (and possibly somebody else) had travelled with them on behalf of the Opposition. When they returned, Prime Minister Sant made his people pass through the normal channels, whereas Guido de Marco passed through the VIP channel. My father felt compelled to tell me about this incident and to observe that “The Nationalists have a sense of State.”

Maltese Quirks - 3 Part 1

Somebody who signs off as “V

Zammit” left a comment beneath the online version of my last article: “On ‘Maltese Quirks’, Dr Sammut is advancing the prescriptive method at the expense of the descriptive.“

This reader‘s right. I‘m happy that somebody pointed out that I subscribe to the prescriptive school of thought. I do so because of one practical consideration. Why should the opinion of the uneducated be given more weight than that of the educated in matters of knowledge unrelated to wisdom?

That said, I‘m fully aware that the rain of non-knowledge will ultimately break the levee of knowledge, and, to borrow the words of that beautiful Led Zeppelin song, “If it keeps on rainin’, levee’s goin’ to break/ When the levee breaks I’ll have no place to stay”. I might be fighting a lost battle.

To go back to the prescriptive

v. descriptive debate, I’m generally for the prescriptive approach, even though I do hear what the people say, and do take note. Only a few days ago I heard a government employee use the phrase “bniedem Serbjan“. I would have prescribed “Serb“(without the redundant “bniedem“) but I‘m aware that some people say

“Serbjan“. I still try to keep the levee from breaking, even though it keeps on raining. I’m hoping that by the time the levee breaks and I’ll have no place to stay, I’ll be dead. In the long run, aren’t we all dead?

Mors omnia solvit.

So I thank “V Zammit” for the intelligent comment. This same reader then invited me to express an opinion on the phrase

“rilaxxament ta’ miżuri“, apparently used by Charmaine Gauci. “V Zammit” argued – prescriptively – that “rilaxxament“doesn‘t exist and should be “rilassament“. My reaction‘s that

rilasciamento exists in Italian, so why shouldn’t it be imported into Maltese? If we were to adopt a non-relaxed approach to this concept, we‘d opt for Dun Karm’s translation of “relaxation“: “reħja“. But I won‘t argue that Professor Gauci should use “reħja“instead of “rilaxxament“.

Part 2

There are public officers whose duty is to fight crime, but their vehicles don’t have “Crime” on their doors. Similarly, there are officers whose job‘s to fight illness, but there’s no “Illness” on their vehicles; and there are officers whose function‘s to fight the consequences of disasters, but their vehicles don’t say “Disaster”. And yet, there are officers whose mission is to fight fire, and their vehicles have “Fire” written on them!

Frankly, I’m bemused. Police vehicles have Pulizija, ambulances Ambulanza, civil protection Protezzjoni Ċivili, but firefighter vehicles have Fire! Why? Why not Pompiera?

That this country is seemingly driven by utter incoherence drives one up the wall.