A former leading newscaster, a familiar face on TVM's 8 p.m. news bulletins, has been absent from the box for almost a year. This is because Tony Gaffiero has a new career - as a translator with the European Commission.
Mr Gaffiero is accompanied by another 21 Maltese colleagues at the Maltese unit of the translation department of the European Commission based in Luxembourg city.
"My work now is completely different. However it is still very challenging. We are the first Maltese to work for the Commission and our job is mastering the Maltese language in order to facilitate the understanding of what is happening in the EU back home, in plain and easy Maltese. It is very different from television but I am still communicating," he said.
When Malta joined the European Union last year, Maltese was given the status of an official language. This meant that thousands of pages of EU documents and laws had to start being translated into Maltese, creating new job opportunities for aspiring Maltese translators.
The Commission's translators are more than happy with their new working conditions and environment. Paid at least €3,800 (Lm1,650) gross a month and enjoying many other benefits including a half-day off every Friday, the new Maltese kids on the block are not complaining at all.
According to Mark Vella, who joined the Commission in February last year, Luxembourg is a great city to live in.
"It's one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Europe, with people from all over the world working and socialising together. Apart from this, we can really say that we are living in the centre of Europe, just two hours away from Belgium, France, Germany, Holland, and the UK. I spend my weekends touring all over the 'old' continent with friends and colleagues," he said.
Donna Bonnici, a secretary within the Maltese translation unit, said that she is earning twice as much as she used to earn in Malta and enjoying a much better quality of life.
The Maltese unit is still in its infancy; having to be built up from scratch, the number of translators is still very low. Out of the 22 Maltese in the unit so far, only three have a fixed contract after successfully making the grade in an "open competition". The others are called "temporary agents", meaning they are employed on definite contracts. However, another competition is being organised later this year and all the Maltese temporary agents intend to sit for the exam.
Xavier Valeri Cobo, a Spaniard currently running the Maltese unit, wants it to have about 60 full-time translators as well as a Maltese head of unit in a few years' time.
"Unfortunately there are still a lot of people in Malta with the necessary qualifications to join us but who are reluctant to do so. Maybe they don't yet know about these opportunities or perhaps they are afraid of living abroad! We need a lot of people from different walks of life. You don't have to be a language expert to work here. Obviously, you need to have a good command of Maltese; however we don't need Maltese professors," he said.
Doctors, engineers, teachers, lawyers and many other professionals with a good knowledge of Maltese are all welcome. Antonella Axisa, still in her 20s, left the public service for this job and she is not bored at all.
"There seems to be a perception that our job as translators is boring. That is what I thought at the beginning, however I changed my mind completely. We work on so many varied documents, covering so many different subjects that eight hours a day are not enough for me to discover as many new things as possible. Our work is an ongoing learning experience."
Ludvic Azzopardi had only a few things to complain about.
"We are building a language here and this is the first time that certain phrases or words are being translated into Maltese. The problem is that we have no real reference when encountering difficult tasks. We need more support from the Maltese ministries and from Maltese language experts. At least, a language council has now been established in Malta and we hope that we can start collaborating with them as soon as possible."
A new call by the European personnel selection office (EPSO) for Maltese translators was published a few weeks ago and the response so far seems to be quite encouraging. The only real requirement is a university degree of a least three years and a good command of Maltese and another EU language such as English or Italian. Registration can be done online at: http://europa.eu.int/epso/on-line-applications/on-line-index_en. htm. However those interested have to be quick as the deadline is next Tuesday at noon.