Lately, it has become so normal to read about corruption, greed or similarly horrendous stories that the seemingly little ones go unnoticed. And the perpetrators laugh away their misdeeds.
Nobody seemed to make much of a situation when millions of our euros were miraculously coughed up by our minister of culture to retain our band clubs as band clubs.
Beyond the madness of these millions squandered on band clubs while we get less and less money spent on true – and enlightened and necessary – culture, Owen Bonnici was involved in yet another debacle.
The horror story was not how we treated a foreign national on our shores in telling him to go back to his country. It was the other way round. The person, a writer called Walid Nabhan, cried, stamped his feet and claimed that he was being forced to leave Malta since he couldn’t support himself financially after his contract was not renewed.
His actions, his tears and tantrum got him what he wanted: the public spotlight.
His actions, the media coverage, the NGOs that cried shame on us all, got him the other thing the author wanted. Bonnici, the disher-out of cash to all the wrong recipients, awarded Nabhan a post, a job created just for him.
There were, seemingly, no vacant posts. And, even if there was a vacancy, were normal procedures followed? But Bonnici decides, chooses and dispenses just as his whim dictates.
I know I am treading an uneasy trail here. A foreigner who had, for several years, been living and working on our shores; a creative to boot; why am I attacking him instead of patting the minister on his back for being so accommodating? Isn’t that mean of me and verging on the politically incorrect? Shouldn’t we do all we can, as a nation, to keep all foreigners happy and on our shores?
Whatever Nabhan’s nationality is, we still need to analyse and, if need be, criticise the author’s words and actions. And we definitely need to scrutinise his job offer. If it was wrong and hypocritical to give him a job, we should still point this out.
Owen Bonnici has a terrible idea of what culture, art and that maligned word, meritocracy, are all about
I stand to be corrected but, as far as I know, nobody has investigated properly and objectively Nabhan’s case and its subsequent aftermath of another job given on little merit. All we need in this country of phantom jobs is another one in the world of culture.
Nabhan claimed that he was going to have to leave this country, this poor jaded country, because he had ended up without a job. Did anyone ask if he was – just maybe – incapable of delivering what was requested in his previous post? Or, maybe, again only asking what any prospective employer should ask, he lacked the necessary skills for that post and also for his newly created one?
Did anyone, again just being the devilish advocate here, enquire what Nabhan’s arrangement was with the former chairman of the Book Council? Was there an expression of interest issued before Nabhan was given this contract? The contract specified that he was to translate a number of Maltese texts into Arabic. It also stipulated that he was to promote these translations within the Arab reading world. All was to follow some timeframes.
Was the work ever finalised? Was it up to standard? Was his non-renewal of contract due to transactional obligations which were far from reached? If the levels requested were not achieved, how was it possible for the contract to be renewed or extended?
It seems someone in our bureaucratic world has a brain and did the right thing if merit, or, rather, lack of, was what dictated the decision taken.
Instead of singling out this novel approach to work done and reviewing of it, the minister bowed to the public outcry and Nabhan’s crying and awarded him a new position in the Arts Council. Other perks for his outburst include, it is alleged, payment of his rent. Is there a period stipulated in the contract of Nabhan’s new post?
These arbitrary and dangerous decisions by ministers create many problems and not just of a financial nature. This near-total disregard of posts not based on merit compromises the professional credibility of all writers and stakeholders in the local literary and publishing industry.
Bonnici has a terrible idea of what culture, art and that maligned word, meritocracy, are all about.
Malta badly needs a new phase, a new era where art, culture and artists are not conditioned and controlled by the authorities. The need for public handouts all intimately tied to ministers, or their goons, must end if we really can ever dream of having independent and proper art.
Even if Nabhan is a genius writer, what attributes is he taking to the Arts Council? Can we, at least, be given an idea of what his contribution is?
Our minister of culture, let it never be forgotten, is the same man who was accused, and found guilty by a court of law, of breaching people’s freedom of expression.
And, because this is Malta, this same man is in charge of culture and has the cash to act as the final arbiter of anything connected to art.
I have nothing personal against Nabhan but if everyone who makes a scene is given a lucrative post then we are well and truly doomed.
Victor Calleja