OMG, they think the poppy is a Labour Party symbol.
First they refused to go to the Remembrance Sunday ceremony at the cenotaph and St John’s Cathedral, and tried to belittle the occasion by sending Joe Debono Grech (ghax veteran). Then they all wore a poppy in their lapel for the Labour demonstration in the evening, because they saw that all the newscasters, talk-show hosts and their guests on BBC World were doing it and they thought it was cool and TRENDY.
The result? Lots of Labour supporters now think that the poppy is a Labour symbol – a kind of corsage that you wear to demos instead of the stuffy old carnation. Somebody posted a comment on this blog saying that demonstrators were smiling at him while he was passing by in Valletta, and he wondered why until he remembered that he was wearing a poppy. I found that a little far-fetched. Then I went out to buy the milk and guess what? I overheard somebody in the queue asking somebody else whether those poppies are being sold down at the party club in the square because she wants one. Are they expensive? Because you know, with all these kontijiet.
Lie down and weep.
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You should buy PN’s symbol:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Milk_thistle_flowerhead.jpg
Far fetched? It’s totally believable. These are people who follow a leader who thinks he’s a civil rights activist in the grand tradition of Martin Luther King, only the ‘civil right’ he champions is that of obliging others to pick up your bills.
So he not only screwed up by not doing his duty on Remembrance Sunday, which may have taught his sheep something of the day’s significance. He’s even drained the day’s symbol of meaning.
“Lots of Labour supporters now think that the poppy is a Labour symbol”
In my opinion this is a generalised remark. Everyone knows that the “popolin” tends to jump to conclusions mainly due to ignorance, and both parties have ample subjects like these under their belts, for were it not the case, politicians would be far more credible and electoral results determined on more clear and solid grounds.
Hence I think that such comment (and abrubt conclusion) is uncalled for especially when writing with a biased pen, for as the adage goes; people who live in glass houses should never throw stones. Similarly; if you spit to the skies …
C. Busuttil: Your second paragraph is a comment about your first one.
For your own sake, I hope you understand the depth of the offence caused by calling yesterday’s protest a ‘manifestation of courage’.
This snippet of info doesn’t really surprise me. As C. Busuttil, above, said: “The ‘popolin’ tends to jump to conclusions mainly due to ignorance”
When we consider the tone/flavour/slant of discussion of any topic that is of any significance, the degree of misinformation and weakly-formed contributions of the most vociferous participants should be seen in the light the above comment affords us.
I have even heard people discuss “ecology” – even form some opinions, God bless them – based EXCLUSIVELY on what they’ve (mis)heard on the National Geographic. Such people do not even have the common sense to question the source of their information, let alone analyse its content.
You say that “Lots of Labour supporters now think that the poppy is a Labour symbol” Why limit yourself to Labour supporters? I would replace “Labour supporters” with “Maltese people”. I know it sounds terribly “unpatriotic”. The direct result of this a paucity of “statesmen” and a plethora of “vote gatherers”. Analytical men and women who can formulate cogent and informed arguments are hard to come by in our “culture”. We do not have an “above average” incidence of ignorami, but we do not have enough people (numerically) to pool a decent set of statesmen and politicians.
Daphne, why are you weeping after you overheard that conversation? I think you should have focused your attention to the fact that persons can’t make ends meet at the end of the month and not that the lady was querying where to buy the poppy from!
[Daphne – Making ends meet is relevant. I know a woman who didn’t give her daughter four euros to take to school for a borza ta’ San Martin. I can just imagine how her daughter felt, having to go to school and explain that her mother couldn’t afford to give her the money. Ah, but her father spends EUR350 a month on cigarettes and scratch-cards. All you and people like Joseph Muscat see is the fact that this woman couldn’t give her daughter four euros. You refuse to see the money going down the drain elsewhere in the household. If two people work, they can afford to run a household. Nowhere, and I mean nowhere, in the world does a blue-collar family or even a middle-class family expect by rights to pay all its bills on one income alone. What’s happening is this: reality is catching up with Malta, but Maltese women still expect to sit around and not contribute to the household income. If you know of any place in the world where a family can survive on one working-class income, do let me know. I think you’ll find that the standard of living is abysmal.]
I think it’s funny in an ironic kind of way, laburisti wearing a symbol of Remembrance Day when they don’t even remember the occasion itself. It makes you wonder how J.Muscat found out about the poppies.
I do agree that in a family, both adults should work if they want to live a balanced life but then the following argument arises, someone pointed it out Mr. Fenech during last Friday’s Xarabank….. When will a couple have time to raise their children Properly? I know that if there is will it can be done, I’m a living example.
In relation to your last reply to my contribution… why don’t you bring to our attention another scenario…. the one which John Spiteri Gingell mentioned….. single mothers. Isn’t it true that a lot of persons are abusing of this system? How do you expect a single mother to work if she is receiving the social benefits apart from other incentives while she is ‘cicci beqqi’ at home? I cannot stand these persons especially when the ‘unknown father’ is still living with the mother and child!
[Daphne – I’ve already had plenty to say about single mothers (and non-single ones) who abuse the system. But it’s the married mothers who whine that they can’t make ends meet when they spend all day washing their own floors instead of working for money who really annoy me. It’s as though they think they have a divine right to raise three kids on one man’s salary.]
Please do not tar all single mothers with the same brush. For each and every one of them that abuses the system, there are hundreds of us, who work ourselves to the bone. I have never received a penny in social assistance, and never will as my pride won’t let me receive charity, while sitting on my pretty bum, as long as my strength will allow me.
Yes, that said there are still plenty of women, married or single who put a higher value to a highly polished floor than to cash in their accounts. Their reasoning: “Heqq! Imbaghad min jaghmilli hawn?!” As if anyone needs to polish the floor daily! Anqas li ghandhom il-pesta…
Then again, you find these same ‘house’wives (I put in the commas on purpose) spending the best part of the morning chatting away at the corner grocer, the afternoons are wasted ‘jistriehu’ in front of some soap, and only starting their housework half an hour before the husband returns from work, by which time, they would be deservedly exhausted from doing nothing productive. Now, if only they had spent the morning and afternoon hours earning a living and giving a hand to their husbands, they would still jibdew il-Borma at 5, and end up washing the floors at 11 at night!
Some people just amaze me.
Graham C. – “It makes you wonder how J.Muscat found out about the poppies.”
Probably Toni Abela told him, after finding out about their significance whilst reading this blog prior to the “manifestation”.
Dear Daphne
It is true that a considerable number of people spend their money unwisely & that reality is catching up with Malta.
However this illusion that we have been living, was mainly created by the PN and please don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that Labour had better ideas or could have been better, that is another argument.
We have been living beyond our means (generally speaking) for far too long. Having said this, the people deserved to get what they could not obtain in previous years.
In my opinion, we should work hard to become prosperous by our means & capabilities.