the voice of the maltese no. 118

Issue118 online magazine

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

January 5, 2016

The Voice of the Malteseonline magazine

Throughout the year the Maltese don’tsee eye to eye on a number of is-sues, particularly when it comes to

politics, sports, local feasts or bandclubs. But when it is most needed theycome forward as one. They forget all con-troversy.Two of the few occasions when they

show their real worth and their solidarityis towards the end of every year duringthe two important fundraisers, the Com-munity Chest Fund’s L-Istrina, and theFeast of Generosity for the Dar tal-Provi-denza.

More than ever, this year, both occa-sions proved to be even more successfulas record sums of money, over €5 million($A7.43 million) in all were raised to helppeople with special needs.

(see report on page 4)

Two days that unite a nation

Pictured (top): the President of Malta, enthusiasticallybrings to an end the L-Istrina campaign for the Com-munity Chest Fund, and (above) the presentation of acheque towards the Dar tal-Providenza

2 The Voice of the Maltese Tuesday January 5, 2016

Changing regulations

about property in Malta

Voting for all Maltese citizenswherever they live

The December 8th issueof The Voice of theMaltese featured an in-

teresting page 2 article byProfs Maurice Cauchi thatexpressed concern that if theproposed changes by thepresent government in Mal-ta are enacted somebodymight build on your prop-erty without your permis-sion. As an adage to thearticle, The Voice added anexplanation. Now we are in a position to

publish an official explana-tion sent to us by the Parlia-mentary Secretariat forPlanning and Simplificationof Administrative Processesabout the changes that couldmake the situation some-what clearer.

Re Development PlanningBill – requirement forowner’s consent, it states:The Development Planning

Act as approved by Parlia-ment has retained the cur-rent situation in terms ofrequirements for applicantssubmitting applications onland which they do not own.

The application form sub-mitted by the applicant in-

cludes a declaration of own-ership and in those caseswhere the applicant is notthe owner he has to informthe owner of the applicationby registered letter (a copyof which has to be attachedwith the application) of hisintention to apply.

The applicant must alsomake a declaration that theowner has granted his con-sent for the application.

Provisions for the revoca-tion of permissions on thebasis of false informationhave been improved in thenew Act to provide fullrights for a hearing and ar-gumentation before theBoard prior to a decisionbeing taken and not after, asis current practice.

It is, however, not the remitof the Planning Authority toestablish proof of ownershipin the case of contestation, asthis is a matter for the Courts.Environment and Planning

Review Tribunal Bill – timeframes not realistic. A timelydelivery of decisions on ap-peal cases must also be keptin mind when deciding timeframes.

An explanationAclash of mentalities will decide the next election,determining whether citizens want to continueon the path this Labour government has chosen

or opt for a government of principles, according to theLeader of the Opposition, Dr. Simon Busuttil. Dr Busuttil stressed that the PN “wants to restore trust

in politics”. In a document delivered in early December2015 highlighted in The Sunday Times of Malta, the PNdetailed amongst others, ten proposals. Under the heading democratic scrutiny it was declared

that the PN wants to allow citizens in other EU coun-tries to vote in general elections in Malta through dis-tance voting.

This item was confusing either because it was not ex-plained properly or because it indicated that the PNfavours only Maltese citizens residing in EU countriesto vote in general elections through distance voting, ex-cluding all those Maltese citizens eligible to vote but re-siding outside the confines of EU.A Maltese community leader speaking to The Voice of

the Maltese said that he EU membership is becoming apervasive obsession. This term Living Abroad is nowbecoming a misnomer, as it seems to be only focusedon those Maltese living in the EU.The Voice has asked the Partit Nazzjonalista for an ex-

planation and we received this reply from MatthewBonett,the PN’s Director of Information:“Basically this proposal is in line with the principle of free

movement which we signed up to when we joined the EU.You should not lose the right to vote when you exert theright to move freely and reside in another EU memberstate. This is the principle behind the proposal.”

The Voice of the Maltese will continue to militate fordistant voting, or absentee voting as it is known in Aus-tralia, for those at present eligible to vote instead of thepresent method of being physically present in Malta onelection days. However, if distance voting becomes policy of either the

LP or the NP we will never accept that such method of vot-ing be extended only to those living in EU countries.

An alleged breach of intellectual property investigated

Our online magazine, The Voice of the Maltese wasalerted to an alleged breach of intellectual propertymaterial in connection with the recent published

book, Malta & the ANZACs - Malta Nurse of the Mediterraneanby Frank Scicluna, the Hon Consul for Malta in South Aus-tralia.

The two history researchers from Sydney, Mark Caruanaand Carmen Baxter are claiming that their work was plagia-rised without proper acknowledgement and that they werenot satisfied with a lame excuse offered by the author.Following this allegation, The Voice has repeatedly sought Mr.

Scicluna’s reaction, however, our requests have been ignored. Even worse, and quite surprisingly, The Voice has received

what we regard as an abusive and threatening email fromMr. Charles Farrugia, the President of the Maltese RSL SubBranch of SA, that if we print any material which he regardsas “detrimental” to their patron, he would “instruct our mem-bers (including myself) to refuse to receive and read your

newsletter”We do not take such threats and intimidation lightly. We

are also mystified how the RSL found out about this matterthat has nothing to do with it. We can only assume that Mr.Scicluna might have sought Mr. Farrugia’s support when hecould have simply replied to the allegation and given us hisversion of the matter, which we would have published.

The Voice had enough evidence to publish the story in thefirst place but as professional journalists do, we chose in-stead to communicate with Mr. Scicluna for his comments.

We have also provided him with ample time in which toreply to the allegations. However, he has not only chosen toignore us, but instead, out of the blue, we receive this treatfrom the president of the Maltese RSL Sub-Branch of SA ona matter that does not concern him, let alone his association.

The Voice is interested in this matter of alleged stolen in-tellectual property because this is happening much too fre-quently.

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Tuesday January 5, 2016 The Voice of the Maltese 3

Sydney's councils will be reduced from 43 to 25 and re-gional councils will be reduced from 109 to 87 underthe NSW government's plans to reshape local govern-

ment.Premier Mike Baird said he understood that change was

never easy, but the government considered there were sig-nificant benefits to be had from larger councils.

“This is about some of the biggest changes we have seenin 100 years. It's about putting communities and infrastruc-ture first,” he said.Councils facing mergers will be offered up to $10 million

toward the costs of transition and up to $15 million forcommunity infrastructure. Councils reacted angrily to the forced mergers. The Voice

of the Maltese contacted Julia Finn, State Member forGranville, Parramatta City Councillor and former LordMayor of Parramatta for her reaction.

She said, “The Baird Government is gerrymanderingcouncil boundaries for their political advantage to create aLiberal stronghold in Parramatta.” She went on to say: “In Holroyd, I know people from Mer-

rylands to Greystanes and Pemulwuy, from Went-worthville to Guildford West want to keep a separate,stand-alone council. They certainly don't want anything todo with Auburn City Council and its constant bad public-ity. Local government should stay local,” Ms Finn said.

Council amalgamations have proven to be difficult whenimplemented in Victoria under the Kennett Government adecade ago and also in Queensland.Granville was established as 'Parramatta Junction' as ter-

minus of the railway line from Central Station. In 1880 thearea was renamed Granville after the British Colonial Sec-retary, Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville.Shortly afterwards, in 1885, Granville Municipality wasformed and continued until 1948, when it merged into Par-ramatta City.

Holroyd was originally known as the Municipality ofProspect and Sherwood and was established in 1872. It wasrenamed Holroyd in 1927 in memory of Arthur Todd Hol-royd, the first Mayor of the Municipality and was pro-claimed a City on New Year’s Day 1991. It has a proudhistory of over 140 years serving local residents.

Drastic changes to local councils not popular

There are nearly 250 different languages spoken inSydney and there are 75 language groups with more

than 1,000 speakers?Language groups in Sydney are more concentrated than

in Melbourne, Australia's other great home to migrants.Well over half of Australia’s 25,000-strong Nepalese

community is concentrated in Sydney?

Did you know that...?


Jg˙idu li l-Maltin jinfirdu u jinqasmufuq kull ˙aga ta’ xejn, kemm jekk hipolitika, festi, kaΩini tal-banda fl-ist-

ess ra˙al, futbol, eçç. Imma jidher çar lifejn hemm is-solidarjeta’ huma ˙agawa˙da, xi ˙aga li r©ajna rajniha f’Ωew©okkaΩjonijiet, tul jumejn li g˙aqqdu n-nazzjon. Qed ng˙id l-ewwel g˙al meta,g˙as-17-il sena wara l-o˙ra wrew il-©eneroΩita’, fis-26 ta’ Diçembru, waqt l-istrina, u fl-Ewwel tas-Sena, meta saretil-Festa ta’ ÌeneroΩita` b’riΩq id- Dartal-Providenza.

Fejn g˙andha x’taqsam l-Istrina, im-mexxija u nstigata mill-President tar-Repubblika Marie-Louise Coleiro Pre-ca, g˙al darb’o˙ra nkiser kull rekordfejn g˙andu x’jaqsam il-©bir biexjissa˙˙u l-fondi tal-Community ChestFund (MCCF). Waqt l-akbar turija ta’solidarjeta’ ta’ kull sena, skont il-Pres-ident, “il-Maltin urew li huma popluuniku” u fil-©abra bit-tema Fidi, Tamau M˙abba (karita`) inqabΩet is-sommami©bura s-sena l-o˙ra bi €370,000 g˙aldik totali ta’ €4.027,000. Fl-Ewwel tas-Sena mbag˙ad, fil-Festa

ÌeneroΩita` g˙ad-Dar tal-Providenza,ntla˙aq rekord ie˙or, b’©abra ta’€1,040,855.

Il-ftu˙ uffiçjali tal-Istrina fil-Kump-less Sportiv tal-Kottonera, sar mill-President. Fil-ftu˙ ˙adu sehem ukollil-Prim Minsitru Joseph Muscat u l-Kap tal-OppoΩizzjoni Simon Busuttil,li t-tnejn ˙eg©ew lill-poplu Malti biexb˙al dejjem jing˙aqad u jag˙mel ˙iltukollha biex l-okkaΩjoni ssarraf f’turijaçara ta’ solidarjeta`.

B˙al dejjem f’okkaΩjonijiet b˙aldawn, il-President kwaΩi ting˙elebmill-entuΩjaΩmu g˙ax taf li tul is-senaminn dak li jin©abar ikun hemm xitqassam lil dawk li jitolbu l-g˙ajnunali jkunu jin˙tie©u, ©eneralment f’kaΩi

ta’ spejjeΩ g˙al kura medika. Meta kkumentat dwar il-Maltin fi

tmiem il-©abra qalet: “Poplu li qud-diem l-g˙ajnuna u s-solidarjeta` lig˙andu bΩonn jag˙ti lil ˙utu ma j˙areslejn xejn u jqum g˙all-okkaΩjoni, u al-lura rrid nag˙ti ˙ajr lill-Maltin u lill-G˙awdxin kollha, lill-mijiet ta’ vo-luntiera, u lil tant tekniçi li kienu pro-prju wara s-suççess.”

Fl-istess waqtsostniet li dinil-prova ta’

solidarjeta` u ©eneroΩita` tpo©©i aktarresponsabbilta` fuq il-CommunityChest Fund biex tissokta tag˙ti l-g˙ajnua lil min jin˙tie©ha.Veru li l-akbar ©bir sar waqt il-jum ta’

wara l-Milied tul maratona ta’ tnax–ilsiegħa fuq l-istazzjonijiet TVM, TVM2,One TV, Net TV, u FLiving minnMalta u Għawdex, bit-telefonati mill-poplu, imma biex telg˙et dik is-som-

ma saru sforzi s-sena kollha, u anzibaqg˙u de˙lin l-flus anke wara,

fosthom mat-€3,000 li n©abruwaqt dawra ma’ Malta bil-muturi organizzata fis-27tax-xahar mill-pulizija.

Fondi n©abru wkoll mis-sej˙a lit-tfal fl-iskema “fil-

Karus tal-Istrina”, “il-FunRun”, il-kotba tar-riçetti “Tisjir

mill-Qalb” (din id-darba bil-kon-tribut ta’ patrijiet u sorijiet li taw ir-

riçetti tal-ikel li jippreΩentaw humastess fil-kunventi, tag˙hom,“Rockestra 2015”, “Paqpaqli g˙all-Ist-rina”, “The President’s Cruise for Sol-idarity”, u “Solidarjeta` bl-Isports”.Tul l-Ewwel tas-Sena l-Maltin re©g˙u

wrew kemm g˙andhom g˙al qalbhomid-Dar tal-Providenza fis-Si©©iewi ugrazzi g˙al ˙idma minn ˙afna volun-tiera, il-Festa ta’ ÌeneroΩita` irrendietis-somma sabi˙a ta’ aktar minn mil-nun Ewro. Hekk f’dawn iΩ-Ωew© ok-kaΩjonijiet bejniethom, il-Maltin ik-kontribwew b’aktar minn €5 miljun.

Jumejn li g˙aqqdu nazzjon

Fr Martin Micallef, the Director ofId-Dar tal-Providenza, thanking thecontributors of the 2015 Marathon

I have already mentioned that duringWorld War II in Malta, fuel was veryscarce. Hence, transport became moredifficult, especially public transport.But life had to go on. How did we tryto solve this problem? Most of thetransport was by horses and carts,horse-driven cabs (karozzini), om-nibus: horse-driven passengers’ car(nemnebus), boats, where and whenpossible, bicycles and on foot.Many people used bicycles. We could

see a photo of the British Governor,Lord Gort on bicycle going to his of-fice at the Palace in Valletta. Anotherpicture shows soldiers going for theirduties on bicycles. One of my broth-ers, a conscript who was stationed atG˙ajn Tuffie˙a used to cycle everyday, all the way toDelimara wherehe was to reportfor duty; thismeant he had togo from the northto the south of theisland riding hisbike.

Horse drawncabs could be seentaking peoplefrom place toplace, particularlythose who wereevacuated to safervillages. The evac-uees used to takeall they couldcarry with them inthe karozzin.

Families coming out of the air raidshelter who found part of their housedemolished would save whateverthey could, in order to take it with

them to their new destination on ahorse and cart. When our house atÓamrun was damaged through

enemy action, my eldest brother hireda mule and cart to carry our belong-ings to our summerhouse at St Paul’sBay.

There was a time when a few passen-gers could avail themselves of the om-nibus service that had the capacity to

carry between sixand 27 people.Services by horsebecame fewer andfewer as timewent by. Horseswe killed to feedthe people whenno fodder wasleft. Horse-drivenFuneral Hearseswere also at-tacked during airraids. Even trav-elling by boatswas dangerous,sea vessels alsoattracted enemyairplanes, whoused to machinegun and bomb

them.As time went by transport service be-

came more acute, especially whenhorses were fast disappearing. In 1941a friend of mine left Sliema togetherwith her family, to go to Óad-Dingli,a safer place in the country.

Buses were still running at the time;first they had to go to Valletta beforetaking another bus to Dingli. On theirway to their destination an air raidwas announced. The driver fearing for life left his pas-

sengers in the bus and ran off to finda shelter. When the air raid was overthe driver drove to Rabat and left thepassengers half way. They had tomake way on their own.

Therefore, the only means of trans-port left was to walk, to go on footfrom place to another. When thisfriend of mine and her sister neededto buy medicine from a pharmacy atRabat, they had to walk from Dingli toRabat, and back. One of the girls waseleven and the other ten.

Today our children are spoiled be-cause they are drive by car even forshort distances.

MALTA: Echoes

from the past

DorisCannataci

wartime transport in malta


Travelling in the wartime daysin Malta on the nemnebus

Peasant couple with ahorse-drawn cart, a paint-ing by Edward CaruanaDingli. (Heritage Malta)


of warand therew a ssome op-positionto thisproposalby thosein gov-

ernment and elsewhere who saw Jewsas a ‘racial problem’.

In 1945, the announcement by ArthurCalwell, Minister for Immigration in theChifley Government, of a bold and un-precedentedly large-scale immigrationprogram that resulted in more than twomillion people coming here over the fol-lowing 20 years. Australia’s populationwas 7.5 million in 1945.The ratification by the Menzies Govern-

ment in 1951 of the United Nations Con-vention on the Status of Refugees.In 1956 and 1957 the beginnings of the

dismantling of the ‘White Australia pol-icy’, with permanent residence (1956)and citizenship (1957) made possible bythe Menzies Government for ‘non-whites’for the first time since Federation.

In 1966, during the government ofHarold Holt, a review of migration pol-icy-making citizenship for ‘non-whites’much easier, reducing the residential re-quirement from 15 to five years.

In 1973, the Whitlam Government re-moves race as a criterion in immigrationpolicy and in 1975 passes the Racial Dis-

Refugees are in the news with thecrisis in Syria resulting in a massexodus of people to Europe, and

the Australian government’s decision totake in 12,000 Syrian people in additionto the normal annual refugee intake of13,750. In the lead up to that decisionthere was much discussion in the mediaabout how Australiamight respond. As one would expect in a

democratic society, therewere protests in thestreets urging an in-creased intake, and therewere also voices dissent-ing from that view.

Migrants and refugeesare an important compo-nent of who Australia isas a nation and society.Since the end of WorldWar II more than 700,000 refugees havebeen admitted into Australia and morethan six million people have come hereas migrants.

Of the 700,000, Australia took in170,000 Displaced Persons from Euro-pean camps between 1947 and 1952.Australia’s population is 23 million.

Most of Australia’s migrant and refu-gee intake has been a product of deci-sions announced and debated in the OldParliament House, when it was home tothe federal parliament from 1927 to1988. The building is inseparable fromAustralia’s immigration story.Milestone decisions announced and de-

bated in the building include:In 1938, with war clouds darkening

over Europe, the announcement by thegovernment of Joseph Lyons of aplanned intake of 15,000 Jewishrefugees from Europe.

Australia had taken part in the Evianconference in France, a ‘world summit’to discuss the refugee problem attendedby 32 countries. However, only 7,000made it to Australia before the outbreak

BarryYork

crimination Act, making such discrimina-tion unlawful. The Whitlam Governmentalso ratifies the UN Convention on theElimination of Racial Discrimination.

In 1977, the Minister for Immigrationand Ethnic Affairs in the Fraser Govern-ment, Michael Mackellar, makes a land-mark statement outlining thedevelopment and implementation of acomprehensive refugee policy. It is thefirst occasion on which a coherent andspecific on-going refugee policy hasbeen enunciated in the Parliament.

A significant aspect of the new policyrelates to the humanitarian acceptanceof people ‘in refugee-type situations whodo not fall strictly within the UN HighCommissioner for Refugees mandate orwithin Convention definitions’. Aus-tralian staff were stationed in Thailandto organise a regular intake of Indo-Chi-nese refugees, especially Vietnamesefleeing the aftermath of war.

The United Nations Relief and Rehabili-tation Administration (UNRRA) played akey role in assisting Europe’s DisplacedPersons immediately after the SecondWorld War. Its work was continued by theInternational Refugee Organisation,which brought Displaced Persons to Aus-tralia between 1947 and 1952.

Source: ‘Museum of Australian Democracyat Old Parliament House in Canberra, withthis link to the museum’s website:-http://www.moadoph.gov.au/

(Dr Barry York was awarded a PhD in Historyby the University of New South Wales in 1988.He has authored and co-authored severalbooks of political history and immigration his-tory. He was awarded the Order of Australia in2005 for his services to the recording of immi-gration history.)

Old Parliament House: an integral part of Australia’simmigration and refugee story

Old Parliament House. Left:Logo of the United NationsRelief and RehabilitationAdministration (UNRRA)


Going through old copies of TheMaltese Herald, archived at theAlfred Fenech Maltese Resource

Centre, Parramatta West, I came acrossthis write-up, in the March 12, 1969issue of the now defunct Maltese news-paper, announcing the recognition bythe Malta High Commission in Can-berra of the Maltese Community Coun-cil of NSW.

The news item announcing a big leapforward said that this recognition wasan important step of great benefit to theMaltese community, which would pro-mote greater unity among Maltese as-sociations in this State.

The associations that joined the MCCin 1969 were:

1. The Maltese Community WesternSuburbs Association (now known as LaValette Social Centre), who regrettablypulled out from the MCC some yearsago.2. The Maltese Citizens Association(Now defunct)3. The Maltese Guild of NSW (Also de-funct)4. Melita Eagles Soccer Club5. Sacred Heart Association (Has sinceceased to exist)6. Maltese Ex-Servicemen Assoc. (Stillan affiliated association)7. George Cross Club of Wollongong(An affiliated association).

The Phoenician Club Ltd (that has alsoceased to exist) stated that it was readyto join provided the MCC of NSW re-ceives formal recognition by the MaltaHigh Commissioner, who then was HisExcellency Dr Anthony Pullicino, a for-mer Speaker of the Maltese House ofRepresentatives. This news item elaborated that for the

last 14 years, each attempt at formingan umbrella body had a short lifespandue to a lack of genuine support fromthe Malta representatives in Australia.

The article ended by appealing to theMaltese associations to send delegatesto the MCC who were constructive intheir views and able to rise above indi-

vidual personalities, parochialism andindividualism, and to focus on the bigpicture that benefits the whole commu-nity.

The MCC is grateful to LawrenceDimech, (editor of The Maltese Heraldfrom 1961-1971), who donated the en-tire volumes of the newspaper inbound registers, which are an excellentsource of reference in the history of theMaltese community in Australia to theMCC. I have no doubt that Lino Vella,(editor from 1971-2013), and other del-egates would also donate some archivalmaterial to this resource centre, for useby researchers.

A Flashback .....A Flashback ......

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When the Maltese Community Council ofNSW was finally recognised by the Malta HighCommission in Canberra

Copies of The Mal-

tese Herald news-paper archived atthe Alfred FenechMaltese ResourceCentre in Parra-matta West

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Anth. Aquilina from Annandale, NSW writes:

Iwould like you to please let me take thisopportunity to congratulate Mr Charles

Mifsud for receiving the reward he so de-serves after being presented with themedal for Gie˙ ir-Repubblika by Malta onthe occasion of the 41st Anniversary ofRepublic Day.

I don’t know Charles that much, but thelittle I know of him is that along with a fewothers, some of whom have also receiveda similar honour, and a few others whohave not, has always tried his hardest toimprove the well being of the Maltesecommunity in Australia.

We should be so proud of him and allthose before him who have been recognisedby Malta for their efforts, all on a voluntarybasis in various fields. We should also beproud that despite living so far from ourbeloved country, the island that we love somuch does not forget its ‘children’ and ap-preciates what people like Charles do. It isan example for second and third generationMaltese to follow.

I believe that such recognition helps togive a boost to others among us in the var-ious states of Australia, and others doingsimilar work in other countries known forhosting Maltese migrants, to help keepalive the spirit of unity among us.

While visiting Malta Stay at: While visiting Malta Stay at: The Diplomat Hotel, 173 Tower Road SliemaThe Diplomat Hotel, 173 Tower Road SliemaEmail:Email: [email protected] Tel: (00356) [email protected] Tel: (00356) 23497000

Joseph Caruana from Redmond, WA writes

Malta might be the smallest of countries,but after visiting the island again after

six years, I cannot but praise what it standsfor and what it truly is. This island must re-ally be blessed and I have been wishing thatall the Maltese migrants living in Australiaand other countries were here at this time ofyear.

I arrived in Malta with my wife, daughterand her Australian husband and her twoyoung kids on December 13. By the timewe return home on the 30th of January wewould have visited and participated in mostlocal activities on an almost daily basis. De-spite its smallness, Malta is a real gem. Nowonder it is claiming record tourism visitsevery month.

For one, watching news on television andreading the newspapers we can see the con-trasting weather conditions all over. While Malta has been basking in beautiful

sunny weather, but for one day on the 20thof December when it rained incessantly forjust one afternoon, many other countries, in-cluding the UK, South America and Asia arebeing devastated with floods that haveclaimed a number of victims, damaged prop-erty and left thousands homeless.On the other hand, in Melbourne, Australia,

fires have damaged a number of houses andalso left many homeless, while other placeseither suffered from floods or suffered fromheat waves with temperatures in the 40s. I always knew that Christmas time in Malta

was special, but this time we felt as f wewere in heaven. Not only us. It was a delightto watch so many tourists walking aroundValletta taking photos of the sites, and ad-miring the Grand Harbour from the UpperBarrakka.

When we visited Mdina we met hundredsof tourists strolling along the old city’s nar-row streets admiring the palaces and also theview from within the city walls.

During our stay two of us also joined thelocals and managed to take a dip for charityin aid of the Community Chest Fund and theothers visited the Curia where they ex-changed greetings with Archbishop Scicluna… and there’s more to come.

This current visit is becoming an experi-ence that would be hard to forget. I recom-mend it to my fellow Maltese migrantswherever they are, particularly during theChristmas and New Year period.

Congratulations Charles Mifsud

Visiting Malta for Christmas An experience hard to forget


Brussels is forecasting the is-land nation’s GDP growth tocome in at 3.6 percent this

year, well above the average for the28-member bloc of 1.5 percent. Thecurrent strength of the domesticeconomy is also witnessed in an en-viable unemployment rate of belowsix percent.Malta obviously was not immune to

the 2007 global crisis, but weatheredit better than others did. It suffered abrief and relatively mild recession be-fore returning to growth the follow-ing year.

At the same time, it eschewed theclarion call for draconian austeritymeasures, the government opted in-stead to focus on the twin goals ofprompting growth and pursuing fis-cal consolidation. As a result, thebudget deficit is forecast to fall to 1.8percent of GDP this year, down from2.1 percent in 2014.

But as a country with limited re-sources other than its stunning archi-tecture, its benign southern Mediter-ranean climate and beaches and itswelcoming inhabitants that havemade tourism a mainstay of theeconomy, over the years Malta hashad to adapt and forge a future for it-self in the modern world.

It has done so by creating an inno-vative, services-based economy, inwhich about three-quarters of its GDPcomes from activities such as

tourism, financial services and e-gaming, which have attracted in-creasing amounts of overseasinvestment.

The key has been in leveragingMalta’s status as an English-speakinggateway to the EU, its stable politicaland economic environment, its solid,investor-friendly legal and regulatorysystem and its educated workforce.

Other areas with further scope fordevelopment include, for example, inexpanding as an educational desti-

nation for overseas students, whetherit be to learn English or study medi-cine.

Given its strategic location at thecrossroads of Europe, North Africaand the Middle East, Malta mightwell develop into an attractive hubfor the greater region. However, thebiggest threats to that vision and thedomestic economy lie in geopoliticalconcerns such as the ongoing refugeecrisis, or an attack by Islamic mili-tants in its territory.

Maltese economy advances

The popular English daily The Guardian recently carried an article about Malta highlighting inparticular its stable political and economic environment, its solid, investor-friendly legal and regu-latory system and its educated workforce. It said that Malta’s short-to-medium economic prospectsare the envy of many of its fellow European Union statesThe Guardian’s article was headlined:

full speed ahead

One of the record number ofCruiseship that this year sailedinto the Grand Harbour

Dan l-a˙˙ar kien hemm xi a˙barijietdwar l-adozzjoni li ©ibduli l-atten-zjoni g˙alihom. Wa˙da minnhom

©iet mill-Awstralja, fejn kien hemm l-'a˙bar' li l-g˙add ta' adozzjonijiet li jsirukull sena fl-Awstralja huwa Ωg˙ir ˙afna.Fis-sena 2014, kien hemm biss 209 mill-Awstralja, u 83 minn pajjiΩi barranin.1

Huwa nnotat ukoll li l-figura totali ta' adoz-zjonijiet tonqos sena wara sena.2

L-g˙add tant hu Ωg˙ir, u l-istennija tanthi twila (medja ta' madwar ˙ames snin!),li twassal g˙al diversi koppji li jkunu in-teressati fis-su©©ett li jaqtg˙u qalbhom uforsi lanqas jippruvaw. Snin ilu niftakar uffiçjal fid-Dipartiment

tas-Servizzi Komunitarji ta' NSW, li metamistoqsi kemm kien hemm koppji jisten-new fil-lista, wie©eb li din l-istatistika lan-qas tinΩamm - tista' timma©ina g˙aliex!Huwa ma˙sub li hemm ra©unijiet storiçi

g˙aliex dan l-g˙add huwa baxx. L-ewwelnett, illum m'g˙adx hija daqs-

hekk qawwija l-istigma li jkollok tarbijaqabel jew barra Ω-Ωwie©, jew li trabbi tarbija wa˙dek.

It-tieni, hemm il-possibiltà tal-abort, li huwa legali fl-Awstralja. It-tielet, hemm l-esperjenza tal-Ìenerazzjoni l-Misruqa, fejn trabi

abori©ini kienu me˙udin mill-familji tag˙hom u adottati minn ©eni-turi bojod fl-ewwel nofs tas-seklu g˙oxrin, g˙alhekk fl-Awstralja fil-fatt l-attitudni dwar l-adozzjoni hija pjuttost negattiva.3

L-Awtoritajiet Awstraljani qed ja˙sbu biex jibdlu r-regolamenti,sabiex tfal li b˙alissa qeg˙din ta˙t it-trobbija ta' terzi persuni (fostercarers) ikunu iktar façilment jistg˙u ji©u adottati. Dan illum ma tantxisir g˙ax l-awtoritajiet aktar jippreferu jistennew sabiex jekk jista'jkun jer©g˙u jlaqqg˙u lit-tfal mal-©enituri bijolo©içi tag˙hom.

G˙alkemm dan huwa g˙an poΩittiv, jidher li fil-prattika s-sitwaz-zjoni fid-dar tal-©enituri rari tkun tali li tippermetti dan, u t-tfaljispiççaw jitilfu ç-çans li jkollhom ©enituri adottivi tag˙hom qabelma ji©u tal-età (ta' tmintax-il sena).Din is-sitwazzjoni ©eg˙litni na˙seb ftit jekk hemmx soluzzjoni o˙ra

g˙all-g˙add baxx ta' adozzjonijiet. Ósibt fis-sitwazzjoni tad-dwejjaqfejn tfajliet u nisa jiddeçiedu li jag˙mlu abort, meta jiddeçiedu li majistg˙ux jew ma jridux irabbu t-tfal li qed i©orru.

Ìietni din l-ideja - g˙ax ma nfittxux li minn Ωew© sitwazzjonijietnegattivi tin˙are© wa˙da poΩittiva? G˙ax ma tin˙oloqx struttura uorganizzazzjoni li toffri lil dawn it-tfajliet u n-nisa li ma jridux liluliedhom li qed i©orru fil-©uf, l-opportunità li jlaqqg˙uhom ma' kop-pji li jkunu lesti li jaddotawhom? PerswaΩ li mhux kul˙add ikun in-teressat, imma çert li jkun hemm min ikun irid.Biex dan il-proçess ikun ta' interess g˙all-omm bijolo©ika, irid ikun

garantit, ji©ifieri fl-a˙˙ar mill-a˙˙ar l-omm bijolo©ika tkun çerta lima' tibqax iktar legalment responsabbli.

Din il-˙a©a forsi di©à sse˙˙, imma jekk iva g˙andi l-impressjonili sse˙˙ fuq skala Ωg˙ira ˙afna. Ng˙id g˙alija, jekk teΩisti ma tantxhi viΩibbli, u niskanta bis-sitwazzjoni.L-ammont ta' interventi tal-abort li jsiru fl-Awstralja huwa ma˙sub

li huwa g˙oli, g˙alkemm ˙add ma jaf eΩatt kemm hemm. Ir-ra©unihi li mhux l-istati u t-territorji kollha jΩommu statistika dwar dan is-su©©ett. Rajt stima ta' medja ta' 75,000 proçedura fis-sena fil-perjodu1995-2004,4 u stima o˙ra ta' 84,214 fl-2003.5 Figura iktar riçenti hijata 57,380 fl-2014.6

Çertament, b'dawn il-figuri, il-possibiltà hemm qieg˙da. Imqar jekk1% biss tal-interventi ta' abort tas-sena l-o˙ra ji©u ddevjati fi proçessta' adozzjoni, Ωieda ta' 570 adozzjoni lokali fis-sena jkunu jistg˙uise˙˙u, kwaΩi Ωieda ta' 300% fuq il-200 li jse˙˙u issa!Jien nara opportunità hawnhekk g˙al dawk l-organizzazzjonijiet li

jg˙idu li huma kontra l-abort, b˙all-knejjes insara, li jing˙aqdu, uminflok sempliçement jitkellmu kontra l-abort u jippriedkaw il-moralità tal-poΩizzjoni tag˙hom, ifittxu li joffru soluzzjoni prattikag˙al dawk it-tfajliet u n-nisa li jaslu jiddeçiedu li ma jridux irabbulit-tarbija fil-©uf tag˙hom.

G˙alhekk, nipproponi li dawn l-organizzazzjonijiet jid˙lu fi s˙abmad-Dipartiment li jie˙u ˙sieb il-proçessi ta' trobbija (fostering) jewadozzjoni tat-tfal (fi NSW illum jissejja˙ id-Dipartiment tal-Familjau s-Servizzi Kommunitarji, u f'Malta d-Dipartiment tas-Sigurtà Soç-jali) u jag˙mlu ftehim biex mill-komunitajiet tag˙hom jidentifikawnisa li lesti jçedu lit-tfal tag˙hom mat-twelid. Per eΩempju, jistg˙ujag˙mlu avviΩi waqt iç-çelebrazzjonijiet litur©içi u okkaΩjonijiet o˙rakif ukoll kampanji fil-midja.Min-na˙a tag˙hom, il-dipartimenti tal-gvern di©à g˙andhom l-infor-

mazzjoni ta' koppji li jixtiequ jadottaw, u jippreparawhom b˙al majag˙mlu llum, bid-differenza li l-g˙add ikun afna ikbar milli hu llum.

Naturalment mhux kull min qed jikkunsidra li jag˙mel abort ikunkonvint minn dan. Irridu nirrikonoxxu li mara li tkun qed tikkunsidrali tittermina t-tqala tag˙ha g˙andha r-ra©unijiet tag˙ha, u tista' tkung˙addiet minn vjolenza, stupru jew sitwazzjonijiet diffiçli o˙ra.G˙alhekk, l-g˙aΩla finali g˙andha tkun tag˙ha u tag˙ha biss, urrispettata ming˙ajr ma' ti©i kkundannata.Madankollu, jien na˙seb li b'din l-iskema u b'kampanja nazzjonali,

jkun hemm perçentwal tajjeb li jaççettaw din is-sej˙a, u s-soçjetàtista' biss tirba˙ b'dan.

In˙e©©e© lil min g˙andu interess fis-su©©ett, speçjalment dawk lig˙andhom influwenza fl-organizzazzjonijiet involuti, biex jikkun-sidra dan is-su©©eriment.

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

kitba ta’

IVAN

CAUCHI


L-Adozzjoni u l-Abort - Proposta

Referenzi1. http://www.childrenbychoice.org.au/info-a-resources/facts-and-figures/unplanned-pregnancy-profiles-of-abortion-adoption-and-parenting, retrieved 29/12/20152. Use of Routinely Collected National Data Sets for Reporting on Induced Abortionin Australia, Australian Institue of Health & Welfare, December 2005, p.323. http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/policy/abortion/ab-australia.html, retrieved29/12/20152. http://www.australianstogether.org.au/stories/detail/the gap indigenous -disadvantage in australia, retrieved 4/11/20154. http://www.childrenbychoice.org.au/info-a-resources/facts-and-figures/unplanned-pregnancy-profiles-of-abortion-adoption-and-parenting, retrieved 29/12/20155. Use of Routinely Collected National Data Sets for Reporting on Induced Abortionin Australia, Australian Institue of Health & Welfare, December 2005, p.326. http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/policy/abortion/ab-australia.html, retrieved 29/12/2015

also be used in Valletta, Malta’s capitalthat was built by the Knights of St Johnafter the Great Siege of 1565 and conse-quently adorned by its eight languages.During the years Valletta not only had

to serve as a powerful fort, but has alsobecome a strongpoint of culture, econ-omy and politics in the world. Embel-lished at the height of the baroqueperiod, Valletta rose to become a citybuilt by gentlemen for gentlemen. TheValletta International Baroque Festival,first held in January 2013, has been con-ceived purposely as a celebration of thisbaroque identity of Valletta.

Centring around the Manoel, one of theoldest working theatres in Europe whichalso happens to be the only one in Eu-rope that fulfils the role of a NationalTheatre, the Festival extends to the mag-

nificence of St John’s Co-Cath-edral, the atmospheric Vallettachurches, the splendid Grand-masters’ Palace, the aubergesand other baroque edifices.

An international festivalsuch as this will most cer-tainly continue to, not onlyconfirm and enhance Val-letta’s prestige but also showEurope that this small histor-ical outpost in the Mediter-ranean has over the centuriesplayed a vital role in Euro-pean history.

The organisers say that withtwo very important events on the hori-zon namely the EU Presidency in 2017and the European Capital of Culturethe following year, plans for the Val-letta International Baroque Festival arenot only long-term but also ambitious,and no stone has been left unturned insecuring some of the best contempo-rary Baroque exponents of the moment,both from the international sphere aswell as locally.






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Anumber of our readers from Aus-tralia are currently visiting theirrelatives in Malta and during

their stay are still quite keen on receivingand reading The Voice of the Maltese..As such, we recommend these readersand anybody who happens tobe on the island at this time ofyear, to participate in the activ-ities, cultural or otherwise cur-rently being held in Malta.

One such event is the two-week Valletta InternationalBaroque Festival 2016 man-aged by Teatru Manoel,where most of the culturalevents would be held duringthe January 16-30. he event is

As such, the Manoel Theatrecontinues to abide by its cur-rent mission, that is, to enter-tain, inform and educate,thereby enriching the cultural life of theaudience as well as to provide a plat-form for artists to excel in their talents.

The Manoel is committed to the pres-entation of quality artistic productions,to the creation of new audiences formusic and drama genres, and to pro-vide a principal platform for local andinternational artists.

However, other popular venues will

A culturalfortnight notto be missed

Teatru Manoel, a hub of activity in January

The conference hall in the Grand-master’s Palace (now serving as

the President’s Palace) in Valletta

St John’s Co-Cathedral

Anew strategy just published bythe Ministry for Home Affairsand National Security ensures

the adoption of a comprehensive ap-proach to the reception of asylum seek-ers and irregular migrants, and thatthe rights of asylum seekers in Maltawere secured without jeopardising thesecurity of the country. The publication of the strategy for the

reception of asylum seekers and irreg-ular migrants followed a period of pub-lic consultation, seeks to improveprocedures to identify people in clearneed of international protection. The consultation document addresses

specifically the reception aspect, firstlybecause of its importance but also inview of the need to comply with higherstandards, including those emanatingfrom EU legislation.Malta has been experiencing a large

influx of irregular migrants since 2002,when over 1,600 persons reachedMalta’s shores on board unregisteredcraft. This trend went on unabated al-though reductions in the number of ar-rivals were registered in 2003 and 2010.

During 2008 and 2013 over 2,000 mi-grants entered Malta irregularly. Thefigure for 2014, although not as high,still exceeded the 500 mark. Despite thereduction in the number of irregular mi-grants in 2015 standing at more than100 persons, the number of asylum ap-plications received has been significant,given that applications were also re-ceived directly at the Office of theRefugee Commissioner. As at end Octo-ber 2015 almost 1,400 asylum applica-tions were lodged.

In the context of a country of 316square kilometres and a population ofover 400,000 such an influx has signif-icant repercussions in terms of re-sources and accommodation logistics,as well as in relation to other key as-pects, including international protec-tion, integration as well as the returnof those found not to be deserving of in-ternational protection.

In a meeting with a number of non-governmental organisations in the mi-gration field the minister entrusted withthe portfolio Carmelo Abela, empha-sised that the new strategy seeks to drawa balance between humanitarian needsand security requirements.

He said the measures meet the criteriarequired by the European Court ofHuman Rights in its judgements relat-

ing to Malta. Similarly, it is in line withthe high standards deriving from EUlegislation, through the European Re-ception Conditions Directive. It seeks todraw an adequate balance betweenhuman rights, health concerns and se-curity.

The document provides for a systemfor the initial reception of recently ar-rived migrants, as well as for initiativesrelating to detention and open centreaccommodation. It meets the Govern-ment’s pledge not to detain minors andvulnerable persons.According to the new strategy, asylum

seekers would be detained for no morethan nine months and would becomeentitled to access to the labour marketin accordance with the re-cast Recep-tion Conditions Directive, a new migra-tion policy published by thegovernment states.

The document is also based on feed-back received from pertinent stakehold-ers and the public following aconsultation process held during No-vember 2015

The Ministry will now be working to-wards implementation, addressing there-organisation of Malta’s receptionsystems, and strengthening proceduresthat identify those who are in clearneed of international protection.

Roundup of News About Malta


The Maltese government has restored full Schengen regulations after temporarily sus-pending temporarily the free movement agreement for the Valletta Summit on Migra-

tion and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting CHOGM in November.The government then decided to extend the suspension until the end of the year as an ad-

ditional security measure. The Home Affairs Ministry said that Malta never had any threat,therefore the government has now announced that the Schengen rules are back in force. This means that once again, passengers may now travel without a passport to several

other European countries and when it comes to Malta International Airport and the cruisepassenger terminal in Valletta, there will be no passport controls to other Schengen states.Of the 26 countries bound by the Schengen agreement, 22 are part of the EU and the

other four are part of the EFTA.

Malta restores full Schengen rules

Document about strategy for reception of asylum seekers, irregular migrants

New strategydraws balancebetween human rightsand security,

Minister Abela says

Minister Carmelo Abela duringhis meeting withthe NGOsabout the new strategy

Results of a survey conducted in thespring by Barometer shows 85% of

the Maltese believe that Malta’s econ-omy is dong well, and that migrationand environment are the two factorsthat most worry the Maltese. This is anincrease of 12% over last year’s survey.

The result is double the average in therest of the European Union membercountries. Seven out of 10 persons saidtheir job is doing well while 86∞ of fam-ilies surveyed said their financial situa-tion is good.

The only negative aspect is that whenit comes to the level of confidence in thegovernment this was down by 5% from56 to 51%, while 60% stated they had nconfidence in political parties

85% believe economy doing well

Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela discussing the strategy with the NGOs

Total inbound tourists (exclud-ing cruise passengers spendingovernights in Malta) amounted to113,042, increasing by 9.8% or10,102 more tourists, while thenumber of nights spent in Maltaby tourists reached 838,984, rep-resenting an increase of 7.7%.

Tourist expenditure registeredthe highest growth rate of12.2%, as the visitors spent€90.1 million, €9.77 millionmore than the previous year.Cumulative data for the first 11

months of 2015 (January to No-vember) shows that during thisperiod, the number of inboundtourists exceeded the 1.7 millionmark, an increase of 5.9% overthe same period last year.

Overall, the number of touristnights by tourists reached 13.6million, (an increase of 5.2%).The tourist expenditure figurefeatures the highest increase of7.7%, reaching €1.59 billion,113.1 million more over sameperiod last year, with per capita

expenditure increasing from€910 in January to November2014 to €925 in January to No-vember 2015.

The growth also included thetwo international events held inMalta during the month of No-vember.

The figures, that also includedthe two international events heldin Malta during November, re-flect the constant positivegrowth experienced throughoutthe year, which is expected tocontinue even during December.

The majority of source marketswith the exception of Libya andRussia recorded increases. Com-pared to the previous year, theUnited Kingdom registered thelargest absolute increase of36,595 more tourists. Italy fol-lowed with 25,738. Other double-digit growth rates in inboundtourists were recorded from USA,Belgium, Ireland and Austria.

MTA CEO Mr Paul Bugejasaid, the new record figures ach-

ieved throughout this year werethe result of the hard work put inby all stakeholders within the in-dustry. “These efforts amongstothers included several market-ing initiatives, better exposure inInternational travel fairs and in-creased connectivity to our Is-lands,” he added.

Meanwhile, during a visit to anumber of hotels, and faced bythese positive figures, Ministerfor Tourism Dr Edward ZammitLewis said while the tourism in-dustry during 2015 would be re-membered as a record year fromall aspects, in the coming year,along with the MHRA, and theprivate sector, the Government,would be seeking initiatives inorder to improve the conditionsof the workers in the sector.

Malta recorded a double-digit growth rate, in inbound visitorsto Malta in November 2015. The total number of tourists,

115,105 during this month, shows an increase of 11.3% over thesame month the previous year, 2014.

In the last quarter of 2015, Maltarecorded the highest-ever employmentrate in history. According to the Na-

tional Statistics Office’s Labour Force Sur-vey estimates, employment stood at arecord 189,565 (65.2%), with the majority(158,761), working on a full-time basis,while unemployment stood at 5.3%.

The same figures indicate that during thelast quarter of 2015, when compared to2014, there was an increase of 2.8 per centin employment in Malta with total employ-ment (accounting for more than half thepopulation aged 15 and over.

Self-employed persons during the lastthree months of 2015 in Malta accountedfor 13.7 per cent of the total employed pop-ulation.

Statistic shows that on average, out ofevery 100 persons aged 15 to 64, 65 wereemployed, with the highest employmentrate (78.7 %) recorded among persons agedbetween 25 and 54 and stood at 78.7.

When it comes to employed men, figuresshowed that 29.4% of them were mostly en-gaged in wholesale and retail trade, trans-portation and storage, accommodation and

food service activities; 40.8% of employedwomen were mostly engaged in public ad-ministration, defence, education, humanhealth and social work activities.An estimated 24,756 (13.1 per cent) had a

part-time job as their primary employment.A further 6,048 were working on a full-timewith reduced hours basis.The same survey showed that average an-

nual basic salary of employees for the thirdquarter of 2015 was estimated at €16,634.This being the annual basic salary and ex-cludes extra payments such as overtime,bonuses and allowances, as explained in themethodological notes.

The highest average annual basic salaryfor employees was recorded in the informa-tion and communication sector. Average an-nual salaries varied from €29,576 amongmanagers to €10,840 among persons en-gaged in elementary occupations.Now NSO statistic shows that at the end

of November, the number of persons reg-istering for work continued to fall to only4,760. Compared to November 2014, fig-ures show that unemployment has gonedown by 1,741

Astrange theft was reported in the media.An Italian beekeeper by the name of

Ermanno De Chino, the owner of MelitaBees in Gozo claimed that during last yearhe lost 20 percent of his bees. He reportedthat in a few days, in the second half of De-cember, he discovered that somebody hadstolen 22 colonies of is bees from his api-aries, 14 of them from Marsalforn and an-other eight from Xlendi.

The Italian, whose operation is one of thelargest in Malta, described his loss as a“systematic theft”. In the spring, somebodyhad also stolen from him a further 20colonies. He is convinced that somebody fa-miliar with the place is carrying out the theftas a number of them had been carried out inbroad daylight,

He described the latest theft as the mostdamaging because the colonies containedbees that had been brought from Finlandspecifically to produce queens for theFinnish market.

A single colony can contain more than30,000 bees and weighs about 25 kilograms.De Chino said that most likely they are beingtargeted by some people have it in for thembecause they do not want them in Malta.

Italian beekeeperItalian beekeeperfeeling the ‘sting’feeling the ‘sting’


Roundup of News About Malta

End of 2015 Malta records its Highest-ever employment rate

The General Workers Union iscalling on the government to con-vey a meeting with the GWU andother stakeholders in order to dis-cuss its proposal of issuing an“employment passport” for work-ers in the tourism industry thatcould weed out precarious workand other problems in the hospi-tality industry. It would be a vir-tual curriculum vitae that trackedall the places a person worked atin the tourism industry.

Minister Edward ZammitLewis (left) with Dr GavinGulia, chairman of the MalteseTourist Authority (first left)and Mr Paul Bugeja, MRA’sCEO who accompanied himduring his visit to the hotels.

An “employment passport”?

Nov. registers Double-digitgrowth in inbound tourism

Ta˙sbu li ghandu ra©un dak li kiteb fil-blog tieg˙u: “Ktibt aktar minn darbabiex nesprimi l-ammirazzjoni tieg˙i

lejn il-President tar-Repubblika u l-attitudni©dida li l-presidenza ˙adet mal- ˙atratag˙ha....... ebda President qabilha ma kien-qrib ir-Repubblika daqskemm hi hi.”

Hekk beda l-kitba ta˙t it-titlu “Karnivallejn tmiem Diçembru l-kittieb mag˙ruf, Im-manuel Mifsud. Qajjem ftit tal-polemikamhux ˙aΩin.

Mifsud kien qed jikkummenta dwar dak lise˙˙ meta t˙abbret is-somma rekord ta’ flusli n©abru fl-okkaΩjoni tal-Istrina fejn fuq il-palk quddiem il-cameras tat-televiΩjoni kienhemm il-President, ir-ra©el tag˙ha, Ωew©preΩentaturi u o˙rajn. Mifsud jiddeskrivi x-xena hekk:“Fuq il-palk hemm il-President, Ωew©ha,

membri tal-istaff tag˙ha, nies o˙rajn li mastajtx nidentifika u Ωew© preΩenaturi tele-viΩivi li aktarx mexxew il-maratona. Ji©i in-tonat març tal-banda li jfakkrek fil-mumentieΩatt wara t-tifsira finali tal-a˙˙ar log˙batal-lig f’Ta’Qali.

“Wie˙ed mill-preΩentaturi jg˙ajjat b’˙an©-ra daqsiex li nkiser ir-rekord. Imbag˙ad jin-stema’ kull tip ta’ g˙ajat u twerΩiq li kwaΩijixbah l-g˙ajat ta’ xi ˙add b’attakk ta’ isterija.Jidhru ˙afna bΩieΩaq jew blalen kbar tilg˙inu niΩlin. Ir-ra©el tal-President jidher jaqbeΩ ujog˙la u l-preΩentaturi televiΩivi u n-nies l-o˙rajn ta’ fuq il-palk jarmaw jg˙annqu lill-President tar-Repubblika tant li din ma tibqaxtidher, midfuna ta˙t it-tg˙anniq qawwi ta’dawk l-i©sma ta’ madwarha”Din hi d-deskrizzjoni minn pinna ta’ awtur

li jaf i˙addem l-ilsien Malti tassew tajjeb.Mifsud imbag˙ad jirrimarka: “L-a˙˙ar

darba li rajt xeni b˙al din kien l-istadium ta’Ta’ Qali u l-pjazza ta’ Ra˙al ©did f’Mejju lig˙adda. Imma dik kienet okkaΩjoni differentiu t-tg˙anniq ma kienx lill-President tar-Re-pubblika imma lil president ta’ klabb tal-fut-bol u l-plejers tieg˙u.”Dak li se˙˙ xejn ma g˙o©ob lil Mifsud tant

li rrimarka li waqt li l-President g˙amlet taj-jeb li resqet lejn in-nies u ˙alliet in-nies jer-squ lejha, xorta wie˙ed irid iΩomm quddiem

g˙ajnejh “li dikil-mara li hemmfin-nofs tal-palkhija l-Presidenttar-Repubblikau mhux Maryta’ ma©enbna.U l-Presidenttar-Repubblika,qrib kemm hiqrib in-nies,tibqa’ Presidentta’ Repubblika.Il-President tar-R e p u b b l i k am ’ g ˙ a n d e k xtixte˙et fuqhatg˙annaqha kiftg˙annaq lill-captain tat-teamwara li rçieva t-trophy”Huwa tefa t-tort ta’

dan fuq il-mod li sejja˙lu delettantesk ta’ kiftmexxa l-programm imtella’ mit-televiΩjonital-istat li f’pajjiΩi normali huwa l-eΩempjutal-eççellenza.

“Il-karnival li rajt fil-˙ames minuti finalita’ L-Istrina mhux biss i˙ammarli wiççiimma jikkonvinçini kemm tassew g˙andnabΩonn – u bΩonn imminenti – li narawx’hawn tajjeb u NARMU dak li hu r˙is u ta’eΩempju ˙aΩin. U g˙andna bΩonn imminentili nag˙rfu li Mary u Raymond tal-flat ta’fuqna huma l-©irien u l-President hija Pres-ident ta’ Repubblika li suppost g˙andnarispett kbir lejha.”

Il-kitba ta’ Mifsud ©abet reazzjoni min-na˙a tal-President, Marie Louise ColeiroPreca li waqt intervista fuq One Radio,g˙alkemm ma semmietx il-blog ta’ Mifsudkummentat hekk:“Saret tal-mist˙ija li tifra˙ b'xi ˙a©a tajba?Mela fil-Karnival biss tista' tifra˙? Ankeg˙ax xi ˙add ©ie jg˙annaqni, g˙amel aΩin?

“F'daqqa wa˙da l-Istrina, li ilha tittella'g˙al 17-il sena, ©iet karnivalata,” qalet il-President Coleiro Preca, b'ton ta' dispjaçir,filwaqt li sa˙qet li kull meta ng˙alqet is-

somma dejjem kien hemm sens ta' fer˙.“Imma na˙seb li dan m’huwiex karnival.

G˙aliex il-fer˙ espress dak il-˙in ma kienxdwar is-somma, imma g˙al dawk in-nies lise ji©u bΩonn din is-sena u qed ji©u bΩonnb˙alissa,”

Il-President issoktat tg˙id li l-interesstag˙ha huwa n-nies. “Jiena omm ta' familja,u kont bint. G˙alhekk nifhem it-tbatijiet tal-familji. G˙alhekk nid˙ol fihom dawn l-affar-ijiet, b˙all-kura tal-mard."

Il-President qalet li wasal iΩ-Ωmien li f'pa-jjiΩna nistaqsu x'tip ta' Presidenza jrid ikollna.Sa˙qet li g˙aliex hija President ma tistax tinsal-fatt li hija dejjem kienet man-nies. “JienMarie Louise tan-nies,” qalet il-President, fil-waqt li sostniet li l-ma©©oranza tal-Presidentikollha madwar l-Ewropa g˙andhom fondaz-zjonijiet filantropiçi tag˙hom.

Sa˙qet li l-poplu Malti jixtieq li l-Presi-denza tkun qrib il-poplu, g˙aliex l-iskop tal-Presidenza dejjem kien li jkollha respon-sabilità morali kbira.

Jien nifhem ir-reazzjoni tal-President g˙aldak li kiteb Mifsud meta ˙afna kienu dawk linterpretaw dak li qal Mifsud b˙ala kritika lill-President, b˙ala kritika g˙all-fatt li tidher li

tiddedika ˙afna ˙in g˙al g˙anijietfilantopiçi.

Na˙seb li Mifsud komplag˙arraq is-sitwazzjoni bl-uΩukemm-il darba tal-kelma ‘karni-val’, li ma na˙sibx li kienet f’lok-ha. IΩda jien n˙ares lejn dak likiteb b˙ala messa©© lill-popluMalti biex ma japprofittax ru˙umill-©enoriΩita` tal-President, mill-fatt li l-President tqis ru˙ha b˙ala“Marie Louise tan-nies” biex majibqg˙ux juru r-rispett u l-istima lijixraq lill-Presidenza li hija l-g˙olaistituzzjoni tal-pajjiΩ.

(Ara rapport ©enerali tal-attivita’ litg˙aqqad nazzjon f’pa©na 4)


Il-President ta’ Malta Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca flimkien ma’Ωew©ha Edgar f’tannieqa li wrietil-fer˙ li ˙assew fi tmiem il-mara-tona tal-©bir ta’ fondi, l-Istrina

G˙andu Ra©un?G˙andu Ra©un?

Mer˙la ng˙a© qed tqum lill-poplu Malti eluf ta’ Ewro

fis-sena. U fuq kollox minndawn in-ng˙a© il-poplu mhu qed jie˙u xejn. It-tort hu tal-Qrati Maltin. Fl- 2012 l-awtoritajiet

Maltin kienu saru jafu b’razzett b’ammont kbir ta’ng˙a© li ma kienux re©istrati mad-Dipartimenttal-Biedja, u bhejjem li ma jkunux re©istratijitqiesu b˙ala annimali morda u ming˙ajr ma jsirutestijiet fuqhom biex jikkonfermaw jekk humiextassew morda jew le, dawn jinqatlu.F’dan ir-razzett fl-G˙arb G˙awdex, Ganni Attard

kellu 500 ng˙a©a. L-awtoritajiet imxew skont il-li©iu bdew joqtlu dawn in-ng˙a©. Meta kienu nqatlumadwar 200 minnhom is-sid feta˙ kawΩa fil-Qrati

biex il-qtil jitwaqqaf. Qajjem il-punt jekk l-awtori-tajiet kellhomx id-dritt li joqtlu l-bhejjem ming˙ajrma jittestjaw jekk dawn humiex morda jew le.Sintendi, fuq ordni tal-Qorti l-qtil kellu jitwaqqaf

sakemm tiddeçiedi dwar dan il-punt. IΩda min-na˙al-o˙ra l-istess awtoritajiet ˙adu passi biex jaraw liprodotti minn dawn in-ng˙a© ma jaslux g˙and il-konsumaturi. Sintendi, biex jag˙mlu dan kellhomipo©©u g˙assa (lejl u nhar) ma dan ir-razzett.

Din l-g˙assa s’issa swiet lill-poplu €600,000.Hu veru kaΩ ta’ “Time means money”!! Id-dnub

li f’dan il-kaΩ il-flus ˙er©in u mhux de˙lin!!!

... u l-Poplu j˙allas

Meta dan l-a˙˙ar rajt a˙bar dwar il-pastizzi wara artiklu li deher fl-istampa Amerikana, ˙sibt li

fl-a˙˙ar mill-a˙˙ar, kif sabu ru˙hom fi˙wienet f’diversi bliet fl-Awstralja u l-Kanada, il-pastizzi Maltin issa sabu wkollxi suq tajjeb ukoll fl-Istati Uniti. G˙alkemmjing˙ad li hemm ftit wienet tal-Maltin li ji-bieg˙uhom.

IΩda mort Ωmerç. G˙ax l-a˙bar kienet tit-ratta dwar artiklu li deher f’wie˙ed mill-©urnali ewlenin tal-Istati Uniti – in-NewYork Times – fejn ippubblika artiklu ta’James Kanteredec dwar id-dieta... jew a˙jarin-nuqqas ta’ dieta... tal-MaltinSkont l-artikolista (li g˙amel Ωball li ©©en-

eralizza), waqt il-kolazzjon il-Maltin jin-©abru biex jixtru l-pastizzi, imbag˙ad jir-ritornaw f’nofsinhar g˙al xi “timpana mim-lija g˙a©in u l-la˙am - u ˙afna kaloriji.”U xi hamburger jew tnejn ukoll, qal.L-artiklu sa˙ansitra jfakkar fil-mod kif it-

tenur Malti Joseph Calleja kien iddefenda l-˙obΩa Maltija, u li din tibqa’ kif inhiming˙ajr ma jintmess il-livell ta’ mel˙ lijintuΩa fl-g˙a©ina.Mhux ta’ b’xejn li skont rapport tal-G˙aq-

da Dinjija tas-Sa˙˙a jirriΩulta li l-Maltinhuma ˙oxnin aktar mill-©irien tag˙homf’Çipru, il-Greçja, Spanja u l-Italja, u li fl-obeΩita’ (il-˙xuna) qeg˙din fl-ewwel postmill-Istati Membri tal-Unjoni Ewropea.

Imma talinqas l-artikolista ta’ dan il-

©urnal kellu jammetti li ras g˙al ras, il-piΩtal-Amerikani huwa aktar minn dak tal-Maltin.... avolja g˙adna ma rnexxilniexinda˙˙lu daqstant il-pasitizzi Maltin fl-IstatiUniti.


Mix-xena tal-˙ajja Maltija 2

Tafu min hi d-dentista tal-Prim Ministru MaltiJoseph Muscat? Óadd ˙lief Marlene Farrugia

li dan l-a˙˙ar irriΩinjat minn deputat Laburista u˙adet postha fil-Parlament b˙ala Indipendenti.

Dan sar mag˙ruf minn fomm il-Prim Ministrunnifsu waqt il-programm televiΩiv “Skjetti” fejnil-pubbliku seta' jistaqsi dak kollu li jrid lill-Kaptal-OppoΩizzjoni sakemm il-mistoqsija ma tkunxdwar il-politika.

Interessanti!!

Temp tassew Sajfi g˙all-festi

Il-pastizzi Maltin jisirqu l-attenzjoni tan-NYT!

Dawk it-turisti li g˙addew il-btajjel tal-Mi-lied f’Malta, l-aktar u l-aktar dawk ©ejjin

mir-Renju Unit, Ωgur ˙ar©u sodisfatti.G˙alkemm qeg˙din fix-xitwa t-temp kientassew ˙anin billi ftit li xejn g˙amlet xita u t-temperatura, l-aktar matul il-jum, baqg˙etaççettabli. Kellna Milied u l-Ewwel tas-Senamill-isba˙.

It-temp sabi˙ irrifletta wkoll fuq l-g˙add ta’nies li Ωaru G˙awdex fil-jiem tal-festi.BiΩΩejjed ng˙id li fi tmiem il-©img˙a tal-Mi-

lied (26 u 27 ta’ Diçembru) qasmu minn Maltag˙al G˙awdex aktar minn 21 elf persuna.Minn çifri tal-Gozo Channel u m˙abbara mill-Ministru g˙al G˙awdex Anton Refalo, jir-riΩulta li s-Sibt biss (fis-27) qasmu lejnG˙awdex aktar minn 10,500 passi©©ier u2,500 karrozza. Din ix-xejra kompliet l-g˙adal-Óadd fejn b’kollox ivvja©©aw 10,700 pas-si©ier u 2,300 karozza.

Dan kollu jfisser li meta mqabbel mas-senal-o˙ra, f’dan l-istess perjodu, din is-sena kienhemm Ωieda ta’ aktar minn 81% fuq il-pas-si©©ieri li telg˙u G˙awdex, u aktar minn 65%aktar fl-ammont ta’ karozzi li qasmu bejn iΩ-Ωew© gΩejjer.Sintendi b’dan l-influss hekk kbir ta’ nies li

marru G˙awdex Ωdied sewwa l-kummerçf’G˙awdex u marru tajjeb afna l-istabilimentituristiçi fil-gΩira G˙awdxija.

Jekk lit-twe©iba tieg˙ekg˙ar-ras tal-artiklu hi ‘le’

g˙andek çans tag˙mel danf’Malta jekk tmur tiekol f’çer-tu restorant fi Strada Stretta,il-belt Valletta. G˙al abori©i-nu mixwi (grilled) trid tordnais-South Street Salad g˙axskont se ssib ‘grilled aborig-ines’ (ritratt fuq).

Imma l-istorja tal-‘aborig-ines’ minflok ‘aubergine’(brun©iel) mhix xi a©a ©dida.Darba ristorant f’Paceville of-frieli ç-chickentights avoljakont kuntent bil-kalzetti s˙an

li kont liebes. Mort Bugibba u

b˙ala frott tal-ba˙ar offrewli ‘Seafood Pizzawith muscles’ u b˙ala deΩertaspiççjat bi ‘sweat loaf’. B˙alaxarba offrewli kemm ‘Hope-les Ale’ (hopleaf) u ‘ImpotedBeer’. Meta kont sejjer id-darrajt stabbiliment enormi li fis-showroom kellu il-’BathroomSuits’ .

Stennew ftit g˙ax fil-kantintal-Universita` ta’ Malta l-is-tudenti sa˙ansitra ©ew offrutiftira li fost l-ingredjenti kellha

l-‘cow slow.’ Ma nafx hawn-hekk kienux qed jirreferug˙all-pass li bih jimxi s-ser-vizz jew inkellha g˙all-‘Coleslaw’

Na˙seb li menus b˙al dawnjinsabu f’kull rokna tad-dinja. Qed ng˙id min jaf kieku kullwie˙ed mill-qarrejja kellu jo-qg˙od b’g˙ajnejh miftu˙in ujibag˙tilna xi Ωelqa b˙al din,possibilment b’xi ritratt?Na˙seb li l-edituri tal-Voiceikollhom xalata s˙i˙a.!!!!

Qatt kilt Abori©inu?

Nippers is a junior programme thatintroduces children aged 5 to 14 to

surf lifesaving. Unlike senior surf life-savers, the majority do not patrol thebeaches. It is a fun outdoors activitythat grows a child’s confidence, teaches

valuable life skills and knowledge. The focus for Nippers is for it to be

on fun and surf awareness. Nipperslearn about safety on the beach, aboutdangers such as rocks, also about surfconditions, including rip currents, sand-bars and waves. .

They say it was first stared at Nam-bucca Heads NSW in 1961. Since thenNippers have evolved into Australia’sbiggest youth movement combining ac-tivities with community services.Theyeven eclipse their land based rival theScouts, though Baden-Powell’s organ-isation had a 50-year head start. It is agreat way for children to make friends,be active and enjoy the beach in a safeenvironment.

Surf Life Saving Australia, claimed anational reach of 166,923 members andnearly 40 per cent of them, 62,866 areNippers aged between five and 14.Pictured above: Harley Dimech (wav-ing), the U/8&9 yrs club champion,North Avoca Beach NSW Nippers

Trade Minister Andrew Robb(right) said the abolition of subsi-

dies would make Australian producersof sugar, meat, dairy, grain, wine, fruit,processed foods and cotton more com-petitive. "For decades, export subsidieshave threatened the livelihoods of Aus-tralian farmers," he said in a statementfrom Kenya. Ending the subsidies has"been a major objective of Australiantrade policy since the 1970s".

Under the 1995 Uruguay Roundagreement, World Trade Organisationmembers were allowed to use morethan $15 billion of agricultural exportsubsidies. More than 90 per cent ofthese are held by Europe and NorthAmerica. An agreement by all 163

members ofthe WorldTrade Or-ganisation toend agricul-tural sub-s i d i s e sshould makeAus t ra l ianf a r m e r smore com-petitive indairy, sugar, grain and wine.

In a deal that coincided with the firstday of the Australia-China trade agree-ment operating, which triggered tariffcuts, the WTO decided to phase out$15 billion of export subsidies.

A quick glimpse at AustraliaA quick glimpse at Australia


Two MPsstand aside

Subsidies major obstacle

Meet the Nippers

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's Govern-ment has been rocked after two scandal-hit

MPs stood down from their frontbench just afterChristmas. Liberal MP Mal Brough (above) willstand aside, pending a police investigation, whileJamie Briggs MP has tendered his resignation.Briggs (below) resigned as Minister for Cities

and the Built Environment following a late-night incident involving a female public servantin a Hong Kong bar during an official overseasvisit last month. Mr. Briggs the Liberal Memberfor Mayo in South Australia, is expected to re-main in Federal Parliament as a backbencher

Mal Brough, Member for Fisher in Queens-land was the Special Minister of State and Min-ister for Defence Materiel and Science has beenunder investigation by the Australian FederalPolice over the alleged copying of the diary offormer speaker Peter Slipper

14. Transfield, the company that holds multi-billion-dollar contracts to run Australian den-tation centers, paid zero tax on a turnover of2.8 billion and taxable income of just $16million. New Corp, which had a turnover of $3.9 bil-

lion, declared $97.2 million in net incomeand paid $4.2 million in tax while FairfaxMedia had a turnover of$1.6 billion, taxable in-come of $315 millionand paid $16 million tax.

ATO CommissionerChris Jordan (right) whohas 30 years of experi-ence in the tax profes-sion, said a company not paying tax did notnecessarily indicate tax avoidance. “Taxshould matter to these companies. It is notsomething to be taken lightly” he said.

Almost four in 10 large companies in Australia paid no tax last year, accordingto the first release of tax transparency data by Australian Tax Office. The

Turnbull government has been urged to shift its focus to “the top end of town”to combat the worsening deficit amid evidence billions of dollars are being lostto corporate tax.

Tax campaigners said evidence that nearly 600 of the 1500 largest companiesoperating in Australia did not pay a cent tax in tax in 2013-14 raised a questionover Treasurer’s Scott Morrison’s repeated claim that the government has aspending problem rather than a revenue problem. It is hard to sell more cuts tohealth and welfare when there are sections of the very big end of town not payinga cent to government revenue.The ATO revealed such household names like Qantas, Lend Lease, Virgin Aus-

tralia, General Motors, Vodafone, Hutchinson Australia, Chevron Australia andExxonMobil Australia paid no tax in 2013-

A quick glimpse at AustraliaA quick glimpse at Australia


Who is paying taxes?

MICHELLE ROWLAND MPFEDERAL MEMBER

FOR GREENWAY

Proudly serving the areas of:

Acacia Gardens, Blacktown*, Girraween,Glenwood, Kellyville Ridge, Kings Langley,

Kings Park, Lalor Park, Parklea, PendleHill, Prospect*, Quakers Hill*, Riverstone,

Rouse Hill*, Schofields, Seven Hills,Stanhope Gardens, The Ponds,

Toongabbie*, Vineyard*Parts of

230 Prospect Hwy, Seven Hills 2147Ph: 9671 4780

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @mrowlandmp

www.facebook.com/mrowlandmp

Bushfires in Australia are frequent events duringthe current hotter months of the year, due toAustralia's mostly hot, dry climate and the in-

creasing effects of climate change. In Victoria Christmas Day fires destroyed 118

homes in the Wye River (located more than 150 kmsouth of Melbourne) and Separation Creek. No liveswere lost in the fire.

We had the Sampson Flat bushfires in South Aus-tralia. Some 26 homes have been destroyed, which isthe worst since the Ash Wednesday blaze in 1983 thatkilled 28 people. In Western Australia lives andhomes were under threat from bushfires burning inPerth Hills. Each year, such fires impact extensiveareas.

While they can cause property damage and loss ofhuman life, certain native flora in Australia haveevolved to rely on bushfires as a means of reproduc-tion, and fire events are an interwoven and an essen-tial part of the ecology of the continent. For thousands of years, Indigenous Australians have

used fire to foster grasslands for hunting and to cleartracks through dense bush.Major firestorms that result in severe loss of life are

often named based on the day on which they occur,such as Ash Wednesday and Black Saturday.

Some of the most intense, extensive and deadlybushfires commonly occur during droughts and heatwaves, such as the 2009 Southern Australia heatwave, which precipitated the conditions during the2009 Black Saturday bushfires in which 173 peoplelost their lives.

Other major conflagrations include the 1983 AshWednesday bushfires, the 2003 Eastern Victorianalpine bushfires and the 2006 December Bushfires.

Victoria has seen the majority of the deadliest andlargest bushfires in Australia, most notably the 2009Black Saturday fires, where 173 people were killed,around 2,000 homes and structures were destroyed,towns were gutted, and some, such as Marysville,were destroyed.

History of bushfires in Australia- deadliest and largest in Victoria

The fire left behind it a trail of destruction, including wrecked buildings


It was no secret that in the early forties, fifties and six-ties, one of the activities those who left Malta as mi-

grants to make a new life for themselves and theirfamilies in Australia their future residence, missed, wasfootball, a sport that the Australians did not care muchabout. Therefore thanks to their survival instinct theydecided to so something about it, and they formed thetheir own football clubs, in Victoria and NSW. Sunshine George Cross say on their website, that

“whenever there was a gathering of Maltese migrants in Mel-bourne in the 1940’s, the reoccurring topic that kept surfac-ing was about forming a Maltese sponsored football team inVictoria”. But it took some time for the idea to come tofruition as Maltese migrants in Victoria launchedGeorge Cross Football Club on March 12, 1947. Then in 1955 Green Gully Soccer Club (nicknamed theCavaliers) now known as Green Gully SC, a footballclub based in Melbourne, Victoria was formed.Eleven years later, in 1956, the Maltese migrants who

settled in NSW formed the Melita Eagles club after theamalgamation of two Maltese clubs the Malta Eagles(est. 1952) and the Melita Soccer Club (est. 1955).

A lot of water has passed under the bridge and all threeclubs have had their best moments. However, thoughthey have lost a number of supporters, they have man-aged to survive, not in the top echelons of the game,but in lower divisions. All three clubs and a few others spread around the

country soldier on, but it depends largely on a few peo-ple who keep their faith in their clubs who, for betteror worse, hope on and still, whole-heartedly supportthem, perhaps hoping for better times.One such supporter is 37-year-old Anthony Theuma.

The Wentworthville-born, son of Maltese parents whoarrived in this small town in the state of NSW in 1974to make a life for their future family, is a staunch sup-porter of the Eagles, now renamed Parramatta Eagles. To say that he is a supporter would be saying it mildly.He told The Voice of the Maltese, “Supporting the Eagleshas been in my family's blood for the past four genera-tions, with my grandfather, my father, my five-year-olddaughter, barracking for the team in red-and-white andnow myself.” The Voice has decided to let Anthony tell his own story.

From a very early age I wastaught about Maltese traditionsand values, and to this day I

continue to hold these close to myheart. My way of showing this lovefor my heritage has been throughparticipation in the Maltese Com-munity as a volunteer trumpeter forthe Our Lady Queen of Peace Mal-tese Band, New South Wales, for thepast 28 years, and also currentlyrunning the Parramatta Melita Ea-gles Football Club Facebook pagevoluntarily for the past ninemonths.As a football-lover, my love for the

Eagles club was instant. From as far asI can remember, I started out as athree-year-old playing soccer (as wecalled it back then) in the backyardwith my father, and my pet dog.A supporter of the Eagles for a good30 years now, I was greatly influ-enced by Eagles' legend Ray "Zazu"Farrugia. He arrived at the Eagles inAugust of 1978, as a rising star fromMaltese football club, Floriana at theage of 22. In his twelve years playingin the Eagles, he won the hearts ofevery Melita supporter, and became acult hero. My late grandfather, Anthony The-uma Snr. (Tat-tazzez), knew Farrugiawell. He was a junior player with the“Irish Greens” but made his markplaying for Luqa Saint Andrews.During his three visits to Australia,my grandfather was a dedicatedMelita supporter, who expected thatmy father (who didn't mind at all)not organise anything on game dayin order to take us to watch everygame during his stay. That is how

my love for the Eagles was born.I have great memories of the so-

called ‘Young hoodlums’ standingon the hill in front of the originalMelita Stadium scoreboard, and theoldies swinging their cuqlajta(wooden clapper) over their heads.

The distinctive click-and-swirlsound of this instrument, togetherwith the powerful melodical soundof the trumpet echoing around theDonald Agius Stand, and the chorusof ‘ma tag˙mlu xejn’ sung in unison,would give me chills of joy down myspine.It had always been a dream of mineto play for Melita one day, so at theage of five I began playing soccer forthe Under 6's team at St. Patrick'sSoccer Club in Blacktown. Unfortu-nately, that season would be mylast. It was too difficult for my hardworking dad, and it took its toll onmy poor mother who did her best to

walk me to and from training in thecold winter carrying a one-year-oldbaby in her arms. Soon after, influenced by the samegrandfather, who was regarded asone of the best trumpeters to evercome out of Malta, I commencedplaying the trumpet. This wouldmean the end of my dream, as at theage of seven, and in future years, Iwould not have the time to enjoyboth activities.Although my dream of playing for

the club I loved so much was over, Icontinued to follow the Eagles reli-giously. Throughout the 1980's and1990's, my father would take me toMelita Stadium and, whenever hehad the chance, sometimes also toother grounds where the Eagles en-joyed many successful seasons toclaim numerous honours and tro-phies in both the NSW State Leagueand Australian National SoccerLeague (NSL). The two main highlights of the

club's existence would definitely bewinning the 1990/1991 and the1993/1994 NSL Cup titles, but alsoup there with these two titles, wouldhave to be grabbing the historic tre-ble set in 1997, when the Eagleswon all three New South Wales Pre-mier League grand finals in theUnder 18s, 21s, and 1st grade sides.Our Eagles also featured in the NSLFinals Series on two occasions, andwere runners up in the 1992/1993NSL Cup Final. It was a great periodfor Melita and all its supporters towitness some of the greatest foot-ballers ever to grace our shores, lo-cally and from abroad, and toproudly play in the red-and-white.

*Continued on page 7

AnthonyTheuma

AnthonyTheuma

Eagles 'Till I Die...’ My StoryEagles 'Till I Die...’ My Story


*From page 6

I experienced so many of thosememorable moments in the club'shistory, but I think my favourite Ea-gles' moment would have to be theepic 1988 NSW State League grandfinal win over Blacktown City (0-0,7-6 on pens), for the simple fact thatit was the last time that my grandfa-ther, father, and myself wouldwatch a Melita match together.Sadly, the club wasn't without its

unfortunate periods. The Eagles onlylasted one season in the National Soc-cer League in 1984, after placing sec-ond from last in the competition. At the end of the 1994-1995 season,after returning to the National SoccerLeague in 1989-1990 and playing outsix seasons, for no apparent reason,the Eagles were cruelly relegated eventhough they had placed third fromlast in the final league ladder, andwon two appeals in court to be rein-stated back into the National SoccerLeague for the 1995-1996 season. It was for this reason

that for the first timeback in 1995, I stood onthe ‘holy turf’ of MelitaStadium. That was whenthe members of the OurLady Queen Of PeaceMaltese Band (myselfand my father included)along with a largeturnout of Melita sup-porters and MP JohnAquilina, in a rally tosave our beloved clubfrom relegation of thiscountry’s premier foot-balling competitionpounded out the “Innu Melita Ea-gles” (“Ma tag˙mlu xejn”). Togetherwe proudly voiced the words to thisnostalgic theme song, In 1999, through the support of

their major sponsor ParramattaLeagues Club, the Eagles supporters(myself included) were given somehope of believing that the clubwould be reinstated back into theNational Soccer League for the1999/2000 season. Sadly, onceagain, our hopes were dashed as theLeagues Club decided to create theirown football club named as Parra-matta Power Soccer Club. I had a brief affiliation with the

Power, winning the Sydney-widelogo competition carried out by theLeagues Club. They used my logodesign and features to finalise the

club’s logo. While the only reason for enteringthe logo design competition was apractice exercise for my universitydegree, I most certainly made a greatimpression on Mr. Sam E. Vella (atthe time Parramatta Melita Eaglespresident). He approached me inour corporate box at the Power’sinaugural National Soccer Leaguematch in October of 1999, gaveme his business card and askedme to strongly consider joiningthe Eagles’ committee. Regrettably I wasn’t able to jointhe Eagles’ committee that sea-son, as my university studieswere my first priority. In 2012 Iwas again encouraged to con-sider joining the committee bythen Eagles president, JamesChetcuti, who was impressedwith my passion and ideas topush the club forward, aswell as the many Eagles’ arti-cles and programmes I hadcollected over the decades.

I am sad to say that once againnothing eventuated as James laterscored a dream position in the Foot-ball New South Wales Organisation,leaving me without a contact to pur-sue this exciting journey.Then in October 2014, I came acrossa Facebook Page named “AustralianFootball Before The A-League”,which as a football fan, I found veryinteresting. I was certainly able tocontribute to this page, adding allmy Parramatta Melita Eagles articles,programmes, photos, etc. for all foot-ball lovers to enjoy. A few monthswent by, and in February of this year,I again came in contact with JamesChetcuti, who noticed I was stillkeen on the Eagles. James asked if I would like to run

the Parramatta Melita Eagles Face-

book page. I gladly accepted, and itwas organised for me to commencerunning the Eagles’ page.

Over the past nine months,throughout the 2015 New SouthWales Premier League and StateLeague season, I have kept all Eaglesfollowers up-to-date with posts, fix-tures, reports, and results of all ourmen’s and women’s teams gainingalmost 500 new likes, and almost2,000 likes in total. Historical items,articles, photos, and videos are alsoposted on the page for all the nos-talgic Eagles supporters to enjoy.

Continued in the next issue

The Eagles had someunfortunate periods

Top: The Sep. 21, 1999 TMH issueannouncing Anthony as winnerof Parramatta Power’s logocompetition. Logos (above)


L-IRQAQATFil-Perfett i) Verbi li jibdewbil-g˙ iΩommu l-vokali ta’ wara-jha.

Ez.: g˙aΩiltmhux g˙Ωilt b˙al˙dimt (˙adem).

ii) Verbi bl-(‘)jew g˙ siekta fit-tarf jibdluha f’jmeta jkunu fl-ewwel jew fit-tieni per-suna.

EΩ.: qata’ iΩda qtajt mhux qtag˙t

iii) Il-Verbi Torox jiΩdiedu b’ej metajkunu fl-ewwel u fit-tieni persuna.EΩ.: abb mela abbejt, ˙abbejna.

Filwaqt li fit-tielet persuna pluralinΩidu ew minflok u.

EΩ.: ˙abb iΩda ˙abbew mhux˙abbu.

Fin-Negattiv il-verbi jie˙du l-par-tiçella ma quddiemhom u (x) li

tinhemeΩ f’tarf il-verb.EΩ.: huwa sab iΩda huwa ma sabx

Fin-Negattiv ukoll:(i) il-verbi li jispiççaw b’a jbidd-

luha f’ie.EΩ.: beda = ma bediex; ˙adha = ma

˙adhiex.(ii) il-verbi li jispiççaw bl-(‘)

iwaqqg˙uh.EΩ.: qata’ = ma qatax; baqa’ = ma

baqax.

(iii) il-verbi ta’ Ωew© sillabi li jkoll-hom (ie) fil-Mamma jbiddluha f’ijew f’e

EΩ.: bierek = ma berikx; siefer =ma sifirx.

Meta xi verb fin-negattiv ifixklekbiex tiktbu, qieg˙du l-ewwel fl-af-fermattiv.

EΩ.: ma riedx g˙ax huwa riedmhux rieç

(Fil-˙ar©a li jmiss nibdewbil-konjugazzjoni tal-verbi)

Biex tiktebMalti tajjebAktar dwar il-Verb: forom, modi u tempijiet (4)

There is an interesting addition atthe Maltese Bi-Centenary Mon-

ument at Civic Park Pendle HillNSW. The plaque to honour the 54Maltese heroes who served with theANZACs during World War Onethat was unveiled on November 15last year, has now been affixed tothe monument (see photo).

A smaller copy of the plaque isalso to be affixed at the MCC Cen-tre at Parramatta West. and plansare afoot for another copy to be af-fixed to the Anzac Monument atthe Argotti Gardens in FlorianaMalta.

The ANZAC plaque at the Bi-Centenary

Monument

Óadd wara Óadd tasal ta’ kul˙add.Il-flus imorru u ji©u.Mis-saba’ jie˙u l-id.Il-bniedem jipproponi u Alla jid-disponi.Il-˙uta Ω-Ωg˙ira qatt ma kielet il-kbira.Skont iz-zokk, il-ferg˙a.Min jid˙ol bejn il-basla u qoxrithajibqa’ b’ri˙itha.Bniedem avΩat nofsu armat.Bin is-seng˙a g˙andu nofsha.Il-kelb il-mismut kull ilma ja˙sbumis˙un.Iddardarx l-g˙ajn li trid tixrobminnha.Isma’ bilfors u emmen jekk trid.Min jobΩoq fis-sema ji©i f’wiççu.It-tfal jikxfu l-g˙awar.L-ilbies jag˙mlek nies.Il-fsied i˙assar l-ulied.Bog˙od mill-g˙ajn, bog˙od mill-qalb.Il-˙uta minn rasha tinten.Dak li tiΩra’ ta˙sad.IΩ-Ωejjed ˙u n-nieqes.Il-qattusa g˙a©©elija frie˙ g˙omjatag˙mel.Mal-mag˙mul m’hemmx kunsill.Kelb li jinbaÓ ma jigdimx.Ix-xog˙ol salmura tal-©isem.Ebda warda bla xewka.Skont id-daqqa niΩfnu.Tg˙oddx il-flieles qabel ifaqqsu.G˙al kull g˙adma hawn mitt kelb.Il-kliem iqanqal u l-eΩempjujkaxkar.L-ikbar trux min ma jridx jisma’.

Qwiel popolari

Biex tipproduçi magazine b˙al dan, li wara kollox hu frott tal-passjoni li g˙andna biex inwasslu t-tag˙riflill-Maltin barra minn art twelidhom, ma jin˙tie©x biss xog˙ol u ˙in, imma wkoll spejjeΩ.

Biex jittaffew u˙ud mill-ispejjeΩ nippruvaw insibu sponsors ˙alli jg˙inuna. G˙ad m’g˙andniex biΩΩejjedminnhom, imma bdejna, u ta’ min jag˙tihom ˙ajr.

Kull qalb trid o˙ra, g˙alhekk in˙e©©u lill-qarrejja biex i©ibu dan quddiem g˙ajnejhom u kemm jista’ jkun juΩaw is-servizziu/jew jixtru l-prodotti ta’ dawk li qed jirreklamaw/jisponsorjaw fil-magazine.

Kull qalbtrid o˙ra

As of December 2015 Sydney com-munity Television station Sydney

(TVS) has ceased broadcasting, butsays it is actively looking at potentialvideo on demand (VOD) platforms tocontinue the service.

GDay MaltaAussie Show was broad-casting on this station every Saturdaywith repeats on Monday and Tuesday,therefore this is indeed another blowfor the Maltese community.

Earlier this year then Communica-tions Minister Malcolm Turnbull an-nounced the end of access to broadcastspectrum for community television, ar-guing that in this digital era the sta-tions should be broadcasting onlinerather than on terrestrial television,giving all stations until December 31on air.Rachel Bentley, TVS’ CEO said “After

extensive discussions with Govern-

ment and other CTV stations,the board of TVS has decided tofocus our resources on the bestpossible outcome for TVS andthe distribution of communitycontent.

“We are developing plans forthe establishment of a robustVideo on Demand (VOD) plat-form and an alternative mode ofbusiness operations for TVS.”

Other community TV stationsin Melbourne, Perth and Ade-laide, which are broadcast onChannel 31, are understood tobe continuing into the New Year withboth a terrestrial and VOD offering.Bentley said it would aim to relaunch

the station, which is funded by West-ern Sydney University and the soon tobe defunct Metroscreen, and is seen asa valuable training ground for people


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

G˙alkemm il-PBS ta’ Malta tforni lill-SBS fl-Awstralja bis-servizz tag˙ha, il-qarrejja huma m˙e©©a biex x’˙in iridu

jid˙lu fil-website: www.tvm.com.mt u jsegwu l-a˙barijiet ta’ Malta minn hemmhekk. Il-website tkun a©©ornata l-˙in kollu bi stejjer li jkunu qed ise˙˙u.Mhux biss, imma min irid isegwi dak li jkun g˙addej, kull filg˙odu ˙in ta' Maltafuq il-website jittellg˙u wkoll l-a˙barijiet tal-jum ta' qabel.

L-a˙barijiet tal-PBS (Malta)

Jekk trid tixtri kopja ipprintjata bil-kulur ta’ kull ˙ar©a tal-magaΩin

The Voice of the Maltese,g˙andek tmur persunalment fil-Maltese Resource Centre f’59bFranklin & Young Street Parra-matta NSW (˙dejn Parramatta

West Primary School) nhar ta’ Erbg˙a u nhar ta’ Ìimg˙a

mid-9 am sa nofsinhar.Çempel 0409 744 376

The Voice issaipprintjata wkoll

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

In response to a number of inquiries, The Voice of theMaltese wishes to advice that we can now supply

hard copies in colour of our magazine to our readersat a price. So anybody interested in acquiring copiesof the magazine can communicate with us personallyor by email to: [email protected].

The magazine can also be delivered by post. As thecost of postage varies one is kindly requested to getin touch with us to work out the details.

Readers can also request a printed copy of

The Voice of The Maltese magazine by post

Community NewsCommunity News

Community TV station TVS goes off-airCommunity TV station TVS goes off-air

wanting a career in TV, in the newyear.

“We are working on refocusing ourprogramming strategy and developinga strong digital infrastructure to de-liver a functional platform for the fu-ture era of community contentdissemination,” Bentley said.

“To do this effectively TVS will ceasefree to air broadcasting on the 20th De-cember 2015 so that we can efficientlycontinue to finalise our online plansfurther and relaunch in 2016.”

Ag˙ti rigal g˙as-Sena l-Ìdida 2016, lil biebek li forsis’issa ma jirçevux The Voice of the Maltese online billitabbonahom u jibdew jirçevuh huma wkoll


Maltese Radio ProgrammesMELBOURNE, on 3ZZZ 92.3FM or onwww.3zzz.com.au. Mondays 5pm, Fri-days 5pm, Saturdays 10am.; LastWednesday each month at 1pm.

MELBOURNE on 98.9 North West FM,each Friday 6.00 - 7.00p.m. Presenter Em-manuel Brincat.

MELBOURNE: STEREO 974(93180930): 97.4FM Wed (Maltese Mag-azine) & Thursday (Mer˙ba): 6.00pm to8.00 pm Co-ordinator – Ray Anastasi

In SYDNEY, listen to the MCC radioprogrammes on 2GLF FM 89.3. Satur-days 6 to 8 a.m. Martese Caruana presentsNostalgia Music; Sundays from 10.00 -11.00 am: Il na Maltin. Both available ondemand. Follow same procedure as forMCC programmes, except select programein reference.

In BRISBANE listen to the Maltese Pro-gram on 4EB on Tuesdays 6.00 -8.15am;Sundays 4.15pm to 5.15pm

UNCLE SAM DJ (Maltese Radio) tunein to link: www.unclesamdj.com

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

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

On SBS Radio

Day Time Analogue and Digital

Friday: 12:00-13:00 97.7fm SBS Radio 2Saturday: 14:00-15:00: 97.7fm SBS Radio 2

To 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.

VIVA MALTA

VIVA MALTA on COAST FM 96.3Community Radio in Gosford Central

NSW. Aired every fortnight from 6 pm -7 pm (Next is January 4).

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

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 Festa


Meetings of DayCare MalteseGroups in NSW

Fairfield 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

Llandilo Maltese SeniorsMeets on the first Wednesday of each

month at the Llandilo 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.

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 socialgroup 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


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 Phone 0433 091 788Or 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 nippublikawil-kitbiet tag˙kom.

Tinteressak il -kitba?


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

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

If you are not receiving the Voice of the Maltese regularly you are kindly re-quested to let us know. Do the same if you have changed your email ad-dress. Keeping your addresses updated is very important to us.E-mail us with the details at: [email protected]

VOM Readers please note

The Voice of the Maltese on-line magazine is by far the

most widely read publicationamong the Maltese Diaspora,with subscribers from Aus-tralia, Canada, the UK Eng-land, Scotland, Wales andNorthern Ieland), IrelandRep., Belgium, France, Italy,India, the Caribbean island ofSt Kitts & Nevis. But not only.It is also gaining popularityin Malta and it keeps grow-ing with every issue.

The Voice: The Voice: the mostthe mostpopularpopular by farby far

The Maltese Community Council of NSW is con-ducting a computer class at Maltese Resource

Centre 59b Franklin Street, Mays Hill 2145 NSWevery Friday between 10.00 am-12.00 For moreinformation contact Em. Camilleri: 0409 744 376

Maltese RSL (sub Branch): Call for SERVICE/EX-SERVICE MEN/WOMENto join the Maltese RSL sub Branch

The Maltese RSL sub-Branch needs more Service/Ex-Service members inorder to 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, you can write, call or email Doris Pocock (de-tails below) who will send out the application form to you and the additionalinformation required for joining. Maltese RSL sub Branch PO Box 8280 Baulkham Hills NSW 2153 Mobile: 0419 420 915. Email: [email protected]

La Valette Social CentreCelebrating feast of St Paul

Sunday February 7: 5.00 p.m.: Mass in the main Hall ofthe Centre at 175 Walters Rd Blacktown accompanied bythe La Valette Choir under the direction of Victor Floridia.Afterwards procession with the statue to the chapel ac-

companied by Our Lady Queen of Peace Maltese BandDJ for entertainment: Bar and kitchen will be open

IL-ÓADD 14 ta’ Frar:4.00p.m.: G˙ana bis-sehem tal-g˙annejja minn Malta, France Mifsud (Ta’ Vestru) u ibnuIonut kittarrist prim. Jie˙du sehem ukoll l-aqwa g˙annejjau kittaristi min Sydney D˙ul $10 kull persuna. Biljetti mill-bieb. Il-bar u l-kçina jkunu miftu˙in. Ejjew u gibu l-˙bieb.

G˙al aktar tag˙rif: La Valette: 9622 5847

Following a dismal period during whichthey slipped down the ladder, Melbourne

Victory snapped their five-game winless streakby beating Newcastle Jets 1-0 away on the 13thday of the A-League. In so doing they alsoended their Hunter Stadium hoodoo but theystill need to improve in order to successfullydefend their title.They currently stand seven points behind joint

leaders Brisbane Roar and Western SydneyWanderers, the latter after losing sole leader-ship by being held to a scoreless home draw byAdelaide in an entertaining game.

Brisbane Roar have celebrated the New Yearby moving into top spot with a 2-1 win overPerth Glory at Suncorp Stadium.

Melbourne City stay third six points behindafter droppingfive points fromtheir last twomatches. In theirlatest outingthey were heldto a goallessdraw by SydneyFC. Both jointlyoccupy third po-sition.

*Parramatta Eagles FC season in theforthcoming PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 1 thisyear kicks off on March 12/13 with anaway match against Blacktown Spartans.

Birkirkara started the current seasonwith a bang after beating English Pre-miership side West Ham United in the

Europa League. With a new coach at thehelm, Italian Giovanni Tedesco, and formerItalian international striker Fabrizio Miccoliin the side they looked full of promise.

They weren’t doing badly and went 10matches without defeat, but things turnedsour when they were thrashed 4-0 by Valletta.

Before this match, Miccoli had already de-cided to cancel his contract to return to Italy,and following the defeat against Valletta,Tedesco was sacked.

So after two league matches without acoach, and the two-week recess for the festive

season, Birkirkara willkick off the New Yearwith a new head coachfrom Croatia. He is Dra-zen Besek (above) whowill make his debut thecoming weekend in thegame against Qormi.

To become serious title,contenders again Birkirka-ra need make up the five-point deficit with leadersValletta who finished the

year three points ahead of champions Hibs.Birkirkara have also lost the services of one

of their best players, Rowen Muscat. He hasbeen released to join Italian Serie B side As-coli. If Ascoli retain their status and are happywith Muscat, they have the option of buyinghim outright at end of the season.

In 2014, Muscat also played for Hungariantop division side Dunaujvaros, but he was re-leased due to the club’s financial problems.Leaders Valletta are determined to make this

their year, and have strengthened their rear-guard with the signing of Brazilian defenderDiego Douglas Balbinot.

After a splended first round, Balzan haveslipped from first to sixth and have even beenovertaken not only by the title challengersValletta, Hibernians and Birkirkara, but alsoby Floriana and Tarxien. Balzan have managed only won four points

in their five second round games. Comparethat to their points tally of 11 from the samenumber of games and opponents in the firstround. No wonder they felt they needed tostrengthen the side that was hit by injuries, byrecruiting Brazilian striker Pedro Henriquedos Santos Calcado

Malta’s Premier League Football


Spor ts Spor ts

Despite suffering rudderdamage, American

yacht Comanche took linehonours in the 71st editionof the world famous Ho-bart yacht race, the 628-nautical-mile race held inSydney on Boxing Day.with a time of two days,

It finished the race aheadof 108 boats including 27international boats in eighthours, 58 minutes and 30seconds. An estimated 1500 sailors

including 175 women ofwhom four are skipperstook part in this even thatstops the nation.

The supermaxi left behindfellow American yachtRambler 88 to take advan-tage of southerly winds as itswept up the Derwent Riverfinishing in front by morethan 50 nautical miles.The first ever Hobart race

was held in 1945 when

Capt. John H. Illingworthsteered Rani, a 34 foot 8inches cutter, across thefinishing line in six days 14hours, 22 minutes and 35seconds.

In 2014, Wild Oats X1made it in 2 days, 2 hours,3 minutes, 26 seconds.

In 1998, in the Sydney toHobart race six people diedand five yachts were lost

when hurricane-force windsripped sails to bits like theywere plastic bags and leftyachts stricken, to getsmashed by 24-meter wav-es. Of the 115 starters, 66yachts had to retire and 55sailors had to be airlifted tosafety. Only 44 yachtswould limp past the finish-ing line in Hobart on thatfateful race.

US yacht takes line honours inSydney to Hobart yacht race

The Comanche crew celebratetheir line honour win in the2015 Sydney to Hobart race

Birkirkara replace Italian coach with a Croat- Valletta determined to hang on to 5-point lead

Maltese Champions Hibernians will be hosting Dutch giantsPSV Eindhoven, in a friendly at the Hibernians Stadium

Tuesday evening. PSV are currently in the UEGA ChampionsLeague and are due to meet Atletico Madrid in the coming.The Dutch champions are one of sixteen foreign teams that will be

visiting Malta from now until the end of March to conduct trainingcamps either at the MFA training grounds or the Hibernians stadium.These teams have chosen Malta as part of an initiative by SLFC,

a European travel agencies in Europe that organises training campsfor clubs and national teams.

16 Euro clubs in Malta training camps

Australia A-League

Champions Melbourne V. return to winning ways

4-11-12-03-13-0

2-10-00-00-13-1

Brisbane R. v Perth GloryWest. Sydney W v AdelaideMelbourne C. v Sydney FCNewcastle J. v Melbourne V.Central Coast v Wellington P.

Day 12Sydney FC v Central Coast Melbourne V. v Perth GloryWest. Sydney W v NewcastleBrisbane R. v Melbourne C.Adelaide v Wellington Ph

Latest results Day 13

the voice of the maltese no. 118

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