Il-Guy was acting prime minister this past week. Did anyone notice?
The man on the right was acting prime minister this past week. Lovely.
Among the government notices in the Government Gazette on 23 August:
ACTING PRIME MINISTER
IT is notified for general information that, acting on the advice of the Prime Minister, the President of Malta has directed Hon. Karmenu Vella, B.A. (Arch. Stud.), B.Arch. (Hons.), A.&C.E., M.Sc. (Tourism), M.P., Minister for Tourism, assumes the additional duties of the Prime Minister, on Friday, 23rd August, 2013, during the absence from Malta of the Hon. Joseph Muscat, K.U.O.M., B.Com., B.A. (Hons.), M.A. (European Studies), Ph.D (Bristol), M.P.
21st August, 2013
That listing of degrees after their names – especially the totally ridiculous manner of stuffing the subject in between brackets – makes me want to weep with pity and contempt.
They don’t even know the basic rule that, if you must insist on doing this, then you should stick to the topmost degree. But shouldn’t this be obvious? Anybody with a doctorate OBVIOUSLY has a bachelor’s.
Another thing: when you’re the prime minister or a cabinet minister, you don’t list ANY degrees. The fact that you are the prime minister/a cabinet minister is certification enough.
Can you imagine this?
Barack Obama, MSc (Tourism Studies), President of the United States of America
David Cameron, BA (Hons), MA (European Studies), Prime Minister, Britain
Bill Gates, K.U.O.M, B. Com., chairman, Microsoft Corporation
43 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
Or Joseph Cuschieri …sorry wrong example
Isn’t the Deputy PM supposed to assume responsibility as PM if the PM is abroad?
Apart from the fact that you only list your degrees when they’re relevant. For example, if Obama were to write an article in The Economist about tourism, it makes sense that he lists his degree because that informs the reader that the author knows what he’s talking about. But he wouldn’t list an ALCM if he has one.
[Daphne – I don’t agree at all. Refer to my post above. It’s the topmost qualification that counts, and when you’re president of the United States that, and not a degree in tourism, is the topmost qualification. If the president of the United States writes a piece about tourism, he does so as the president of the United States, not as somebody who read for a tourism degree in his 20s.
When the Maltese tourism minister speaks or writes about tourism, he does so as the tourism minister, not as somebody who read for a master’s degree in tourism while killing time in his 50s. So please, let’s stop all this rubbish.]
You’re right of course. I just used the wrong example. The president of the US is the President of the US; very difficult to find a higher qualification.
What I meant was that only the relevant degree should be listed. If a doctor writes an article about plants, we don’t need to know that he owns an M.D. The author should be simply listed as Joe Borg or whatever.
Why was Karmenu Vella acting Prime Minister? Don’t we have a deputy Prime Minister for the times when the Prime Minister cannot be in office, for one reason or another?
Ghala jghidulu il-Guy?
Ghax il-hoss fonetiku æ ma jezistix fil-Malti.
Ghax aqta kemm huwa orrajt.
Daphne, your last point is well taken. There i, however, the issue of the ‘wannabe doctor’ syndrome.
This is a curious and rather amusing trait found among those who aspired to but never acquired a ‘proper’ doctorate in the sense that people usually reserve the term ‘Doctor’ for, ie Doctor of Medicine or Law.
These individuals usually acquiesce their inner inadequacy by getting what, in their own mind, is a distant second best, a PhD of sorts which they then guiltily brandish around as their permanent medal for failure in their youth, so yes, I understand the sad prime minister’s predicament, he is not alone in wanting to be called doctor but then being beset by guilt at his own deceit.
[Daphne – I absolutely do NOT agree with you. It is PRECISELY the Maltese university’s ‘doctor of law’ that is NOT a doctorate at all but at best, the equivalent level of a master’s degree. The reasons for its undeserved ‘doctorate’ status are historic and political: lawyers concerned with their social/professional status ran the show.
The architecture and civil engineering course in Malta is just as long as the law course – and FAR more demanding – but an A & CE degree doesn’t come with a doctorate. Anybody who wants a doctorate in architecture has to read for one separately and it will take a good three years minimum.
Apart from the actual structure of the law-degree course, which is effectively a seamless transition from bachelor’s to master’s with the equivalent of a master’s thesis and not a doctoral thesis, you have ample evidence in the graduates themselves. Many of them can neither write nor think.
It is absolutely ridiculous, ignorant and offensive to suggest that a law degree from the University of Malta, which even complete idiots like Super One’s Charlon Gouder can obtain, can in any way be equated, let alone be considered superior to, a doctorate in anything from pretty much anywhere.
Even when the law course maintained a really high standard (days long gone), and when its intake was made up naturally of people who were educated already because of their school and home background, it was not the equivalent of a doctorate.
A doctorate in law from the University of Malta is actually vastly (and I mean vastly) inferior in every way to a doctorate in anything obtained through the rigorous process at a world-leading university. There is just no comparison.
That is precisely why some of those who graduate in law from the University of Malta go on to read for a master’s or a doctorate in a field of specialisation – because their law degree is a basic degree.
Many of the lawyers I know would not even be accepted onto a doctoral programme at a good university, let alone come out the other end.
You have, however, unwittingly pinpointed the root source of the problem. People in Malta actually believe a law degree is a ‘real degree’ (the other ‘real degrees’ are medicine and architecture) and others are not.
The opposite is true, given the long-degenerating standards of the law course and the appalling lack of education and even of basic writing and thinking skills of those who come out with a law degree after six years. We have a situation where examiners are asked to review and assess law theses which are poorly written, ill-thought-out, uninformed, and riddled with errors of spelling, grammar and syntax. They should, technically, morally and ethically, be failed outright. But they are not – “ghax jahasra, that would mean they have wasted six years of their life”. The real problem, of course, is that they are allowed to reach that stage without being weeding out much earlier.]
I make it a point never to refer to a lawyer as “Doctor”. It’s become something of a hobby of mine and it really drives them mad. Lots of fun. Try it.
It doesn’t bother me much, personally.
Coming from a newly-grad, I would rather addressed by clientele as ‘Sur Avukat’ or ‘Sur Nutar’ instead of ‘Dott(ore)’; and by friends and acquaintances by my first name.
The lattermost title does not give me an ego boost in the least, especially as I’m of the school of thought that despite my title of ‘Doctor of Laws’, the real doctors are those who graduate after studying for five extremely taxing years in the Medicine course.
[Daphne – SUR AVUKAT? SUR NUTAR? For heaven’s sake. That’s the absolute pits of 19th-century life in a remote Sicilian hamlet. It’s always Mr, Mrs, Miss, Dr or Professor followed by the surname of the person you are addressing, except for particular situations where you have to address the individual as Your Grace, Your Highness, Your Honour, Sir (the police and the army, with superiors) or Madam, and so on. Lawyers should be addressed, always, as Mr or Dr followed by their surname, unless they are your friends or acquaintances, in which case you may call them by their first name.]
What you say, Daphne, is true – but the reality of the situation is that many clients will indeed address a lawyer or a notary in that manner. Or, worse still, by the lawyer or notary’s first name.
If I am directing someone to another lawyer or notary, then yes, I call them ‘Dr. X’; but the reality is that other people don’t.
The way I see it is that at least one is being addressed for the professions they represent, and not for a ‘fake doctorate’ in law, hence the reason why I don’t mind being addressed in such a manner.
[Daphne – Any lawyer who is addressed that way should immediately correct his interlocutor. Instead, most of them – going by what I observe – are either thrilled to bits or take it as their due.]
Oh dear. You’ve opened a forty-five gallon can of worms there.
It’s a language problem. The translation of “Sir” in Maltese, which would be the polite form of address, is “Sinjur”. But it sounds so artificial that it grates, so no one uses it. Yes, “Sur Avukat” is the pits, but it’s easier on the Maltese tongue and psyche since it avoids the use of “Sinjur”, which was only applied the gentlemen before the onset of this ghastly equality for all, and the Mintoffianisation and Arabisation of Malta.
The Russians have the same problem with “господин”, for exactly the same historical reason.
It’s always “Mr…” or obviously Ms.. Mrs whatever in the UK.
A lot of weeding does happen throughout the law course, but it is done for the wrong reasons. It’s the usual story of who you know vs what you know.
Whilst I fully agree that the law course ending up with a “doctorate” is an anomaly within the structure of the university’s courses, not all law graduates are hopeless and if one works hard (is not well connected but manages to get through purely on his/her own steam and fighting the blatant injustices), the six years can be very taxing indeed.
[Daphne – Obviously not all lawyers are the same standard, but that is because they were not the same standard when they went in. My difficulty here is in allowing people with a low IQ, abysmal analytical abilities and shocking writing to graduate in law. These are absolute NECESSITIES for lawyers. How can you have a lawyer who is unable to assess information, who has no problem-solving skills, who can’t write? It’s shocking. It would be shocking in any discipline, but it is particularly shocking in law, where with their warrant they can and will inflict themselves on an unsuspecting public.]
It is not a question of which course is more demanding, as it depends on the individuals in question. Sadly, a lot of idiots have graduated from the University of Malta with law degrees (case in point Franco Debono and countless others who can barely string two words together, like the current Speaker of the House). The major problem as I see it is that the requirements to apply for law have been reduced to nothing.
[Daphne – No, that isn’t the problem, not really. A-levels are no indication of anything. The root cause is that the university, because it is the only one, has no sorting system which all other universities, everywhere else, have. Here you are automatically accepted on the basis of your exam results. In Britain, for instance, you would have to apply to several universities, some of which have an interview procedure, and wait to be offered a place, which you might not be, and if you are, not necessarily at the university you want. The best universities assess the ‘whole person’, taking into account your potential, your level of articulacy, your manners, your motivation, your initiative and your track record of involvement in areas outside your actual discipline or studies – environmental work, for example, editing the school magazine, that kind of thing.]
At least, at long last, the entry requirements for law at the University of Malta have become more stringent.
As of 2015, I don’t envisage more than 70 people a year entering the course. Although a lot, that’s a long way down from the current 320 who entered this year (with more than half of those already having dropped out, of course).
A-Levels are no indication, agreed. They are however useful in that at least, they serve the purpose of building some foundation, particularly in languages. If this is not possible, the student fails the A-Levels and cannot therefore apply for a course where the correct use and command of Maltese and English (primarily) are essential to their practice.
There is a solution to the problem you mention. Just because there is only one local university, it doesn’t mean that everyone HAS to be accepted. A system can be developed which incorporates the interview procedure, thus ensuring that it is not only those who are academically capable that are accepted, but you would also need to show that as “a whole” you deserve to be given the possibility to pursue your studies.
If anything, it is the likes of Joseph Muscat and (even more) Edward Scicluna that deserve to be called Dr (or Prof. in the case of the latter), and not vice versa, as both have a PhD to their name.
In some countries, such as Germany, you are only allowed to use Dr if you have a doctoral level degree such as a PhD.
In other countries, such as Italy, Dott. is used to denote someone with a bachelor’s degree, which is then distinguished by saying someone has a dottorato magistrale (master’s) or a dottorato di ricerca (PhD).
Malta’s LLD has more in common with a Master’s degree (the first year of “LLD” study is actually the notarial diploma), so much so that the University of Malta does not confer “LLM” degrees but MAs in law.
It is about time that Malta aligned itself with countries like Britain and restricted the use of Dr to medical doctors and those who have successfully completed a doctoral course, and stop allowing those with the bogus doctorate that is the LLD to con us into thinking they’re smarter than they really are.
In any case, one really has to question how and why Joseph Muscat got a PhD. He did it while supposedly serving as an MEP, finished in three years (whereas a good number of FULL TIME PhD students only finish it over four), and then proceeded to never do anything again about his thesis – no papers published, no conferences, nothing. I guess having an MEP and prime minister graduating from Bristol Uni is better PR for them than them failing him for plagiarism.
The Maltese do not have a clue how competitive the entrance process for top European colleges is.
In top colleges, selection is tough not just for prospective students but also for professors and thesis-directors. One can’t secure a chair unless a long academic and professional career justifies their appointment. The Maltese University’s philosophy seems to be ‘everyone can teach’ and ‘everyone can teach anything’! Not only does one come across members of staff with poor CVs, but also decent staff who are pretty much in a situation where they have to teach areas where they feel out of their depth. Change of direction in Maltese higher education is vital although under PL rule this is pie in the sky.
(Arch. Scoundrel) more like.
The K.U.O.M. after Joseph Muscat’s name is almost funny when you consider it’s an order of merit.
What the hell is K.U.O.M. ?
Or did they mean Q.U.I.M ?
And I’m right glad to see that both our PM and acting PM are MPs. You never know what sort of people get to be PM.
It’s “Kompanju tal-Unur tal-Ordni tal-Mertu” or Companion of Honour of the Order of Merit, which every PM gets automatically as a result of being head of government.
https://www.gov.uk/government/people/david-cameron
Cameron’s official profile on GOV.UK. No degrees listed, except in the obvious place, the bio.
Very fishy that it wasn’t Louis Grech was took on the role of Acting PM.
Wonder why.
Inferiority complexes galore, the whole lot, and with good reason.
Let’s be fair , Dr Fenech Adami and Dr Gonzi had their degrees listed in the Government Gazzette on such occasions, including K.U.O.M.
It is truly pathetic. And you must see some people’s business cards AND worse, people signing off emails followed by their degrees.
X’ bassezzi.
And I don’t criticise because I don’t have any degrees myself. It’s simply not done. Just see our fellow Europeans – they never list their degrees on their emails or business cards.
I don’t recall seeing the customary press release announcing the transfer of power. Why was the government being economical with the truth? What about Louis Grech?
The President has announced his upcoming absence from Malta and that Dolores Cristina will be Acting President. Dr. Muscat should take note.
Why wasn’t Louis Grech acting prime minister? Strange.
Oh he’s acting all right.
It is starting to grate with me seeing them (quals) plastered everywhere.
Ghax m’ghamilx ic-certifikat tal-maghmudijja ukoll. U kif qedin hawn, m’ghamilx xi raffle ghal job ma l-gvern?
Jew ic-certifikat tal form2C meta kien fil klassi ma’ Franky ta’ Hal Ghaxaq.
Yes, what happened to the official deputy prime minister Louis Grech?
Where is Louis Grech?
Makes you even wonder how they got the certificates in the first place.
Ic-certifikat tal-Form II jonqsu.
What a bunch of amateurs.
So the chairman of Orange Travel cruises is acting prime minister because the real prime minister is on a cruise bought (we hope) from a rival agent, the High Commissioner to London.
It’s not just them to be fair.
The one that really irks me is lawyers calling themselves Dr. John Borg BA, LLD, MA, Dip Eur Stud. For goodness’ sake if you must show off your degree, then it’s either “Dr” or “LLD”. It’s not done to put both in. Then it should be John Borg LLD. And the proper way to put it on a business card “John Borg, Lawyer” on your business card.
The rules (outside Malta) are very clear. No “Dips”, honours before academic achievements, no repetition. Really, who the hell cares whether your BA is in tourism studies or business law?
It’s a big ego trip that is absolutely pathetic, and it wins admiration only from the wrong people. In the right people, the ones whose admiration you really want and need, it provokes contempt.
I will never forget the Euro-med meeting where the British PM was styled as “Rt Hon Tony Blair MP” on his place card and the Maltese PM was “The Hon. Dr. Eddie Fenech Adami KUOM, BA, LLD, MP”. Gosh.
Il-Guy, acting prime minister, was busy presiding over a musical performance for St Catherine’s feast in his hometown Zurrieq.
He gave a donation to the band club. Too much activity for a guy like him. He must be exhausted.
Why on earth would anyone call Karmenu Vella an “arch stud” in an official government document?
Peress li l-merhla li ghandhom warajhom il-bicca l-kbira huma illitterati, allura jippruvaw juru li huma m’humiex bhalhom.