It wasn't the Labour Party which improved the lives of the working class
It says here that if we vote Labour we can become working class. Isn't that exciting!
I had no intention of writing about this, but then a Labour fan posted a comment full of praise for the way his political heroes changed the lives of the working class and raised them up (where to – that ghastly statue in Msida?). And his bloody-minded blindness to the facts staring him in the face irritated me so much that I had to reply.
Here’s what I wrote, with some elaboration.
The reality is that decades of Labour effort made only a marginal difference to the lives of the working class, who might have got a free plot and a minimum-wage job mal-gvern but nothing else. The lot of the working-class improved beyond reckoning post-1987, thanks to free-market economic policies and education policies which brought more and more people into training and higher education, and then to EU membership.
Take this real-life example, one of many thousands.
John and Mary got a free plot under Labour in the early 1980s and built a house. John got a job mal-gvern on just above the minimum wage and moonlights as a carpenter. Mary is a housewife who spends her days buying detergents and using them, and cooking poor food because that is what she always cooked and what her mother always cooked and anything else is pretension and a waste of money.
Both of them are barely literate. Their life is very, very basic. This is not because of lack of money. John has been so busy as a moonlighting carpenter since 1987 that he has to take lots of ‘sick’ to fill orders, and his neighbours are complaining about the constant noise from the garage.
Their house is well furnished and equipped because carpentry brings in lots of cash while the government job takes care of national insurance and the rest of it, and there is now lots to choose from on the market – even though their home is not in any way what you would call pleasant or comfortable.
John and Mary are generationally new to the concept of what houses are for beyond shelter and don’t know how to live well in a whole house.
They continue to live more or less the lives that their parents lived because of lack of imagination about the possibilities open to them, and also because of lack of education. But they live their parents’ lives in a far more comfortable environment and with much more money. Even their grandparents would recognise them.
John and Mary have a son called Joseph, who was born in the early 1980s and who was fortunate enough to grow up post-1987. His parents don’t think he is lucky, despite the evidence of his success so far. What he sees as success, they see as ‘too much’ in terms of work and pressure.
They think their son is miskin, because he has to work hard for his money and has to buy his own house, unlike them. Because they are largely ignorant and their cultural and social parameters are different, they cannot see that their son’s life is much better than theirs, that he is a much more well-rounded person with infinite possibilities that he sets about developing.
Joseph did well at state school, having inherited a fairly high IQ from a grandfather he never knew, who had run off to Australia in despair in the 1950s and abandoned his wife and children. Joseph went to the public sixth form with no problems or restrictions at all. He went on to study information technology at university, similarly with no problems or restrictions.
He had any number of courses to choose from, but decided that IT would give him more openings for the new sort of life he wanted to have. His parents thought it was a waste of time. His father needed help in filling the carpentry orders that were pouring in and had also pulled strings to get him a job and pay cheque from the local council.
Joseph stuck determinedly to his plans and when his parents said ‘Issa toqghodx tigi ghandna ghall-flus“, he said thanks but no thanks, because you get paid to go to university and there are no fees anyway.
Because he doesn’t have his parents’ hang-ups about speaking Maltese and refusing to learn English, Joseph now speaks and writes the latter fluently. He reads widely, takes an interest in current affairs and the international scene, and does a lot of research on the internet while his friends are fooling around on Facebook.
Eight years ago, during the EU membership debate, when his parents spoke against the EU and how it would destroy Malta by opening it up to the world outside, Joseph stayed silent and didn’t join in. Rather than argue with them, he left the room under the pretext of having to study. He rather liked the idea of Malta being opened up to the world, and loved the notion that he could travel without problems, study and work wherever he liked in Europe.
So despite the many raging arguments with his parents when he saw that they were taking it for granted that he would vote No, he voted Yes in the referendum and then for the Nationalist Party in the general election which followed. His parents didn’t speak to him for a long time after that.
In 2008, Jpseph again voted for the Nationalist Party because he could see the way things were going and he liked his life. He didn’t mind having to buy his own house and not getting a free plot, because he had enough insight to understand that the trade-off for the free plot was too great.
Joseph’s grandparents and great-grandparents wouldn’t recognise him. He dresses well, speaks English fluently when required though Maltese remains his mother tongue, has manners which he learned by observing others whom his parents mocked as ‘keshin‘ , can hold a conversation because through work he is regularly thrown into situations where he must do so, has a very well-paid job with one of the many non-Maltese services companies that set up for business in Malta in the last few years, travels widely for work and for fun, and has a small but stylish flat which he is paying for himself, and which is decorated in a manner that would be instantly recognisable in London or New York. Before buying anything for his flat or his life, he researches products and styles on the internet and consults design magazines.
His parents can’t see that their son’s life is better than theirs. They still think that he would have been better off with a plot tal-gvern, a job mal-gvern, a nice girl to settle down with at 20, and evenings and weekends spent at the kazin tal-banda, with the occasional weekend break in Gozo and a day-trip to Catania once every two years.
Joseph disagrees. And there you have it. How to improve the lot of the working class by keeping socialism at bay.
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Great description. How about a second chapter about Joseph’s elder sister whose life is a carboncopy of her mother’s.
Ghandhek pinna tad-deheb sinjura. Prosit.
Great story – it looks like one of the parables of the New Testament. LOL. How do you manage to see it all so clearly? Yet it is so true, I happen to know a couple of Josephs, Johns and Marys. Maybe if they take a good look at themselves they will understand.
Usually, envy blinds people and does not let them see things in their true colours but ony envious green.
Maybe Marisa can take a tip or two (for free) on how to write allegories, gejja bil blue prince.
You hit the nail on the nail, as usual, with that story. What a dull and unassuming life. Thank you for sharing it with us.
I’ve been telling my relatives and friends the same thing. The difference is that you communicate my thoughts so well.
Their children look at the PN as the better political party. My elderly relatives are still loyal to MLP but their children are running away from it. They speak highly of their children’s success in life.
Their parents are only focused on the shortcomings of the PN and fail to see the whole picture, that is the free market economy which made their kids happy and successful in post 1987 Malta.
Dear Daphne …. this type of write ups are great and make much more effect with certain readership. This is what the majority of your readers would like from your pen.
The problem is that there is no chance that Joseph’s parents will read this enlightening and very true story. Can anybody suggest a way how they might read it?
Yes, have it read on Calypso radio.
People who have an intrinsic and ingrained interest in preserving a system do not bother about the veracity of such a story. To the contrary, the chance of the truth coming to light probably upsets them.
Drama on TV. We Maltese love watching stuff like that. At least it won’t be as boring and bla sens as KC. NET TV, please take note.
That pretty much sums up the picture, except that most of the Josephs on this island take all that for granted and do not vote for the PN. Their parents have been pretty successful in making them expect everything for free and provided by the state.
You could have also included how John and Mary were scandalised when their son told them about the mortgage he was taking, and how they advised him to forget about getting his own residence before actually saving up all the money required for such a purchase (i.e. until he is some 50 years old).
Spot on.
Joseph is the archetype that drives PL hotheads raving mad.
Anyone who forges ahead in life without the “blessing” of the gvern tal-Labour is anathema to them.
Usually i do not read such writings from DCG. mainly because i know that this paid woman from our coffers by the Partito Nazzjonalista is highly biased politically motivated distorted facts of history rubbish. Initially i tought that this person was writing purely something that i tought it was politically driven. Nowadays as a researcher in domestic and industrial psychology , bought in afamily that teached me to trust and analyse before i conclude is driving me to respond to this one of the most highly problemmatic persons in our island that distorts history for pure reasons known only to her.
History facts:-
In 1971 labour inherited an economy described no better than the ones in Bangladesh, Indonesia and India.
Labours first priorities were to become a republic funding of the public service and introduce the Maltese Lira.
He eliminates the rationing of food systems in which it was a lucrative business for merchants and importers at that time, (he eliminated il butir mill landa , zejt bil flixkun tal inbid, kunserva icappasilek ma karta strazza. skimmed milk ghan nisa tqal biss)………. to the detirement of democracy mainly due and attributable to the eletism within the Partito Nazzjonalista that were funding it, were they voted against the twothirds pension, Children allowance and scores of other benefits that the PL can boast about. And what about the NI the PN were against it, but now thay have took care of that by increasing it ten fold.
History PN:- In 1987 Pn came to power economically we were lacking behind in terms of technology, but our lovely island was always at a surplus in monetary terms, we never heard of the word deficit. But Fenech Adami was a reformist he came to power in the right of times he introduced and boosted Pluralism , the printed media, Political Televisions, legislated and was the key player in eliminating Malta from being a third world country just in time because by the fall of Berlin technology spiraled and a new era in the world was brewing i.e. globalisation.
History Gonzi PN:- far cry from his previous predecessors taxes taxes and taxes, Kindly quote me some achievement from our PM solely attributable to his capacity as those of befor him, dont tell me the euro, he introduced it not design it or incept it. Something in which he taught of or implement or design solely from his taughts, NONE. The easiest way out tariff there , surcharge there , and his cabinet ohh no qatt ma sifirtu barra jew , has ever of you saw someone resign mill hmieg li daqt naraw hiereg plus li hemm. PLS Daphne semmilna xi haga hazina from PN mela kemm qed ihallsuk ostra, ehhhhh forsi int tajba diehel il gelgul and f………. you jack. Dan il pajjiz ghandu bzonn free thinkers mhux pampaluni imhallsa li ilhom jerghdu snin. Insomma ir risposta qed tehodha din il lady meta tqis li ma fadalx cwiec go dan il pajjiz.
Joe Muscat Pl:- Meta jilhaq PM naraw u naqlawlu kull fejn hemm Bzonn.
ex Pn now true Maltese
“Joe Muscat Pl:- Meta jilhaq PM naraw u naqlawlu kull fejn hemm Bzonn.”
F’tarf il-mazzita sibna z-zbiba!
Ktibt hafna veritajiet Kol, u insejt hafna ohrajn. L-ahhar esperjenza u iktar qrib il-verita kienet l-amministrazzjoni vroma tal-Labour t’Alfred Sant.
Semmi li trid u ghid li trid u ma nmerikx – differenza wahda hemm ovvja: IX-XOGHOL.
Mintoff fil-bidu gab ix-xoghol: il-Brand, Merit, tan-nuccalijiet, u t-taparsi xoghol: Pijunieri, u korp tax-xoghol ta’ l-emergenza, Izra’ u Rabbi, Bahhar u Sewwi, u gerrexx xeba’ fabbriki tajbin: il-Phoenix, Shirasuna, Plessey, Toko GI Electronics.
Karmenu: dak kien igibu malajr ix-xoghol 10,000 ruh mal-gvern ftit qabel l-elezzjoni.
Fredu Sant: qorrob il-familji flimkien ghax waqt li d-dinja kienet ghaddejja tajjeb, halla lil haddiema bi ftit li xejn x’jghamlu hlief li jmorru l-bahar mal-familja. Anke Joseph irid ihassru minn fuq l-istorja tal-Labour.
Joseph Muscat kburi bil-passat ta’ dan il-partit u bil-mexxejja li huma miggielda minn xulxin u li ftit li xejn gabu xoghol l’hawn.
Joseph inaffar ix-xoghol iktar minn ta’ qabblu bi kliem bhal living wage, iktar parental leave, sussidji u hafna sweet talk.
Sorry Kola, mhux se niehu l-hall biex isirli nbid!
It seems that you lived quite a comfortable life in the early eighties for a PN supporter. Not running around with pails of water and candles, were we? Nor finding any colourful graffiti on the facade while the TV is still in black and white (bir-ross konna nghidu.)
At last, someone who talks some sense. Thanks for the way you endorsed me and for starting a blog just on my response a few days ago.
You started…
“but then a Labour fan posted a comment full of praise for the way his political heroes changed the lives of the working class and raised them up (where to – that ghastly statue in Msida?). And his bloody-minded blindness to the facts staring him in the face irritated me so much that I had to reply.”
Being a Labour fan is nothing to be ashamed of, even by trying to humiliate me. Praise where it is due, and for you darling it seems that all that Labour has done through the years is Satanic. The truth is a far cry than the one you try to paint. There was no blindness in what I said.
I told you facts what Labour did for the workers in the early 20s and 30s when education existed only for wealthy people and aristocrats.
[Daphne – School attendance for children was made compulsory by the British colonial administration, Albert, and not by the Labour Party. Maltese parents objected and saw it as unnecessary interference. They didn’t see the point of their children spending all day every day in school when they were needed in the fields, on the market and begging in the streets.]
The poor (if luckily they had a job) had no rights whatsoever and labour fought so that they were given some dignity.
[Daphne – Rights were not vested in whether you were poor or not but in whether you were a man or not. The poorest man had more rights than the richest woman. This was not particular to Malta, so we needn’t bicker about that.]
It is also true that Mintoff inherited a country similar to a third world country, and developed much of it. True, not all was heaven but there was no debths. PN after 87, brought many good things, but few mention the alarming debths we have today, including you.
[Daphne – From whom did Mintoff inherit Malta: his grandmother? Mintoff inherited nothing (though his children will inherit much, thanks to his stinginess and depredations), and he behaved as though he did. I have no wish to humiliate you. I merely find it irritating that you and others lack the imagination and insight to see things as they really are. Mintoff had 16 years to play with and he could have done, starting in 1971, exactly what Fenech Adami did, starting in 1987 – including EU membership. But he chose a different, pointless road, making those 16 years a tragedy of wasted time and potential. Please, it’s debts not depths. Depths means something else: the depths of the sea, the depths of a man’s misery, that kind of thing. Every developed democracy has huge debts (you don’t even want to think about the United States’ or Britain’s), because that’s the way things work. Most people have debts too: if they didn’t, they wouldn’t be able to buy themselves a house or flat. That’s the way it works. I don’t think there is a single one of us alive today – except perhaps the sort who are like John and Mary in this narrative – who would trade the way we live now (with debts, which aren’t in any way alarming, incidentally) for the way we lived under Mintoff, in material misery and plenty of – yes, this time I have to use the word – depths.]
OK, so it is debts, though i think i wrote debths.You got what i wanted to say,even though i made a grammar mistake.Mintoff’s days are over and we cannot live in the past.There are debts and debts.If i want to buy a car and a house and i am short of 50,000 euros,then it sort of makes sense to make a loan,as otherwise without it i would’nt have the car and the house.
The debts that the country has in the present have spiralled out of control.I hope that this does not affect our country and our children in the near future.Just looking at what happened in Greece,where poor handling of affairs put the country in economical turmoil and chaos.In this case the other eu countries had to help greece ,so it gets out of the crisis.Is this what we want?
The english may have started free education,but there were surely other things that we still benefit from, up to this day.Pensions,children’s allowance,social security,maternity leave,votes for women,free health care…these were unheard of before labour introduced them.These are things that governments after 87 helped improve and it should stay that way.What i hate is abuse,as in all cases abuse should be halted.
Another thing,debts may not be alarming for you,maybe.Malta has alarming debts,even though many try to hide it.Many couples that decided to marry and take a loan consider their debts as alarming.Most of them work 2 to 3 jobs,and will keep paying their loan for ages,with results of many seperations on the way as most couples can’t handle the pressure it brings.
Wow x’ahna sinjuri plots b xejn………..BXEJN IVA……..TIGHDLIX LI GHAX cARUANA GALIZIA MA JOGHGOBIX LILEK MA JOGHGBOKX LANQAS…………… LE MA NEMMINX , MIN JAF dcg U L ANTENATI TAGHHA KEMM GHANDHOM PLOTS , FORSI THOBB IL HADDIEMA DIN U ITTIHOM MHUX BXEJN LE MA NIPPRETENDIX HEKK IMMA BI FTIT FLUS. ppppppnnnnnnnnnnnn JAGHTI PLOTS BXEJN? LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEEEE GHAX IL BUSINESS COMMUNITY TOQTLU INKELLA GHAX IF……….ILA IL BUSINESS HALLI INBELLAWLU IZ ZIGHR. GHDILHOM DCG KIF SEJJER IL BINI ILLUM U L GHRAJJES TAGHNA, LE MHUX SABIHA GHALIHA MARA TAD DAR TIBQA ID DAR, LE TRIDHA MIDJUNA TAHDEM BISS , KIF TIDDESKRIVI IL MARA TAD DAR ILLUM EH GHIDILNA, HAWN MINN LANQAS LIL ULIEDU MA JARA U IL PROBLEMI TA SEPERAZZJONIJIET, INSOMMA IRID NARA DCG XI DARBA TKUN BALANCED IN HER WRITINGS U MHUX A PATHETIC PAID UP DISSILUSIONED WRITER.
EXPN NOW TRUE MALTESE
“Nowadays as a researcher in domestic and industrial psychology ..” Bollocks. Your other comment, all in capitals, gives you away.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20101111/letters/the-pm-is-a-gentleman
This story is real. Had the PN not been elected in 1987 people like this Joseph would today be employed as watchmen because Mintoff and the PL used to tell us that if IT is introduced in Malta it will destroy jobs.
But before that same election Dr. Fenech Adami used to tell us also that the mentality of parents who wanted their children to work as watchmen should be eradicated. Thanks to Eddie Fenech Adami, my son works in IT today with a private company and with a decent salary and he is not a watchman as he might otherwise have been.
This is thanks to the PN. Imagine what type of leaders the PL always had and with Joseph Muscat they will remain the same if not worse. Prosit again, Daphne. Hope all the youngsters read this important story.
Kola Storja twila ktibt siehbi u prosit. Jien mhux xi wiehed li nghid li kollox miexi sewwa ta’. Pero’ hemm differenza taqsamha b’sikkina bejn il-PL u l- PN meta jkunu fil-gvern.
U minn dejjem kienet hekk. Veru l-PL kienu jaghtu l-plots b’xejn, imma lil min iridu u mhux b’gustizzja. U anke l-jobs. Fejn tkun Nazzjonalist u tidhol tahdem mall-Gvern? U dawk it-trasferimenti vendikattivi ghalfejn?
Ghaliex tahseb bhal bnieden studjuz li fin-1987 il-poplu ivvota b’maggoranza kbira lil PN? Kien hawn pajjiz iwerwrek. Anqas titkellem ma tista ghax tigi msawwat.
Fejn qatt ghamlu hekk in-Nazzjonalisti? Ghalfejn kienu jezistu il-kumitati tal-girien? Ghalfejn ministri vilmet jghidu li l-bibien taghhom miftuhin ghal-laboristi biss? U jien ma ridd qatt nghix go pajjiz li biex ninqedha f’xi hag li ghandi dritt ghalija immur ghand ministru. Taf x’ma semmejtx il-korruzzjoni habib.
Now we know why we have such a huge deficit.
It is all the fault of the paid woman from our coffers. The sky must surely be the limit. No wonder the PnGonzi government has just issued one hundred million euros in stock.
To add insult to injury she is also paid up. I wonder whether Michael Bonello knows about this. Have the MSE and MFSA been informed?
Daphne please be honest. Is this a joke?
Yes or no.
PS. Very unfair on Bangladesh. They only gained independence over there three months before June 1971. It is not right to compare the state of their economy with Malta’s, seven years post independence. Poor things.
Kola. F1971 il partit laburista ha f’idejh pajjiz hireg min sekli ta’ kolonizzjoni li kellu bzonn tmexxija b’visjoni u minflok sab tmexxija b’idejologija kommunista. Fuq livell lokali Il-partit laburist irrenexilu jifred poplu ta ftit aktar min 300,000 ruh ghal mewt, dahal il filosofija mishuta ta bizzejjed tiddoba, qered l’innovazjoni u il kreativita, sterilizza l’edukazzjoni, ikkriminaliza l’gherf, qered l ispirtu imprenditrorjali u dahal il sahta tal klijentalizmu sfrenat. Fuq livel internazzjonali irrenixilu jqahhab lil Malta ma l’ghar mexxeja ta d-dinja.
Dear Daphne, so according to your clever mind the Labour Government has done nothing for the workers. I think you need some research in Maltese history to teach your very clever followers. You are so biased against Labour that you are starting to write articles like a ‘bahnana’.
Well well lil dawn in nazzjonalisti li iriduha ta puritani fil hsieb u l ghemil, possibbli ma jigikhomx f raskhom kemm inthom ipprogrammati u imbella velenu lejn hutna maltin il Laburisti. Dak li ghandhu it tifel jahdem fl It prosit u naxguralu ghax hekk jixraq, imma L IT fejn kien jezisti dak iz zmien , the people in the 1960’s jighdu li ahna konna nighxu better than the 1950’s , u those in the 70′ say so on the 1960’s , 80’s on the 70’s and etc etc, Jien lil stefan vella nighdlu li il fonts jaghjjat ghax kont qed naghjjat meta qed nikteb. Possibbli li ghandkhom mentalita tal laburisti tat tmeninijiet fejn kollox sewwa u kollowx miexi sew, kif din il mentalita ghada maghna we see evil and corruption added with bad medicine u ha nibqghu hekk. Possibbli illi ma tarawx li the longer the government the worst things can go , noi fresh ideas alavolja taf ma taqbilx maghhom , i wonder why DCG is still popular within the Partito Nazzjonalista. Taf kemm qed immoru central left minn rightist left , ghal dak li qal bollocks ghax jidher li hu bravu hafna minn mal PN ghal mal PL , Bundy , Gauci Cunningham, the Buontempo’s, Zammit Tabona dawn nies ta profil bbir barra lil dawk li hadd ma jafhom
ex PN U PROUD MALTESE!!!!!
Get a grip on yourself. No, no-one believes the present administration is doing a stellar job. We can do without the waste, the compromising attitude and, above all, the sleaze. But do you really think that a propagandist-turned-MEP, a medieval court jester and an ex-inspector in Lorry Pullicino’s force would be better? Hell, no.
Give us Gonzi, Borg and Fenech anytime, with Mugliett whining and wailing in the background, too.
And if you’re a Univeristy of Malta graduate, then I’m ashamed I’ll soon be one as well. You don’t even know how to string two words together.
Bundy is a good TV/radio presenter. Just seen part of the chit chat with …..guess who…yes, Joseph Muscat on Affari Taghna.
Muscat: “Mhux zgur in-nies jafu fejn jahbat il-Mijamar jew Burma”.
John Bundy: “Jien kont mort darba hemm.”
Waqqghu wahda ghan-nejk bla ma jaf kif.
For the record: in 1971 Barclays Bank in Malta had a computer.
You forgot to mention Marisa in your high-profile list.
I watched parts of Bundy’s show last Friday (Xarabank’s tattoo programme was boring, and Louis Galea on NET was mediocre). Well all I can say is that Bundy is uncontrollable.
He’s more uncontrollable than the Zoo team who did not dare utter the word “Hara” (shit) on Bundy’s programme, Well John did just that and showed us that birds of a feather really flock together.
Other than that I noticed the body language of Hector Bruno when he said ‘Nawguralek’ which was more like ‘I pity you’ or ‘Kondoljanzi’, and Joe Demicoli’s ‘Qazzistna!’ which looked very true in this situation.
Keep up the good work, John, you seem to be more like the PL’s Trojan horse behind the city walls.
@kola
x’inhi il criteria tieghek ghal profil kbir?
hI Riya
Tahseb int illi jekk tighd xi haga kontra il gvern ma taqlahhix go rasek jew tikkritika constructivley, mela qed tighx gon nannu venut jew? Jigifieri th PN jindukrawk jekk tikkritika, ohhhhhhhhh by the way dawk li werwru il pajjiz dak iz zmien (STEFAN VELLA NOTE) PULIZIJJA STATE TERROR HADU PROMOTION VERY HIGH RANKS , CRIMINALI PROCLAMI,
Investiga sew siehbi tarax naha wahda ghhax ha nibqghu ner……….h minhabba nies bhalkhom.
ex PN u proud Maltese
kola, hadt ir-ruh x’hin sirt naf li int ‘ex-PN!’
It is advisable that you concentrate on what will happen to John, Mary and Joseph in the near future. John and Mary
will remain residents in Malta and Gozo. John and Mary
will still form part of this nation together with 4 out of 10
members of the younger generation who end their
education as illiterates. Most of the other 6 youths,
on completing their studies, probably tertiary education,
they tend to leave for good these Islands. John and Mary
will stay. However Joseph will probably proceed to live abroad extending the brain drain this nation is suffering.
“However Joseph will probably proceed to live abroad extending the brain drain this nation is suffering”.
Yes, the country will continue to suffer from ‘brain drain’ as long as it refuses to pay its fair share of taxes and expect everything for free. Jew b’xejn jew xejn.
Retaining brains means paying well and paying well within the context of a State run ‘free health, education, etc., means more taxes for more service.
The LP preaches to the naive promising to cut the electricity tariffs, increase the minimum wage and – hope you are sitting down – cut income taxes!!
Go tell it to the marines.
Daphne, this was truly enjoyable reading. There is an important flaw, though. The plott b’xejn was not given to just about everyone: you usually had to be very red.
The funny thing is that many of those reds who got a free plot are now cashing in by selling their houses at a tidy (read humungous) profit – just look at the prices for terraced houses in places like Pembroke as an example. These same reds selling their houses then whinge that their children are being denied a decent chance to buy their own abode at a ‘reasonable’ price, of course.
This story is a shining example of biased writing. Very well written and mostly true.
However, the standard of living of a big part of the population did rise sharply during the seventies (as it did during the late eighties and early nineties following a period of economic stagnation). Truth is people stopped emigrating from Malta during the seventies and beggars were still congregating at City Gate Valletta during the early seventies. Beggars were not simply wished away.
[Daphne – I think you miss the point of the whole piece, which is that the standard of living is not raised exponentially by giving people a house and a dead-job with a low or mediocre wage. It is raised exponentially by giving them the proverbial rod to fish with, and giving them access to the river/sea. The Labour governments in the 1970s and early 1980s gave people (some of them) a ration of fish. The post-1987 governments gave everyone a rod and a road to the sea. The solution to raising the standard of living is not giving people a government plot or a government house, but the means to earn the money to buy their own real estate on the market.]
Without the policies introduced and implemented by the Labour government of the seventies Joseph might have grown up in a hovel, his parents might not have been able to provide the “poor” food that he now looks down on, and university might never have been considered as a possibility. You do not dream of IT and univserity when you spend most of your waking hours worrying about basic survival.
[Daphne – Wrong, I’m afraid. Nobody round where I live has a government plot or a government house because their aren’t any. Most of those who are my age grew up in what you would consider a hovel, a couple of rooms in an ancient razzett. They improved their own lot – they’re all farmers – but you should see their children. Now in their 20s or early 30s, they are determined to get ahead. For some reason, the girls/young women in particular are super-determined and have done extraordinarily well at school, university and work. The can-do attitude is worth a thousand plots tal-gvern. But inculcating a can-do attitude is not enough; the government, together with the private sector, must put in place the systems so that those who get that can-do attitude can, actually, do. Incidentally, it’s not a coincidence that almost everyone round where I live votes Nationalist. So now you have to work out what came first, the chicken or the egg. Did the can-do attitude shape their politics, or did their politics shape their can-do attitude? This is a subject which interests me very much. I think they feed off each other, the politics shaping the attitude and the attitude shaping the politics, which is why Labour supporters tend to become trapped in a vicious cycle while Naitonalist supporters tend to become engaged in a virtuous one, with the vicious cycle being broken in cases where high intelligence over-rides shoulder-chips and traditional loyalties, as in the Joseph story here.]
Of course if PN had not been elected in 1987 there would have been no IT course and university would have probably remained a mysterious place where other people went to. But I will not comment on how successive PN governments have improved our lives Daphne has done a very good job of that I could not aspire to say it better myself. *
Things are never quite black or quite white but it takes a bif of effort to focus on the grey.
No I do not miss the point I simply do not agree with it entirely because I find it a tad simplistic . I do not think that Labour ‘s legacy is simply one of giving out plots of land. There were other reforms that changed the social and economic landscape drastically and for the better. Malta in the sixties was not such a wonderful place to live in unless your were privileged. It is not just about lanzit. There is such a thing a social injustice.
I more than realise that other Labour policies had such negative consequences that one could be forgiven for forgetting everything else. That is why my vote has never gone to Labour even if I hail from a family that traditionally voted for that party. We are the proverbial lost sheep that simply never went back to the fold.
But I guess we simply have to agree to disagree.
Riya , ghal xiex qed jirreferi, jien es nazzjonalist dhalt student gaddiem bix xoghol mal gvern, qlajt lira li taht EDDIE kelli l ghazla li nighx hajja aktar komda u ghadni grazzi ghal ta qabel li ghamlulna hajjitna facli. Mela ma tafx li il kumitati tal partiti jispjunaw fuq in nies it tnejn li huma WAKE UP, it tifel tieghi ghid kemm thaddmu taht dan il PN li mhux tieghi ghax lanqas biss acknowledgement. Taht Gonzi (stefan vella bollocks note) 35000 VOT TKAXKARNA F’TAL MEP U ALLA JAF X GEJ AKTAR FUQNA. SER INHALLTU MA DALLI JEW MA LOUIS IL GONZI BEDA IL BIERAH FIL POLITIKA. ARA MI HU NAZZJONALIST IHALLAT LI DAN LI TQANNAJNA BIH MA DAWN IT TLIETA, LANQAS MA MINTOFF MA JIBDA.
EX PN U PROUD MALTESE
Booooooring!
Why is it that your post is mainly made up of folklore and ONE sound bites?
Iehor ta’ Dalli dan. NO DALLI NO PARTY (PN)
Someone forgot to take his barbiturates today.
I’m glad that you’re ‘EX PN’, because you will blend in just right with those people, I’m sure of it.
Gonzi beda fl-1987, u int tghid li hu l-bierah. Qatt ma’ gie co-opted bhal Eddie u Alfred, u iktar u iktar qatt ma’ ddahhal il-parlament bla ma’ qatt hareg ghall-elezzjoni bhal KMB u Joseph.
Issa ghandna lil Joseph u lil Gonzi. Wiehed dejjem rikeb u firxulu t-tapit u l-iehor tela’ t-tarag bil-mod, pass wara pass kif kien jghid Fredu.
Nippreferi lis-self made Lawrence milli lix-short cut Joe.
Riya, il labour patta ghal li ghamel ghax ghadu jitkaxkar sal lum. l Alfred Sant u KMB lanqas semmejthom ghax ma ghamlu xejn dawn lanqas ghal laburist ahseb u ara. Ma ahniex naraw li kwazi sirna like the 80’s oqoghdu attenti , Alfred Sant l’unika kelma ta tifhir li intih u li naddaf il partit, Dan Joseph anke lil Grima kaxkar warajh , li konna intuh fuq in NNNEEETTT il programmi, xil ostra dan nafdah mat twerwir tal 80’s u persuna ohra prominenti li huwa mexxej simbolu tal pajjiz , nafu x qed isisr? Mela ma nafx x jiena nighd fejn u tajjeb tajjeb u fejn u hazin hazin issa ghax qed inbatu \( stefan vella bollocks note) DAN MHUX IL PN LI IVVOTAJNA FL 87 , 92 96 98 ,2003, 2008,………………..BAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, PL IS ON THE OFFENSIVE NOT ON THE DEFENSIVE ANYMORE LOGICAL POSITIVIST THINKING IN THE ACADEMIC WORLD AFTER EMPIRICALLY STUDYING THE SITUATION.
Ex PN proud Maltese
Daphne let us look forward. What is the use of discussing who has given the chance to graduates to attain their certificates?
It is essential for our nation to assess where graduates are proceeding to after their graduation. Most of them are settling
abroad. How is our nation attracting them to return to their
homeland or encouraging them not to leave?
Most of those saying that all smart young people are leaving the island for better conditions seriously have no idea what they’re talking about.
Nowadays, there is not much that any government can do to stop such people from leaving. This is because most of them are not simply after money or a better life. They are after the experience of living in a big country, mingling with different cultures and furthering their prospects in life.
What is not often considered is that a lot of these people return to Malta because conditions here are fairly good. Good transport connections with Europe mean that one does not feel claustrophobic on this island any more. When they come back, they bring with them new ideas, new ways of doing things and benefit the whole island.
Kola,
as a researcher in industrial psychology, where did you study? I wonder.
Hi Joseph Micallef , veru qahhab lil Malta tal Labour ghax issieheb ma the worst dictators of that time, FOSTHOM GADDAFI , gONZI QED JAGHMEL BHAL LABOUR OF THE 1980’S JITLIEAQ MA DA ID DITTATUR. U WHAT ABOUT CHINA NAHSEB QAZZISOM GONZI FUQ IL HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS, JUST LIKE THE MINTOFFIAN RULE.
STEFAN VELLA BOLLOCKS PLS NOTE
EX PN PROUD MALTESE
“gONZI QED JAGHMEL BHAL LABOUR OF THE 1980′S JITLIEAQ MA DA ID DITTATUR”
I see you have very serious problems!
Aw Kola,
Int nahseb mhux Ex Nazzjonailist imma diga sirt laburist ghax ga bdejt taghmel bhal tal-PL, tallega affarijiet li ma’ humiex minnhom, bhal meta tghid li Daphne tithallas min xi hadd biex tikteb certi artikli li hija biased. Kull min jghid bhalhek ma jafx x’qed jghid siehbi. Ghedtli wkoll li jien nghix gon nannu venut. Ha nghidlek habib, u dan ga ghidtu lil hadd iehor hawnhek, jien minhix Nazzjonalist, jien Anti- Labour, u nghidlek ghaliex. Familji bhal tieghi u bhal ta’ Daphne, u ohrajn, tant ghaddejna minn praspar u kifrijja fiz-zmien il-Labour li impossibli tinsihom f’hajtek ghax jibqaw jeffetwawk ghal ghomrok. Il-mohqrija u l-hdura li kien hawn kontra certu nies anqas titwemmen.Oltre min hekk, jiena personali kont inkun prezenti f’hafna attivitajiet tal-PN u konna nissawtu ghal xejn b’xejn minn partitarji laburisti u anke mill-Pulizija. Bizzejed nghidlek li jien kont prezenti seba’ darbiet fejn il-Laburisti sparaw fuqna. Jien rajt lil Laburisti jippruvaw jisgassaw kazin tal-PN b’shaft ta’ truck meta gewwa kien hemm in-nies, u Alla jbierek il-Pulizija thares lejhom u jidhqu u wara arrestaw xi nies li kienu ghal affari taghhom gewwa l-kazin. Issa inti wkoll semmejt xi haga dwar l-esperjenza tal-Prim Ministru Gonzi. Kola, dan bniedem li kien segretarju generali tal-partit, kien speaker tal-kamra tad-deputati, kien ministru tal-finanzi, ministru tal-politika socjali, kap tal-partit b’elezzjoni gusta u issa Prim Ministru. Jekk ma’ taqbilx ma dawn l-affarijiet u tghid li dan huwa bniedem bla esperjenza ma nafx min ghandu esperjenza aktar minnhu? Pero’ naqbel mieghek f’haga wahda li dan tant kemm hu gentlom li jaf li hawn laburisti li qed jaghmlu hafna hsara f’certi dipertimenti inkuz fil-MEPA u qed jipprova jikkonvinci bil-perzwazjoni biex din il-mentalita’ tinbidel. Issa sta ghalih jekk bil-perzwazjoni dan ma jirnexxix jara x’ser jaghmel. Jien ghalija dan huwa tort ter-rikonciljazzjoni ghax ghalija hawn certi laburisti li iva ma tistax thallihom f’certi posizzjonijiet ghax hlif hsara ma jaghmlux. Kien hawn xi hadd qal li Daphne qed tikteb qisa balala. Hekk nistmawhom lil dawn in-nies? Balala sabih! Il-Maltin ghandhom ikunu kburin b’din il-mara ghax din anke f’magazines barranin tikteb dwar opinjonijiet ohra mhux politici. U din min hekk taqla x’tiekol u mhux mill-partit. Daphne qatt ma hadet xejn mill-partit u meta hasset li ghandha tikkritika lil xi hadd ghamlitu hu ta’ liema partit hu. Pero’ hawn min jghir ghaliha! Ara kemm ghandna nies bravi f’dan il-Pajjiz! Ghedtli wkoll wake-up dwar il-kumitati tal-girien. Jiddispjacini nghidlek m’ghandeks ideja ghal xiex qed nirreferi. Dawn kienu nies Laburisti mghazulin biex meta johorgu jobs, appartamenti tal-gvern etc. jimmarkaw jekk intix Laburist jew le, biex il-ministeru ikkoncernat ikun cert li ebda Nazzjonalist ma jiehu xejn minnhom. Intqal ukoll li fi zmien il-Labour ma’ kienx jezisti l-IT. Mhux veru. Fi zmieni jekk kont tinqabad diehel b’xi kompjuter gewwa l-airport kienu jikkonfoskawh. Ahna min habba l-Labour fil-kompjuters qisna qed insuqu Mini Minor meta pajjizi ohra qed isuqu Mercedes. U l-ahhar hames snin li ghamel il-Labour kontr l-maggoranza komplew kissruna u afguna bl-aktar moghd kiefer inkluz id-dhul ta’ Malta fl-EU. Dwar Joseph Muscat nghidlek li dan ga qed imur kontra l-EU ghax ma’ jridx li jzomm mar-regoli ta’ kif isiru it-tarrifi, bhal per ezempju tad-dawl u ta’ l-ilma biex ikun jista jaghti is-susiddji kif irid biex jintogoghb imbaghd idahhal il-pajjiz go xi hajt bhal ma’ gralhom pajjizi ohra. Imma l-PN bil-par idejn sodi ta’ Dr. Laurence Gonzi u z-zewgt MEPs li ghandu jibqa jahdem bil-ghaqal biex in-nies f’dan il-pajjiz ckejken taghna qatt ma jigu gharkubtejhom bhal ma’ gabna il-PL fl’1996. Iz-zmien itina parir u Dr. Muscat jerga jkun fl-oppozizzjoni. Kola, dwar il-proklami nghidlek li ma seta jsir xejn ghax gewwa id-Depot tant kemm saru otrecitajiet koroh li hadd ma seta jaqbad tarf. Jien li ma’ qbiltx mal PN vis-a-vis il-pulizija kien li halla lil-Joseph Psaila u lil Charles Cassar fil korp meta dawn kienu parti mir regim laburista. Jien ma rridx nghix f’pajjiz fejn jisparaw fuq il-Prim Ministru waqt tieg jew li il-marmalja tkisser il-Qorti. Dawn affarijiet li jsiru gewwa l-Iraq. Grazzi Kola.
Competent Maltese graduates are allured by the opportunities which are available abroad. It is up to our nation to create an attractive and worthwhile environment to encourage them not to leave and if possible to return back home. According to our Prime Minister LG, Malta has managed to overcome
the precarious global recession. If LG is convinced that
our EU State is on the right track, it is expected that he embarks on policies which help the local standard of living to match that which prevails in most other EU States.
“Return back” , tghid mhux “return forward”!
Jien qlibt ghal-Malti dak li ppruvajt tghid jew ahjar tghawweg.
Dr Lawrence Gonzi did not say that we overcame the global recession. He said that Malta is coping very well with the global recession. We aren’t taking the austerity measures which other countries are taking.
Gonzi said he knows that people are suffering, but those who cannot make ends meet are helped.
The storm is not over yet. Just look at what is happening in the UK and other countries. Wouldn’t those austerity measures hit our tourist sector in the near future?
Postgraduate courses for doctors have already started to be given in Malta to minimise the brain drain. Gonzi is trying to ‘allure’ them to stay here unlike your great Dom Mintoff who scared away ALL our best brains in medicine we had in Malta.
Dr Muscat is no different.
Rigward li fi zmien Mintoff kien hawn il-fabbriki u llum dawn ghalqu m’hu tort ta’ l-ebda gvern. Jekk id-ditti marru kollha f’pajjizi fejn hemm “cheap labour”, x’tort ghandu l-gvern ta’ Gonzi?
Il-lukandi li ghalqu? Hafna minnhom kienu lukandi tat-tqancic. Ahjar, ghax heles minnhom il-pajjiz. Flok daru dawra mal-lukanda u ghamlu l-maintenance mehtiega, waqqghu kollox u tellghu block flats.
Jiena kont ghadni tifla zghira meta nghataw hafna plots b’xejn u fuq kollox bil-korruzzjoni. Plots enormi ghal dar enormi ghall-familjii ta’ 3 minn nies. (dawn kazi li naf bihom jien).
Din il-kwistojni tal-plots jiena personali lil Labour ma nahfirielu qatt. Ara Malta zghira tant, stajniex nahlu l-art fix-xejn. L-istat missu qassam il-gid sew u kif suppost u missu haseb f’dawk li ma kellhomx fejn joqghodu. Min ha hafna u min ma ha xejn. Nahseb li kien hawn hafna li kien haqqhom slice minn cake shih.
Kif diga ghidt darba ohra, jiena naf min biegh dar personali tieghu u ha flat tal-gvern. Ara l-korruzzjoni!
U l-istorja terga tirrepeti ruha. Jekk ikun hemm il-labour fil-gvern dawk li ilhom ghatxana dawn is-snin kollha ghall-poter u ghall-korruzzjoni biex jaraw x’ser jiggwadanjaw huma, ser jisplodu u l-poter ser jitla ghar rashom u miskin hu min jigi taht idejhom.
The end result of our education is how students, who attain certified qualifications, settle and their achievements following their graduation. Let us hope that our Prime Minister LG manages to encourage them to reside in their homeland. Our Prime Minister DM was able to attract ex-Maltese emigrants to
return to Malta. During the Labour Administration led by DM, ex-emigrants who had left Malta and Gozo, prior to 1971, returned to settle locally as immigrants. In fact immigration exceeded emigration. Gahan bear in mind that any prime minister represents the whole nation.
“Gahan bear in mind that any prime minister represents the whole nation.”
Very true dear H, but only on one condition I’ll make him my PM: that he or she has the majority of votes to be my PM.
I have my doubts about your immigration and emigration so-called facts. I know of two whole extended families who came to Malta from down under only to go back after a stay of a couple of years. Malta was unbearable for them: no this, and no that because your Dom said so.
I would like my children to be free to choose where they go after graduating. That’s why my wife and I work hard and pay our taxes to the last euro. This is one reason I won’t vote PL, because it only believes in restricting people and controling them.
Following the recommendation regarding pensions by Mr David
Spiteri Gingell, our Prime Minister LG and his Cabinet are expected to create the economic environment which attracts
expatriates and ex-emigrants to enter the local labour market and encourages female employees and retired pensioners to join the human resources engaged in the economy of this EU
State where we reside.
Xi tighduli fuq L airmalta guys? biex falliet din taht Gonzi nahseb kollox ser ifalli tx ta erba gahnijiet li hawn f dan il pajjiz, nixtieq infakkar lil kullhadd hawn, meta kienet tfalli xi fabbrika jew intrapriza in MLP times ( il ftit li gara hekk) fejn kienu dawk tal oppozizzjoni imorru barra biex igibu l’investimenti lura?. Ara issa fl airmalta Louis Grech kemmm hadem biex igib the right financing lil airmalta ma tapprezzawx din , moghoz konna u moghoz nibqghu!!!!!!!, U l universita jien hemm nahdem , l istipendji min ghamilhom, in numerus clawsus ma kontx naqbel mieghu veru , imma dan qed jintroducieh billi joghllilek il marka x’inhu dan mhux numeris klawsus bil pulit? Fu q Gonzi ma nafx ghax ma naqbilx mas sistema tieghu ta managing the country imma jien fnofs in nazzjonalisti nahdem taf u tighdx x nisma li xebba lil kullhadd bil goalie tactics tieghu u jahbi il korruzzjono lampanti li hawn go dan il pajjiz, il Lorry Sant lanqas jibda maghhom, u at least kien itik plot b’xejn jekk veru kien li kien.
Ritz
L-Air Malta Ritz kienet monopolju fi zmien siehbek , li Gahan ma’ kienx ghax ra kif ghamel u ghalaq il-bieb lil kulhadd , ara jien, QLAJTU l-bieb biex jghaddi kullhadd.
L-Air Malta kienet bhal-fabbrika ta’ l-ghagin ta’ Le Rose bid- differenza li l-AM kienet tal gvern u l-LR kienet tal-privat.
Tajjeb jew hazin kellna nitqannew bihom.
Tal-ghagin kellha monopolju kbir li meta kont tistaqsi ghal-ghagin minnu kienu jtuk , dak iz-zmien ha nfakkrek , pakkett ta’ kwart (200gramma) kien jiswa’ Lm0.32 jew ahjar xi Euro 0.75 il-pakkett tal-200 gramma. Illum tixtri dan bi tmenin centezmu http://www.lidl.com.mt/mal/home.nsf/pages/c.o.20100716.p.Green_Taglierini.
Dawn in-nies haxxnu bwietom u draw li ahna nitkarbulom ghal-prodott jew servizz li kienu jbieghulna.
L-Air Malta falliet bhall ta’ l-ghagin Darriet il-fsied u pagi ezorbitanti lin-nies tal-qalba taz-zewg partiti , ghalija jmisshom inaqqsu l-paga lil-haddiema taghha , jew inaqqsu il-haddiema zejda li ghandha.
Kif diga ktibt, jien nigi nitmellah ta’ min kien it-tort , la falliet u trid iktar flus mela taghmel bhal kull azjenda privata: tqaccat in-nies zejda , tnaqqas il-pagi , u thallas dejnha.
Fejn kont nahdem jien hekk ghamlu , u kont gejt redundunt bla htija ma’ fabbrika privata u fi zmien il-Labour.
Korruzzjoni:
Biex taqta’ l-ha**i trid taqta’ z-z**b . Li kwazi hu impossibli.Innehhu wiehed u jilhaq iehor.
Plots kienu bil-punti, jien tifel ta’ haddiem kelli iktar punti minn membru parlamentari li bena kantuniera minn triq sa triq bil-basement bin-nies ta’ Kalaxlokk. Jien xtrajt plot minn tal-Knisja ghax telghatli bix-xorti u l-gvern lilna talabna inhallsu ir-road contribution u tad-drenagg u min ha l-plots tal-gvern l-anqas dawk ma’ hallas!
Tista’ issa Ritz tfakkarna naqra kemm konna tajjeb fi zmien Fredu?Dak habib kbir ta’ Joseph. Mhux hekk?
I do not agree with everything you write but you are amazing….no wonder some are very green of you ! This piece should be read by every young labourite..life was so mediocre.We who were young then believe we lost so much..
Silvio jien kont zaghzugh in labour times, ma kien hawn xejn perfett u ma nippretendix li ikun hawn issa, imma nahseb jien mintix xi wiehed li ma tafx taghraf x’inhu tajjeb jew le.
You lost so much mhux ser nindahhalek ghax il lifestyle tieghek hadd ma jiddettah, imma ha nighdlek tieghi for every labourite or nationalist to read.
From kindergarten , pitazzi b xejn, lapsijiet, gommom b’xejn, halib bxejn sal fifth form ( illum gej bin nofs tuffieha mhux mediocrita din?). Edukazzjoni bxejn kotba bxejn, Fejn kont silvio int meta kellna ir ration li qatghu il labour bhal ma semma kola aktar qabel? Butir fil landa, kunserva? fuq karta strazza, Zokkor , halib u iz zejt man gol flixkun tal inbid silvio minn nehhihom dawn? Nisthajlek tighdli kien hawn il bulk buying, mela il PN nehhihom u tahhom lil agenti biex nixtruhom bil gholi u baqghu jigu Malta xorta dawn, Le il gvern le halli itella finances bizzejjed, Le Le tahhom il agenti.
Ohra ghid lil every labourite u nationalist halli jibnu jew inkella jixtru propjeta illum , in Labour times silvio min ma xtarax jew ma beniex ghax ma riedx. Another one Silvio haddem 10,000 workers il Labour, illegali qalulu, ghalxejn qalulu, fottimenti qalulu, x ma qalulux , il finanzi taghna kif kienu in the mediocre times tieghi Silvio LM 600,000000, X’Ghanna illum mela in your youth mediocre u fi xjuhitek fil mediocrita tal PN qed tighx. Ara il PN kemm dahhal L airmalta, Sea Malta, Freeport u il Finanzi fis sod ost…….. jibqa jighdlek. Irrifletti u ara il mediocrita fejn hi illum mela tafx kif qeghdin illum, nahseb bhal Griegi u il Portugizi gejjin din is sena 0.50c u sena ohra ghar minn barra. PL in the seventies LM4.00 zieda tah il haddiem wara li gab the right finances that means with in economic terms tah lil haddiem Lm58 tal llum. Il krizi taz zejt in 1981 when Pn was Boycotting Parlament $98 kien u insaqsi xi hadd kien jaf, nehhiulek is sussidju u fajjarlek every month tibza mil l’ewwel tax xaghar ghax joghllilek. Ohh what mediocriti them days.
Ritz, dak kien zmien ! tistenna li jidhol il-lejl biex jitla l-ilma (mielah0 fit-tank , dak kien zmien Ritz li biex tiehu plot trid tmur tilghaq sorm xi hadd il-kazin tal-Labour , dak kien zmien meta konna mmorru sqallija biex nixtru l-lussu li Mintoff ma’ halliniex nixtru , xi pushchair , xi telephone , xi walk man xi dulliegha xi naqra Mars, dak kien zmien Ritz meta id-dawl tat-triq wahda tixghel u l-ohra skonnettjata , dak kien zmien meta l-ebda funtana ma’ kellha ilam u tipprova iccempel liz-zija u taqbad tnejn jitkellmu kemm ghola l-basal . dak kien zmien meta il-kotba li kellna kienu minn ta’ zmien in-nazzjonalisti u meta l-fabbriki ta’l-elettronika kienu telqu kollha.
Dak kien zmien meta Mintoff kien itina bis-sieq u konna nadurawh boloh li ahna!
Kien ihallik iddahal il-mobile , jew plasma screen , jew l-internet kien jara x’jaghmillu u jinstalla l-ikbar fire wall ibar minn tac-Cinizi shabu!
Iftah mohhok u hallik minn nostalgija falza Ritz ! Qatt rajt daqshekk studenti l-universita JIGRADWAW? Dak il-futur tieghi u tieghek.
If socialism was kept at bay in 1971, to-day we will be witnessing Daphne blogg reading somthing like this—— i once lived on an island called Malta, but as the then nationalist government was just a mere servent and prostitute to the UN and it’s allies, we have no Malta left but a wastland filled with war leftovers and rats. That is if Daph would be having a blogg at all, because there would have been no MINTOFF to inspire her for a critics career. Bye
Mela ahna 1.16 euro cent zieda u dawk il hallelin tal PN 600 euros hadu a week. Imma kif ma tarawx u ma tifhmux li dan qed jitnejjek b kullhadd arroganza ma kullhadd ma jizbalja qatt ghax u gradwat u jifhem f’kollox. I bet illi l airmalta il haddiem iz zighr ser jaqlahha, sa a month ago ghadu jimpjega in nies u jaghmilhom managers kif il ist…….a ma tirrejalizzawx. Hija din ghamilha PL hazina ukoll ? ivvotajtu kontriha u tibbojkottjawa kontu , taghtkhom golden eggs u fallejtuwha fqaytuwha u kissirtuwha. X’ghamel u x gab il PN ? Weghdi , mela ras il partitarji dizilluzi tieghu u min xarrab il Bakkaljaw kielu.