Issue 139 online mag azine October 25, 2016 online ma gazine ( driven by the voice driven by the voice of its readers of its readers ) The Voice of the Maltese For two whole days earlier this month, the medieval city of Birgu (Vittoriosa), that has so much history to offer, was turned into a romantic venue during the annual BIR- GUFEST. This is organised with the full participation of the inhabitants, and the local council. Throughout the event Malta’s first maritime town that was built in the Maltese islands together with that of the old capital city of Mdina, was transformed into a Mecca for history lovers. They could walk through the narrow streets and buildings to take in the history of Birgu in dif- ferent periods. As always, the highlight of the Festival was during late evening and early night as streetlights were switched off and the City was lit up by candlelight, creating a magical ambiance. It was estimated that around 32,000 candles were lit. Birgufest
Transcript
Issue139
online magazine October 25, 2016online magazine
(driven by the voice driven by the voice of its readersof its readers)
The Voice of the Maltese
For two whole days earlier this month, the medieval cityof Birgu (Vittoriosa), that has so much history to offer,was turned into a romantic venue during the annual BIR-GUFEST. This is organised with the full participation ofthe inhabitants, and the local council.
Throughout the event Malta’s first maritime town thatwas built in the Maltese islands together with that of theold capital city of Mdina, was transformed into a Mecca
for history lovers. They could walk through the narrowstreets and buildings to take in the history of Birgu in dif-ferent periods.
As always, the highlight of the Festival was during lateevening and early night as streetlights were switched offand the City was lit up by candlelight, creating a magicalambiance. It was estimated that around 32,000 candleswere lit.
Birgufest
Permezz ta’ The Voice ofthe Maltese sirna nafug˙aliex is-servizz tal-
programmi Maltin fuq l-SBSRadio naqas daqshekk. Kienhemm Ωmien meta l-komunitàMaltija forsi ˙asbet li kien in-nuqqas ta’ fondi; illum nafu limhux dan il-kaΩ.
munità Maltija tilfet dawn il-programmi u x’infieq qed isirfuq programmi tat-televiΩjoni ur-radju li m’g˙andhom xejn x’-jaqsmu maç-charter tal-SBS. X’servizzi o˙ra ng˙ataw çerti
lingwi fuq l-SBS Radio mill-iskeda tal-2013, li jag˙mel il-kriterja li biha kienu allokatil-programmi irrelevanti u da˙kfil-wiçç? Insemmu biss il- ko-
B˙ala komunità m’g˙andniex naqtg˙u qalbna u nirrassenjawru˙na li g˙all-mag˙mul m’hemmx kunsill. Irridu nkunu proattivi,nippjanaw g˙all-futur u navviçinaw a˙na lill-SBS bl-ideat tag˙nag˙as-servizzi li nixtiequ u rridu kemm fuq ir-radju u wkoll it-tele-viΩjoni.
Ikun Ωball li n˙alltu l-programmi tar-radju mat-televiΩjoni, u likien hemm kumpens b’xi mod g˙at-telf tal-programmi tar-radju.F’dan il-kaΩ mela ejja naraw kemm komunijiet tad-daqs tag˙nag˙andhom programmi fuq it-televiΩjoni, u aktar u aktar dwak il-komunijiet kbar li g˙andhom sag˙tejn fuq ir-radju kuljum.
Wie˙ed irid josserva dak kollu li g˙addej fuq l-SBS Radio u l-SBS TV u f’liema programmi u servizzi qed jintefqu l-miljuni.G˙al programm ta’ sieg˙a fuq it-televiΩjoni li jiswa l-miljuni ta’
dollari hemm fondi? G˙al Channels s˙a˙ fuq ir-radju li jipprovdumuΩika kontinwa b˙al SBS PopDesi (Non-stop Bollywood,Bhangra and desi pop hits) PopAsia (The very best non-stop Asianpop hits including K-Pop, J-Pop and C-Pop) PopAraby (The verybest Arabic pop hits) SBS Chill (Sounds from around the worldstreaming 24/7) hemm fondi?
programmi dan l-a˙˙ar biex jittella’ kontenut online. B˙ala ko-munità anzjana dan ma jg˙oddx g˙alina u huwa prova çara lig˙andna bΩonn servizz fuq l-analogue. Ma ninsewx li n-nuqqas ta’ programmi fuq l-istazzjon nazzjonali
2 The Voice of the Maltese Tuesday October 25, 2016
The
Saga
Michelle Rowland MP
Mike Ebeid (SBS)
A. This idea sounds wonderful and couldsolve your mother’s problem of living aloneand your problem of having such a largemortgage to pay off. However you shouldlook at other things prior to progressing onthis. Do you have other siblings? They may ob-
ject to this and this move could cause prob-lems in the future. Both your mother andyour family will lose some independence;again this could prove a problem in the fu-ture. If mum is on an age pension she maybe left with a large sum of surplus funds thatcould also affect her age pension if she ison one. I believe you should visit a financial plan-
ner and discuss all the pros and cons of thismove prior to going ahead. Then you willall be able to make a more informed deci-sion.
Q. I am 63 years old and retired from theworkforce. My husband is 67 and works20 hours per week. We have just won$500,000 in Lotto and wish to knowwhether we are both able to invest thissum of money in superannuation.
A. As you are still under 65 years of ageyou are able to make a non-concessionalcontribution into superannuation of$180,000. In the 2017 Financial Year youare also able to use the bring forward capfor the next two years which is a further$180,000 per year which means you are
able to investup to $540,000( $ 5 4 0 , 0 0 0bring forwardstill in placefor 2017) as anon- conces-sional contri-bution. This of course
depends onwhether youhave made anyother non-con-cessional con-tributions thisyear. Yourhus-band on the other hand is able tomake a non-concessional contribution of$180,000.
As he is over 65 he needs to pass thework test which is working for 40 hoursover a 30 day period which he does. Heis however, unable to use the bring for-ward cap because he is over 65 years ofage.
Q. My father is 85 years of age and has re-cently moved into Aged Care. He has justsold his house to pay the Refundable Ac-commodation Deposit in full and is left with$350,000 available for investing. He is notkeen to invest in a bank account or term de-posit.
Tuesday October 25, 2016 The Voice of the Maltese 3
Marie-Louise Muscat is fluent in Maltese and English and can assist you in:
* Wealth Creation
* Pre Retirement and Retirement Advice
* Maximising Centrelink Benefits
* Tax effective strategies in retirement e.g. sale of property
* Rearranging finances to minimise ongoing fees prior to
entering Aged Care facilities
Call Marie-Louise for a complimentary consultation on:
(02) 9231 2133
Marie-Louise Muscat is a representative of Fiducian Fiinancial Services Pty LtdABN 46 094 765 134 AFSL and Australian Credit Licence 231103
This document contains factual informa-tion only and is not intended to provideany recommendation or opinion in rela-tion to the topic/s discussed. Fiducianrecommends that you seek advice froma professional to address any issues thatmay be raised by this article. Fiducian ac-cepts no liability for any loss suffered byanyone who has acted on any informa-tion in this document
Q&AQ&A
This is a monthly service offered by The Voice of the Maltesein which Marie Louise Muscat from the Fiducian Finan-
cial Services helps our readers understand the complexitiesassociated with financial planning. If you need more advicesend an email to Marie Louise via: [email protected].
Is there any other investment that may suithis needs to keep up with the monthly re-payments of his care fees to the home?
A. You may wish to consider investing inmanaged funds. When one invests inmanaged funds one is able to invest in allsectors of the market depending on one’srisk profile and one’s needs. When one invests in managed funds one
is able to invest in cash, fixed interest,Australian and International equities(shares) and real estate investment trusts.These funds would provide both incomeand growth.
These investments will be much morevolatile than investing in cash and fixedinterest but as long as these investmentsgenerate the income he needs and main-tained for the medium to long term i.e.five to seven years the capital should bepreserved.
Q. I have a self-managed super fund andalso another superannuation account withan industry fund. I would like to roll overthe funds in the Industry fund to my self-managed super fund. Are there any trapsfor me to be aware of?
A. You can by all means go ahead withthis rollover but just make sure that yourcurrent industry fund is not covering youfor any personal insurance such as Life,TPD and Income Protection.
If you do have some insurance you maywish to consider leaving a small amountof funds in this superannuation to pay forthe ongoing premiums until such time atleast that you can get similar coverthrough your Self-Managed Super Fundwhich sometimes could prove difficult andmore costly.
Q. My father passed away three months ago and my motherdoes not wish to continue to live alone. My husband and Ihave a large mortgage on our house and we are consideringselling both mum’s house and ours and purchasing a largehouse together. Do you agreed with this move?
4 The Voice of the Maltese Tuesday October 25, 2016
Something magical happens each time you enter these city walls. Architectural excellence
captivates your visual senses, as every step leads to a landmark of historical value. Walls and
pavements that line the grid of narrow streets whisper secrets and mystic tales to passersby,
whilst the air fills up with modern art, live music, and an array of celebrations. The Unesco World
Heritage Site could perhaps best be described as a place where history meets the present;
where every explorer can find something they love. How will your Valletta story unfold?
Fireworks are an intrinsic ele-ment of the soundscape offeasts in Malta, a sound that
can be “felt” and is practically phys-ical. They also provide a structureand sequence, without which thefeasts would lose their rhythm anddie, and they widen their geograph-ical reach in an impressive way.
I cannot agree more with the con-clusion that there is “no feast with-out fireworks” reached by socialanthropologist Mark Anthony Fal-zon and Christine Cassar, an an-thropology student at CambridgeUniversity as published in their re-search in 2011.
As Maltese would be aware, festasare mainly celebrated between themonths of May and September co-inciding with the warm weather ofthe summer months. (Here in Aus-tralia we face the opposite weatherwhen celebrating the same feasts).
Each village has at least one pa-tron saint (many have two) which isfeted during a week long (some-times even longer) programme ofactivities.
More than just fireworksTuesday October 25, 2016 The Voice of the Maltese 5
BrianDecelis
A qubbajt (nougat) stand at a Maltese festa
The statue of a patron saint onexhibition at one of the churchesduring the week-long programmeof activities of a village feast
The essence of the Maltese festatranscends way beyond what at facevalue is a religious commemorationof the patron saint of the village. Itis the culmination of a year longdedication by many volunteers toput up their town on display not justfor the locals but for the manytourists that visit during summer.
Hence we see the large decoratedbanners across and along all themain streets. Many of these arepainstakingly hand painted by thevolunteers who should be consid-ered artists in their own right! Alsomany households put up their ownon balconies as well as mini statuesin their windows.
Music also plays an integral partof the celebration with band mar-
c h e splayingd a i l ya l o n gt h es t r e e t sand ons p e c i a lb a n ds t a n d se r e c t e dfor the
occasion. Some of these stands arealso a work of art in themselves.Food is another key ingredient with
stalls lining up the main squaresselling everything from traditionalto more ‘modern’ fare. In my young-er days it used to mainly consist ofhot dogs (in a steamed bun) andqubbajt (nougat). Nowadays youcan find a wide variety of street foodfrom which to choose from. I waseven surprised to come across horsemeat (which is usually found in tra-ditional Maltese restaurants) at a re-cent festa stall too!
But the highlight of any festa issurely the carrying of the statue outof the church around the streets ofthe village. In some towns the statuecarriers even bid for the privilege tohoist the statue.
The culmination at the end of thefestivities is reached in the square infront of the church at the end of theweek long festivities where all thedifferent elements come together ina fusion of sound and colour withthe band competing with the fire-works as the statue is returned intothe church for another year.
X’festa kellna!
Many households put up their owndecorated banners on balconies
6 The Voice of the Maltese Tuesday October 25, 2016
Minn dak li qrajt, fil-lokal tar-Rabat jidher likien hemm drawwa marbuta mal-hekk mag˙-rufa b˙ala l-˙anΩira tal-Erwie˙. Jista’ jkun li ankef’xi r˙ula o˙ra d-drawwa kienet issir ukoll, imma Ωgur li makinetx popolari daqs fir-Rabat.
Dan Çensu kien inkarigat minn din il-˙anΩira, tant li kienanke mag˙ruf b˙ala Çensu tal-˙anzira tal-Erwie˙. Ming˙andu l-età tie-g˙i u aktar Ωgur lijiftakar lil dan il-˙abib tag˙na likellu wkoll karat-tru ferrie˙i g˙all-a˙˙ar.
nofs u t-tmienja ta’ filg˙odu fil-jum tal-irkant. Sadanittant,minn jiem qabel, kien javΩa lil dawk interessati li se jag˙mell-irkant il-Óadd filg˙odu biex ikunu jistg˙u jtuh prezz. L-irkant kien isir ˙dejn San Katald g˙ax hemm kien il-post
çentrali tar-Rabtin u g˙ax hemm kienu jiltaqg˙u l-aktar il-gabillotti - il-bdiewa u r-ra˙˙ala. Kien ikun hemm ukoll il-
Monti, allura l-post kien ikun mimli aktar bin-nies. Çensu kien jg˙ajjat mat-toroq tar-Rabat li se jag˙mel l-irkant
tal-˙anΩira u g˙al xid-9.30 kien jibda l-irkant tag˙ha ….ÌuΩeppi mlaqqam ta’ Ûbibu li kellu ˙anut tal-la˙am kien
volta u secondavolta) u l-prezzkien jitla’ sa xitliet liri u ˙amesxelini. Kienu jift-hemu b’daqsxejnta’ g˙amΩa.
Qalli li l-˙anΩirali jirkanta hukienet tkun kbirau ˙afna drabiwkoll mg˙am-mra, skont il-weg˙da tal-gabil-lot.
Bi tpattija, lildawk kollha likienu jag˙tu xi˙anΩira lil Çensukien itihom xi ku-runa tar-ruΩarjumsensla bir-ramm, tajba uferma, inkella xibiçça xemg˙a tat-tniebri, speçi ta’
rigal u biex jag˙mlilhom ukoll il-qalb. L-irkant ma kienx hemm Ωmien g˙alih, imma kien isir
Irrakkontali wkoll li qablu kien jag˙mil l-irkant id-deffientar-Rabat li kien inkarigat ukoll mill-Kaxxa tal-Erwie˙.Imbag˙ad warajh ˙adha f’idjeh Çensu. Dan kien fi ΩmienDun Salv, qassis G˙awdxi. Skont Çensu, l-irkant tal-˙anΩira spiçça mir-Rabat ftit wara
l-gwerra min˙abba l-mard tal-annimali li kien hawn f’dawkiΩ-Ωmienijiet, u allura ma ng˙atax aktar majjali x’jirkanta.
Tuesday October 25, 2016 The Voice of the Maltese 7
Amenu consisting of a beefcasserole with Maltese potatobake for the main course and
Maltese bread pudding with orangeblossom ice cream for dessert won the6th edition of the Maltese Cook Off or-ganised by community group nisġa inMelbourne!Hamrun Knights, a team made up of
Melanie Cricco, Rebecca Schmidt andShandelle Melios also tied in the cate-gory for Malteseness and for Most Or-ganised Team in the kitchen.
This annual event brought togethereight teams made up of three people,in some cases three generations fromone family, cooking Maltese tradi-tional food.
This year’s judging panel consistedof the Maltese Consul General in Vic-toria Victor Grech, former MasterChefAustralia contestant Tregan Spiteri,
former MKR contestant Carla Man-gion and Doris Delia.
The 250 guests were entertained byrenowned musician Nicky Bomba
and members ofBustamento whilstNicol Caruanabelted out a fewMaltese favourites!
People’s ChoiceAward went to TheAwesome Altairswith a menu con-sisting of bakedrice and imqaret(date slices) withorange blossomsyrup and vanillaice cream who alsotied for 3rd/2ndplaces with Conser-vative Kunservas,who had a menuconsisting of rabbit
and Maltese sau-sage lasagna and aKinnie and choco-late cake!
For more informa-tion about nisġavisit www.nisga.orgPhotos Mark Avellino
Potography
Óamrun Knights win 6th Maltese Cook OffThe Hamrun Knights, winners of the 2016 Maltese Cook Off
The winners ofthe successful6th Maltese Co-ok Off (2016) theHamrun Knigh-ts, with the jud-ging panel andmembers of thenisġawebsite: www.breakawaytravel.com.au
Breakaway Travel 94 corner of Main & Campbell Streets, Blacktown NSW
8 The Voice of the Maltese Tuesday October 25, 2016
Carmen Farr from Haywood, Victoria writes:
Ifeel duty bound to thank The Voice of theMaltese for the service i is providing toits readers, particularly when it comes to
the articles by the experts, Ms Marie LouiseMuscat about financial matters, and the legaladviser Mr. Paul Sant for the important legalinformation he metes out.
My family recently made good use of MrSant’s information. Were it not for him, wewould have made a great blunder that couldhave cost us dearly, but thanks to his advise,we managed to avoid a catastrophic situa-tion. It was after reading his information
about lending money to our kids that we ap-proached the professionals in the nick oftime.I would have liked to request further advise
from Mr Sant, but I live in Victoria State andhad no time to seek his help in NSW.
Thanks again to him and also to this mag-azine that has become such an importantread for the Maltese community.
Shaun Marks minn Footscray, Victoria, jikteb::
Nixtieq ng˙addi kumment dwar l-a˙barijietbil-Malti u bl-Ingliz dwar Malta fuq il-
When the President of Malta, her Excel-lency Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca vis-
ited Australia she gave the youths of Maltesedescent - third and fourth generation Maltese- a lot of her time as she urged them to treas-ure their roots and to work towards helpingthe Maltese community in Australia to stayvigilant and to preserve their traditions.
I wasn’t in any of those meetings but a rel-ative was and the youths seem to have prom-ised their commitment towards fulfilling thePresident’s advice and involving themselves.However, I am sorry to say, I have not seen
any great change or involvement, if any, inthese young people’s commitment and therehas been no push forward on their part to tryand alleviate the work undertaken by the sen-iors, who I must say, despite their age, arestill enthusiastically carrying the burden ofrunning most of the Maltese clubs and asso-ciations. The new young, fresh blood that most of us
had been expecting after the President’s visithas been absent from committees. I don’tthink that it is by choice that the leaders arestill the same old people.I am not talking about the festas, which per-
haps many youths believe are something ofthe past and too parochial. I am sure that ouryoung people have many good ideas on howto keep these organisations going that may beaverse to us. However, if they put their heartsand minds into it they will find us givingthem our support.
After the sacrifices and efforts most of usmade to keep alive the traditions, none of uswant to see them disappear because therewon’t be any body to keep the flow. Withoutthe continuity of the young generation therewon’t be any future to our organisations, andto use the Maltese phrase, kull m’g˙amilnajsir suf. For all our efforts it would all cometo nought.
Great need foryoung generationthe get involved
Naqbel mal-policyaddottata mill-Voice
Dejjem tkun okkaΩjoni memo-rabbli u dis-sena kompliet it-tradizzjoni meta l-anzjani fi
NSW iltaqg˙u biex jag˙tu ajr lil Allata’ ˙ajjithom u fl-istess waqt jg˙addujum flimkien ta’ talb, divertiment u˙biberija.Din id-darba kienet it-23 sena minn
mindu bdiet issir il-Maltese ElderlyThanksgiving Day. Originarjament l-ideja kienet ta’ Sister MaryAnnGrima fmm li ˙alliet warajha tradiz-zjoni hekk sabi˙a. F’dan il-jum, anzjani minn kull na˙a
kemm, jekk jghixu f’Age CareFacilaity, Hostels, Respite Care Cen-tres u Active Age Seniors Groupstwasslu fis-sala spazjuΩa ta’ StStephens fi Plumpton fejn saret qud-dies speçjali ta’ ˙ajr mill-patrijietMissjunarji ta’ San Pawl, Noel Biancou Tarcisju Micallef.
Wara kien hemm divertiment ip-provdut minn Joe Apap, TonyFenech, Joe Xuereb, Ron Borg u Vic-tor Mifsud. G˙all-okkaΩjoni sar
tal-g˙aqda, Dr George Boffa u wkoll il-KonsluÌenerali ta’ NSW, Salv Giusti g˙amlu diskorsiqosra.
OkkaΩjoni b˙al din tkun suççess bil-˙idma ta’ghadd ta’ nies, g˙alhekk ta’ min jag˙ti ˙ajr ukolllill-membri tal-kumitat, Maria Mercieca, CarmenCutajar, Maggie Vella, Rose Cato, Doris Pocock,Lina Magro u Maria Cilia, u wkoll l-voluntieriKelly Zammit u Theresa Grech ta’ ˙idmiethom.
Tuesday October 25, 2016 The Voice of the Maltese 9
Jum ta’ talb, divertiment u biberija mill-anzjani ta’ NSW
Il-kejk mag˙mul g˙all-okkaΩjoni
L-erba’ anzjoni li kollha g˙alqu d-90 sena.Mix-xellug: Miriam Talks, Katie Mifsud-
Ellul, Frank Grima u Victoria Teuma
kitba ta’
IVAN
CAUCHI
10 The Voice of the Maltese Tuesday October 25, 2016
PerspettivaA version of this series inEnglish may be found inthe author's blog at: http://ivancauchi.blogspot.com
Id-drama ta' din is-sena tal-elezzjoni g˙al President tal-IstatiUniti ilha fl-a˙barijiet u fil-kummenti ta' ˙afna nies madwarid-dinja. Ng˙id g˙alija, qatt ma stennejt li partit ewlieni tal-
hours of reflection to mark the end ofthe Jubilee Year of Mercy that willconclude on the Feast of Christ theKing. The members wish to extend aninvitation to members of all the otherMaltese Associations and anybody
else wishing to join them and theirfriends.
The event is to be held at the shrineof St Francis on the grounds of the Kel-lyville Parish Church (8 Diana Av-enue) on Sunday November 6. It willconsist of Mass at 11.00 am followedby a talk and discussion about the“Qualities of Mercy” to be conductedby the Association’s Spiritual DirectorFr Carmelo Sciberras.
Afterwards all would share a meal
together. Therefore those acceptingthe invitation to attend are requestedto bring either your own lunch or aplate to share with others. Althoughanyone can turn up without notice FrCarmelo wishes to have a rough ideaof the numbers attending.
He appreciates an email on [email protected] or a phone call on02 4976.3749 (leave a message on theanswering machine) from anyone in-tending to participate
Karikatura tal-gazzetta Chatanooga TimesFree Press fl-Istati Uniti dwar x’effett
ta˙seb li jistg˙u j˙allu l-ideat ta’Donald Trump g˙all-Amerika
“Join us – End of Jubilee Year of Mercy”
Tuesday October 25, 2016 The Voice of the Maltese 11
The Federation of Maltese LanguageSchools Australia, FMLS (establish-ed 2008) recently held its eighth An-
nual General Meeting and ProfessionalDevelopment day at the De Piro House inEast Sydney, NSW, during which it electedthe following persons to serve on the nextcommittee: Edwidge Borg (President), Al-fred Flask (Treasurer), Mary Rose Bristow(Secretary) and Mary Pace Feraud (Vice-President).This annual gathering is the only time that
Maltese language teachers from differentstates meet to collectively attend workshopsand further their skills in the LOTE teachingof the Maltese language. It was attended bydelegates and teachers from Victoria, NSWand Queensland.
Later the FMLS held the Professional De-velopment Seminar, titled “Sequential them-es/topics developed in Lesson plans.” Patricia Grech (Mackay Skola Maltija) de-
veloped two papers on “prepositions andweather vocabulary”, Mary Pace Feraud(Maltese Language School NSW) presentedher bilingual English/ Maltese translation of“Marcellino bread and vine” a short storybook to be used as a class reader, LauraSchembri (MCCV Maltese Language Scho-ol) talked about “resources used to intro-duce students to the pronunciation of theMaltese alphabet”, while Marthese Caru-ana (Maltese Language School NSW) shar-ed her experiences on “LOTE LessonPlanning. The Seminar concluded with a PowerPoint
presentation by Edwidge Borg (MCCVMaltese Language Classes) on” Promotingand Marketing Language Schools”.
The main objective of the Federation is tocoordinate the work performed by the Mal-tese language schools in Australia and to as-sist them in working together in the spirit ofbetter co-ordination and cooperation so thatthe Maltese language and culture wouldcontinue to grow and to reinforce the solidfoundations of these institutions.
The FMLS received a grant subsidy fromMalta’s Department of Education to be usedto assist financially the affiliated schools intheir ongoing expenses. A disbursement of$400 was presented to each affiliatedschool. Further disbursements would de-pend on the direction of the schools in thecoming months.
Early next year FMLS will also offer a$100 “Scholarship Assistance” grant sub-sidy (awarded on a first come serve basis)to 15 students residents of Australia sitting
for the Maltese Language VCE/HSC/SACEexam in 2016. It aims to encourage the Mal-tese language maintenance in the Australiancommunity and to foster interest in Malteseculture through Maltese language studies.The FMLS thanked Father Fr Tarcisio Mi-
callef (mssp Superior), for the use of thepremises. Mary Pace-Feraud was the venuecoordinator for the day.
Further information on Maltese Languageclasses held in Australia can be obtainedfrom the FMLS website: www.federationof-malteselanguageschoolsaustralia.Pictured (standing from left): Laura Schembri(Victoria), Emanuel Camilleri, Tony Pace Fer-aud, (NSW), Fred & Ann Flask (ACT), MaryRose Bristow (Mackay QLd) and, LawrenceDimech (NSW). Sitting: Marthese Caruana(NSW), Edwidge Borg (Victoria), Maria DeCarlo,Mary Pace Feraud (NSW)
FMLS holds AGM and Seminar 2016
Mr. Gorge Zahra has been re-elected president of the Hamrun
Association NSW Ltd for a secondterm after winning the members’ voteat a secret ballot at the association’sannual general meeting held at theclub premises at 100 Jackson Street,Marsden Park NSW in a two-way con-test with Eddy Ellul.
Over a hundred members attendedthe meeting in which Mr EmanuelCamilleri, president of the Maltese
C o m m u -nity Coun-cil of NSW acted as returning officer.The meeting kicked off with the club
secretary, Robin Mc Garrigle readingout the minutes of last year’s meet-ing, while the incumbent presidentGeorge Zahra delivered a shortspeech. He thanked his fellow com-mittee members for their hard workand dedication.
Mr. Camilleri then dissolved the
committee and proceeded with theelection.The other members of the new com-
mittee led by George Zahra as Presi-dent is to consist of: Secretary: RobinMc Garrigle; a/Secretary: CarmenCuiul; Treasurer: Alfred Pace; EventCoordinator: Greg Caruana; Mem-bers: Tessie Rizzo, Joe Kitney, RitaBerimballi and Chris Sciberras.
president for second termGeorge Zahra re-elected Hamrun Association’s The Óamrun Association committee members flank MCC of NSW president Emanuel Camilleri (seventh left). From left: Rita Berimballi, CharlesD. Lawrence, Fred Pace, Robin McGarragle, Carmen Cuiuli, George Zahra, Tessie Rizzo, Mary Spaniol, Mary Xuereb, Mary Said and Vicky Galea
Budget 2017 aims to reach those most in needFollowing the presentation in Parliament
of the fourth Budget in the current leg-islature by the Minister of Finance,
Profs Edward Scicluna, Prime MinisterJoseph Muscat said the 2017 Budget had thesole aim of reaching out to those sectors ofsociety that needed it the most. He said thatafter stabilising the economy, the governmentwas now seeking to address problems facedby people who had fallen behind.He went on to say that this Budget has to be
seen in the light of the roadmap that theLabour Party had drawn up, which in the lastthree and a half years had seen a transforma-tion of the country from one that was facinga rising deficit and rising unemployment toone in which the deficit was being loweredand unemployment was at a record low.
Minister Scicluna said that following un-precedented economic growth and job cre-ation, Government is now in a position todistribute wealth.
At a glance, this year’s Budget seems to befollowing on those of previous years in a number of areas, althougha decline in capital expenditure, albeit marginal, is once again notedfor 2017. It also continues to build on previous year’s efforts in anumber of other areas including income support for low and middle-income earners and pensioners.
The most vulnerable people in society are government’s main tar-gets, with Scicluna saying, “Poverty is not a perception, but a realitywe will tackle with facts.” The Minister also announced further investment in human resources,
environmental initiatives and transport infrastructure, pointing outthat the measures announced would not have been possible withouta sound economy. Figures show that the country’s finances are ingood shape, probably the best they have been since the economicboom in the 90s he said. Save for certain excise tax measures, the Budget speech has spared
major surprises and shocks on private economic operators as it con-tinues to acknowledge the private sector’s important role in the econ-omy. Government announced a number of measures that attempt todirectly address inequalities, especially pensioners.
Most of the social partners expressed satisfaction with the Budget.The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry noted theunderlying priorities of the speech, namely, fiscal consolidation,strong economic growth and better living standards for all, priorities,which it said, are similar to the objectives it had proposed during its
active participation in the Budget consultation process. The Chamber said it was encouraged by the remarkable rate of eco-
nomic expansion over the past quarters and the manner in which thisis supporting public finance consolidation.The government would be setting up of a new unit to target tax eva-
sion through a joint effort between Inland Revenue, the VAT Depart-ment and Customs.
One of the sectors that keeps breaking records is Tourism, and thefuture looks bright, so no wonder the Malta Hotels and RestaurantsAssociation (MHRA) was pleased with a good number of positivemeasures that directly support the tourism sector.The measures include, investment to further support the sustainable
growth of the cruise-line business; the commencement of works onthe new Institute of Tourism Studies; infrastructural investment in-cluding projects related to public parks, various embellishment ini-tiatives and improvement in the road network across a number oflocalities including Gozo.The MHRA welcomed tax credit schemes for renovations in hotels
and restaurants aimed at the continued improvement of the tourismproduct, positively noting that an energy efficiency scheme it pro-posed for Hotels and Restaurants would be implemented next year.
The 2016 deficit estimate is set to be below one per cent and is ex-pected to further improve next year, while the national debt as a per-centage of the GDP is on the decrease and getting closer to the 60per cent allowed by Euro zone targets.Of course, although the benefits far outweigh any negatives, a
Budget needs balancing, therefore no Budget would be completewithout the introduction of some taxes, and in the words of the PrimeMinister, besides introducing “a new wave of social services” thattargets a generation and supports the most vulnerable, Prime MinisterJoseph Muscat said, a number of taxes have been introduced.
Opposition leader Simon Busuttil was far from impressed with theBudget. In fact he described it as one that “reveals the govern-
ment’s lack of a long-term economic plan”. Saying the Budget was"dry", "without a vision" and "cosmetic", he warned that Malta’s rateof inflation is higher than in any other European countries and insistedthat fuel and electricity prices have not been decreased enough. Referring to a Caritas report published earlier this year suggesting
that people on the poverty line were finding it increasingly difficultto keep their heads above water, he accused the government of havinglet the people down by failing to reduce electricity tariff. He said thatthe budget had "failed the Caritas test.
In his opinion the Budget failed to address various items, and alsoexpressed scepticism about the government's social intentions.
Roundup of News About Malta
12 The Voice of the Maltese Tuesday October 25, 2016
Opposition leader Simon Busuttil ...described Budget, “without a vision”
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat (centre) flanked by Deputy PMLouis Grech (left) and Finance Minister Edward Scicluna address-ing the press after presenting the Budget in front of Castille
Opposition says Budget was cosmetic and lacked vision
Five people were killed Monday morn-ing after their twin-prop Metrolinerplane they were flying in crashed
shortly after take-off at 7.15 a.m. in Safi’sKarwija area close to Luqa, and subsequentlyburst into flames. Some of the burningwreckage ended up on the airport perimeterroad between Kirkop and Safi. Nobody sur-vived the crash.
Reports indicated that the plane, a Luxem-bourg military light aircraft was carrying USmilitary personnel and was heading for Mis-urata in Libya
Emergency services were immediately onsite, Mater Dei hospital staff was placed inmajor incident mode, and flights to and fromMalta were postponed, with MIA saying in astatement that the aerodrome would remain
closed until further notice. The plan is registered to Canada-based CAE
Aviation, a major civil and defence contrac-tor offering aircraft simulation and trainingto civilian clients as well as many defenceand security agencies, including all US serv-ices.
Investigations into the accident were stillongoing at time of finishing the magazine
Tuesday October 25, 2016 The Voice of the Maltese 13
Roundup of News About Malta
Almost 6,000 new vehicles in 3 months
Total cruise passenger arrivals to Maltaduring the third quarter of 2016 (July-
September has shown a 5.5 per cent over thecorresponding period last year. The NationalStatistic Office, NSO, reported that total ar-rivals during this period amounted to208,786.
During this period there were 106 cruiseliner calls and at 85.5%, transit passengersaccounted for the vast majority of total traf-fic, reaching 178,545. A total of 2,749 passengers visited Gozo,while 9,185 passengers spent at least onenight on board their berthed cruise liner.Visitors from EU Member States accounted
for 80% of total traffic, with the major mar-kets being Italy, Germany and France. Thetotal number of passengers from Non-EUcountries stood at 41,694, of whom 30.7%came from the United States.
During the first nine months, total cruisepassengers stood at 448,641, a rise of 5.8%over 2015. Of these, 75.8% were from EUMember States.
For the first time in 20years, US-based rat-ings agency Standard
& Poor’s has raised itslong-term sovereign creditratings on Malta, from'BBB+' to 'A-', predictingthat the Maltese economywould continue to grow byan average of 3 per cent ayear until 2019. It reflectedwhat S&P called "Malta's improved credit metrics", including, its strong real GDPgrowth; Deficits below 1 per cent for the period 2016-19, and durable current accountsurplusesMalta's outlook remains stable, reflecting the agency’s view that "the upside potential
of Malta's economic and fiscal performance is counterbalanced by downside risks relatedto Brexit, external flows, and the structure of the financial sector."
The country's short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit rating remainedstable at 'A-2'. It anticipates that by the end of this year Malta's economy would exceedpre-2009 levels "by more than 25 per cent", and that its most economic growth reflected"a genuine expansion of the domestic economy's capital base".S&P also noted that Malta had benefited from an expanded workforce that was driven
by an influx of foreign workers as well as a rapid increase in the number of working-women. In a decade, the percentage of women of a working age in employment hasgrown by 18 percent, from 36% to 54.
The agency predicts that the medium-term effects of Brexit on Malta would be con-tained, and that the local tourism sector could "easily" fill an eventual gap in UK arrivalswith tourists from other markets.
The agency forecasts that Brexit's effects on Malta's financial services industry wereless clear-cut, but the local sector appeared to be "sufficiently diversified to contain therisks".
According to the S&P Malta’s core domestic banks had assets amounting to roughly2.3 times its GDP in March of this year. When international banks are added to the equa-tion, that figure rises to 5 times the national GDP. However, It cautioned that the bankingsector's size posed a potential risk to public finances.
Standard & Poor's upgradesMalta's credit rating to A–
Cruise passenger traffic July-Sept.
up by 5.5 per cent
Five dead as plane crashes in Luqa
New vehicle licences issued during thethird quarter of 2016 amounted to 5,669,
of which 71.7% (4,063) were issued to pas-senger cars; 981 new licences were handed tomotorcycles, according to NSO.The figures indicate that during this quarter,
on average, there has been an increase of 38vehicles per day of licensed vehicles.
14 The Voice of the Maltese Tuesday October 25, 2016
G˙alkemm jekk wie˙ed jifli attwalmentdak li ntqal minn dawn il-mexxjja, jidher lil-kummenti fil-biçça l-kbira kienu poΩittivi,iΩda s’intendi l ‘imma’ ma naqsitx. Imma,meta, speçjalment, fil-politika xi darba l-“imma” se tisparixxi?Minn dak li ng˙ad, fuq quddiem tal-kritika
poΩizzjoni kien qed jiΩgura lill-poplu li l-Gvern kien se jra˙˙as dawn it-tariffi biexitaffi ftit mill-kritika li kien qed ikollumin˙abba t-tanker tal-gass li dda˙˙al f’-Marsaxlokk, u biex jag˙mel il-propoganda.
mill-popolazzjoni fl-iskejjeltal-Gvern. Filwaqt li f’Malta l-popolazzjoni ta’ dawn l-iskejjelqed tikber u dan min˙abba l-g˙add kbir ta’ tfal barranin li jat-tendu fihom, f’G˙awdex, fejnl-g˙add tal-barranin mhuxdaqshekk kbir, il-popolazzjonifl-iskejjel primarji qed tonqossew tant li f’˙afna skejjel l-g˙add
ta’ studenti hu tassew Ωg˙ir.Hekk insibu li fl-Iskola Pri-
Il-problema ta' nuqqas ta' stu-denti f'din l-iskola jidher li se tip-persisti hekk kif g˙al kinder 1 ukinder 2 hemm biss ˙ames stu-denti rispettivament. G˙all-klassital-ewwel sena hemm biss tlietstudenti.
System, minn 4,853 tarbija li twieldu 66 minnhom kienutewmin u tliet trabi twieldu triplets.Biss din iΩ-Ωieda fit-twelid tidher li hija riΩultat tal-g˙add kbirta’ barranin li qed jg˙ixu fostna.
Skont l-istess rapporti, wara xalata f’wie˙edmill-˙wienet, l-anzjani, fosthom dawk li nstabumejta, wara li jixtru aktar xorb, sigaretti usa˙ansitra anke kontraçettivi, kienu jispiççawfl-appartament tas-Serba biex hemmhekk jis-soktaw bix-xalar u d-divertiment.
The majority of Australia's refugees come from Iraq,Syria, Afghanistan and Myanmar (Burma). (seechart). Of the 11,114 refugees who arrived in Australia
between July 2015 and June 2016, the majority came fromthose four countries. They were followed by the DemocraticRepublic of Congo, Iran and Thailand.The Department of Social Services notes that migrants listed
as coming from Thailand are likely of Burmese ethnicity, andthose from Bhutan are likely of Nepalese ethnicity. Thosemigrants may have been born into refugee camps on foreignsoil, so their birthplaces aren't truly representative of thecountries they're fleeing.
Syria and Iraq will make an even stronger showing in futurestatistics. Late last year gov-ernment announced an extra12,000 humanitarian places tobe made available for peopledisplaced from those countriesby the Syrian war.
Since the announcement,more than 10,000 humanitar-ian visas have been granted toIraqi and Syrian refugees, al-though less than half thatnumber have actually arrived.Countries like Germany and
Canada have taken signifi-cant numbers of Syrianrefugees, but the vast major-ity of those affected by thewar are either internally dis-placed or seeking refuge inneighbouring countries, suchas Iraq, Turkey or Lebanon.
Department of Immigrationstatistics released as part of adiscussion paper on Aus-tralia's humanitarian migrantprogramme show the shiftingmix of countries in the off-shore humanitarian programme over the previous five years.
This chart does not include refugees who apply for asylumafter arriving in Australia, who make up roughly 20% ofthose granted asylum. Thailand would appear in around themiddle of the list otherwise, owing to Nepalese refugees.
A quick glimpse at AustraliaA quick glimpse at Australia
16 The Voice of the Maltese Tuesday October 25, 2016
Where do they come from?
Prime Minister MalcolmTurnbull and OppositionLeader Bill Shorten
rarely agree on anything, butthis time they rose in Parlia-ment to back a bipartisan mo-tion calling for a respectful andunified Australia.
In highlighted Indigenouspeople, refugees and Muslims,reaffirming commitment toequal rights, a non-discrimina-tory immigration policy, recon-ciliation, multiculturalism anddenouncing racism.
"Accordingly, we rise in thisParliament today - as JohnHoward and Kim Beazley did20 years ago - to speak on thisvery motion - a 20-year-oldunity ticket perhaps - celebrat-
ing andr e a f -firmingt h eA u s -t ra l ianv a l u e sof a fairgo andmutualrespectfor allregard-less ofh o wt h e yl o o k ,h o w
they worship or where theycome from," the Prime Minis-ter told the House of Represen-tatives.
"Australia is an immigrationnation," Mr. Turnbull said."Today, almost half of us havea parent born overseas andmore than a quarter of Aus-tralians were born overseasthemselves."
He said "everyone sitting inthis chamber and every Aus-tralian is a beneficiary of the di-versity that is at the heart of ournation".
Mr. Shorten said the word"tolerance" was no longer ade-quate and said Australians "em-brace diversity". He added:"Diversity is not a minor incon-venience to be endured, it's nota device of political correctness… it's the collective power ofour nation, of all of us." Referencing Senator Hanson's
recent speech targeting Mus-lims he continued to say that inAustralia, we are not being'swamped' by anyone.
"Migrants are not filling ourdole queues, or taking our jobs,or clogging up our highways –or doing all three at the sametime. Migration is not a cost, ora burden.
"It is a powerful force for ourcontinuing economic growthand future prosperity."
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (left) and Oppositionand Labor Leader Bill Shorten back bipartisan motion
An apologetic Premier of NSW Mike Bairdsaid the decision to reverse the ban on a con-troversial plan to end greyhound racing
came after listening to feedback from the industry.“In hindsight as we reflect on this we got it wrong.
I got it wrong. Cabinet got it wrong. The Govern-ment got it wrong,’’ Mr. Baird said announcing theabout face.The industry will be subject to an independent reg-
ulator with new powers to ensure transparency andaccountability and a beefed up enforcement regime.The RSPCA industry and government representa-
tives will be invited to join the five person regula-tory panel that will be headed by former NSWpremier Morris Iemma.
In August, Mr. Baird said the ban, under whichgreyhound racing would cease across NSW from
July 1, 2017, wasn’t about political pointscoring but that he was trying to “do what isright.” The ban came after a Special Com-mission of Inquiry report that found up to68,000 “uncompetitive” greyhounds wereslaughtered in the past 12 years and nearlyone in five trainers used live animal baits.
Labor leader Luke Foley said that theBaird government needed to commit to acomplete reversal of the ban. “It can’t justbe a stay of execution to get Troy Grant’sleadership off the hook this week,” Mr.Foley said.
A recent Newspoll showed Mr. Baird’sapproval rate had slumped from 61 to 39percent since December due to a numberof issues, including the ban on greyhoundracing and Sydney’s “lockout” laws.
Commonwealth Bank senior econo-mist Gareth Aird in his report re-leases recently said Australia’s
population growth was higher than mostother economies in the Organisation forEconomic Co-operation and Development(OECD). This was great for the country’s gross do-
mestic product (GDP) and businesses be-cause they can take advantage of anever-growing customer base.
“If you have more people, they can buymore things,” he said. “If there’s faster pop-ulation growth, you can have a faster rateof growth of prospective customers. Morepeople mean more spending”. We are con-stantly being told how lucky Australia iscompared with other countries but are wegetting a misleading picture because of eco-nomic growth?Gareth Aird said “headline” economic fig-
ures, fuelled by immigration and mining ex-ports, were instead hiding the fact thatAustralian living standards were beingeroded. Selling more iron ore, coal and nat-ural gas is good for the economy but hasn’tgenerated the increase in income it was ex-pected to. “It hasn’t really filtered down tohousehold incomes at all,” he said. Otherfigures show life has been tough for indi-vidual households over the last five years.
Underemployment, which measures thenumber of people who have jobs but wouldlike to work more, has been rising. It hit arecord high of 8.7 per cent in August 2016.“Real income growth has been quite weak
in Australia for about four or five years,”Mr. Aird said. Housing affordability andtraffic congestion, especially in Australia’scapital cities, have also worsened.
He said it was the primary role of politi-
cians to look after individual living stan-dards and people were entitled to feel a bitduped by the focus on the headline eco-nomic figures at the expense of individualhouseholds.“Policy makers should be paying more at-tention to what’s happening to living stan-dards,” he said. “These issues won’t goaway.”
Tuesday October 25, 2016 The Voice of the Maltese 17
A quick glimpse at AustraliaA quick glimpse at Australia
Misleading picture of the economy
Gone to the dogs and back
MSW Premier Mike Baird addressing a press conference admittinghe was wrong and reversing his decision on greyhound racing
After the Federal Government blocked thesale of NSW electricity distributor Aus-
grid to Chinese investors, the NSW Govern-ment has announced that that it has now sold50.4 percent of Ausgrid to pension funds,AustralianSuper and IFM.
China's State Grid Corporation and HongKong's Cheung Kong Infrastructure ap-
peared bemused by the decision to block itsbid on security grounds, saying it believesthe Australian government "must have rea-sons beyond the obvious” which led them toblock the sale in the first place.
Premier Mike Baird said the sale wouldhelp fund $20bn of new infrastructure proj-ects in the state.
No to the Chinese ...
18 The Voice of the Maltese Tuesday October 25, 2016
kienet differenti. Imma b˙al nannitha, Teresakienet determinata li la kienet hemm, darhakienet l-Awstralja. Deborah tittama li hiwkoll tkun qalbiena daqs il-karattri tag˙ha,specjalment in-nanna Teresa
Il-President tkellmet ukoll dwar l-esper-jenza li kellha fiΩ-Ωjara tag˙ha fl-Awstraljafejn sabet Maltin, u dixxendenti tag˙hom liminkejja li jinsabu bog˙od minn arthomg˙adhom i˙obbu lil Malta. Sostniet li danil-ktieb jag˙milna kburin u kemm it-tfal uwkoll il-kbar g˙andhom jaqrawh.FiΩ-Ωjara qasira f’’Malta biex tippromwovi
Seba’ xhur wara li nehdiet il-ktiebtag˙ha, Teresa – a New Australianf’Beecroft fi NSW, l-awtriçi Maltija-
Awstraljana Deborah Abela nediet il-verΩjoni bil-Malti ta’ dan il-ktieb f’Malta.Fil-preΩenza ta’ g˙add ta’ tfal tal-iskola, ip-preΩentat kopja ta’ Teresa, lill-President ta’Malta l-Eççellenza tag˙ha Marie-LouiseColeiro Preca fil-Palazz ta’ Sant’ Anton.
Deborah hija kariΩmatika g˙all-a˙˙ar.Minbarra dan il-ktieb, l-ewwel wie˙edmaqlub g˙all-Malti, hi wkoll l-awtriçi ta’madwar 24 o˙ra, bl-ilsien IngliΩ. Dan id-dedikatu lil nannitha Teresa, “mara qalbienau soda” iΩda li qatt ma kellha ç-çans tiltaqa’mag˙ha, u li fl-1942 welldet fix-xelter lilmissierha Amante.
kellha biss erba’ snin meta bdiet niΩla xitata’ bombi fuq Malta. Kien assedju li ˙a tlietsnin, sakemm intemmet il-gwerra. Deborah tg˙id li dak li wassalha tikteb dan
F’Settembru l-Grupp Let-teratura Maltija ta’ Victo-ria organizza programm
MuΩiko-Letterarju fiç-ÇentruMalti ta' Parkville li g˙alih at-tendew madwar 80 membru tal-Komunita` Maltija, fosthomil-president tal-Kunsill Malti ta’Victoria, is-Sur Victor Borg u l-viçi-president, is-Sur Joe
Tul il-lejla nqraw xog˙lijiet o˙ra minnJohn Muscat, il-poeΩiji tieg˙u "Fil-Park"u l-"Il-Merill", u minn Manuel Casha bil-poeΩiji, "Art il-˙olm", "L-G˙arix" u"Magna taΩ-Ωmien". Hu wkoll tkellem
Wara kien imiss lil Rose Lofaro li taqra'poeΩiji ta’ Nazzarene Ûerafa, "G˙ana ta’Kanarin" u "Timxi Wa˙edha l-Pinna".G˙alkemm joqg˙od Queensland Naz-zarene xorta hu attiv ferm fil-grupp.
Min jinteressah jikseb kopja tal-kitbiet linqraw tul il-programm MuΩiko-Leterrarjuf’format flipbook jista’ jid˙ol fuq din il-link:http://online.fliphtml5.com/bxaj/avtj/
20 The Voice of the Maltese Tuesday October 11, 2016
Lejla Muziko-Letterarja mill-Grupp Letteratura
Maltija ta’ Victoria
The Three Palaces Festival, a weeklongfestival with performances set in his-
torically important and magnificen build-ings, is fast becoming an important ap-pointment in Malta’s cultural calendar. Thisyear’s programme of events to be held be-tween November 4 and 13, will once againfeature local and international artists of ex-ceptional talent. The Festival is set in the three Presidential
Palaces, namely: the Verdala Palace in Bus-kett, San Anton Palace, at the San AntonGardens, and the Grandmaster’s Palace inValletta, offering a feast of classical, mod-ern and jazz music in rich settings thatcombine history to the timeless relevanceof the music performed. The artists whowill be performing include soprano AilynPerez and cellist Steven Isserlis.
The Three Palaces Festival is organisedby Arts Council Malta within the Ministryfor Justice, Culture and Local Governmentunder the patronage of H. E. the Presidentof Malta Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca incollaboration with Teatru Manoel and withthe support of Valletta 2018.
Three Palaces Festivalin Malta November 4-13
Il-poeta mistieden Antoine Cassar
Tuesday October 25, 2016 The Voice of the Maltese 21
29th Annual Dinner Dance Date: Saturday October 29
at the Mandavilla Reception Centre(1788 The Horsley Drive, Horsley Park NSW)Time: 7.30 pm - Donation $60.00.
Dress: Semi FormalEntertainment: by Joe Apap. Special Quest & MC Joe Galea
*All proceeds from this event will go towards the Don Bosco Missions.
For bookings: Marlene on 02 9631 9295
THE CITTADINI THE CITTADINI Present direct from Malta:Mary Rose Mallia
and Renato
COMEDY with The Cittadini
Sydney Show: Sunday on November 20 at
La Valette Centre, Black-town at 2.00 p.m.
Donation: $22.00 Children U/12: $10.00For Tickets: Monica: 9896 0712 or 0414 859 386; Doris: 9636 2295
In response to a number of inquiries, we wish to inform readersof The Voice of the Maltese magazine that we can now supply
hard copies in colour of the magazine to our readers who requstit, at a price. Therefore, anybody interested in acquiring copies ofthe (printed) magazine is kindly requested to get in touch with uspersonally or by email to: [email protected].
The magazine can also be delivered by post at a price to anystate in Australia. As the cost of postage varies from state tostate, one is kindly requested to get in touch with us to work outthe details.
Printed copies of The Voice of The Maltese
L-g˙aqdiet tal-Maltin li jkunujridu jag˙mlu xi avviΩi u/jew li
Invitation for celebrations marking Fr. Claude Borg’s 65 years of priesthood
The Maltese Community Council of NSW is offering its support inorganising Fr. Claude Borg MSSP’s celebration of 65 years to the
priesthood, a milestone in his pastoral care towards Maltese migrantsin Australia.
The Cardinal and the current Bishop of Parramatta will be invitedto the celebration, a concelebrated Mass at Horsley Park ParishChurch on Sunday Dec. 11 at 11.30 am, as Fr Claude was the firstMaltese parish priest at Horsley Park in the sixties.After Mass, there will be light refreshments at the Marion Hall. One
is kindly asked to bring a plate to share on this joyous occasion.This is a formal invitation for associations to promote and lend their
support in making this milestone, in Fr Claude’s priestly career, a me-morial occasion.More details: John Beale: 0416 449 816 or email [email protected]
Tinteressak il-kitba u trid tippubblika?
Qarrejja li j˙ossu li g˙andhom talentg˙all-kitba, l-aktar bl-Ilsien Malti,
Venue: Melrose Receptions, Melrose Drive, Tullamarine (Carrick Room)Time: 6.30pm till lateMusic: DJ “Dominic”Meal: 3-Course plus Beer, Wine and Soft DrinksCost: $55 per person
Sunday 13 th November 2016Including 1 hour Sketch by “The Cittadini” from SydneyVenue: St Martin’s Deporres, Military Road, Avondale HeightsTime: 5.30pm till lateMusic: DJ “Starlight Johnny”Cost: $22 per personFood and drinks can be bought at the hall.
Friday 11th November 2016 - At Hobsons Bay Altona.For bookings please ring: Chev. Joseph Attard: 0400 357 001
La Valette Social CentreMelbourne Cup Lunch
SATURDAY October 29: G˙ana at the centre at8.p.m. with Saver and his friends
TUESDAY November 1: La Valette Social Centre 175 Walters Road Blacktown
It being a holy day: 10. 00 a.m.: MassCost $25 per person that includes morning
tea and a two-course Lunch.There will be sweeps, lucky door prizes, and
hat competition. Entertainment DJ for DancingSUNDAY November 6: From 4 p.m. onwards:
Mass at the Pine Grove Cemetery commemoratingour death relatives with the participation. Mass
willbe at 5 p.m. From 4 p.m. onwards the partici-pation of the OLQP Band
CHERRY PICKING BUS TOUR TO ORANGE
TUESDAY December 6: Bus leaves BlacktownCentre; 6.30 a.m.: Leaves Greystanes.Lunch at Orange RSL at own expense
For more information: Frances: 0412 320432
or La Valette: 9622 5847
A special group for men. Meetings at 10 am at The Maltese Resource Centre
Meet friends and enjoy Maltese food.59b Franklin Street, Mays Hill (Parramatta West).
For more information: Emanuel 0409 744 376
MALTESE CULTURAL ASSOCIATION of NSW
The Maltese Cultural Association will be commemorating Mass for our deceased members
on Thursday November 10 at 7.00 pm, at Our Lady Queen of Peace, Old Prospect Rd
Greystanes. Everybody is requested to attend this religious
event to remember our departed members whose work for the community is still and
always will be in our memory. Refreshments will afterwards be served at Saint George Preca Hall.
For more info phone Mary Ramundi on 9688 1432
Classes are available for students from six years toadults at all levels of ability in the Maltese language.
We have trained and experienced teachers qualified inlanguage teaching and with Maltese study credentials.
Learn the Maltese language, the culture, lifestyle, cuisine,traditions and about the amazing history of the island.
Teachers urgently needed. Paid positions
For more information and enquiries Phone 9601 2189Or email: [email protected]
Supported by the Minister of Education and Training andthe NSW Community Languages Schools Programme.
Member of the NSW Federation of Community Language Schools of NSW;
Member of the Federation of Maltese Language Schools of Australia; Sup-
ported by 16 Maltese associations affiliated with the MCC of NSW. The
Maltese Language School of NSW is a Not-For-Profit organisation.
Learn Maltese!
MALTESE LANGUAGE SCHOOL OF NSW
A Division of the Maltese Community Council of NSW Inc.
Qarrejja li j˙ossu li, jew g˙andhom talentg˙all-kitba, l-aktar bl-Ilsien Malti, im-
In SYDNEY, listen to the MCC radio pro-grammes on 2GLF FM 89.3. Thursdays2p.m. to 4p.m. Martese Caruana presentsGolden Mix. Available on demand. Followsame procedure as for MCC programmes, ex-cept select programe in reference.
In BRISBANE listen to the Maltese Pro-gramme 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 & Ronnie Borgevery Saturday at 1.00 p.m. on RADIO2RRR 88.5FM or on 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
Tune In to Radio and Television
Community NewsCommunity News
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 co-ordinated by The Maltese Community Council of NSW) with asponsorship from Multicultural NSW. Please contact the MCC Welfare Officer: MarisaPrevitera JP on 0414 863 123. The MCC offices are at 59b Franklin Street (corner withYoung 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.
L-a˙barijiet tal-PBS (Malta)kemm bil-Malti u wkoll bl-IngliΩ
Friday: 12:00-13:00 97.7fm SBS Radio 2Saturday: 14:00-15:00: 97.7fm SBS Radio 2To tune into digital radio you need a re-ceiver or device with a DAB+ chip. Tuningin is by station name not frequency. Digitalradio can also be heard via digital TV.
SBS Radio 2 is on Channel 38.The radio programmes can be accessed on-line (live or catch up) at sbs.com.au/malteseand via mobile phone, using the SBSRadio app. For television news fromMalta - SBS 2 TV on Thursdays andSundays at 8am.
VIVA 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.Maltese Down Under TV
Screens on Melbourne’s C31 (channel 44)Sundays @4pm; Mondays at 2p.m.; Tues-days @2.30 pm. Others in Australia/theWorld can watch via live stream on:www.c31.org.au/series/1313 or the c31 app.Also on demand: www.c31.org.au/series/1313
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
Saturday November 12
The Big Fete-FieraDinner Dance
Sunday 4 December:
St Nicholas FeastFor more information:
Joe Fenech 0412 009 957
or PRO Emm. Vella 045 677 064
Saint Nicholas Festa Committee
On Day 8 Balzan suffered their first defeat going down 3-0to neighbours Birkirkara. But they completely recovered
in the next match to maintain their three-point lead overB’Kara, while the latter followed up that win by registering theseason’s biggest win, thrashing newly promoted Gzira. 7-1 Against Balzan Birkirkara must have realised that they could
not lose more points in the championship race. A loss wouldhave widened the gap between them and Balzan to nine points.As it turned out, after their win this has been reduced to three.
Balzan returned to winning ways in the following game bybeating Hamrun Spartans 3-1, while Birkirkara dominatedthroughout, and even scored three times in first three minutes
of the second half against Gzira. Defending champions Valletta are
back on trek with successive victo-ries, over Gzira and Tarxien, whileHibernians dropped two points in adrawn tie with Floriana and thenbeat St Andrews to stay in con-tention, after nine matches, thetable is already taking a familiarpattern with Balzan on 22 points,Birkirkara 19, Valletta and Hiber-nians level on 17.
24 The Voice of the Maltese Tuesday October 25, 2016
Spor ts Spor ts
RESULTS – DAY 9
Balzan v Hamrun S.Birkirkara v Gzira UValletta v TarxienHibernians v St AndrewsFloriana v Mosta Sliema W. v Pembroke
DAY 8
Birkirkara v Balzan Valletta v GziraHibernians v FlorianaSliema v Hamrun S.St. Andrews v PembrokeTarxien R. v Mosta
3-03-10-03-04-11-1
3-17-11-01-01-01-0
Bikirkara hit Gzira for sevenfor season’s biggest victory
Sydney FC maintained their unbeaten run fromthree outings by defeating Wellington away 2-
1, while an Andy Keogh hat-trick for Perth Glorysunk Melbourne City at home 3-2.
The other Melbourne club, Victory, overcameback-to-back disapppointments to eke a narrowaway win over Adelaide. A goal at the deathagainst their oldest enemies in the last action brokeAdelaide’s hearts as Kevin Muscat’s club earnedtheir first victory.
In September there were 371 foreign foot-ballers registered with clubs members of
the Malta Football Association, MFA. Mostof them, 163, turn up clubs in the PremierLeague. There are also 64 foreign playersin Division I, 76 in Division II and 68 in Di-vision III.
Minister for Education, Culture, Youthsand Sports Evarist Bartolo revealed this inthe House of Representatives in reply to aParliamentary questionThere re also 16 foreign players registered
with clubs taking part in the Gozitan Foot-ball Association, GFA, with 12 of themplaying in Division 1. The other four areregistered with Division II.The overall total of players in the Maltese
islands (383) comes from 42 different na-tionalities. The greatest number turning outfor Maltese teams, 33, comes from Brazil.Next come Italy with 27 and Nigeria with23. Six continents – Europe, Africa, Asia,North and South America and Australia arerepresented.
Seventy-seven of the players come fromEurope. The rest come from: South Amer-ica with 43; Africa 36; Asia 3; North Amer-ica 2 and Australia with one.
RESULTS – DAY 3
Melbourne C v Perth G.Central Coast v BrisbaneAdelaide v Melbourne VWellington v Sydney FCW. Sydney v Newcastle J
DAY 2
Adelaide v W. Sydney Sydney FC v Central CoastMelbourne V v Melbourne CNewcastle J v Brisbane v Perth G. v Wellington
2-30-11-20-02-0
1-24-01-44-02-0
Sydney FC only club still unbeaten; Andy Keogh gets hat-trick
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat (back centre) hosted players and the technical staffof the National Under-21 football team (pictured) sealed a memorable UEFA under-21 qualifying group championship by obtaining the highest ever number of points(11, in Group 1) in such a competition. The previous highest points total was five.The team wrapped up its commitments in fourth place, with three victories, previ-ously unheard of in such participation. The team managed by former Malta inter-national Silvio Vella won its final two matches over Latvia (1-0) and Moldova (3-2).
The Prime Minister, who was accompanied by the Secretary for Sport and Inno-vation Chris Agius, presented the squad with individual recognitions. On the sameoccasion he also hosted and made presentations to members of the National U/17 fe-male football team and following their achievement in finishing third in their groupon their debut in a UEFA group qualifying competitionJoseph Muscat commended the players and called on the MFA to continue to work
on these two groups who managed to bring honours to Malta.
Prime Minister hosts young footballers 383 footballers from 42nations in Malta, Gozo
Following the 2-0 loss atWembley against England
and the disappointing 2-0 de-feat suffered in Lithuania inGroup F of the 2018 WorldCup qualifiers, Malta next en-tertains Slovenia at the Ta’Qali National Stadium hopingto kick start its campaign afterthree defeats.
This match will see the na-tional team return to the sta-dium after the 5-1 reversalagainst Scotland in September.
