God, he's bright!
In his usual Monday column in The Times, taking up where dak tal-Prosy Points left off, Joseph Muscat argues his case for giving 16-year-olds the vote. This is one of his attempts:
“Elsewhere, Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Brazil, Cuba, Nicaragua and the Philippines allow younger citizens to vote in local government elections.”
Cuba, eh? So the bad democratic choices of 16-year-olds are to blame for Fidel Castro and long years of communism. Well, it would have to be Joseph Muscat to cite Cuba as an example of how efficiently democracy functions “elsewhere”. I always suspected that Muscat’s intelligence is little more than that of a party wideboy. Only a fool would have made this kind of slip-up, unless Jason did the research and Michelle did most of the writing in between loving us all.
As for his other examples, I just want to roll around on the floor in fits. Nicaragua. The Philippines. Brazil. And then, for heaven’s sake, the local council elections of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man which between them have just 230,000 human inhabitants. Now if the seagulls could vote, things might be different.
Grow up, Joseph – and I don’t mean in age but in terms of political maturity. With every passing day, you’re being exposed as little more than a self-serving empty vessel.
53 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
Wouldn’t it be great to have something else in common with the Philippines? That’s all we need.
I see another KMB in the making!!
Gowzef’s slogan for his baby scheme
http://www.stephandtony.com/images/baby-tony.jpg
and the Speech by Gowzef
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1jLzbenclw
re population of the Channel Islands….is there ANY town or village in Malta which has even HALF that amount of people?
Go on Nats, show us your true conservative / anti-progress colours :)
Meerkat, send us a speech by Lonzu :)
@chris – if he wrote such a stupid thing he deserves the flak. In some countries it’s said that if you’re old enough to go fight a war, then you should be old enough to vote. At 16 years, you’re simply not old enough to do anything except enjoy yourself, chase wimmin and study ( not necessarily in that order)
tal biki! george abela must be enjoying his summer and drinking champagne every night. joseph muscat was a very good choice indeed. well done MLP
Another country almost made it to Muscat’s list: Hugu Chavez’s Venezuela.
[Moderator – Thanks for that. Funny how Muscat didn’t see the common link between the countries he listed as he was listing them: three tax havens with more seagulls than people, and the rest are states known for their oppression, repression and suppression of human rights.]
@ Chris Borg –
Nats are conservative and anti-progress? The party that had to battle for years to get us into the EU is ‘conservative and anti-progress’ and all of a sudden, the guy who championed Malta’s not-complete-but-partial-entry (which, to this day, no one’s ever figured out) is the rep of avant-garde Maltese politics!
The party that would not allow the introduction of computers unless a guarantee was given that no jobs would be lost is now progressive? The party that complained that investing in new communications systems (which, to make it simple for you to understand, is why we now have internet and ATMs) was a waste of money… and the party which claimed that all that St Luke’s hospital needed was refurbishment is, in your eyes, progressive??
The party that either banned or burned (in the 80’s) or boycotted (till the last election) media with opposing political views is progressive???
It’s people like you who make anti-democratic ideologies worth looking at because even if you’re half a century older than 16, you still shouldn’t be allowed to vote! Not because you support Labour, but simply because you’re a moron whose over-worked brain-cell can only cope with certain vital functions such as breathing!
And please don’t reply with ‘look at JPO’ which is the latest reflex action that people like you resort to when anything anti-Labour is uttered.
Get a life!
@NGT. Daphne has competition in her writing style
I love this :
“@chris Borg. It’s people like you who make anti-democratic ideologies worth looking at because even if you’re half a century older than 16, you still shouldn’t be allowed to vote! Not because you support Labour, but simply because you’re a moron whose over-worked brain-cell can only cope with certain vital functions such as breathing! ”
Bravo
NGT (with reference to the MLP): “the party which claimed that all that St Luke’s hospital needed was refurbishment”.
Oops! I had the impression that it was the MLP that in its last legislature in government changed the plans for the then San Raffaele hospital to be changed into the sole modern acute state hospital in Malta, rather then having half a hospital operating from Guardamangia (which was to be retained in operation, refurbishment or not!) and another half operating from Tal-Qroqq!
Really, and what about half-a-dozen voting booths in Paceville to open between 23.00hrs and 04.00hrs with breathalyzer test beforehand.
Let’s put the responsibility factor into perspective:
Should sixteen year olds be allowed to sign on their own behalf instead of their parents?
Should sixteen year olds be allowed to have a passport to travel without their parents’ knowledge?
Should sixteen year olds be condemned (if/when) to a normal prison instead of a juvenile one?
Should sixteen year olds be allowed to have a normal driving licence?
Should sixteen year olds be allowed to stand for elections?
Should sixteen year olds be allowed to get loans from banks?
Should sixteen year olds be allowed to marry without their parents consent?
As it stands sixteen year olds can only get married if the girl is pregnant and with their patents consent. Should this age be lowered to fourteen?
I agree with his proposal as long as these young people can vote only in the local councils. Yes it’s important to involve them in politics; and the best way to encourage them is by giving them the right to vote.
It’s a good move. Well done Joseph!
[Moderator – You don’t know many 16-year-olds if you imagine that the average 16-year-old is even remotely interested in local councils. Let’s put it this way: would you give a monkey’s cuss about voting in local council elections if you were 16? The only reason Joseph Muscat wants 16-year-olds to have the vote is because he thinks they’re easier to impress.]
Quoting Anglu Farrugia: “You cannot possibly grant the Maltese living abroad the right to participate in Maltese democracy. They do not pay income tax here, and some do not even have a residence here. This certainly needs to be addressed.” Now Joseph Muscat comes out with the brilliant idea of giving 16 year olds who definately do not pay taxes or own residences a vote!!! They have just stopped receiving Children’s allowance for God sake! Ara very kaz ta’ “Only in Malta”!! I am a mum of a 16 year old and all he was interested in were the celebrations after the election, which in his own words were “mega-cool”.
@ NGT
Most probably Chris Borg called Nats conservatives because he can still remember what they said when Mintoff introduced the vote for 18 year olds. The same things you are saying now were said back in the 70’s.
With regards to computers and a new communication system, Mintoff rather lacked foresight. He was still worrying about lack of money and the loss of jobs due to the British forces leaving Malta. It is easy for you to talk 30 years later. When the PN came to government in 1987, they found money to invest in a new communication system, but that system is not what is providing internet and ATMs now. The system has been modernized since then. As for St Luke’s being OK if it was refurbished – it would definitely have cost the tax payer much less and why not? The only people to suffer would have been the contractors, and the ones to gain would have been US.
“The party that either banned or burned (in the 80’s) or boycotted (till the last election) media with opposing political views is progressive???” By the way the PN also boycotted the Media. Let’s not forget In-Nazzjon issuing lists of products to boycott because they were advertised on the TVM.
“It’s people like you who make anti-democratic ideologies worth looking at because even if you’re half a century older than 16, you still shouldn’t be allowed to vote! Not because you support Labour, but simply because you’re a moron whose over-worked brain-cell can only cope with certain vital functions such as breathing!” Do you sincerely believe such statements reflect a mature democratic mind?
While Joseph is preparing the EU report on VAT for next September, he lets out these red herrings to keep us busy.
Was this discussed in the party?
Will they ever learn?
In no time we will start over again with the ‘off the cuff’ policies which the party must embrace. Like the sublime idea of a canal joining our harbours.
He is a carbon copy of Alfred. Time will prove me right. Probably Alf is his mentor.
Have you lot followed the PBS news? Seems MZPN have already discussed this issue and are in favour. I wonder what you will say now! Maybe they are stupid or JM copied them.
[Moderator – MZPN is the youth arm of the Nationalist Party. Maybe, like Joseph Muscat, they think it’s hip to let 16-year-olds vote. And maybe, like Joseph Muscat, they think it’s fine to tamper with a functional system to no end or purpose, and without looking at the ramifications of what they’re saying. Why 16? Why not 14? Why not 13?]
DCG – i love uuuuuuuuuuuuuu… i admire uuu for speaking out and telling it like it is.. rock on sista from another mista
Have a look at this:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20080819/local/muscat-proposal-in-line-with-pes-ep-elections-manifesto
This proposition seems like a deja vu of the EU roaming charges initiative. Joseph Muscat was pictured as the one that came with this initiative in the EU, simply because he was one of the first ones to point it out on local media. I bet that many of his sympathisers still think that all EU mobile users should be grateful to Muscat for ‘his’ great initiative. Same tactics on this issue, but honestly who is he trying to fool?
Joseph Muscat the personification of opportunism.
@NGT – your comments are over the top. Do you think that by your personal attacks you will achieve anything except entrench your ‘opponent’ on the other side?
What’s all this fuss about this proposal – it seems that although it was attributed to Joseph – the “new” leader, after all it is a ‘re-cycled’ proposal long being discussed/proposed by the ESP (European Socialist Parties). The AD also claimed that it proposed it before Joseph – the “new” leader! – Therefore, again there’s nothing ‘original and fresh’ at all in his suggestion. Everything copied and absoulutely nothing new!
[Daphne – Like I said, he’s little more than a party wideboy.]
Publicity stunt, hes hoping that it will make him more popular with the young people.
Daphne: Age doesn’t make a difference, when the majority of the Maltese adults are immature or stupid.
Just watch Xarabank, all you hear is Fully grown adults admitting on Public Television that they are nothing, but Party Dogs who will be loyal to their self-imposed masters.
I really don’t care about 16 year olds voting, I have nothing to gain or loose from it apart from the already low Strength of My Voting ballot.
I’d prefer a better alternative to the PN, rather than these half-assed proposals.
Let me put my two cents into this, inspired by the St Aloysius College annual of 1982 and a photo therin of our beloved Daphne……
I was 16 in 1982. In 1982-1983, back then we were not living a normal teenage experience. We were oppressed by the fact that Dr.Call-Me-Joseph-Muscat’s (henceforth referred as DCMJM) political ancestor, the Zero Iddizinjat, was hell bent on closing the very school where DCMJM recieved his education. Reading the Annual of those years, I’m saddened that instead of having a normal European teenage experience, we had to endure the ravages that this MLP and its leader at the time made of our education, and the fear that they instilled in us. They were heady times, because we likened ourselves to the youth of the Prague Spring, and used to wonder at the courage of Jan Palach and be inspired to resist the Zero and his assorted cronies, the Aristocracy who are trying so hard to get more money out of us for their shoddy work at the Tarzna, who cheerfully ransacked the Curia, and who revelled in being led out of the Drydocks in trucks to attack schools, Nationalists and whoever dared oppose the Great Zero and his nasty party.
Most of Malta’s youth was fired by a strange idealism in those times, even the MLP youth. In the endless debates we used to have, the only common thread was that most of us wanted a better Malta. Most of us saw that happening only if we youth would militate in politics in one way or another. Let’s face it, there was precious little to do otherwise, as Malta had become almost as sterile as Noth Korea by that time. I have no doubt that given the vote at 16, yesterday’s youth would have used it responsibly.
Now from what I see, I’m not so sure. Call me a skeptic, but I see today’s youth as being more focused on having fun, tattooing themselves like some Maori tribesman, and piercing themselves silly in the process, and just living la Vida Loca. Most of them can’t even organize a piss-up in a brewery, let alone vote responsibly. All they want is drinks and fun , and to earn as much as possible by doing as little as possible and getting paid as much as possible. This is by no means the rule, but it has the de facto the rule in Summer. They want to have Fun above all else. And this leaves very little room for being involved in social causes, because, let’s face it, in today’s society of individualism, being politically or socially motivated is an anachronism. And lets face it, at 16 all you want to do is party and socialize and be interested in boys and girls and have torrid short and intense relationships ……..we were all that age!
So how should we treat the latest piece of attention grabbing by the local Champagne Socialist ? Well, it should get the treatment t deserves, that is, one finger out and the rest firmly clenched in a fist. At 16, our youth is more concerned with parties and fun and staying out late than pondering and organizing debates on the merits of DCMJM’s proposal. If someone gives them the vote at say, 16, then fully half of them will not even bother. 18 year olds nowadays have to be pushed to go do their duty, especially those with half a brain, be they from Sliema or Zejtun.
This Latest Proposal from the enlightened one means one thing and one thing only. The Lijder is politically immature, and I daresay to conclude that he has never been 16, but has contemptuously made the leap between adolescence and adulthood without having to do with all the angst of being that age. This proposal top lower voting age is not motivated by a genuine need to “emancipate” the 16 year olds. It comes from a need for votes, in the hope that come next election, DCMJM will hopefully do what Fredu Sant did in 1996, that is, dupe the electorate into voting in the MLP so that they can make free with this country of ours, and with a leadership consisting of a rather immature leader coupled with the Two Ronnies as deputy leaders, and with a shallow secretary general and a seriously has been as international secretary, this does not bode well for us at all. This collective motley crew of attention seekers, comedians, and other kinds of bedlam must not be allowed anywhere near Castille.
We need to make sure that anyone using his vote can think and vote responsibly, and not rely on their natural 16 year old impressionability to try score a few votes and hopefully, give the MLP the win they so richly do not deserve to have.
Gorg Abela and his crew must be having a field day privately. Pity they don’t have the courage to challenge this upstart!
I can already see the posts, the blindfolds and the firing squads if that happens. How must the elves’ trigger fingers itch to shoot!
As I said earlier – ‘AD’ claimed that they were first to put forward this proposal. In fact, my present opinion of the ‘MLP’ is that it has rendered itself nothing more than a mere pressure group – just like ‘AD’. There’s nothing good neither leadership nor team. How on earth do they pretend to govern properly with such a meager group?! They have no real vision at all but only copied suggestions from ultra-socialist/communist countries?! Is it where they’re heading in their policies??
Hello bloggers,
Have you read the lastest Opinjoni from L-Orizzont? A real gem:
Terremot
minn Robert Martyn Gatt
Nice caption also!!!
http://www.l-orizzont.com/news.asp?newsitemid=46714
That Robert Martyn Gatt should be hanging from the gallows
@CATherine You present opinion is rubbish. How can you expect to be taken seriously when you make such a sweeping statement?
“There’s nothing good” good for what? I suggest you read about other european countries before you make such sweeping statements. Decide is this copied from the Socialist’s international, or from MZPN? What if it is copied, does everything a person suggest have to be original to make him a good leader? I was taught that to be a good leader you have to be aware of the world around you, and if you hear a suggestion (no matter who suggests it), at least reflect on it.
@ Steve Grech Do you always use this type of language, when talking about someone you believe to be your inferior.
Worker: What exactly is your point? That what Catherine says is rubbish or that the MLP makes sense? The two are not mutually exclusive.
@ worker : I don’t know whether you meant that “I am rubbish or my opinion is so” because your English somehow perplexed me! However, I never meant that copying makes someone a bad leader. Nevertheless, if what is copied originates from countries like Cuba and Nicaragua – yes indeed, in my opinion that does make one a really very lousy leader!
Worker:”How can you expect to be taken seriously when you make such a sweeping statement?”
me: “look who’s talking !”
And what about the CEE EEE OH – Has anyone read the article in today’s ‘In-Nazzjon’ where his name (& picture) was disclosed – even before being released by the ‘L.L.’ Joseph himself!
LOL I had to tell you this folks…saw Anglu’s letterhead and right after the LL.D there’s Magna Cum Laude! Really! Does he need to tell us the classification? How tacky!
As for worker’s swipe at CATherine, he does copy Anglu’s style of English (if one can call that my mangling of the language ‘English’) SO yes, worker, my dear, there’s such a thing as bad copying.
@ Corinne
I was refering to Cathrine’s present opinion:” my present opinion of the ‘MLP’ is that it has rendered itself nothing more than a mere pressure group – just like ‘AD’.”
@ CAThrine I’m sorry if you don’t understand my English; Let’s face it yours is no better. If you think you make me feel inferior by saying my English is not that good you are quite mistaken, you see I know exactly my ability. It was not my English that perplexed you. You shyould have realized that the YOU in the begining was a typing error- Even a 6 year old would have noticed that. It should have read YOUR present opinion is rubbish. By mentioning Cuba and Nicaragua you are making it obvious that either you are not following the news or you are mentioning these two countries ONLY win a lost argument. Anyway it does not matter where an idea originates from, we should be discussing if it’s good or bad. In my opinion a 16 year old can easily vote in the local elections.
@ John Schembri Which sweeping statement?
Go to the link below and see how the “self-styled/new-era” l-leader Joseph ‘probably’ wants to put an end to the great deficit the MLP has accumulated. So, Anglu suggested a supermarket at the headquarters! (By the way have they applied with the MEPA yet?) However, it seems the ‘l-leader’ had a better idea – probably copied from the Kremlin this time!!? Well, they too (the Russians) are ‘highly democratic’ always according to the communist-belief of course!
http://www.simonbusuttil.eu:80/kportal/portal.asp?module=news&news=a&ID=10642
Things as they were before Joseph Muscat’s stupid earthquake admonition within the MLP constituted a special case of a contangious ‘malaise’, where people were being led to believe (those few who did so) that great changes heraded by the inexperienced MLP leader would produce the miracle which could save this repeatedly defeated party for three consecutive times.
The new foolish and cheap propoganda of Joseph Muscat to buy youngsters’ minds and affiliation to his dying party by promising them an entitlement to vote at age 16 signals his political downfall and rapid eclipse. Unfortunately one is left with no option that reading old-time comics such as Beano is healthier than trying to map out Joseph’s earthquake-styled leadership and his utterances full of nonsense.
The MLP (and not only the docks) need privatisation!
@John Schembri: Kindly elaborate……..
I am not clear which “vote” we’re talking about here …
if it’s the General Elections then the peole who will be 16 then are 11-12 today … I don’t think they’ll be interested in politics at that age. People who are 16 today will be 20-21 come election time, so they were going to vote anyway.
If we’re talking about the local council elections … then who gives a rat’s arse?
Worker: “With regards to computers and a new communication system, Mintoff rather lacked foresight.” That’s putting it mildly. It wasn’t just foresight that he lacked – and not only in the field of computers and communication systems.
I live in New York and every morning I eagerly look forward to read your erudite opinions. Undoubtedly, you are a gifted communicator. Like me, you wish to see a strong democratic opposition to the PN, and because you point out Labour’s party detrimental flaws you have become their target. Please continue with your patriotic work for there are many Labourites who are disgusted with the present leadership.
@ me : I was not referring to you!
@ Worker 13 th August “Health reforms it was the PN government which deteriorated the health service in Malta. Pre 1987 health care was better than it is now and so was government based education by the way.”
Now ,if this is not a sweeping statement then what is ?
@Mario Debono
You Said:
today’s youth as being more focused on having fun, tattooing themselves like some Maori tribesman, and piercing themselves silly in the process, and just living la Vida Loca. Most of them can’t even organize a piss-up in a brewery, let alone vote responsibly. All they want is drinks and fun , and to earn as much as possible by doing as little as possible and getting paid as much as possible. This is by no means the rule, but it has the de facto the rule in Summer. They want to have Fun above all else. And this leaves very little room for being involved in social causes, because, let’s face it, in today’s society of individualism, being politically or socially motivated is an anachronism. And lets face it, at 16 all you want to do is party and socialize and be interested in boys and girls and have torrid short and intense relationships ……..
There’s only one flaw with this argument: they don’t change much once they reach 18. Come to think of it, the same description can be used for many people well over 18, except that they complain more about back aches and bank accounts! :)
I agree with Zizzu on this one. it’s much of a muchness
[Moderator – No, it’s not much of a muchness. The statutory age of maturity is 18. However thick or irrational you are at that age, you can vote and nobody can stop you. Using your argument, you might as well give the vote to 10-year-olds on the grounds that plenty of adults have a mental age of 10.]
@ Worker 13 th August “Health reforms it was the PN government which deteriorated the health service in Malta. Pre 1987 health care was better than it is now and so was government based education by the way.”
Worker, are u living in Malta or cuckooland? Did u really mean this or is it a tongue in cheek statement? As a person involved in the business side of healthcare i can tell you that Malta’s service has improved no end since 1987. The Governmnet has invested in the best technologies around and has even wisely made provision for the future in Mater Dei. If you have a look at what they will now transfrom Zammit Clapp in, and the machinery and plant on order and envisaged, we will truly lack for nothing in Malta. The only failing is that the Government is not fully in control of his workforce because the alliance of unions who respresent the workers insist on outdated and archaic work practices. I am not talking about the higher grades like nurses, doctors and profesionals but the lower grades that are needed all the same. No wonder the Government has to resort to the private sector even in the matter of security guards.
But to insist that the health system has deteriorated is to either have permanent blinkers on your eyes or to be just a stark, raving labourite seeing everything from blood red tinted lenses or ……a bloody lunatic. Worker, the chip on your shoulder has now become very deep and i fear we may have to cut your arm off in order to prevent the spread of gangrene….
Get a life man !
@Moderator
“Using your argument, you might as well give the vote to 10-year-olds on the grounds that plenty of adults have a mental age of 10”
Hmmm! Tempting!I suspect that the 10 year olds would give it more serious thought. At elast they are still at an age where they ask questions!
Let’s face it both parties use the 16 year olds on the campaign trail, both on the stage and in front of the Great Leaders, to make tehir party seem young and full of vitality. As to the level of maturity of the 16 years old, as opposed to 18 year olds, I repeat it is much of a muchness.
Frankly i really don’t think it would make any difference to the election results one way or the other. For every 16 year old who will vote red because his or her parents vote red there will be another who will do the exact opposite. And for every youth seduced by the youthfulness of the Labour Leader, tehre will be another conservative youth in search of stability and job security.
This is a bit of summer fun, before the serious business of politics hits the fan in October.
It is really no great shakes.
@ John Schembri and Marion Debono – Yes, health services were better before 1987. You could go to the Policlinics anytime now you can only go till 17:00, unless it’s an emergency. This means that a government employee, who works till 17:00, has to wait till Saturday to visit a doctor at the policlinic. From the Policlinic they used to send you straight to St.Luke’s where you were given an appointment by not later than a month’s time. Now if you go to the policlinic, you have to take a day off work,or go on Saturday, the doctors there try not to send you to Hospital for checkups or tests. If you are sent to Hospital an appointment will be given, sometimes as late six months later. Unless of course you have friends, ah then you will be given VIP treatment, all you have to do is phone a minister or one of his/her friends and you will have no problem getting an appointment. If you say this isn’t true it will only show that you are friends of friends. So what does the layman do, if he can afford it he goes to a private clinic. Which means that we are paying taxes so that the blue eyed boys/girls get first class treatment in Mater Dei, while we have to go to private clinics and pay through our teeth, obviously you get no tax rebate on the hundreds of Euro you spend because of the government’s incompetence.
As for education, Labour made a mistake way back in the 70s, which it tried to rectify by introducing the Junior Lyceums.
Students from Junior Lyceums were getting good results, good enough to enter Church Sixth forms, what happens, we remove the junior Lyceums and introduce the Colleges, where students are thrown together without any plan. Why do you think Dr.Galea was not reelected into Parliament? Do you think it was a coincident that the parents of children from Zurrieq and the surrounding villages refrained from voting for him as they usually did, after he introduced the first college in that district?
@ Mario Debono Is John Schembri your secretary, or are you the same person. I think gangerine is spreading through you brain filling you with hatred toward anyone who is not blue all over.
@ Worker. Pull the other one. I know Exactly how the appointment system works at Mater Dei, much more than you know, because its part of my business to know. Its computerized, and does the job. It gives appointments in the first available slot. Full stop. All this talk about jumping queues is balderhash. If the need is urgent, the patient is seen right away. Its called making informed decisions and triage, idiot of idiots, whose only vision is through NHS type glasses with a “qiegh ta’ kinnie in red” as lenses. Its people like you who invent invective and sow doubt and class hatred when there was none. Worker my foot. That chip has become a chasm now, and the gangrene has reached the brain, hasnt it. Mur orqod. Tikkritika fejn ma tifhimx, jew ma tafx, u turi li l-halib ji jisqik jismu Kulhadd . The service at Mater Dei is free, and good, and its there for who really need it, not for some idiot laburist who doesnt want to spend a few euros at his GP, but insists on getting the same service from the polyclinic or Mater Dei that his GP would give him. The old saying is true, “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.” (Matthew 7:6).
Jesus was right. This was written with the MLP gripers in mind, MLP people who want to do nothing for this country but grumble and nag at imagined slights. Tistghu mhux iddumu tbarqnu bhal hamiem, ghax bikom jew minghajrkom nimxu il-quddiem. Halluna !
U John Schembri Zurrieqi bhali. Imma ma nafux. Biss nirrispetta dak li jikteb. Mhux dejjem naqblu, imma nahfirlu ghax minn pajjizi :)
@ Mario Debono I might be an idiot but at least I know that you do not write Euros but Euro. Ah Zurrieqi int mela naf ghalfejn m’ghandhekx problema tmur l-isptar, msomma forsi wara l-ahhar elezjoni ghandek problema fhimtni!
Your language really shows that you’re from Zurrieq, you address me like xi partitarju minn ta xi kazin. “L-aqwa Santa Katerina u mela tal-Karmnu Morru morru minn hawn ja qatta imdejqin Bla Bla Bla”. That’s the language you use at Zurrieq during the Festa.
You say that if it’s urgent the patient is seen right away. The patient has to get to Mater Dei first. For your information I spend money at my GP, actually I get it all back cause, since Public health is no good I’ve taken a health insurance. The problem arises when it comes to general check ups. Right now I am spending quite a lot of money because I’ve had an operation and I have to do some preventive check ups, these are not paid by the insurance because six months have elapsed from the operation. The Health Service does not provide these check ups, since I had my operation privately; when I asked they told me to go to whoever operated on me.
So you see I AM paying 1. For the said check ups. 2. A health insurance which I have to pay since the national health service is no good 3. National Insurance, so that you, since you know what to do to get free health care can get everything for free. And you have the guts to tell me I’m criticizing when I have no experience.
Please don’t quote Jesus, when you quote the bible to insult people you are blaspheming. Well as I said before you’re from Zurrieq and in the name of St. Catherine and Our Lady you insult each other left right and centre.
Il-Fest t-tajba!
[Daphne – You’re wrong. The plural of euro is euros, not euro, just as the plural of dollar is dollars and the plural of pound is pounds. I had written an article about this, but can’t find the link.]
@ Worker and Mario Debono : I am not from Zurrieq , I Iive live at Zurrieq . Just as much as Daphne is not from Bidnija,and Mario from San Giljan.
I enjoy both feasts at Zurrieq and even like the small feasts at Nigret and today’s Santa Marija at Bubaqra.I am adopted sort of.
Health care was ALWAYS a relatively big problem. During the MLP rule people went to the small private clinics , because the service was inadequate.Yes , one would find the stuffy policlinics open ,but with broken chairs , and equpped with tools of the late sixties
Same goes to Education , private schools were not full in the seventies ,( Lyceum provided the best schooling), they were dying a slow death , then when labour started to experiment with our education system , there was a stampede to enter the church schools and private schools.
As for you paying out of your pocket for your health , I empathise with you.But let us be realistic , at least you can find a decent private hospital where to go.20 years ago you had to fly to England to jump the queue.
And do you believe that if Labour will be in power things will get better , or that other countries do not have these problems? Health services are getting more expensive everywhere , the standards are getting higher , and the people are using the “free” service more.
Worker, get real .
@ Daphne : you are a good commentator on many subjects , I used to say Euros like you are insisting. But officially it was said that we should say and write Euro also in the plural. There is not much we can do .
BTW : what should we say Centezmi ta’ l-ewro , or ewro centezmi ?
[Daphne – John, are you one of those people who obey others blindly, even when they’re wrong? I suppose it squares with your unquestioning attitude towards religion. The plural of euro is euros, whatever the Maltese government might say. The Maltese government is not an authority on the English language. The only other member state of the European Union in the eurozone with English as a national language is Ireland, and they say EUROS. When Brussels officialdom tried to insist that the plural was to be euro, the suggestion was laughed out of town, not least because people for whom English was not a mother tongue were dictating the English plural to those for whom it is a mother tongue. Forget what the government of Malta says – most of them know English only as a language learnt at school, anyway. As for the cents – why distinguish between euro-cents and other cents when there’s only the one variety in circulation? Just say cents and centezmi, for heaven’s sake. That’s what I do.]
@ Daphne, I suggest you check, I am sure it’s Euro. You see I read this information on the introductory leaflets we received
at home before the introduction of the Euro in Malta. I even phoned to check about it, because like you I thought it strange.
[Daphne – Read my reply to John Schembri. Never follow linguistic rules when they’re not laid down by a linguistic authority. Since when is the government of Malta an authority on English – the same government of Malta that translates the Maltese word for grandson as ‘nephew’? Or publishes advertisements about ‘privitisation’?]
@worker and Daphne
Hate to be a nitpicker but you are both right and wrong.
Wikipedia puts it succinctly:
The formal titles of the currency are “euro” for the major unit and “cent” for the minor (one hundredth) unit and for official use in most Eurozone languages, these names are invariant in the plural.[49] These styles are often in conflict with the structures of the national languages. For English language texts, however, there is a recommendation from the Directorate-General for Translation, the EU’s translation service, that the natural plurals ‘euros’ and ‘cents’ should be used in non-legal documents intended for the general public.
And here’s a link to the style guide:
http://ec.europa.eu/translation/writing/style_guides/english/style_guide_en.pdf
[Daphne – I am not both right and wrong on this one, Chris. I am right, as confirmed by your last sentence.]
@ John Schembri I never said you were from Zurrieq, I don’t know or care where you live. My comments in – worker Saturday, 23 August 2205hrs – were only addressed to Mario Debono. They were meant neither for you nor for the whole population of Zurrieq, who I’m sure are not all as aggressive as Mario Debono.
@ Daphne It seems I stand to be corrected, what would you say in Maltese ewri or ewrijiet?
[Daphne – I say euro and euros, whether speaking English or Maltese. I don’t have hang-ups about this sort of thing. Before last January, I never said lira and liri when speaking English, either, even though we were ordered to do so by the socialist government on the grounds that the lira was a new currency and not the natural successor of the pound. The only people I ever heard say ‘this costs fifty liri’ were young shop-girls with a poor education. Everyone else said pounds, probably even you. In any case, both lira and pound originally meant the same thing: a measure of silver.]
Daphne
Please please please find that article about euros that you wrote. You have no idea how exasperated I get when having this argument with people who should know better but instead say something stupid like “My friend has a degree in banking and she told me the plural of Euro is Euro” (Intentional capital letter)
[Daphne – I tried to find it, but lost patience….]