Is this the Labour Party's cunning plan?
Hekk ahjar, forsi nimpressjona lil Fleur
When challenged with the information that the Labour Party would have to pay individual fees for each of the 14,000 people who signed up for its get-your-VAT-back publicity stunt, Jason Micallef – a man who contrary to popular perception never smiles in real life but always looks troubled and preoccupied – replied tetchily that the party has an excellent legal team and a plan.
I have a sneaking suspicion that the cunning plan might actually be this – a test case. After all, the knight in a black toga is none other than one of the Labour Party’s two deputy leaders.
He’ll probably jump out of the nearest bush now to inform me, by means of some vulgar article in L-orizzont, that this is a private case pertaining to his private practice.
But then I must ask: why didn’t he advise his client to wait for Labour’s cunning plan?
www.timesofmalta.com
Tuesday, 14 April 2009 – 15:46CETWoman demands VAT refund on registration tax
A woman this morning filed a judicial letter in the First Hall of the Civil Court calling for an immediate refund of the VAT she had paid in order to register her car. Fleur Balzan filed her protest against the Malta Transport Authority, the Minister for the Infrastructure and Transport and the Minister for Finance. She said that the Authority had admitted that a refund was due but was reserving the right to give the refund as and when it wished. But Ms Balzan said that once the refund was due, she expected to receive it immediately. Lawyer Toni Abela signed the letter.
I had a funny feeling that Fleur Balzan was spending rather too much time with that crowd of ageing songsters, wannabe hipsters and aspirational types who crowd out the Labour Music and Media Scene (don’t ask) when she posted this comment beneath my blog-post that mocked Ir-Rok Opra Gensna. Why is she so het up, I wondered? I’m going to be wondering no more.
I’m not one to usually comment about articles which portray a different opinion to mine but this time I cannot refrain from doing so. Daphne, it seems that whatever you write about has to be negative and insulting to others. Is that really all you can do? You speak about Gensna when it seems you don’t even know the concept of it. Maybe if you went to watch before commenting you would have realised that Gensna is a ‘great’ musical which simply shows our local history, from the Arabs to Freedon Day and including Independence Day.
The artists are extremely talented and if you had an ear for music you would realise how great a musical this is and all involved, musicians, singers are doing it for the love of music and the history of our country. So what if originally it was produced by the then Labour government.
That is past and we are the ignorant ones if we don’t look at any party and recognise the good and the bad of each party. I too would have loved to see the ‘present’ president attending this great event but then one has to see why he was not present before insulting the organisation.
I am not coming from a Labour background. On the contrary, I have a similar background to yours, same school (which you hated and I loved), and same bad memories about the 1980s, but I love good music and cannot understand why we cannot appreciate our culture and our artists without bringing in politics.
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Yes I agree with you, Daphne. This is Labour’s ‘plot’. On the other hand, I wish to state that the last election was won by the PN by dint of the young vote and ex-Labourites.This reasoning is proved by the lady’s comments.
It is funny how you always manage in your own way to ridicule your opposition.
[Daphne – It’s not my opposition. It’s Malta’s: Malta’s government and Malta’s opposition.]
By the way what else can a lot of readers expect! The truth? Never! Why do we have to deal with the truth when we can ridicule others so the readers of this blog can maybe forget the truth about the electricity & water bills.
[Daphne – God, you are so boring. There is a place for earnestness, and I can tell you straight that it’s not this blog. I cracked jokes right through the last tense week of the election campaign and I see no reason to stop. Heaven knows we need a laugh, even if it is at some pompous fool’s expense.]
While people like you are writing these blogs, others are getting the sack! Also do not try to blame the economic situation because factories have been shutting down long before this! By now you want to say what the hell does this have to do with what you wrote???
[Daphne – I live in the real world, even if you don’t. Businesses close, others open – it’s a constant state of flux. Long gone are the years when people had a job for life and grew old with their colleagues and their boss. It doesn’t work like that anymore. This is the first really big international recession that younger people are experiencing. It is not, however, the first really bad economic time that Maltese adults of 40+ are going through. When I left school in 1982, you just couldn’t get a job, and if you did, it was on the minimum wage with no prospects. I’m kind of inured to the bad times: I am a child and young adult of Labour’s disastrous economic policies. No matter how bad it is today, I can look back and think: baby, if you survived that, you’ll survive anything.]
Easy answer lots. While people are trying to get back what the GonziPN government stole from them you are using Toni Abela as an excuse to ridicule all those who went to give their particulars to the Labour Party. Do not forget, Daphne, that there are thousands of people that you are ridiculing not just the Labour Party.
[Daphne – And your point is what, exactly? That 14,000 of them are going to beat a path to my door with pickaxes? I suppose your argument is that if lots of people think that way then they must be right. My own view is that they’re following in the grand old Maltese tradition of cheapskate behaviour. Why file your own suit if there’s a chance you can get some free action from Labour? And boy, you have to be one hell of a cheapskate to spend a day queuing in the street with thousands of others instead of getting your own lawyer.]
Accusing and ridiculing the Labour Party is one thing. Ridiculing the people is another. [Daphne – ‘The people’…..il-Bambin jaghtini pacenzja.]
Even though people like you who are rich enough not to care for paying extra taxes for no reason don’t care for everyday workers that try to look after every euro they spend so they will not be without money by the end of the month. Of course for you these people do not exist!!!
[Daphne – Oh how wrong you are, sweetheart. (1) I am nowhere near rich. (2) I have direct experience of raising three small children on an extremely tight budget, and you probably don’t. (3) I worked when my children were small not for the sheer hell of it, but to actually put food on the table – some of those griping workers’ wives you mention should try it some time. (4) Unlike you, I understand that jobs are created by the sort of people you despise, and not by governments. Governments have a job-enabling function, but ultimately, those jobs are created by entrepreneurs, investors and The Rich who get up your nose.]
Great Daph, but when you mentioned “When I left school in 1982, you just couldn’t get a job, and if you did, it was on the minimum wage with no prospects.” you forgot to mention il-hbieb tal-Ministri (Lorry Sant, Joe Grima, Wistin Abela….). You had to bribe them to get a job those days, xi flixkun whisky ghat-television….
Ara ghidlu ma jiftahliex kotba dalghodu…..
Daphne, I know it’s not the point at issue here, but you have to admit that prices of cars in Malta (about 40% to 80% higher than in continental Europe) are scandalous and it’s mainly due to taxation, though I wouldn’t rule out a bit of back-scratching for the importers. What I find really annoying is that the EU colludes with Malta’s government and – contrary to its basic principle of ‘free movement of people and goods’ – allows it to impose such high taxes in the form of a ‘registration fee’ since taxes per se are illegal. Decidedly unfair but I don’t think this wrong will be righted in my time. Maybe my children’s though…
Apologies for the earnestness. This is one of my pet subjects.
[Daphne – Well, I’m in two minds about it. With a place the tiny size of Malta, there is going to have to be some form of prohibitive taxation to keep down the numbers of cars. But for a great variety of reasons, it hasn’t kept down the number of cars. One of these reasons is the absence of effective public transport. Another is the fact that this is a car-owning culture and people are prepared to give up a significant part of their income towards car-ownership. Many people who own a car don’t actually use it much because (1) they’ve spent so much on it that they want to preserve it and (2) they can’t really afford to run it. For a time I switched to thinking that a lower tax would encourage people to change their cars more often, leading to fewer old cars on the roads. Then I realised that wouldn’t work, because Maltese people don’t dispose of things if they believe they can get a bit of money or some more use from them. So with lower tax, we’d end up with a huge influx of new cars PLUS the old wrecks.
Thousands of cheapskates – and we are nothing if not a nation of cheapskates – are flying to Britain, buying a car there, and driving it down to Malta. Many of them are going for prestige brands, failing to understand that jumping through all these style-free hoops to buy a second-hand Mercedes or BMW from the UK undermines the prestige you’re after in the first place. There is no such thing as a prestigious bargain. Prestigious cars, to mean anything, have to be acquired in a prestigious way – by paying full whack for a new model at the nearest dealership.
From an environmental/overcrowding point of view, I don’t think the tax should be lowered. A car is more than a personal possession. There are public issues about car ownership. And it took me ages to realise that the truly environmentally sound measure is not changing your car every three years, but hanging on to it until it gives up. On the one hand, buying new cars creates jobs and helps keep the economy turning. On the other hand, it creates waste. It’s hard to decide.]
The objective should be to reduce the dependence of the public on the use of private cars and encourage a modal shift to public transport. This can only materialise if the ministry gets off its butt and organises ‘the buses’ and their drivers, who most times behave like hooligans at the expense of the passengers.
We have been hearing talk about liberalisation for years, and nothing has happened, except for the occasional well-timed press conference by the minister concerned meant to hoodwink the public into thinking ”something is at last happening”. Delaying tactics and nothing else; and in the meantime we are subjected to abuse, daylight robbery and carcinogenic emissions guaranteed to hasten our trip to the great beyond.
As to imported cheap ‘prestige’ cars, the new system is making us the leading European dumping-ground for second-hand cars. The current registration fee (and forget about VAT on it) is way too high compared to the revised fees on imported used cars. What we should be doing is enforcing existing regulations regarding VRT testing, with huge fines to go with them. Only that will ensure we have decent cars on the road, and as you say Daphne, the Maltese are very prone to hoard and retain possessions, and so they can, as long as they abide by the rules. The yearly increase in road licence is a good idea, but then Honorable Minister, how about some decent roads to go with it?
Finally we should be really encouraging the purchase of new small and environmentally friendly cars not by a token decrease in registration fees but by truly advantageous tariffs. As it stands we are being encouraged to import fuel- guzzling but luxurious near-new cars because they are actually VERY much cheaper than a new ‘cheapo’.
“While people like you are writing these blogs, others are getting the sack! Also do not try to blame the economic situation because factories have been shutting down long before this! “
Malta is not a manufacturing country, Malta Knight. We cannot compete with manufacturing giants such as China, India and Russia. We do not have the raw materials or the necessary manpower. Our labour force is expensive compared to that of these countries. Factories have been closing down because Malta is a less competitive manufacturing base. No government can change that. It’s what is happening elsewhere in the west. Many manufacturing companies are relocating to the cheaper and more profitable east. A highly skilled western worker has to compete with a low-skilled, low-paid sweatshop worker in some impoverished country. This is not a level playing-field. This is a global problem.
“Easy answer lots. While people are trying to get back what the GonziPN government stole from them you are using Toni Abela as an excuse to ridicule all those who went to give their particulars to the Labour Party. Do not forget, Daphne, that there are thousands of people that you are ridiculing not just the Labour Party.”
He who laughs last laughs the best.
Hmm, this is interesting:
“…don’t care for everyday workers that try to look after every euro they spend”.
That’s not correct. I’ve seen a good number of average workers, and average worker’s wives and children, with the latest mobile phones and gadgetry and dressed in the most expensive of clothes – surelyto keep up appearances. Of course, there are people who are really in need, but usually these people are the honest ones who don’t have other (usually undeclared) sources of income other than their salary.
Is the Fleur Balzan you refer to the same one behind this shining example of local talent?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oP7HMKIwOA
I hate to say the word but here goes. Vera hamalli with as much class as our ”Renato”.
u halluna. Tal biki !
Off to Broadway soon.
Want to impress? Ten years ago today Giggsy decided to show the world his hairy chest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cilUpB9UUfc
Strange. This is the first I’m hearing that the VAT department has admitted a refund is due. Or perhaps her refund is due for a totally different reason?
Let me speculate.
1. Assume her VAT refund IS due, for reasons totally unconnected to the claim the other 14000 are making.
2. She wins.
3. VAT department coughs up the cash.
4.The other 14000 demand their own refund.
5. VAT department refuses, rightly so
Then what? Labour takes to the streets?
Unless Fleur & Toni are telling fibs, of course……
I bought my car in 2008 when the minister of finance, to make the car importers happy and make us buy new cars and not wait till after the budget, promised us that we will benefit if VAT is taken off the registration fee. Now it is very hard and they are making it difficult to get anything. Hey Daphne, I admire you but not all that this government does is good. We were taken for a ride and I will never ever believe or trust this government again. I voted for them as there was nothing better but the arrogance and lies (only talk and when one touches and see find that all is spin) is making me fed up.
[Daphne – Here’s your problem: who are you going to vote for then? Joseph Muscat – because he’s more consistent, reliable, trustworthy and able? Vote for nobody, and let others decide for you?]
Jew ghal Josie Muscat? Jew Norman Lowell? Maaaaaaaaaaaaaa
I always thought she was an intelligent lady, but now I realise that she is not only naive but also a fool to let Abela represent her. Can’t she see what will happen now? And no one will say, ‘U zgur dik Lejburista.’
Kos, il-flus jaghmu lil kulhadd!
More intelligent than you think! In this country we are just too scared to stand up for our rights and all we can do is express our opinion under some other name.. Well, that is just not for me!
That’s because there are more Labour worms watching over this blog ready to boycott anyone out here. I fear for my family. If it were not for that, I will surely write under my name.
Kev qatt ma qalilna xejn……..
http://www.illum.com.mt/2009/04/12/t1.html
Miskina Sharon kisirha l-bodbod!
He advertised the fact that this was in the offing though:
http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=86296
Daphne, so according to you the bad economic policies of the last years that are costing many jobs are OK? The bad economic policies regarding the electricity bills are OK? Because you can survive it ?? (I’m ok **** you jack style!)
[Daphne – Utility bills are not economic policy. They are utility bills. The economic policy of the last 22 years has been excellent, with the exception of those 22 months in 1996-1998. That is why we are not living in pre-1987 misery.]
That people cannot afford going to the courts due to high advocate prices are OK?
[Daphne – If people can afford to buy a new car for several thousand euros they can afford a lawyer.]
That we pay a lot more than other people to buy cars are ok?
[Daphne – Yes, because Malta is a highly restricted area and prohibitive (not that they have stopped anyone) taxes on cars are a measure that reflects this. If you lived in London, you would know the definition of ‘expensive car’ – for similar reasons. We don’t pay congestion charges. Instead we pay high registration tax.]
Oh please don’t tell me that we have been going bad due to Labour Gov. that is an old excuse that has worn off long ago!! We are supposed to have the best government ever and they cannot fix this hiccup??
[Daphne – Moan, groan, whine. If you think life in Malta in 2009 is bad, you should have been around in 1986.]
So you can afford a lawyer and others can’t.
[Daphne – Actually, he supports himself. And I haven’t bought a new car for years, so this is not an issue with me. Obviously, the 14,000 people who queued behind Labour’s door are the sort who can afford new cars, otherwise they wouldn’t have had a reason to be there. So much for your ‘poor workers’.]
What do you expect them to do ?? Cheapskate behaviour is when we are promised something election after election and never get it !! And by the way you are accusing all those who spend their day queuing so they can get their right back are Cheapskates????
[Daphne – Yes. They were queuing for money not for rights. If they had any interest at all in rights they wouldn’t have been Labour voters, would they?]
Daphne,
If so why have we had an increase in taxes?? why are factories closing continuously ? why did we have to sell mid med bank and all assets? Why are we always in the last position in almost every thing we do in Europe? If these last 22 years (except 1996-98) were good policies then what are the bad ones? Creating jobs, Creating Enemalta, Seamalta, Airmalta, Bov, Mid Med, Giving People Decent wages instead of scraps? Giving our people freedom for the first time in all history ?do not forget these pre 1971 these companies never existed!, that is bad according to you?(don’t cut out this section of my comment like you cut off alot of my last comment if you are a real democratic person?)
[Daphne – I deleted part of your comment because it didn’t make sense. I’m going to leave this untouched, as you requested. You just don’t even begin to understand the first thing about how Malta is where it is now – successful – compared to what it was in 1987, which was disastrous. Quite frankly, I couldn’t be bothered to explain.]
Do you think that you can buy a car as if you are going to the supermarket to buy groceries? c’mon people get loans to buy a decent car nowadays Daphne, oh by the way I have a maruti car what is yours?
[Daphne – Loan or not, you still have to be able to afford it. If you can’t afford to pay even the niggardly fees required to file a suit and consult a lawyer – this is not a murder trial we are talking about – then you have no business paying such a large sum for a car that getting the tax back is worth all this hassle.]
True till recently we used to pay on buying a new or secondhand car Registration tax with VAT on it!!!
I think you should better been around in the 1960 era to say how bad malta really was!!!!
[Daphne – In 1960, life was bad for everyone, everywhere, except for the very wealthy. Even those who were considered comfortably off then were supremely deprived by today’s standards. The problem with people like you is that Mintoff convinced you into thinking that working-class Maltese in 1960 were worse off than working-class people anywhere else in Europe. They weren’t. Working class people in Britain – our ‘hakem’ – didn’t even have lavatories in their homes, no heating in freezing temperatures, the only running water was cold and came from a single tap, and extended families of 15 people lived in four rooms. And if you think being a docker was bad in Malta in 1960, think about what being a docker would have been like in sub-zero temperatures in Portsmouth, or even further north in Hamburg.]
A lot of those people had to buy new cars for a reason that they could not continue to maintain their old car thanks to the extreme VRT challenges. To say that you haven’t bought a new car in ages shows how you do not know anything about this situation.
[Daphne – A VRT test is not a challenge unless your car is 15 years old, by which time you should have saved up enough money to buy another one. My car goes in for VRT tests and it’s no problem at all.]
So according to you paying tax over tax is ok? according to you being robbed a couple of thousand is ok ? I know money might not be an issue to you or else you would be a cheapskate too! that is according to the way you reason !
[Daphne – Do you know how much money you have to spend on a car so as to pay EUR2,000 in VAT on registration tax? If you can afford a car like that then you’re not a poor worker and you’re not suffering in the economic downturn.]
Also if you had to go to court for any reason and you would win it you will never demand money(heaven forbid) instead you will try to say I will forgive and forget??? C’mon People who went queuing to demand to get back what they paid for no reason, daphne not to steal it like this government loves to do! ! ! !
[Daphne – Life is short, Malta Knight, much too short to spend queuing and agitating and fighting for a refund of VAT on registration tax. Here’s another thing that foxes me about Maltese culture: people think they are going to live forever. They waste time on inanities, feud, preserve their things instead of using them, spend a whole day of their lives standing on the pavement outside Labour HQ, dedicate a huge portion of the day to whining….As the saying goes, life is not a dress rehearsal.]
Re the awful and bad 1960’s. We had Flower Power man. Peace be upon the both of you.
@ Malta Knight
A small point that you should consider. You wrote:
“A lot of those people had to buy new cars for a reason that they could not continue to maintain their old car thanks to the extreme VRT challenges.”
VRT is there to check if your car is safe, not only for you and the passengers, but for other road users. I am sure you would prefer to have an extreme VRT, and because you have a safe car, be able to walk away from an accident, should you one day be involved in one (God forbid of course). Contrary to common perception, VRT is not just a means for the Minister of Finance to raise taxes, or a way for the Goverment to give drivers a hard time.
Malta Knight, if ALL those people queing to get their VAT back could afford to buy a car, they couldn’t be that bad financially, could they?
They just were the living proof just how much people can afford things nowadays, mhux bhal qabel trid tqancac.
Daphne, your comment about prestigious cars not having prestige because of their sheer numbers on our roads really struck a chord. I was thinking this morning whilst being sandwiched in traffic between two UK BMW’s that it’s a sheer waste to spend money on a “cheap” prestige car. I mean, where’s the prestige if everybody and his brother are getting one.
If I want a prestigious car (which I absolutely don’t, not only because I don’t afford prestigious cars but a car for me is just a means of transport from point A to point B and then again, all my extra money goes on travel and books), I would just save to buy one which is really prestigious. I’m really puzzled to see so many people taking the trouble to bring over to Malta a “prestigious” car when such cars are clearly no longer prestigious.
[Daphne – Malta is a style-free zone, Lorna. Here are two things that a certain kind of Maltese person doesn’t understand: doing things on the cheap is stylish only when those things are meant to be cheap, like a RyanAir flight or a T-shirt. A top-marque car bought from a secondhand dealership in Britain for a ‘bargain price’ and driven down to Malta is so the opposite of stylish that I just don’t know where to begin. Those who say that it’s the car that counts know zilch. What counts is what the car stands for: in this case, it stands for “I want people to think I’m the sort of person who can afford to drive a Jaguar/Porsche/Mercedes/BMW but I can’t really afford one, so I’ll get one off a market stall/from the bargain basement/designer discount shop instead. A brand-new Toyota IQ bought in Malta is stylish. A 2nd-hand convertible Mercedes bought in Birmingham after being seized off some coke-dealer and then driven to Malta is super-tacky.]
True, but the point you’re missing is that people won’t know that the car was bought in the UK at a bargain price and will assume that the car owner is ‘classy’. Whether the BMW owner lives in a gov estate or a slum doesn’t really matter as long as he (she?) is seen (or heard) driving up and down busy streets on a Saturday night.
[Daphne – Oh believe me, we know.]
Malta Knight! Ever considered changing your nickname to Malta Night!
Your reasoning is shrouded in thick darkness and trapped in imperial times when the queen was expected to foot all bills!
Tajba din. Halli jkun dejjem fid-dlam u jiffranka mill-kont tad-dawl..
I have to disagree with you here, Daphne. OK, most people do buy just for the badge’s sake when they get a BMW, Merc, Porsche, Jag, etc etc, especially as these kind of cars are wasted on Malta’s roads (what with the congestion, the state of the roads, the idiotic speed limits, the amount of long streches where one can just open up and really enjoy these cars and so on). However, there is a very big difference between driving say a BMW and driving a cheapo, even when all the aforesaid is taken into account. The handling, the response, the comfort, the security, and the feel good factor make a great difference.
Sure at the end of the day a car is something that gets you from A to B, but why shouldn’t you do your travelling in a bit of style? And if you can get it from the UK at a discount, and when it is in good condition, why should you pass up the chance?
Keeping in mind the state of Maltese roads, I would personally hesitate buying a new car anyway, not even a SUV – unless it is a Hummer.
[Daphne – I agree with you about the comfort, etc, but there is nothing remotely stylish about hunting for cars on the UK 2nd-hand market. As more and more Tacky Johnnies and Trashy Janes begin driving around in these cars, the really smart people will start driving something else.]
Daphne, the so called prestge cars are prestige because they are more comfortable and more durable. Exactly what we need for the rubbish roads we have here.
[Daphne – Prestige comes from rarity, Mario, and rarity comes from expense and being of the financial reach of most. By definition, if you make prestige cars affordable to the hordes, then they are no longer prestige at all. The comfort and engineering are part of what pushes up the price, but in themselves, they don’t make for prestige. A woolly jumper is comfortable, durable and well-made but there is nothing prestigious about it.]
But a cheapo is a cheapo. It eventually breaks your back here. Even an old 3 series BMW is better than say, a small new cheap car. The suspension is better because it’s a European suspension, better able to withstand knocks, dips and holes, than a Japanese suspension developed on and made for billiard smooth Japanese roads. Vanni is 100% right.
[Daphne – Nobody is questioning the durability and engineering of these cars, Mario. I am merely pointing out – as somebody who works in the field of communications/perception/branding/etc – that there is nothing remotely prestigious about jumping through hoops to buy a used car. What you are saying is this: I may have enough money to buy a Mercedes, but I still have to count it. It’s the equivalent of buying a designer coat from a discount store.]
Besides which, the longevity is tempered by good engines that smoke and pollute much less than an old cheapo. Take your BMW for example, if you still have it. I am sure you know how reliable and durable it is, or was. These cars are built to last 15 years. The engines are literally unbreakable if serviced well.
[Daphne – Yes, I still have it. Each time I take it for a VRT, the guy remarks on the fact that the engine could be new. And I won’t tell you how many miles it’s got on the clock, since it’s not my Sunday best car.]
I am one of those who did go to the UK with a relative to buy a car. He bought a late model, 20K miles A-class Mercedes, from Mercedes itself, in brand new condition and with two years to go on the warranty. With tax, driving down here and associated holiday, it came out to around EUR15,000. The car, brand new, in the showroom here costs EUR40,000.
You just cant argue with savings like that. And good spec EU cars, even if a little old, say three years, are infinitely safer than some of the rubbish on our roads.
What the government should do is encourage us to buy newer cars by making them cheaper, not more expensive. But as usual, the gurus at the Finance Ministry know best, and turn the argument on its head, then try and convince us that it was a “green” argument. Unfortunately, we have given up trying to generate cashflows with new ideas and instead the politicians are allowing these nameless, faceless financial bureaucrats to convince them that the only way forward is to tax the motorist.
Here we go agaain, arguing with Daphne. Imma dan m’ghandux x’jaghmel. Mhux ahjar imur jghin lil Vince fil-kampanja elettorali forsi jitla.
Tal-Muzew says:
Friday, 17 April at 1514hrs
Here we go agaain, arguing with Daphne. Imma dan m’ghandux x’jaghmel. Mhux ahjar imur jghin lil Vince fil-kampanja elettorali forsi jitla.
@ Tal-Muzew
May I ask what’s wrong with arguing with Daphne? She strikes me as being intelligent enough to welcome diverse opinions to her own. Beware of putting people on pedestals my friend. They themselves may not always appreciate it, and for the great unwashed reading here, it makes things slightly boring.
This site is becoming a shear waste of virtual space and real time.
[Daphne – To save time, don’t visit. You can’t waste virtual space because by definition there’s no such thing. It’s virtual. Off you go now and shear your sheep.]
As the Welshman said to the Englishman: I’m not shearing, get your own bloody sheep!
@Malcolm Buttigieg
Go on mate…get some support…get Alan Shearer to help you out.
I see Daphne that you refrained from showing my reply. No problem with that. My note was intended for you anyways. Maybe you will realise that mud slinging does not get anyone anywhere. And what goes around will one day come around!!!
You can choose not to show this too. It is intended to be read by you.
[Daphne – On the contrary, Fleur, I will. I did not upload your earlier comment because you were so far off the mark that I didn’t feel like entering into a lengthy explanation of my working life, nor do I believe I owe you one. I will just point out that your assuming my day job is that of housewife supported by a husband who pays all the bills is not just off the radar but in another solar system. I have realised over the years, though, that many women who have never married or had families entertain such fanciful notions that married women are all of a kind. We are no more all of a kind than single women are. It’s a safe bet that I work much harder, and for longer hours, than you do – precisely because my financial responsibilities are much greater, not that it’s any of your business. But then I don’t expect insightful observations from somebody who thinks that Toni Abela is a good lawyer, that Gensna is good music, and that it’s wise to ignore the political machinations of those who are not as naive as you are.]
Hear hear Daphne. Give her what she deserves. There’s no stronger Daphne when she is angry.
Bull.. or maybe because you really never check your sources before writing about anything and that may have reduced to rubbish the article you wrote above. Any by the way, unmarried does not mean single nowadays. Again, you’re stuck in 1982.
[Daphne – Yes, it does, Fleur. In the eyes of the law you’re single unless you’re married. You’ll discover this to your cost when you try to sort out your property and pension rights and a zillion other things, like the fact that you won’t be considered next of kin if he gets knocked down by a lorry and the hospital needs next-of-kin permission for a procedure. They’ll ask his parents, or his adult children, or even his estranged wife if he has one. In the eyes of the law your relationship does not exist, and when it comes to the serious moments in life, it’s the law that you have to deal with. And you don’t have to be so touchy anyway. Being single is allowed.]
To Fleur Balzan
Don’t even bother to reply to what Daphne has written about your comment for the following reasons :
1) Daphne and her supporters live in entire universe of their own from normal people.
2) Its her blog you can never win
3)People like Daphne only like sticking mud at others but, hate when others do it to them!.(Who laughs at others at the end will always get laughed at!!)
Bye Daphne
Why do you think trying to be stylish is the only reason why people get second hand top of the range cars from the UK? It could be value for money they are after. They would , for instance rather spend X amount of money on a good second hand, sturdy,comfortable and safe BMW or Mercedes, than the same amount of money on a new less sturdy, less comfortable and less safe car.
[Daphne – Because I know the Maltese mind.]
Andrea
I think Daphne is mistaken. Maltese people,go for value for money. A 3-year-old second hand BMW is a much better car than a new Tata. No doubt about it. The Maltese have never been fools when parting with money.
[Daphne – Why compare those two cars? And no, actually Maltese people understand very little about value for money – or rather, our definition of value for money is different to the norm. That’s why people spend fortunes on their homes and leave hardly anything over for decent food or to spend on their wardrobe. When two people with a joint income of EUR28,000 a year spend EUR14,000 on a kitchen – which they then don’t use – it’s hard to say that they’re going for value for money. What you’re talking about here is not value for money but priorities.]
Daphne, Unusual of me, but I disagree with your assessment as to why a lot of people are buying near-new used cars. I just bought one for the simple reason that like Andrea Sammut I want (and I must say can only afford) value for money, whilst at the same time driving a particularly lovely Merc with all mod cons, that’s safe and a pleasure to drive. Hopefully I’ll enjoy touring Sicily with it (between you and I, cannot wait to get my mouth round a juicy hemberger). Nothing to do with its prestige value etc, although it’s nice to know it has some of that as well, but I love telling everyone that I got it for a song with only 18000 miles on the clock. As usual my children tell me off for being too honest about the bargain I made, but then they’re snobs, bless them. (and it ain’t their father who’s to blame).
[Daphne – Mela your children and I think the same way.]
Not sure about calling BMWs/Mercedes/Jaguars etc prestige cars. Where I live in good ‘ol blighty, a BMW is considered to be a saleman’s car. As for the rest no one turns their heads when they putter along the high street. The only time heads turn is when a Maserati, Lamborghini or Ferrari growls along on a nice summer’s day. (Yes we do get some nice summer days…every now and then).
[Daphne – Well, yes, ideally we would all love to have an open-top Bentley. Interestingly, guess which car is turning heads here in Malta? The Toyota iQ.]
Still prefer the Smart – and with the Sterling being so low and all…
@ It can’t be as you say always. I assume I have a Maltese mind and I got a good brand car, safe, sturdy and comfortable, which I could afford because it was second hand.
I have discovered this site. Do you know about it?
http://knightmalta.blogspot.com
[Daphne – I love the way my opponents’ blogs are invariably references to mine or to me personally. It just never occurs to them to originate a blog of their own that is the equivalent of this but doesn’t mention me or my arguments. I’m not the issue here, but they just don’t get it. There’s something else they just don’t get: anonymity undermines credibility and hence, effectiveness.]
They also don’t know much about using colour in web publishing: a mass of red text on a black background is very tiring to read.
You are right. I couldn’t manage to read it all because of the colour combination.
@Daphne
Do you consider your mind to be a Maltese mind? I think it must be (although I have no inkling about your genealogy) but if it is, it is definitely an atypical one and that is intended as an honest compliment – not that you need any.
Actually, if you had to write about what you consider to be the particular characteristics of a typical Maltese mind. then that would make very interesting reading. Do please shear ;-) your views.