A spontaneous act? No, just an act. She's a theatre studies student.
The way The Times covered Nicola Abela Garrett’s behaviour at the university yesterday was quite extraordinary. The newspaper which famously never makes value judgements in its reports, even when it should, hailed her as a heroine for calling a cabinet minister a f**king w**ker in front of an audience of fellow students….on its front page, with a large photograph, and without putting the description in quote-marks.
To say that The Times got carried away and completely misjudged the situation is an understatement. Worse still, it buried the real headline news – that Austin Gatt was there to launch a further EUR250,000 spend on ICT for students – in a throwaway line deep within the story.
But now it turns out that Abela Garrett actually planned her performance the day before, and informed somebody who works for The Times (Matt Bonanno) about it on Facebook.
Bonanno tells her, on her Facebook wall, that Austin Gatt is going to be at the university meeting students the following day, and Abela Garrett responds:
You serious? If you want, I can give you a great story tomorrow. Bring your notepad
Foolish girl.
The golden rule when planning spontaneous outbursts is not to tell anybody of your intentions, still less tell the world on Facebook.
“I apologise for my outburst, which was a mixture of frustration and anger, which had been boiling up for 4 months whilst waiting for many long hours on many bus stops,” Nicola Abela Garrett said today.
Indeed. It seems more like a case of wanting 15 minutes of fame as a theatre studies student, and getting more than that thanks to a strange lapse in the workings of The Times newsroom.
Here is the exchange on Abela Garrett’s Facebook wall:
Matt Bonanno
Guess who’s going to be an Uni tomorrow
Tuesday at 22:58 ·
Nicolà Abela Garrett
We’ve had Gonzi, we’ve had Muscat…….. no…….
Tuesday at 22:59
Nicolà Abela Garrett
It can’t be…..
Tuesday at 22:59
Nicolà Abela Garrett
The bringer of emerald chariots and eternal transportation….
Tuesday at 23:00 ·
Matt Bonanno it can.
Tuesday at 23:00
Nicolà Abela Garrett
from the Orient…
Tuesday at 23:00
Matt Bonanno
for another 20 years
Tuesday at 23:00
Nicolà Abela Garrett
You serious? If you want, I can give you a great story tomorrow. Bring your notepad.
Tuesday at 23:01 ·
Pia Zammit you weren’t kidding well done girl
10 hours ago · 4 people
Emil Calleja Bayliss Nice one Nic You gace him one hell of a story. XD
5 hours ago · 2 people
———-
But there’s more. Ms Abela Garrett told The Times that she spent two hours waiting for a bus to take her from Attard to Naxxar. There is no such bus.
She also told the newspaper that she has been missing lectures or turning up late because of the bus service, but there have been no lectures since June and the university only opened again last Monday, with no lectures that day or Tuesday. So unless she missed lectures on Wednesday, the day of her ‘teatrin’, she can’t have missed any lectures at all.
Funny how this didn’t click with The Times’s reporter.
———
There’s something else on Ms Abela Garrett’s Facebook wall. A month ago, somebody posted a link to a newspaper report featuring Austin Gatt. Her response was:
Nicolà Abela Garrett
Oxx ommu.
Yes, a full-stop. Shocking.
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It is spelled with an Ghajn
spelt
Both ‘spelled’ and ‘spelt’ are correct.
mmm so our heroine is no heroine at all, but working her way to get into Deceduti maybe?
True, the bus service sucks and something must be done.
True, Austin Gatt isn’t the most sensitive man on earth, but this orchestration is infantile.
I’m curious as to why she didn’t use her native tongue – Maltese. Or did she decide it would sound too crude and English would let her off more easily?
[Daphne – I was wondering that myself: would The Times have made her a front-page heroine if, instead of shouting ‘fucking wanker’, she’d yelled out ‘Mur oqghod gerrih, ja haxxej’. I don’t think so, somehow.]
If university students are suffering because of the bus service, I can understand thir frustration.
Being late for a lecture means you stay out. Organise a protest, a petition… There are many ways to voice your opinion and complaints in a democratic country in a civil manner.
Get organised! Besides, you don’t have to fear getting beaten up or arrested …. unlike under another government….
You should have heard Joe Grima on Super One calling her a heroine for being so brave as to face the arrogant minister.
[Daphne – Well, he would, wouldn’t he? That kind of thing is right up his street. Apart from his own history of thumping people, shouting obscenities in parliament, and banging on trucks in support of Mintoff as he spoke at rallies, our Joe has a soft spot for chunky, gobby chicks. That Nicola is a junior version of Lynn Zahra. Natch.]
What was so brave about it? Maybe he thought she was facing his arch-enemy Lorry Sant, or Wistin’s thugs.
I think our little heroine needs a right big slap on her backside. My late mother would have told her to cut the crap, pull her socks up and get to work.
Kids her age work full time and pay taxes so that she gets paid for staging theatricals delivering obscenities to the media and on Facebook.
Nicola Abela Garrett is a shameless waste of taxpayers’ money.
Well said.
Every morning it’s a problem to get to your destination by any means of transport. From Marsascala to Paola it takes me 45 minutes by car. It’s not like Arriva can just skip all the traffic. If she is so annoyed she should buy a bicycle.
45 minutes from Marsascala to Paola? It takes me 20 minutes from Marsascala to University. In rush hour morning traffic, it takes me 50 minutes (to university, not to Paola).
According to the Arriva schedule, the route supposedly takes 60 minutes, but in reality I’ve heard it takes close to two hours in rush hour traffic. We need a metro.
Daphne, great article. I knew there was something fishy about all of this.
https://www.facebook.com/austinatblitzed
[Daphne – Freedom of speech: it’s so important. If nothing else, it helps us get to know who the real wankers are. L-aqwa li ghandhom il-Christian Thorn, jaqq.]
Excellent….spontaneous indeed. More calculated than maths itself.
It’s a case of “the writing was on the Wall.”
Maaa, x’biza ta’ generazzjoni! Tghid veru dak li tizra tahsad?
Soon to be added to Labour’s skip, no doubt.
Jeasus kif fkollox tridu idahlu politika? billi esprimit lila innifisa ma jfissirx li hi mal labour. like qalet il verita u daqsek
Good one! More stupidity caught out on Facebook. Don’t these brainless people ever learn? Must be some ego thing.
I was pissed off by the “heroine” glorification and now I am….. I can’t find a fitting expletive.
[Daphne – Might I suggest ‘fucking wanker’?]
wow daphne never thought you were the type to stalk people on facebook…your blog has officially hit rock bottom.
Stalk? I suppose you think the job of a real journalist is to print ready-made press releases.
journalist? her? please…stop sucking up and see her for what she really is…an attention seeking part time blogger who can’t stand being out of the limelight…
[Daphne – Sigh. Where’s the Raid?]
It’s a journalist’s job to do research and not just take things at face value.
So, no Daphne did not “stalk people on Facebook”. She’s doing what a good reporter should do to get the full story – so that readers don’t just blindly believe that this embarrassment of a student is the ‘latest local heroin’ just for swearing at a minister.
I’m a university student and I think that yelling at a minister during Freshers’ Week is not the way to go about getting your complaint across – it sheds a very bad light on the rest of us students.
I’m surprised she didn’t get herself suspended.
Also, many Facebook pages can be viewed by anyone… and this Facebook Wall conversation was already going viral on Facebook itself.
I hope, for your sake, being a University student and all that, that you misspelt ‘heroine’ on purpose. You’re either a subtle punster (in that case, I didn’t get the pun) or a bit careless when you hit the keyboard.
Or you’re just a plain, average speller, the product of the present generation.
PS to Daphne
Why is your site’s spellchecker underlining ‘misspelt’ in red?
[Daphne – Actually, s/he immediately sent in a correction, so it’s my fault for not making it. As for my spell-checker, it’s probably American. US English prefers spelled to spelt.]
You, you’re good you!
Analyze this, Varist!
LOL LOL LOL !!!
Daphne…you are a star!
Spontaneous or not, she’s right. The new system is a disgrace, and Austin Gatt should be ashamed of himself. People have been spending hours and hours traveling, its beyond absurd.
Plus it sounds like she was kidding when she said “you serious? If you want, I can give you a great story tomorrow. Bring your notepad”, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was spontaneous, especially if she had arrived late that day because of the terrible system.
At the end of the day, as she admitted herself, she was vulgar, and apologized for it. She’s been receiving praise because of the fact that every is just so incredibly sick of this system and she expressed what everyone’s been thinking and feeling. She was rude but right.
I’ve traveled all over this island without trouble. From Ghajn Tuffieha to St. Julian’s to Mosta to Gozo (through Gozo) to Marsaxlokk to the airport to Ggantija and God knows where else.
You just need to be patient and a little lucky.
Tourists earn my dislike. But oh well, they’re only helping our economy.
Well then you were lucky. Students were late for their lessons because of the terrible system.
Oh yes, lectures started on MONDAY, not wednesday, so yes some were late because of the system.
I know plenty of people who spend about an hour and a half on the bus stop and another hour in the bus. Its a series downgrade.
[Daphne – A what?]
GOOD GIRL :D
Dawk l-erba’ miljuni, Stin. Sibtilhom posthom, jew?
Le, le, tajba kienet. Tajba ferm.
Arriva, arriva… !
You really need to get a hobby Daphne!
[Daphne – I have several, and this is one of them. Quite successful, too, even if I say so myself.]
She also told the newspaper that she has been missing lectures or turning up late because of the bus service, but there have been no lectures since June and the university only opened again last Monday, with no lectures that day or Tuesday. So unless she missed lectures on Wednesday, the day of her ‘teatrin’, she can’t have missed any lectures at all.
I had lectures on Monday and Tuesday
Freshers had no lectures. Ms Abela Garett is a third-year student.
I too had lectures on Tuesday, and I know many, many people who did.
I had lectures on Monday and Tuesday!!!
To Daphne, don’t mean any disrespect since I don’t know you (or this girl), but I’d just like to point out a few things that didn’t click with your article.
Firstly:
Your words:
“But there’s more. Ms Abela Garrett told The Times that she spent two hours waiting for a bus to take her from Attard to Naxxar. There is no such bus.”
The Times’ words:
“She said it had taken her two hours to reach Naxxar from Attard by bus, adding that students were missing lectures because of the poor service.”
This shows that the girl most probably had to take more than one bus to arrive, and doesn’t negate that; rather, it enforces the girls point that the system is inefficient.
Secondly:
Your words:
“She also told the newspaper that she has been missing lectures or turning up late because of the bus service, but there have been no lectures since June and the university only opened again last Monday, with no lectures that day or Tuesday. So unless she missed lectures on Wednesday, the day of her ‘teatrin’, she can’t have missed any lectures at all.”
There were lectures, as other people have pointed out, on both Monday and Tuesday.
Please do correct me if I’m mistaken. Just some inaccurate facts in your article.
Thanks
Much as I agree with this post, I find it jars somewhat with your penchant for taking the mick off the LP’s Communications Coordinator simply because of his body type. I think you and Ms Abela Garrett are both disrespectful. There’s nothing wrong with attacking one’s opponents on their methods, policies (if they have any), history, etc. But why be personal?
[Daphne – You will notice that I never talk about anyone’s body type, other than Kurt Farrugia’s, and this for the very good reason that it’s what upsets him more than anything and drives him nuts. Anyone who touches one of my cubs is finished. It’s a sentiment you might understand.]
Since Mr Ripard brought it up, I’m also noticing that there are some mixed messages flying about. For someone who is (understandably) very protective of your kids, you’re more than willing to bash somebody else’s.
What’s the message here?
[Daphne – There are no mixed messages, but only confused thinking. My son’s only crime was that he is my son, a crime for which he was harassed while sitting quietly and saying or doing nothing. Nicola Abela Garrett, on the other hand, decided it would be a great idea to propel herself into the spotlight by calling a cabinet minister a fucking wanker in public, as a result of which she got herself The Times front page and a description as a heroine, leading to massive fall-out. You clearly do not understand how these things work. I, too, am somebody’s kid, but it didn’t stop both political parties and heaven knows how many others from having a go at me when I was marginally older than Nicola. The difference is that as a grown-up (and I couldn’t afford to be silly like Nicola because I had children to look after) I knew that because it was my decision to step into that kitchen, I was in no position to burst into tears and complain about the heat.]
That young Miss Abela Garret brought all this onto herself and therefore deserves everything she gets, or that it is now up to her parents to make the next move?
[Daphne – She did bring it on herself, Mr Portelli. And with luck she’s learned a very important lesson: that it doesn’t take courage to call a tame cabinet minister a fucking wanker in a harmless situation, but it takes a hell of a lot of inner strength to cope with the media fall-out afterwards. Another lesson she might have learnt is that real life isn’t a Facebook wall, and there is a massive contextual difference between saying ‘oxx ommu’ about a cabinet minister on your Wall and calling him a fucking wanker to his face.]
Also I think it’s an old-fashioned concept to assume that anyone who is disgruntled with the current government in some way is automatically going to vote for the opposition. I have a feeling that in the next elections there will be a record number of people who will not vote at all.
[Daphne – In Ms Abela Garrett’s case, you can take it as read. She comes from a Labour background. And because I am not prejudiced, I will not say that it shows.]
you just did :)
Dalwaqt ikollna kanditata gdida ohra mal-PL. “LOL”
Lectures started on Tuesday 4th October. Shocking.
Why yes, The Times and its new-found penchant for crusades.
Not happy with the never-ending divorce letters and articles, it has spent all summer covering Arriva and the public transport reform.
Sometimes I imagine it might just be that The Times is making dosh from the number of hits it makes…so it needs hundreds of comments per idiotic article to get things going.
At least it’s now more entertaining, if less readable – especially the interviews and online ‘surveys’.
The one now on the homepage asks users which feast should be Malta’s National Day. For the first three days, Independence Day rested at 40%, Freedom and Republic Day stood at 20/18% each, with the other two making the difference.
Then, quite mysteriously, Freedom Day jumped to 53% overnight. And it took a some time, and a couple of thousand of genuine votes, for Independence Day to swing back to roughly 50%.
i am sorry but the bus number 202 takes persons from attard to naxxar… you should check more clearly….
This clearly shows that she has been on an Arriva bus.
Attard, no, it doesn’t.
Bus 202 goes from Rabat to St Julian’s and doesn’t go anywhere near Naxxar. Daphne is right; no direct bus from Attard to Naxxar.
Bus 202: Rabat – Attard – Mosta Technopark – Birkirkara – Mater Dei Hospital/university – St Julian’s. I ride it daily.
The university is not in Naxxar, so taking 1.30hr from Attard to Naxxar has nothing to do with being late for lectures as Nicola AG tried to make people believe.
Quite a silly article, really. The outburst was simply the use of vulgar language. And everyone has lectures on monday and tuesday, apart from first years, who start later than everyone else. You should really stop giving out incorrect information, you know. Reflects quite badly on your credibility. Plus, she seemed to have touched a nerve, this being your third post about her on your blog. Strange.
[Daphne – Actually, level, I wouldn’t have given a damn about some silly child’s need to show off hadn’t The Times decided to elevate her to heroine status on its front page. The medium is the message, and that’s what interests me here.]
The elves are out! Here we have level, the elvel.
More like lowest….
Aww Harry Purdie. You’re cute, trying to be all smart.
No, not everybody had lectures on Monday. My son is third-year and he definitely didn’t have lectures on Monday. I doubt whether more than a handful (if any at all) had lectures on Monday at 8a.m.
But that is ALL beside the point.
If you’re not getting to lectures on time, all you have to do is leave home earlier – hardly rocket science.
My son hasn’t missed a lecture yet and I’ve never arrived late for work, even though we’re both using the buses. We just give ourselves plenty of time.
People confuse the bus service with a taxi service. The price tag should give one a clue as to which is which.
You can take a filly out of the gutter, but it’s nigh on impossible to take the gutter out of the filly.
I wonder how (or should I say if?) all those pious shits, who were so horrified when your son reacted to having a camera shoved continuously in his face, will now react to this planned aggression.
[Daphne – One thing’s for sure: you won’t get NET TV putting Nicola Abela Garrett on a prime-time loop for days on end. That’s the difference between the parties, Nicola. Take note. You haven’t noticed yet who the real f**king w**kers are.]
She is currently enjoying her fifteen minutes of world fame.
Malta is not the centre of the universe. She’ll soon notice that.
Putting ‘journalism’ and ‘The Times’ in the same sentence is quaint. The Times is going the way of MaltaToday, largely because of the agenda-driven people it chooses to employ in its news room.
Absolutely right. Spot-on. Bull’s eye. Hit the nail on its head. Well, you get the drift.
Yes, Hot Mama. I couldn’t agree more.
Just look at K Sansone …
I try to avoid buying The Times but am being handicapped by not knowing who has died.
Read it online.
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/2011/1009/times-junior-journalist-sacked-for-facebook-comment
Knowing that precious funding and our taxes are wasted on such shit really gets my goat.
Pia Zammit? The less said, the better.
really? why exactly? pray tell ……
Grezz you can’t say that and not give us all an explanation. What on Earth do you know about Pia Zammit anyway?
In any case, Ms Zammit has nothing to do with this story.. unless she is responsible for Arriva routes… u halluna.. if you have something to say to her, just find a way to tell her.. sorry for interfering, Ms Zammit!
On Facebook:
“Pia Zammit you weren’t kidding well done girl
10 hours ago · 4 people”
You did write this, Pia, did you not?
Why are you congratulating the girl? For her foul language?
Basta nidhru progressivi, mal-ewwel “prosit!”
Once upon a time…The Times was not known to give much importance to sensationalism.
Another day, another “elve”.
yawn
I would have thought that she could have made a much stronger point about public transport had she gone on hunger strike, like Manu Maltes.
The only problem there would be that I can’t see Austin Gatt visiting her at home in Attard – or is it Lija? – to eat two kiwis.
ciccio, this somewhat ‘pleasantly plump’ chick could benefit from a hunger strike.
stupid comment – i really don’t know what the weight of a person has to do with all this, its bad enough she’s getting criticized for saying something that is true, planned or not…getting picked on because she’s a bit plump? comment like these are what drive young girls and women to eating disorders and mental health problems. bravu
Gentlemen, let’s keep it civil.
The Times are really “imqabbdin ma ta’ l-Arriva” even when reporting about the downpour this afternoon their title read “Update 2: Rain pours and Malta floods Some bus routes diverted”. Every other day we read about Arriva on The Times.
The girl can’t even write Maltese. That word starts with an “għ”. The people you get at university these days leave much to be desired.
Do you not catch the bus?
Isn’t there no form of freedom of speech?
Shame on university officials, ksu for taking action….prob more interested in their political career of the future.
[Daphne – 1. No, not anymore. Instead, I sit in traffic, get tickets, queue for petrol, pay expensive car insurance and maintenance, and all for one reason: not to have to sit next to people like Ms Abela Garrett on a public bus.
2. You’re posting comments on a website like this one. Yes, there is. But for a long, long time, there wasn’t. Why, the newspaper that called Ms Abela Garrett a heroine even found itself razed to the ground by a mob of arsonists at one point. 3. Universities discipline students for bad behaviour, but I would have let it go.]
And please, people do make mistakes when speaking to the press for the first time, they are not politicians, of which it is their nature to manipulate the public by knowing when and what to say. If it does slip, here’s Daphne to catch your slip and humiliate you, like she did right here.
[Daphne – M, I do not care who Ms Abela Garrett thinks is a fucking wanker. Ms Abela Garrett is just another 20-year-old girl – woman somehow seems inappropriate – in a world full of them. However, her friend at The Times thought s/he would be doing her a favour by trying to turn her into some kind of folk heroine, and this is the result.]
Shame on other students for not sticking up for her, and falling silent…how do you expect to have our voices heard?? HOW??? By being the audience and accepting everything whilst staring as the act progresses……People in this country need GUTS!
Shame on austin gatt for saying ‘No problem’ ,,,,what a…gee I can’t mention any adjectives, as i might be receiving a call for my particulars
[Daphne – Do please grow up. If you want to make your voice heard, first get yourself some arguments. ‘Fucking wanker’ should always be preceded by sound arguments. I have no objection to ‘fucking wanker’. I say it all the time, but always after I have presented my case rationally. And the context, too, is all-important. I wouldn’t think much of a parliamentary debate in which they all shouted ‘fucking wanker’ at each other. Would you?]
M
Did you stick up for the minister when a gang of thugs gathered outside his house?
Did you speak out when a number of employees, previously operating the old service, decided to sabotage the whole system on its first day?
Do you actually believe these antics are over?
It’s great what Malta is coming to, isn’t it: public outbursts of frustration are a right, but insults are not a substitute for assertive and coherent arguments.
I think it’s shocking that somebody can be so immature and uncouth, and that a newspaper actually celebrates this kind of cheap behaviour.
We all have our political preferences, but bad manners are bad manners.
The Times of Malta equates heroism with gutter vulgarity.
What would Mabel Strickland have thought?
I think that Mabel Strickland would have sacked the lot. I know of a person who got sacked for something really mild.
A truely incriminating collection of information. No doubt you’ve successfully convinced most of the people that read this article (and the other 2 rants on your blog) that this was all a set up, meant to achieve that 15 minutes of fame Warhol told us all about.
That said, I feel she deserves a fair defense from your claims of premeditation:
A quick peek at the rest of Ms. Abela Garrett’s facebook wall reveals she’s a fan of tongue-in-cheek style humour. She was even humorous in each of her lines before she claims she’s going to “give you a great story”!
Taken out of context of her personality, I would completely agree with you. However, anyone that’s spoken to her for more than ten minutes would know that this was not a serious exchange. Even the Mr. Bonanno in question reacted with a “You didn’t…” wall post after the deed. This is poor evidence for a preplanned event.
We’ve got more evidence to support the passionate outburst: No doubt you’ve seen the actual footage of the event. Did that really look like she planned it out? If you pay further attention to the interview she did with One News (yes, I realize their political agenda but, an interview is an interview – you can find it on youtube and judge for yourself), she slips up her words: first saying she waited for 2 hours, then notes the DURATION of the trip should take 40 minutes. Putting them together probably meant the duration of the trip took 2 hours. We’re talking about a person that’s no stranger to appearing on a camera or before an audience. Slipping up words can be a death sentence in the cutthroat theatre industry.
Either way, the information is quite suspect and most probably exaggerated; I can walk it from Naxxar to Attard 3 times in 2 hours. If she really planned it out, do you honestly think she’d have come up with such a dodgy tale? It’s quite probable she just made it up in the spur of the moment.
Finally, indeed, she’s been complaining about the atrocious service Attard gets (and it’s hilarious lack of bus stops) ever since Arriva kicked off. Her reaction a month ago to the report with Austin Gatt, the man directly responsible for said service, is about as surprising as me finding lucrative offers of wealth from Nigerian Princes everyday in my inbox.
We’re human beings. We get angry. We do silly things when we’re angry. Don’t tell me you’ve never been driven up a wall by a public official and wished they’d been right next to you for a good telling off. The source of her frustrations simply waddled past after a bad day… after he’d been driven there in luxury and his car parked on a double yellow just outside uni.
——————————–
As a side note, only first years have the first 3 days off (They began today, Thursday). Second years and up started on Tuesday and in some cases (I believe Ms. Abela Garrett included), on Monday.
Monday to Tuesday is three days, not four months.
I find your article disgusting! So what if she rehersed what she said? And seeing as how you’ve taken the time to see what she posted on facebook you should take into consideration that many many others have said similar things about the minister, seeing as how he is to blame for this new so-called “better” system. Do you honestly blame her for what she has said? I myself have wasted hours and hours of my time waiting for the bus to arrive or to get to the actual destination! The old system provided transport to my locality, Arriva instead of having an improved service, removed every bus stop. I have to walk for 20 minutes to reach the nearest stage.
[Daphne – It’s a bus-stop, not a stage. If you think my article is disgusting, report me to the rector, who might have me arrested. Apparently, it’s this sort of thing which shocks students, not short stories by Alex Vella Gera. My sons grew up walking for half an hour to the nearest bus-stop, and they had to walk half an hour to the nearest bus-stop to get the bus to the university every day, so I’m not going to be sympathetic.]
Nicola should take up walking or cycling.
Ummm- no she SHOULD NOT HAVE TO actuallly – we were promised a decent bus service.
[Daphne – It is a decent bus service. I would have killed (not really) for something like that back in the days when I used the bus and it took me two hours to get from Sliema to the beach at Ghajn Tuffieha, sitting half beneath some fat old woman who had never taken a bath in her life, unable to breathe in the heat and with a driver who got his jollies by jerking the passengers about.]
Another ‘elve’ worms her way out of the rotten wood.
So what she didn’t miss lectures but I’m sure she missed other things in summer and i’m sure that students will miss lectures if the service remains like this. Nicola Abela Garrett you are far from a foolish girl!
[Daphne – Jake, anyone who didn’t miss lectures despite the rubbish bus service pre Arriva is not going to miss them now. People who are determined to miss lectures will blame anyone and anything.]
Elve.
She was not looking for fame, she was showing him exactly how frustrating it is with Arriva and her comments to Dr.Gatt show just how we, as students who do not have our own transport are angry and frustrated because of this new system. And I can tell you from personal experiences that she isn’t the only one to say “oxx ommu.” after this disaster
[Daphne – What disaster, Nicola? The university is one of the easiest places to get to by bus because it is right next to the general hospital. If this is a disaster, how would you describe living in a communal tent in Japan after the earthquake?]
Another elve.
It’s a strange life, isn’t it? Here are the Labour youth commenting about how inefficient the bus service is, and how difficult it is for them to get TO university. Under Labour, it was made practically impossible for most to get INTO university at all.
Nicola, dear, elve or not, you need to get a grip.
What makes you believe you deserve your own transport?
Go live somewhere else in the world, and you could possibly be waiting in an airport departure lounge to go home once a month. Il-fsied ihassar l-ulied. My oh my, how true.
Hu ajma daphne. Its terrible. You can’t get around that. I’ve spent 50 mins in the blazing heat waiting for the bus, which then took about an hour and 10 mins (when it used to take 30 mins). And it was packed. And I’m one of the luckier ones. I can’t believe they’re making elderly people wait for such long hours.
And a communal tent in japan? What kind of idiotic comparison is that?
[Daphne – Oh, did you miss the earthquake, then? No, I don’t think it’s terrible. If you waited for 50 minutes it’s probably because you missed the bus on the hour by 10 minutes. And when you got on, it was to air-conditioned comfort and a civilised driver, not body odour, sticky heat, cursing and abuse, and all-round discomfort. Do you know what gets me about this bus business? It’s made even young people sound like fussy pensioners.]
Couple of corrections:
1. There is no such bus from Attard to Naxxar. However arriva.com.mt website plans your journey including bus changes with a planned time. Ms. Abela Garrett was in fact correct in saying that the website stipulates a journey from Attard to Naxxar in 40 minutes.
2. Lectures started on Tuesday for 2nd and 3rd year students.
well, Austin Gatt is still a FUCKING WANKER!
[Daphne – Take my advice: that description is best used only after you have given a concise, factual and eloquent explanation of why you think so. Used alone, the expletive only serves to make you sound like one.]
Yet another elve.
If this was planned .. than yes it was foolish … but there is still truth in the story. She still had every right to speak her mind. And yes … lectures did start on tuesday so yes she could have missed lectures, plus … Nicola also claimed that she was late for her job in sliema and also for an appointment for her thesis … so consider everything and not just lectures.
[Daphne – Simon, I know I’m going to sound like somebody’s mother when I say this (perhaps because I am), but blaming public transport is not an excuse for turning up late for work. If it were, then people who work in – say – London, where there are regular tube strikes, delays, closed lines and bodies on the tracks, would be late every day. As it is, they start out early to allow for potential chaos, or they literally get on their bike.]
Yes, because London is such a concrete and valid example in this case. This will be a valid argument when we see YOU riding a bike to work.
[Daphne – I work at home, Len. And when I have meetings, I take the car and spend an hour in traffic. And yes, London is a concrete and valid example, unless you wish to spend your entire life in Malta waving two fingers at all the opportunities you’ve got through EU membership. Partly because my sons grew up walking half an hour to the nearest bus-stop in driving rain and blazing heat, then spending two hours on a disgusting old bus full of people who don’t use deodorant, just to get to Sliema or St Julian’s, they now think nothing of dealing with London’s underground trains in the rush hour.]
It’s amazing, Daphne, how these new ‘commenters’ all sing the same song. Elvish is still in the building.
http://www.maltastar.com/pages/r1/ms10dart.asp?a=16743
Hmmmm.
Il-gbojniet ta’ ghuwdex m’ghadomx duwk li kijnu.
U dan minghajr ircevuti, ahseb u ara.
Is-soltu kienu jkunu moxxi jew bil-bzar. Issa kif saru?
@Baxxter;
VAT legislation was not enacted with Gozo in mind.
actually lectures commenced on Tuesday and some even on monday and it is irrelevant even one lecture is enough to set you back…have you yourself forget when u made public outbursts or else submitted articles here with similar comments…just let it go she did what she did because she felt she had to isa the way she did it could have been a bit better but none the less worse has come out of more ‘respectable’ public figures
[Daphne – I can’t stand the way you people write. Or the fact that people who write like this are at university without paying fees, receiving stipends, and with no incentive to brush up their act because they’re going to be allowed to graduate anyway.]
Unfortunately the level of EVERYTHING in The Times is going downhill: reporting, spelling, the works.
The crossword and Sudoku puzzles are still OK though. Thank God for little mercies.
Nicola’ (why the accent?) Abela Garrett’s Facebook page says she knows five languages. Wow.
Because there is no language known to man in which Nicola is a girl’s name. [Daphne – Yes, there is: English.] The accent just turns it into a sort of phonetic rendering of “Nicolas” (as in “Sarkozy”), which is still masculine.
The French removed the list of legally-approved names from their statutes a few years ago.
We, on the other hand, should introduce it. In the constitution if need be. Too many parents have wrought untold damage on their children’s lives.
And I forgot Polish and German. (“You forgot Poland..”). Send me to the Tower.
There were lectures on Monday and Tuesday for returning students. You should practise what you preach and get your facts right.
[Daphne – Dear child, I think it would be opportune if you were to ask your friend Nicola what time her lectures were on Monday and Tuesday.]
I don’t actually know NIcola and I don’t particularly care what time her lectures were at. I was just pointing out your poor journalistic abilities since you didn’t even bother to do your research before you insulted someone else’s.
[Daphne – Sweetheart, if my journalistic abilities were poor, I wouldn’t still be around to wind you up, given that I started before you were born.]
ooo burn tss
Oh yes, I know how long you’ve been around. Far, far too long in my opinion.
[Daphne – Liberal values, eh? That’s for the market to decide, Sarah, not you.]
I didn’t know someone else’s poor journalistic abilites could feel insulted.
Fancy that. How does it work, call them a disability?
Sarah,
please do expand on your opinion, I’m really curious to understand how brittle your tolerance level is.
Seriously.
My oh my! A little gesture by a 20-year old student is all over Malta’s main blogs which sympatise with the government! What a scandal that this 20 year old and her Facebook friends will probably not be seen clad in PN livery come next election! And will probably not be singing the praises of “Smart Malta” in 18 months time! It seems to me that someone is really worried that even some English-speaking university Facebook-type students are not necessarily mesmerised by the heaven on earth that is Gonzi’s and Gatt’s Malta! And where is this country heading?
@ Albert Farrugia:
“It seems to me that someone is really worried that even some English-speaking university Facebook-type students are not necessarily mesmerised by the heaven on earth that is Gonzi’s and Gatt’s Malta!”.
English speaking? I hope you’re not referring to Abela Garrett.
English-speaking, Facebook-type students?
Where did you get this? Marisa’s memo describing the target group?
If you think that age group can’t read through the message, you have one gullible client.
This evening I followed an interesting programme on NET TV about the macabre Lino Cauchi murder of the early eighties.
I never realised that so many ‘nomi eccellenti’ were connected to this case and the initial half-hearted police investigation.
Why would anyone at the time arrest the poor widow after she made a public plea for information leading to her husband’s whereabouts?
Mystifying ………………………and scary.
It so happens that some students, such as the LAW students had lectures as from Monday and some of them did miss the first lecture of the day due to the Arriva service even if using different routes.
Also, for your Information, under graduates such as Ms. Abela Garrett, go to University in Summer for : Campus Nights activities and also to use the Library service to do research for their thesis… just in case you forgot what being a student means… memory seems to get a bit bad when we grow old.
[Daphne – Campus nights. Are you serious? No, I haven’t forgotten what it was like to be a student. Back then, you could turn up whenever to do research, just like now, and didn’t have to be there at an appointed hour. I really hope you’re not a student, because I would find it hard to accept that they’re now letting in people who think summer, university, information and library are proper nouns.]
It so happens that the Library has different opening and closing hours in Summer and that for example the Melitensia section has closing hours even in the middle of the day not just in Summer but also in Winter.
Also Campus Nights are activities. People who take part need to rehearse etc… I’m not fond of them, I don’t take part or ever did, but I know people who did such as Ms. Abela Garrett and they are committed serious people.
And for your Info: I am less than a quarter of a century old but I have 2 degrees in the bag already. Stop whining when people don’t agree with your over opinionated perspective!
[Daphne – Which university gave two degrees to somebody who writes like this? Perhaps the university here has to rethink its admissions policy. The trouble is that we don’t have a second, redbrick university for the sub-standard applicants to go to.]
Daphne, Daphne ! Having a vitriolic tongue doth not a good journalist make !
[Daphne – Au contraire. And the word isn’t vitriolic, but sharp. Elsewhere, it would be an essential requirement.]
That’s what MCAST was meant for. It has since turned into a breeze-block university with serious delusional problems.
Are they still using the library? In the past five years or so the library facilities have been upgraded by millions of euros of EU funds, from that same EU that Joe Muscat and the LP told us to vote against.
My experience as a supervisor and examiner is that most students use (as they should) the online library facilities of the university.
This is a hell of difference from my time – when we would be lucky to find the Index Medicus, pick up the paper, try and find the journal from the shelves. If the journal is found, sit down, read it and write notes to take home with you home (no photocopies then).
If not found, take the trouble of sending a request, by snail mail, to the author for a reprint and wait three of four weeks for the reprint to be received.
I don’t know if Nicola Abela Garrett planned it in advance or if she actually rides buses at all, but I can tell you she’s certainly vented the anger of my son and most probably thousands of other bus commuters.
I imagine she’s been sharing her frustration with her friends for three months and swearing to grab the first opportunity she’ll have to tell Austin Gatt what she really thinks of his public transport reform – publicly. Bonanno simply called her bluff.
Perhaps she could have toned down the theatrics a tad, but there you have it. At least she didn’t throw him her shoe.
Hadn’t it been for my son’s moaning all summer, I would have no knowledge of how bad the bus service really is.
[Daphne – You’re lucky to have only had one summer of moaning about the bus service. I had years of it from mine, and that was the OLD service. Their loudest complaints were about the heat, stickiness and other people’s body odours on the two hour trip from Bidnija to Sliema (following a 30-minute walk to the bus-stop), so at least yours gets to moan in air-conditioned comfort. You shouldn’t give the time of day to such nonsense, or both you and your son will ultimately pay the price, he in not being able to handle the vicissitudes of normal life, and you in never getting him off your hands.]
I drive a comfortable car and haven’t ridden a bus in years. It’s easy to brush aside how bad the situation really is out there if you don’t rely on the service as your only mode of transport. Before July, criticizing the bus service was futile, but then we were fed hype for weeks, with frantic tarmac laying wherever you go – to smoothen the way for brand new Euro 5 buses that had full access for disabled users, air-conditioning and hi-tech ticketing.
Manwel Delia was omnipresent on all the media, explaining all the intricacies of this super service we were so fortunate to be getting. He was the front man and Arriva were the service providers of international repute behind him.
Do you remember how many minutes Arriva estimated it will lose on each trip when it was forced to pass through the Tigne Point tunnel instead of Bisazza Street? We were expecting “Euro” clockwork. We were led to believe that Arriva was going to change our lives. I remember actually considering the remote possibility of going to work by bus one day. I never did of course.
YES, as you said in a previous post, we have come a very very long way from the eighties. I’m about your age and I know exactly what you’re talking about. I was there when Lorry Sant and his thugs attacked us students at The New Lyceum. And YES, most of this humungous progress, almost all of it in fact, is down to successive PN led governments since 1987. Praise the Lord and thank the PN over and over again.
But now we’re here and 1981 is 30 years ago!! It has taken us half a lifetime to break away from the Mintoff years to become the modern European country that we are today.
My question is – how long have we got to remain grateful to the PN for bringing about these huge improvements in our lives? Yes Sir, Yes Sir forever? Is it for another election, two? fifty years and we’re even? Some day we are going to have to move on and get over it and feel we can complain loudly about the things that hurt us TODAY, and today is a good a day as any to start.
[Daphne – Nobody’s saying anyone should be grateful, but it’s my observation that the populations who whine and gripe most are those who have only fairly recently been undemocratic and illiberal. This is because they have been trained to think of the government as a parent and expect everything to be worked out for them. I find that mentality unbearable, and it’s exactly what makes Malta nightmarish to live in and Maltese people so very boring in conversation and so lacking in creativity and initiative.]
I am honestly disgusted by the lack of empathy you have portrayed in this article. Then again you have everything laid out on a silver platter, so people do not expect you to.
[Daphne – Please stop posting comments using different names in support of your friend, and if you really must, switch to a different internet network each time you do, to trick me. I do not have everything laid out on a silver platter and never did. I am 100% self-made, and when I say self-made, I do not mean finding a man to live off.]
One can smell the selfishness even at this distance. That is what you get when you pay people to go to university instead of demanding fees.
‘everything on a Silver platter”…. we’re getting closer to ‘sahhara tal-Bidnija’ comments …
Well if she’s a last yr student im sure she had plenty of meetings with here dissertation tutor in the summer.And lectures did take place on Tuesday except for first years who have the whole week off.
Even if to just use the library opening hours are from 9 till 1 so if you do waste an hour on the bus that’s one hour out of four you’ve lost.
[Daphne – Please don’t tell me you are a university student, or I shall be tempted to hang myself in despair.]
hahaha
Start out early. Use waiting time to read. Walk the distance. See? It’s not too difficult. I know. I still do that when I have to.
So Nicola Abela Garrett is doing a dissertation not a thesis and there is one hell of a difference between the two.
Too bad that whatever she is doing, the taxpayer is still footing the bill for her stipend and her tuition.
@ Frans
If you actually are a university student, thank God you didn’t miss any English lessons back in secondary school. Imagine what your English would have been like! And how did you manage to get into university with such grammar, anyhow?
In my opinion if you want to miss lessons and lectures, you’ll blame anything. I get the bus everyday and have to walk 15 mins too and so what ?
Plan early because every system has flaws. If you want everything to be at your own pace then rent a taxi or get a driving licence .. and if you think I’m some stuck up snob, I’m not. I’m just a 17 year old boy with some sense in his head who knows that if you want to pass a message there’s no need to act it out in front of a whole crowd, but anyway drama is drama :)
Some students did have lectures on Tuesday, so she might have missed a couple of lectures. Solution, insult the minister. That should make Arriva more efficient.
Daphne you are not right in picking on this girl. You cannot see it and I do not know why but our ‘new’public transport is a sham.
Yes Dr Austn Gatt is responsible and no matter how many excuses you make for him nobody will agree with you.
[Daphne – I make no excuses for anyone. I am by nature a practical person who tends to see things as they are and in their proper perspective. And there is no sense of perspective in the hysteria surrounding the new buses. You’d think people had been waiting all their life to make a fuss about a bus. Get over it. At long last we no longer have to contend with what we had before, but to hear some people talk, what we had before was better. I think rather too many people need to get used to the novel idea of studying schedules and checking time-tables, rather than randomly turning up at bus-stops and waiting as they have been accustomed to doing all their lives.]
For your reputation and credibility be careful . Yes he did say that all ‘busuloti ‘ will be over and he did say a revolution in public transport in Maltais happening and he DID mention Mao Tse Tung that the revolution is on going.Daphne you are flagging a dead horse.
[Daphne – My reputation and credibility have survived a great deal more than a student and her fucking wanker, so don’t trouble yourself on my account.]
Her outburst was as spontaneous as a pro-Joseph rally.
Honestly ma’am have you nothing better to do but stalk people on Facebook? It’s a bit sad really.
[Daphne – I can’t stalk people on Facebook, Bellinda, because I don’t have a Facebook account. People send me screen-shots unprompted, which is very kind of them.]
She may have staged it, why would you really give a hoot any way?
[Daphne – Lesson one in media and communications: because she’s on the front page of a national newspaper, strangely lauded as a heroine. If she were not, then you’re right: I wouldn’t give a hoot. Ms Abela Garrett is a bit of a cliche, as anybody who spent five years at an all-girls school will know. People who try hard to be individual are generally anything but.]
The bus system has not been as efficient as promised, and half the time the bus drivers themselves don’t know the exact times that they are supposed to pass by any given bus stop, or leave the terminus for the matter.
She expressed a frustration that we were all were experiencing, perhaps not in the most appropriate way, but none the less made herself heard. Very few of us would have the courage to man up like she did.
[Daphne – Oh dear heaven, here comes the mummy tone again: it does not take courage, Bellinda, to shout ‘fucking wanker’ at somebody who is not going to retaliate, in the comfort of an audience of your peers. It just takes a show-off streak. It takes courage to, for instance, stand up for what is right, when you have no personal vested interest in doing so, and when you know you are going to suffer dangerous retaliation.]
I’ll end on the Chris Crocker note of ; “leave Nicky aloneeee…”
[Daphne – Mummy tone again: she should have seen it coming. This is what is known as the consequences of her actions. If you seek attention, it sometimes happens that you get it.]
Another newbie elve. These children should attempt to be more covert. These twerps are Malta’s future? I cringe.
Every cloud has a silver lining; elves are reading your blog and therefore there is light at the end of the tunnel.
For someone who posts comments in a blog apparently so obsessed with grammar, could you kindly do us all a favour and get the singular spelling of elves right?
[Daphne – Bit of a jerk, aren’t you? I knew the singular of elf at the age of four, largely because I had books at home which featured subjects suitable for my age group, like elves and fairies. But even if I hadn’t, surely you don’t imagine that I can spell everything but elf, perhaps because I have some kind of manic fixation which blocks it. The use of ‘elve’ is ironic (how terrible and self-defeating it is when one ends up explaining irony to a literal audience) because that is how the elves themselves spell it. And if you are addressing others on this blog, the same explanation applies – perhaps with the exception of the books of fairy stories.]
As thief is the singular of thieves, so elf is the singular of elves! And it’s also elfish not elvish….just in case you intend to use it again in future.
[Daphne – G-r-o-a-n. Give me strength. ‘Elvish has not left the building.’ It’s a reference to ‘Elvis has left the building’. And please don’t tell me I have to explain that too because Daphne will just jump off the building.]
It would be better not to post anything at all than post inane or snide remarks, merely intended to irritate those who simply disagree with your line of thought (fanatical belief, more likely!)..
[Daphne – Oh believe me, Adrian (or is it adrian?), one does not have to post inane or snide remarks to irritate others. The mere sight and sound of some people does it with me. This morning I made a rare trip to Valletta’s Republic Street, and I can tell you it was DEPRESSING.]
On a side note, do you always believe information sent in immediately? Because, firstly, it is really easy to fake such a screenshot as the one you have described above.
[Daphne – Not if it’s from a stranger, no. But we’re not talking strangers here. And it would be very odd if six people coincidentally faked the exact same screen shot. Also, if I uploaded a fake ‘wall report’, the people who have access to the real wall (thousands of them) would know at once. So I’d have to be really stupid.]
And secondly, empty threats abound in young people’s conversations.
[Daphne – It depends on what sort of young people, Bellinda. Perhaps you forget that old people like me were 20 years old too, once, and knew lots of other 20-year-olds, and that later on we had our own 20-year-olds and knew endless processions of their friends. Strange as it might seem, I wasn’t born aged 47, you know.]
Plus, the conversants above, other than being an actress and a Times of Malta staff member, have also been friends for a number of years. Also, do you know your screenshot source?
[Daphne – Bellinda, just go over to her wall and check it for yourself. Also, by saying that Ms AG has been friends with Matthew Bonanno of The Times for years, you have rather blown their cover, such as it was.]
1. So you have people to sniff out your leads for you, very tasteful.
[Daphne – Tasteful? All leads come from others, Bellinda. That’s why they’re called ‘leads’.]
2. I’m not denying that, and am familiar with biology and the basic growth process. Your point?
3. I already said she may have staged it, and I haven’t blown any covers since you seemed to be pretty sure of the names when you mentioned them yourself.
With that, I leave you to your devices Daphne. I know you will trump me, and ridicule me again, as it seems to entertain you and others. Sadly I don’t have the time for childish games. I do after all have to catch that late Arriva bus to university tomorrow.
Good night.
[Daphne – It is not my intention to ridicule you, Bellinda. In any case, why should you care when you are anonymous? But you should know that kitchens come with heat, and it’s one thing discussing things with like-minded friends and quite another putting your views out there where they can be challenged. Good night. ]
* You were referring to their friendship. Judging from the fact they had each other added on Facebook and the tone of their conversation, you don’t have to be a psychologist to deduce that they were close.
Yelling out a vulgar insult takes courage, does it?
No wonder university here is a hotbed of inaction and passive indifference to the real world.
She must be Labour and surely has a job guaranteed with Super One for her unbelievably bad taste behaviour.
She doesn’t have to be Labour for sure. Everyone is fed up of waiting for the buses.
[Daphne – She IS Labour. And that makes her spontaneous outburst rather suspect.]
i’m not labour and i’m as sick of this service as she is
U ajma! cheer up! and what if she staged it? She certainly expressed people’s anger perfectly!
Besides, the anger out there is real. Only last day, my brother took 4 hours to arrive home from JC by bus! 4 hours! That’s how much time it took me to travel from London to Windermere!
Moreover, you should know that things like these happen at University. I’m sure for example you remember the University election debate as much as I do. I didn’t condone that behavior (as I was part of it) and I don’t condone Nicola’s behavior just the same.
I am sorry but I can’t believe you. He must have lost his way and he may have had a reason to arrive 4 hours late.
Four hours? Really?
…
Did he push the bus, or was there monumentally bad traffic in Msida, caused by the rain?
At least they are only complaining because they are arriving late for their lectures. I expect we will soon have some taking it up with Arriva, because it is taking them too much time to get to Paceville.
If they really would like something to complain about, the government should consider making them pay for their studies, which is what happens in much richer countries than ours.
Stop giving them the stipend.
These measures would surely make an impact on the country’s deficit, but above all it would give the students something to complain about, which I am sure would keep them happy (and us as well).
If they feel like protesting, they should not go so far as going on a hunger strike, but may I suggest they boycott Arriva and walk, every day, all the way to the university.
As they say back in the States, that will surely take the S…T out of them.
One last piece of advice to all students. Don’t overdo it. We are happy to pay taxes for you to go to university, but we expect you ALL to behave decently.
If on the other hand, in spite of going to university, you still haven’t learned basic good manners, I doubt if it is still in our country’s interest to keep on making sacrifices to pay for your studies.
your comments are totally indecent. University is not about manners you fool its about learning and intellectual development.
[Daphne – And manners are a part of that. There are so many ill-mannered people at the university, who haven’t learned anything at home, that I believe it is now necessary to set up a Good Manners Department. Without them, your chances of advancement after university are extremely poor, especially if you leave Malta.]
Responder, I don’t know whether you are a university student, but the tone and the words you used to answer my comment show that you are a person who lacks the minimum amount of education.
Going to university is not only about learning academic studies; it should also help you in becoming a better person in all respects. Good manners are also a part of it.
In your case, I think it should teach you something that is evidently lacking at home.
Learning can make a good lawyer etc.out of you, but it takes good manners to make you a gentleman.
.
Make that a Faculty of Civilised Living. With a Department of Dress Sense, a Department of Correct Deportment, a Department of Table Manners and a Department of Civil Behaviour.
[Daphne – You’re forgetting the Department of How to Make Conversation and Not Talk About Yourself or At People Without Listening.]
MR Silvio,
What you are saying is all wrong. You’re saying that the government should stop giving us the education free of charge and no stipend. That’s all wrong!
[Daphne – Why is it wrong, Laura? Free tuition, subsidised IT and free non-means-tested money every month at tertiary level are PRIVILEGES NOT RIGHTS. There is no country on the face of this earth which does all this, and also lets you into university and out the other end with a piece of paper regardless of whether you know how to spell and punctuate, or allows everyone into the leading university because it’s the only one and there is no second inferior university, with the result that the standard is dragged right down to the lowest level to the detriment of bright students who need and deserve better.]
You’re maybe saying that because you can afford to pay for the education for your children cause you’re rich. If we have to pay high fees to learn like the rich countries, I would not be able to learn any more cause my parents can’t afford to pay for me.
[Daphne – You get a loan. That’s what people do elsewhere. Oh, and they WORK.]
So think before you say things because not everyone can pay for education. And at least in Malta we have the facility of free education for everyone.
Moreover, you said that you’re paying taxes for us students to learn. Please note that one day you went to school and your children will go to school to. So stop saying that you’re paying for us. Everyone pays taxes not only you.
I wonder how many of my tax euros ended up invested in Laura’s (state) education.
If her execrable grasp of the English langauge is anything to go by, one would come to the inevitable conclusion that it was money down the drain.
Laura,you shoudn’t be upset at what I wrote. I think you were too rash in answering,without really understanding what I said.
Students should be given interest-free loans to pay for their studies. These would have to be paid back after they qualify.
This would aensure that only those who really want to study go to university under this system, while those who just go there because it is better than finding a job should not be a burden on the taxpayer, but should pay fees.
It should also ensure that students who spend years at university at least come out with a good knowledge of English, and maybe some good manners, unlike those of your fellow student, Nicola.
Veru qeghdha titghallem kif tirrecta, imma hasbet li l-poplu Malti hu xi spettatur li jkun qieghed jara xi tejatrin milli ghad tibda’ ttella?
Good point. However it is only the the freshers who get the benefit of a couple of days carefree roaming about campus.
My lectures, as well as those of a large number of other students, started at 08.00 on Monday 3rd October.
Apart form that, many students (though I wouldn’t have a clue about the theatre studies lot) have daily summer placements, often followed by a scramble to get to work.
Waiting in that heat for busses that never quite appear, while trying to maintain a tight schedule, is enough to drive anyone round the bend. Ms Garrett may not have missed that many lectures but the fact is that 3 months down the line, you’d imagine Arriva would have pulled their act together.
As for Nicola Abela Garrett, silly her for letting the world know she was gong to make a scene.
And silly her for using the words she did, but pre-meditated or not, the girl still voiced the opinion of (dare I say) the majority of the population.
[Daphne – Emma, the majority of the population is actually tired of hearing the minority moan and groan about Arriva.]
Of course Mr. Minister isn’t loosing any sleep over the unacceptable bus service. His Jaguar (plus chauffeur) delivered him straight to the university gates and remained there throughout the whole fiasco…parked on double yellow lines.
[Daphne – Emma, when Austin Gatt was a student, he took the bus, and I imagine his sons did too because I can’t see him ‘nancying’ them. Cabinet ministers have smart cars and chauffeurs. It’s normal. If you would prefer your cabinet ministers to take the bus or drive their own Ford Escort Mark I, you’re going to have a hard time finding a country to live in.]
Actually, it’s not too difficult. Alfred Sant famously drove himself around, freeing up his driver, Roberto Francalanza, to carve out a ‘career’ at Super One where he could exercise his natal colour matching skills.
I wouldn’t say that the people troubled by Arriva buses are a minority. A route from Birkirkara Bypass to Bugibba which before used to take around 25minutes, now takes an hour, plus often-times, another hour of waiting time. Unacceptable when the particular bus is supposed to be at the bus stop every 10 minutes or less.
Although I don’t agree with the University student for being vulgar, I think that she did voice out many of the student’s opinions.
With regards to lectures, only the first year students didn’t have lectures on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday so the student could have easily been saying the truth.
Till one uses the Arriva bus service frequently, I don’t think one should judge the “minority’s” complaints. Public transport should be reliable and efficient, but as yet, it is not.
[Daphne – It wasn’t before, either, and the only people calling anyone fucking wankers, except in Maltese, were the drivers.]
you Legend!
I believe that some people are portraying Ms. Garrett as some sort of heroine because she said (perhaps with more vulgarity then advised) what some people are feeling.
If, as you say, all that is needed is a ‘show-off streak’ I am surprised that she is the only one that spoke out in this event, since a lot of people are frustrated with the service and university students aren’t the quietest lot in the country.
[Daphne – Has it occurred to you that maybe it’s just not such a big deal to them? When governments try to take away or cut down their stipends, students protest, and how.]
I recall a particular evening in the summer that I was trying to get to work by 7 in the evening- from St. Paul’s bay to St. Julian’s mind you- and was on the bus stop at 4.45 sharp as I had errands to run before hand. I got to St. Julian’s at 7.45 because of the bus service. Am I supposed to believe that that is in any way reasonable?
[Daphne – Please explain how that happened if you wish me to take you seriously.]
Honestly, Ms. Garrett’s performance planned or not, is something I commend. How likely is it that if this outburst was polite and in the right time, it would have even been given the time of day?
[Daphne – I tend to find that polite and coherent assertiveness gets better results in such situations. Also, I have not reached the age of 47 without learning the very important lesson that all men undergo instantaneous system shutdown at the sound of a woman’s voice raised in anger, whether the woman is their wife, their mother, their sister, a customer, a stranger at a bus-stop or a university student in the audience. All men blank all women’s shrillness and shouting. Given the choice between fight or flight, they will choose flight, hence the existence of sheds. That is why women cannot have with men the slanging matches they so enjoy with other women. If you want a man’s attention, take it DOWN not UP a notch. The lower your voice, the more they listen. If you really were Delilah, you would know this. Of course, sometimes a woman finds it necessary to shout at a man just to get it out of her system when he’s behaving like a FW, but that’s not what we’re talking about here.]
I commend her actions not because of vulgarity or because of the ‘the comfort of an audience of her peers’ but how many things have gone wrong in this country and no one took a stand? Here’s hoping that with the press this scene is getting, something will actually be done about the service.
I agree with Delilah – polite and coherent assertiveness never got anyone anywhere – vulgar language shocks – when shocked people react – its a good tool and it works
[Daphne – How wrong you are. You’ll learn that people lose that way of thinking at some point along with the Che Guevara posters and the belief that they and their feelings are utterly unique and fabulous. Also, I was just thinking that this is such a cliched scene, one that I suspect has yet to be played out many times in Miss Nicola’s life: man pisses off woman; woman shouts hysterically at man; man walks out; woman shouts ‘you fucking wanker’ at his departing back; man walks even faster.]
People have been complaining politely for months and nothing happened. Its still worse than it was before.
What is impressive is that you take the time to answer each and every one of the comments posted on this thread. That is respect in itself, but obviously, our modern Rosa Parks and her friends would not know this.
I agree, it is few who reply to each and every comment on a website. It’s better when you’re replied to so people can actually understand where you’re coming from.
Not such a big deal to them? You’re implying that students don’t care about having to wait hours for a bus? Of course they do. I’m guessing they’re just not comfortable with shouting vulgarities at our minister.
If you must know, I was waiting at the bus stop next to nick’s petrol station in The st. Paul’s bay/Qawra area, they were either full or just not there. If there is any more information I should give you for you to take me seriously, please let me know.
I don’t think that all those people calling the Arriva help lines have been calling people FWs left and right, I daresay that some of them have even been polite and assertive. Are you telling me that any of those complaints have been taken seriously?
I agree with you, perhaps women should take it down a notch while dealing with men (Although that’s not exactly what we’re talking about here, and on that note- Are we also discussing the history of each name? ) There have been a lot of complaints in all politeness, and that got us absolutely nowhere. I wouldn’t have done what Ms. Garrett has done in all honesty, perhaps because I don’t have her courage. Judging by how popular this story got, and how quickly it almost seems to suggest that we need to be vulgar in order to be heard!
Love your last sentance – Thats the reality. Keep shouting – be as vulgar as you can allow yourself to be – the FW deserves nothing less.
The ill-bred of our population need no exhorting from you to ‘be as vulgar as you can’ and to ‘keep shouting’. They do it as a matter of course in supposedly normal conversation.
Maybe the planning was the intent – I am sure if there was no planning and it was really an outburst of emotion at the time (which it was not) than it would not have got so much attention. Machiavellian and she has everyone thinking the opposite. I agree that AG is a (not an) FW.
[Daphne – If you pronounce the intials, rather than the full thing, it’s ‘an’ not ‘a’. Try saying ‘a eff double you’ and you’ll see what I mean.]
I support all she has said and done – well planned I would say – It certainly worked whether you like it or not. I do not however support her apology! I think that the PN bovver boy who threatened her may have forced this apology on her. The PN equivalent of the Stasi are in your midst. Grow up folks – foul language is an acceptable form of communication these days except for a minute part of the population. The dismal outcome of a new public transport systemn rests with the FW. He should have resigned months ago. Nicola is right and right and right. Pity there are so few people like her.
[Daphne – Hasta la revolucion siempre. I never had time for boys who thought and talked like this when I was 20. But I have more patience now. Had any of them looked like Che Guevara I might have bothered, but as it was they usually had aesthetic afflictions and bad clothes. Perhaps they’re better looking nowadays.]
So you don’t support her apology, why? Is it because she should fulfil your script of a rebel?
Forced this apology on her? If she’s so malleable, why shouldn’t one doubt her spontaneous outburst in the first place?
Pity there are so few people like her…You couldn’t be more succint in your cynicism.
I think that the video clip which is doing the rounds on You Tube was prepared before this mise-en-scène was executed.
Is Matt Bonannno a “novel” journalist?
Lectures started on Tuesday and I arrived 30 minutes late for my first lecture.. If I start at 8 I have to leave home at 6.15 were as before at 7.. So planned or not she gave a nice message to the minister from me as well.. Giving messages to the ministers is good once in a wile we show that we are not toys to mess around with.
Just illiterate.
1.Firstly the Times should see that its journalists are real professionals and not some comedians like our friends from Malta Today.
2. I admired Austin Gatt’s press release which finds me in total agreement, as he said there it starts and there it ends.
She looked for some quick/cheap publicity which will harm her general reputation, but it seems in today’s world funny unprincipled people are the order of the day and here Cyrus comes to mind.
Useful knowledge for university students:
1. whereas not ‘were as’
2. “whereas I used to leave at 7am”, not ‘were as before at 7’
3. “So, planned or not, she gave” (note the commas)
4. One full stop is sufficient to indicate the end of a sentence.
5 ‘while’ not ‘wile’
6. A full stop is grammatically necessary between sentences, unless a conjunction is used, i.e. “..once in a while. It shows that we are …” or “…once in while because it shows that we are …”
7. Doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different outcome is illogical. If the bus service has really been unreliable for months, then it would have been no different last Tuesday.
8. There are worse challenges than waiting for a bus.
And, more importantly:
9. Messages shouldn’t be sent to ministers ‘once in a while’, nor should they only be sent to ministers. Do note, however, that citizens do not only have rights. They also have obligations.
10. Vulgarity is not a means of earning credibility and respect, nor is it likely to achieve any positive change other than venting one’s feelings.
Daphne, surely you must agree that what you are reporting here is “Facebook news” and that any self respecting journalist wouldn’t be bothered by such petty incidents.
[Daphne – Agreed. I can’t understand why The Times put it on the front page. But once it did, that in itself became the story.]
The girl had the guts to call Austin a fucking wanker to his face. She wasn’t lying.
[Daphne – 1. It does not require guts to call somebody a fucking wanker when you know for a fact that there is going to be no comeback. 2. Lies deal with facts, not opinions.]
If it was me instead of her, I too would have stayed up all night thinking of what expletives I would be using the following day to best describe the minister. Honestly, I think that “Fucking Wanker” barely cuts the mustard.
If I were you, I would avoid reporting such petty incidents and do something useful like writing a semi-decent article that doesn’t try to slander a 20 year old student for pulling off a stunt I’m sure many others wished they had the guts to do.
[Daphne – Yes, well, I’m quite sure Ms Abela Garrett wishes she had guts too. If she was too scared to give an aide her name, how in heaven’s name is she going to deal with 20 years of verbal and written threats, two arson attacks on her home and a whole bunch of crazy people writing in to her blog with such displays of violence that they get deleted. Courage (guts) is required only where there is an inherent threat of danger, Anton. I do not need courage to walk into my kitchen and make a cup of tea. You do not need courage to call a cabinet minister a fucking wanker. You just need no sense of embarrassment, which comes naturally to a performer in training. I do have a little bit of insight into people’s personality traits, and Ms Abela Garrett strikes me – from the little I have seen – as somebody who is continually performing, even in her own mind. She would have distanced herself from her performance that morning because she would have seen it as exactly that: a performance. ‘Exit minister. Girl shouts expletive.’ It all feels so forced and unnatural.]
Ha!
Love for Labour’s Lost
Act 1 Scene 1
Prince Agostino –
Hail! Fiery chariot!
In the morn on wheels.
Lo! As the bark that hath discharged its human freight
Cometh Arriva to salute its country with its gears.
Feisty Wench 1 –
Alack, dark prince. Thine wheel like Fortune doth turn.
Midst the pomp the rebellious fires burn
And this thy people declaim:
Forsooth, thou art but a fornicating onanist.
Prince Agostino –
What manner of speech falleth upon mine ear?
What wench dare speak without fear?
Feisty Wench 1 –
‘Tis I!
Prince Agostino –
Guards! To arms and seize the treacherous wench!
Carry her to the deepest dungeon!
Her name and address from her wrench!
[Enter Guard 1 and Guard 2 left]
[Exeunt omnes ]
Bravo!
Excellent! Can you imagine Ms. Abela Garrett calling the Minister “fornicating onanist?” The reporters of One would have imagined she was complementing Dr. Gatt.
Ooooops, expect Jeffrey and Cyrus to pull some stunt now we have Nicola’ upstaging them.
Some people need to stop complaining. How is it in this country one always finds something to nag about?
Such as the bus service. Have they honestly nothing better to do with their time? Just get on with it.
People with very little to do in their lives find anything to moan about.
They complained about the old bus service and what a surprise to find they are making a fuss now.
Ms NAG made a complete and utter fool of herself. Vulgarity only makes you lose the argument and I’m almost certain it didn’t move Austin Gatt in any case.
As for those people who claim this girl to be a heroine, best go read some autobiographies of people who truly had guts and brought their message across without the need of this excessive acting out.
You nailed it again, Daphne!
your transcript of Nicola’s facebook conversation is FALSE as it has been edited.
Seems your 15 mins won’t happen.
[Daphne – It hasn’t been edited, sweetheart. It’s 100% real. Try harder.]
If this is the result of our investment in university education, we might as well invest in health care and pensions instead.
It’s true the transport system needs work, and maybe Austin Gatt needs to be more sensitive to people’s pleas [Daphne – Austin Gatt is not responsible for Arriva. It is a private company.], but this does not justify arrogant behaviour.
It’s true that things are seen from a blue or red angle here in Malta, but a situation like the change in the transport system has to be looked at objectively in order to clearly identify what is going and not be ready to point fingers at people without solving anything.
While I do agree that Ms. Abela Garrett’s comments were out of context, please get your facts straight Ms. Caruana Galizia.
[Daphne – ‘Timmy’, please know that when somebody’s opening salvo is ‘please get your facts straight’, I switch off because I know that what comes next is a flood of irrelevant idiocy. ]
The University Opened on Monday and there were lessons on Monday and Tuesday, I can vouch for that myself.
[Daphne – Opened is a verb, not a proper noun. University is not a proper noun either, but I’ll let that pass because so many people feel the urge to give Capital Letters to University and Managing Director.]
Also you presume that a University Student works only from October till June, which is obviously not the case as many students go to University during the summer months to revise at the library which is open throughout summer. More so if students are involved in a Student Organisation they may need to visit the University for meetings to plan for the upcoming scholastic year.
[Daphne – ‘University student’ is not a proper noun, nor is ‘student organisation’. Or university. ]
You also held that there is no bus from Attard to Naxxar.. oh but there is! The number 202. Clearly you’re not a public transport user and cannot comment on Arriva’s services. It is truly a disgust that personally I undertake a trip of one hour to get from Mosta to Uni twice a day. Something has to be done about this and quick.
[Daphne – There isn’t a bus from Attard to Naxxar. Who wrote or translated your comment for you? Whoever it was, they were doing pretty fine (if turgid and Globish) until ‘it is truly a disgust that personally I undertake a trip of one hour’. Tell them to call in somebody who speaks English at Elve Central, because I’ve had it up to here with pointing out your mistakes. ]
Are we subsidizing this moron’s stipend as well?
Holy sh*te!
Are you serious? do you think that speaking perfect english is one of the requirements of getting into university? Mela, we earn our stipend to speak perfect english. It’s the UOM’s aim. NAT. get a life.
University stipends aren’t earned. What’s wrong with speaking and writing a language correctly?
This post is disgusting. Daphne, you should still try and answer one’s posts and not correct one’s english when you have absolutely nothing to say. University lectures DID start on Monday FYI and students DO go to university in summer so YES, do get your facts right ‘sweet heart’ . I think that Abela Garrett’s behavior was unacceptable but, seriously, do you need to make such a big deal out of it? I’m sure that in countries outside of Malta bloggers don’t write about every student who behaves in this way.
[Daphne – Elve mantra on Elve HQ wall (the real, brick sort): ALL INTERNET COMMENTS LIL BLOKK TA DEFNI SHOUDL HAVE THIS FORMAT: WHAT NICOLA DID WAS UNACCEPTABLE, BUT DAPHNE SHOULD CHECK HER FACTS. META TIRRISPONDI DEFNI, IMBAGHD GHEJT ‘WHAT ABOUT YOUR SON WHO OFFENDED THE ONE CAMERAMAN.’ You lot must really thick I’m thick not to see the rapidly emerging pattern in your comments.]
Yes Martina, but the English being used by some people posting comments really does make us students look bad! “I am truly disgust?” Uejja! il-vera ddizgustat?
Ian: Read my post properly moron I never wrote “I am truly disgust”, what I actually wrote is “It is truly a disgust”. I know a University Student (yes, its a common noun! I’m writing on the internet ffs give me a break!) who has three words to describe you perfectly ;).
[Daphne – ‘It is truly a disgust’ is just as wrong as ‘I am truly disgust’. Disgust is a verb, not a noun, and in any case you are not looking for a noun here. What you mean to say is that it is truly disgusting.]
Dear Daphne,
I really appreciate your spell check and all but next time try answering to the essence of my argument rather than deviating from the fact that “Timmy” has proven you wrong on various facts you mentioned in the article.
[Daphne – In fact, he has not. And my aim here is to teach you a crucial lesson which our flawed education system has not: poor grammar, badly constructed sentences and rubbish spelling seriously undermine your arguments, causing people to ignore them. People (unless they are also irrational sub-literates) reason this way: ‘can’t write or spell therefore can’t think therefore not worth bothering with’. It’s only politicians and salesmen who’ve got to listen to everybody. The rest just move on.]
I’m sorry but I consider the internet and blogs as an informal means of communication, hence I don’t go through the effort to ensure that I have written in perfect English (oh look its a proper noun!). Give me a break I’m not writing my thesis, I’m just highlighting a couple of mistakes of fact in your article.
[Daphne – More fool you, then. When I write, I always spell the same way. I don’t think to myself: “Oh, it’s the internet, so let me just throw in a few grammatical errors and badly spelt words for fun. Now, how shall I spell XYZ today?” If you have to think before you spell a word, failing which it comes out wrong, then you’re only partially literate (unless you’re dyslexic).]
An hour from Mosta to the university? I call that bullshit. The 202 is my most frequented route and it’s never taken me that long to get through half the circuit, let alone a few stops.
Jamie, I actually catch the 31 not the 202 to go to university. Since I start at 8a.m or 9a.m everyday, it can take even longer than that to get to uni, due to all the early-morning traffic, countless detours and full buses.
As a frequent passenger on the 202 bus, you can explain to Daphne that there is, in fact, a bus which goes from Attard to Naxxar. ;)
Daphne, you mostly caught me out for using capital letters instead of lower-case letters or vice-versa, which I personally disregard while typing, sorry, but that doesn’t mean that I’m unable to speak proper English, just that I’m a careless typer. Nevertheless, I’m thankful that you pointed out to me that the phrase “It is truly a disgust” is grammatically incorrect, as it sounded good to my ears.
Ha qed tara! Hadna xi haga mil-pompozita u ta’ Defni.
(I hope you don’t intend to pick up on my failure to use proper Maltese letters :P)
—
On a more serious note, I frequently read your blog and agree with you on most things, my sole intention was to correct a number of mistakes of fact which I came across in the above article, that’s all!
“Ha qed tara! Hadna xi haga mil-pompozita u ta’ Defni.”
should be:
“Ha qed tara! Hadna xi haga mil-pompozita ta’ Defni.”
by the way, just in case you were intending to explain to me that my Maltese is also flawed. ;)
By the way do not astonish so much Miss Daphney Caruana Galizia as worst than that which was also planned as Geoffrey Pullicino Orlando admitted taht his instant appearance on PBS during Dr. Alfred’s Sant interview crying was all a show off, he admitted it himself so why wondering for a something planned by a student who is really frustrated and not like the above mentioned who poor him did not know about a disco being proposed on a green area which was his own. U barra minn hekk tantx toqghod tparla ghax tkellmet bl0ingliz ghax qas int ma tant tonora il-lingwa tieghu. Fuq kollox ahjar naraw x’jghid il-qawl Malti Kull min joghlli idejh ghandu xi jxomm. Thanks
[Daphne – ‘Thanks’. Love it.]
“By the way do not astonish so much Miss Daphney Caruana Galizia as worst than that which was also planned as Geoffrey Pullicino Orlando admitted taht his instant appearance on PBS during Dr. Alfred’s Sant interview crying was all a show off, he admitted it himself so why wondering for a something planned by a student who is really frustrated and not like the above mentioned who poor him did not know about a disco being proposed on a green area which was his own”
By any chance, is this supposed to be an English sentence?
Fejn jaqbel lilha taghtihom il-lezzjonijiet tal-Ingliz DEFNI! ;)
First of all I might not be an english expert but I am proud to know my language well and proud to be Maltese. Further more I just made my point in regards of the way Ms. Daphne judged this student nothing less, nothing more. Just to give you the full information the paragraph began differently but for some reason the system deleted it and mind you it had no rude words at all, but if the first sentence was deleted it means that she did not want it on the blog and I will not re-write it again. My whole point was not to judge, everybody can get frusrated and who says he never gets frustrated and can control himself in any situation, he definitely is lying. Thanks Richard.
Freedom of speech is something everybody is practicing here, but unfortunately, I see that both sides (the writer’s & commenters’) lack a certain level of respect for the other’s opinion!!
Daphne, I am not Maltese & I honestly always liked the way you write (I actually don’t see any need for u to defend your journalistic abilities), but I see, in here, that u mostly repond in an intmidating way, yes you might have a point and believe in its correctness, but a writer must be a writer no matter what!! Calling people, child & responding in an shredding way scratches your image as an important writer and this is what u shouldn’t fall for.
On the other hand, commenters are really something, swearing & using words such disgusting and that sort of picking on the writer no matter what attitude makes u all look like a bunch of kids who didn’t receive any education whatsoever!!! (with my apologies for those who actually acted better than most of the commenters).
A RESPECTFUL CONDUCT OF DIALOUGE guys, that is what you lack & that is what Malta needs from its sons & daughters!!!
I am not going to participate with any inputs on the matter in hand, because I didn’t hear of the incident but here & because everybody seem to have said enough. The issue itself is not big (except for Mr. Gatt of course) , but what really matters here is how u want to build your country & take it up not down!!
I am not against anyone or any place. I am actually I very pro-Malta person & that is why it saddens me to see you doing that to her!!
I think that the editor at The Times should do sometning to protect The Times’ reputation.
Matt Bonanno should be given a warning by his employers, for adversely affecting the credibility of the newspaper he works for.
i think there should be more students like nicola who are not afraid to speak for themselves. at least that is y i attend my university course, so that one day i can challange this failed and ridiculous system of ignorance. it doesn’t matter if she’s an actress or not. what matters is that Austin Gatt has had a raise recently and he still is a crappy minister. he claims that its not his fault or responsibility, well who else’s is it? isn’t he the minister? didn’t he get the raise? i think we should be more concerned about the arrogant and ignorant behaviour of Austin Gatt rather than Nicola Abela Garret’s. maybe “fucking wanker” was not appropriate but that is not the point. please stop making such a fuss about what is unimportant and focus on what is. grow up. i don’t think it is the first time we have heard the words “fucking wanker” or “oxx ommu”.
[Daphne – Challenging ignorance, like charity, begins at home.]
Ohhhhhhhhh come on!
To get to the university in the morning, you are using public transport at the worst time of the day. Do you think you’ll have time to grab coffee and a warm croissant just before the lecture starts?
As a student, I used to wake up at 5.30am, walk 20 minutes to the nearest bus-stop, wait for what seemed like an eternity and finally catch the bus for a lovely bumpy 35 – 45 minutes ride, and I was NEVER late for one single lecture. Sometimes, I even had time for coffee.
Moral of the story – get your a$$ up earlier.
Lectures commenced on Monday for students other than freshers…
And the OSCAR goes to………..Nicola Abela Garrett.
funny how you don’t even get your facts right.
it may be true that there is no bus from Attard to Naxxar but still university lectures started on Monday.. no lectures on Monday and Tuesday applies only to freshers.
[Daphne – The fact I wish to know, but Ms Abela Garrett isn’t telling, is just how many lectures she had on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and the time at which the first one of the day began. ]
you should find out Daphne ;)
ARTIKLU FUQ META IBNEK BEZZAQ FUQ ALFRED SANT LE UWX ?? :) :) :) ahhhh kemm int falza :)
[Daphne – Only the gutter class spits at people in public. Try to read something other than the Facebook walls of the Maltese underclass. My son did not spit at the leader of the Opposition. He told Super One’s Kurt Farrugia and Byon Jo Zammit (the son of a Labour Party pom-pom ‘girl’ who used to open her legs for the camera in porn films made by the Labour Party’s propaganda secretary at the Macina) to go and fuck themselves after they stood over him with a camera for half an hour. Now please buzz off before I’m tempted to do the same thing with you.]
I suppose you won’t be posting any of the comments I read in the Times calling for this woman to be arrested and prosecuted for “swearing in public” (to a government official! the horrors!!!).
I wonder if any of those commenters attended that Labour rally in 2008 of which you recently posted a video. You know, the one that looked like a Nazi book-burning rally. No, probably not. Probably they were at the identical Nationalist book-burning rally on the other side of the Island.
Which is the party populated by hysterical Communists (“You should be grateful for your government stipend!”) clamoring for an oppressive police state again? Oh right…BOTH!
[Daphne – I have said already that I wouldn’t want to live in a country where students who swear at cabinet ministers are arrested and prosecuted. But nor do I want to live in a country where students are so very much left with nothing to protest about that they end up fussing about buses like old ladies. I guess that’s what happens when you have no university fees or student loans to riot about.]
@Ms DCG
Bravo! If they worked for their keep and learnt how to fend for themselves on a bank loan, they would not have time or energy to waste on contrived theatricals.
The investment the taxpayer is making in such students is a total waste of money and resources whilst the present government has ended up being the victim of its own success where tertiary education is concerned.
I won’t go into the whole “was Nicola right or wrong” but it did take me 2.hours 15 mins in total (waiting for bus which came late + travel time) to get from rabat to sliema last friday and 1hour 30 mins from sliema to birgu… the service is crap.. and … she simply voiced many feelings
When I worked in a travel agency, Austin Gatt’s older son Gege (who was 16 at the time) used to help us out.
He did everything that was needed: making the coffee, buying sandwiches and doing the filing. I’m sure that this kind of discipline made him the hardworking, charismatic man that he is today.
Whatever is being said about Arriva, and some comments are correct, the service is much, much more better than what we had before.
This was a huge change and a step in the right direction.
People need to understand that there are vested interests in putting spokes in the wheels, including those of the ousted owner-drivers and the obvious political interests of the Labour Party, which doesn’t want the new bus service to operate successfully. The more trouble there is with Arriva, the more votes for Labour – that is the reasoning.
Nicola Abela Garrett directed her anger at the wrong target.
Do you remember the 2008 university debate where 3/4 of the students where PN and every time Sant speaked the booed him and all Gonzi did was smile and wave to them? Do you remember that day your son said “f**k off” to the ONE camera person?
[Daphne – Yes, of course I do. I was pleased to see that he has inherited my way with arseholes. I would have hated it had he sat there doing nothing while they railroaded over him. I too wish I could have told Kurt Farrugia and that son of a whore (literally, not just an expletive) Byon Jo Zammit to go and fuck themselves and more, but sadly I’m no longer 19 so it wouldn’t have been appropriate.]
Ok, it was fixed this whole thing, it doesn’t mean the bus service is great, and by you saying that the bus service is good it clearly shows me you don’t ride the bus or you’re just biased.
[Daphne – No, it just shows that I’m a fairly intelligent person who knows how to read a schedule and a timetable and who doesn’t think the old buses were better. When I last used one of the old buses, it took me two and a half hours to get to Bidnija from Sa Maison in the rush hour, what with all the walking, waiting, crawling, stopping and starting. AND I DIDN’T EVEN HAVE TO CHANGE TO ANOTHER BUS. It was hot, crowded, filthy, disgusting, the driver was ghastly and jerked away from the stops even as people were climbing aboard, sending them sprawling, and I remember thinking that the only thing missing was somebody with a cage full of chickens for the full-on third-world experience. ]
Here’s the full-on third-world experience – a photo of a Maltese bus (route 652) appeared in Wanderlust magazine to illustrate an information snippet about buses through the Himalayas.
This young woman is getting a stipend, free tuition and subsidised IT for ‘theatre studies’. I blame this government for making life so easy for these bums at the taxpayer’s expense.
The situation is getting a bit intolLerable. Harry Purdie is right. The elves are out. Qishom il-bebbux wara l-ewwel xita.
I thought, how on earth did she go to lectures for four months! I thought there must be some summer course or something.
From what I see, it’s she who is the***** ***** .
What concerns me most in this matter is not Ms Garrett’s behaviour, or even that of The Times reporter, but the way The Times itself is behaving. It is as if nothing has happened.
Is it just me, or is an incident staged by a newspaper to make their own story actually as bad as (or worse) than the plagiarism for which they justifiably took action recently with Nakita Zammit Alamango?
Matthew Bonanno’s actions may or may not have been condoned by the editor.
Either way, The Times has much to answer for.
If they did not condone it before it happened, then by their inaction they are condoning it now by their continuing inaction and silence. An explanation is required.
The only indication anywhere in The Times that this thing was staged seems to be in Andrew Borg Cardona’s blog, but even there, the complicity of The Times reporter is not mentioned. Perhaps he restrained himself so as not to annoy the editor too much.
Yesterday, I posted a comment on timesofmalta.com, pointing out the involvement of that newspaper and/or its reporter, and asking what action would be taken – but it has not published, and I don’t suppose it will be. There are no comments to that effect.
I see the main issue here as being the role of Matthew Bonanno, and possibly The Times itself, in the setup of this staged ‘news item’, rather than the fact that it was staged.
Having a newspaper stage a ‘news item’ for itself seems to me a far more serious issue than if it was staged by some art student.
Daphne, thank you. A glass of wine, a cig and a laugh… what better way to wind down the week.
Well, this might not be the forum for this, and I’m not too sure how you’ll take it either, (seeing as you are surely more accustomed to a slap on the wrist and a couple of “go to hell” comments rather than some praise), but here goes anyway: I do believe you are an asset to Maltese journalism.
You sure are gutsy and you speak a harsh truth that some might perceive as offensive, moralistic and possibly socially classist but nonetheless very true.
Your recklessness in the expression of your belief is admirable, many times to your own detriment, however, that’s the way you feel and that’s the way you come across – true to yourself and what you stand for. Well done.
I believe that amongst the many places you’ve been sent off to, that you should also be sent off to a pleasant one for once. In case anyone is wondering, THIS IS NOT A PAID ADVERT & to you elves ……. talk to the hand.
Oh by the way, very fair points on the topic.
When I was at university, not so long ago might I add, we had organised a protest in favour of stipends and THE Dr Sant had referred to us, during our “freedom of expression” moment, as “marmalja”.
I had quite taken the comment to heart at the time. Maybe he had powers to look into the future and taken in this context, he wasn’t totally wrong after all.
What a load of fusspots. As you said, they obviously have nothing better to do if they find time to complain about the buses.
Typical mentality of people who have never ventured outside their village.
Do they know that most students elsewhere have to move to another city and live on their own (no mummies there to wash and cook)? Or spend an hour on the train, tube or bus to go across the city or come from nearby towns?
When I attended university the closest bus stop was in Valley Road, Msida or by Arcidiacono, and we had to walk up that hill in all kinds of weather.
I have been away, and yes I have travelled on trains out of the city to go for one lecture!! However, we are living in malta and travelling for over 2 hours for a couple of km is ridiculous!!! i would cycle but i’d then rather waste my day on the bus then get killed from our very bike friendly drivers!
Might I point out that there were lectures on Tuesday the 5th. I’m not entirely sure if there were any Theater studies lectures, but students started attending lectures in various courses as of Monday the 4th. I personally missed my first lecture of the year on Tuesday because no bus showed up for two hours.
I think this gesture was done for no good reason. I mean that doing a protest or expressing oneself in a negative way can be done and has to be done if someone thinks that something is not working properly.
But to insult someone personally loses all credibility on the matter.
I am confused on one thing only. Why no one, neither Mrs Caruana Galizia said nothing against the comments and insults thrown on Alfred Sant at the same university some time ago. Wasn’t that a serious offence as well?
[Daphne – I was there and I heard no such comments. I heard nobody calling him a FW or anything similar. He was merely booed after he made some very ill-advised comments on EU membership – to university students of all people, imagine that – and when his strictly allotted speaking time was almost up (there was a big clock up on the screen), the entire audience began a very loud countdown. It was all in the spirit of fun and very good-natured.]
I repeat: One cannot offend and insult anyone in expressing ones opinion. One has to be constructive and not destructive.
But we have to be equal to everyone not TWO WEIGHTS, TWO MEASURES MS CARUANA GALIZIA!!
[Daphne – Not at all. The context and events were entirely different. Now please return to Elve Base and get your next orders. No doubt they are preparing instructions on internet comments about the martyrdom of Matthew Bonanno even as we speak. Run along. Incidentally, I see that you picked ‘Frustrated’ as your nick. Miss Abela Garrett has the solution – the part which begins with W, as you are unlikely to find cooperation in the part which begins with F.]
Yep, I was present at that meeting too – as a student – we sure did enjoy the booing.
It might have been aggravating but surely a more adequate option to calling him names – even though we could all think of a couple that suited him to a T. His royal highness, the most noble, his lordship, in turn, replied by calling us marmalja.
Dear Daphne,
I agree with you that the outburst of this student was out of place if not orchestrated as well, but I disagree with you that the police should not take action, as it is stipulated in our Criminal Code that (kliem fahxi) is an offence. Freedom of speech is guaranteed by our Constitution but it must not be abused.
[Daphne – I stand by everyone’s freedom to swear like a trooper. I absolutely cannot stand the idea of anyone being prosecuted for swearing. Thin end of the wedge…Just because a law exists, it does not follow that it has to be applied. Some laws become dead letters as society changes, and are not repealed only due to apathy. Sodomy was a criminal act until 1975, but imagine prosecuting anyone for having anal sex in the 1970s.]
I shall not go in the poltical inclinations or motivations of the student as politics is my kind of thing. Although Hon Gatt had the fibre to get rid of the old bus system, which was flagrantly a corrupt system and composed of arrogant and obscene individuals with buses to match, he has stopped short of driving it home).
I also am of the opinion that Arriva is not living up to its contractual obligations, and the Hon Minister (publicly) seems complacent about it, and his remarks (special reference to: “I’m not going to lose much sleep about it “) seem rather arrogant, but that may be his style.
I cannot understand why a person like yourself, who has the fibre to put herself in harm’s way with her articles and blog, does not use her pen to whip this goverment back to shape. Our goverment needs a medical doctor not a spin doctor.
[Daphne – This is so tiring, Chris. The Maltese media is not divided into critics of the government vs spin doctors, you know. I speak as I see. It just so happens that when it comes to things to criticise, the Labour Party is like all my Christmases come at once: a columnist’s gift. My readers are not looking for yet another tedious whinge about buses, and that’s aside from the fact that the government was never responsible for them and is even less so now.]
You have the power to sway public opinion especially among the floating voters. We are in deep waters so you have a responsibility that people cannot even start to fathom. Good luck in your endeavours!
Thanks for the comments.
The thing is that when someone writes seriously arrogant and spoiled words and publishes them, we call it literature, and if someone censors it (as it was the case if you remember dear Daphne) we say that we are breaching his fundamental right of freedom of expression.
Wasn’t Dr.Alfred Sant breached of this fundamental human right? And you call it ‘in the spirit of fun and very good-natured’.
I would like to thank you as well for the invitation sent by Miss Garrett…I dont know, between you and me who can miss out the F part….cause if you shout like you talk….I wonder!!!
Nobody stopped Alfred Sant from speaking, other than Alfred Sant himself: he refused to answer when a question put him on the spot.
As valid as some of your points may be, I believe that you are in no position to judge. In fact, rather than pointing your finger at other people, you should mind your own business, after all I’m sure you haven’t forgotten that it was your own son who had made obscene gestures duly accompanied with offensive language at the University Assembly Hall a while back.
Thus, as entertaining as your views may be, they are also uncalled for.
In addition, I would like to point out that just because the confrontation was somewhat premeditated – as shown through her Facebook comment – does not mean that the name-calling wasn’t spontaneous.
so as etertaining as your veiws may be they are uncalled for
[Daphne – Ms G, please note that I have rumbled the Elve comment template on this subject already, and have posted it on this board. But thank you for not noticing and coming in with this comment to further prove the point.]
Elve central has managed to produce several different versions of what really happened during the 2008 university debate, when their own TV station has a copy of their original footage.
Perhaps they, too, don’t think their party’s media can be trusted.
If Ms Abela Garret had come into this world 45 years ago, she would not be a student (some hope of getting into uni) and she and her family would have had her home burnt or a letter bomb sent to her personally. She should thank her lucky stars that all she is getting are two minutes of fame – thanks to One TV.
Funny how she went on in her apology, saying she doesn’t want to come off as a gutter girl… Actually i don’t know which is the worst part of it, her attitude or those comments bravo-ing her and congratulating her. She’s lucky she still is allowed to attend university – shameful!
it’s funny now that it wasn’t improvised, she’s an attention whore.
she still had the balls to throw a slap at an MP, so yeah screw you big brother, this is nothing for what they rip off our pays and put in their pockets, even though we get paid to study here in Malta. if it’s not me who’s suffering just yet, it’s the middle class that is, and nobody seems to be giving a flying shit about it, and more focused on how this girl got some attention.
“There’s something else on Ms Abela Garrett’s Facebook wall. A month ago, somebody posted a link to a newspaper report featuring Austin Gatt. Her response was ‘Oxx Ommu’.”
Matthew Bonanno posted the link.
When I heard the news about her actions, at first I thought What The ****! But then I found out she’s a theatre student and I realised that she wants to raise her public profile. She knows how to market herself in a controversial way. I hope her acting techniques are better than her marketing ones.
Eat my shorts! http://www.facebook.com/notes/matt-bonanno/my-side-of-things-by-matthew-bonanno/262837083754952
[Daphne – The fact I wish to know, but Ms Abela Garrett isn’t telling, is just how many lectures she had on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and the time at which the first one of the day began. ]
call her faculty’s secretary
[Daphne – Why would I bother.]