That clever young man Jesmond Mugliett gets himself a scholarship award
Kemm hu bravu l-boy
Jesmond Mugliett, who has been bickering and bitching along with the rest of the wannabe ministers since March last year, must have come to the conclusion that he might as well grab whatever he can, even if it makes him look…..pathetic.
I was at a ceremony last Friday for the award of scholarships to postgraduate students in the Malta Government and Strategic Educational Pathways (STEPS) schemes.
Around 200 people received scholarships, which in the STEPS scheme take the form of a generous bursary and in the Malta Government scheme a less generous but still extremely useful one. Almost all these people were in their 20s, even though there is no age bar.
Then I heard a familiar name announced: Jesmond Mugliett. I had been told already that his name was on the llst, and had thought “Oh sweet Mary and Jesus….”, but had given him the benefit of the doubt. He might have a son of the same name, or a young cousin.
But then on the night the government backbencher walked past me, carrying his award certificate and looking, to his minimal credit, more than a tad embarrassed. Of course it didn’t help that I was looking at him at the time and clearly thinking, “What the f**k?”
Scholarship awards of this sort are not means tested, which is at it should be because they are an acknowledgement of and encouragement to excellence. The age limit has been removed (there was one at first) to make it possible for older people with the right research goals to take time out of full-time work and concentrate on their studies, though few older people actually do that because the attendant complications are too great and no matter how generous an award is, you can’t run a household on it.
One of the older people for whom it appears to be possible is our Jesmond, the ‘rebel backbencher’, who plays the hero backbiting the prime minister and publicly criticising the party secretary-general for saying that Marisa Micallef was a victim of the financial crisis.
Perhaps Jesmond Mugliett is a victim of the financial crisis, too, which is why he needs a generous scholarship bursary to top up his salary as a member of parliament and his income from his architectural practice. Surely we are not saying here that he wanted the scholarship purely as an acknowledgement of his excellence.
There’s nothing in the rules to bar members of parliament from applying for scholarship awards and bursaries, just as there is nothing in the rules to bar the presidents of political parties from applying for controversial development permits in valleys. But just as in the case of Victor Scerri and his Bahrija application, Jesmond Mugliett should have been guided by what was appropriate and not what was permissible by the rules.
MPs applying for scholarship awards, particularly when they will not be giving up their salary because that would mean giving up their seat in the house, look grabby and inappropriately-behaved. There is no cast-iron reason why people in this position should not apply. It is just that it looks so bad. It is up to them to understand this, but obviously, some people don’t.
Perhaps he would also like to let us know, given that he is a member of parliament and therefore accountable to his electors, what form of research he intends to pursue, and whether or not this will affect his presence in parliament.
I now fear that by highlighting Jesmond Mugliett’s success in squeezing cash out of unexpected sources, over the next year we are going to see lots of other MPs lining up for a piece of the action: “Iss hej, jekk ha Jesmond ma niehdux ahna?”
14 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
You’re right – he was always pathetic even when he was parliamentary secretary for education. His arrogance in answering legitimate questions with regards to the national orchestra led the board of the time to resign. He wouldn’t say how much the maestro and others were paid. And as minister he was truly a disaster. No wonder the prime minister decided to do away with such arrogance.
Including the Regional Road bridge episode with his blunders.
Let’s say it once and for all to all these PN ‘rebels’. Don’t try to destabilise the government. We will never forgive you. If those who were elected in two districts think that they have a divine right to be ministers or parliamentary secretaries, they are wrong. The votes they acquired will be easily dissolved into nothing by this kind of behaviour, and no amount of blackmail will be accepted by rank and file. Word is already out to put paid to those whose personal ambitions and irresponsible limelight-seeking behaviour are giving ammunition to the Labour Party in destroying a legitimate government.
They will all pay the price for their stupidity. And rest assured that come next general election we will know whom we will elect and on which districts. There will be no two districts for anyone.
Jesmond has always had a keen sense of what’s appropriate. Like when he was so reluctant to sack his buddy at the A.D.T. who had been found guilty of corruption by the courts. No doubt he will now be soliciting some more extra cash to finance his studies from the Good Causes Fund, as some other well-heeled individual I can think of did.
Two of our students at Uni, both of whom hold first class degrees, failed to make the grade. Now I know why.
[Daphne – I wouldn’t say that because we don’t yet know whether this was a finite sum, and that Mugliett’s grabbing of part of it means that there was less for people in their 20s with first-class degrees. The interviews, from what I hear, were pretty tough, and applicants grilled by boards of specialists in the applicants’ chosen fields of study. But I do think that it was quite unbecoming of him to put himself forward for a bursary when he has a salary and also a private income from his professional practice – and if it was a finite sum, then it was still more unbecoming of a man at his stage of life to compete for resources with youngsters who need both the money and the morale-boost of an award to encourage them onwards and upwards.]
It makes me recall the 1980s, when a son of a carpenter was not allotted a government plot while Reno Calleja and Rokku Abdilla – both Labour MPs – grabbed one. What is his research field? No, I’d better not try to guess.
Dear Daphne,
I’m an avid reader of your blog but this is the first time I’m writing. You see I was one of those 200 20-year-olds that were present at MCC last Friday.
I am a Labourite born and bred and have never voted PN and I don’t think I ever will either. But I am truly grateful to Dr. Gonzi and Mrs. Cristina for having given me a helping hand in my studies through such a generous financial contribution.
It was the first time I met Dr. Gonzi and I was touched by his personal warmth and the interest he took when presenting the award. I could see in his eyes that he was genuinely happy for each and every one of us. I was also surprised when he mingled with all of us after in the foyer asking us what we would study and which university we were to attend.
The present administration may have all the faults in the world but I can’t think of any country in the world where the PM personally presents you with such a wonderful ‘gift’. I can assure him that it was money well invested…
Oh and by the way I’m sure you noticed that your husband missed going up for the award the first time (he got held up in the queue or something) and had to be recalled at the end. Some people actually thought your son was getting two awards instead of one (u beda iz-zekzik kontra l-klikka tas-soltu…).
[Daphne – That’s why young people warm to him and voted for him in their vast majority last year. The prime minister appeals far more to those who are just starting out in life than to jaded, bored and boring people my age, who are just looking for a reason to hate the world. (And I thought it was teenagers who were meant to hate the world.) Congratulations on your decision to carry on studying, and keep your positive outlook, because people with a positive outlook get much, much further in life – both their personal life and their working life.
As for your last paragraph, I know. I heard some muttering. We weren’t sitting in the seat marked with our name, and the organisers assumed we weren’t there, so crossed Paul’s name off the list and stuck it on the end when they realised we were sitting somewhere else. I guess it didn’t occur to the mutterers that I might have a son bright enough to get that award on merit.
Have a good time, Chad, and thank you very much for writing in. I appreciate it. Like the prime minister, I much prefer young people. You’re all so much more interesting than the dwejjaq crowd, and so much more personable, too, than we were at your age.]
My, how times change, Chad! When I was your age, the Labour PM had deemed Uni a luxury and practically closed it down.
Oh well, as long as you’re happy with that and vote labour. . . who knows – maybe history could repeat itself, only this time, with YOUR children on the receiving end. Your choice!
Dear Chad, your experience is a positive one. Why bite the hand which feeds you? I bit the hand which did not feed me. When I was studying in 1978 at the Polytechnic in Msida, all I got was uncertainty and a measly 50 cents per week student allowance, which didn’t even cover the ten x 7 cents bus tickets. I know a lot of people my age who couldn’t afford to carry on with their studies because of the numerus clausus at university and no financial backing from the state.
In 1996-98 – that’s 13 years ago – students didn’t even dream of getting this kind of manna. All they got was a bank loan to buy their books, which they had to pay when they started working.
I hate to say this, but most of the “doctors” in the MLP don’t like it when the workers’ children open their minds through education. The PN administrations always were the ones which built new schools and came up with schemes to further educate people…all the people, young and old.
The MLP made hotch-potch reforms which scared students away from higher education let alone foreign universities. They even sold a school to Libya which the PN administration had built in the 1960s.
My family are still traditionally Labour supporters. When elections are near I avoid bringing up political arguments at home, because unity in your family comes first. You have the duty to vote according to what your mind tells you, even though some stupid PN diehard thinks you are a Labour supporter.
I’m telling you this from my experience, and I can understand what an awkward position you are in, because even your family helped you in your education, after all. You would like to see them happy because ‘their’ government will be in power, but I tell you’d prefer listening to the Super One news for a whole five years every day under a less bad PN administration than live 22 months under a party which is not in peace with itself.
May you fulfill your ambitions. Remember that you are an asset to your country. That’s why this government is investing in you. Good luck.
Actually, I was twice as happy as I should have been, when I was told that I had obtained the award, due to a conversation I had with a colleague some months back.
This co-worker and I were having a conversation on the possibility of obtaining funding for a master’s degree in some way or another. Anyway this guy happens to be a die-hard Nationalist and during our conversation he expressed his cynicism on whether such funds could be recouped from the government. He seemed adamant that only those with good connections would be able to get their hands on the cash.
Apart from the fact that I wouldn’t have expected such cynicism against his party on such a sensitive issue, for the life of me I couldn’t believe that capable people could be left out of such a scheme just because they weren’t close to the circles that count.
I mean for government contracts I would expect some sense of favouritism where the government-party axis protects its own but for pete’s sake, we were talking about the future of young people here, young men and women who would be contributing to our economy in the near future.
Anyway, I guess I’m the living proof that at least favouritism doesn’t exist in educational awards. I am neither well connected nor am I remotely a party acolyte. I got the award on my own merit. I too obtained a first class bachelor’s degree and had a damn good dissertation proposal for the master’s degree I will be doing. I read through the course brochure and handbook well into the night on the eve of the interview and spoke to a couple of past alumni on Facebook to prepare any possible questions the board could ask re the university. I was well and truly prepared for anything and passed with flying colours.
The thing is that the notion of favouritism has been so well ingrained in our subconscious that some people cannot even contemplate ‘fair play’. To them it’s just who you know and not what you know. I am glad that in the end of the I am no dreamer and that I was proven right.
[Daphne – “Apart from the fact that I wouldn’t have expected such cynicism against his party on such a sensitive issue, for the life of me I couldn’t believe that capable people could be left out of such a scheme just because they weren’t close to the circles that count.” That’s the way it was when I was 18, Chad. First, capable people were cut out of educational schemes, and then lots of educational schemes were cut out altogether. It’s the reason I’ve been working since I was 17.]
Daphne, I do not agree with you on this one. Being awarded a scholarship brings with it a commitment to work long hours to complete the masters or the doctorate. It is certainly not a matter of “grabbing” or “squeezing cash” as you put it. For part-time doctorate studies overseas, it brings with it a financial burden because the MGSS scholarship covers just the tuition. For most people giving up the full-time employment is not an option so one would have to cope with a full time job as well as long hours of study.
Why shouldn’t people in their thirties and forties apply for a scholarship and pursue postgraduate studies? What is wrong in fulfilling an ambition which for family, financial or other reasons you were not able to fulfil when you were younger?
From my experience, postgraduate studies makes people more effective in their work. I would recommend it to anyone who has the motivation and the energy, irrespective of age.
As for Jesmond Mugliett, if doing a masters (or whatever it is he is doing) helps him to adjust better after so many years in public office, then why not?
[Daphne – Will you please read my piece again? Nowhere did I say that middle-aged people should not try for an award. On the contrary, I think that whatever will get people my age out of the rut into which lots of them have dug themselves, which is the root cause of their anger, boredom and frustration, can only be a good thing. I said that MPs shouldn’t apply, and this out of a sense of what is appropriate and not because they are barred, because it’s unbecoming. For a start, they have a salary coming in and will not be taking a pay-cut by studying. If anything, it is electors who will be shortchanged by MPs not doing what they were elected to do, and doing something else instead. The terms of the award stipulate that you cannot hold down a full-time job. I imagine Mugliett tried his hand at a bit of legalistic argument: Maltese MPs are not full-timers but part-timers. Ah, but they receive a full-time salary, and that’s the point – they are among Malta’s best-paid individuals. Incidentally, Mugliett is still in public office, and shows no signs of leaving. His problems with adjustment generally are such that no scholarship award will solve them.]
You state: “The terms of the award stipulate that you cannot hold down a full-time job.”
I do not know about STEPS nor about Mugliett. For the MGSS, however, you are allowed to hold a full time job whilst doing the Phd on a part time basis.
@Thomas Agius
I was on the National Orchestra Board at the time when the new contract with the resident conductor/artistic director was being negotiated and had the temerity to ask to have a look at it before I signed it as a board member. I was told by the then chairman Mario Tabone Vassallo that Minister Mugliett did not want this document to be made public, to the extent that not even the board members appointed by him could be privy to terms and conditions that they were to work with for the next five years.
You will be interested to know that I asked the board secretary to minute that “Kenneth Zammit Tabona strongly objects to the contents of the contract being negotiated not being shown to him as a board member and declares that should this contract be finalised and signed without his having seen it, he will resign and resign publicly”. This was no idle threat.
I received an email from the chairman three weeks later saying that we would be meeting Mro Laus at the next meeting as the contract had been signed and I immediately informed the press.
You may look up the rest of the story on the internet. None of the other board members had the gumption or the principle to do what I did – however I was not going to be anyone’s rubber-stamp.
You will be interested to know that Mr Tabone Vassallo eventually resigned too, for the reasons you mentioned. The rest of the board stayed on………and on……….and on.
[Daphne – Good for you, Kenneth. Mario Tabone Vassallo – isn’t he that person who insists on always speaking in manufactured Maltese, whatever the situation, circumstance or company?]
He is indeed. As Leporello says “Parla come un libro stampato”.