My treat...

https://twitter.com/JosephMuscat_JM/status/827873430976479232/photo/1

 For the love of God...Can someone explain to our PM that work colleagues are NOT friends or family.
You take friends and family for pastizzi and te' tat-titotla, not PMs.

I am not much of an expert on protocol, but look at the bemused expression the guy on the left has...he clearly is not exactly overjoyed. And please, no one says he's got resting bitch face, ta.
Maybe the decor was not to his taste (let's be honest..a table that has seen God alone knows what, tiles that are either chipped or cracked, and a waiter wearing a stained tee...if they were lucky enough not to catch him in a string vest.... with chest hair poking out of the neckline).
Or maybe, he did not quite like the pastizzi and te' tat-titotla (heqq..that can happen too)
Or he was just wondering why the hell was someone taking his picture in this dump, presumably to put on social media later.

I would not be surprised if this ruffled a few EU feathers. This is like our PM making a state visit to the US and Donald Trump takes him for a burrito from a street vendor...though, it probably wouldn't be a burrito, would it? What with America First, and all that.

I am no snob.. I can slum it with the best of them, and as a Malteser living abroad, I was quite happy to see Angela Merkel scarf a hobz biz-zejt, like we do.

But this....this makes us look like idiots. And it's  not even a true slice of genuine Maltese life... how many of us hang around the pastizzeria, eating our purchases after we pay for them?
Imho, this is WORSE than Chris Cardona visiting a brothel.. because Cardona is a free agent, to a certain extent (even though ultimately, it's up to the PM to keep him in check - which he obviously is not doing atm). This was a stunt condoned and carried out directly and solely by the PM.

Is it that they do not know better?  Are they that parochial and provincial to not see this for the faux pas it is?

Is it that they do realise but frankly do not give a tuppenny damn?

Is it that this whole thing was meticulously planned, a thumbing of the nose at the EU PMs; enough to raise eyebrows, but small enough to pass off as a kind of "joke"? Was it a petty gesture to show that yea, we may be the smallest member state but hey, we're no less than you?

Whatever the reason for this latest stunt from our "unorthodox" government, it doesn't make us look good.

#kemmsendumunaqghughannejk

OMG! Are you serious???

Wtf reason should a Maltese person living in the UK have to vote for Brexit...?

One of the issues in this very-hot IN/OUT referendum is about EU migrants. HELLO ...that's us, KMB. 

Brexit will change nothing for us Maltese, Karmenu assures us... How do you know? Because I am living in the UK and I can tell you that NO ONE knows what will happen in the event of Brexit, neither David Cameron, and much less Boris Johnson. 

Such a statement coming from a Maltese person beggars belief.. you are telling Maltese people to vote against their own interests. What kind of mindless idiots do you take us for?? 

Although maybe it is to be expected of this douche...at least he's consistent...unlike our menu-tweeting PM who is now offering to help the UK IN-campaign, conveniently forgetting how vociferously he campaigned to keep Malta out twelve years ago.

Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici urges Maltese living in England to vote in favour of Brexit - The Malta...

Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici urges Maltese living in England to vote in favour of Brexit Tuesday, 1 March 2016, 11:53 Last update: about 43 seconds ago

WWW.INDEPENDENT.COM.MT

Under Pressure pt.1

It is that time of the year again....exam time. The time that any student dreads. Everyone, from little children in Yr. 4 all the way up to University is busy studying furiously and waiting for it all to be over... Hopefully for students all over the island, by the time this is oublished, it will be all over for them.

As a parent, and a teacher myself, and obviously as one-time student, it makes you wonder...

Why do we have so many exams in our educational system?? Children as young as seven are sitting for exams in at least five subjects, twice a year.. Comparisons are odious, but seeing that I am currently living in the UK with two children in primary school, maybe they cannot be helped.....

In all of their primary years, UK students experience exams twice, at the end of yr.2 (English and Math) and at the end of yr.6 (English, Math and Science). Why is it absolutely necessary that Maltese children have at least double that, each year? Why not have a system of continuous assessment that lasts throughout the whole school year? Rather than an one or two-hour exam with so much riding on it? When the actual day of the exam may simply be a bad day?

How relevant are all the subjects that students have to study? What practical use is it to an eight-year-old to learn stuff like the finer points of the compass? How many of us ever use all the extraneous stuff we learned at school in our daily lives? Stuff we very probably hated too? Sometimes, you can barely find a practical use for the stuff you loved...

Even the whole concept of 'studying for exams' is suspect... If exams are in core subjects where the main focus is on concepts rather than on facts to be memorised, there should be no need to study..once you understand a concept you only need a little practice to consolidate it, and as a test approaches you need only revise.

Studying for exams is the symptom of an educational system that is still tied to paper and pencil, to sitting at a desk, a system based on book learning, without giving any importance to other ways of learning. A  system based on cramming, on stuffing our students full of knowledge without leaving space for much else.

Teachers are under enormous pressure to deliver a too-vast syllabus within a set time-frame.. Teachers are human too, and there is only so much you can do. In addition to the pressure with the syllabus, teachers also have  vast amounts of paperwork (which parents never see). All this is detracting from what teaching should be about...helping each student achieve his/her potential.

Within families, tensions rise, as adults become more short-tempered and snappy, and children are overwhelmed by the pressure. 

These days school holidays are hardly holidays anymore.... My niece is 8; she got a Holiday Extra Work Pack over summer (ending yr.3); she got a Revision Pack of about 20 double-sided sheets for each core subject (Maths, English, Maltese) over Christmas. In addition, she started exams last Friday, meaning she spent the Carnival holidays revising/studying... My sister took a couple of days off from work,and instead of spending decent quality-time with her daughter over the 'holidays', it ended up being a stressful time for both of them.

Pressure pressure pressure.

In spite of this, many of us parents grit our teeth and plough ahead with studying with their children. To be fair, this is the only strategy that we learned from our own student years.

But is it not short-sighted to think that our strategies are automatically applicable to our kids?

Children today are different from what we were at their age. Nowadays, a child can find whatever s/he is interested in with a few taps on a touch screen. Their childhood is fundamentally different from ours. The world we inhabit and its messages have changed too... Shouldn't an education system be ever-evolving and take that into consideration too..??? 

The concept of expending time and energy on something that does not interest us has become obsolete in today's world. As adults we're told, "If it doesn't interest you; move on". Why should it be any different for children? 

So, maybe we as parents, educators and policy makers should question the wisdom of a system that still applies the logic of yesterday to the world of today. Who knows, it might be the solution to easing the pressure?

Since I moved abroad, I've had frinds tell mee wistfully 'Hekk sew (That's nice!)' when we talk about our different educational experiences as parents.... Is it not  ludicrous that moving becomes a "solution" to the pressure in our educational system?

Of lettuce and hot air....

Emily Slater has autism. Like most people on the autistic spectrum, she has significant difficulty in learning more than one language. And this shows in her exam results…while she struggles with her Maltese O-Level, she has satisfied all the other entry criteria. Last week, Emily took her case to the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Obviously, this made the news, and fuelled plenty of facebook debate.

There were all sorts of comments and opinions, ranging from the insensitive to the plain stupid….

Let’s get a few facts straight.

Malta is a bilingual country. Both Maltese and English are the official languages of the country. Having said that, English is the lingua franca in many countries of the world. Our bilingualism comes as much from financial expediency as from our time under British rule.

The Maltese language with its very specific niche is what is truly our own. I live close to one of the world’s most multi-cultural cities. Any time, any day you can hear different languages, different accents ..and yet, I repeatedly get asked, often by strangers, to describe Maltese as ‘it is different from any other language’.

The fact that as a nation, many of us fail to perceive the uniqueness of our language is a great shame. So yes, I do understand the initial indignation expressed by some.

But….

This is not a story about national pride or about our language. A sarcastic round of applause to the media who depicted it as such!!

This is not about doing away with the Maltese language. This is about a young person with a learning issue, and about working around that issue for her to achieve her potential. This is about inclusion.

It is about questioning the established patterns, things which have been that way forever..

We are a bilingual country, so why can’t we have either one language or the other in cases like this?

If University feels strongly about keeping Maltese as an entry requirement (as it should, after all) why is it that foreign students applying to study there are excused from knowing Maltese? Anyone who’s ever applied to study at a university in a foreign country knows that prospective students are asked to demonstrate competence in the language of the country. The books in university libraries abroad are usually in the local language.

Why do our students not have suitable textbooks in Maltese? Why does English persist as the language of Physics, Chemistry, ICT, Psychology?  Indeed, this is the case with most subjects from senior school right up to university level.

I am all for cherishing our unique language… but sadly, there is no logic to having Maltese as a university entry requirement. Beyond maybe an obvious and rather ham-fisted attempt to give some dignity to something that should be a matter of national pride, but is often treated like a poor relation.

This is a story about inclusion (and in this case, the lack thereof). And sadly, this is not limited to this particular case. How is a student with ADHD supposed to succeed in an education system that is based on cramming, long hours of studying and rote-learning? Make no mistake, for all its wheelchair ramps and notices in Braille, university is far from inclusive.

Invisible disabilities are still disabilities, and when people with such conditions work hard to overcome obstacles, they should not be punished by a system whose inclusiveness only extends to visible disabilities.

Emily has been to Strasbourg to protest over what she justly perceives as an infringement of her right to continuing her education. Hopefully, things will move in the right direction now and adequate concessions will be made, not just for her, but also for future prospective students with invisible disabilities.

As to what will happen after she does graduate is a story for another day…..

The Dress...or... How Shallow Can you Get??

So, yes ... our Head of State wore a hideous dress. There....i said it.
Does that make it ok to bash her? No...
Anyone who has the slightest chip on his shoulder came crawling out of the woodwork last night. To engage in one of the most puerile displays of playground bullying ever.
And yes, comments comparing her to a figolla or Fiona from Shrek ARE bashing her.

Apart from the shallowness of it all...

1. Funny how some of the people getting their knickers in a twist over the green concoction were petitioning for CHOGM to be cancelled, you know, just in case ISIS came over to murder some dignitaries and killed one of our own security in the process (the dignitaries. ..who cares about 'em; because of them our security wo/men's lives will be at risk..)

2. All this bile directed towards Madam President over a dress.
The woman clearly was wrongly styled.. when she was still an MP she dressed smartly...evidently, the person responsible for styling the President is not doing the job at all.
If anything, it is the stylist who deserves to be tarred and feathered.

3. Ultimately Madam President is a person too, and while I'm sure she is immune to this kind of crap, that doesn't make it right.

4. Why all the fuss? Because she's a woman? Because she's meant to look like some slyph like model?
Yes, she's meant to look good because she represents the country, but some of the comments last night questioned the sanity of appointing a woman president. I wonder whether all those women who gleefully jumped on the hate-bandwagon realised that they were essentially, at least indirectly, backing people who think that a woman should never have been made President.

5. Why all the praise heaped on the Royals? Why the looking up to them like they're some kind of sartorial demi-gods? Or the wistful "but they can afford it"..?
For starters, I'm pretty sure the infamous dress cost a small fortune..these horrible things usually do. Second, yes, the Royals are stylish but they were born into this not thrust into it, and in their long and illustrious lives, I'm pretty sure there have been a few faux pas along the way.

6. Is it testament to our innate bitchiness that while the green dress memes went viral in a matter of seconds, only very few people shared the photo of the dress choice for the evening?

7. Madam President may not be a fashionista but the role of a Head of State is not merely to be a fashion plate. There are other aspects to it which she fulfills admirably..
And yet, we bitch and tear her to shreds over a dress. 

Nice to see that our priorities are still straight!

P.S. (while I'm at it..)
Note to whoever put out the posts praising police/army officers to high heaven for simply doing their job in the "cold and bad weather"... ever heard the phrase "all included in the pay packet"?? Should a bit of wind and rain grind everything to a halt... are we still living in caves, ffs?
Do you even have any idea how stupid and parochial all the moaning about the weather sounds?
This is Malta, ffs...not the outer reaches of Siberia!

And no,I will not indulge in the usual "Nisthi nghid li jien Maltija" bullshit rhetoric that inevitably comes up in situations like this. Anyway, why the HELL should I be ashamed I'm Maltese?? If anything, I'm ashamed to say that certain idiots are Maltese....And that includes the incompetents, the totally ignorant and slipshod 'u iva,mhux xorta' brigade, and the hate-mongers.

STRUCK BY LIGHTNING

This poem is dedicated to a very special person,someone who said "I will be there" and who has been there consistently, not just for me but for my whole family.

Sometimes people come into your life,

and the connection is instant,

Like a lightning bolt.

Is it stupid to feel connected to someone

you've never actually met,in the flesh?

Is it silly to feel like you sooooo know that person?

Trust....

Takes so long to come usually.

But this time somehow you KNOW.

You feel it in every fibre of our being

...this person is safe, this person I can trust

And you do. You trust and hope 

that somehow they feel the same.

It is such a gift, to feel safe.....

in a world that has whacked you so many times....

I know..we all feel our troubles the most.

but truly,

feeling safe,

feeling accepted, 

feeling loved, 

for who I am,

with all my sweetness,

and pushiness,

unconditionally...

...such a sweet gift

...such a feeling of 'being okay'

I want to give that gift

I want you to know

that safety,

that acceptance,

that unconditional love,

that feeling of coming home.

HOME

We had a typical British summer here.. wet and cool. And like any other Maltese person who knows the heat, the rih isfel, the scorching sun and the dazzling turquoise seas..I missed Malta and our long, hot summer with a passion.

And I got thinking.... I am living here in the UK because I want to, because I have a choice..I can go back home (or indeed anywhere in the world) anytime. My passport is well-thumbed.. More importantly I have a passport.

I am here out of choice...and I still hanker for home.. I still miss the Malteseness of people. (and I certainly cannot complain of hostility from the locals). 

This post is not intended to be about the refugee crisis. I have written about it in other posts and anyone who follows me know where I stand on the issue, knows that I personally feel it is my DUTY to help. But as the news spotlight has moved on in recent days, and our MEPs and our heads of State are in 'talks', it is all too easy for us to forget that outside of our comfortable existence, there are other realities, other existences that are so far removed from our own experience that we could not even begin to imagine what they must be like. We need to hear about them from the people who have been there, experienced that and if they're lucky, have escaped with a handed-down fake-branded t-shirt.

I found this poem by Warsan Shire earlier this year. I think it explains so many things, if only we are ready to listen to them.

Before little Aylan Kurdi's body washed up on a Bodrum beach, thousands had drowned in this desperate crossing. Yet how many times have we heard that these people cross on a whim? 

I will stop here. 'Home' is food for thought enough.

HOME  (Warsan Shire)

no one leaves home unless
home is the mouth of a shark
you only run for the border
when you see the whole city running as well

your neighbors running faster than you
breath bloody in their throats
the boy you went to school with
who kissed you dizzy behind the old tin factory
is holding a gun bigger than his body
you only leave home
when home won’t let you stay.

no one leaves home unless home chases you
fire under feet
hot blood in your belly
it’s not something you ever thought of doing
until the blade burnt threats into
your neck
and even then you carried the anthem under
your breath
only tearing up your passport in an airport toilets
sobbing as each mouthful of paper
made it clear that you wouldn’t be going back.

you have to understand,
that no one puts their children in a boat
unless the water is safer than the land
no one burns their palms
under trains
beneath carriages
no one spends days and nights in the stomach of a truck
feeding on newspaper unless the miles travelled
means something more than journey.
no one crawls under fences
no one wants to be beaten
pitied

no one chooses refugee camps
or strip searches where your
body is left aching
or prison,
because prison is safer
than a city of fire
and one prison guard
in the night
is better than a truckload
of men who look like your father
no one could take it
no one could stomach it
no one skin would be tough enough

the
go home blacks
refugees
dirty immigrants
asylum seekers
sucking our country dry
niggers with their hands out
they smell strange
savage
messed up their country and now they want
to mess ours up
how do the words
the dirty looks
roll off your backs
maybe because the blow is softer
than a limb torn off

or the words are more tender
than fourteen men between
your legs
or the insults are easier
to swallow
than rubble
than bone
than your child body
in pieces.
i want to go home,
but home is the mouth of a shark
home is the barrel of the gun
and no one would leave home
unless home chased you to the shore
unless home told you
to quicken your legs
leave your clothes behind
crawl through the desert
wade through the oceans
drown
save
be hunger
beg
forget pride
your survival is more important

no one leaves home until home is a sweaty voice in your ear
saying-
leave,
run away from me now
i dont know what i’ve become
but i know that anywhere
is safer than here