Not yet. But he could buy it twice over.

By the same token, finding a good-looking future mother for your children is an investment in good genetics.

Daphne’s right. Words have meaning.

And we, of all people, should know. The commenda, my friends, is what European supremacy was built on.

Spending money on children’s education can be looked at as a good investment even though the children might reap the fruit and not the ‘investor’.

[Daphne – That’s not the definition of ‘investment’. And in any case, it betrays the purely utilitarian Maltese approach to education: spending money on your children’s education so that they can make more money when they leave education. Education is there to make you a better person and a more interesting one, and not to give you higher earning power. Failure to understand this is why education in Malta is really nothing but functional training for a job or rote learning for examinations.]

Daphne, I and my wife have invested fairly heavily in our children’s education (thousands of liri for one of them, in fact) – but my wife’s handbags are certainly no investments to speak of.

I would certainly not consider children’s education and handbags as being equal.

[Daphne – Well, we’re living in an era when expensive pieces of clothing are described as ‘investment pieces for your wardrobe’ – a good coat, for example, is seen as an ‘investment’. I hear women speak about ‘investing’ in a good handbag or in their children’s education. So there you go.]

Has Kenneth acquired that government flat overlooking St John’s Square, yet?

Mhux ovvja? Nikita’s imqaret.

At this point, Kenneth Zammit Tabona can install his third air-conditioner without the need to fire his houseboys and change his lavish life style.