Dispatches from the Other Malta

Published: July 19, 2014 at 1:01pm

Mur ara x’jifhem f’Valletta 2018. You can send these people back 200 years in a time-tunnel and they wouldn’t notice anything different except the absence of Facebook.

And I’m supposed to accept being told that I have more in common with people like this than I do with barranin because we’re both Maltese and the barranin aren’t.

Injorant pessmu. He travels to China, takes a million photographs to upload on Facebook to show off, and comes right back still thinking that his statwa tal-festa tar-rahal is the centre of the universe.

There is no hope and no cure.

natius farrugia




62 Comments Comment

  1. anthony says:

    Oh, well.

    • el bandido guapo says:

      Unfortunately that’s not the “other” Malta. That is Malta. The “other” Malta comprises you, me, and most of the folk commenting on this blog.

  2. D.G. says:

    The same old Natius once again. It’s not enough that he doesn’t give a hoot about holding the supposed impartial position of town mayor, but he goes beyond by posting a hard-to-decipher message followed by a string of grammatical errors.

  3. Frans Cassar says:

    And I’m supposed to accept being told that I have more in common with people like this than I do with barranin because we’re both from Zurrieq and Maltese and the barranin aren’t.

    There is no hope for me and my home village. To make things awfully worse now we are stuck with this nonsense for so many years since the local elections were cancelled in the name of democracy.

    Once again thanks for 36,000 plus who made all this crap possible.

    • Last Post says:

      La qed nikkummentaw fuq il-festi ta’ min ifakkar li wara l-kwistjoni politiko-religjuza tas-60-ijiet, meta l-organizzazzjoni tal-festi fl-irhula kienet ghadha taht il-kontroll tal-Knisja, l-entuzjazmu ghall-festi kien beda jonqos.

      Wara l-Indipendenza (fi zmien Borg Olivier) bdiet l-industrijalizzazzjoni (bil-fabriki tal-manifattura) u beda jikber it-turizmu u dawn komplew inaqqsu l-importanza tar-rahal fost iz-zghazagh u b’mod indirett kompla jmewwet l-entuzjazmu ghall-festi.

      Meta tela’ Mintoff (1971) kien hemm Guze’ Cassar tal-Qrendi Ministru tal-Intern. Dan kien gej mill-kazin tal-festa sekondarja (jidhirli ta’ Lourdes) u f’konfront dirett mal-Kurja kien qal: “Gewwa tieghek (ghall-knisja) u barra tieghi (ghall-festi ta’ barra).”

      Bejn il-qaghda socjali w ekonomika (bil-holqien tal-korpi tax-xoghol, wiehed wara l-iehor) u bejn il-pika politika qalila li kien qajjem Mintoff, il-festi sekondarji rabbew l-arja u bdew jippikaw fil-festi ta’ barra mal-kazin tal-festa principali. Dawn tal-ahhar ma setghux jibqghu lura, u hekk ghadna sal-lum bil-hamallagni u l-piki stupidi u puwerili specjalment matul il-gimgha tal-festi.

      Dan smajtu minghand xi hadd dilettant tal-festi u li ghandu zmien bizzejjed biex jiftakar dawn l-affarijiet.

      It-taghlima li niehu jien hi li bil-Lejber (kemm mill-Gvern u anke mill-Oppozizzjoni) stenna mgieba u pozizzjonijiet bhal ta’ Nejxus li issa li ‘ghandhom il-power’ ma jiddejqux juru x’kulur hu demmhom anke jekk b’li jghidu u jaghmlu jurtaw lill-partitarji ‘tan-naha l-ohra’.

      Fejn hemm l-injuranza u l-hamallagni hemm ghandek issib ukoll il-pika u l-inkejja — mhux biss fuq livell politiku (li xorta m’ghandux ikun fost poplu civilizzat) imma wkoll fuq livell lokali ta’ rahal jew belt (li mbaghad jaqa’ fir-ridikolagni u l-istupidita’).

  4. Nathalie says:

    This country is more than ever run by ignorance and arrogance. The stupider one is the higher ranking I so called society he/she becomes.than we speak of culture. I ask myself which culture are we talking about,exactly?

  5. Sister Ray says:

    Shame it’s not set in poetic verse. For next time http://silentreed.hubpages.com/hub/4-steps-toward-writing-good-poetry

  6. Jozef says:

    If I may, that is not the statwa tal-festa tar-rahal.

    There is such a thing as class division there as well. Natius belongs to the club which just has to keep up with the established parish.

    The same club notorious for causing violent incidents even inside the church simply because they expect to be handed the parish. Priests beaten up during the procession, not kidding.

    Ask Natius and he’ll insist Zurrieq has two ‘festi’. Calling it sekondarja mhix fier. Or mhux sewwa.

    Guess which political party infiltrated all the sekondarji and encouraged pique.

    Usually the ones whose armar is always gaudier and short of the falso. Overdone to compensate.

    • John Schembri says:

      It was Guze’ Cassar who gave the right to anyone to organise a feast.

      Żurrieq Parish has two feasts , one is of the patron saint :Saint Catherine and the other is of Our lady of Mount Carmel , not to mention Saint Roque and Saint Joseph.
      I have a love/hate relationship with these two feasts.

      I find the statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel with that sad expression on her face very “down to earth”. It was sculpted in the same period Salvu Psaila’s wife died.
      I find the serpent shaped statue of Saint Catherine with that very long neck and no chin, ugly.

      I hate the blocking of the roads by both band clubs to decorate half of the village plus the village core.In July the Nigret area is in a state of siege while after Santa Marija the Xarolla area gets it’s turn to be besieged. During the week before the feast , don’t even think of going in the village core with your car.

      I hate the disorganisation of the bus “service” during the festa weeks.Sometimes people are sent near Iż-Zummar and at other times they are sent to Tal-Bebbux to pick up a bus.

      Fireworks: all year round it’s “testing time”, it’s not the first time that I hear a petard being let off from my neighborhood.

      I hate the prepotence of the fireworks and street decoration organisers who drive up the street wrong way and are treated as village heros.

      I like the band marches.

      I hate the festa Maltija organised by both clubs , it now turned into an ABBA tribute band concert organised by tal-Karmnu…unbelievable.

      I like to see both processions especially when the statues are in the village core or on the church parvis.

      I like the pealing of the bells .I live far from the church.

      I hate those priests who give a hard time to the archpriests during festa time. One archpriest died because of this stupid attitude by priests who should know better.

      What will my reaction be if there’s no festa, I would miss meeting friends at the “pjazza” on that day.

    • manum says:

      @jozef

      I find your comment as partisan as much as najcis is. For your information, every Parish in Malta has a titular plus a secondary one. If you have any idea about ecclesiastical cerimonial the Cathedral celebrates 3 major feast as we say in ” prima classe”.

      Zurrieq like everyone else all over the world celebrates two major feasts. According to Canon law all feasts should be equal with the exception of Easter which is the highest form where the Church celebrates Victory over death.
      Najcis is a hamallu partisan of zurrieq but that does not qualify to your serious partisan allegations of trouble. From your comment you make it obvious that you are conveniently siding with the faultless St Catherine Band Club, who like the lejber party think that they are the very best in everything and who do everything in their power to block anyone who opposes them against all human rights.
      The Confraternity of Our Lady of Mount Carmel has nothing to do with najcis. He is the mayor elected on the lejber party ticket and if the other band club has an issue all they can do is complain to the prime minister.

  7. ciccio says:

    Meanwhile, in dispatches of 6 June from TradeWinds, a highly respected Norwegian newspaper specialising in global shipping industry news, we learn (slightly late now) that:

    “The project’s start-up schedule, however, appears to have slipped back from September 2015 to March 2016.” – with reference to the Malta LNG project.

    TradeWinds, 6 June 2014 (By Lucy Hine, London):

    “LNG carrier earmarked for Malta FSU job”

    http://www.tradewindsnews.com/weekly/338783/lng-carrier-earmarked-for-malta-fsu-job

    “An LNG carrier has been selected to serve as a floating storage unit (FSU) for the Gasol-led import project being developed for Malta.

    Details of the vessel chosen have yet to emerge but a spokesman for one of the project shareholders confirms one has been secured.

    An official for project partner Socar Trading, which has been handling the search for and chartering of an LNG carrier, did not respond to a request for comment.

    Previously, Gasol has indicated the project requires a vessel of around 125,000 cbm, which will be chartered in for an 18-year period.

    The project’s start-up schedule, however, appears to have slipped back from September 2015 to March 2016.

    ElectroGas Malta, comprising Gasol, Socar Trading, Siemens Projects Ventures and Maltese outfit GEM Holdings, was selected by Maltese state power utility Ene­malta as the preferred bidder to arrange the supply and import of LNG to Malta for power generation.

    The partners will use an FSU docked off the east Maltese town of Delimara and an onshore regasification plant of 55 million cubic feet per day (MMcfd) to 60 MMcfd to supply Enemalta’s existing 149-megawatt (MW) power plant, which the state outfit will convert to run on gas. In addition, the consortium partners will build and supply gas to a new 200MW independent generating facility.

    Elsewhere, Gasol says it has also moved forward on its floating LNG import project for Benin in West Africa, which will use either an FSU together with a barge or a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU). The company announced that it has inked a long-term gas-supply agreement with Ghana’s power-generating company, Volta River Authority. This follows the signing of a joint-venture agreement with Ghana National Gas Co to co-operate on the marketing of imported gas from Benin and to develop a pipeline or transport system to Ghana.

    Gasol says it now has sufficient agreements in place to progress the development of its Benin-headquartered LNG import and regasification facilities. Socar Trading is lined up to supply the initial LNG volumes.

    Replying to questions, Gasol, chief operatin officer Alan Buxton said he could not comment on the preferred floating solution for the project as negotiations are still underway. Buxton says the first gas delivery to Benin is currently targeted for the end of 2015.

    Time for another Times of Malta mission by Kurt Sansone…I can already see the headlines:

    “Everything is on track – we will hit the wall running – Minister of Energy, Ovaltine and Phenomenal Podologists”

    • ciccio says:

      If link does not work, copy part of article text in Google search box, and an active link to the article should come up.

      • dutchie says:

        Thanks for sharing this ciccio. Another reason for Muscat to postpone elections.

    • peppi ta' Izakka says:

      China, Azerbaijan, Benin, Ghana, Malta.. This is the club Joseph the liar has helped construct while on course to de-Europeanise our Maltese republic.

  8. Gee Dee says:

    What he is not telling us is how much he will insult and swear at his rivals ta’ Santa Katerina next Sunday.

  9. H.P. Baxxter says:

    I will touch a raw nerve here, but:

    Nafu li l-Madonna tal-Karmnu tbierek il-hamallagni, imma issa tbierek is-sodomija wkoll?

    • manum says:

      Erm I cant see the relevance of sodomy here, what really worries me, that during the whole feast , he will be carried shoulder high, and hurl insults to the opposing band club, as the mayor. I find it very improper.

      • H.P. Baxxter says:

        Perhaps I should explain the relevance. I too, like our Natius, believe and do things that are contrary to the wishes (one presumes) of the Madonna tal-Karmnu. I would vote in favour of the decriminalisation of abortion, for instance, which I know is an absolute no-no for Catholics.

        So I do my best to keep my praise for our Lord and his saints and mother private, and I refrain from asking for his blessing or that of his immediate family, because there is nothing worse in a man than the public display of glaring contradiction.

        A good dose of Calvinism is what Malta needs.

    • Josette says:

      I was actually wondering what she’d make of Natius and the feast celebrated supposedly in her honour.

    • anthony says:

      Il-Madonna tal-Karmnu Taghna Lkoll u taghmel dak li hemm bzonn.

    • Worried says:

      Il- Madonna la tbierek il-hamallagni u lanqas is-sodomija. Nies bhal dawn lanqas jafu x’inhu Alla. Ghax ghalihom il-festa ghamluha festa pagana.

      • michael seychell says:

        You are so right – these persons would generally blaspheme when mentioning the name of their saints when ‘praying’ before their statues.

  10. random says:

    Back to oil. An interesting article on oil exploration and the mess Joe Mizzi is making.

    http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-07-16/company-news/the-melancholy-of-another-dry-well-5860098048/

  11. Painter says:

    If one is raised with a typical tal-festa/tal-każin upbringing, nothing will change it, not even a trip to the other side of the world.

    You may take him out of Malta but you will never take the (other) Malta out of him.

    • peppi ta' Izakka says:

      One day all afflictions will be curable except for self-imposed stupidity. Many are happy to live their lives in such a state and would happily refuse all manner of cures preferring to live in ignorant bliss. Il marc tal-festa and il-kacca are their most important activities. No need to profile them, you can see them all over the island.

  12. David says:

    So should we abolish the religious village feasts?

  13. peppi ta' Izakka says:

    Go round Zurrieq and note the innumerable rubbish dumps piling up. There’s one in front of the Zurrieq Wolves sports club at the very beginning of Triq is-Sajjieda. This shows the level of ignorance of all those who feed these rubbish dumps and vote PL and Natius simultaneously.

    This particular rubbish dump is actually a private plot that was intended for development, many years ago before Mintoff’s time, with a 25-foot pedestrian area so as to form a sort of small piazza. But the owner of the plot, a Lorry Sant crony, of course altered the outline plan and gobbled up the pedestrian area, adding it to his plot. This plot, the size of three normal plots is still abandoned and today serves as a rubbish dump.

    The Zurrieq council just does not give a damn even though this dump is infested with rats and ha not been surrounded by the regulatory 8 filati surrounding wall, breaking the law while no fines are being imposed on the owner. One PL council member lives just 200m away from this dump while Natius manages his Ola beauty parlour in Blue Grotto Avenue.

    Welcome to Zurrieq.

  14. ciccio says:

    Shouldn’t Joseph Muscat make a phone call with Sergei Ivanov, Putin’s Chief of Staff, and ask him to open the way to the international investigators and first aid teams to the site of a disaster involving a civilian aircraft with 300 persons on board? Perhaps the phone call can be photographed like that one with Tony Blair.

    Last week, Sergei Ivanov was in Guiyang with Joseph Muscat to discuss the opening of an Economic Silk Road.

    “MH17 crash: Pressure grows on Russia over crash inquiry”

    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28388136

  15. ken il malti says:

    Maybe Natius scored a deal on plastic Judy Garland statuettes in China.

  16. Kif inhi din? says:

    There’s nothing religious about these feasts infact they are quite disturbingly profane.

    Why would anyone want to worship a plaster of Paris statue decorated and bejewelled like some camp drag queen at Pride.

  17. David II says:

    Well, Mintoff (the great leader not the judge with great integrity) thought so.

  18. Gahan says:

    “And in China, before any contracts are signed, as I discovered first hand for myself, it is expected that you go out with a guide to buy a substantial gift for the President of the Company – a tradition which has given rise to endemic cons. So beware next time you are about to sign for a huge consignment of shoes from Shanghai. ”

    http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-07-19/opinions/get-smart-5896011782/

  19. curious says:

    “The situation is, of course, bad but it is not as dramatic as it is being made out. Calls to the embassy are being directly diverted to the ministry.”

    Please read this about the Maltese in Tripoli.

    http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-07-20/news/maltese-in-libya-want-to-be-evacuated-5902008322/

  20. pablo says:

    Lino Spiteri in his piece for Times of Malta tells us that he sees nothing corrupt in a Labour Party minister approving the political engagement of his wife as a spare wheel ambassador.

    The Opposition was so negative, he says. The China Love Bug seems to have got hold of him too now.

    What was wrong he says is the way the Labour Party hid the contract and financial details from the people.

    Spiteri ignores the fact that the Labour Party and the Mizzis LIED about these details. Not even Chris Cardona knew what Malta Enterprise was up to, though he is the Minister responsible for that organisation.

  21. pier pless says:

    You really MUST read this.

    http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-07-20/opinions/just-like-cet-worse-than-cet-5901877249/

    Using easy non-technical language, Noel Grima explains why government actions in the energy sector are worse than the CET.

  22. Frankie's Barrage says:

    http://youtu.be/yDjpr-SyiTE

    Just came across this and it convinced me that there is indeed another Malta where this rubbish is considered music.

  23. revolted says:

    Mr Justice Gino Camilleri has just passed away – an honourable man who did his duty, intelligently and bravely, in the most difficult of times.

    He was not a fortunate man. Ill-health dogged and thwarted him for many years.

    He was only fortunate in death. It spared him having to sit next to Mr Justice Wenzu Mintoff.

  24. Ivan says:

    One brief Facebook post and so many errors.

  25. Jozef says:

    http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-07-20/opinions/it-just-doesnt-work-any-more-5898010626/

    This Flores idiot doesn’t even know what he’s talking about.

    Supecritical steam in a solar farm in Australia eh? Wow.

    Perhaps he’d like to have a look at when Spain achieved that, and the acres required to concentrate every ray onto the central tower furnace.

    Imagine his wonder knowing Germany had half its demand supplied by solar panels last week, the blue flat ones Flores darling, and not a kettle in sight, fancy that.

    And if you think panels are ugly, you should see what happens to Chinese technology compared to Europe’s finest.

    The mysterious change-over, no, that was the intention since its conception, which explains choosing BWSC technology. Experimental, never tried they howled, and which Muscat just gave away for a neat profit.

    One wonders how their brain manages to misplace a logical sequence; how does Flores expect Labour to operate the plant on gas? ‘Wise choice’, and not a document, working drawing or postcard sized photograph of the rust bucket in sight.

    Why he has to use his column to keep spouting lies every Sunday remains a blot on the Malta Independent.

    Spin he says, indeed. X’ruffjan ta’ bniedem.

  26. ciccio says:

    In the past couple of weeks, Dr. Joseph Muscat has been bragging about how the MOU (Malta Owes You) which he signed with China was a first for a country in the EU.

    No other country in the EU has a five year agreement with the Communist dictatorship of China, which is widely known for corruption, the violation of human rights and for exploiting the resources of poor African countries.

    Dr. Muscat made it sound as if his MOU was an important achievement by a foreign government with China.

    Well, it turns out that in South America, the governments there are doing better than Muscat with China – in fact, they are signing “Strategic Partnership” agreements, one after the other.

    http://www.afp.com/en/news/china-announces-heavy-investments-argentina

    “…Xi signing more than 20 agreements with President Cristina Kirchner on the first day of his three-day visit.

    Among the agreements was a bilateral “strategic partnership”…”

    Eat your heart out, Dr. Muscat. This is unheard of. In one single day – and that’s the first day of arrival in the country – the President of China – yes, that’s not the Premier Li Keqiang, but the one at the very top, the President himself – sings not one MOU, but 20 agreements, including a “strategic partnership.”

    Dr. Muscat’s head must be spinning. BS of Malta Today must be having a diarrhoea of Peking Duck. How dare they, the Chinese, sign with Malta a “bicca MOU” when Malta has been a “spaxjal frenntt” of China for 40 years. Mintoff himself went to China 40 years ago – at the beginning of the Golden Years – with Karmenu Vella and Alex Sceberras Trigona. Mintoff was one of the first foreign leaders to “recognise China” which at the time was led by Chairman Mao.

    Screw them, the Chinese! – they go and give the South American states a “partnership” when Dr. Muscat spent all his youth campaigning for one. They even send their President to sign the agreements in their own countries, in front of their own public and media. Yet, in Muscat’s case, they make him travel all the way from Malta to Beijing, only with “selected” media, and if that was not enough, they then have him travel to the most depressed Chinese province, Guizhou, to discuss something which is low on Muscat’s agenda – the environment.

    But then everyone knows how democracy works in South America, and how socialist some of those states are.

    Not that Dr. Muscat does not consider China as a strategic partner for Malta.

    http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2013/01/the-labour-party-considers-china-a-crucial-strategic-partner-for-our-country-and-looks-forward-to-strengthening-the-relationship-between-the-two-countries-in-the-years-ahead-josep/

    Dr. Muscat has put Malta behind the South American countries when it comes to China. His MOU is a worthless piece of paper 8 pages long.

    Unless of course, the agreement he signed in China with the Communist Party and government in April 2010 was the strategic partnership agreement. But we have not seen that one as yet.

  27. Maryann says:

    These people are beyond redemption. Give up hope.

  28. Comment says:

    Ahjar immur jitghallem jikteb l-ewwel qabel jitfa l-‘posts’ bil-Malti. Sew qeghdin jghidu li l-Labour bic-cwiec qieghed jahdem.

  29. Joe Fenech says:

    Had he born 200 years ago – a period full of art, scientific innovation and social achievement – he would have looked equally odd.

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