A magna cum laude graduate of the University of Malta
I don’t know how I missed this fabulous disquisition written by Anglu Farrugia and displayed on his thrilling website. Bear in mind, please, that he graduated magna cum laude. What are these degrees worth, exactly?
My decision in the interest of the Malta Labour Party
I have been following very closely the interests of the Malta Labour Party for several years. I entered into politics in 1996 when I was elected in parliament on behalf of the Malta Labour Party which has always been my party since time immemorial. I was lucky to see my party in office as on the first time I was elected in October 1996. However, we were unfortunate enough that the present amendment in our written Constitution that is majority of votes should reflect the majority of the seats in parliament was not available at the time. This meant that instead of having a three seat majority in 1996 we had only one seat majority which resulted in a crash landing of our Labourite Government.
Since then we have not seen the Government. We have lost a lot of our people’s trust. We have seen labourites voting for the nationalist party because of the European Union issue in 2003 which according to my belief and I think I am right, most of them did not come back in the last general election. We have to reshape and re-organise our strategies. We have to patch all divisions that may be present in our party. We have to seek the words of those who although they feel that they no longer belong to the party are still possible members to be rehabilitated back.We have to make the party be the party of everyone especially those of the working class and middle-class and ensure that each one of them can freely belong and work within the party set-up.
On the other hand we must be firm in our values and beliefs. We must be a strong and objective opposition and speak clearly what is right or wrong without weakening our position towards the nationalist party in government. I believe that we must not make any concessions regarding the pairing tool in parliament. We have suffered a lot from the nationalist party in government and the Labourites deserve much better rather than continuous pain through the years. For this reason, I feel that through my parliamentary experience blended with legal academic and political maturity, I have decided to contribute even further with my abilities as a candidate for the Deputy Leadership for Parliamentary Affairs. I am sure that if I will be elected I will be of major force towards the would-be leader and I am doing this in the pure and sole interest of the Malta Labour Party. I trust all those who are in a position to vote in this contest for this key position as Leader of the House of Representatives on behalf of the opposition.
28 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
Can anybody explain to me how this jackass ever got his English A-level?
[Daphne – He didn’t need one. He was a mature student. If they’re not going to fail you on the basis of the standard of your writing, then we might as well have oral examinations, like the Italians do.]
On the other hand, perhaps if written maltese was more widely used, he wouldn’t sound so stupid. Naturally, fingers crossed that his ortography is correct.
That explains how he managed to get into the law course :)
What difference would oral examinations make in this case?
[Daphne – True, because he can’t speak either.]
Oh my! What is this country coming to? Deputy leaders who can’t write good English? You can tell he was making an effort to ooze out the words – it sure as hell didn’t come easy – and still one would think he’s a foreign student trying to write in English – not a university graduate from a country where English is a first language!
What a yahoo!
“We have seen labourites voting for the nationalist party because of the European Union issue in 2003 which according to my belief and I think I am right, most of them did not come back in the last general election.”
My brain hurts.
M. Bormann: The problem in this case is not the language.
Oh leave the elephant rider alone… Miskin! He must have given his utmost to concoct that piece, though it sure as hell was not enough.
But come on guys, his English is not as horrible as Otello’s. Would I be right if I venture to say that his English is also better than his leader’s? Or is that ‘impossible’, given Joey’s sublime level?
Hey, tell me something, is anyone in the Labour Party able to speak, at least, decent English?
” . . . Malta Labour Party which has always been my party since time immemorial.”
He must be a lot older than he looks.
It’s sad though: a person who never managed to learn English managed nonetheless to become a lawyer. It reflects badly not only on him but on the entire legal profession, the Faculty of Law, the university and the country as a whole.
I must admit that I had to read this piece thrice to get a modicum of understanding of what our beloved was trying to say (I read once Daphne’s copy, then twice the original, doubting that Daphne just did a copy and paste!)
I strongly suggest he employs a professional writer with good command of the English language, maybe his readers can understand what he’s trying to say without bleeding their brains out!
U patri filju spirtu s-santu, I am at a lost for weirds!!!
see di-ve , valerie fenech’s bit about Transport Federation’s strike threat.
Again confusion between advised and “adviced” . Just cant believe how some people claim to be reporters and commit such basic errors. Surely this would be a failing mistake at O Level standard … but then probably some reporters dont even have their O Level in English. Hang on , or perhaps another magna cum laude graduate?
you may find this interesting: http://www.slate.com/id/2201158/
[Daphne – thanks.]
Did anyone notice Malta Today’s front page on Sunday
and James Debono’s “thought” instead of “taught”?
Don’t newspapers have proof readers anymore? Especially
for front page headlines!
[Daphne – Yes, I know. Mistakes like that are becoming more and more frequent in all newspapers.]
“Since then we have not seen the Government.”
Anglu Farrugia
A literal translation, most obviously, of: Minn dak iz-zmien ghadna ma rajniex il-Gvern.
Urgh! :(
Moggy: Literal translation doesn’t explain everything. Can you make sense of the last sentence? The only thing I could work out is that Anglu Farrugia wanted to be Leader of the Opposition.
You don’t find such mistakes in my articles :) The advice/advise mistake is inherent here as people confuse the meaning of both words when translated from Maltese.
Gerald: How do they manage to confuse giving and receiving advice?
@ Gerald: ????!!
Gerald: Or the act of giving or receiving advice with the advice itself?
Corinne: Actually, Anglu’s writing is not only confusing but confused because the ‘Leader of the House’ which he mentions is actually a government minister (I think Tonio Borg at present). The House cannot have two ‘Leaders’ so the “Leader of the House for the Opposition” is a “key position” which doesn’t exist.
Anglu is mixing up the position of MLP Deputy Leader for Parliamentary Affairs with that of the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs.
[Daphne – And he’s a lawyer (magna cum laude….), parliamentarian and deputy leader of the Opposition. What low standards the Labour Party has. It’s pitiable.]
Corinne: yes, you’re right. The last sentence is completely unintelligible.
Antoine Vella: Your explanation makes sense (unlike Anglu Farrugia) but I still think that what Anglu Farrugia wrote was a Freudian slip. Didn’t he stand for election as party leader some time back?
“We have to make the party be the party of everyone especially those of the working class and middle-class and ensure that each one of them can freely belong and work within the party set-up.”
Freely belong? Once you belong to the party, can you ever be free?
[Daphne – “Especially the working-class and middle-class….”. I didn’t know Malta had an upper-class worth pursuing for votes.]
It’s amazing true this advice/advise thing. i remember when a high powered female PA to a GM always used to write ‘Please advice’ in her emails. I used to want to scream! Can’t really explain how they mix it up but it’s really annoying.
It is simple actually
Advice = Noun
Advise = Verb
Same goes for
Effect = Noun
Affect = Verb
The only problem remaining is remembering which is which, otherwise: Ding Dong!
Guzeppi Grech: The simple rule to remember is “c” for nouns, “s” for verbs.
Guzeppi:
Small detail, but “Effect” can be a verb as well, just as “Affect” can be a noun.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/effect
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/affect
[Daphne – The use of ‘affect’ as a noun is reserved for the jargon of psychology. I can’t think of a single example in which it might be used in everyday speech. The distinction between the two words purely on the noun/verb basis is incorrect. It is like distinguishing between ‘cupboard’ and ‘mend’ on the basis that one is a noun and the other is a verb. ‘Affect’ and ‘effect’ are two entirely different words with completely different meanings. The fact that they share their spelling with the exception of the initial letter does not mean they are in any way related through the noun/verb process. ‘To effect’ means to bring something into being. ‘To affect’ means to influence or change something. The noun is always ‘effect’ (except for that psychological jargon), e.g. an effect of that change was…. Besides, in English many verbs are also nouns: e.g. to drive/a drive; to walk/a walk; to run/a run; to cook/a cook; to swim/a swim.]