A fun park and prewedding videos at San Anton Palace and now a ball at Ggantija temples
Published:
August 11, 2014 at 1:32pm
On her official tour to Comino, in casual dress, the head of state announced that she plans to hold a ball at Ggantija temples. Crazily, not one environment or heritage organisation has reacted.
Aside from the damage that can be caused, this is absolutely not an appropriate use of the site. These are real archaeological remains and not a film-set or stage-set.
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U nispiċċaw b’disco ukoll forsi ma tafx kif jaqa’ kollox.U aħjar Alla jtina l-paċenzja! Imma kif ma tgħaddix ġurnata li ma nisimgħux b’xi stramberija oħra?
Daphne, your priorities are completely wrong.
Like Times of Malta you should have been crucifying an octogenarian for being fallible and subject to the errors of age.
That is positive journalism. You need to bully helpless people in the private domain and direct the anger of the masses towards their mistakes.
God forbid anyone of us are to empathise with the frailty of old age and the manner in which our judgement becomes clouded.
These tidbits of news, which are highly questionable at best, show how your negative and conservative side.
Classic rock.
Megalithic temples. Rolling stones.
Silly season in full swing.
If it’s anything like the August Moon Ball 2014, the atrocious “music” in itself would cause the whole island to shake, never mind hundreds of middle aged and overweight Taghna Lkoll-ers bouncing in tune to the beats, celebrating their iced buns.
They are continuously defying the people of goodwill who have Malta’s interests at heart. They are slowly turning the whole of Malta into their own personal playground. Never was Taghna Lkoll meaning so clearly defined now. Thanks again you idiotic switchers.
My thoughts exactly, Daphne.
A bunch of suit-clad hamalli raving at Ggantija Temples. Oh what a night!
The Malta Labour Party , if I remember correctly , used Hagar Qim for a motor bike stunt show, with the consequential damage.
They rented out Sant Angelo as a nightclub with the disastrous consequences.
Wasn’t it them too that damaged the plattina of the triton fountain?
Yes, and the fix was that horrible central drum axle addition that was never in Apap’s original 1959 design.
Yes, a bunch of Labour supporters climbed up on it and destroyed it. The balancing of the plate on the Triton’s fingers was intrinsic to this work of art.
The construction of that horrid pillar was not part of the artist’s concept and in ‘fixing’ it this way they showed how they had no appreciation for the piece at all.
What’s up next? The Hypogeum must be a possible venue for a rave.
Jista’ l-editur tat-Times imur ihabbat ghand Monsinjur Unesco fix-Xewkija?
Mur ghidilhom dawk it-tempji patrimonju universali.
Vandali.
Wouldn’t she need a permit from Heritage Malta for that?
And should it not be monitored by seven – yes, seven – MEPA officials, like they’ve done with the ‘blockbuster’ (“multi-million euro,” according to Kurt Sansone) “By the sea”?
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140615/local/Pitt-and-Jolie-to-film-on-Gozo-in-summer-.523375
If I recall well, a ballet or a dance act was similarly carried out in the 1970’s at Hagar Qim…..
It seems that we have literally gone through a time warp….backwards
To add insult to injury, Daphne Caruana, curator of Ggantija Temples said this was an opportunity to showcase the temples. Really!? Is this the way to make people aware that we have temples in Malta?
Donnu li hemm xi kompetizzjoni sabiex tal-PL ikomplu jit*ej*u bil-Gvern tal-PL.
Nittama li ssir ediccjoni xitwija ta’ dal-ballu u li jinzamm Ghar Dalam, ghax dalam sew.
Tal-PL qed iwaqqfu world record imbattibli ta’ kif wiehed jirredikola lil pajjizu quddiem kulhadd, minghajr l-icken misthija.
I wonder what the Gozitan Ambassador to UNESCO has to say about this? Ggantija is one of the seven megalithic temples of Malta (and Gozo) on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/132
The least I expect the Mons. to say is “Ahfrilhom Mulej, ghax ma jafux x’inhuma jaghmlu.”
Certainly the August Moon Ball is not part of the cultural heritage of this site. It has no association with what is thought to have been the use of this enclosed and restricted temple complex.
And this is besides the fact that, in a place like this where the ground is so uneven – unless they pour some concrete before the occassion – there is the risk that the prime minister might fracture his ankle during the Ball – again.
So let’s wait and see who is going to have the balls to speak out against this Ball.
Use of World Heritage Sites like this one should be limited, sensitive and in full respect of the cultural meaning which the site represents. If Ggantija represents a temple (or a complex of temples), as it is listed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, then it represents a spiritual dimension – that inner peace which people have pursued from the megalithic times.
Surely the holding of a ball is not an appropriate use of the site, and the President of the Republic should lead by example and should know better.
Couldn’t agree with you more ciccio.
The spirituality of the site is going to be desecrated.
No good will be coming out of this, you mark my words.
And you remind me, bob, that this needs a MEPA permit. It’s a ‘change of use,’ from a place of spirituality to a place of profanity.
I detect a gozitan Marrakech in the making – somebody should open up a Serkin at Victoria.
On another note. As Michelle Muscat likes to say, make hay while the sun shines, niehdu li nistghu.
Robert Abela is Air Malta’s lawyer. Kemm hu bravu, m’hawnx bhalu.
“MEPA lawyer Roberta Abela can no longer represent Air Malta pilots having recently been employed by the national airliner as their lawyer.”
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-08-11/news/air-malta-and-mepa-lawyer-robert-abela-can-no-longer-represent-pilots-6168477700/
Astrid will be at the head table
The Ball at Ggantija temples
Dance music at the August Moon Ball
The elderly driver plastered on the front page
Illegal parking on a Hospital’s Heliport
Local papers ignoring current affairs
International open secrets are Local top secrets
Ambassador to UNESCO and Monsignor Vella Gauci doing as he pleases
Parliamentary secretary caught bench frotting
Closed roads for fireworks
Festi tar-rahal, majors and idolism
Fox teiliers and so on
Is fault of the silliest month of the silly season or is the society degrading faster then ever?
And what about the educational, artistic, and cultural ‘Neolithic ritual re-enactment’ that is to be a feature of the Gozo Ball, when no-one has any clear idea as to what the temples were actually used for, who the temple builders were, where they came from, and when, why, and how they then disappeared without trace?
Or maybe what President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca has in mind is the hamallagni pagan behaviour to which the August New moon ball descended. The culture of the temple builders was probably more advanced than the Taghna Lkollers now vandalizing Malta from all directions.
Sounds like they’ll be having an orgy. Count me in. Jozef, you bring the libations. I’ll take care of the magic mushrooms.
An orgy? No. This is a sacrifice to the gods in an attempt to pull Malta out of the prehistoric era, given that Muscat’s attempt with the sale of passports has failed to do so.
That is no problem at all. They have already re-written history, now they will just write prehistory, mhux progressivi huma?! Perhaps now someone can publish a paper about how there is no cure for hamallagni seeing that we have proof that neither money nor power can do the trick.
There is only one thing we can be very sure of, the new elite were not the ones who stole any of the 10,000 books from the library, not to read anyway!
Should we weep or laugh?
This President thinks she owns all of Malta.
This will surely create a precedent.
The Taghna Lkollers will son start flocking to have their wedding reception there. First Girgenti, then Castille, now Ggantija.
U l-Mons. tal-UNESCO w ‘l-assistenta’ tieghu naturalment ser inkunu il-Guests of Honour.
We had the August Moon Ball at the beginning of August. The Gozo version set up for end of August. All is now set for Mark III next year – the Santa Marija Moon Ball in mid-August at it-Torri on Comino.
Lighting and sound structures (do you know who I am?), seating & tables, dance floor, walk-ways (can’t have all of those eff-me heeled legs tottering over rough earth can we?), kitchen areas, parking, etc, etc.
What makes these disgusting chavs think they can treat an area of international importance such as Ggantija like this, as if it’s their own?
A brilliant suggestion from a highly cultured President.
How about camping on site the night before and some weed to get the party going.
Ignorance galore at Presidential level. Are these people living on another planet.
I have recently visited the Gigantija temple complex and adjoining museum and I must say that I was truly impressed with the work carried out by Heritage Malta.
Now I read with horror that the troglodytes seek to return to their natural habitat.
It is up to Heritage Malta and all the heritage and environment NGOs as well as well meaning individuals, irrespective of political ideology, to put a stop to such madness.
The President should be protecting such sites from misuse and risk of damage not leading the demolition derby.
Where is her culture?
The Ġgantija Temples in Xagħra, Gozo, are one of the most important archaeological sites in the Maltese Islands and are listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
X’razza ta’ idjoti. Bla kultura.
You are not any better then those hunters who defaced Hagar Qim – Isthu jekk tafghu kif.
The Ggantija Temples are listed as “the oldest free-standing temples in the world.”
That also means that they are 2000 years older than the pyramids and importantly symbolic of a civilisation and temple culture.
To think that the official source of this tremendously stupid act is the President. Is she meant to transfuse into the Goddess now?
If I could set a curse upon any intruder trampling around mindlessly, I would.
As you said, Daphne: “Nowhere is safe from this lot. Nowhere.”
Is this the result of Sandro Chetcuti’s anger at your exposure of his latest antics?
Such is the appreciation of history and heritage.
I hope that this temple’s guardians protect it and react against such intrusion.
Ghandek cans, Tab. Tista ddum tihhopja ma dawn ic-cwiec. Dawna aghar minn ta’ wara l-muntanji ghax ghal ghanqas dawk kellhom x’jaqtaghhom mil-progress.
What culture?
Philistines!
The President’s attire was more than “casual.” It was see-through. She is wearing a white, sheer, transparent blouse that reveals her undergarments, and by undergarments I mean bra.
Totally inappropriate for a woman of her age and position.
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-08-10/news/coleiro-preca-launches-presidents-august-moon-ball-in-gozo-visits-comino-6159204352/
Min ghandu l-eta tieghi jiftakar il-karozzin biz-ziemel fuq il-plattina tal-funtana tat-Tritoni u konsegwentament il-hsara li kienu ikkagunaw minhabba f’hekk. U issa tghid hekk ha jigri lit-tempji preistorici. X’hasra.
This country is insane. Crime is to be deterred by those fine specimens of reinstated police.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/mobile/view/20140811/local/updated-sliema-residents-vent-their-frustration-over-burglaries.531497
Let’s all pray that it will not be a repeat of what happened to the Tritons fountain at Valletta, years back, when some wise official thought it would be a good idea to use it as a stage.
It was not just used as a stage. Ramps were put up on each side of the ‘dish’ and riders on motorcycle scramblers rode up and balanced on the fountain as part of the Milied fl-Imkien display organized by the Malta Labour Party government.
Forty years later, we are back there again, this time going even better by actively destroying what is left of the oldest known free-standing structure.
Fireworks were also let off from the perimeter of the fountain’s bronze top.
Does anyone remember performing Gensna at Hagar Qim?
Here it is
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB3018518BB924568
I won’t be surprised that some bright spark will suggest a ball at the oratory of Saint John’s Cathedral.
Ghandek tghid. Ara dawn it-Taghna Lkollers kemm qalu kontra “r-roofless theatre” ta’ Renzo Piano. U issa l-President tar-Repubblika Marilweez trid tuza l-Ggantija ghal ballu taht l-istilel ta’ Awwissu.
Of course, Keneth Gambin who has been appointed Heritage Malta CEO by the current administration without a call for applications, and is responsible for the running of the site will not voice any concern. Equally Dr Anthony Pace, the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage will neither complain since he is busy being a yes man to cling on to his position.
Heritage Malta isn’t immune to the Taghna Lkoll brigade.
Is there any knowledge of what heritage really is? Preservation is of utmost importance. Cinderella can do her ball in her palace. Where is the archaeological society does it not condone such things?
The President wants to meet aliens at those temples, as the latest Youtube video by Kerry Cassidy has claims that the Ggantija temple complex was a Galactic space port.
See and hear this starting at 1:19 : 45 on her latest video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsWO2ilt8ws
So the temples were built by the ‘longheads’ according to the video.
Interesting – Now they’re about to be destroyed by the ‘dumbheads’.
Oh, for the opportunity to take a drunken leak against those megaliths.
Can anyone imagine a similar event being organised at Stonehenge? And Ggantija is thousands of years older. The President – or her advisers – should have a little more respect for a World Heritage Site of this nature. Has Heritage Malta nothing to say?
Remember, Malta taghna lkoll they had said, and they will keep on proving that by doing whatever strikes their fancy.
We’ll reach a point where nothing will astound us anymore. On reading such news, I have started to just slouch in my chair and sigh.
What a sad state.
Why are you all surprised ? We all know Labour never had, or ever will have any sense of culture.
Have your heard,there is a new role description for ‘president’?
Its ‘bulldozer fundraiser’, because it is exactly when one rolls over anyone, everyone, anything and anything to raise money and distribute, not on merit but only to those of certain inclinations.
One wonders how those chosen for the tear-jerking clips feel when they know that so many who should never have been eligible for the funds stealthily benefit.
An Italian archeology magazine features Malta’s prehistoric temples in its latest issue while Malta’s President considers Ggantija to be an ideal setting for a ball.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140812/local/Magazine-sings-Malta-praises.531514
To my knowledge all temples should be protected from noise/sound pollution. An event which I attended last year at Hagar Qim had to resort to individual headphones instead of a sound system for an ambient music event.
Hamalli in high places… It reminds me of a phrase by the fictional Dowager Countess of Grantham in Downton Abbey: “When you give these little people power, it goes to their heads like strong drink.”
Values! How they tumble in the hands of upstarts.
This is utterly ridiculous. On a recent visit, a person I was with took out her drinking (plastic) bottle and immediately one of the Heritage Malta wardens on site came running out of nowhere telling us that no food or drink is permitted in that area. And now a ball? Is this the way we treat such sensitive treasures? A big shame.
Don’t you get a sense that this administration wants to degrade and abase every sacred and not so sacred institution in Malta?