Comments on: For shame

By: chris I

chris I — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:04:55 +0000

@john Schembri
‘Bus drivers have very long working hours, they remain in the ‘business’ because they are caught in a vicious circle.’

A vicious circle? I should say! 11,000 euros worth of subsidy a year type of vicious circle.

unfortunately not only were they fighting for the status quo,(which means they wanted to keep the vicious circle) they were doing it without keeping the general public (ie the user and the taxpayer) on their side

By: John Schembri

John Schembri — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:09:38 +0000

Bus drivers have very long working hours, they remain in the ‘business’ because they are caught in a vicious circle.

By: Vince

Vince — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:28:24 +0000

[Most of them have families, and loans, and mortgages]

Mario, that is why they shouldn’t bite the hands that feed them.

By: Mario Debono

Mario Debono — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:41:55 +0000

@Clifton. Thank you. I Try. I may be a bit extreme, but thats me. I dont know anyone in this blog on a first name basis either. Maybe someone should suggest a real life bloggers meet for a drink somewhere. Wonder how many people would turn out?? All I know is that this blog is read avidly and immediately by the powers that be.A comment I posted was mentioned during a Ministers’ meeting. Hear that Daphne??? You should be proud of yourself.

By: Clifton McLoud

Clifton McLoud — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:19:59 +0000

@Mario Debono – Honestly Sir, I have deeply enjoyed your piece. Thoughtful & thought provoking. Interesting. Unique. I’ve read it several times & I’ll keep it to digest it further. Mind changing stuff. Bravo. I don’t know you (I do not know anyone on this blog) so you know I mean it.

By: Vince

Vince — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:14:04 +0000

Mario….all they had to do was park their buses and withdraw their services. That’s what civilised members of unions do.Besides the Hearse Owners had the beef with the government not them or the Minibus and taxicabs owners.
They did not have to show the world what a bunch of idiots they are and show the world that when it comes to an emergency the cops and the AFM are useless.

By the way this has nothing to do with small business owners or their employees….this had to do with a couple of hundred ogres paralyzing the island.

By: Mario Debono

Mario Debono — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 07:59:46 +0000

@Vince. Thank you for describing me as a bleeding heart. I am in business, not employed. I do understand your point, but I do understand the point the Bus drivers were trying to make. Most of them have families, and loans, and mortgages…I suspect that there is more than just anger against them because of their strike, but underlying it all there is an element of good old fashioned Maltese “hdura”…against anyone and everyone who owns a business and who has made it moderately or not. This way of thinking unfortunately has become endemic amongst the employed in Malta. I see it happening a lot in my day, and even govt. ministers are prone to it. They think we can conjure up taxes at whim, and very few of their underlings realize that without us, Malta dies. So yes, I am unashamed in having all the sympathy for the Bus Driver’s situation, but i don’t condone their methods, or the veiled threats to bring out the army to beat them up. All self-employed, be it a bus driver, be it Daphne who publishes a hell of a magazine against all odds, be it the importer who is forever having to cope with Union Fuelled Govt demands to lower prices, are part of my family. And believe me, we are the drivers of the economy. We spend the money, employ people, stay up half the night dreaming how we can do our business better, go to the ends of the earth to get business, drive buses, pick up waste, operate petrol stations, operate shops, and yet people call us “thieves” and “profiteers” and i dont know what else. It’s called hdura in Maltese. It doesn’t translate well in English. Envy would be closest, but hdura is not just envy. It’s all about wishing every harm to those who do better than you, and in using all the means at your disposal to hasten that harm. That’s how the bus/taxi/hearse/minibus drivers played into the hands of this “hdura” element of this country. They badly overstepped the mark. And suddenly everyone was against them. Something else people should know is that there are politicians who think like Maggie Thatcher out there. Her philosophy was to “Protect and succor big businesses, and to hell with the rest”. I have no doubt that someone, somewhere, is casting covetous eyes on the transport sector in Malta. Maybe there is more to this issue than meets the eye.

By: Clifton McLoud

Clifton McLoud — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 18:04:21 +0000

@Corinne Vella – Ok Corinne, I give in, you win & I lose, what else can I do? I’m still at quisisana because I enjoy coming here for a swim, after hours of hard work. But I don’t come here everyday; sometimes I’m too tired. You are welcome & if you ever come here & you spot an exemplary male member of the human species, perfectly toned, tanned & handsome on a red towel, that’s me. I’m young & single but not rich & famous yet :D Then we could go to my little brand new apartment for fruit & ice cream, or coffee, or whatever it is that you like. But please understand that I can’t keep replying – I simply loved Daphne’s blog & for once decided to make a little contribution re our 4 day civil war – & it was nice & I don’t want it to turn into an argument between us. And, another thing, I really appreciate your comments. [Composed on my 3G mobile] Now one last swim.

By: Vince

Vince — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:19:20 +0000

@ Mario Debono….it is because of bleeding hearts like you that we had four days of anarchy in the streets.

The police are there to serve and protect and to arrest lawbreakers, the last time I looked pulling out drivers from their vehicles, taking the keys and threatening them with physical harm is against the law.

So is blocking major arteries so that no vehicles, including emergency vehicles, can go through.

As for the AFM, what is it there for? To guard illegals or banks? When things go out of hand like what happened on Monday the AFM should have been called on to assist the police to bring about order in the island….they do not have to break heads or bones or be Rambos….they just have to do their jobs.

By: Corinne Vella

Corinne Vella — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 07:17:32 +0000

CLifton McLoud: Thanks for the philosophy lesson, by the way but there are things called standardsby which service can be measured. The standards themselves may be ‘relative’ but where or not a particular bus, its driver or the entire service measures up to them is not.