the voice of the maltese no. 124

Issue124 online magazine

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

March 29, 2016

The Voice of the Malteseonline magazine

The feast of the Risen Christ The feast of the Risen Christ at La Valette Social Centre in at La Valette Social Centre in Blacktown, NSW Blacktown, NSW (photo Brian Decelis)(photo Brian Decelis)

EasterEasterand theand theFeast ofFeast ofthe Risenthe RisenChrist Christ

(see page 4)(see page 4)

As promised our readers, TheVoice of the Maltese has furtherinvestigated the payment of

Old Age pensions overseas and the in-ternational social security agreementwith Malta. We took the case to theMinister for Social Services and mem-ber for Pearce in Western Australia, theHon Christian Porter MP, as this fallswithin his portfolio responsibility.In his reply, the Minister pointed out

that the proposed change does not af-fect pensioners paid under the Agree-ment on Social Security betweenAustralia and Malta.

He said that people in Malta whoclaim an Australian pension under theAgreement are paid a proportionalrate from the date they claim or be-come eligible, whichever is later. Peo-ple in Australia who are paid underthe Agreement will continue to bepaid the same rate if they depart Aus-tralia temporarily for up to 26 weeks(their pensions are calculated differ-ently in that the pension they receivefrom Malta is directly deducted fromtheir Australian pension entitlement).

Australia currently has social secu-rity agreements with 30 countries, in-cluding Malta. The change to the rateof pension paid overseas will apply toall pensioners who leave Australiawho have unlimited portability andare paid under the portability provi-sions of the Social Security Act 1991. If the legislation is passed, it will affect

all such pensioners whether they aregoing to Malta or any other country.The Minister continues to say that Aus-

tralia’s social security system differsmarkedly from the pension contribu-tory systems that operate overseas.

The Australian Age Pension is a pay-ment made from general tax revenueand is based on the concepts of resi-

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Australia’s old age pension and the Maltese

The retirement costs of aperson should be fairly dis-tributed between where aperson has lived or workedduring their working life.

”

The Voice talks to the Federal Minister for Social Services

“

dence and need. Having worked andpaid tax in Australia does not auto-matically entitle a person to receive anAustralian Age Pension.

Age Pension recipients who traveloverseas have indefinite portability oftheir pension. Under current social se-curity law a person who travels over-seas must have 35 years AustralianWorking Life Residence (AWLR) toretain their basic (means-tested) rateof pension for longer than 26 weeks.AWLR is the number of years a per-son has lived in Australia between theage of 16 and Age Pension age.

From January 1, 2017, subject to thepassage of legislation, the period thatAge Pension, and a small number ofother payments with indefinite porta-bility, can be paid outside Australia at

the basic (means-tested) rate will re-duce from 26 weeks to six weeks.

After six weeks overseas a pensioner,with less than 35 years AWLR, will havetheir rate of pension adjusted accordingto their AWLR. For example, a personwith 17 years of AWLR would receive17/35ths of the pension they would re-ceive if they stayed in Australia.

Pensioners who depart Australia be-fore January 1, 2017 will continue tohave their pension rate adjusted after26 weeks based on their AWLR. Sub-sequent travel to overseas will havethe new six-week rule applied.This change only affects the rate a pen-

sioner receives after six weeks overseas.The Age Pension, and a small numberof other payments, will continue to bepayable overseas indefinitely.The Minister adds that it is reasonable

to expect that people who receive anAustralian pension, while they areoverseas, have spent a large portion oftheir working life in Australia and con-tributed to the Australia economy andcommunity. The retirement costs of aperson should be fairly distributed be-tween where a person has lived orworked during their working life.This change, according to the Minister

for Social Services will reinforce andstrengthen the residence based natureof Australia’s social security system.The Government believes it is unrea-

sonable for Australian taxpayers topay pensions to people outside Aus-tralia without regard to their period ofresidence in Australia, for anythingother than short absences.

Further information on the 2015-16 Budgetmeasure can be found at the Department of

Human Service Internet site: www.hu-manservices.gov.au/corporate/publications-

and-resources/budget/1516/measures/

Hon Christian Porter MP

The importance of volunteeringwas paramount in the mindsof the organisers when they

presented the 16th Annual QuietAchievers Night of Recognition at theAnnunciation Hall at St Dominic’sAge Care Facility in Blacktown NSW.Eleven more persons from acrossNSW were honoured for their contri-bution to the general community asvolunteers.

To receive this much-treasuredaward, one has to be over 60 yearsold, not having been honoured be-fore by Government instrumentali-

ties and a resident of NSW.While praising governments for their

assistance to aged and persons withlifelong disability, Lawrence Dimech,the President of The Maltese Welfare(NSW) said that certain initiatives fallshort and may not be culturally specificenough, therefore some duty of care be-comes part of our responsibility.

He made a strong appeal for morevolunteers saying, “We can make acontribution to lessen the suffering ofothers; making a contribution andmaking a difference, they should belinked. It is something that everyonecan do in their own life”.

Assoc. Professor Stephen Gatt, theChairman of the Board of St Do-minic’s spoke highly of the contribu-tion of Maltese Welfare to the Mal-tese community while rememberingthat when he migrated to Sydney hewas the recipient of valuable assis-tance that was important in a newland for all this family. On behalf ofMaltese Welfare he also presented toeach and every person honoured onthe night with a framed inscriptionas a memento.Sister Giorgina Sultana, the superior

at St Domenic’s was thanked for herassistance and presented with a bou-quet of flowers.

Amongst those honoured was Vitto-

Tuesday March 29, 2016 The Voice of the Maltese 3

ria Teuma a 90-years-old Gozitan whowas described as a shining example ofperseverance in hardship and resil-ience, typical of her generation.

The others were Josephine Bugeja(Girraween), Felicity Gravina (KingsLangley), Antoinette Mangion (Black-town), Mary Rose Muscat from SevenHills, Mary D. Pocock (Kellyville), Lil-iana Taliana and Edward Vella (Grey-stanes), Jane Vella (Wentworthville,George Zahra (Glenwood) and Jerry JZarb (Bateau Bay).

Marlene Dimech and Frances Mon-tesin explained to the audience bothin English and Maltese why each per-son was nominated. Nathalie Gattwas the MC reminding all that thisannual event is made possible by theassistance received from the FiducianFinancial ServiceThe first part of this celebration was

taken up by a very entertaining per-formance by the Choir of the MalteseCultural Association under the direc-tion of Marisa Previtera singing pop-ular Maltese and English songs, verymuch appreciated by all.The Quiet Achievers Night of Recog-

nition has now been established asone of the highlights of the crowdedcalendar of events organised by theMaltese community in NSW.

(Photos by Rita Kassas)

Eleven seniors honoured at Quiet Achievers Night

Those honoured: (from left: Back row): Mary D. Pocock, Mary R Muscat, Jerry J Zarb, Edward Vella; (front): VittoriaTeuma, George Zahra, Jane Vella, Antoinette Mangion, Felicity Gravina, Josephine Bugeja and Liliana Taliana

A section of the crowd present at theQuiet Achievers Night of Recognition

Assoc. Professor Stephen Gatt


Fid-diskors li l-President tal-Kumitat tal-Maltese Wel-fare, is-Sur Lawrence Dimech g˙amel fl-okkaΩjonitas-16-il-preΩentazzjoni tal-Quiet Achievers Award

dis- sena (ara rapport fil-pa©na 3), tkellem b'çerta nos-tal©ija u wkoll dubju dwar il-futur tal-organizzazzjoni.

Din l-g˙aqda, b˙al ˙afna li g˙andna fil-komunita`Maltija ta’ NSW, wara 50 sena ta’ ˙ajja g˙addejja minkriΩi. Il-membri xjie˙u u dan ng˙idu bir-rispett kollu;b'danakollu g˙adhom ja˙dmu kif uriet is-serata.L-imma li dejjem turi rasha hi li l-membri qeg˙din jon-

qsu u li qed isibuha diffiçli biex isibu membri ©odda,preferibbilment izg˙ar. Li Ωgur li nisma’ min jg˙id: “Xejn©did”, g˙ax nista’ ng˙id li kull g˙aqda Maltija fl-Aw-stralja tinsab fl-istess ilma bl-istess 'imma' thawwad l-ilma .

Tista’ tfittex ˙alli ssib ra©uni g˙al dan. Na˙seb l l-aqwa wa˙da hi dik li insej˙ulha 'entropy' ji©ifieri li xi˙aga tispiçça bil-mod il-mod. Nifhem li dan mhux prospett sabi˙ g˙all-g˙aqda li tkun

ilha sejra s-snin, kibret u ssa˙˙et u qdiet dmirha f'˙afnaaspetti tal-emigrazzjoni.

Din g˙addejjin minnha kif di©a` g˙edt ˙afna mill-or-ganizzazzjonijiet li g˙andna. Mhix ˙a©a kbira li l-˙sieb itir lejn art twelidna u naraw

kaΩini u istituzzjonijiet o˙ra li jg˙ixu jew jag˙lqu il-mittsena u jkomplu. L-organizzazzjonijiet tal-emigrantihuma differenti min˙abba l-fatt li huma tal-emigranti.Minflok ma ng˙addu l-bakketta lil ta’ warajna …tawarajna ma nsibuhomx g˙ax telqu…. g˙ax ˙arbu usabu bejta o˙ra u saru Maltin-Awstraljani fil-veru senstal-kelma.

Iva jista’ jkun li baqg˙alhom, u naf li ˙afnabaqg˙alhom sinjali ta’ identita` Maltija. Imma mhixqawwija u entuΩjaΩmata biΩΩejjed li tag˙mel sagrificcjuu torganizza u tirsista fil- u g˙all-komunita`.

It-tieni u t-tielet ©enerazzjoni kabbru l-©wiena˙ u tantfet˙uhom li nsew ftit jew wisq il-bejta ori©inali.

Kont se nghid 'tajjeb u ˙aΩin'. Mill-ewwel daqqat’g˙ajn, speçjalment fl-g˙ajnejn ta dawk li ˙admu f'danil-qasam, tal-a˙˙ar, ji©ifieri il- '˙aΩin' jispjega a˙jar dakli ©ara, g˙ax li titlef l-identita` mhix a©a sabi˙a. Min-

na˙a l-o˙ra, min-na˙a tal-individwu, Ωgur li l-o˙ra, jigi-fieri 'it-tajjeb' jirba˙.

Sa çertu pont tista’ tqis dan, b˙ala 'achievement'konkret tal-g˙aqdiet tal-emigranti Maltin. Li l-˙idmatag˙hom matul dan l-a˙˙ar 50/60 sena swiet biex afnamit-tfal tal-emigranti ˙adu posthom f'soçjeta` o˙ra, dikAwstraljana. Jidher çar ukoll li l-g˙aqdiet tal-emigrantiqdew il-missjoni tag˙hom.

Dan ng˙idu fis- sens li meta beda l-La Valette, jew il-Banda Our Lady Queen of Peace, inkella l-g˙aqda tal-welfare, jew il-Maltese Community Council u ˙afnao˙rajn, twaqqfu biex joffru pont bejn il-pajjiΩ l-antik udak ©did.

Bit-twaqqif u bil-˙idma ta’ dawn irnexxielna no˙olqu'launching pad’ g˙as-soçjeta Awstraljana g˙al ˙afnaemigranti, fi zmien meta kien hawn nuqqas tal- g˙aj-nuna l-iΩjed soçjali min-na˙a tal-Gvern. Bil-konkluΩjonili veru li biΩ-Ωmien afna mill-g˙aqdiet li g˙andna g˙adjispiççaw. U jkolli ng˙id li dik hi l-verita` avolja n˙ossnota ta’ dieqa meta ng˙idha!

Din mhux a˙bar tajba g˙ax ˙add ma j˙obb u jixtieqjara xitla li kibretu qieg˙da tatifrott tmut bil-mod il-mod. Bissg˙andna nkunukburin b'dak lirnexxielna nag˙-mlu, ji©ifieri limhux biss ˙loq-na l-pont li di©a’semmejt immafuq kollox bil-˙idma tal-g˙aq-diet tal-Maltinirnexxielna no˙-olqu wkoll niççag ˙ a l l - k u l t u r aMaltija fit-tempjumult ikul tural ital-Awstralja.

Kabbru l-©wiena˙; insewil-bejta ori©inali Kummenti ta’

Victor V. Vella BA, MA

The Maltese Welfare (NSW) committee 2016: Back (from left): LawrenceGatt, Lino Vella, Emanuel Camilleri. Front: Nathalie Gatt, Marlene andLawrence Dimech, Frances Montesin, Doris Grima and Rita Kassas.

Easter Sunday is regarded by theCatholic Church all over the

world as its most important celebra-tion. All rejoice to the commemora-tion that Christ is Risen – Christtriumphant over death – that is de-scribed in the New Testament ashaving occurred on the third dayafter his crucifixion. It is also theculmination of the Passion ofChrist.

In Malta, many towns and villagesmanifest the day in festive mood asyoung people carry the statue of theRisen Christ signifying the last act ofthe Passion of the Christ - Christ tri-umphant over death. This time allwill rejoice to the commemorationthat ‘Christ is Risen from the Dead'. The feast – a tradition - is also cel-

ebrated in a number of localitiesand centres in Australia catering forthe Maltese community, particularlyat the La Valette also a hive of ac-tivity throughout the Holy Week,that culminated with the feast of theRisen Christ (il-festa tal-Irxoxt) thaton Sunday, once again attractedlarge crowds including young peo-ple and families, with their kids .

Tradition also dictates that chil-dren carry their Easter pastry(figolla) to be blessed by the statueof the Risen Christ.

Caption to front page:

Feast of theRisen Christ

(L-irxoxt)


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28/06 Isle of MTV Malta Special29/06 Feast of St. Peter & St. Paul; L-Imnarja Summer Folk Festival10/07-03/08 Malta Arts Festival15-17/07 Sliema Arts Festival 15-17/07 Marsovin Summer Wine Festival22-24/07 Malta International Jazz Festival25/07-05/08 The Farsons Great Beer FestivalJuly Joseph Calleja in Concert 06-30/08 Delicata Wine Festival15/08 The Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady27-29/08 Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival07/09 Commemoration of the Great Siege16-18/09 Qala International Folk Festival21/09 Independence Day27/09 World Tourism Day01-02/10 BirguFest08-09/10 Mdina Grand Prix08-09/10 Festubru08-09/10 Malta Military Tattoo09-11/10 The Malta Tattoo Expo 201609-16/10 Thunder Cats World ChampionshipsOctober Notte BiancaOctober The Rolex Middle Sea Race

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In 1530 after eight years of searchingfor a new home the Knights reluc-tantly accepted Malta from Charles

V of Spain and settled into a new lifethere. They immediately set aboutbuilding splendid forts in strategic lo-cations, especially around the magnif-icent natural harbour.

They knew the fortifications wouldbe essential to their own defence sincethey realised that their continuing at-tacks on Muslim shipping and the pil-grims sailing to Mecca for the Hajjwould attract the ire of the Ottomanrulers. As indeed it did!

Skip forward to 1565 and Suleimanthe Magnificent, pushed to the pointof rage by three events, which provedtoo much for him. All of these eventswere engineered and carried out byMathurin Romegas, the most auda-cious and noteworthy of the Christiancorsairs of the time.

In the first event, Romegas attackedand captured a large Turkish carrackthat carried great wealth be-longing to the Ottoman Em-peror’s chief eunuch, KustirAga. This apparently caused agreat deal of both anguish anduproar in Suleiman’s court.

The Ottoman ruler was justnot used to this indignitybeing meted out to his fleets.The second was Romegas’ at-tack on the ship that carriedthe old nursemaid of hisdaughter Mihrimah, a productof his relationship with hisfavourite wife, the Russianborn Roxellane. Mihrimah, it is said, held sub-

stantial influence over her fa-ther and was herself,extremely wealthy.

The third event was the cap-ture by Romegas of the Sanjakof Alexandria. The Sanjak wasthe military and administra-tive commander of Alexandriaand highly regarded bySuleiman. Among these threesignificant events was also the

fact that Romegas had, over a periodof five years, destroyed something like50 Turkish galleys and freed thou-sands of slaves.

Enough was indeed enough for Sul-eiman who, pushed energetically byhis daughter, decided to launch an at-tack on the Knights and consequentlythe Islands of Malta.By this time the former Grand Master

of the Knights, De Lisle Adam whohad led the Knights out of Rhodes,had passed the ultimate position in theKnights to La Sengle who in turnpassed it on to Jean Parisot de LaValette. It was La Valette who was tooversee the final preparation of the Is-land fortifications in anticipation of anOttoman attack.

It was also La Valette who was to

lead the defence of the Islandswherein between 40,000 and 60,000 ofthe best Ottoman troops were to beheld off and eventually defeated bysomewhere in the vicinity of 260Knights, 500 regular soldiers andaround 4,000 irregular Maltese troops.

La Valette was feted for his magnifi-cent planning and strategic capacityand his personal strength and braveryin the defence of the Islands. The cap-ital city of the Islands was named inhis honour, the name that still standsto this day, Valetta. Valetta stands onthe point just below and now includ-ing Mt Scibberas and guards the en-trance to the harbour through Fort StElmo.

*Continued on page 5


Toulouse to Valletta (2):In the second part of this article, ANDY BUSUTTILcontinues to point out the relationship between thecities of Toulouse in France and Malta’s capital, Val-letta and strongly believes they qualify to be ‘sistercities’. Read on to find out why.

In Our Homeland

La Valette’s Birthplace deserves A special place

The name of Joseph Valette (circled) onthe role of honour of the residents ofToulouse showing that he may have beendescended from the La Valette family


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A starting point that has ledto most of modern Malta’sstructure, social geography*from page 4

It is at this point that we need to skipback in time to circa February 1495. Itwas at this time that La Valette wasborn in the South West of France, inQuercy, which was within the widerterritory governed by the city ofToulouse. This particular fact, whileknown by historians, for some reasonseems to have been somewhat lost onthe population of Malta.

It is common knowledge that LaValette was the Grand Master at thetime of the Great Siege. It is commonknowledge that Valletta was namedafter him. However, little has everbeen said about the place of his birth.

It is at this time that we fast-forwardto September 2015 and a trip that I un-dertook to parts of Toulouse to see if Icould find evidence of La Valette’s birthor some acknowledgment of the factthat his family had come from this area.

There are two pictures attached tothis story. Both of them were taken atthe Eglise de Notre-Dame de la Dal-bade in Toulouse. The first (on page 4)shows part of the role of honour oflocal inhabitants who had given theirlives during the First World War.

The name ‘Joseph Valette’ is clearlyshown. It would be no coincidencethat this name would be descendedfrom the La Valette family of theToulouse district. The second photo (above) is the most

exciting as it shows the carved stonescroll commemorating the fact that, in

a line of Grand Masters of the Orderwho originated from the Toulouse dis-trict, Jean de La Valette’s name can beclearly seen.

What excited me the most was thatthis is a part of Malta’s history, a start-ing point if you will, that led to somuch of modern Malta’s structure andsocial geography. It was the placewhere the life of a patriarch of suchsignificance to Malta, the OttomanEmpire and indeed the history of theWestern World at the time had begun.

I firmly believe that Toulouse, as thebirthplace of La Valette and as the citythat celebrates him as a treasured son,deserves a special place in the life ofour homeland. Would it not be a mag-nificent gesture for the administratorsto get together and negotiate sister-hood between these two magnificentand historically rich cities? Nothing would warm my heart more

than to see these two cities, both ofthem resplendent in architecture dat-ing back to the early 16th century andearlier, become related in principletoday.

La Valette provides the historicalbridge for this to occur and one couldbe forgiven for thinking that a gesturesuch as this would hold such signifi-cance for both cities and for thosewhose lives were so impacted by thisremarkable historical figure. Source: 'Romegas, The Wolf Of The Sea'(2015) by Joseph-Stephen Bonanno B.A.(Hons.) (Melit.) Published online: http://u-boat.com.mt/romegas-wolf-sea/

The generosity of the Maltesefor a good cause came to the

fore once again on Friday whena record sum of €1,202,773 wasraised in less than four hours inaid Puttinu Cares during the“telethon” on TVM’s Xarabankprogramme. Another €100,000were also raised for the samecause during a walk from Mel-lie˙a to Senglea in the night be-tween Thursday and Friday.

This money will help PuttinuCares achieve its projects ofhelping those needing medicaltreat

The funds will go towards thecost of the construction of moreapartments in England to beused as shelter by relatives ofkids and others needing medicaltreatment in the UK. Puttinu al-ready owns over 30 apartmentsused in this way.

Record sum €1.2mraised for Puttinu

Tony Zammit from Glenwood NSW writes:

Ido not agree with Charles N. Mifsud(The Voice - March 15) when he said

that Malta should not give the right to allMaltese citizens to vote in the generalelections. Are we Maltese citizens or arewe second-class citizens? You take awaythe right of the vote from a citizes and Iask you; what else has he got?

The world today is a global village andwith the wonders of technology people areinstantly informed of what is happening in

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Paul Mercieca from Southern Cross, WAwrites:

Each time I receive The Voice of the Mal-tese I don’t rest before I can read it all, ormost of it anyway. But I also start wonder-ing what could have been if we had such apublication in print. This is the kind ofmagazine/newspaper one would havewished for from the outset.

Here I wish to thank all those who duringthe years went out of their way to produceThe Maltese Herald and helped us Maltesewho were trying to settle in this vast con-tinent after deciding to leave tiny Malta tomake a future for ourselves in Australia.

Of course, that newspaper had its short-comings compared to the giants of thetrade. How could it compete with the Mur-dochs and the empires of Australia's majornewspaper publishers, News Corp Aus-

tralia, Fairfax Media, APN News andMedia, and Seven West Media, to mentionjust a few. However, The Herald stillserved its purpose. We were proud that ourethnic group had something that it couldcall its own.

Times change and small might be nicebut this is not enough in today’s world.The demise of The Herald was a greatblow to most of the Maltese community,although I have been assured that noteverybody seemed to appreciate what wehad. Perhaps one other fault could havebeen that for lack of new blood, manpowerand finance the publication had becomeamateurish and the only way was down.

The Voice as it is now could have savedus. Therefore all of us must do our utmostto appreciate this modern magazine andthe people behind it, and also to make surethat it is here to stay.

Il-vot lill-Maltin ta’ barra jifredStan Portelli from Glenroy Victoria jikteb:

Meta nistudjaw sewwa d-dritt tal-votg˙all-Maltin li jg˙ixu barra naslu biex

nikkonkludu li dritt huwa dritt u çittading˙andu jkun çittadin ta’ veru, iΩda l-komunita`Maltija lesta biex tibda tid˙ol fis-sa˙na u l-in-tensita` tal-kampanja politika Maltija? A˙na lesti biex ninqasmu politikament? Dan

g˙ax jekk jing˙atalna d-dritt li nivvutaw, mal-vot ti©i wkoll il-battalja parti©jana. Lil min setivvota blu jew a˙mar, NP jew LP?

Nistaqsi, minn fejn hi ©ejja din it-talba biexikollna l-vot? Çertament li mhux mill-komu-nita` g˙ax Ωgur li ˙add ma jrid li jkollna fostnal-konflitti partig©jani li jwasslu g˙al qasmasfrenata fil-komunita` Maltija-Awstraljana, uçert li wkoll fost il-Maltin l-o˙ra li jg˙ixu f’ar-tijiet o˙ra mag˙rufa fejn hemm komunitjietqawwija Maltija..

G˙alkemm personalment nixtieq li kiekukelli ç-çans li nivvota g˙all-partit li dejjem˙addant, imma jien aktar ng˙oΩΩ il-˙biberijau s-sliem bejnietna li ˙allejna gΩiritna biexnibnu dak il-©ejjieni li forsi ma stajniex nibnufi Ωmienijiet mg˙oddija f’Malta. Iva n˙oss likieku kellna l-vot jifridna jista’.

Malta. They should have never given uscitizenship if they continue to deprive usof the vote.


In a special tribute for his workamong the Maltese community andhis role serving on a multitude of

committees including mainstreamAustralian service providers, Mr. Al-fred Fenech OAM, the late presidentof the Maltese Community Council ofNSW, was honoured with inclusioninto the prestigious NSW HonourRoll.

This posthumous inscription marksthe legacy of those people who havemade a lasting contribution in NSWthat extends beyond their passing. Al-fred’s brother, Victor represented thelate MCC president.

The award was presented at the 5thPremier’s Harmony Dinner held at theGrand Pavilion - Rosehill Gardens

Parramatta NSW that showcased thecultural diversity and unity of theState of NSW. The diversity of cos-tumes worn on the night dazzled theaudience of 1300.

In his speech the Premier of NSW,Hon. Mike Baird MP, praised the hardwork and dedication of ethnic groupsand how multiculturalism has madeAustralia what it is today.

He said that 23 per cent of people inNSW speak a language other thanEnglish at home, 45 per cent of peoplein NSW were born overseas or have atleast one parent born overseas, andthat New South Wales is one of themost culturally and linguistically di-verse states in the world.The event had the atmosphere of a car-

nival, with members of several ethniccommunities performing on stage andshowcasing their cultural heritage.

The Maltese community was wellrepresented by the Maltese Commu-nity Council of NSW, the IllawarraMulticultural Communities Council,the Maltese Language School of NSWand Skola Maltija ta’ NSW.

Alfred Fenech honouredposthumously by NSW

Find us on: facebook.com/groups/thevoiceofthemaltese/

Join us on The Voice of the

Maltese facebookpage:

Some of the members of the maltese community who attended the cer-mony. From left: Anthony and Mary Pace Feroud, Theresa and EmanuelCamilleri, Mark Caruana, Victor and Annette Fenech, and George Bartolo

Mr. Alfred Fenech,the late president ofthe MCC of NSW

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

kitba ta’

IVAN

CAUCHI


'Dal-misteru g˙arkupptejnaEjja mela naduraw'Hekk niftakar kont inkantaQabel 'l-festa nimmarçjaw

Dan x'misteru rrid insemmi?L-ewwelnett, qabel it-tnejnDan kif ©iet fis-se˙˙ id-dinjaMeta qabel m'kien hemm xejn?

Stejjer g˙andna kemm irriduL-iktar l'naf tal-ÌenesiL-abori©'ni g˙andhom tag˙homL-E©izzjani u l-Mawri

U˙ud minna ferm jitmas˙nuLiema wa˙da hi t-tassewJikkwotaw minn ktieb jew l-ie˙orSkont il-ktieb li jkunu flew

O˙rajn jg˙idu l'kollha ˙ΩienaMiti, invenzjonijietDak li jg˙odd hu li jitkejjelM'hemmx lok g˙al twemminijiet

Ng˙id g˙alija mistoqsijaTrid tag˙milha fejn suppostIlg˙aliex? tmur lil tal-ewwelKif? tmur lil tat-tieni post

Lill-Óolqien Mara g˙andha rwol speçjaliWie˙ed minnhom fost l-o˙rajnInkubatur g˙al dil-˙ajjaSsostni, tmantni u ©©orr

Fl-a˙˙ar waslet il-©urnataMeta kellu jsir il-˙lasTbatija kbira, jekk ra©elÛgur li qatt ma tajt dal-kas

Ìenituri dlonk fer˙anaMa jafux mnejn se jibdewÓajjithom sejra tinbidelRqad imnaqqas se jaraw

Responsabbiltà hekk tibdaÓalli jikbru sew l-uliedIsibu l-potenzjal tag˙homJeg˙lbu l-ilmijiet tal-wied

Dal-misteru hekk jitkomplaDawk iΩ-Ωg˙ar isiru kbarG˙aΩliet tag˙hom jibdew jag˙mluKull jum, sena, lejl u nhar

Fl-a˙˙arnett, imma mhux l-inqasHemm post g˙al ringrazzjamentLil dak Alla, kbir, potentiL'wie©eb g˙at-turufnament

Wara d-dinja ©iet il-˙ajjaDana Ωgur miraklu kbirProçess twil, diffiçli ˙afnaJien niskanta meta jsir

G˙ad ftit wisq li nistg˙u nifhmuKif in˙laqna l-bnedminQabel dan, fuq biljun senaKif mix-xejn il-˙ajja bdiet

Imma Ωgur nibqg˙u mistag˙©baNosservaw il-fatt ise˙˙'N˙arsu ta˙t il-mikroskopjuEmbrijun qieg˙ed ife©©

B'mezz naturali jew mg˙ejjunBniedem jag˙ti daqqa t'idBiex ˙lejqa t'Alla tin˙oloqQalb miftu˙a, 'kk Alla jrid

X'wa˙da din, dan x'qed ji©riluJinqasam, g˙al darba tnejnIsir ballun kollu tikekLest biex jaqbad, hemm g˙alfejn

Spettaklu reli©juΩ u avveniment ferm mistenni meta l-istatwi tal-Ìimg˙a l-Kbira jo˙or©u mill-knisja ta’ Horsely Park fi NSW kif

ilhom jag˙mlu mill-1987. Il-Knisja kif inhi illum inbniet fl-1993.Wara li g˙al kwaΩi 50 sena mmexxija mis-saçerdoti Maltin Missju-narji ta’ San Pawl (MSSP), fl-a˙˙ar snin telquha mill-kura tag˙hom. Ir-ritratti ta’ Patrick Bartolo juru xi statwi kif ukoll il-kor tal-G˙aqda

Kultural Maltija ta’ NSW li ˙a sehem waqt il-purcissjoni, okkaΩjonili g˙aliha jattendu eluf ta’ Maltin o˙rajn ta’ kull nazzjonalita` minnkull na˙a tal-Awstralja. Din, u purçissjoni simili ssir f’Bacckus Marsh f’Melbourne saru at-

trazzjonijiet mhux biss religjuzi imma wkoll turistici.

Fost id-drawwiet Maltinhemm il-qima lejn il-qad-disa Sant’Agata li tag˙ha

hemm statwa Ωg˙ira hekk kifwie˙ed jid˙ol fil-knisja Ωg˙iraiΩda gustuΩa ddedikata lill-ist-ess qaddisa fir-Rabat f’Malta.Dil-Knijsa qeg˙da eΩatt fuq il-kripta u l-katakombi li wkollhuma maghrua b˙ala ta’Sant’Agata.Kif wie˙ed jid˙ol Ωgur li l-at-

tenzjoni tieg˙u tmur lejn l-is-tatwa storika tal-qaddisa ling˙atat il- martirju f’Katanja uli skont it-tradizzjoni g˙exetproprju f’dan il-post fir-Rabat.

L-istatwa ta’ Sant’Agatag˙olja madwar metru u nofs,hija tal-ir˙am abjad u qeg˙dafuq pedestall maqtug˙ ottag-onali fuq l-artal. Il-qaddisatidher bilqieg˙da fuq si©©u in-durat, iΩΩomm salib u palmaf’idha l-leminija, u ktiebmiftu˙ fuq ix-xellugija.

Fuq il-faççata tal-pedestallhemm Ωew© an©li bilwieqfajΩommu plattin bl-isdra fih utnalja fuqhom - Sant’ Agata hijal-patruna tal-mard tas-sider.Dawn, naturalment huma sim-bolu tal-martirju tal-qaddisa.

Fit-truf tal-pedestall hemm ukollerba’ statwi ta’ qaddisin nisa. IΩ-Ωew©an©li jpo©©u l-kuruna tal-martirju fuqras il-qaddisa jag˙tu dehra aktar im-pressjonanti lil din l-istatwa. Fil-ktieb tieg˙u Sant’Agata, Fr. Victor

Camilleri MSSP jg˙id li m’hemm l-ebda tag˙rif bil-miktub dwar l-iskul-tur li ˙adem l-istatwa u lanqas dwarmeta saret, jew fejn in˙admet. IΩda l-awtur Taljan Nino Urzì, fil-ktiebtieg˙u Viva Sant’Agata - Storia Im-magini Esperienze Devozione jg˙id lidin l-istatwa hija tal-famuΩ AntonelloGagini li twieled f’Palermo, fi Sqallija,fl-1478 u miet fl-1536. Tajjeb wie˙ed isemmi li fil-Knisja Ta’

ÌieΩu fl-istess lokal hemm ukollxog˙ol ie˙or ta’ Gagini, statwa tal-Madonna ΩΩomm il-Bambin. Fil-fatt,meta wie˙ed iqabbel din l-istatwa ma’dik ta’ Sant’Agata jinteba˙ li jinx-tieb˙u ˙afna, ˙lief li l-Madonna hijawieqfa. Ma’ dan il-˙sieb ta’ Urzi jaqbelperfettament Fr. Victor Camilleri,studjuΩ tal-istorja, l-aktar dik marbutamal-kunvent tieg˙u ta’ Sant’Agata.

Tajjeb ukoll wie˙ed isemmi li din l-istatwa ta’ Sant’Agata hija konnessama’ ©rajja storika ta’ Ωmien il-Kaval-lieri f’Malta, u hawn forsi li l-qarrejaktar jinteressa ru˙u.

PeterPaulCiantar

L-istatwa storika ta’ Sant’Agata fil-Knisja ddedikata lilha fir-Rabat

Jing˙ad li fuq xewqa ta’ soru Benedit-tina tal-Imdina, il-Balliju Adorno,flimkien mal-Kavallieri ta’ SanÌwann, nhar it-Tnejn 20 ta’ Lulju1551, ˙adu din l-istatwa ta’ Sant’Agatab’purçissjoni solenni g˙al fuq is-swartal-belt tal-Imdina li kienet qed ti©i at-takkata bl-aktar mod a˙rax mit-Torok.Imma minkejja dan, din il-Belt antikabaqg˙et ma ntreb˙itx. L-istoriku Bosio, li kien jg˙ix fi Ωmien

dil-©rajja mirakoluΩa, isemmi sew dinit-taqbida. Naturalment hawn ukollinsemmu li Sant’Agata hija wa˙da

mill-Patruni ta’ Malta. Mill-©did nid˙lu fil-knisja

ta’ Sant’Agata. Din qeg˙daf’idejn il-patrijiet tas-SoçjetàMissjunarja ta’ San Pawl (lihuma wkoll mag˙rufa b˙alal-Patrijiet ta’ Sant’Agata) li©ew imwaqqfa minn Monsin-jur ÌuΩeppi De Piro.

Il-˙arsa tag˙na ma tiqafxbiss fuq l-istatwa ta’ Sant’Agata, imma wkoll ma’ dak lijdawwarha, u hekk narawdekorazzjoni mill-isba˙ lisaret mir-Rabti u dekoraturmill-aqwa Mikiel Fsadni.

Ming˙ajr dubju li din id-dekorazzjoni tal-hekk mag˙-ruf b˙ala apside u l-kolonnarmarbuta mal-arma tal-GranMastru Cotoner jag˙tu dehraaktar maestuΩa lill-faççata ta’din il-knisja fuq ©ewwa.

Id-dekoratur Fsadni (1869-1961) wettaq diversi xog˙lijietta’ dekorazzjoni, mhux bissf’din il-knisja iΩda wkoll fiknejjes o˙ra, b˙al dawk Ta’ÌieΩu, San Dumniku, SanMark u dik ta’ San Pawl fir-Rabat, u knejjes u palazzio˙ra.

Naturalment, hemm ˙afna x’wie˙edjikteb dwar l-istorja ta’ din il-knisja ul-istatwa ta’ Sant’Agata, iΩda nsemmidin l-ispeçi ta’ kurΩità. L-inforra tal-libsa ta’ Sant’Agata fl-is-

tatwa tag˙ha tal-ir˙am, illum il-©ur-nata hija ta’ kulur a˙mar rjali, iΩda Fr.Victor Camilleri jg˙id li x’aktarx li d-dekoratur Fsadni kien biddel il-kulurori©inali (blu) g˙al dak tal-lum.

Fil-fatt, Fr. Camilleri jg˙id li jekkwie˙ed jifli sewwa dan il-kulur tal-lum jara wkoll xi tikek blu ta˙tu. X’ak-tarx li Mikiel Fsadni biddel il-kulurori©inali biex il-©did jarmonizza sewmad-dekorazzjoni li hu stess g˙amelmad-dawra tal-istatwa maestuΩa ta’Sant’Agata.

L-istatwa ma˙ru©a fuq is-swartal-Imdina f’attakk tat-Torok

Dehra tad-dekorazzjonimill-isba˙ li ddawwar l-istatwa ta’ Sant’Agata


Joseph Muscat joined a meeting hosted byDavid Cameron together with Germany’sAngela Merkel, French President Fran-

cois Hollande, Italy’s Matteo Renzi andSpanish Premier Mariano Rajoy. Also in at-tendance was the EU’s high representativeFederica Mogherini.At the meeting, Cameron pressed upon his

counterparts to extend their action againstpeople-smugglers in the Mediterranean andto send military ships into Libya’s territorialwaters.

In a statement, Malta’s PM said he cau-tioned for the EU to be prepared to keepLibya on the road to governmental stability.

On its part Britain wants to help the newLibyan government take action closer to thecoast and deter criminals who have kept theiractivities in inland waters to evade capture,Cameron’s office said. Cameron said Britainwas willing to send Royal Navy ships to theMediterranean and has extended the missionof HMS Enterprise until the summer to showits commitment to blocking off smugglingroutes from North Africa to Europe.

Earlier, in bilateral talks with Cameron inLondon, Muscat also discussed the situationin Libya and reiterated the importance to begiven to regional stability together with theissue of immigration in the Mediterranean.

The British PM said that the absolute prior-ity was to implement the political agreementfor Libya to combat terrorism and beginwork on the country's economy.

With Britons voting on whether to stay inor exit the European Union in a referendumon June 23, the two leaders also discussed thefuture of the United Kingdom in the EU.

Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat,who will take over the EU presidency for thefirst half of 2017, was reported saying at theChatham House think-tank in London, thatEurope needed a balance between countriesthat preferred a federal Europe and those thatwanted a Europe of nations. For economicand also political reasons, the EU needed theUK and vice versa. He warned the UK thatthey will not be trusted if they leave the EU

AFP further reported Muscat saying that“acrimony and resentment" would follow ifBritain voted to leave the European Union.

"The UK would need to be treated as afriend, but not as family. Relations would be

polite but not intimate. The UK would be re-spected but not trusted," Muscat said, addingthat "Negotiating an exit arrangement for theUK would be perceived a time-consumingdistraction. "

“EU leaders would be keen to show totheir national audiences which might warmto the idea of leaving the union that such aprocess” would be very ugly, painful andcostly," Muscat said.

Because Malta is part of the Common-wealth, a group of states that are mostly ex-British colonies, Maltese citizens resident inBritain are eligible to vote in the referendum.According to data from 2014, there are27,000 Maltese-born residents in the UnitedKingdom.Dr Muscat, who is the new Chair-in-Office

of the Commonwealth attended the celebra-tion of the Commonwealth at WestminsterAbbey, and in the presence of Her MajestyThe Queen, Head of the Commonwealth de-livered a reading.

Roundup of News About Malta


Malta PM in meeting with top 5 Euro leaders

a

In less than a month, Malta has mournedthe death of a second Archbishop emer-

itus. After the death of Paul Giglio (re-

Archbishop Mercieca dies aged 87ported in the last issue), on March 21 theChurch announced the death of Arch-bishop GuΩeppi Mercieca at the age of 87. Mons Mercieca was born in Rabat, Gozo

on November 11, 1928 and was ordaineda priest in 1982. He was consecrated as abishop on September 29, 1974 and follow-ing the death of Michael Gonzi, on No-vember 29, 1976 became the third Gozitanpriest in a period of 100 years to be ap-pointed Archbishop of Malta.

Mons. Mercieca, a soft-spoken kind ofperson will be remembered for his reformin the administration of the Curia in the70s, and the meeting in Malta for the firsttime in 300 years, of the Diocesan Synod.

Mons. Mercieca (left inset) visited Aus-tralia in 1986 and sat for the photo (ar-rowed) along with committee membersand supporters of Melita Eagles at theMelita Stadium, in South Granville, NSW

Dr Joseph Muscat (first right) with, (from left): Spanish Premier Mariano Rajoy, Italy’sMatteo Renzi, Germany’s Angela Merkel, Uk Prime Minister David Cameron, FrenchPresident Francois Hollande, and EU’s high representative Federica Mogherini.


Roundup of News About MaltaCelebrating Commonwealth Day 2016

The United Nations has classified Malta in 30th place out of 157 countries in itsreport on the World’s Happiest Countries. That is seven places better off than last

year when it ranked 37th.The report, the fourth since 2012, is the result of

a survey made on the basis of GDP per capita,healthy years of life expectancy, social support (asmeasured by having someone to count on in timesof trouble), trust (as measured by a perceived ab-sence of corruption in government and business),perceived freedom to make life decisions, and gen-erosity (as measured by recent donations).

Malta has performed better than France, Italyand Spain, while Denmark has ranked first. Theothers ranked above Malta are, Switzerland, Ice-land, Norway, Finland, Canada, Netherlands, NewZealand, Australia, Sweden, Israel, Austria, UnitedStates, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Germany, Brazil,Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Singapore,United Kingdom, Chile, Panama, Argentina, CzechRepublic, United Arab Emirates and Uruguay.

The report, published in support of the HighLevel Meeting at the United Nations on happinessand well-being was compiled by independent ex-perts ahead of the UN's World Happiness Day onMarch 20th. Burundi ranked last.

Malta world’s 30th happiest

‘Commonwealth thrives because its member countries want it to’

Maltese couple caught upin the Brussels terroristattacks; man is injured

Lorenzo Vella, 30, who works in theIT section of the Maltese embassy at

Dar Malta in the Belgian capital, Brus-sels is still recovering from a back injuryhe sustained during the terrorist attackon March 22nd at the Zaventem airporton a day during which three explo-sions, two at the airport and another ata metro station left 28 people deathand over 270 injured.

Lorenzo, who was at the check-in withhis pregnant wife Cheryl before board-ing a flight to the US for a holiday, wasonly about 10 metres away from the firstblast. He was hit by a metal object in hisback and suffered 'fractures in the spinalchord'. He managed to get out of the air-port terminal with the help of his wife.

Describing the attack at the terminal,Lorenzo said that followingthe first blast he and his wifeducked fearing that shootingcould follow. Instead, therewas a second explosion andalong with many others, andhe with the help of his wifethey left the building.

On the way out they wit-nessed a lot of people on theground, many of them seri-ously injured, a lot of bloodand broken glass. Ouside the terminal building

military perosonnel helpedthem board a coach that tookthem to a military hospital fortreatment. Cheryl was held forobservation in a maternityward.Now they are back home.

same goals. “Together, we draw strengthfrom this mutual support. Commitment tocommon goals brings collective gain. OnCommonwealth Day 2016.”

As part of the celebrations markingCommonwealth Day 2016, theMinister for Foreign Affairs,

George W. Vella participated in a tree-planting ceremony at the Barrakka Gar-dens in Valletta where he planted a tree tocommemorate Commonwealth Day 2016,which this year was celebrated under thetheme, “An Inclusive Commonwealth”, aswell as Malta's Chairmanship-in-Office ofthe Commonwealth 2015-2018. Later he also hosted a Vin d’Honneur at the

Ministry for Foreign Affairs, which was at-tended by ambassadors resident in Malta andother distinguished guests. The Malta editorof The Voice of the Maltese also attended.

In a speech for the occasion, the Ministersaid that the day rekindles the satisfaction ofthe successful Commonwealth Heads ofGovernment Meeting (CHOGM) that washosted by Malta last November; a CHOGMthat has spearheaded the way towards bring-ing about a truly revitalised Commonwealth.He said that as Chair-in-Office of the Com-

monwealth until 2018, Malta is determinedto see the Commonwealth continues movingforward on a more assertive and more influ-ential course, ensuring that the organisationis injected with a new lease of life.

He said the Commonwealth embracescountries with a long standing democracy,as well as ones with young democracies, allequally recognising the inalienable right oftheir citizens to participate in democraticprocesses.

“The link that binds these very dif-ferent countries together is that allCommonwealth countries acceptthe Queen as the symbol of theirfree association and, therefore, asHead of the Commonwealth -the formula that was first setout in the London Declara-tion of 1949; but - as Ihave realised from myown experience -what goes beyondthe formality is the strong feeling of kin-ship that exists between Commonwealthcountries and makes them a family of na-tions,” Minister Vella said.

He believes today the Commonwealthcontinues to thrive because all these dif-ferent countries want it to, because theyhave shared values, shared interests andbecause they find it a useful forum inwhich all members have an equal voice,and which model is not replicated any-where else in the world.

“We pride ourselves on a Commonwealththat at its core, promotes the values of toler-ance, respect, understanding, equity, fair-ness, and where each member state weighsin at par and has an equal voice. I feel verystrongly that the theme of Inclusivenesscompliments that of Global Value and willprovide ground to build on the latter.”

George Vella concluded his speech bysaying that while we sometimes have dif-ferent viewpoints, we are committed to the

Lorenzo Vella

Mons ÌuΩeppi Mercieca, l-Arçisqof li mexxa d-djoçesiMaltija g˙al tletin sena ˙al-liena fit-22 ta’ Marzu. Hemm

˙afna x’jing˙ad dwar Mons Mercieca, li l-Arçisqod preΩenti sejja˙lu “The man forAll Seasons.”

Meta ©ie ma˙tur Isqof AwΩiljarju biexjg˙in lill-Arçisqof Gonzi, kien hemm min˙aseb li ˙dejn il-predeçessur tieg˙u, Mer-cieca kien ta’ karattru dg˙ajjef u ftit li xejnassertiv. Dan forsi min˙abba l-mod kifkien jippreΩenta ru˙u, l-umilta’ kbira likellu, kif ukoll il-fatt li kien jitkellemminn ta˙t l-ilsien. Fuq kollox dan kientfaçça minn imkien, billi ftit li xejn kienmag˙ruf fid-djoçesi Maltija.

Meta mbag˙ad ˙a post l-Arçisqof Gonzikien hemm min ˙aseb li ftit li xejn kien ad-datat g˙al dawk iΩ-Ωminijiet. Kienu Ωmi-nijiet meta l-Prim Ministru Dom Mintoffkien fl-aqwa tal-isforzi tieg˙u biex ida˙˙alriformi lajçi f’Malta, li w˙ud minnhom,fosthom iΩ-Ωwie© çivili,kienu meqjusa minn ˙af-na b˙ala konfront lill-Knisja Maltija.

IΩda dawk li kienuja˙sbu hekk g˙arralhom g˙ax l-ArçisqofMercieca fejn kien hemm bΩonn Ωammiebes u wera xi jsarraf. Biss fl-istess waqt,iΩ-Ωmien wera wkoll li Mercieca kieng˙araf u aççetta li Ω-Ωminijiet kienu qedjinbidlu. G˙araf id-differenza bejn Knisjau Stat u minflok il-konfront g˙aΩel id-diskussjoni. KaΩ çar ta’ dan kienet meta r-relazzjoni-

jiet bejn Knisja u Stat kienu niΩlu fi stattassew baxx dwar il-kwestjoni tal-Iskejjel,

liema kwestjoni setg˙et façilment tie˙u lilMalta lejn iΩ-Ωminijiet tas-sittinijiet.

Biss Mons Mercieca g˙araf jo˙ro© bl-unuri minn din is-sitwazzjoni billi ressaqproposti lill-Prim Ministru Mintoff liwasslu g˙al soluzzjoni finali, b’Mintoff in-nisfu (skont l-ex-President Ugo MifsudBonnici) jistqarr “huwa qassis twajjeb˙afna, u huwa diffiçli li wie˙ed jo˙odhakontra tieg˙u”.

Dan kien ukoll il- bidu ta’ relazzjonijiet

tajba bejn il-Kap tal-Knisja ta’ Malta u l-Prim Ministru Malti.

Ir-relazzjonijiet bejniethom tant tjiebu limeta, wara l-mewt ta’ Mintoff, Mons Mer-cieca ©ie mistoqsi dwar l-eks-Prim Min-istru Malti, wie©eb hekk: “Mintoff g˙amelil-parti tieg˙u u jiena g˙amilt il-partitieg˙i. B˙al kull bniedem, huwa kien jix-tieq il-©id, iΩda hemm min jesprimih modu hemm min jesprimih mod ie˙or. Jienappruvajt nag˙mel il-parti tieg˙i b˙alaisqof u hu dejjem g˙amel il-parti tieg˙u...

“Dan l-a˙˙ar mort narah. Kont mortnara persuna l-isptar u sirt naf li fl-istesskamra ta’ din il-persuna kien hemm il-Perit Mintoff. Jiena avviçinajt lil min kienmieg˙u u g˙edtilhom li xtaqt narah. Huqalilhom ‘g˙idulu jid˙ol.’ Óadt pjaçirinkellmu u din ix-xi ˙a©a fil-fatt irrepetietru˙ha g˙al tliet darbiet jew erbg˙a.

“G˙edtlu l-bambin i˙obbok… bedajid˙ak. Ma kienx seta’ jitkellem ˙afna.Peró dejjem spiççajna b’dan it-ton sabi˙u kalm. Jiena meta rajtu ˙adt pjaçir narahu hu ˙a pjaçir bija. Dan l-a˙˙ar mort rajtud-dar tieg˙u stess. Mort ˙dejh fejn is-sod-da. Kellna relazzjoni tajba g˙ax kieku makienx ida˙˙alni fid-dar tieg˙u.”Dan kliem li juri l-umanita’ kbira li kellu

l-Arçisqof Emeritus Mons GuΩeppi Mer-cieca.


Minn nhar il-Óadd li g˙adda 27 ta’Marzu, b˙al fl-Ewropa kollha, Maltabdiet tosserva l-Óin tas-Sajf (Summertime) billi fis-2am. garret il-˙in b’sieg˙a‘l quddiem. Il-˙in tas-Sajf fiΩ-ΩonaEwropeja jintemm fit-3.a.m. tat-30 ta’Ottubru. Fl-Awstralja l-Óin tas-Sajfjintemm nhar il-Óadd li ©ej fis-2am).

“Man for All Seasons”

L-effett ta’ dak li se˙˙ fil-Bel©ju kelluwkoll l-effett tieg˙u f’Malta, mhux

biss g˙ax Malti safa’ midrub f’dan l-inçi-dent, iΩda wkoll g˙ax minkejja l-assiku-razzjoni tal-Gvern li s’issa Malta makellha l-ebda tehddida ta’ attakki mill-ISIS, xorta l-poplu qieg˙ed b’g˙ajnejhmiftu˙a g˙al dak kollu li jista’ jinqala’...Imsomma çertu tensjoni qeg˙da hemm.

Dan ˙are© çar minn Ωew© inçidenti li©raw f’Ma;ta propju l-g˙ada tat-tra©edjata’ Brussel.

L-ewwel inçident se˙˙ fil-belt Valletta,meta xi ˙add g˙amel rapport lill-Pulizijatal-lokal li fi Triq Ûakkarija kien hemmpakkett sospettuΩ. Il-Pulizija mmedjata-ment g˙alqet din it-triq sakemm il-mem-bri tal-Armatta ççekkjaw il-pakkett usabu li ma kien hemm ebda periklu. Kullma kien fih kienu ©ugarelli.

L-inçident l-ie˙or se˙˙ ftit tal-˙in warafil-Park and Ride tal-Marsa meta barranirikeb il-karozza tal-linja u skont ix-xufierdan qallu li kien qed i©orr bomba.

Ix-xufier immedjatament waqqaf il-karozza, talab lin-nies kollha biex jinΩlumill-karozza u jitbieg˙du minnha.Karozzi o˙ra li kienu fil-qrib ukolltwaqqfu u niΩΩlu l-passi©ieri.

Sadanitant issejj˙et l-Armata li waraspezzjonijiet infurmat lill-pubbliku li makien hemm l-ebda periklu.G˙all-ewwel intqal li dan l-inçident seta’

nqala’ billi x-xufier ma kienx fehemsewwa lill-barrani. IΩda fil-fatt l-g˙adadan il-barrani - çittadin ta’ 31 sena mill-Maçedonja bl-isem ta’ Dimitar Mircheski– tressaq il-Qorti u ammetta li kien qala’dan il-paniku billi qajjem paniku u kiseril-paçi pubblika.

Fil-fatt il-proskuzzjoni kienet talbet lill-Qorti li ttih sentenza ta’ pri©unerija. Huwag˙amel apolo©ija lill-poplu Malti u lildawk kollha li ©ew effetwati mill-azzjonitieg˙u. Huwa kellu j˙alli Malta fi tmiemil-©img˙a li g˙addiet.

Il-qorti sabitu ˙ati u wa˙˙litu tliet xhur˙abs sospiΩi g˙al sentejn.

Óolqu paniku

Bdil fil-Óin tas-Sajf

L-Arçisqof Charles Scicluna jbie-rek il-©isem mejjet tal-ArçisqofEmeritu GuΩeppi Mercieca


Mix-xena tal-˙ajja Maltija 2

G˙alkemm f’Malta uffiçjalmentg˙andna tlettt partiti politiçi, g˙al˙afna snin il-poplu dejjem g˙aΩel

sistema ta’ bipartiti – Ωew© partiti. Jista’jkun li dan ©ara mhux biss min˙abba li l-Partit Laburista u dak Nazzjonalistahuma Ωew© partiti bi tradizzjoni, iΩdawkoll g˙ax g˙andhom organizzazzjonib’sa˙˙ita, filwaqt li l-Alternattiva’ De-mokratika qatt kellha organizazzjonidaqshekk effikaçi u fuq kollox, il-finanz-jament me˙tie© biex partit jimxi ‘l qud-diem.

Jista’ jkun ukoll li l-poplu jemmen lib’Ωew© partiti ç-çans ta’ Gvern stabbilihuwa ikbar. IΩda li qed ji©ri issa jista’jkun li jwassal biex il-preΩenza tat-tieletpartit fil-Parlament Malti jsir realta’.

Dan qed jidher mhux biss minn çertakitba li tidher fil-midja, iΩda wkoll minnattivita` ta’ çerti nies biex jitwaqqafmoviment politiku ©did.

Fl-a˙˙ar ˙ar©a di©a` semmejt l-inizjat-tiva ta’ l-eks membru Laburista MarleneFarrugia. Issa tfaçça wiçç ie˙or ©did fejntid˙ol il-politika, Salvu Mallia, bniedemmag˙ruf sewwa fuq it-Televizjoni billifost kollox jippreΩenta diversi dokumen-tarji dwar lokalitajiet diversi f’Malta uG˙awdex.

F’intervista li kellu mal-©urnal ta’ kulnhar ta’ Óadd, l-Illum, Salvu sostna li l-moviment li qed ja˙seb dwaru b˙alissahuwa moviment biex tinbidel is-sistemaelettorali. Dan billi g˙ax skont hu: “Inutlili to˙ro© g˙all-politika sewwa b˙ala in-dividwali u anke b˙ala t-tielet partit,g˙ax kif inhi s-sistema elettoralim’g˙andek çans qatt tirba˙ si©©u fil-par-lament. Ûied jg˙id: “Hi sistema antidemokratika

fejn min hu b’sa˙˙tu jista’ jwassal il-kelma u min hu Ωg˙ir, lanqas ˙in fuq it-televiΩjoni ma jkollu daqs il-kbar.Nassigurak li Ω-Ωg˙ir g˙andu xi jg˙idaktar mill-kbir. L-aktar entità li g˙andhatkun vanta©©jata, hi Ωvanta©©jata g˙ax il-poplu qed jisma’ biss lil min g˙andu l-flus biex iwassal le˙nu.

“Nemmen li l-partiti g˙andhom ikoll-hom capping g˙all-kampanja elettorali,li ma tkunx aktar minn €20,000 biexila˙˙aq mieg˙u kull çuç li jrid jo˙ro©

g˙all-politika, g˙ax id-demokrazija dikhi, ‘demos krazia’, tmexxija mill-poplu.”U Salvu huwa fiduçjuΩ li, “kif jirnexxili

ng˙aqqad erba’ min-nies li ja˙sbuhab˙ali, u no˙olqu dan il-moviment, ninsabçert li se jkollna nofs Malta mag˙na.”Mistoqsi jekk hu jemminx li hemmbΩonn it-tielet partit, wie©eb hekk:

“Hemm bΩonn mhux biss tlieta, iΩdaerbg˙a u ˙amsa. Beppe Fenech Adamif’laqg˙a mal-istudenti dan l-a˙˙ar qalil-hom, li t-tielet partit jo˙loq instabbiltàpolitika. U jien ng˙idlu li jekk irid stab-biltà politika perfetta, dan isibha biss fil-pajjΩi dittatorjali. G˙alkemm a˙nag˙andna dittatura politika wkoll, g˙axg˙andna Ωew© partiti li daqqa jerda’ dak,u daqqa jisraq l-ie˙or. Dik hi dittatura.”

U quddiem din l-attivita’ politika, id-diri©enti tal-Alternattiva Demokratika, lis’issa kien meqjusa b˙ala t-tielet partitpolitiku Malti, qalu li t-twelid ta’ partit©did ma jfissirx t-tmiem tal-Alternattiva,anzi jista’ jfisser qawmien ©did billihuma lesti li jiffurmaw parti minn dan il-moviment ©did.

Sadanitant sar mag˙ruf ukoll li saretlaqg˙a bejn Salvu u Marlene Farrugiafejn iddiskutew it-twaqqif ta’ movimentpolitiku.

Tg˙id g˙ad naraw dan il-movimentjitwieled.... u fuq kollox li, wara elez-zjoni o˙ra, naraw deputati tal-Parlamentli m’humiex parti mill-Partit Laburistajew dak Nazzjonalista?

IIll --qqaagg˙ddaappoolliittiikkaa

Bidla fis-sistema?

Rari li nikkumenta dwar l-istess su©©ettf’Ωew© ˙ar©iet wara xulxin. G˙al

darb’o˙ra mhux se naΩΩarda nikkummentadwar dak li qed ji©ri fix-xena politika Maltijapartikulari g˙ax tant ˙er©in stejjer ta’ kuljum,biex ma ng˙idx ta’ kull ftit ˙in, li sakemm danl-artiklu ji©i ppublikat, tant jin˙olqu sitwaz-zjonijiet ©odda, li Ωgur nispiçça biex dak linkun ktieb, kif jg˙idu l-IngliΩi jkun “out ofdate”Li hu Ωgur hu, li kulma jmur qed noqorbu biex

il-klima politika f’Malta qed issir bil-wisqaktar s˙una milli kienet lejliet l-elezzjoni lig˙addiet.Qed noqorbu lejn stat fejn il-poplu se jibda jid-dejjaq jisma’, jara u jaqra dwar il-politika.Ag˙ar minhekk nistg˙u qed noqorbu lejn sit-wazzjoni fejn din il-klima tibda tag˙mel ˙saralill-ekonomija tal-pajjiΩ.Dan di©a` qed jing˙ad minn xi kummentaturi

u sa˙ansitra kellna lill-Malta Developers As-sociation (MDA) li fi stqarrija wriet it-t˙assibtag˙ha dwar is-sitwazzjoni politika attwali fis-sens li b˙alissa Ω-Ωew© partiti ewlenin g˙ollewil-livell tal-konfrontazzjoni bejniethom daqs likieku l-elezzjoni ©enerali qeg˙da wara l-bieb.L-MDA issotni li sitwazzjoni fejn tin˙oloq in-

çertezza bla bΩonn tasal biex tnaffar l-investi-ment ©did f’Malta kemm tal-Maltin stess kifukoll tal-barranin. G˙alhekk appellat liΩ-Ωew©partiti politiçi ewlenin ta’ Malta biex inaqqsul-livell ta’ konfrontazzjoni bejniethom – li ximinn daqqiet qed jersaq lejn l-isteriΩmu – ujkomplu jaqdu d-dover tag˙hom ming˙ajr majg˙ollu t-temperatura bla bΩonn g˙al wa˙dadaqs li kieku waslet elezzjoni, meta din tidherli g˙adha ’l bog˙od.B’hekk ji©u evitati l-effetti negattivi fuq l-an-

dament tal-ekonomija tal-pajjiΩ, kif dejjemji©ri kull meta tasal kampanja elettorali.Jekk tassew iridu jpo©©u l-©id tal-pajjiΩ qabel

l-interess tal-partiti nnfushom, na˙seb li l-par-titi jag˙mlu sewwa jekk jag˙tu widen g˙al dinis-sej˙a. Fuq kollox il-˙sara li ssir taf tkun de-jjiema u g˙alhekk taffettwa lil kwalunkwe par-tit kemm jekk inhu fil-Gvern issa, u anke jekkikun fil-futur.

Aktar ‘il fuq tajt wie˙ed x’jifhem li l-Alternattiva Demokratika fi-nanzjarment ma tistax tla˙˙aq mal-Partit Laburista u dak Nazzjon-alista fl-infieq dwar il-kampanji elettorali. Imma ma jfissirx lil-Partit l-kbar, speçjalment dak Nazzjonalista m’g˙andhomx il-problemi finanzjarji tag˙hom.

Jing˙ad li fi tmiem l-elezzjoni li g˙addiet il-Partit Nazzjonalistakien mg˙obbi b’madwar 5miljun Ewro dejn.

Attwalment minn dakinhar ‘l hawn il-Partit Nazzjonalista ˙a di-versi miΩuri biex jipprova jaqta’ d-dejn, li fosthom kien hemm it-

tnaqqis ta’ ˙addiema mill-midja Nazzjonalista, kifukol il-bejg˙ ta’ kaΩini, fosthom dak ta’ San Ìil-jan li jing˙ad li minnu l-PN da˙˙al man-nofsmiljun Ewro.

Biss l-aktar miΩura nnovattiva f’dan ir-rigward,kienet dik li t˙abbret ftit tal-jiem ilu li fiha dan il-Partit joffri çedolilil dawk li jixtiequ jisilfu flus lill-PN. Kull çedola hija ta’ €10,000li jitpo©©ew g˙al g˙axar snin bl-img˙ax ta’ 4%, biex b’hekk minjikseb dawn iç-çedoli, jing˙ata flusu lura wara 10 snin u tal-€10,000li jkun po©©a, jirçievi lura €14,802

Skont il-Partit Nazzjonalista din hija qabΩa’ ta’ kwalita’ fil-modta’ kif ji©u ffinanzjati l-partiti politiçi f’Malta.

Issa naraw kemm se jkunu dawk li jag˙mlu din il-qabΩa ujakkwistaw dawn iç-çedoli!!!

Çedoli g˙all-PN

Salvu Mallia... issa politiku?

Analysis by the Reserve Bank of Australia shows that Aus-tralia’s major banks have cemented their place as the most

profitable in the world after raising interest rates despite largedrops in their cost of fundingBy end of 2015, return on equity (ROE), a

major measure of profitability, for the bigfour banks averaged about 15 per cent, beat-ing Canada’s banks on about 14 per cent andwell ahead of US and European banks,which all had ROE below 10 per cent.The Reserve Bank said if the major banks

had absorbed the cost of an additional $21billion in capital they raised to cover theextra capital requirements, their ROEwould have been about 1.2 per cent lower,which would have brought them roughlyin line with the Canadian banks.The non-major banks' average fundingcosts were about 1.05 per cent higher thanthe majors' between 2009 and 2011. Theyare now about 0.75 per cent higher.

A quick glimpse at AustraliaA quick glimpse at Australia


A double-dissolutionelection possible

Aussie banks at the top

The Prime Minister of Australia Mal-colm Turnbull has hailed the pas-sage of electoral voting reforms as

"a great day for democracy" - clearing an-other major obstacle to a possible July 2federal election. It was a marathon 40-hour debate, with one continuous 28-hoursitting. The Coalition, with the support ofthe Greens and independent senator NickXenophon, pushed through the bill againstLabor and crossbench opposition shortlyafter 1.30pm by 36 votes to 23.

Shortly after the Senate vote, the billpassed the House of Representatives by 81votes to 31, with some Labor members, in-cluding Opposition Leader Bill Shorten,not present for the final count.

The debate was one of the longest con-siderations of a single bill in the past 26years.The Senate sat all through the night to ap-

prove the laws, which will allow voters toallocate their own preferences above theline on the Senate ballot paper. If theychoose to vote below the line they won't

have to numberevery box.

As well, gro-up voting tick-ets have beenabolished, ameasure intro-duced to ad-dress the rise ofmicro-partiesand preferencewhisperers thathave seen sena-tors electedwith as little as0.5 per cent ofthe primaryvote.

Mr. Turnbullsaid there was nothing more important thanproper parliamentary representation that re-flected, "as far as possible the will of theAustralian people. For too long, the Senatevoting system has been disturbed by back-room deals, by preference whisperers, by

the manipulation ofmicro parties - suchthat the will of theAustralian people hasbeen frustrated," hetold Parliament.

Senators Bob Dayof Family First willlaunch a High Courtchallenge. He is

being supported by Liberal DemocratDavid Leyonhelm. They are both facingpotential political dead. They also admitthat the challenge had a 50-50 chance ofsuccess. Senator Day said “the LiberalParty, Nationals, Greens and IndependentNick Xenophon teamed up to get rid of in-dependent senators and minor parties andthat is undemocratic”.

Later on, the PM announced that unlessthe Senate, in the proposed sittings forthree weeks from April 18 approves theAustralian Building and ConstructionCommission and the Registered Organisa-tion Bill there will be a winter double-dis-solution election. In that case the budgetwill be on May 3.

The facade of Federal Parliament House in Canberra

The senate chamber at Parliament House in Canberra

An improvement in the jobless ratewas recorded in February as itdropped from 6 to 5.8 per cent.

This was achieved because a net 27,000people gave up looking for work anddropped out of the labour force survey.However, most of the improvement wasdue to fewer people seeking work.The Australian Bureau of Statistics, ABS,

survey showed that only 300 new jobswere generated across the nation in Febru-ary and almost 15,900 new full-time jobswere offset by a fall of 15,600 in part-timejobs, which compared with economists'expectations of a net 13,500 gain. Thenumber of people in work increased byonly 6,600 positions since November.

This follows a three-month period whenthe survey showed 125,000 jobs were cre-ated - an outcome many financial marketeconomists found difficult to believe.

National Australia Bank economistTapas Strickland said the outlook was alsoworrying in Western Australia, wherethere has been no employment growthsince June 2014.The state’s unemployment rate of 6.1 per

cent is not out of line with the rest of thecountry, but it is rising while the numberof people participating in the workforce isfalling.However, Western Australia’s weakness

is being offset by a recovery in the largerlabour market in Queensland, where theannual rate of jobs growth has increasedfrom 0.1 per cent in July to 2.1 per cent inthe year to February.

Mr. Strickland said the strength oftourism was offsetting the weakness inmining in the state. He noted Seek wasrecording strong growth in job advertise-ments in tourist regions such as Cairns andthe Gold and Sunshine coasts.

Areport by the Institute of Actuariesof Australia finds that changes tothe age pension asset test and relief

from stamp duty would help retirees funda more comfortable retirement by unlock-ing the roughly $1 trillion of housingwealth owned by over 65s,

Australians aged over 65 suffer the sec-ond highest relative income poverty rateof the wealthy countries in the Organisa-tion for Economic Co-Operation and De-velopment. Relative income poverty isdefined as having an income less than halfthe national median equivalised householdincome. The Actuaries' report says. " Our retirees

are asset rich but income poor," Accessingpart or all of their housing wealth will as-sist many individuals to meet their retire-ment needs."

Report author and partner at PWC,Catherine Nance, said older Australianswere acutely aware of the financialpenalty they face by selling the familyhome.

The family home is not included in theage pension asset test, but money re-leased through a reverse mortgage or bydownsizing, and moving to cash, does,reducing the amount of pension a personreceives.

"Typically people want to stay in theirhomes as long as possible, but they even-tually get to the point where they simplycan't. We know anecdotally that peopleare very driven by the age pension whenthey're making that decision."Ms, Nance said it was not unheard of for

children, hoping to maximise their inheri-tance, to encourage their parents to remainin the family home, even if it no longersuited their needs.

“Sometimes the family can be drivenmore by self interest. Sometimes the chil-dren are very reluctant, even if the parentis going into aged care, they're reluctant

for the family home to be sold even if itcould mean better quality of aged care,”Ms Nance said. While not the norm, suchpressure could in some cases be consid-ered "elder abuse" by children.

At the same time, however, many chil-dren are also a common source of unpaidlabour for their parents, and could expectto inherit some money as recompense.“What you have is an implied cross-gen-

erational contract, which says if you lookafter me I'm going to leave my house toyou. That happens a lot and it's a veryvaluable thing we don't want to impede,otherwise the elderly would have to go outand buy those services.” Ms. Nance said many baby boomers, and

their forebears, could boost their standardof living if penalties that apply to sellingthe family home were removed.“Tax policies for years have encouraged

people to save via their home. That's great,but it's a highly illiquid form of savingsand there are impediments to people usingthat asset better.”

A quick glimpse at AustraliaA quick glimpse at Australia


MICHELLE ROWLAND MP

FEDERAL 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

Unemploymentfalls to 5.8 %

Nailing granny to the floor

Eight times Grand Champion, andnow a Judge of the Holroyd Gar-

dens Awards, Doris Meilak once againheld a Gardening Workshop for theMaltese Seniors of Greystanes andDaceyville NSW.

She shared her wealth of experiencein gardening knowledge with timelyadvice on all aspects of looking afterthe garden.

The large group listened attentivelyto every piece of information thatDoris shared with them, with suchtopics from making your own gardensprays, to the importance of under-

standing the natural cycle of the in-sects in the garden and the role theyplay in a well cared for garden.

Doris shared with the group thatlooking after the garden helps one tostay active and can be enjoyable andrelaxing. Doris also said, “You aredoing the garden, not just for you, butfor others to enjoy”.

The group members asked Doris ques-tions about problems they experience intheir own gardens, and were happy tohear how to fix them.

An enjoyable morning full of infor-mation and advice also gave the op-

portunity for our Eastern Suburbsmembers to socialise as well as to par-ticipate in an educational workshop.

This Gardening Workshop was or-ganised by The Maltese CommunityCouncil of NSW and is part of its on-going Day Groups programme for theMaltese Seniors of NSW.

(Anyone wishing to know more aboutthese Maltese Seniors Groups, is ad-vised to contact the Welfare Officer,Marisa Previtera on 0414 863 123).

– MarisaPrevitera

East meets West for gardening tips

The Gardening Workshop ad-dressed by Doris Mejlak (stand-ing) close to Marisa Previtera


Malta’s High Commissioner to Australia, CharlesMuscat on March 15 attended the Common-

wealth Day reception hosted by Mrs. Vicki Dunne,Speaker of the ACT Legislative Assembly and Presi-dent of the ACT Branch of the Commonwealth Par-liamentary Association.

He was also invited to give a short speech in re-sponse to the Speaker’s welcome in which he spokeabout last November’s Commonwealth Heads ofGovernment Meeting (CHOGM) held in Malta, andabout this year’s theme of “An Inclusive Common-wealth”.

The High Commissioner emphasized that “Inclu-siveness” is paramount to “Adding Global Value”,last year’s theme, as the latter cannot be achievedwithout the former. The link is evident and it isthrough this link that the Commonwealth can pursueits goal of making the Commonwealth relevant to itscitizens and globally.The Reception was also well attended by High Com-

missioners and members of the diplomatic corps,members of Parliament and other distinguishedguests.

Malta’s HC attends Commonwealth Day reception

Meanwhile, Mrs. Victoria Muscat, the Mal-tese HC’s wife (from left), along with otherspouses of Ambassadors in Canberra at-tended a reception for Mrs. MaryamImanieh Zarif (centre), spouse of IranianForeign Minister Javad Zarif. The reception coincided with the two-day

visit by the Iranian Foreign Minister in Aus-tralia, the first ever by a senior Iranian min-ister in 13 years. Addressing the gathering,the Iranian talked about the “Situation ofWomen in Iran and its development”.

HC’s spouses meet Iranian counterpart

March 24 was an importantdate for Deborah Abela atThe Children's Bookshop,

Beecroft. That is where and when shelaunched her new kids' book aboutMaltese migration after WW2, titledTeresa: A New Australian, the story ofa young girl and her family who, likethe author’s dad, survived the warand sailed to Sydney.

Inspired by a true story, her ownfamily’s story of survival, Deborahmanages to write her first historicalfiction novel, one of courage, braveryand a very determined little girl, whowas only four when the bombs beganto rain on Malta. Over the next threeyears Teresa’s island home becamethe most heavily bombed place ofWW2. Teresa is a true account of how Deb-

orah’s grandmother, whom she de-scribes as “An amazing woman.’’gave birth to her father Amante“Monty’’ Abela in 1942.

Ms Abela said she was inspired topen the book because, while Malteseschoolchildren were familiar withtheir nation’s role in the war, manywere not taught what happened tosurvivors who es-

caped the country.“No one knows what happenedafter the war,’’ she says.It is the latest in a new, exciting

series about young kids wholeave their homes to make a newlife in Australia.

With the country destroyedand starvation rife, Teresa’s fa-ther decides to leave for Aus-tralia, to its promise of peaceand a brighter future.

He arrived in Australia in1950 and lived in Leichhardtbut eventually followed mostof the Maltese community tosettle in Sydney’s west. Heraised Deborah and her sib-lings in Greystanes.

When it comes to the novel,even though Australia offersso much, everything feelsstrange and new for Teresa.She desperately misses herfamily and friends in Malta, especiallywhen she is bullied for simply beingdifferent. Like her Nanna, Teresa is de-termined to make Australia her home.

Thanking Deborah for her project, inhis comments about the new book,Jackie Hawkes, Teacher/Librarian said,“Teresa gives us a wonderful characterwho shares her family's journeythrough the excitement, frustrationand joys of becoming Australian.”

Deborah has become a seasoned-author, popular and well liked. Sheknows what the kids are after andgives it to them. She is also so profes-sional in the way she presents herprojects, all seven of her books thusfar and gives the impression she isvery meticulous to achieve what sheis after, the enjoyment of the kidsreading her stories.

Deborah herself was born in Syd-ney, but has also lived in London

and has travelled all around theworld. After finishing a teaching de-gree, she went to Africa where shewas caught in a desert sandstorm,harassed by monkeys and thrown injail…twice!

She produced and wrote a nationalkids’ TV show before leaving to writeover 20 novels, including Max RemySuperspy and Jasper Zammit (SoccerLegend) and got the kids talkingabout them. All those before Teresa.We were also quite struck by the des-

gins of the covers of each of her books.Deborah has won a number of

awards for her books including theUSBBY Outstanding International Bo-ok Awards & KOALA, YABBA CROC,Aurealis & Speech Pathology awardsand the Maurice Saxby Award forServices to Children's Literature. Shegot other awards, too numerous tomention here

Reading, writing, bushwalking, co-oking, yoga, learning new things,bike-riding, travelling and swimmingare the favourite things she likes to do.

She has some writing tips for thosewho have the skill for it. “Practice,Practice, Practice! You can only im-prove with practice. No violinist ordancer or trapeze artist was ever bril-liant at their first attempt. Like anyskill you have, you can only improvewith practice. No violinist or danceror trapeze artist was ever brilliant attheir first attempt.”

She adds: “If you’re excited aboutwhat you’re writing about, hopefullythat excitement will be infectious andyour reader will love what you’rewriting too.”

Teresa

Deborah Abela launches:

A New Australian


Debbie in her traditional Mal-tese dress at the successful la-unch of her latest book, Teresa


Fil-˙ar©a tal-lum se nissokawbir-regoli u tag˙rif uffiçjalidwar kif wie˙ed g˙andu jikteb

il-Malti. Dan hu ma˙ru© mill-Kum-missjoni fi ˙dan l-Akkademja tal-Malti. Qed ippubblikaw Ωew© regolio˙ra.

It-TIELET REGOLA

Kull le˙en ta’ konsonanti g˙andudejjem jitfisser bis-sura tal-istess ittra.

G˙alhekk l-ittra ç qatt ma g˙and-ha tidher flok il-k u lanqas il-k flok il-q u lanqas il-q flok il-k. Ikteb karta umhux carta; klamar u mhux clamar;kçina u mhux ccina u lanqas chcina;kwienen, kwiekeb u mhux qwienen,qwieqeb; qattus u mhux kattus. Hekkukoll littra h fil-le˙en tag˙ha f’hena,deher, tidher, fiha, fih, tixbiha, tixbih,qatt ma g˙andha tidher flok l-˙ ta’˙ar˙ar, sa˙˙a, xi˙a, sabi˙ u niktbuharhar, sahha, xiha, sabih.

Ma g˙andna lanqas ninqdew bl-ittri c u g ming˙ajr punt flok l-ittri çu © (bil-punt) quddiem il-vokali e ui: ma g˙andniex, ng˙idu a˙na, nik-tbu: cempel, circ, gellewΩ, giΩi flokçempel, çirç, ©ellewΩ, ©iΩi.

Hekk ukoll l-u flok il-w: uie˙ed flokwie˙ed; l-i flok l-j, ii©bor flok ji©bor,iena flok jiena. G˙alkemm dawn l-a˙˙ar ittri jag˙tu le˙en wie˙ed mag˙andhom qatt joqog˙du u jidhrubis-sura ta’ ittri vokali ˙lief metajaqa’ fuqhom l-aççent, kif ji©imfisser ‘il quddiem.

Xi ittri konsonanti fit-tiswira tal-kelma jbiddlu l-le˙en tag˙hom ug˙alhekk mhux dejjem jidhru biexifissru le˙en wie˙ed. Ta˙t ir-regola li©ejja dawn il-konsonanti jibqg˙ubis-sura ta’ g˙erq il-kelma.

IR-RABA’ REGOLA

Kull konsonanti ta’ g˙erq il-kelma,g˙alkemm tbiddel il-le˙en tag˙hafit-tiswir tal-kelma, g˙andha dejjemtidher s˙i˙a fis-sura tag˙ha ewlenija.(1) Il-konsonanti li jitbiddlu fil- le˙-

en ta’ xulxin huma: Konsonanti qawwijin: b, v, d, Ω, ©, g,g˙, h. Konsonanti rotob: p, f, t, s, ç, x, k, h.

(2) Il-konsonanti b, d, ©, Ω quddiemkonsonanti ˙afifa jew meta ja˙btufl-a˙˙ar tal-kelma jrattbu l-le˙entag˙-hom li jkun donnu dak tal-ittris˙abhom: p, t, ç, s: g˙alhekk minnbieba u bit˙a, in˙ossu u jidhrilna lig˙andna niktbu: biep u ptie˙i; minnda˙al, t˙alt; minn ©ifen, Ωebbu©:çifen, Ωebbuç; minn Ωifen, ˙obΩa,qabΩa: sfin, ˙obs, qabes; minn ˙adida,˙adit; minn kelba, kelp.G˙alhekk mur mar-regola u ikteb:

bieb, btie˙i, d˙alt, ©fien, Ωebbu©, Ωfin,˙obΩ, qabeΩ, ˙adid, kelb.

(3) Il-konsonanti k (ca, che, chi, co,cu Taljani), f, s, t, x, quddiem ittrikonsonanti qawwija j˙axxnu l-le˙en tag˙hom u jin˙assu b˙all-ittri s˙ab-hom g, v, Ω, d, ©, ng˙idua˙na b˙al gbîr, gbâr, vdal, v’©ie˙,Ωdieri, iΩboq, ©bajt, imnisslin minnkiber, fadal, f’©ie˙, sidrija, sebaq, xaba’u li g˙alhekk skont din ir-regolag˙andhom jinkitbu kbir, kbar, fdal,f’©ie˙, sdieri, xbajt, isboq. Hekk ukollniktbu tbatija u mhux dbatija, billi t-t hija ittra li tridha l-grammatikabiex taqdi t-tiswira tal-kelma b˙al

fil-kelmiet tnissila, trobbija. Hekk ukoll niktbu tgawdija u mhux

kif tinstema’ fil-widna dgawdija.

(4) Il-konsonanti h u g˙ meta ja˙btufl-a˙˙ar tal-kelma jrattbu l-le˙entag˙hom u jinstemg˙u b˙al ˙ ug˙alhekk il-kliem ta’ ©ens mara(femminil) fiha, biha, rawha, ˙dejha,qatluha, jin˙assu fil-maskil b˙al-likieku g˙andhom jinkitbu fi˙, bi˙,raw˙, ˙dej˙, qalu˙.

Hekk ukoll ji©ri li jinkitbu ˙aΩinkelmiet b˙al dawn: maqtu˙, dmu˙,qlu˙, merfu˙ minflok maqtug˙,dmug˙, qlug˙, merfug˙, li biΩ-Ωiedatal-vokali a jsiru maqtug˙a, demg˙a,qalg˙a, merfug˙a.

IS-SILLABA JEW IT-TAQSIMA TAL-KELMAIs-sillab, fil-Malti, tista’ tkun vokali

we˙idha jew vokali flimkien ma’konsonanti wa˙da jew iΩjed. Ara: u,ma’, ta’ min, minn, kelb, ©ild, rajt,xbajt, rbatt, mort, sajd.

Fil-˙ar©a li jmiss nittrattaw regoli o˙ra

Tag˙rif dwar il-kitba Maltija

nqatta’tqatta’jqatta’tqatta’nqattg˙utqattg˙ujqattg˙u

n˙allit˙allij˙allit˙allin˙allut˙alluj˙allu

ng˙attitg˙attijg˙attitg˙atting˙attutg˙attuujg˙attu

qattajtqattajtqatta’qattg˙etqattajnaqattajtuqattg˙u

˙allejt˙allejt˙alla˙alliet˙allejna˙allejtu˙allew

g˙attejtg˙attejtg˙attag˙attietg˙attejnag˙attejtug˙attwu

JienaIntiHuwaHijaAhna Intom Huma

(Fil-˙ar©a li jmiss nag˙tu eΩempji ta’ aktar Verbi)

JienaIntiHuwaHijaAhna Intom Huma

PERFETT

Verbi Misslin

QASSAM GÓALLEM MOD IMPERATIV

MOD INDIKATIVIMPERFETT

qatta’ qattg˙u

˙alli ˙allu

g˙attig˙attu

Biex tikteb Malti tajjebIl-konjugazzjoni tal-Verbi (Mudelli)

Fejn g˙andha x’taqsam il-kon-jugazzjoni tal-verbi, Illum se

ng˙addu g˙al tliet eΩempji o˙rafejn g˙andha x’taqsam il-kon-jugazzjoni tal-verbi. Dawn ukoll

huma meqjusa fost dawk

mag˙rufa b˙aa Mnisslin. Se ji©u wkoll ittrattati fl-IMPERA-

TIV u dak INDIKATIV, fl-Imper-fett (li juri g˙emil li g˙adu matwettaqx), u il-Perfett (li juri g˙emilli twettaq).


In response to a number of inquiries,The Voice of the Maltese wishes to

advice that we can now supply hardcopies in colour of our magazine toour readers at a price. So anybody in-terested in acquiring copies of themagazine can communicate with uspersonally or by email to:

[email protected]. The magazine can also be delivered

by post. As the cost of postagevaries from state to state, one is kind-ly requested to get in touch with us towork out the details.

Readers can also request a printedcopy of The Voice of The Maltese

magazine by post

Community NewsCommunity News

The Voice of the Maltese onlinemagazine is by far the most

widely read publication amongthe Maltese Diaspora, with sub-scribers from Australia, Canada,the UK England, Scotland, Walesand Northern Ieland), IrelandRep., Belgium, France, Italy, India,the Caribbean island of St Kitts &Nevis. But not only. It is also gain-ing popularity in Malta and itkeeps growing with every issue.

The Voice: The Voice: the most popular by farthe most popular by far

The Cittadini

Iz-Zija ta’ KarluSunday April 10 at 2.00 p.m. atWentworthville Leagues Club

For tickets call:Monica: 9896 0712 or 0414 859 386Doris: 9636 2295Joe Borg: 9624 2280 or 0490 053 512

Donations: $12 Kids: $6,00

Special Guests:

Joe Galea and Ronnie Borg and Tony Fenech

Direct from MaltaNovember 2016:

Marie Rose Mallia and RenatoBrisbane Nov. 5; Melbourne Nov. 11, 12, 13

Sydney Nov. 20 (La Valette Blacktown)

Present...

Il-Hamrun Association qed torganizzaSERATA OÓRA ta’ GÓANA

(fil-klabb stess nhar il-Óadd 3 ta’April fl-4.30 p.m.)Se jie˙du sehem: l-aqwa g˙annejja ta’Sydney bl-akkumpanjament ta’ daqqaqa u kittaristi

G˙alhekk nappellaw lid-delettanti u l-publiku in©eneralibiex ma jitilfux din il-lejla tradizzjonali Maltija.

Il-klabb ikun jifta˙ mit-3.30 p.m. Ikun hemm ikel Malti mill-kçina, u xorb. G˙al aktar tag˙rif çemplu lil:George: 0407 434 651 jew Christ: 0431 457 868,

inkella l-klabb: 9838 1111.

Óamrun Association Ltd ABN: 22 080 314 156

A SOCIAL NIGHTOn Saturday April 9 at “KARMEL” HALL” –

ST PETER CHANEL PARISH848 BALLARAT RD, DEER PARK, Vic. - 6.30 - 11.30pm

Music entertainment by:

I ID.J. “IL-MARKIS”

TICKETS: ADULTS: $10; B.Y.O. FOOD and DRINKENQUIRIES CALL: Bill DeGuara: 9366 9956; Frank Mintoff:9363 5325; Doris Bonello: 9745 9934; Christine Attard:9364 5049; Joe Attard: 9361 1396; Frank Galea: 9314 4231

Santa Marija Assunta Association Inc.ABN 37 392 857 341 Assoc. No. A00105015

P.O. Box 26, St Albans. Victoria 3021

Please address all correspondence to the Secretary

Horsley Park Community Social GroupInvite you to celebrate our

“Mothers”Saturday April 30, from 7.00pm

at Mandavilla Event Centre, Horsley Park

Proceeds of the evening will go towards ourfundraising for the Cancer Council

Entertainment to be provided by Joe Apap$65.00pp for three course meal, beer, wine and soft

drinks, tea and coffeeBookings Contact: Theresa 0402 178 781 or

Josephine 0402 040 954


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 MALTAVIVA MALTA on COAST FM 96.3Community Radio in Gosford Central

NSW. Aired on Thursdays every fortnight from 6 pm -7 pm. Presenter: Nathalie Gatt.

Web streaming on: www.coastfm.org.au.

Tune In to Radio and Television


Day Care Maltese Groupsmeetings in NSW

Fairfield Active Maltese SeniorsMeets on the first Tuesday of the Month.Group meets in Parish Hall, cnr of StellaStreet & The Boulevard, Fairfield Heights.Maltese Seniors Central CoastHave to contact our Welfare Officer foran appointment. For all information andreferral matters call Censina Cefai: 02439 000 12 or 0414 267 652Daceyville Maltese Seniors

Meets on the last Wednesday of themonth in the Meeting Room One, No. 3General Bridges Crescent, Daceyville.Note: The Groups also arrange regular Bus TripsJoin us and make new friends.

*(All Groups are Sponsored by The Maltese Community Council of NSW) with theassistance of Multicultural NSW. Please contact the MCC Welfare Officer: MarisaPrevitera JP on 0414 863 123. The MCC offices are at 59b Franklin Street (cornerwith Young St) Parramatta West NSW (next to West Parramatta Primary School).

Merrylands Social Maltese SeniorsMeets every second Friday of themonth; Miller Room, Memorial AvenueMerrylands from 10.30am to 12.30 am

Llandilo Maltese SeniorsMeets on the first Wednesday of eachmonth at the Llandilo Community Hall,Seventh Avenue, from 11am to 1 pm.

Maltese of Bankstown Group meet 3rd Wednesday of the monthat New BCRG offices 15 Kitchner Parade,Bankstown NSW (opposite RSL Club).Every other 3rd Thursday they have anouting. For enquiries call Sam 9534 2357

Greystanes Maltese SeniorsMeets on the second Monday of eachmonth at the George Preca Centre ofOLQP Church, 198 Old Prospect Road,Greystanes from 10 am to 12 noon

The Sutherland & St George Maltese Group

Meets every First Wednesday of the Monthfrom 10:00am-1:00pm. Meetings/Get To-gethers are interesting, informative & en-tertaining, so come Join us and make newFriendsFor more information contact our Coor-

dinator: Charles Mifsud J.P.Phone (02)9501 5525 – mobile 0421 662 298.

Biex tipproduçi magazine b˙al dan, liwara kollox hu frott tal-passjoni li

g˙andna biex inwasslu t-tag˙rif lill-Maltin barra minn art twelidhom, majin˙tie©x biss xog˙ol u ˙in, imma wkollspejjeΩ. Biex jittaffew u˙ud mill-ispejjeΩnippruvaw insibu sponsors ˙alli jg˙inuna.G˙ad m’g˙andniex biΩΩejjed minnhom,imma bdejna, u ta’ min jag˙tihom ˙ajr. Kull qalb trid o˙ra, g˙alhekk in˙e©©u

lill-qarrejja biex i©ibu dan quddiemg˙ajnejhom u kemm jista’ jkun juΩawis-servizzi u/jew jixtru l-prodotti ta’dawk li qed jirrek-lamaw/jisponsorjawfil-magazine.

Kull qalb trid o˙ra

Saint Nicholas Festa Committee Forthcoming events:

SUNDAY July 3: Lejla Fil-Bus-kett & Car Exhibition.

SUNDAY OCTOBER 16: Fiera

SUNDAY December 4: The Feastof St Nicholas

For further information contact:

The President - Joe Fenech –0412 009 957; or thePublic Relations Officer - Em-manuel Vella – 0405 677 064

L-a˙barijiet tal-PBS (Malta)kemm bil-Malti u wkoll bl-IngliΩ

G˙alkemm il-PBS ta’ Malta tforni lill-SBS fl-Awstralja bis-servizz tag˙ha, il-qarrejja huma m˙e©©a wkoll biex x’˙iniridu jid˙lu fil-website:www.tvm.com.mtu jsegwu l-a˙barijiet ta’ Malta, kemmbil-Malti u

Il-website tkun a©©ornata l-˙in kollubl-istejjer u l-©rajjiet li jkunu qedise˙˙u f’dak il-˙in.



The Maltese Community Council of NSW is conducting a computer class at Maltese Resource Centre59b Franklin Street, Mays Hill 2145 NSW every Friday between 10.00 am-12.00 For more information

contact Em. Camilleri: 0409 744 376

The Malta Community Chest Fund

MALTESE CHARITY DINNER DANCESaturday July 23, 2016

6.30 p.m. - 11.30 p.m.Grand star receptions

499 Grieve Parade, Altona North. vic 3025

Tickets: Adults $65 Children $40includes 4-coure meal, soft drinks, beer & wine

maltese music - maltese brass band - raffle ticketssilent auctions & major grand auction

enquiries & tickets: contact daniel 0404 096 560; lourdes 0402

813 179; joe 0420 547 696. email: [email protected]

(donations also welcome)

Proudly sponsored by:

METD OUTINGS - 201617th April – Apple Picking – Bilpin

$25/pp - $15/child including morning tea

14th August – St Maria Festa – Central Coast$35/pp including morning tea5

11th September – Il-Festa tal-Vitorja – City $25/pp

5th October - 23rd Anniversary Luncheon

Please support the Maltese Elderly Thanksgiving DayCommittee by attending our fund-raising activitiesoutlined above. For more info, call one of the mem-

bers: Lina: 9629 4046; Doris: 0419 420 915; Maggie:9621 3125; Maria:0431 800 720

email: [email protected] PO Box 93, Kellyville 2155

Sunday 17th AprilAdults: $25.00; Children - $15

Pick up points: 9.00am: Black-town Workers Club or at 9:15am: NearGreystanes Church

For bookings contact committeemembers: Lina 9629 4046 or Doris

0419 420 915

Organised by The Maltese Elderly

Thanksgiving Day Committee

Apple Picking

Bilpin Springs

Orchard

THE MALTESE GUILD OF SA INC.Invites You to attend...

On Saturday April 30. Admission from 6.30pm for 7pm start.Dinner is included: Complimentary Glass of Champagne with orange,

nuts and crisps, bread roll and butter on tables, Antipesto on Entry. Main course to be advised later, with platers of fresh

Fruit for Dessert. From 10.45 pm help yourself coffee/tea and cakes.Beer, wine, soft drinks available from the licensed bar of The Maltese

Guild for very cheap prices.

Entertainment by The God Fathers BandAdmission: Members $25.00; Non-Members $35; Children $15.00

The 39th Anniversary of the opening ofTHE MALTESE CULTURAL CENTRE

Book from Joe Briffa: 8254 6988 or 0421 791 327; Mary Craus: 82812329 or 0420 699 617; Rita Bornhoeft: 8248 1008 or 0401 860632.

Otherwise talk to anyone from the committee.

APR. 30 – SAT.: Mother’s Day/Feast of the Cross Functionat Melrose Receptions, TullamarineMAY 14 – SAT.: Get together St Albans. MAY 15 – SUN.: Half yearly meeting – Parkville. JUN. 18 – SAT.: Get together at Holy Eucharist.AUG. 26, 28 (FRI & SUN): Feast masses at Croatian Church,Ardeer.AUG. 27 – SAT.: Dinner Dance at Melrose, Tullamarine SEPT. 17 – SAT.: Get together St Albans.OCT. 23 - SUN.: General meeting at Parkville.OCT. 29 - SAT.: Get together St Albans at Avondale Heights.NOV. 12, 13 (SAT & SUN): Concerts with Renato & Mary Rose Mallia (Also featuring the Cittadini from Sydney)DEC. 17 – SAT.: Xmas function at Melrose, Tullamarine.

ST HELENA MALTESE/AUSTRALIAN S.C.: Events 2016ST HELENA MALTESE/AUSTRALIAN S.C.: Events 2016

La Valette Social Centre

175 Walters Road, Blacktown. Tel. 9622 5847

Email: [email protected] Website: www.lavalettclub.net

Saturday Activities

Masses at the chapel: 4.45pm and 6.15pm

5.00pm: Centre opens for dinner Entertainment by Sam Mifsud or Manuel Grech

Ghana: Last Saturday of every month.Bingo starts at 8.00pm

Bocci, raffle, member’s lucky door price - dinner for two

Membership is on $7 a yearWe also have other activities which we

advertise on the radio and church bulletins

Due to the national team’s internationalcommitments, only one match was

played the past fortnight. Valletta wontheir 10th game on the trot, while theirnearest challengers dropped points indrawn ties, so they managed to improvetheir standing and extend their lead to overdefending Hibernaisn to six points.

Despite having to fight hard againstMosta Valletta won 2-1, while defendingchampions Hibernians could only managea 1-1 draw with Pembroke so their gapwith the leaders has widened considerably.

Balzan failed to bank on Hibs’ slip. Hadthey beaten Sliema they would haveshared the runner up position, but as itturned out Sliema held them to a 3-3 draw.

Birkirkara on the otherhand kept their hopes fora top-four finish thanksto a comfortable winover relega- tion threat-ened Naxxar.

Parramatta Eagles’ impressive start tothe NPL NSW football season did not

last that long as they suffered their firstloss on the third day, a disappointing 5-1defeat at Manly. This followed a disap-pointing scoreless home draw againstAPIA in a game ofmissed scoring op-portunities on thesecond day. Against APIA the

Eagles had the bet-ter of the exchan-ges, hit the postfrom Josh Symons’effort, and evenmissed a penalty

five minutes from time that was awardedwhen an APIA defender handled GosueSama’s goalwards bound shot; then thekeeper denied Marco Sama by saving hisshot from the spot. On Friday Parramatta’s woes in front of

goal and poor defence were there down-fall. They lost so many chances, includinga twice-taken penalty by Daniel Rezo,and hit the post on two other occasions.

They paid dearly for their misses asManly took a two-goal interval lead withgoals by Parkhouse and Cooper, thenadded three more on the change-of-endsthrough Pandurevic, Cooper again andBerti before captain Josh Symons scoredthe consolation tally at the death.

In Victoria, on Day 5 of the PS4 NPL,Green Gully had a 5-0 home win over

Northcote City, but Sunshine GeorgeCross suffered a 4-0 away defeat in theNPL2 West against North Geelong WFC

Malta's national football team figured in a drab scoreless draw in a friendlyinternational at the Ta’ Qali Stadium on March 24 against Moldova, butcoach Pietro Ghedin was quite satisfied with his players’ performance.

The respective defences largely dominated the lack lustreless match with play mostlyconfined to midfield and the drawn result reflected the balanced game encounter. Goalkeeper Henry Bonello in action above (photo by Chrstine Borg), had a good game

in his second start for Malta while Andrei Agius was the pick of the defenders with asound display. He also cleared off the line in a rare Moldova attack.

Valletta widengap to six pts

Nap hand win for Green Gully;heavy defeat for George Cross


Spor ts Spor ts

VallettaHiberniansBalzanBirkirkaraFlorianaTarxien R.MostaSliema WPembrokeNaxxarSt AndrewsQormi

28 4528 3928 3728 3628 3328 2928 1928 1828 1728 728 728 5

Standing P Pts

Valletta v MostaHibernians v PembrokeBalzan v Sliema W.Birkirkara v Naxxar l.Floriana v QormiTarxien R. v St Andrews

2-11-13-34-03-13-2

RESULTS: Round 28

DAY 3Manly U v Parramatta APIA v Bonnyrigg Blacktown S v Hakoah Blacktown C v Sydney ORockdale v Wollongong Sydney U v Sutherland

DAY 2

Parramatta v APIA Sutherland v Blacktown CBonnyrigg v Blacktown SSydney U v Wollongong Sydney Oly v Manly UHakoah SC v Rockdale

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Malta’s Premier League Football

Australia A-League

An odd-goal home win overSydney FC and Western

Sydney Wanderers’ 2-0 defeatin an end-to-end contest atAAMI Park against defendingchampions Melbourne Victory-helped Brisbane Roar regainsole command of the Leagueladder.The points almost assure Kev-

in Muscat’s team a chance to

play in the A-League finals,as with just two games to gothey enjoy a six-point leadand a better difference of sixgoals over Sydney FC. The other five to play in the

final stage (though the ordercould change), will be, Bris-bane Roar, Western SydneyW., Melbourne City, AdelaideUnited and Perth Glory.

Melbourne V v West. SydneyBrisbane R v Sydney FCMelbourne C. v Wellington P.Adelaide v Central CoastNewcastle J v Perth Glory

Day 24West. Sydney v AdelaideMelbourne C v Brisbane R.Wellington Ph v Perth GloryMelbourne V v Newcastle JCentral Coast v Sydney FC

Latest results Day 25

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Eagles disappoint in 5-1 defeat at Manly

Brisbane bank on WSW’s loss to regain lead

Malta in drab home draw with Moldova

the voice of the maltese no. 124

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