Was that a spoof report in The Times today?
(…)
Speaking at the annual commemoration of Freedom Day in Vittoriosa, he called for the feminist vigour that characterised Malta in the 1970s to be reignited, reminding his audience that Malta had nominated a female head of state almost 30 years ago.
(…)
Songs and recitals retold the story; Dr Muscat lit the Freedom urn with a flame-lit torch. “We died for nothing, we died for foreigners,” Renato sang. Towards the back, a greying woman sprung to her feet in applause, her tear-moistened cheekbones taut with emotion.
How about if The Times told us WHY the Labour Party decided to mark 31 March a full eight days ahead? Is Joseph Muscat going on a cruise next week, or something?
As for that last paragraph, I would have thought it was a tongue-in-cheek send-up and a pretty good one, too, if I hadn’t known that this particular reporter started out writing pieces for the Labour Party’s website, Maltastar – but was obviously considered too literate for that particular stable.
Well, that took us by surprise. They're eight days early this year. Or is my watch too slow?
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After this early celebration of Freedom Day, I am a bit confused: when we turn the clock forward tonight, is it by 1 hour, or is it by 1 week?
We actually turn it back, Ciccio. By 33 years.
Mitna ta’ xejn indeed. If they’d died, they wouldn’t be here to sing about it, right? And very few Maltese died in the war anyway. Way lower than Russia as a fraction of the population. Or Australia. Isn’t it the job of our historians to set the record straight? Or are they too busy perpetuating myths and writing flowery prose to the glory of the Repubblika ta’ Malta?
Also bear in mind that most Laburisti believe that Malta was dragged into the war ‘tort tal’Inglizi’ .
This reasoning totally negates our islands’ strategic position whilst ignoring the fact that if we were under a Fascist or Nazi boot being shipped of to a work camp or worse was the norm.
I do not agree with you on this point. Maltese died during the war and as all historians agree it was the most bombed area during the war.
On the other hand the 31st of March was only an extension of the British presence in Malta. Independence was achieved in 1964 and Malta was a Republic in 1974 but Mintoff never accepted that Dr Borg Olivier got Independence of Malta not him and thus he invented a day to seem as he is the saviour of Malta.
Please note several countries were independent and had foreign bases, first of all Italy where the US 6 th fleet was bases and Cyprus still to date.
Are they going to resurrect “Gisimna”?
They tried with Mary Spiteri.
M’hemmx cheating bil-viagra OK?
Progress in fast forward.
As a matter of principle I do not comment negatively on dead people.
Consequently I have nothing to say about this feminist vigour and about Malta’s first woman president.
As for Renato’s “we died for foreigners”.
Crap. Pure unadulterated crap.
As is to be expected. He does not know any better.
He wouldn’t have a clue what our forebears died for would he ?
No he wouldn’t.
Nor do all those hundreds of thousands who think that a sepulchre is a suppositorju and that Winnie was the President of the United States of America.
There is absolutely nothing you can do about it.
Mohhom sa hemm jasal.
Could it be that it finally dawned on the brains at the Labour HQ that all reporting regarding the Jum il-Helsien celebrations is always done on April Fool’s Day?
In all probability, Lady Michelle (with her rosary beads in hand) and her poodle will be attending the procession of Duluri next Friday night, 30th March 2012. They need to impress their voters how devouted they are.
[Daphne – Our Lady of Sorrows is on the 30th, not the 31st.]
That is exactly it, Daphne. I thought that the feast of the 31st March is celebrated on eve of the 30th March, which as you have confirmed is Our Lady of Sorrows. Or am I missing or mixing up something here!
Maybe she’s booked onto the Agius Decelis tour of the seven churches. That is where she will impress most, visiting seven locations and afterwards stopping for black coffee.
Daphne, you’re right. But the PL celebrate the eve of the feast (Freedom Day) on the night of the 30th.
This year, it clashed with Our Lady of Sorrows.
Our Lady of Sorrows is on the 30th but political parties’ celebrations are always held on the eve of the actual commemoration day due to the fact that it is the State which marks the day on the actual day.
Besides, the Freedom Day Regatta is held on the 31st so the “presepju-lighting” celebration would coincide with the Regatta and hence, it is celebrated the day before. So, most probably, the celebration was held on the 23rd for it not to jar with the Our Lady of Sorrows processions being held in Birgu at the same time.
Now a more interesting question would be: why a full week ahead? Why not the 29th, for example? Let’s see who will attend the State celebration on the 31st instead of the Great Leader.
Yes Daphne, but isn’t it usually ‘celebrated’ on the eve?
[Daphne – God knows why. There are two points to be made here: this is the party that bangs on about separation of church and state but then postpones its secular celebration because of a religious occasion; 2. if you usually celebrate it on the eve but don’t want to do so because of a religious day, then common sense dictates you celebrate it on the day itself, not eight days ahead. Hence my suspicion that the Muscats are off on some private jaunt that weekend.]
The OFFICIAL excuse is that they did not want the joy and jubilation of the occasion to interfere with the devotions of Our Lady Of Sorrows.
[Daphne – Our Lady of Sorrows falls on the EVE, not the day itself.]
If he wants to see a woman PM, Muscat should resign and let M’Louise Coleiro Preca take over the leadership. After all, she was also a candidate for the MLP leadership.
Unless he wants to appoint his wife or one o fthe twins as his successor, to keep up with the Muscat dynasty, similar to a typical third world succession practice.
Does that mean that if Gonzi makes way for say, Paula Mifsud Bonnici to be the leader of the PN, then even the LP will be voting for her? With Franco ready to work with anyone except Gonzi, LP voting for the woman candidate, she would be voted in power unanimously.
Was the reporter a substitute for Sabrina?
The only thing which comes to mind on this holiday is that there were TWO official anthems, one of them by Mikis Theodorakis who was commissioned by the then Minister of culture Agatha Barbara and the other by a Maltese music composer whom I forgot.
I recall the underground verse on Mikis Theodorakis’s tune “Viva l-vaganza ta’ Jum il-Helsien!” , this was not the official verse by Karmenu Vassalo. “Hymn to Malta” was recorded by the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra directed by Herbert von Karajan.
We heard this hymn for days on end while the announcer on Radju Malta would say “Il-haddiema tat-tarzna qed joffru gurnata xoghol taghhom lil Malta Hielsa fl-okkazjoni ta’ Jum il-Helsien…”
The other thing which I vividly recall was Gaddafi dressed in a white army uniform holding his hands together high while being escorted by women soldiers armed with machine guns.
Some six months later he sent two gun boats ordering Saipem Due to stop drilling for oil on Malta’s continental shelf. Sometimes I suspect that it was all a mise-en-scène between Mintoff and Gaddafi.
There I was, thinking Easter was next Sunday, and how time flies.
‘Freedom urn’, indeed.
A celebration for failing to reach an agreement with Britain?
Mintoff would have extended the then existing agreement ‘for the right (his) price’.
What kind of principle is that?
In their inimitable fashion, the Labour Party celebrates its own failures.
Freedom from Britain, but slaves to N Korea, China, and Muammar Gaddafi.
Does nobody support the Nationalist Party anymore, or have those who do just given up sending in comments to timesofmalta.com? The comments board there has become similar to that of Malta Today.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120325/local/muscat-is-making-savage-promises-to-everyone.412676
It’s difficult to have a comment uploaded on timesofmalta.com. My success rate is of about 30%.
Many of the pro-Labour comments are sent by the same persons using false names; there a Joey Tribbiani, for example.
Another hissy fit from Joseph. If he champions women so much why doesn’t he appoint a woman as one of his deputies instead of those two dinosaurs?
The British government refused to renew their military basis because Mintoff was asking a high price. The British wisely concluded that their strategic need to stay in Malta was no longer needed so they decided to move out.
Mintoff decided to turn a humiliating negotiating defeat into a national holiday called Freedom Day and half of Malta swallowed his gimmick like a hungry marlin.
Ironically, it was Mintoff’s rule that deprived them freedom to read the newspaper of the Opposition without fear, to listen to the Opposition leader on national TV and to speak freely against Mintoff’s regime.
Surely Our Lady of Sorrows was actually celebrated on the 23rd? Why, I even heard the congregation singing “mietna ta’ xejn.”
Daphne, you should read this: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120330/local/yana-mintoff-hits-out-at-film-about-her-father.413383