the voice of the maltese no. 116

Issue116 online magazine

(driven by the voice driven by the voice of its readersof its readers)

December 8, 2015

The Voice of the Malteseonline magazine

CHOGM 2015 in

Malta revisited

HM Queen Elizabeth II and heads of gov-ernment pose for a group picture duringthe opening of the CHOGM 2015 in Malta

Maltese Prime Minster Joseph Muscat attentivelylistening to the Queen as she addressed theCHOGM participants at the official dinner.

LEFT: Australian Prime MinisterMalcolm Turnbull (on right) facingCanadian Prime Minister JustinTrudeau at an official dinner onthe sideline of the Heads of StateConference, CHOGM in Malta.Both also had a special meetingwith the Queen who wanted tomake acquaintance of the newPrime Ministers of the Common-wealth whom she had never metbefore.

Part of the spectacularshow by Malteseartists at the officialopening of CHOGM

2 The Voice of the Maltese Tuesday December 8, 2015

Do you own property in Malta?If so, according to some re-ports in the newspapers in

Malta, there seems to be some riskthat someone might build on yourproperty without your permission. A few weeks ago the Times of Malta

(October 5) published an article stat-ing that: “As part of the changes toplanning legislation, government isproposing to remove the require-ment for developers to obtain thelandowner’s consent when applyingto develop land which is not theirs,leaving only the obligation for theowner to be notified.”

Along the same lines, Malta Today(November 25) under the heading:"New law would allow developmentapplications on someone else’s land,said: “If approved asit is, the new plan-ning law resurrectsthe prospect of peo-ple applying for de-velopment on otherpeople’s propertywithout seeking theirconsent.” No doubt such infor-

mation can lead to aconsiderable amountof anxiety amongproperty owners. Inparticular, this is ofinterest to many of usmigrants who havesome difficulty inkeeping up with what is going on inMalta. The last thing we want is tofind, on one of our occasional visitsto Malta, that someone has actuallybuilt a villa on our plot of land with-out we knowing about it! But what is the fuss all about? If one

looks at the proposed Bill, Develop-ment Planning Bill 107) which is cur-rently being discussed in Parliamentin Malta we read (Article 71(4): When the applicant is not the owner

of the site,...... the applicant must stillnotify the owner of his intention toapply by means of a registered letter,a notified copy of which must also besent to the Planning Board.

It would appear from the wordingof this Bill that, as long as the appli-cant provides evidence that s/he hadsent a registered letter to the owner,that is sufficient for a permit to be is-sued. One would have expected that

what is required is that evidence ispresented to the Planning Board thata permit has actually be granted bythe owner before the applicant isgiven permission to go ahead.

It is obvious that stricter criteriamust be applied to ensure that anowner is not deprived of his landthrough lack of communication. Thisis particularly the case for those of usliving overseas where it could bequite difficult to be aware that suchapplications have been made withthe Planning Board. It would appearthat the Board has no obligation to in-form the owner that such applica-tions had been made.

MauriceCauchi

Editorial comment:

The Voice has asked for further clarification on this matter and thereforeadds the following:

When an application for development is initially submitted to MEPA, appli-cants need to list their personal details. Applicant also sign a declaration stating his/her legal right and true owner-

ship of the property. If the applicant is not the owner or only part owner,he/she needs to declare that the true owner or co-owners have been informedby registered mail and a consent has been granted. At this stage of the appli-cation process, MEPA fails to verify the veracity of the information provided.

Basically, an application for development could potentially be submittedwithout verifiable proof of property ownership. However such cases are al-most non-existent or extremely rare.

The disconnect takes place when ownership is contested. MEPA still takesthe position that legal verification of ownership is not in MEPA's remit but itbelongs in a Court Of Law. This is where the bone of contention lies. Proof of ownership to support the declaration has to be part of the initial ap-

plication process. If resolution on legal property ownership cannot be agreedto or achieved, the case would then and not before, be referred to the Courtsof Law. Furthermore if property ownership is being contested, MEPA shouldnot accept an application until property ownership is resolved.

Changing regulationsabout property in Malta

Related to thiswe find restric-tions of timeavailable tomake objectionsto any decisionsmade by theBoard. It is obvi-ous that it mighttake a consider-able time to cor-respond fromAustralia and from other places aroundthe world, the time allowed for objec-tions, and this is also something whichthe Board must take into consideration.

More and more we find that postalservices especially from Australia toMalta are being delayed, and it is notthe first time that a letter, even a reg-istered letter, has taken a couple ofweeks to reach us. This could make itmore difficult for an adequate re-sponse, including objections to bemade in time.

It is therefore important for thoseowning property in Malta to be awareof these suggested changes, if they areeventually approved by Parliament.In particular, if you receive registeredletters from Malta, you should makesure to take advice and deal withthem promptly.

We shall make it a point to followthis issue over the next months andbring you up-to-date with decisionsthat have been taken regarding thisproblem.

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Malta still far from being a multicultural society

Astudy suggests that Malta stillhas some way to go before be-coming a multicultural society.

The study was conducted by Dr Gor-don Sammut, a lecturer at the Depart-ment of Psychology, University ofMalta and presented at the Presi-dent’s Foundation for the Wellbeingof Society, titled, ‘Multicultural Mat-ters: Diversity, Policy and Ideology’.

The lecture that was delivered byProfessor Colleen Ward a Professor ofPsychology and Director of the Centrefor Applied Crosscultural Research,Victoria University of Wellington,New Zealand was organised by theFoundation in collaboration with theDepartment of Psychology at the Uni-versity of Malta,

Dr Sammut’s research shows, thatalthough Maltese endorse the princi-

ples of multicultural-ism, they have fewfriends from differentcultural backgrounds.It further indicates thatdiversity is not gener-ally seen as an asset;negative perceptions ofArabs are widespread,and that two-thirds ofMaltese agree that im-migration threatensMaltese culture.

Meanwhile, duringher lecture, ProfessorWard noted, “multicul-turalism has not failedin Europe because truemulticulturalism hasnever been achieved.”

Whilst some worldleaders havedecried the failure of multi-culturalism, Professor Wardmaintained, “Multicultural-ism is not just about having adiverse population. Rather, amulticultural society is onewhere diversity is valued andseen as enriching and wherediversity is supported bypolicies and programmes thatensure equity across all cul-tural groups.”

Professor Ward also notedthat many European societieshave not achieved multicul-turalism but have insteadmanaged cultural diversitythrough a framework ofstrong assimilationist poli-cies. She added that multicul-turalism is typically blamedfor the shortcomings of ef-forts at assimilating minoritygroups. She said that assimilation is,

in its turn, typically misconstrued asintegration, requesting minoritygroups to change their cultural cus-toms and practices to those that suitthe dominant population.

Professor Ward’s research, con-ducted in New Zealand, the UnitedKingdom and the United States,shows that the experiences of “every-day multiculturalism,” particularlycontact and equity across ethnic andcultural groups and a general appre-ciation of diversity, are linked to pos-itive outcomes for both individualsand society – greater wellbeing andgreater social cohesion.She suggested that multiculturalism

can be promoted by programmes thatencourage intercultural contact anddialogue, policies that support cul-tural diversity, equitable participa-tion, public education to informcitizens about the complex nature ofmulticulturalism, and positive por-trayals of multiculturalism in themedia.

Tuesday December 8, 2015 The Voice of the Maltese 3

Dr GordonSammut

ProfessorColleen

Ward

Rationing of soap and coffee weremore complicatted. A single personwas entitled to one bar of soap (ra-tions were issued on the 6th and 21stof each month). A family of four orless got two bars; families made up of5-8 persons got three. With regards tocoffee, families of three or less had aration of a quarter of a rotolo (200gr).

From May 1941, kerosene, whichwas a commodity used for cookingand lighting, was rationed on aweekly basis. Kerosene was suppliedto the towns and villages on horsedriven carts and distribution wasunder the supervision of the police.

The kerosene problem became veryacute and used to cause a lot of dis-putes. Together with tinned tuna fishand sardines it became increasinglyscarce, giving rise to black marketwith a number of unscrupulous soulsfinding it a goldmine by which theycould make lots of money.

These people really made a fortuneout of famished people!

I can give a couple of examplesamong the hundreds or even thou-sands of such “business” people. Iknew a person who owned a singlefield that yielded crops throughout

the whole year. After the war thisperson deposited the profitsin a commercial bank. She

carried the notes she ac-crued in a huge sack; and

that’s beside the great amountof gold she made by exchang-

ing it for various food items. One other example involved

my aunt. At one time she paid 40pounds sterling (a terrible high

price at the time) for a sack of flouron black market. The agreement was, that the sack

was to be delivered to her in pitchdarkness. The following morning, when she in-

spected the sack and its contents inbroad daylight, she discovered that

Due to the fact that there was agreat shortage of food on the is-land during World War II,

some of it caused by people hoardingaway large stocks of goods, , the Mal-tese Government introduced the so-called ration cards which were alsoused in connection with VictoryKitchens. It was in February 1941 that the Gov-

ernment decided to start a ration sys-tem on a national scale in order toensure that food was distributed toeveryone and also to conserve thesupply. The ration cards by which onecould get basic food commoditiessuch as tea, coffee, butter, corned beef,oil, tinned food, kerosene etc., were is-sued to everybody. Fresh vegetableswere also scarce and meat was as rareas caviar! Milk was only available forbabies and young children, hospitalsand pregnant women.

A Rationing Office was established;and rationing regulations were imple-mented on November 13, 1942. Everyfamily was entitled to a ration cardthat was issued under the name of thehead of the family, usually the father.It showed the number of persons ineach family. Ration was availableevery 15 days.

But what was the connection be-tween the ration card and the VictoryKitchens one might ask?

The Control Food Department is-sued tickets for every meal accordingto the number of persons listed on thefamily ration card. Every family hadto forfeit part of the ration that wasmarked on the card. There was nohope of getting any meal from anyVictory Kitchen without suchcoupons.

MALTA: Echoes

from the past

DorisCannataci

Basic needs were issued according tothe ration card. Some of the itemslisted on the card included, that a fam-ily of five persons was entitled to fourmatch boxes, while larger familieswere entitled to six.

The introduction of Ration Cards


Shortage of foodand scarcity ofcommoditiesgave rise toblack marketwith unscrupu-lous businesspeople buildinga fortune out offamished people

*Continued on page 5

A ration card (or book) that was used to buy food from the VKs


“We had to do without the bare necessities”*from page 4

halfway down, instead of flour, thewhite powder in the sack was lime!!!Flour was a very important commod-

ity particularly to make bread, whichwas a staple food for the Maltese. Thequality of bread was getting worse bythe minute.

Since July 1941, 20% of the breadmixture was made of potato. Thequality of bread deteriorated even fur-ther in 1942 when maize and barleywere added to the mixture resulting ina dark coloured loaf. In May 1942 theration of bread per person, per day,went down to 300 grammes.

We used to make spaghetti with a

mixture of flour and semolina and letit dry on ropes or wires in the draughtor close to the open-door leading tothe rooftop.

Prices of certain items rocketed sky-high. The cost of a wizna (5 kilos) ofpotatoes went up to one pound ster-ling. For one egg one had to pay two-shillings-and-sixpence when the pricefor a dozen eggs was supposed to be-just two and a half pence! The price forhalf a pint of goat’s milk went up to 15shillings.

A loaf of bread made from a certaintype of wheat and barley, (when avail-able) was priced at half a pound (50shillings). The price of sugar was atpar with gold.

During the war years, these itemsand many similar ones, when found,could only be enjoyed by the very richpeople on the island.

The introduction of the ration cardsallowed the families to obtain the min-imum of the bare essentials to survive.One could only obtain a certainamount of powdered milk and egg

powder through ration cards. Later on during the siege, other ne-

cessities besides food were also ra-tioned. They included clothes, shoes,crockery etc. People used to barter cer-tain commodities according to theirpreference.

Ration cards were still in use for anumber of years after the end of thewar. There was a time when the rationcard became more precious than one’sbankbook.

As a result of lack of vitamins andmalnutrition there were outbreaks ofdisease such as Polio, Scabies and Ty-phoid, and due to the shortage of foodan increased death rate was registeredamong babies and vulnerable persons.

How thankful we should be todaywhen we talk about bread or anyother type of food! Today we arespoiled for choice.

It is inconceivable to think how wemanaged to survive those war years,when we were deprived not only ofluxury but even had to do without thebare necessities!

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A kerosene seller. Many like him usedto supply the commodity to the towns

and villages during World War II

Some of the readers of these articleswere surprise to learn that during

the war, people had to pay for theirfood when making use of the VictoryKitchens. They also asked what hap-pened if there were people who couldnot afford it.

We put the question to Doris Cannat-aci, who was a young girl aged 8-11during those years says: “The price wepaid for every meal was 6 pence. It wasvery expensive at the time, when oneconsiders that the cost of 12 eggs beforethe war was only two-and-a-half penceand that two pence worth of vegetableswas the standard price for a vegetablesoup to feed a whole family.

“Those people who could not affordto pay, as far as I remember could notget any food from Victory Kitchens.Perhaps they were given a specialticket. I also remember poor peoplegoing to some religious convents atlunch time every day where they couldget a bowl of soup from the friars.”

What if people could not afford topay for their food from the VKs?

CHRISTMAS MESSAGE by The Hon. Bill SHorten MP

Leader of the Opposition and Member for Maribyrnong

On behalf of the Federal Labor Party I’d like to wish all the readers of the Voice of the Maltese a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.Christmas is a time for celebration. A time when we give thanks for the

love and support of our friends and family.It’s also a time when we should spare a thought for people doing it tough

and find it in our hearts to bring some cheer and comfort into their lives.Many Australians will be working through this holiday period: the coura-

geous men and women of our defence force, our tireless emergency serv-ices personnel and everyday heroes, Australians putting in extra hoursaway from the people they love to help make ends meet.However you celebrate Christmas, and whoever you are celebrating with,

I hope that you have a safe and restful holiday.

With my very best wishes

Bill ShortenLeader of the Opposition


inGUARDIA

for more information: tel: 2291 5440/1/2 • [email protected] • www.visitmalta.com

Shows during 2016Shows during 2015January 3 | February 7, 28 | March 6, 13, 20 April 3, 10, 17, 24 | May 1, 8, 15, 22October 9, 16, 23 November 6, 13, 20, 27

December 27

Held on Sundays, as per dates above. Starts at 11 finishes at 11.45 am.

CALENDAROF EVENTS 2015/16WWW.VISITMALTA.COM/EN/EVENTS

Euromed Young Sailors Challenge Cribs & Christmas Art exhibition

06/12-03/01 Bethlehem f’Ghajnsielem 08/12 Feast of the Immaculate Conception13/12 Republic Day19/12-21/12 Euromed Young Sailors Challenge19/12-06/01 Cribs & Christmas Art Exhibition 21/12 Winter Solstice, Mnajdra Temples25/12 Christmas Day31/12 New Year’s Eve

201603/01 New Year’s Concert at MCC, Valletta 16/01-30/01 Valletta International Baroque Festival 23/01 Chinese New Year Celebrations, VallettaFeb Business Leaders Malta 05/02-09/02 Carnival celebrations in Valletta, Floriana & Nadur Gozo10/02 Feast of St. Paul’s Shipwreck28/02 Vodafone Malta Marathon 17-20/03 Tour ta’ Malta19/03 Feast of St Joseph20-21/03 Spring Equinox, Mnajdra Temples 25/03-27/03 Good Friday & Easter Sunday

28/03-02/04 World ISF Badminton Championships for Schools31/03 Freedom Day; Regatta in the Grand Harbour31/03-03/04 Annie Mac presents Lost & Found Malta01-09/04 International Spring Orchestra Festival 02-03/04 Malta Karate Federation Competitions03/04 XTerra Triathlon15/04 George Cross Commemoration16/04, 23/04 Malta International Fireworks Festival & 30/04 18/04 Malta Mechanised Fireworks Festival22-24/04 Opera+ Weekend24/04 Gozo Half Marathon27/04-10/05 Malta International Music Festival & Competition 01/05 Labour DayJune Ghanafest – Malta Mediterranean Folk Music Festival 07/06 Sette Giugno28/06 Isle of MTV Malta Special29/06 Feast of St. Peter & St. Paul; L-Imnarja Summer Folk Festival

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Ra y m o n d oTonna did notknow he even

had a biologicaldaughter, but themoment he set hiseyes on NarelleGrech, he fell in lovewith her.The tireless 30-year-

old daughter, whocampaigned for theright of donor-con-ceived people to ac-cess informationabout their biologi-cal heritage, passedaway five weekslater, but her legacylives on through anAustralian privatemembers’ Bill calledNarelle’s Law.

Ms Grech spent 15years searching forher biological father.Born in Australia toMaltese parents withthe help of a spermdonor, Ms Grechspoke to the Times ofMalta in 2011 afterbeing diagnosedwith advanced bowelcancer. She was determined

to find the man whocould shed light onher genetic and med-ical history.

Ms Grech was one of the donor-con-ceived Australians born before 1988with no legal right of access to theirbiological father’s details.

But when in 2013 then Premier ofVictoria Ted Baillieu was made awareof Ms Grech’s condition, he asked therecords department to track down MrTonna.

The two met on February 17 of thatyear. “Realising there was a personout there who was my biologicaldaughter was overwhelming. The mo-ment I set eyes on her was love at firstsight.” Even though he did not know she ex-

isted and he had never seen her be-fore, he describes the meeting as a“profoundly beautiful experience”and one that is hard to describe.

“I have pure unconditional love forher as a parent and I think of herevery day,”

Mr Tonna, born in Paola and raisedin Australia, told The Times.Ms Grech passed away on March 26,

2013. But she will live on throughNarelle’s Law. Still under discussion,

the Bill aims to open the door for bothparties to make contact. Although donors would not be forced

to see their offspring, their identifyinginformation could still be released tohelp people understand where theycame from. The changes are based ona private members’ Bill that MPs JaneGarrett and Anthony Carbines intro-duced in opposition.

Ms Grech knew of six others con-ceived through Mr Tonna and hadtwo full biological siblings. However,no one has yet contacted Mr Tonna.He is on a voluntary donor register,meaning he made his personal andcontact details available to thoselooking for their biological father.“Unfortunately, unless legal parents

inform the children that they weredonor conceived, they will not takethe first steps to find me. In this dayand age, I believe that if you trulylove someone, you don’t keep secretsfrom them, and the longer a secret iskept, the harder it is to tell the truth.”

While he respects people’s right toprivacy, Mr Tonna believes there is a

greater right of thechild to know theirbiological heritage,and that is why hewould like to seethe removal of theanonymity clause.

When he donated30 years ago, hewas told that mostof his donationswould be used forexperimental rea-sons, and he wasalso asked to signan anonymityagreement.

“I have spoken tofellow donors, andnone of us did thisfor the money. Wewere students, andit was somethingwe did in an altru-istic manner...there was this feel-ing that you’redoing something tohelp someone else.We were not givenany counselling,and at the time youdon’t think of thefuture ramifica-tions.”

Along the years,however, there weredays when he didwonder whetherthere were any chil-

dren of his out there. Unfortunately, he noted, donor con-

ception was a worldwide multimillionindustry where doctors still wanted toassure the legal parents ofanonymity.

Ideally, donors were introduced tothe parents from the very beginningand they keep some sort of contact,Mr Tonna said.

“Keeping in touch is also medicallyimportant, as in our case, Narelle hadstage four cancer and she wanted toinform close relatives.

“Together with my son, we weretested and I want to contact the othereight siblings, as it’s my duty as a par-ent to inform them of a possible risk,however small. “All they need to do is to take a sim-

ple test just to clear the air. If you’renot told about it early, when it couldstill be treated, you might be diag-nosed when it’s too late, just like whathappened to Narelle.”

(This article, by Sarah Carabott wasfirst published in The Times of Malta)


Proud legacy of a dyingdaughter’s hunt for dad

From right: Narelle, Raymondo, his wife Sue, his son Zak and Zak’sgirlfriend Cassie, and the family dogs (photo provided by Raymondo)

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Frank Borg from Sunshine Victoria writes:

We Maltese, living at this end of theworld feel so proud to see our little is-

land welcoming the royal family and the 53heads of the Commonwealth during theCHOGM 2015 Summit, which Malta hosted.Yes we are small but by the grace of God wecan rise up to the occasion. We watched every TV channel beaming our

Malta, huge publicity that cannot be esti-mated. From this end, we saw a very well or-ganised event. The organisers should beproud; Malta can match it with any country.We may not have the size but we have thebrains. Not only CHOGM, but the Valletta Summit

that brought together about 63 other Euro-pean and African heads of State at the begin-ning of November. Organising two veryimportant international conferences in thespace of few weeks is really something. Well done Malta. So proud to be Maltese.

While visiting Malta Stay at: While visiting Malta Stay at: The Diplomat Hotel, 173 Tower Road SliemaThe Diplomat Hotel, 173 Tower Road Sliema

Email:Email: [email protected] Tel: (00356) [email protected] Tel: (00356) 23497000

Mario Cassar from Newport, Victoria,writes:

Iagree completely with all that Paul Mer-cieca said in his letter on these pages inthe last issue of The Voice with regard to

the emotions created by the articles by DorisCannataci and Andy Busuttil, the Maltese-Australian musician whose contribution heand his musical group, Skorba I closely fol-low out here in Australia. But now, afterwatching on TV the transmissions from Maltaand the reports carried in newspapers aboutthe CHOGM 2015, like most of the Maltese-Australians I know, I feel so proud of mycountry of birth for the way it has hosted thisevent.

I spent hours glued to the TV set to followthe transmissions and what the Common-wealth Heads of States were up to in Malta,perhaps even more so, the opening ceremony,in which Maltese artists gave a stunning per-formance of their skills, performing and pro-ducing such a spectacular show.

One could recognise and acknowledge theprogress Malta has made in all spheres of life,but honestly, I never thought it had the peoplewho could organise such a spectacle.

During CHOGM I did not only watch, butalso logged on to various news websites aboutthe event and found nothing but praise fortiny Malta from the international media.Malta’s contribution in the international fora

is being recognised by much larger countriesand rightly so as the decisions being taken byits leaders have given it the stature normally

associated by much bigger nations. The pastfew years, it has made great strides forward.

To hear the Queen and other Common-wealth leaders praising Malta for its initia-tives that could even affect the world, or atleast, in this instance, the 53 member coun-tries of the Commonwealth was so emotional.November has been good for Malta not only

politically, with two very important Summits,but also as we have seen, also culturally withthe victory by Destiny in the Junior Eurovi-sion. I am sure all that it has achieved duringthis month will increase the good feel factoramong the Maltese people, and even us wholive in other countries, as despite the distancebetween us, our hearts are still, and wouldnever stop beating for Malta.

Congratulations toMalta for CHOGM

Malta made me so proud tobe Maltese during CHOGM

Just a few lines to express my delight overthe past weeks at watching so much TV

footage on Malta, all positive, particularlyby watching and hearing so many foreignleaders, including our newly elected PM,Justin Trudeau singing the praises forMalta’s hosting of the two summits, the Val-letta Summit and CHOGM 2015.

Albert Mallia from Missisagua, OntarioCanada writes:

Malta, you made us proud!


Frank Camilleri minn Cairs, Queenslandjikteb:

Irrid nirreferi g˙al dak li ©ie rrappurtat liqal Waleed Aly (pa©na tal-a˙barijiet mil-

Awstralja fl-a˙˙ar ˙ar©a ta’ The Voice tal-24 ta’ Novembru) dwar l-appell li g˙amelg˙all-g˙aqda wara l-©rajjiet ta’ Pari©i fejnf’att terroristiku ©ew maqtula 130 ru˙. Nifhem is-sej˙a tieg˙u u nittama li kemm

dawk li huma Musulmani u wkoll mhumiextal-istess reli©jon tieg˙u jag˙tuh widen.Óafna minn dawk li jg˙ixu fl-Awstralja, u

jiddispjaçini ng˙id anke w˙ud ta’ niselMalti, i˙obbu jpo©©u lil kul˙add li g˙axikun ta’ kulur ta’ xi ˙add li jkun wettaq il-

Alfred Cremona minn Bargo, New SouthWales, jikteb:

Kemm ilni ng˙ix fl-Awstralja qatt maniftakar lill-midja, it-televiΩjoni u l-gazzetti Awstraljani jag˙tu daqstant

pubbliçita` lil Malta daqs fl-a˙˙ar jiem, uçert li l-mod li bih il-Gvern Malti organizzau ospita lil tant mexxejja barranin g˙al-laqg˙a taç-CHOGM iΩid jag˙ti spinta wkolllilna l-Maltin fl-Awstralja.

Jien g˙andi ˙bieb li jappo©©jaw liΩ-Ωew©partiti l-kbar f’Malta, imma meta kienet qedissir il-laqg˙a taç-GHOGM f’Malta kollhakemm a˙na qbilna li kellna g˙ax inkunukburin b’dak li wettqet gΩiritna.

Imbag˙ad smajna u qrajna wkoll dak likellu xi jg˙id il-Prim Ministru AwstraljanMalcolm Turnbull dwar l-laqg˙a, fejn qal likienet ta’ suççess, dwar Malta nnifisha u s-sbu˙ija tag˙ha, u dwar il-Prim Ministruzag˙Ωug˙ Malti. Fa˙˙ar mhux ftit l-organiz-zazzjoni minn dan il-pajjiΩ çkejken.

Ninsab çert li b’dak li wettqet Malta,kemm bl-organizzar ta’ din l-laqg˙a, uwkoll dik ta’ qabilha, il-Valletta Summitdwar il-Migrazzjoni iΩidu jg˙ollu l-pre-sti©ju ta’ Malta g˙all-˙ila tan-nies tag˙ha

Nag˙tu widen ta’ dak li qal Waleed

Malta Ωg˙ira biss fil-kobor - fil-˙ila tan-nies tag˙ha hi ©gant

Ûgur li l-istatura tag˙ha fid-dinja kibret.G˙andi wkoll ˙bieb o˙ra Maltin fl-

Amerika li huma mda˙˙lin fil-klabbs tal-Maltin fi bliet differenti li mag˙hominΩomm kuntatt bl-Internet, li wkoll es-primew dawn il-˙sibijiet mieg˙i. Barraminhekk ikkonfermawli li meta ftit tax-xhur ilu kellhom iΩ-Ωjara tal-Prim Ministru

Malti fosthom impressjonaw ru˙hom bih. Personalment, ix-xewqa tieg˙i b˙alissa hi

li nara lill-Prim Ministru Joseph Muscat,inkella lill-President Coleiro Preca, jew lit-tnejn, li jΩuru lilna l-Maltin li ninsabu fl-Awstralja. Jibqg˙u Ωguri li jekk jaslujag˙mlu dan ikollhom laqg˙at mill-isba˙g˙ax ninsabu kburin bihom.

Sam Bugeja, from Toronto, Canada writes:

Malta granted us dual citizenship butmade it impossible for most of us to be

issued with a Maltese passport. Since the in-troduction of the biometric passport one hasto go personally to the Malta representa-tive’s offices to be finger printed, etc. In vast continents like the US, Canada and

elsewhere this is not always possible, mosttimes impossible. It has taken more than 15-years for the Maltese Government to find asolution to this intricate problem. Up till nowwe are not much wiser although they saidthey have some machines that can be carriedfrom one place to another.

Obviously they still do not understand thetyranny of distances in such countires. Theyplaced Hon Consuls in strategic positions whynot use them? Stop being so bureaucratic.

Biometric passports

˙sara jpo©©uh fl-istess keffa. Naqbel ukoll ma’ Ivan Cauchi fejn qal li

˙afna jg˙a©©lu li jikkundannaw bla tant˙sieb. Dan ˙afna forsi jag˙mluh g˙ax ikoll-hom mo˙˙hom mag˙luq u jimpressjonawru˙hom mix-xejn.Veru li min jag˙mel hekk ikun qed jaqa’ fin-

nassa tat-terroristi g˙aliex ikun qed jifred lilwie˙ed mill-ie˙or g˙al ra©uni bla sens. Kif qalWaleed, min jimxi b’dan il-mod ikun qedjaqa’ g˙an-nasba tat-terroristi.

Fl-Awstralja g˙andna ˙afna ta’ reli©jonMusulmana u g˙alkemm mhumiex a˙jar,imma Ωgur li mhumiex ag˙ar minn nies o˙rali j˙addnu reli©jonijiet differenti. Immamin˙abba li l-midja l-˙in kollu donnu tag˙til-impressjoni li l-atti terroristi jsiru g˙alra©unijiet ta’ reli©jon, hemm min jibla’ l-lixkau jibda j˙ares bl-ikrah lejn xi ˙add li tant ikunilu jaf b˙ala twajjeb, u daqs nies o˙ra.

Óadd m’g˙andu mqar ji©ih dubju li t-ter-roristi m’g˙andhom rispett lejn ˙add, lanqaslejn nieshom stess, kif rajna ˙afna drabi.Min i˙obbok jew jirrispettak ma jwe©-©eg˙kx kif jag˙mlu dawn it-talin. G˙alhekkejja ma nkunux razzisti u ma n˙arsux lejnkuluri jew reli©jonijiet differenti bi stmer-rija.

Qed nirreferi natural-ment g˙aΩ-Ωag˙-Ωug˙a Destiny Chu-

kunyere, li g˙andha missier-ha Ni©erjan u ommhaMaltija, li g˙adha kif reb˙etil-Junior Eurovision SongContest 2015 li bil-kanzu-netta tag˙ha Not My Soul(Mhux Ru˙i), re©g˙et reb-b˙et dan it-titlu lil Maltag˙at-tieni darba fi tliet snin.

Kemm tpaxxejna jien u l-mara, msammrin quddiemit-televiΩjoni b˙al ma nag˙-mlu kull sena g˙al dan il-festival u dak tal-adulti,nisimg˙u dan il-le˙en favo-luΩ tal-katanta li spikkatmill-kantanti l-o˙ra. Fak-kritni ˙afna fi Chiara liwkoll kienet sa˙˙ret lil tantnies b’le˙inha u l-preΩenzatag˙ha.

Kemm ilna l-Awstralja,Ωammejna dan l-appunta-ment annwali li jipprovdilnal-SBS, wara li konna sko-prejnih b'kumbinazzjoni.Hawnhekk, l-ammont kbirta' immigranti mill-Ewropa jfisser li hawn interess kbir f'danil-festival, mhux mill-Maltin biss.

Madankollu, g˙alina l-Maltin, dan il-festival jirrappreΩentawie˙ed mill-ftit aspetti fejn pajjiΩ missirijietna i˙abbatha sewma' pajjiΩi o˙ra bil-wisq ikbar, u jag˙mel isem g˙alih innifsu,u jag˙mel lilna kburin li Maltin!

Apparti dawn il-˙sibijiet ta' fer˙, waqt li kont qed nara l-fes-tival, irriflettejt ukoll fuq kemm hi kumplessa d-dinja. Lil missier Destiny, Ndubisi Chukunyere, niftakru meta kont

g˙adni Malta. Kien ©ie min-Ni©erja jilg˙ab il-futbol mal-Hi-bernians ta' Ra˙al Ìdid. Kien ukoll jilg˙ab mat-tim nazzjonaliNi©erjan. Ndubisi Chukunyere spiçça baqa' Malta, sar çittadinMalti, iΩΩewwe© lil Maltija, u kellhom lil Destiny li g˙alhekkhija Maltija daqsi.

X'dinja din, fejn tant nies jitilqu minn pajjiΩhom u jmorrujg˙ixu f'pajjiΩ ie˙or u, kif ng˙idu a˙na, isiru tal-post, waqt lijibqg˙u etnikament u kulturalment marbutin mal-ori©ini tag˙-hom, b˙ali u d-dijaspora Maltija.Imma, ter©a u tg˙id, din hi l-istorja ta' tant miljuni ta' nies. U

din mhix storja riçenti.L-istorja tal-migrazzjoni hija antika. Fl-Awstralja kellna l-

mew©iet tal-migrazzjoni ta' wara t-tieni gwerra dinjija u ta' qa-bilha, tal-IngliΩi u l-˙absin li ©abu mag˙hom, u tal-Ewropejl-o˙ra li ©ew qabilhom. Qabilhom kien hawn l-abori©ini likienu ilhom hawn mal-40 elf sena, li qabel dan iΩ-Ωmien kienufi triqithom tul l-Asja fil-migrazzjoni tal-ispeçje tag˙na l-bned-

PerspettivaA version of this series inEnglish may be found inthe author's blog at: http://ivancauchi.blogspot.com

kitba ta’

IVAN

CAUCHI


min, il-homo sapiens.Fl-istess Ωmien, din l-ispeçje kienet da˙let fl-Ewropa mill-

Afrika u ftit ftit iddominat fuq l-ispeçje ta' bnedmin li kienethemm qabel, l-homo neanderthalensis. Nistg˙u nibqg˙u ndurul-kontinenti, u nsibu storja simili, interessanti ferm, u kump-lessa, li g˙adha mhix mag˙rufa g˙al kollox.

Li huwa çar huwa li l-istorja tal-bniedem hija wa˙da ta' mi-grazzjoni kontinwa. Il-fruntieri politiçi tal-pajjiΩi huma g˙al kol-lox artifiçjali, u ma jirriflettux il-©eografija kulturali, u l-bΩonntal-bniedem, u tal-˙lejjaq l-o˙rajn, li jfittxu l-g˙ajxien tag˙hom.A˙na qeg˙din nokkupaw, u niddominaw din il-pjaneta, li ddur

ma stilla li hi biss wa˙da minn 100 biljun fil-galassja tag˙ha,galassja li hi biss wa˙da minn 100 biljun galassja fl-univers -ming˙alina li tant a˙na bravi u fil-fatt qed neqirdu din il-farkatal-univers, bit-tni©©iΩ tal-arja, tal-art u tal-ba˙ar, bil-konsumbla raΩan. Il-˙dura li nuru ma' bnedmin o˙ra, in-nuqqas ta' kar-ità, il-kefrija u r-rg˙iba bla qies huma tal-wa˙x.

Meta se n˙arsu lejn id-dinja b˙ala rigal li g˙andna ng˙oΩΩu,minflok g˙ajn ta' riΩorsi li rridu nisfruttaw qabel ma jag˙meldan ˙addie˙or?

Meta se n©ibu ru˙na ta' a˙wa minflok ta' ˙allelin fis-sakra? Meta se nieqfu nippretendu li r-reli©jon tag˙na g˙andha t-twe-

©ibiet kollha u tal-o˙rajn m'g˙andha l-ebda valur? Meta se nieqfu nittrattaw b˙ala ˙bieb dawk biss li g˙andhom

l-istess kulur tal-©ilda tag˙na?Tg˙id, ninnotaha xi darba f'˙ajti?

‘Ni©erjana’ trebba˙ lil Malta Ritratt li Destiny Chukunyere

Ωgur se tibqa’ tg˙oΩΩ, fil-laqg˙atag˙ha mal-President LouiseColeiro Coleiro-Preca wara s-suççess tag˙ha fil-Bulgarija


Andrew Magro, project manager ofthe ANZAC plaque, an initiative ofthe Maltese RSL sub-branch, was

asked to provide readers of The Voicewith some background information onhow the plaque came about.

Andrew told The Voice of the Maltesethat his involvement with the RSLplaque started when he was informedby Julie Owens, the Federal Memberfor Parramatta, at last year’s SetteGiugno ceremony at Pendle Hill thatfunding was available for the 100years of ANZACs (1915-2015). TheMP was impressed by Andrew’s wear-ing his grandfather’s WW1 medal atthe time.

He initially thought there wouldonly be a handful of Maltese namesfrom the ANZAC period that mayhave joined the Australian ImperialForces. “At our RSL meeting, when I toldthem of my ideas about a plaque, I wasintroduced to Mark Caruana who had alist of around 40 names, of which I wasmuch amazed”.“I then submitted an application to the

Federal Government for a grant to covera plaque in Civic Park, Pendle Hill andalso a replica Honour Board for the MCCat Parramatta” Andrew said.

At the Australian Archives at Villa-wood Andrew was given the names ofapproximately 100 men who statedon their enlistment papers that theywere born in Malta. At this point intime, Marianne Potts, who is an affil-iated member of the RSL group, wasinvolved as a researcher as well.

They were both given a jointly pro-duced document with names andbackground information on Maltese-Australian ANZACS researched ear-

How Maltese Anzacs will be remembered

The plaque honouringthe Maltese ANZACs

Andrew Magro, the projectmanager of the ANZAC plaque

lier by Mark Caruana and CarmenBaxter, the daughter of Nick BonelloOAM, who initiated the ANZAC Me-morial in Malta.

Marianne Potts, Mark Caruana andAndrew had to check all of these digi-tised men’s enlistment papers (whichaveraged looking at 30 pages of infor-mation per person) to see if, thoughborn in Malta, they were in fact Mal-tese by nationality, as a good numberof them were Malta-born children ofBritish service men.“The other criteria that we looked at was

the length of service, service medals re-ceived, correct spelling of names as a fewof the enlistment papers were miss-spelt,etc. This research, although necessary,was also exhaustive and emotional, perus-ing such service details, correspondencefrom them to their families, army corre-spondence, and others” Andrew said

In the end, the names were nar-rowed down to 48 Maltese who joinedthe Australian Imperial Forces 1914-1918 and the same with NewZealand, and narrowed the namesdown from fourteen men to five whohad joined the New Zealand Expedi-tionary Forces. These Maltese men, who had migrated

to Australia, came from all the States ofAustralia and the North Island andSouth Island of NZ, all with differenttrades, professions and backgrounds.

A request was made to both the De-partment of Veterans Affairs and alsothe RSLs of Australia to use the 100years of ANZACs logo and also theRSL logo, which was approved.

The Maltese Ex- Servicemen’s Asso-ciation of NSW and Mark Caruanaformulated the format of the Plaque.

“The grant from the Federal Govern-ment was crucial for this to happen asthe Maltese Ex-Servicemen’s Associationis a small association with little fundingand unable to purchase these plaques($3,500) from its own funds. All themembers of our group are very gratefulthat this funding became available”.

Maltese Australians are to be proudof these 53 brave men who are part ofour ANZAC history, 100 years ago. Afew of these men were even in ourColonial Forces pre- Federation 1900,such as Dr Charles Mattei MD, whichimpressed the researchers immensely. If readers get a chance, they are asked

to take an interest in these men fromMalta who fought for our freedom,with seven paying the supreme sacri-fice, especially on that first landing atGallipoli on April 25, 1915 and thosewho fought and died in the horrors ofthe Western Front 1915 to 1918.

Their history is our Maltese-Aus-tralians history. Such information canbe sought from the Australian Archives(War Memorial Canberra) and thewebsite called Mapping our ANZACs.

In conclusion, Andrew said “I amproud to have led this project for the Mal-tese Ex-Servicemen’s Association of NSW(sub-branch RSL of Australia) for theMaltese community. Hopefully, peoplewill come from afar to visit the Bi-Cen-tennial Memorial at Civic Park, PendleHill to experience an important chapterof our Maltese-Australian history.

“Our president Mr Charles Mifsud islooking into the possibility of having areplica plaque erected at the Anzac Me-morial in the Argotti Botanical Gardens,Floriana on behalf of our group” con-cluded Andrew Magro.

The three eventful days of the CHOGMMalta 2015 Summit (Nov. 27-29) con-sidered as a truly memorable and suc-

cessful event, wrapped up at a pressconference with Prime Minister Joseph Mus-cat as leader of the host country expressing hissatisfaction at how Commonwealth leadershad managed to converge and agree almostunanimously on the issue of climate changeas well as migration. He also stated that despite the differences be-

tween Commonwealth countries’ points ofview, CHOGM Malta 2015 was evidence ofhow constructive conversations can occur.“Silence has never helped anyone in changingand getting things to change”, he remarked. He also thanked all those involved in the or-

ganisation of the event. Heads of government,representatives of the regions of the Common-wealth, also addressed the conference andgave an overview of what was discussed dur-ing it.

This was Malta’s second important meetingof world leaders in a few days. CHOGM at-tracted to Malta around 3,000 guests that in-cluded 53 Heads of states with theirdelegations, and others who took part in thefour Forums aside of the Summit, namely theWomen’s Forum, that was held for the firsttime, the Peoples Forum, the Youths Forumand the Business Forum.At the same time, Malta hosted a State visit

by HM Queen Elizabeth II with three othermembers of the Royal family, the UN Secre-tary General Ban Ki-moon, and the FrenchPresident Francois Hollande.

At the end of the high-profile event and thediscussions that evolved, the participating

Heads of Government issued a statementabout their conclusions. They also expressedtheir deep gratitude for the warm and gener-ous hospitality.Kamalesh Sharma, the Commonwealth Sec-

retary General said that CHOGM 2015 inMalta reached the strategic goals.

In their final communiqué, on behalf of thepeople of the Commonwealth the leaders reaf-firmed their shared and enduring commitmentto the values and principles of the Common-wealth Charter and addressed issues such asclimate change, sustainable development,trade and investment, migration, and counter-ing violent extremism and radicalisation. They also deliberated on safeguarding the in-

terests of Commonwealth small states and em-phasised that the unique nature of theCommonwealth adds value in responding tocontemporary global challenges.

The Heads affirmed that radicalisation, vio-lent extremism and terrorism in all its formsand ramifications are serious threats to thewhole world, including the Commonwealthand its peoples, undermining its values and as-pirations; international peace and security; so-cial harmony; and economic andsocial development.They condemned terrorism and ab-

horrent violence by extremistgroups, including in many Com-monwealth countries, which oftentarget vulnerable groups as well aswomen and children, and also notedwith deep concern the growing trendof extremism and radicalisationglobally and that foreign fighters, in-cluding from Commonwealth coun-

tries, continue to join terroristand other extremist groups.They also agreed that it is im-perative to counter the use ofthe Internet by extremistgroups to radicalise and recruit.

The leaders said these threatsshould not be associated with any particularreligion, race, nationality or ethnicity, andagreed that such threats must be counteredthrough strong national, regional and interna-tional action and co-operation, and renewedtheir commitment to implement nationalstrategies to counter threats and to supporteach other. They undertook to promote youth participa-

tion in national development and peace build-ing, and to encourage partnership activity withCommonwealth youth networks to helpcounter the appeal of violent extremism, andfurther acknowledged the entry into force ofthe Arms Trade Treaty, and the signing andratification of the Treaty by many Common-wealth member states.

*Continued on page 13

Roundup of News About Malta


For the first time, Commonwealth leaders selecteda woman as the organisation's next secretary-

general. She is Baroness Patricia Scotland who wasborn in the Caribbean nation of Dominica, and wasattorney general under Gordon Brown. She is now amember of the House of Lords.

Woman chosen as new CHOGM Secretary

“CHOGM 2015 in Malta reaches the strategic goals”- Kamalesh Sharma,

Queen Elizabeth II flanked by Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat during the opening ofthe CHOGM in Valletta, Malta. Others in picture are, then Commonwealth Chair-in-OfficeMaithripala Sirisena (on left), and Kamalesh Sharma, the Secretary General

CHOGM 2015, Maltaalso hosted a state visit from theRoyal family headed by QueenElizabeth II, that also includedher husband the Duke of Edin-burgh, her son and heir to thethrone Prince Charles and hiswife Camilla, the Duchess ofCornwall.

For the Queen, the visit toMalta, her seventh, was a nostal-gic one. She had last visited in2007 on her 60th wedding an-niversary to the Duke of Edin-burgh. The couple also lived inMalta between 1949 and 1951when the Duke was stationed on

the island as a naval officer. She said that visiting Malta had always

been a special pleasure to her and praisedthe Maltese people for their warmth andgenerosity.

The 89-year-old Monarch said: “With itslong history of resilience and courage in theface of adversity, Malta is a reminder thatthe nation’s size is no measure of the moralstrength of its people.”On her last day the Queen visited Heritage

Malta in Kalkara to unveil a commemora-tive plaque of her visit. She said that witheach visit she makes to the island, she is“reminded why Malta was awarded theGeorge Cross in 1942 by my father, KingGeorge VI, for her valour – the first andonly time it has been awarded to a countryrather than an individual.” She added that the visit to Heritage Malta,

had imbued in her “a sense of certainty thatMalta would continue to thrive over yearsto come.”

Her Majesty thanked the country and itspeople for being such obliging and pleasant

hosts and spoke of the way she had seen thecountry progress over the years.

“Since my first experience of Malta in1949 as a young woman, I have seen thiscountry evolve into a strong nation whichplays an important role on the world stage.When Prince Philip and I returned in No-vember 2007 at the time of our DiamondWedding Anniversary, we could not helpbut be impressed by the progress and thesense of optimism.”

“I remember happy days here with PrincePhilip when we were first married, and thewonderful official visits over the past sixtyyears,” she said.

The Queen and the Duke then crossed tothe Valletta Customs Wharf on a luzzu. Atthe end of the crossing they were given aroyal salute by HMS Bulwark that wasmoored at the Customs House. Earlier in the day the Queen planted a tree

at San Anton gardens, next to the one shehad planted during her last visit in 2007.

*Continued from page 12

The Heads of Government ac-knowledged that all human rightsare equal, indivisible, interde-pendent, interrelated and univer-sal; and urged members topromote and protect all humanrights and fundamental freedoms.They recognised that freedom of

opinion and expression, freedomof peaceful assembly and associ-ation, and freedom of religion orbelief are cornerstones of demo-cratic societies, and important forthe enjoyment of all humanrights, including the right to de-

velopment, and are fundamentalto achieving the Sustainable De-velopment Goals.

About Migration they observedthat if properly harnessed andmanaged, it can deliver economicand social benefits that improvethe resilience and prosper- ity ofCommonwealth states. They agreed to enhance national

and international efforts to ad-dress the causes of irregular mi-gration.

They noted the outcomes of theValletta Summit on Migrationheld at earlier and called on allconcerned to work towards en-

during solutions.As CHOGM was taking place

on the eve of the 21st session ofthe UN’s Framework Conventionon Climate Change, in Paris, cli-mate change featured high on theagenda. They adopted the Com-monwealth Leaders’ Statementon Climate Action, which theyundertook to highlight and ad-vance during the conference.They also recognised the impor-

tance of tackling communicableand noncommunicable diseases,including malaria, and underlinedthe importance of routine immu-nisation programmes, reaffirming

their commitmenttowards making thecomplete eradication of polio aglobal priority.

Theytook note of the reports ofthe four pre-CHOGM Forums,and thanked all concerned fortheir contribution to the summit.They said they recognised thevaluable role civil society organ-values and principles.

As the host chairperson of theCHOGM 2015, Joseph Muscatnow occupies the Common-wealth Chair-in-Office (CIO),that he maintains until the nextCHOGM in the UK in 2018.

On December 13 Malta will becelebrating the 41st Anniversaryof Jum ir-Repubblika (Republic

Day) the annual day of remembrancewhen in 1974 the Maltese Constitutionwas amended and Malta became a Re-public, and no longer had the Queen asits head of state and instead nominatedSir Anthony Mamo as its first President.

The day marking this historic date iscelebrated with activities mostly in Val-letta organised by the National Festivi-ties Committee, that include the AwardCeremony where the President of Maltabestows awards on those deserving indi-viduals for meritorious service or forhaving garnered personal success thatbrings fame and honour to MaltaThe island’s leaders and the dignitaries

will also take part in the wreath layingceremonies at all notable monuments,such as the Republic Day monument inMarsa, while military parades are held.

Previous to December 13, 1974, theMaltese people were part of the BritishEmpire after the end of the NapoleonicWars and the island eventually becameextremely important to the British. In World War II, Malta again proved its

importance for its proximity to Axis ter-ritory and shipping lanes around Italy. After successfully negotiating for inde-

pendence from the British Empire in1964, Malta evolved into a Common-wealth realm, with the British monarchremaining as head of state.

As a result of the Malta Labour Partyvictory in 1971 the status quo changedand the government started pushing theconcept of turning Malta into a republicwith its own President. After RepublicDay the constitution drastically alteredon December 13, 1974 and Malta madeits last change of status into a Republicin the Commonwealth of Nations.

Malta 41 yearsMalta 41 yearsa Republic a Republic


Roundup of News About Malta

CHOGM Leaders urge members to protect all human rights

- Queen Elizabeth says

D

“Malta’s size is no measure of the moral strength of its people”

Her Majesty Queen ElizabethII delivering her address atthe opening of CHOGM 2015

Bejnietna sikwit nilmentaw kemm qedin˙allsu spejjeΩ biex inΩommu djarna

bil-kumditajiet kollha li nin˙tie©u, fosthomdawl, ilma, gass eçç. Imma l-fatti juru li matantx g˙andna biex ingergru.

Minn st˙arri© mill-Uffiççju tal-Istatistikatal-Unjoni Ewropea (Eurostat) nstab li l-Maltin kellhom l-inqas rati ta’ ˙las relatatimal-akkomodazzjoni, inkluΩ kontijiet tad-dawl u l-ilma, gass u biex issa˙˙an il-post.

Dan l-ist˙arri© ˙a b˙ala medja 40% tad-d˙ul ta’ dak li jkun b˙ala s-somma li fuqhaxebbah il-pajjiΩi.

Instab li f’Malta kienu biss 1.6% li kienuqed i˙allsu aktar minn 40% tad-d˙ultag˙hom biex iΩommu djarhom. Dan jikkun-trasta bi kbir mal-Greçja fejn aktar minn40% tal-popolazzjoni t˙allas aktar minn40% tad-d˙ul tag˙ha biex iΩomm djarha.

L-aktar qrib tal-Griegi huma l-ÌermaniΩi(15.9%), id-DaniΩi (15.6%), l-OlandiΩi(15.4%) u r-Rumeni (14.9%). Il-medjaEwropeja hija ta’ 11.4%.

L-ist˙arri© jirrifletti wkoll dak li se˙˙ f’-dawn l-a˙˙ar snin, meta inqas u inqasMaltin bdew joqog˙du fi djar, u bdewjg˙ixu f’appartamenti (flats). Infatti, fl-2014, 47.1% tal-popolazzjoni Maltija

g˙exet fi djar u 52.6% fi flettijiet filwaqt lifl-Ewropa l-ma©©oranza ta’ 59.3% g˙exetfi djar u 40% fi flettijiet. Ir-Renju Unittinsab minn ta’ quddiem f’dan is-settur billi84.7% tal-popoazzjoni tg˙ixfi djar.

Min-na˙a l-o˙ra l-Maltin qeg˙din fuq ta’quddiem b˙ala sidien ta’ fejn joqog˙du billi20% biss qeg˙din f’xi kera, meta fl-Ewropa29.9 jg˙ixu f’post mikri. Ir-Rumanija(96.1%) hija l-aktar pajjiΩ tal-UnjoniEwropeja li kellha çittadini li g˙exu f’postli huwa tag˙hom. Isegwu l-Islovakkja(90.3%), il-Litwanja (89.9%), il-Kroazja(89.7%) u l-Ungerija (89.1%).

Nonfqu ferm anqasfl-akkomodazzjoni


Tg˙id il-Óolma ssir realta’?

Ma kienx monument!Re©a’ qam mill-©did il-kaΩ

tal-Monument tar-round-about ta’ Óal-Luqa li dwarukienu saru ˙afna protesti min-nies ta’ Óal-Luqa, u ankeo˙rajn li fih raw dak li s-soltul-ir©iel iΩommu mistur. Issadin il-kwestjoni spiççat fil-Parlament, fejn id-DeputatLaburista Silvio Schembri –

wild Óal-Luqa - staqsa lill-Prim Ministru Joseph Muscatdwar il-possibilta’ tat-tne˙˙ijata’ dan il-monument.

S’issa g˙adha ma ng˙ataxtwe©iba.Tg˙id ta’ min se tg˙addi, ta’

dawk li jqisu li dan il-monu-ment b˙ala skandlu jew miniqisu b˙ala arti presti©©juΩa?

Ûmien il ilu negozjant Malti kien ˙are© bl-idea ta’ ‘causeway’ li kellha tg˙aqqad lill-G˙awdex ma’ Malta. Dan il-pro©ett kien

qajjem diskussjoni s˙i˙a, iΩda wara ftit, kif jg˙idu,miet fuq ommu.

Biss il-˙olma ta’ xi mezz li jg˙aqqad liΩ-Ωew©GΩejjer flimkien baqg˙et kultant Ωmien titfaçça ud-diskussjoni tirrepeti ru˙ha.... isiru mistoqsijietdwar minn fejn se jin©abu l-finanzi me˙tie©a g˙alpro©ett hekk kbir. IΩda l-akbar polemika hijakemm dan il-pro©ett jaqbel g˙al G˙awdex u g˙all-G˙awdxin. Hemm dawk li huma favur b’ru˙hom u ©isimhom.

Fost dawn hemm il-ma©©oranza tal-G˙awdxin lija˙dmu Malta, g˙add kbir ta’ studenti G˙awdxin lijirçievu l-edukazzjoni f’Malta u l-ma©©oranza ta’dawk li ja˙dmu fil-qasam turistiku. G˙alkemm hawnhekk hemm dawk il-lukandiera

li jid˙lilhom id-dubju jekk b’komunikazzjoni b˙aldin bejn Malta u G˙awdex ikunx ifisser li G˙awdex jispiçça b’-dawk li jisejj˙u ‘day tourists’, ji©ifieri dawk li jΩuru G˙awdex g˙aljum wie˙ed u allura ma jkollhomx g˙alfejn jorqdu fil-lukandi. Min-na˙a l-o˙ra hemm g˙add ta’ G˙awdxin u Maltin li jemmnu lib’g˙aqda b˙al din G˙awdex jitlef mill-insularita’ tieg˙u, li majibqax gΩira ekolo©ika, tid˙ol il-˙ajja mg˙a©©la, titnaqqas l’arjapjuttost nadifa... u allura jbati l-poplu G˙awdxi bl-g˙add kbir ta’traffiku, bl-arja mniddsa. IΩda jidher li dak li g˙al ˙afna Ωmien kien biss ˙olma, issa jista’ jsir

realta’. Dan meta wie˙ed iqis li Ω-Ωew© partiti politiçi taw importanzalil dan il-pro©ett, u sa˙ansitra, issa qed jaqblu bejniethom li l-aktar

mezz fattili biex jing˙aqdu l-GΩejjer Maltin hija mina ta˙t il-ba˙ar.Issa sa˙ansitra twaqqaf front – Front favur il-Mina- li g˙andu l-

appo©© tad-deputat Laburista Franco Mercieca u d-deputat Naz-zjonalista Chris Said.Is-sehem ta’ Mercieca u Said f’dan il-Front ©ie kkritikat mill-Al-

ternattiva Demokratika li sostniet li ma kiex sewwa li dawnappo©©jaw dan il-pro©ett meta g˙adhom saru l-istudji dwar l-impattambentjali, ©oelo©iku u kummerçjali ta’ pro©ett b˙al dan.

Issa tg˙id se jie˙u ra©un min sostna li "G˙awdex hu gΩiraekolo©ika. Imma G˙awdex hu gΩira li g˙andu r-residenti. Dawniridu jg˙ixu ukoll"? U allura je˙tie©u l-mina?

Wara l-˙afna storbju dwar id-d˙ultad-divorzju, u wara l-ispiΩa biex

sar ir-referendum dwar id-divorzju, uwara li kien hemm min bassar li d-di-vorzju kien se jeqred is-soçjeta` Maltija,issa kollox ikkwieta.

Minn dakinhar ‘l hawn kellna 1117 di-vorzju bl-ikbar g˙add ikun fl-2013 -391u l-inqas g˙add din is-sena 347 (sa Ot-tubru). Fl-2014 kellna 379. Fil-fatt jidherli ta’ kull sena dawk li jiksbu d-divorzjuqed jonqos.

Min-na˙a l-o˙ra jidher li Ω-Ωwie©tradizzjonali aktar qed ji©i effettwat miΩ-Ωwie© çivili milli mid-divorzju, g˙ax fil-waqt li fi tliet snin kellna 1117-ildivorzju, fl-ewwel g˙axar xhur ta’ din is-sena biss kellna 1162 Ωwie© biç-çivil.

Id-Divorzju

Chris SaidFranco Mercieca

Kienu ˙afna l-Maltin u l-G˙awdxin li˙adu nifs qawwi meta spiççaw il-laqg˙at tal-Kapijiet tal-Commonwealth

f’Malta. Dan billi, sfortunatament, min˙abbaç-çirkustanzi li g˙addejja minnhom id-dinjab˙alissa kien hemm çertu biΩa’ li seta’ jsir xiattentat mit-terroristi waqt din il-konferenza.Il-biΩa’ kiber mhux biss g˙ax propju ftit qabel

din il-Konferenza se˙˙ dak li se˙˙ f’Pari©i,iΩda g˙ax sfortunatament f’Malta kien hemmmin - inkluΩa parti mill-midja - li beda ˙iere©bi stejjer minn ©urnali Taljani li qalu li Maltakienet saret bejta’ ta’ terroristi u nef˙u kemmfel˙u l-arrest ta’ diveri Sirjani u o˙rajn li ppru-vaw jid˙lu f’Malta b’passaport falz. Filwaqt li l-Gvern insista li w˙ud minn dawn

kienu qed jippruvaw jid˙lu Malta biex jiksbux-xog˙ol u status ta’ refu©jati, il-Kap tal-Op-poΩizzjoni qal li ma kienx qed jemmen dan.

Fortunatament il-CHOGM ©iet u marret uminkejja d-diffikultajiet kollha, fosthom il-maltemp kbir li g˙amel matul it-tlett ijiem tal-laqg˙at, dan kien suççess kbir bil-PrimMinistru IngliΩ jirringrazzja lill-Gvern u l-poplu Malti “for the brilliant organisation ofa very successful CHOGM summit, which wasextremely well-chaired by Maltese PM JosephMuscat.” Bil-©urnal The Malta Independenton Sunday fl-editorjal tieg˙u jg˙id “CHOGHM 2015 - a job well done

Tmiem iç-CHOGM ukoll ©ab polemika poli-tika, meta l-Kap tal-OppoΩizzjoni stqarr li kienlest li jikkopera mal-Gvern dwar is-sigurta’ ta’Malta, iΩda dan ma jistax jag˙mlu bl-attitudnili g˙andu l-Gvern li qed ikun aggressiv ma’kull min jikkritikah. Sostna li s-sospensjonitar-regolamenti tax-Shengen ma tag˙mlix sensmeta l-Gvern f’sena ˙are© 7000 visa lill-Al©erini.

Busuttil sostna li dan kien inkwetanti g˙ax˙add ma jaf x’sar minn dawn in-nies. Semmawkoll il-fatt li l-Gvern f’dawn l-a˙˙ar sninkien ta 14,000 permess ta’ residenza lil nies li©ejjin minn pajjiΩi barra l-Unjoni Ewropeja, uli dwarhom tressqu wkoll nies il-qorti. “Ankedwar dawn ma nafux x’sar minnhom. Danhuwa ta’ thedida g˙as-sigurta’ tal-pajjiΩ,” qal.

Biss il-Gvern ma tantx laqa’ tajjeb l-offertata’ Busuttil g˙ax fi stqarrija tal-uffiççju tal-Prim Ministru ntqal li “wara li b'mod irre-sponsabbli pprova jiΩra' l-biΩa' dwar is-sigurtàf'Malta qabel Ωew© summits dinjin li saru b'-suççess f'pajjiΩna, l-OppoΩizzjoni issa qed is-sejja˙ g˙all-g˙aqda dwar kwestjonijiet ta'sigurtà.” L-Uffiççju tal-Prim Ministru qal li,“l-g˙aqda fejn tid˙ol is-sigurtà hi me˙tie©adejjem u mhix xi ˙a©a ‘a la carte’.

Sa˙ansitra ©ie allegat li,“Sakemm kienug˙addejjin l-avvenimenti, l-OppoΩizzjoni kom-pliet tbeΩΩa' permezz tal-mezzi tax-xandirtag˙ha. Issa li Malta, permezz tal-˙idma pro-fessjonali tal-Forzi tag˙ha, g˙amlet suççess,l-OppoΩizzjoni qed issejja˙ g˙all-g˙aqda.”


Mix-xena tal-˙ajja Maltija 2

A˙bar tajba o˙ra g˙al Malta l-fatt li t-turiΩmu issa qabad rittmu tajjeb anke

fix-xhur tax-Xitwa. Infatti f'Ottubru lig˙adda ©ew Malta 199,937 turist, li jfisserΩieda ta' 10.7% fuq Ottubru tas-sena ta'qabel.

It-total ta' ljieli li t-turisti qag˙du f'Maltaf'Ottubru Ωdied b'10.3% u la˙aq iç-çifra ta' 1.5miljun. Hu stmat li fix-xahar imsemmi t-tur-istu nefqu €182.1 miljun f'pajjiΩna, ji©ifieri13.9% aktar milli nefqu f'Ottubru tal-2014.

Jekk wie˙ed jag˙ti ˙arsa lejn il-perijoduminn Jannar sa Ottubru ta' din is-sena, jarali l-g˙add totali ta' turisti kien ta' 1,605,811,ji©ifieri Ωieda ta' 5.6% fuq l-ewwel g˙axarxhur tas-sena li g˙addiet. Kien hemm ukollΩieda ta' 5% fl-g˙add ta' ljieli li qattg˙u f’-Malta, g˙al total ta' 12.8 miljun lejl.In-nefqa tat-turisti f'Malta minn Jannar sa

Ottubru tal-2015 hi stmata li tla˙˙aq g˙al€1,500.1 miljun, ji©ifieri 7.4% aktar mill-ewwel g˙axar xhur tl-2014.

Il-qag˙ad: minn7.3% g˙al 5%

... u fit-TurΩmu:zieda ta’ 10.7%

Iç-CHOGM 2015: Ìie umar ming˙ajr intoppi

Fl-2010 il-qag˙ad f’Malta kien la˙aq il-figura alarmanti ta’ 7.3%, iΩda llum dan

niΩel g˙al 5.1%, li jppo©©i li Malta fit-tieletpost fl-Ewropa.Fil-fatt l-uniçi Ωew© pajjiΩili g˙andhom qag˙ad inqas minn Maltahuma l-Germanja (4.5%) u r-ReppublikaÇeka (4.7%).

Hija ˙asra li meta t˙abbru figuri hekktajba, waslet l-a˙bar li wa˙da mill-akbarfabbriki Maltin, id-De La Rue,qalet li fis-sentejn u nofs li ©ejjin se tati s-sensja lilmadwar 300 ˙addiem billi kienet setag˙laq is-sezzjoni tal-istampar tal-karti tal-flus.

Fl-istess ˙in id-diri©enti ˙abbru li attwal-ment ma kienux se jag˙lqu l-fabbrikatag˙hom, anzi se jag˙mlu investiment ta’€21 miljun fil-fabbrika biex din issir çentruta’ eççellenza fil-produzzjoni ta’ prodottita’ Identità u Sigurtà. Il-Gvern di©a` wieg˙ed li se jag˙mel minn

kollox biex il-˙addiema ssensjati jsibumpjieg ©did.

WANTS TO BUY

Member of RSL Maltese Ex-Ser-viceman’s Association wants tobuy an original Maltese George

Cross medal to to wear with otherWorld War II medals during com-memorations such as Anzac Day

and Sette Giugno.Contact Patrick Bartolo: Tel.:02 96319394; Mob.: 0424641543 Email: [email protected]

ORIGINAL MALTESE GEORGE CROSS MEDAL

Il-mexxejja flimkien mal-PrimMinistru Malti Joseph Muscat,(it-tieni xellug quddiem) ˙dejnir-Re©ina fil-ftu˙ taç-CHOGM

Australia continues tohold in closed de-

tention about 2044 peo-ple, including 113 chil-dren. There are 934males on Manus Island(right), including 92children. Most have been held for wellover a year in conditions that havebeen criticised by the UN Rapporteursas breaching the Torture Conventionand constituting “calibrated cruelty”.

Meanwhile, a cross-section of Aus-tralia’s most prominent Christian lead-ers is imploring politicians to “do theright thing” and release asylum seekerchildren from detention before Christ-

mas. After lobbying MPs, they have pub-

lished a half page open letter in theSMH calling for children and theirfamilies to be given “the gift of free-dom”.

According to the Australian HumanRights Commission over 167 babieshave been born in detention within thelast 24 months

Sydney houses now cost 12 times the annual in-come, up four times to when the then PM

Gough Whitlam was dismissed from office in1975.

Australian house prices in Melbourne and Syd-ney are very high both historical and internationalstandards and that they are very high in part be-

cause of the willingness of Australianhouseholds to borrow very large amountsof money from the banks.

In 1976, the median Sydney house pricewas $33,960, compared with medianhousehold income of $8,273 – a multipleof 4.1. Prices remained fairly constant as amultiple of incomes until 1966, whenlower interest rates sparked a big rise inhome prices.

As of the middle of this year the medianSydney house price was $1,004,767 witha median household income of $85,067 ac-cording to data from the Real Estate Insti-tute of Australia.

Though demand is still rising, some crit-ics believe that Australia's housing marketis severely overvalued.

A quick glimpse at AustraliaA quick glimpse at Australia


2015 climate change conference

Military led regime

High pricesfor Houses

We are reading a lot on climate changeand as we go to print the Paris (France)

grand conference will be close to beingwrapped up (on December 11). This was amajor UN summit at which more than 190nations are making another attempt to agreeto prevent the temperature raising by morethan 2 degrees above pre-industrial level thiscentury. The 1992 Rio Earth Summit established the

UN framework Convention on ClimateChange while the 1997 summit resulted in theKyoto Protocol, a legally binding deal to cutemissions by 2008-12. The Copenhagen sum-mit in 2009 ended in acrimony. What isneeded is an agreement that all countries canstomach as fair – despite their very differentnational circumstances.

More than 40 world leaders, includingBarack Obama, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping,David Cameron, Joseph Muscat and MalcolmTurnbull attended.

In a statement issued bythe world’s top diplo-mat, United Nations

secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon expressed “concernover the detention in Aus-tralia’s offshore processingcentres and encouragedAustralia’s Prime Minister,Malcolm Turnbull to recon-sider Operation SovereignBorders, Australia’s mili-tary led regime to combatpeople smuggling and over-seas borders.

This extraordinary pleacame while the secretary-

general acknowledged Australia’s long standing commitment to refugee reset-tlements, but appealed to Mr. Turnbull to “share responsibilities”. The pair reportedly discussed problems in Syria and Iran and exchanged views

on preventing violent extremism. Mr. Turnbull who has visited so many countries in the month of November in-

cluding Malta for the Commonwealth Leaders’ Summit, CHOGM 2015, saidthat sharing intelligence, of course, is of critical importance and countering ter-rorist messages on social media was also a high priority.

United Nations sec-retary-general, BanKi-moon at COP21

Gift of freedom

Almost 21 months since Malaysia Air-lines flight MH370 disappeared en routefrom Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239people on board, the Australian authorities are still searching for the wreck and fo-cusing on a shortened but slightly widened section of ocean. They are confidentthey are searching the right area.

A quick glimpse at AustraliaA quick glimpse at Australia


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Professor Yanis Varoufakis (left), aone-time Sydney University econom-ics lecturer who as Greece finance

minister battled Europe’s financial eliteover the harsh terms of a bailout beforefalling out with Greece Prime MinisterAlexis Tsipras, told Fairfax media that Aus-tralia is headed towards recession as a resultof the weak domestic investment and theslowdown in China. This will put a breakon growth.

“The recession itself would not be a prob-lem because some recessions are necessary”.The economist said that after nearly 25 years

without a recession, Australia was caught up inthe same global pattern of weak aggregate de-mand and excessive corporate savings.Yanis Varoufakis said the fear would be that

this is something more secular, somethingmore like stagnation, and a systemic crisis. “Iam not saying that is going to happen, but if Iwere a politician in Australia, this is what Iwould be worried about.”

He also warned that the Eurozone faces arapid Soviet-style break-up unless it fixes fun-damental flaws in the system “If we continuein Europe the way we are going, the Eurozoneis simply not viable,” Varoufakis said.

NSW has become Australia’s half-trillion dol-lar economy, for the first time producing

more than $500 billion in a calendar year. Al-though NSW economy is leading the nation, fig-ures show NSW is less important to the rest ofAustralia than ever before. Twenty years ago NSW accounted for more than

a third of Australian economy - 36 per cent. Nowit accounts for less than a third, 31.3 per cent, anall-time low. Western Australia, which 20 yearsago accounted for 12.6 per cent of the nationaleconomy, now accounts for 17.1 per cent.

When it comes to Queensland it accounts for18.5 per cent, up from 16 per cent, Victoria ac-counts for 21.9 per cent, down from 22.7 per cent. The state accounts show Victoria growing faster

than NSW for the first time since 2008. Victoria’sperformance is all-remarkable because a year agoit replaced anaemic economic growth of just 1 percent. The biggest contributor to Victoria’s eco-nomic growth was population. In the past yearVictoria’s population has swelled by 1.7 per cent,more than any other state.

According to an analysis report byFairfax Media the federal governmentdepartments are saving through jobcuts but it is being cancelled out by amassive increase in the cost of highpaid consultants and contractors.The 28 major Commonwealth depart-

ments reduced their wages bill by $108million last financial year. But contrac-tors and consultants costs increased by$205 million almost double the money

saved. The increase took the depart-ments’ total consultants and contrac-tors bills for 2014-15 to a little over $1billion. Five departments, including Immigra-

tion saved on wages but spent an extra$81 million on consultants and con-tractors. About 15,000 public servantslost their jobs under Tony Abbott’sGovernment; the figure did not neces-sary help the budget bottom line.

Australian recession?

The state of Victoria’s growth

A new analysis of data shows theplane that disappeared in March 2014,is probably in the southern end of theIndian Ocean search zone, where theoperation will now be focused.

The Australian-led search has been comb-ing a 120,000 sq km area of seabed about2,000km off the coast of Perth, using un-derwater drones and sonar equipment de-ployed from specialist ships. More than75,000 sq km have been searched so farwith no trace seen of the plane.

Part of an aircraft wing, known as a flap-eron, was found on Reunion Island in July,roughly 4,000km from the search zone, andalthough tests in France confirmed it hadcome from MH370, officials said it hadbeen carried there by the ocean currents sodid not affect their search plans.In its technical report just issued, the Aus-

tralian Defence Science and TechnologyGroup said a "comprehensive analysis ofthe available data" showed that as previ-ously thought, MH370 had almost certainlygone down in the southern stretch of the ex-isting search area.

The report has given the searchers “realencouragement”. They are "hopeful, indeedoptimistic” that they will locate the aircraft. The entire search operation, that is expected

to cost approximately A$180m ($131m;£88m) is likely to end by June 2016.

site for MH370Australia 'confident' in search


Mal-120,000 refu©jat mis-Sirja,mill-Iraq, mit-Turkija, mil-Libja u minn xi o˙rajn, kol-

lha jridu jibdew ˙ajja ©dida f'pajjizie˙or. Imma aktar importanti min-hekk, g˙aliex qeg˙din ja˙arbu minnpajjiΩhom? Fis-Sirja u l-Iraq hemm il-gwerra tal-

Islamisti estremisti l-ISIS. Imma fit-Turkija x'hemm? Hemm fuq iΩ-Ωew©miljun refu©jat mis-Sirja li qed jo˙or-©u mit-Turkija bl-eluf biex imorru fil-gΩejjer Ωg˙ar ta’ Laros, Kalymnos uLesbos, li huma parti mill-Greçja.Imbag˙ad xi ng˙idu g˙al dawk lijaqsmu l-ba˙ar Mediterran mil-Libjag˙all-Italja, Malta u Franza? …

Veru li fis-Sirja hemm il-gwerra,imma fil-pajjizi l-o˙ra minn fejn gejdan l-esodu ta’ refu©jati m'hemmxgwerer fuq dik l-iskala. Mit-Turkijadawk li qed jitilqu huma refu©jati lida˙lu hemm mill-pajjiΩ ©ar is-Sirja.

G˙aliex allura dawn l-eluf li qe-g˙din ja˙arbu minn dawn il-pajjizi?Óadd ma tant jissogra jitkellem fuql-g˙aliex g˙ax x'aktarx li l-verita`mhix politikament korretta, g˙axmalajr inwe©©g˙u lil xi ˙add li jista’jkun sensittiv! Din is-sitwazzjoni qajjmet mistoqsi-

jiet o˙ra li jistg˙u jkunu mbaraz-zanti, b˙al ng˙idu a˙na x'parti qedjilag˙bu u x'g˙ajnuna qed joffru l-pajjiΩi Musulmani stess tal-qrib lijistg˙u u li g˙andhom il-mezzi biexitaffu xi ftit u jilqg˙u xi ftit elufminn ˙uthom li ˙afna minnhomhuma tal-istess fidi?

Waqt li d-dinja, l-izjed fin-na˙a tal-Punent stess qed tisma’ afna priedkita’ ˙niena, biex naççettawhom, biexinsibulhom fejn joqog˙du u biex in-sibulhom ix-xoghol, g˙ax dawnbnedmin b˙alna, il-pajjizi sinjurital-Punent Nofsani, qeg˙din b'ide-jhom marbuta, donnhom jie˙dupjaçir jaraw lill-pajjizi tal-EwropajuΩaw il-˙niena u r-riΩorsi tag˙hombiex jilqg˙u lil dawn ir-refu©jati.

Jekk nie˙du pajjiΩ wie˙ed, l-G˙ar-abja Sawdija, li tajjeb li nsemmihawn, li ma ˙aditx refu©jat wie˙ed,g˙andha mitt elf tinda bl-arja kkun-dizzjonata vojta li jistg˙u jakkomo-daw popolazzjoni ta’ tlett miljuni.Qeg˙din f’ra˙al li jinfirex f'wied ta20 kilometru kubu u jintuzaw bissg˙al amest ijiem fis-sena: g˙all-pel-legrini tal-Óa©©.

Dawn it-tined ta’ kwalita` lussuzajinsabu ˙dejn il-belt ta’ Mina. Skont

il-website 'AmusingPlanet reports,g˙all-bqija tas-sena r-ra˙al ta Minahu deΩert g˙ax fih ma joqg˙od ˙add.

Dawn it-tined li gew modernizzatifl-1997 biex jipprote©uhom min-nar,g˙andhom ukoll façilitajiet tal-kçinau tal-˙asil u toilets. Nofshom humabiΩΩejjed biex jakkomodaw ir-re-fu©jati Sirjani li qeg˙din ja˙arbumin˙abba l-gwerra li hi mg˙ejjunaftit jew wisq mill-flus u mill-armi lil-Gvern tal-G˙arabja Sawdija qed jip-provdi lil gruppi Ìi˙adisti.

Imma skont il-gazzetta AmerikanaWashington Post, il-pajjiΩi sinjuriG˙arab b˙as-Sawdi, il-Qatar, il-ku-wajet u xi o˙rajn, ma ˙adux imqarrefu©jat wie˙ed.

Skont xi rapporti, l-G˙arabja Saw-dija, li tg˙um fid-dollari taΩ-Ωejt,tg˙id li mill-2011 ospitat 500,000Sirjan. Fil-fatt dawn kienu nies li r-rre©istraw b˙ala emigranti ˙allija˙dmu fil-pajjiΩ. Imbag˙ad b˙alakuntrast il-Libanu, li mhux sinjur,aççetta 1.3 miljun refu©jat, li ji©ukwart tal-popolazzjjoni tal-Libanu. Filwaqt li s-Sultan tal-G˙arabja Saw-

dija ma jridx jaççetta refu©jati, offrali jibni 200 moskea g˙an-nofs miljunrefu©jat Musulman li hu ikkalkulat lise jmorru l-Ìermanja.

L-iskuΩa tas-Sawdi hi li t-tined ta’Mina qeg˙din g˙all-uΩu tal-pelle-grini. Allura ta min jistaqsi, x'garamill-Ummah, dak it-twemmin li sup-post li joffri protezzjoni u g˙ajnunalil ˙uthom stess, Musulmani b˙al-hom?

Il-500,000 tinda vojta tal-G˙arabja Sawdija VictorV.Vella ... jag˙ti ˙arsa wara l-kwinti tal-kriΩi tar-refu©jati

U˙ud mill-500,000 tindali ji©u wΩati fl-G˙arabjaSawdija u li ˙afna Ωmienmis-sena jkunu vojti

(Il-kriΩi tar-refu©jati qeg˙dhatittestja l-˙niena ta’ ˙afna pa-jjiΩi l-aktar tal-Ewropa u tal-Awstralja. Hi ˙a©a sabi˙a lisaret moda li tifta˙ il-bibienming˙ajr ma tqis il-konseg-wenzi g˙al dawk li jift˙uhom.L-Ewropa fet˙et il-bibien:imma xi pajjizi o˙ra li suppostli g˙andhom izjed skop, skuΩau riΩorsi biex jg˙inu, donnhomqeg˙din ja˙slu idejhom!)

Il-Maltese Welfare (NSW)komplew bis-sensiela ta’laqg˙at ta’ tag˙rif meta

g˙al darb’o˙ra fis-sala SanGorg Preca fi Greystanes NSWstiednu lil Marie Louise Muscat mill-Fiducian Financial Services biex tisp-jega kif l-a˙˙ar tibdil tal-Gvernfederali fejn jid˙lu l-pensjonijiet, il-kura tal-anzjani u s-superannuationjistg˙u jaffettwaw lill-Maltin fl-Aw-stralja.

B˙al dejjem meta jsiru dawn il-laqg˙at tant importanti, is-salakienet mimlija. Nathalie Gatt, il-viçi-president tal-Maltese Welfare qalet lidejjem ikun hemm talba g˙allaqghat ta’ informazzjoni b˙al dawnu l-g˙aqda tag˙hom hija ddedikatali tissokta tag˙ti tag˙rif lill-komu-nita` kull meta jkun hemm il-˙tie©a.

Sadanittant, il-Maltese Welfareifakkru lil dawk li jridu jinnominaw lilxi anzjani g˙all-Quite Achievers Nightof Recognition li ssir kull sena f’Se-niors’ Week biex icemplu 02 96319295 ˙alli jiksbu l-applikazzjoni.

Ritratt: Nathalie Gatt (lemin),il-v/president tal-Maltese Wel-fare flimkien ma’ Marie LouiseMuscat mill-Fiducian li ng˙atatbukkett b˙ala apprezzament

If you are not receiving the Voice of theMaltese regularly you are kindly requestedto let us know. Do the same if you havechanged your email address. Keepingyour addresses updated is very importantto us.E-mail us with the details at:

[email protected]

VOM Readers please note


Il-Maltin bi ˙©arhom g˙al-laqg˙a ta’

In response to a number of inquiries, TheVoice of the Maltese wishes to advice that wecan now supply hard copies in colour of ourmagazine to our readers at a price. So any-body interested in acquiring copies of themagazine can communicate with us personallyor by email to: [email protected]. Themagazine can also be delivered by post. As thecost of postage varies one is kindly requestedto get in touch with us to work out the details.

Jekk trid tixtri kopja ipprintjata bil-kulur ta’ kull ˙ar©a tal-maga-Ωin The Voice of the Maltese, g˙andek tmur persunalment fil-

Maltese Resource Centre f’59b Franklin & Young StreetParramatta NSW (˙dejn Parramatta West Primary School) nhar

ta’ Erbg˙a u nhar ta’ Ìimg˙a mid-9 am sa nofsinhar.Çempel 0409 744 376

Readers can

also request a printed

copy of The Voice

by post

tag˙rif mill-Maltese Welfare)

Whom will you nominate this year?Maltese Welfare (NSW) Inc.

The 16th Annual - Quiet AchieversNight of Recognition

(To be held during Seniors’ Week 2016)

The Maltese community extends recognition and gives thanks to

our seniors once a year.Ask for a nomination form. Tel 02 9631.9295.

This event is being sponsord by

Il-Voice of the Maltese ipprintjata

Wara bejn il-Gvern, il-Knisja Maltijau l-Vatikan, il-Presepju li tradizzjonal-ment Malta ©abet mill-Italja senibag˙tuh b’libsa Maltija lura l-Italja.Bejn Diçembru 2016 u Frar 2017,g˙all-ewwel darba, stat barrani, Malta,se jesebixxi presepju fil-Vatikan.

Bi qbil mal-Kurja ta’ Malta l-Gvernjinsab ukoll f’diskussjonijiet mas-Santa Sede biex din l-inizjattiva tkun

ikkumplimentata b’kunçert ta’ muΩikasagra mill-Orkestra Filarmonika ta’Malta ta˙t it-tmexxija tas-SurmastBrian Schembri.Inizjattiva li barra mill-presti©ju mis-

tennija, sservi Ωgur ukoll b˙ala reklamturistiku tajjeb g˙all-GΩejjer Maltinmeta wie˙ed iqis l-g˙add ta’ turisti lijΩuru l-Vatikan, l-aktar u l-aktar fil-festi tal-Milied u l-Ewwel tas-Sena.

Presepju Malti f’Ruma

\


8. L-Imperativjuri kmand jewtalba; jitnisselmill-Mamma ujibda b’:

a) Vokali me-ta l-verb ikunTrilitteru ta’

Ωew© sillabi.EΩ.: a˙dem minn ˙adem (3); imximinn mexa (j)b) Konsonanti meta l-verb ikun

Trux, Mo˙fi, Imnissel jew Kwadrilit-teru.

EΩ.: rodd (Trux), mur (Mo˙fi),fixkel (Kwad), ©erra (I)

9. Is-So©©untiv isir biΩ-Ωieda ta’ li,biex, illi, sabiex, wara, mat-Tempi-

jiet tal-Indikativ.EΩ.: Ósibt li ni©i mieg˙ek.

10. Il-Kondizzjonali jsir biΩ-Ωiedatal-partiçeli jekk, kieku mat-Tem-pijiet tal-Indikativ.

EΩ.: Kieku ©ejt mieg˙i kont tara l-presepju.

11. It-Tempijiet tal-verbi huma:a) l-Imperfett (Present-futur) li juri

g˙emil li g˙adu ma twettaqx. Danisir biΩ-Ωieda ta’ n, t. j, quddiem l-Imperativ.

EΩ.: ikteb - iktbu (Imperativ) melanikteb, tikteb, jikteb, (tikteb), nik-

tbu, tik-tbu, jiktbu.b) Il-Perfett (Passat) juri g˙emil li

twettaq. Dan isir biΩ-Ωieda ta’ t, t,et, na, tu, u, wara l-Mamma.

EΩ.: kiteb (Mamma), mela ktibt,ktibt, (kiteb), kitbet, ktibna, ktibtu,kitbu.

12. Fil-Malti mhemmx Futur g˙alih˙lief fil-Verbi AwΩiljari Kien u Kellu;iΩda wie˙ed jista’ jfisser il-Futur billijinqeda bil-kelmiet g˙ad, sa, ser,g˙ada, ©img˙a o˙ra eçç. qud-diem l-Imperfett.EΩ.: Ìanni sejjer jikteb ittra. G˙ada

no˙ro© mieg˙ek.

(Fil-˙ar©a li jmiss inΩidunittrattaw il-VERB, li kif di©a`

g˙edna huwa ferm importanti, unid˙lu wkoll fl-irqaqat

Biex tikteb Malti tajjebAktar dwar il-Verb: forom, modi u tempijiet (2)

L-iSkola tal-Malti ta’ NSW, li hiferg˙a tal-Kunsill Malti ta’

NSW, kellhom il-preΩentazzjonitaç-çertifikati g˙al din is-sena sko-lastika li g˙adha kemm intemmetfl-iskola ta’ Horsley Park, f’Sydneynhar is-Sibt 28 ta’ Novembru.

G˙all-okkaΩjoni, ©ew mistiedna l-President tal-Kunsill tal-Komunita`Maltija ta’ NSW, is-Sur EmanuelCamilleri u martu, li flimkien mal-prinçipal tal-iskola, Mary Pace-Fer-aud qassmu ç-çertifikati lill-istu-denti Ω-Ωg˙ar li huma mg˙allmamin Ivan Borg u lill-kbar mg˙allmamin Mary Pace-Feraud stess.

Is-sur Camilleri ˙e©©eg lill-istudenti biex ikomplu fit-tag˙lim tag˙hom u spjegalhom, kemm hu mportanti litkun taf lingwi differenti u semmielhom il-vanta©©i.

PreΩenti wkoll g˙all-okkaΩjoni kien hemm il-biçça ‘l-kbira tal-istudenti li attendew g˙at-tag˙lim tal-Maltimatul is-sena f’ din l-iskola.

Wara l-g˙oti taç-çertifikati l-istudenti ©ew mistiednag˙al festin.

Din iç-çelebrazzjoni g˙andha ssir ukoll fiΩ-Ωewg skejjell-o˙ra li l-iSkola tal- Malti ta’ NSW g˙andha f’Ludden-ham u Seven Hills.

Dawk li jixtiequ jitg˙allmu l-Malti g˙andhom jikkun-tatjaw lil Mary billijçemplu: 96012189.

IppreΩentati ç-çertitikati mill-iskola

tal-Malti ta’Horsley Park

Wa˙da mill-istudenti Ωg˙ar, Yasmin Sherry biç-çertifikatippreΩentat minn Mary Pace-Feraud u Em. Camilleri

Uhud mill-istudenti li jattendu f’Hors-ley Park flimkien mal-President tal-MCC Emanuel Camilleri (quddiem)

martu Theresa (lemin tieg˙u) u˙dejha Mary Pace Feraud


St Helena Maltese Australia SC

SATURDAT DECEMBER 19:Xmas function at Melrose Recep-tions, Tullamarine.

For more information: Phone Victor: 0412 99 13 25 or

Mary Abdilla: 03 (9370 51 64)

G˙alkemm il-PBS ta’ Malta tfornilill-SBS fl-Awstralja bis-servizztag˙ha, il-qarrejja huma m˙e©©abiex x’˙in iridu jid˙lu fil-website:www.tvm.com.mt u jsegwu l-a˙bar-ijiet ta’ Malta minn hemmhekk.

Il-website tkun a©©ornata l-˙inkollu bi stejjer li jkunu qed ise˙˙u.

Mhux biss, imma min irid isegwidak li jkun g˙addej, kull filg˙odu˙in ta' Malta fuq il-website jit-tellg˙u wkoll l-a˙barijiet tal-jumta' qabel.

L-a˙barijiet tal-PBS (Malta)

Mother Theresa oncesaid that lonelinessis the poverty of the

western world and Perthpriest, Father Michael Gatt isin full agreement, which iswhy he will be extendinghis annual ChristmasHelpline to run yearlong.The “Gattline”, as it has be-

come known, is a free andconfidential counsellingand referral service, open 24hours a day, seven days aweek from December 1 to31, which Fr Gatt began in1991.

The service continuedthroughout his time asparish priest of St Kieran’s inOsborne Park from 2000until his retirement in Junethis year, and he has no in-tention of stopping theHelpline which has sup-ported so many over thepast 24 years.

This is because “retire-ment” is not a word in thevocabulary of this efferves-cent cleric, and he is nowmore passionate than everto provide a listening ear tothose who are lonely andisolated.

“The number of callers

over the Christmas periodhas grown steadily over theyears,” Fr Gatt told The eRe-cord. “I think this is becausewe are living in a societythat is expanding, but sup-port for individuals within itis not.”

Fr Gatt is no longer associ-ated with a particular parish,but has come to recognisethe impact the Helpline hashad for so many and has de-cided to not only continuethe service this Christmas,but to provide it all yeararound.

“The month of Decemberhas always been the focus ofthe Helpline, because thiscan be a particularly difficultperiod for people withoutfamily or support”, he re-flected. “But I also realisethat many people are alsolooking for someone to lis-ten and talk to all yearround.”

Fr Gatt, along with histeam of helpers, has dealtwith many difficult issuesover the years, ranging fromloneliness to domestic vio-lence to threats of suicideand, with 110 calls duringthe Christmas period last

year, he is onceagain preparingfor a month ofcontinuous ring-ing, both duringthe day andnight.

Calls usuallycome from pe-ople living lo-cally, but havealso been re-ceived from in-terstate and evenoverseas. Fr Gattwill often followup with callersand, when nec-essary, will referthem to otherservices that canprovide profes-sional and ongo-ing assistance.

“Many people were con-cerned that the Helplinewould stop once I finishedat St Kieran’s, but I know itis something I must con-tinue to do,” Fr Gatt shared.

It’s ‘Gatt’ time of year again!- Helpline to open all year round

The Xag˙ra Association of NSW Inc.INVITES YOU TO COME & CELEBRATE: Australia Day

at a Dinner Dance on January 23, 2016Venue: Mandavilla Function Centre1788 The Horsley Drive, Horsley Park

Food: 3-Course Meal, beer, wine, soft drinks, tea, coffee, pastizzi; also antipasti plus fruit platters Entertainment: provided by Joe Apap Contact:

Josephine/Ray: 9627 4182, Mob: 0439 974 182; M'Anne Teuma: 9627 4641

IL-ÓAMRUN ASSOCIATION Inc. qed jorganizzaw CAROLS BY CANDLELIGHT: Il-Óadd 13 ta’ Dicembru fis-6.00 p.m. Ikun hemminnijiet, il-Priedka tal-Milied u pageant (Nativity Scene) minn Vicky Vella. SantaClaus se jqassam ir-rigali, g˙alhekk min jattendi j©ib ir-rigali tat-tfal mieg˙u.

DIVERTIMENT ipprovdut minn DJ Uncle Sam.

IL-KLABB TAL-ÓAMRUN qed jorganizza l-Ballu Annwali tal-Ewwel tas-Sena(The New Year’s Eve Dinner Dance) fil-klabb

DATA: Il-Hamis 31 ta’Dicembru bejn is-7 p.m u s-1.00 a.m.Ikun hemm ikla 3-course flimkien ma’ flixkun inbid u Jug orange juice f’kull mejda.

DIVERTIMENT minn Charlie Muscat u Vince Bezzina.Donazzjoni ta’ $45 dollaru kull persuna.

G˙al tag˙rif u biljetti g˙aΩ-Ωewg attivitajiet çemplu lil: George Zahra - mobile: 0407 434 651 jew il-klabb 9838 1111

The Helpline is open December 1-31 and is available 24hours a day, seven days a week. Contact number is (08)9440 5379. People can also seek support by emailing Fr Gattat [email protected] information can be found at www.michaelgatt.net

“People need to know thatthere is always someone toturn to in times of difficulty,crisis or despair.”

MarkReidy (The eRecord)

Fr Michael Gatt

On SBS RadioDay Time Analogue and Digital

Friday: 12:00-13:00 97.7fm SBS Radio 2Saturday: 14:00-15:00: 97.7fm SBS Radio 2To tune into digital radio you need a re-ceiver or device with a DAB+ chip. Tuningin is by station name not frequency. Digitalradio can also be heard via digital TV.

SBS Radio 2 is on Channel 38.The radio programmes can be accessed on-line (live or catch up) at sbs.com.au/mal-tese and via mobile phone, using the SBSRadio app. For television news fromMalta - SBS 2 TV on Thursdays andSundays at 8am.

Maltese Radio ProgrammesMELBOURNE, on 3ZZZ 92.3FM or onwww.3zzz.com.au. Mondays 5pm, Fridays5pm, Saturdays 10am.; Last Wednesday eachmonth at 1pm.MELBOURNE on 98.9 North West FM, eachFriday 6.00 - 7.00p.m. Presenter EmmanuelBrincat.MELBOURNE: STEREO 974 (93180930):97.4FM Wed (Maltese Magazine) & Thursday(Mer˙ba): 6.00pm to 8.00 pm Co-ordinator –Ray AnastasiIn SYDNEY, listen to the MCC radio pro-grammes on 2GLF FM 89.3. Saturdays 6 to 8a.m. Martese Caruana presents NostalgiaMusic; Sundays from 10.00 - 11.00 am: Il naMaltin. Both available on demand. Followsame procedure as for MCC programmes, exceptselect programe in reference.In BRISBANE listen to the Maltese Programon 4EB on Tuesdays 6.00 -8.15am; Sundays4.15pm to 5.15pmUNCLE SAM DJ (Maltese Radio) tune in tolink: www.unclesamdj.com

The SBS MALTESE NEWS L-A˙barijiet on SBS TV twice a week nationwide Sunday at8.00 am on SBS2 (Chan. 32); Thursdays at 8.00 am on SBS2

Isma’ l-programm tar-radjubil-Malti mill-Kunsill Maltita’ NSW minn fuq l-istaz-

zjon 2GLF 89.3FM.Jista’ wkoll jinstema’ On De-

mand minn fuq l-Internetwww.893fm.com.au

(On Demand >Ethnic >Maltese Council 11am)Il-programm ta’ sieg˙a nhar ta’ Óadd fil-11.00 a.m. ikun fih l-a˙˙ar a˙barijietminn Malta, muΩika, tag˙rif, kultura,avviΩi u su©©etti ta’ interess g˙all-Maltin

Tune In to Radio and Television

Saint Nicholas Festa Committee Events

in 2016Sunday March 13

FeteSunday July 3

Lejla Fil-Buskett

Sunday October 16 Fete

Sunday December 4 FestaMaltese Programmes on TV and Web

The GDAY MALTAUSSIE SHOW on TVS is broadcast in Sydney

Every Saturday at 2pm. Repeats onMondays 5 pm and Tuesdays 7.30 amWatch direct via HYPERLINK:http://ww.tvs.org.au; http://ww.tvs.org.au

Community NewsCommunity News

Listen to John Borg & Glenn Cassar every Sat-urday at 1.00 p.m. on RADIO 2RRR 88.5FM oron the Internet - www2rrr.org.au ON DeMAND

Meetings of DayCare Maltese

Groups in NSWFairfield Active Maltese SeniorsMeets on the first Tuesday of the Month

from10:00am to 12 noon. The group meets in the Parish Hall, cnr

of Stella Street & The Boulevard, Fair-field Heights.

Maltese Seniors Central CoastYou need to contact our Welfare

Officer for an appointment.For all information and referral

matters one should call Censina Cefai:Tel: 02 439 000 12 or 0414 267 652

*(All Groups are Sponsored by The Maltese Community Council of NSW).Please contact the MCC Welfare Officer: Marisa Previtera JP on 0414 863123. The MCC offices are at 59b Franklin Street (corner with Young St)Parramatta West NSW(next to West Parramatta Primary School)

Daceyville Maltese SeniorsMeets on the last Wednesday of the

month in the Meeting Room One, No. 3General Bridges Crescent, Daceyville.Note: The Groups also arrange regular Bus TripsCome and join us and make new friends.

Merrylands Social Maltese SeniorsMeets every second Friday of the

month; Miller Room, Memorial AvenueMerrylands from 10.30am to 12.30 am

Llandillo Maltese SeniorsMeets on the first Wednesday of each

month at the Llandillo Community Hall,Seventh Avenue, from 11am to 1 pm.

Greystanes Maltese SeniorsMeets on the second Monday of each

month at the George Preca Centre ofOLQP Church, 198 Old Prospect Road,Greystanes from 10 am to 12 noon

The Sutherland & St GeorgeMaltese GroupOngoing: We meet every First Wednesdayof the Month from 10:00am-1:00pm

Our Meetings/Get Togethers are inter-esting, informative & entertaining. Come Join us and make new Friends

For more information contact our Coor-dinator: Charles Mifsud J.P.Phone (02)9501 5525 – mobile 0421 662 298.

VIVA MALTAVIVA MALTA on COAST FM 96.3Community Radio in Gosford Central

NSW. Aired every fortnight from 6 pm -7 pm (Next is December 7).

Presenter: Nathalie Gatt. Web streaming on: www.coastfm.org.au.


Join us on The Voice of theMaltese facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/thevoiceofthe-

maltese

Friendship Group

Men and Women45 and Older Single

The Friendship Group is a socialgoup for people who would like more

friends at times.We arrange activities that suit our

needs and likes.

For more information ring

Wendy on 9809 3957

or 0415 946 296


Community NewsCommunity News

The Maltese Community Council of NSW is conducting a computerclass at Maltese Resource Centre 59b Franklin Street, Mays

Hill 2145 NSW every Friday between 10.00 am-12.00 For moreinformation contact Em. Camilleri: 0409 744 376

Learn

Maltese!

MALTESE LANGUAGE

SCHOOL OF NSW

Classes are available for students from 6 years to adults at all levels of ability in theMaltese language. We have trained and experienced teachers qualified in

language teaching and with Maltese study credentials. Learn the Maltese language,the culture, lifestyle, cuisine, traditions and about the amazing history of the island.

Classes at: HORSLEY PARK - SEVEN HILLS - LUDDENHAM

For more information and enquiries Call Mary on 9601 2189Or email: [email protected]

Supported by the Minister of Education and Training and the NSW Community Languages Schools Programme.

Member of the NSW Federation of Community Language Schools of NSW; Member of the Federation of

Maltese Language Schools of Australia; Supported by 16 Maltese associations affiliated with the MCC

of NSW. The Maltese Language School of NSW is a Not-For-Profit organisation.

A Division of the Maltese Com-munity Council of NSW Inc.

Id-direzzjoni ta’ The Voicet˙e©©e© lill-qarrejja lij˙ossu li, jew g˙andhomtalent g˙all-kitba, l-aktar bl-IlsienMalti, imma mhux biss, inkella lija˙sbu li bi ftit g˙ajnuna jistg˙ujrabbu l-kunfidenza g˙all-kitba, biexjekk u meta iridu, jew jitolbu l-g˙aj-nuna tag˙na, inkella sempliçementjibag˙tu x-xog˙ol tag˙hom lil: TheVoice of the Maltese biex narawh. Email address:[email protected] Jekk tkunu tridu wara nippublikaw

il-kitbiet tag˙kom.

Tinteressak il -kitba?

La Valette Social CentreChristmas Programme

THURSDAY December 24: 11.30 p.m.: Procession withbaby Jesus; Carols by La Valette choir under the directionby Mro. Victor Flordia. Mass sermon by Natasha Tatari-

noff followed by Midnight Mass.SATURDAY December 26: The Centre opens at

5pm.with normal trading. 8.p.m.Ghana (folk singing).Everyone is welcome.

. THURSDAY December 31: New Year’s Eve DinnerDance. $55 adults, $30 for children. Entertainment by

The Falcons. All welcome..For more information: phone: La Valette: 9622 5847;

Frances 0412 320 4320 or Antoinette: 9671 2992

Cherry Picking Weekend

Saturday 12 & Sunday 13 December $150/pp twin share, $175 single

Saturday December 12Leave Blacktown Workers Club at 9:15am andtravel to Greystanes for the second pick up at 9.30am. We then head toBathurst and stop for morning tea at about 11am (included).

Visit Abercrombie House and later in the day go to a local winery forwine tasting and Lunch (at your own expense). After lunch we checkin to the Motel. The evening is your free time.

Sunday December 13Start the morning with Breakfast (included). After breakfast, travel toRaglan Farm for Cherry Picking at 11:30 and pick cherries to our heartscontent. We will leave the farm around 1:00pm and go to Bathurst forlunch (at your own expense) and look around the town.

3:00pm: We board the coach and head back home. For bookings call: Maria on 0431 800 720 or Doris on 0419 420 915email: [email protected] Trip organised by Maltese Elderly Thanksgiving Day

The Maltese Language School of NSW invites appli-cations for Maltese language classes at the

Alfred Fenech Maltese Resource Centre located at59b Franklin Street (corner with Young Street) Mays

Hill (next to Parramatta West Public School). Both young and adult students may apply.

For more information contact Mary Pace-Feraud on 9601 2189or email: [email protected]

The Maltese Language School of NSW

Maltese RSL (sub Branch) calling forSERVICE/EX-SERVICE MEN/WOMENto join the Maltese RSL sub Branch

The Maltese RSL sub-Branch needmore Service/Ex-Service membersto continue as a sub-Branch. If we don’t have enough Service

members we will not be allowed tomarch on ANZAC Day as a sub-Branch under our own banners. If you are interested in joining, youcan write, call or email Doris Pocock(details below) who will send out theapplication form to you and the ad-ditional information required forjoining. Maltese RSL sub Branch PO Box 8280 Baulkham Hills NSW 2153 Mobile: 0419 420 915 Email: [email protected]

Id-Dar Tal-Providenza Malta, looksafter over 100 residents with dis-

ability and requires over $4 million annually which israised through sponsors, activities and public dona-

tions.

The Friends Of Providence House NSW was foundedin October 2011 and have so far raised over $46,000.

We are the official Ambassadors in Australia.

Donations can be made at any Commonwealth Bankof Australia.

PLEASE GIVE GENEROUSLY – donations are acknowledged

A/C Name : Friends Of Providence House NSWBSB: 062-416 A/C No. 10199448 or contact the Co-

Ordinator: Jim Borg (02) 9636 7767

Proudly supported by:

FRIENDS OF PROVIDENCE HOUSE NSW

Cnr Main & Campbell Sts, Blacktown. Contact George Vella Tel (02) 9622 7799

CHRISTMAS 2015 FUND RAISING APPEAL

Thanks to most comfortablevictories on Day 14 of the

Premier, Valletta and Hiberni-ans not only maintained theirbillng at the top of the leagueladder, but also opened a five-point gap over their nearestchallengers, Birkirkara, Bal-

zan, and now also Floriana.The leaders were both on top

of their form as they inflictedcrushing defeats on Birkirkara(4-0) and Naxxar (7-0) respec-tively. For Birkirkara, the loss in the

weekend’s top match halted

It is with deep sadness to an-nounce the death of Frank Sant a

very active member of the NSWsporting community and for manyyears the treasurer, also served assecretary and director, of the Parra-matta Melita Eagles Football Club.

Frank, aged 70yrs was born in StVennra (Malta) and has lived mostof his life in Mascot NSW. The funeral service was held at St

Theresa Mascot and Botany Cre-matorium. RIP

Malta’s Premier League Football

2-10-21-10-05-1

2-02-11-01-51-0

RESULTS: Day 9Wellington Ph v Melbourne V.West. Sydney W v Brisbane R.Sydney FC v Newcastle Jets Central Coast v Melbourne C. Adelaide v Perth GloryDay 8Melbourne V. v AdelaideCentral Coast v West. Sydney WNewcastle Jets v Brisbane R.Sydney FC v v Wellington PhMelbourne C. v Perth Glory

Valletta v Sliema W.Birkirkara v Tarxien R.Hibernians v FlorianaBalzan v Naxxar L.Mosta v Qormi Pembroke v St. Andrews

RESULTS: Round 14

VallettaHiberniansBirkirkaraBalzanFlorianaTarxien R.MostaPembrokeSliema WNaxxar LQormiSt Andrews

14 10 1 3 31 13 3114 9 4 1 33 16 3114 7 5 2 29 16 2614 8 2 4 23 17 2614 8 2 4 22 15 2614 7 4 3 24 12 2514 7 3 4 23 15 2414 5 2 7 22 24 1714 5 2 7 15 21 1714 2 2 10 13 41 814 1 3 10 10 21 614 0 0 14 6 40 0

Standing P W D L F A Pts

Australia A-League

Valletta, Hibs open five-point gap on top

After some bad publicityand days of turmoil and

fan boycotts of A-Leaguegames, comes the surprise de-feat of defending championsMelbourne Victory who wentdown 2-0 on a poor pitch atthe North Harbour Stadiumwhere the game was marredby a ridiculous colour clashwith the similarity of theteams’ playing strips.

As it turned out, Victory’sRpund 10 loss was WesternSydney Wanderers’ gain as

Unexpected loss for Victory at Wellington

their run of 10 matches without de-feat and after the disappointmentleft their supporters wonderingwhat happened.

Valletta were the better sidethroughout and were rarely trou-bled on their way to making theirtop position a permanent one withHibernains at least till the end ofthe year.

Hibernains had no mercy on-Naxxar and they scored at will toahieve a 7-0 victory with theirbiggest margin so far this term.Balzan must be disappointed with

their lack of fight in one of theworst losses this season, gettingbeaten 3-0 by Tarxien who nowjoin them on 26 points. For Balzanit was the fourth defeat in their last

six matches. The same round saw Sliema return

to winning ways by beating Pem-broke in a dismal season that has seenthem sack coach Stephen Azzopardi.

Former Melita Eagles

director dies aged 70

For at least the last 60 years in Australiathere persisted this strong wave of co-ordinated vengeance to eradicate the

world’s most beautiful game of football.Every conceivable attempt was tried. Theybranded the game as soccer played by thewogs, dagoes and by sissies. This vengeance has been going on unabated

for a long time in Asutralia. The latest out-burst by Alan Jones (doesn’t he sound likeDonald Trump lately?) comparing footballcrowds at the A-League with the Paris ter-rorists is nothing new.

Rebecca Wilson of The Daily Telegraphjoined in as well with further verbal vile.What a pair! Yes, we live in a country of freespeech but those using our media/airwavesneed to be responsible, not pushing hatefulnarratives. The game of Rugby League in Australia is

big business controlled by the News Corp.The World Game therefore, is a huge threatto their money-making and they have nospace for any opposition. The Sydney Cricket Ground was mentioned

recently as one of the state’s most violent

venues. Football, known as “The Beautifulgame”, is not played on the SCG. We have,practically on a weekly basis, a conga-lineof rugby players accused of domestic vio-lence or/and drug related crimes. Rugby League is a game based mostly on

sheer brutality and violence on the field ofplay. On the other hand, Football is a gameof passion. There will always be a few hot-heads on the terraces.


Spor ts Spor ts

Football (the world Game) in Australia

Fans behaving badly should never be tol-erated at any sporting venue but the FFAmust not fall into the trap set about by theMurdock press and the wheeler-dealers ofTV networks. Fans must be given protec-tion. If they break the law they must beprosecuted but only after due process.

This cycle of hate for the World Gamemust stop once and for all. LD

Football, thebeautiful

World game

Rugby League, Australia’s popular,money-making but violent sport

4-21-04-24-23-14-0

Valletta v BirkirkaraHibernians v Naxxar L.Tarxien R. v Balzan Floriana v Qormi Sliema W v Pembroke Mosta v St. Andrews

4-07-03-01-02-03-1

Round 13

their 2-1 win over Brisbane Roarcatapulted them into the top posi-tion where they now enjoy a three-point lead over joint second

Melbourne Victory and Sydney FCwho returned to winning ways bybeating Newcastle Jets at home 1-0. Brisbane Roar slipped to fourtha further point behind.

Next come Melbourne City whoheaped more misery on CentralCoast Mariners, by scoring fivegoals (5-1) for the second week ina row to register their first win inGosford.

Melbourne Victory and PerthGlory have a game in hand. Theyplay their postponed clash on De-cember 16.

the voice of the maltese no. 116

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