The common good

'for the common good'

If something is done for the common good it is done to help everyone.

Is the meaning that is found on the online Cambridge Dictionary website. This certainly wasn't the case last week in GWU's stand-off against the Freeport concerning union recognition for the Freeport's workers. I am not disputing this particular aspect, but GWU's actions after the Director of Industrial Relations had established that MDU had the highest number of worker's affiliated and should therefore be granted this recognition. What concerned me most was that GWU wanted an international boycott of the Malta Freeport. And why may I ask? Had they managed to get their way... Would less work at the Freeport been of benefit to the workers? I think not. Would it have been of benefit to the Maltese economy in general in these tough times? I think not too. So what benefit would this action have brought about? In my eyes none and it seemed like the GWU was a sulking child who did not get its way and started to cause trouble to all those people that should be 'dear' to them.

Fejsbuk

From what started as a social network between Harvard University students has now become a worldwide phenomenon and is being used for a various number of reasons. These start with keeping in touch with long-lost friends, organizing a birthday party amongst friends, reunions with old schoolmates and have recently evolved into forming groups for charity, such as in the case of Lisa Gatt who unfortunately got injured whilst on holiday in Cambodia. Politics has entered the sphere of Facebook too, with most Parliamentary Members having done a profile and formed groups to promote themselves and their work and current and hopeful MEP’s have also jumped on the bandwagon. Companies have started to promote on facebook with adverts and the creation of events and groups. Even this aspect has been taken a step further and nowadays one can also find funeral services being promoted.

The crux of it all is that unfortunately, some tragedies have taken place because of Facebook. Recently a woman who was going through a divorce was killed by her husband when she changed her status to ‘single’ in her profile. Another negative event happening as a result of facebook was when a young female was fired from her job after stating in her title that her job was ‘boring’.

It has also led to positive actions taking place, one instance being when a burglar in Queensland, New Zealand was identified through photos uploaded on facebook. Shocking also was when after having a row with his a girlfriend, a youth stabbed and killed a father-of-three but luckily was apprehended when police where tipped off about a message he had left on facebook.

If used appropriately, Facebook can be useful and fun to play around with but always pay attention to the information and type of photos that are disclosed. Happy facebooking to everyone!

Easter blessings to everyone !

The Maltese Football National Team

Much has been said and will continue to be said about the meagre results obtained by the Maltese National team, with the last win in an official game dating back to October 2007 in a 2-1 home win against Hungary. To commemorate this special event, a special edition DVD was made available… this just goes to show how rare a Maltese win is. Many remember the Malta-Turkey match held on the 7th of September 2007… an electrifying atmosphere with a rarely seen packed stadium supporting their Maltese heroes for 90-minutes non-stop. The end result was a merited 2-2 draw with the Maltese also going close to clinching what would have been a well-deserved win.

So all-in-all one cannot say that the Maltese national team cannot produce good football and memorable results but what is certainly lacking is consistency from several viewpoints. The Maltese national team always starts off slowly mainly due to a inferior complexity which results in the team conceding a goal at the initial stages of the game, then making it difficult to catch-up and try and achieve a positive result and a goal too. Unfortunatly Malta hasn’t yet scored a goal in the qualifying matches for the World Cup 2010 but at least managed to gain a hard-earned home draw against Albania on a cold February night. Another point is the fitness of the Maltese national players. The ones that play abroad in one way or another always seem to last the whole match but the local players seem to last approximately 60 to 70 minutes than run out of gas. The attitude of the Maltese national players in general is questioned; some find the physical exercises too tough and at times show a lack of respect towards the national coach. It is attitudes like these that should be eradicated once and for all and all involved in the Maltese national team should have one aim: that in unison they should strive to achieve positive results! Small nations like ours have made it, why not us then?

Il-Purċissjoni tad-Duluri – Ta’ Ġieżu, il-Belt – It-3 ta’ April l-2009