You’ve got to be from the sticks to do something like this
Labour MEP Joseph Muscat refused to continue addressing the European Parliament after he was informed no interpreters were present to translate his speech from the Maltese language. Mr Muscat had to cut short his address on money laundering on Wednesday when after a few sentences into his speech the presiding chairman informed him he couldn’t continue his speech in Maltese as no interpreters were available.
– The Times 27.5.2005
Exactly what point was he trying to make here – the point that he grew up in the Burmarrad sticks and has a chip on his shoulder? The sophisticated, proper thing to do in a situation like that would have been to show some sprezzatura and say “That’s perfectly all right. Are there interpreters from English?” Then switch to that.
Muscat just doesn’t get that when you are obviously very touchy and defensive and think that you are not being given the importance you deserve, you are only playing to type when you sulk and stamp your feet and demand this and that.
Rising to the occasion demands qualities which, sadly, Joseph doesn’t possess.
The essence of good manners is making people feel comfortable and ensuring they are not inconvenienced.To demand that you inconvenience several people when you can easily speak English but refuse to do so, just to make a small-minded point, is the height of bad manners.
And so very, very uncool.
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He was probably trying to appease the plebs who voted him in.
I highly doubt he can “easily speak English”. He requires a teleprompter even when delivering a speech in Maltese.
But Daphne, how could he have continued in English if the script in hand was in Maltese?
Isn’t it obvious, Daphne? The teleprompter was prepared with Maltese script. Do you expect Joseph to make an impromptu translation?
The speech must have been written in Maltese….
I disagree with you here, Daphne. The height of bad manners is keeping people, including royalty, waiting just to show how important you are.
[Daphne – Him again. And then he compounded his embarrassment by breezing in as though to any ordinary meeting, did not wait to be introduced, and did that ‘Sorry I’m late there was so much traffic’ thing you’d do with a colleague or contemporary.]
Here’s a news link, for those who have no idea what you are referring to: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20091126/local/one.283416
I heard tell that there was a run on both sackclothes and ashes when the EP realized that Joseph would not be imparting his nuggets of wisdom.
I’m sorry but I do not agree with you here. Clearly you prefer the English language over the Maltese language and that is perfectly fine.
[Daphne – Actually, I prefer English to Maltese (that they are languages is taken as read), and then only because it allows me to use sentences such this one. I am, however, perfectly at home using either language, and think and dream in both.]
However, it is not ok when we are an equal EU member state and our language cannot be used. Whoever’s in charge of scheduling interpreters should have scheduled a Maltese one since there was going to be a Maltese speaker (obviously scheduled, I cannot imagine him just showing up unannounced)
So yes, sometimes you have to take a stand, regardless of whether you do not particularly like the language or not. I also find Maltese language to be very harsh and sometimes limiting but at the end of the day it is my language.
Daphne, could it be that he had set his speech in Maltese on a teleprompter and had no clue where to start in English?
I hope that the idea of installing teleprompters in the new Parliament building had occurred to Piano. That should be enough to make it “state of the art.”
7 years ago. Short of material are we?
[Daphne – On the contrary, I have so much material that it’s all backed up in folder no. BLOG 31, waiting to be knocked into shape and uploaded. Yes, seven years ago. Only a teenager thinks that seven years is a long time. In the career of a prime minister in waiting, it’s nothing. Perhaps you believe that prime ministers in waiting should be permitted by the press to reinvent themselves every years, with false opinions and self-contradiction.]
This blog can never be short of material with such a bunch of incompetent wannabes making fools of themselves.
Makes for brilliant reading seeing as you lot read it as much as we do. Difference is you deny it and act as if it is a cookery blog. I bet Jason’s first internet browse in the morning is this site.
Martin, isn’t 7 years enough for one to claim the benefit of HINDSIGHT?
So far, Joseph Muscat has always been on the wrong side of history – take the EU as an example – and he only found that out with hindsight.
Daphne you are assuming that Joey himself wrote his speech in Maltese and that he had an English translation at hand also written by himself.
If you think he was ad-libbing you must be joking.
If you ask me, he was probably reading Maltese text written by someone else.
This is the second time I am standing up for Joey in less than 24 hours.
If I do it again soon I will have to see a shrink.
That was in 2005. His arrogance is much greater today, as PM in waiting.
If he were in the same circumstances now, he would call Anglu Farrugia to present a motion of no confidence in the European Parliamentary majority.
Then he would walk out of the Chamber red faced and next to crying, call Byon Jo and Charlon Gouder of Super One for an impromptu press conference and declare that he is not losing any sleep about Gadget’s motion.
Joey speaks English perfectly well. Maybe he is one of those politicians who prefer to read their speeches from notes rather than make up a speech as they go along.
It could well be that his speech was typed up in Maltese and he wasn’t confident enough to translate it into English as he went along. I’m guessing here, Daphne.
On another note, I must say I do prefer it when that very nice man Simon Busuttil speaks in English in the European Parliament. He sounds so much more classy.
“Joey speaks English perfectly well.”
I beg to differ. ‘We aRRRe beck in bizniSSSS bik tie-meh’.
“Mittel kless”
Ha! And what about ‘mettocracy’?
Or maybe his teleprompter was scripted in Maltese.
Someone else from the sticks.
Can someone explain the why and wherefore of all this, please?
from: http://www.partitlaburista.org/view/main/min-aħna/amministrazzjoni
Dr. Toni Abela
Deputat Mexxej tal-Partit Laburista ghall-Affarjiet tal-Partit
e-mail: [email protected]
Litigation Lawyer for the past 26 years . Former President of the Labour party , Vice Mayor Of Hamrun Local Council 1993-!997 . Former member of the Employment Commission .Permanent colomnist and opinion maker in the daily news paper l-Orizzont since 1984 and presently resident contributor to the Sunday News Paper Illum since 2005 . Published a number of short stories . Producer of different series of TV and radio programmes . Presently occupying the post of Deputy Leader |For Party Affairs of the Labour Party . Married to Marisa . They have three children : Estelle , Aaron and Fleur
What is a colomnist? Why Deputy Leader |For Party Affairs? Why all those spaces before and after punctuation marks?
And the joke is that, as we all know, the Lider and ‘Lil Din’ speak to their children in English (well, they try).
They also insist on speaking to other parents (the kind who speak English as a matter of course) in English too, even though they really struggle.
Nothing wrong with that after all, but would they do so in front of their core supporters?
No, instead they would attempt to denigrate English speakers.
Very, very rude and similar to a child throwing tantrums in a shop, to make his parents buy him what he wants. Spoilt brat.
Jiena kburi li jien Malti u li kapaci nitkellmu. Izda kburi wkoll li fin-nuqqas ta’ min ma jafux kapaci naqleb ghall-Ingliz jew Taljan.
B’hekk naqta figura ta’ persuna maghlma. Nittama wkoll li dak li jkolli xi nghid ikun daqstant tajjeb ukoll.
It was his Helsinki moment.
Like.
One day, someone will immortalise that moment in “Dear Joseph.”
Henry Frendo has a very good piece in The Times today – worth reading and digesting.
The older I grow the more I realise that what makes a leader is emotional intelligence. This has become quite a buzz term but I have grown to learn that it is so true.
As you said, the polite and mature way would have been to switch language. The emotionally intelligent way would certainly have been to switch language – most of us speak three languages anyway.
I wouldn’t want any non-Maltese to think that I am incapable of delivering a speech in another language.
I used to participate in lawyer-linguists meetings (Council of Ministers) and sometimes there would be no Italian, Spanish and Swedish (or another Scandinavian language) interpreters.
My Italian, Spanish and Scandinavian colleagues would speak another language.
Nobody would dream of throwing a tantrum just because Il Signor Rossi had to speak French or English rather than Italian, even in this forum where language is really of the essence.
We always worked our way around it. After all, isn’t the EU a forum based on co-operation, amongst other things?
I’m sure that Dr Muscat couldn’t deliver his speach in English and that’s the reason why he refused to speak. If he loved so much his native language he wouldn’t send his children to an English speaking school.
Malta has two official languages and had he been competent enough to carry on his speech in English, one would assume that he would have done just that.
I suppose you could always ask for it…
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/parlArchives/pressArch/staticDisplay.do?language=EN&id=1007