The Story of the Undervest
Like all class creeps, Joseph Muscat picks out the sole story of his getting into trouble with the school law, and tells it with pride.
But it only confirms his status as class creep. Sent home by the Prefect of Discipline for not wearing a vest under his shirt and asked to return wearing one (yes, that was an official misdemeanour at St Aloysius College and when I was at sixth form there I used to wonder about it each time I looked at the daily list of offenders published on a notice by the entrance), he ACTUALLY WORRIED ABOUT THE TIME IT WOULD TAKE HIM TO GO TO BURMARRAD AND BACK TO BIRKIRKARA BY BUS. SO INSTEAD HE HIT ON THE TIME-SAVING MEASURE OF GOING TO A FRIEND’S HOUSE DOWN THE ROAD FROM THE SCHOOL AND BORROWING A VEST.
For pity’s sake, what kind of a suck-up nerd does that? In his position (and I’ve been in his position more times than I care to remember, though not for a vest), I’d have jumped at the opportunity to skive off school with permission, and I’d have spent the entire day making the journey to Sliema and back, getting to school just as the end-of-day bell rang and in time for my detention. And I would have seen the trip back home as the perfect opportunity to load up on snacks and magazines to while the detention away.
And if I got sent home because of a mere vest, I’d have never returned for the detention, but just stayed out. I mean, let’s face it, what were they going to do – expel him because of a vest? The fact that his child’s mind didn’t work out these naturally subversive alternatives instead of going for ‘exceeding expectations’ in obedience speaks volumes about what sort of childhood he had.
Also, the fact that he panicked so much when caught without a vest, and rushed to get one as quickly as possible, tells me that not wearing a vest wasn’t his choice or even carelessness. He probably didn’t have a clean one available to start with, which is the real reason why he knew it would be a waste of time going back home.
It’s hard for me to believe that the over-protective mother of an only child born relatively late in life wouldn’t oversee the laying out of her precious child’s clothes every night and then check him before he left the house in the morning. So something must have gone wrong that day.
Anyway, now you know why so many former St Aloysius boys think it’s normal to wear a singlet under their shirts and panic if they can’t find one fresh out of the laundry.
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Was he in Form 2C when this happened? If he remembers the incident so vividly, it must have been a one-off.
It was unbecoming, way back when, in Canada, to wear a ‘vest/singlet/t-shirt’ under your shirt, when in high school. Usually warranted a thumping by your mates. Even though the temperature was minus thirty C.
Perhaps his vest caught fire. Or is it just pants?
I’d have gone home by the Cape of Good Hope route.
With all the ‘fond’ memories of Mintoff’s picture on his grandma’s wall, his parents sent him to a church school.
Wasn’t Franco Debono in his class? I bet he forgot his own vest, and nicked Joseph’s. What creeps.
Min jaf how Franco is eating his heart out watching Joey at St Aloysius.
I attended St. Aloysius and don’t remember this white undervest requirement at all.
Never wore one.
Can’t imagine Salvu Mifsud forgiving any punishments for a reason like that mentioned either.
Ah, yes, the good old vest at school. I hated wearing one. The second we finished school my friends and I burnt them.
Din l-istorja turi b’mod car kif hi mibnija il-politika ta’ Joseph Muscat, ta’ kif mexxa s’issa, ta’ kif qed imexxi u ta’ kif fi hsiebu jmexxi.
Cioe ‘ninjora r-regoli sakemm ninqabad jew ninkixef u mbaghd nimmanipula s-sitwazzjoni u ncekkina b’tali mod li nigi ggustifikat’.
Il-kaz tal-blokka silg u l-ksur tal-kodici ta’ etika minn ministri li baqghu jipprattikaw il-professjoni taghhom huma ezempju car.
U dan ghadu il-bidu
Yes, those were the days.
Incidentally, at St Joseph’ s Blata-l-Bajda, where there used to be a primary school for boys, an Irish nun made us show a our handkerchief in every morning and we were punished if we were unable to produce one.
Did he keep the 10c coin?
To me, this episode tells me that, when he has his back to the wall, he is willing to resort to the first excuse or solution available, even if it is not the honest and genuine one. Possibly indicates a tendency to be manipulative, driven by convenience, apparition, and to lie or deceive.
The fact that he was not punished, but rather rewarded for ‘using his brains’ (do I read that as the Maltese ‘being “wajs”‘?) when he had his ‘afterschool’ waived means that negative and opportunistic behaviour was reinforced by the school.
At least now I know where he got his “the end justifies the means.”
And I confirm my thoughts after his performance in Parliament during the budget speech – he makes a fine stand-up comedian.
One last point. Did you notice that he did not say what he did with the 10c which the brother gave him for bus transport? Not only did he try to deceive the brother by fetching a vest from his friend’s who lived two corners down the road, and not only did he have his afterschool waived, but he even got to keep the 10c.
‘At least now I know where he got his “the end justifies the means.”’
That’s your typical Aloysian. Have you never come across one in the world you inhabit?
Seems like I was the odd one out at college as I never wore a singlet and till today I don’t think its normal to do so….
Most probably they did not have water for a week – it was the 80s.
“It’s hard for me to believe that the over-protective mother of an only child born relatively late in life wouldn’t oversee the laying out of her precious child’s clothes every night and then check him before he left the house in the morning. So something must have gone wrong that day.”
Maybe she did not have the money to buy him an undervest?
In fact, notice how he says that he did not even have 10 cents for bus transport. And this must have been at the start of the day (the reference to the fact that the school transport had left is indicative of this).
These are the Mintoff-KMB years we are talking about here. The Golden Years. The years of Mintoffianomics, according to the Minister of Finance. The years of which Joseph Muscat is so proud.
How did the authorities in a day school set about finding out whether under vests were being worn or not? Did they engage someone to fiddle about with the boys’ outer clothes? And, if so, who would that have been? And why should a day school have such a rule in the first place?
There’d be lining up after mid-day break to get back into class. That’s when everyone would be at their very worst.
If he were intelligent he would have done the same thing several times and would have gained a steady flow of extra pocket money. Instead he gave the story away at the first opportunity.
If he were shrewd he would have kept a tight lip and gained the admiration of his peers. He preferred being admired by his discipline master.
Tas-swat.
While looking at the student portraits someone pointed at Frankie’s photo , how come he wasn’t invited , there were many classmates.
Kemm kellu jbati miskin!
Joseph and His Technicolour Dreamvest.
X’kien il-punishment ghal min jilbes striped polo shirt minflok plain white singlet? Ghax nimmagina c-ckejken Franco Debono kemm-il darba kiser ir-regola.
He must have gone to St Aloysius too:
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/S9Wo2_dFoSs/0.jpg
X’ghamel bit-10 cents? Fejn huma l-gurnalisti?!
Ara vera Gahan Malti dan.
I attended St Aloysius College between 1979 and 1986, Sixth Form included, and I can’t recall being forced to wear undervests.
What I can recall is that we used to be scared stiff of Salvu Mifsud, though he was always fair with us.
What I also can recall is that our twat of a Prime MInister was not very popular at school and I remember him getting thumped a couple of times by other students. Minn dejjem kien rasu kbira.
The vest being an obligatory part of the uniform is new to me too.
I remember some emphasis on having an undervest, in his case it must have been essential for support and decency.
Next would be the grey socks and black shoes.
The real problems started with the length of hair.
The number of times Guido Friggieri told me to get a haircut, thankfully, I was captain.
Muscat must have looked ridiculous, the shirt, skin tight, navel showing between its buttons.
A few questions: did he return the 10 cents given by his prefect of discipline? After all he did not take a bus home.
The whole undervest story is all bull. I can’t imagine Salvu sending anyone home to get an undervest.
Afterschool yes, yellow door more probable but sending him home to miss lessons never. And then to be forgiven on the same day. Haha. Shows he never got an afterschool. What a fake.
[Daphne – What’s this business with the ‘afterschool’? It’s even appearing in newspaper reports. There’s no such word. It’s a DETENTION.]
There is for old Aloysians and to distinguish from mid-day break detention, Wednesday or a Sunday detention.
It’s the same thing at San Anton – we used to call it an “after school” to distinguish it from lunchtime detentions. Never heard of anybody getting punished over the weekends though.
There is in St Aloysius College speak.
If there’s a term that immediately identifies someone who attended St. Aloysius’, it must be “yellow door”.