So much for Gieh ir-Repubblika. It’s the Medalja Ghall-Qadi Tar-Repubblika.
Josanne Cassar announced on Facebook that she was to be ‘given’ (made a member of) the Gieh ir-Repubblika. Times of Malta reported this morning that the government confirmed this to be true.
Now the Republic Day honours are announced – the ceremony takes place today – and it turns out that Joanne Cassar has been given the Medal for Service to the Republic (Medalja Ghall-Qadi Tar-Repubblika) and not made a member of the Gieh ir-Repubblika at all.
So have Gaia Cauchi and her support team – they’ve been given the same medal, despite the prime minister talking about Gieh ir-Repubblika. Does he even know the difference, or was everything lost in translation?
I’m not surprised Joanne Cassar doesn’t know the difference between the one and the other, but the prime minister is a different matter.
The full list of Republic Day honours reads like a who’s who of prominent Labour supporters and of services rendered to the Labour Party in one way or another.
There are a couple of recipients about whom I do not wish to comment, though they themselves probably know who I mean. If I were in their position I would not have made my hidden liaison with Labour over the last couple of years so very obvious by accepting the honour or ensuring that a close relative who is entirely blameless is given it instead.
That’s enough said. Min irid jifhem jista jifhem. I am not going to say it myself.
The blatantly obvious ones who received the Medal for Service to the Republic are:
Ramblers Association man Lino Bugeja, who led practically every anti-government demo masquerading as a pro-environment protest under the previous two governments and who is now strangely quiet;
the completely inarticulate Mark Camilleri, a supposed intellectual and editor who can’t even speak or write English and who has yet been made chairman of the National Book Council – this because he faced prosecution (by the Police Commissioner, not the government) for publishing a vulgar story by Alex Vella Gera;
Josanne Cassar – already discussed;
dead Mintoffian Lino Cassar, a vulgar columnist for the General Workers Union newspaper, It-Torca;
11-year-old singer Gaia Cauchi and her people Matthew Mercieca, Elton Zarb and Gillian Attard;
Carmel Pule, an engineer who comments repeatedly in favour of the Labour Party and against the Nationalist Party on timesofmalta’s comments board, and who has actually been described as a “Times of Malta commentor” – because now, it seems, posting comments on an online newspaper’s comments board is a role and an achievement;
Astrid Vella – need we explain?
All the medical men on the list are Mintoffians: Mintoff’s personal doctor and rabid Mintoffian Anglu Psaila, former Labour Minister and 1970s medical strike-breaker Edwin Grech, and the surgeon Lawrence Zrinzo.
Recipients of other honours include dead Labour politician Paul Xuereb.
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Poor Eddy Privitera.
He’s done so much for Labour over the years, yet even now, they STILL won’t give him a look in.
Eddy Privitera would not qualify because his unremitting strained effort to do something for Labour is overshadowed by what he has actually done TO the Labour image by his ridiculous comments.
Lil Eddy misshom jaghmlulu karikatura fil-kazin tal-banda.
Eddy’s chances ebb away.
Franco, Jeffrey u Jesmond kien jonqos.
U mhux xorta!
What a joke, that prat Mark Camilleri getting the medal for serving the republic. What a joke indeed.
What a joke of a country, really. I envy those who left, made their life elsewhere and now treat this place like it should be treated – as a holiday destination.
Spot on. This is how this country should be treated – as a holiday destination, just like the Barbados. So this prat gets the medal for serving the republic, when he should actually go into hibernation.
I pity those Maltese youngsters who stay on the island, thinking they would miss their mother’s ghagin il-forn on Sundays. They have no idea how much they are losing out.
Sorry, but this is my reaction. Jaqq.
“Time of Malta” commentor! Minn fejn igibuhom dawn? I have nothing against an engineer and a university professor achieving recognition, of course.
But the big one here is putting Gaia Cauchi and her people on the same as Zrinzo who is a world-renowned brain surgeon is ‘mental’ .
“Time of Malta” commentor! Minn fejn igibuhom dawn? I have nothing against an engineer and a university professor achieving recognition, of course.
But the big one here is putting Gaia Cauchi and her people at par with Zrinzo who is a world-renowned brain surgeon – it is ‘mental’ .
And on the topic of Alex Vella Gera…
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/national/Vella-Gera-turns-down-Republic-Day-medal-20131213
please do your HW on Prof. Pule, and come back with a list of his achievements…if you measure someone’s abilities by analyzing their comments on the times you are one blindfolded women!
Carmel Pule’ used to be best known on campus for his misogyny and his bigoted views.
He is truly a man whose opinion about his own achievements far outweighs the achievements themselves.
Actually, a person’s comments on a newpaper’s comments board reveal exactly how that person wants to be judged. He can’t complain about being judged by what he very publicly declares.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/alex-vella-gera/għalfejn-maċċettajtx-il-midalja-għall-qadi-tar-repubblika/597592790294017
Oh, so now turning transgender deserves the Gieh. How very impressive.
Carmel Pule? We should be grateful for small mercies. It could have been Eddy Privitera or Victor Laiviera.
Mark Camilleri? Really? Don Camillo and Peppone, with Peppone, the Communist mayor, making up “historical facts” and “achievements” just to reward his followers after the election.
Who is he?
I wonder why he is describing himself as a researcher. I think he should spend a few years abroad, without his mother welcoming him home each evening, mingling (not that they would let him or he would be let in those circles) with real researchers.
Tal-mistħija kif il-Partit Laburista għadhu ma tgħax ‘Ġieħ ir-Repubblika’ lil Franco Debono talli kien ‘Top Student’ u għadda mill-Form 2C.
Neither Joseph Muscat nor Joanne Cassar knows the difference between Gieh ir-Republika and Medalja ghall-Qadi tar-Repubblika.
Which goes to show the mediocrity of the prime minister and all his entourage.
The king is naked, long live the king.
Professor Pule’ is a giant and did contribute to the Republic throughout his life, if he actually was mentioned as a commentor to the Times of Malta then the one who did so is a prime grade ignoramus.
If I’m not mistaken Paul Xuereb was not president, but Acting President, until Censu Tabone was elected.
[Daphne – Nobody said he was president. Yes, he was acting president.]
U min ghamel xi bravura, bhal nghidu ahna l-ispettur Taliana, flok ituh Gieh Ir-Repubblika qed jippruvaw itellfulu hobzu.
Insomma……Gvern tal Micky Mouse ! Looking forward to the next election, hopefully soon.
When I see Zarb and Mercieca together , I think about the duo Toni and Gejtu.
Carmel Pule’? For self-posturing, total irrelevance and pseudo-intellectualism, no doubt. And the umpteenth reason not to read The Times online.
“It is by these baubles that men are governed” – Napoleon Bonaparte
This is an interesting article that I found online, Daphne. It shows how hypocritical Mark Camilleri is.
http://xaru-xaru.blogspot.com/2013/12/gieh-ir-repubblika-mark-camilleri-and.html