Use of the mother tongue

Is it correct to employ only non-Maltese speaking staff in a sensitive establishment such as a pharmacy?

Lately I visited such a pharmacy and while waiting to be seen to, in a matter of a few minutes, at least four Maltese speakers entered the pharmacy and could not fully communicate with the pharmacist.

To give the pharmacist her due she did her very best in the few Maltese words she knew to see to her clients’ needs but did not quite manage.

Joseph Croker – Balzan

Wheelchair users

I had an interesting morning in Valletta. It is good to see our capital city so vibrant with lots of busy people. One major flaw:  hardly any shops in Republic, Merchants and South streets have access to wheelchair users.

Similar to indoor restaurants in Wied iż-Żurrieq.

Charles Farrugia – Rabat

Confiscate drivers’ phone

Photo: Shutterstock.com

Is it about time to start confiscating the mobile phone of those drivers who are caught red-handed while their car’s engine is running? This may also prove as evidence upon checking at what time it was being used when presented in court as an exhibit.

Traffic experts declare that a vehicle used with negligence can be considered a lethal weapon. I consider that such a vehicle is like a firearm with the trigger (the mobile phone) held in the hands of the errant driver. Fines come and go.

But confiscating the mobile phone in addition to a substantial court or judicial fine will most certainly make these crazy drivers think twice about using their mobile phone in these circumstances.

Action must be taken now to prevent further deaths on our roads.

Anthony Saliba – St Paul’s Bay

Tranquil music

I would like to make a suggestion through your newspaper.

When one phones many firms for a service such as for example a taxi or banking service, and is asked to wait over the phone, invariably the background music is blaring music, unsettling to one’s mental sanity.

Surely business can opt for some more relaxing and tranquil background music?

Paul Edgar Micallef – Valletta

Ironic, illogical

It is ironic, illogical and, yes, tragic that countries fretting about ‘demographic bombs’ due to low fertility rates, still prevent, through abortion, thousands of human lives from being born.

Carmel Sciberras – Naxxar