Honouring publisher Pawlu Mizzi

I would like to suggest to the authorities to consider erecting a monument in honour of the late Pawlu Mizzi (1930-2019), ‘the Father of the Maltese Publication’, who was a forerunner in the field of Maltese publishing by founding the Klabb Kotba Maltin in 1969 and the ‘Midsea Books’.

If we have erected monuments in honour of Ġuże Aquilina and poet Oliver Friggieri, both of whom had their academic works published by the Klabb itself – and who both were encouraged by him in their literary endeavours – I believe it is timely to consider honouring Mizzi in this way. 

A corner in St Augustine Square, Victoria, the area in which Pawlu was born and bred and referred to in his writings as ‘Piazza Tomba’, could be an ideal place for such a tribute.

Incidentally, Mizzi was born on October 28, known also as ‘Jum Għawdex’ (Gozo Day), a truly significant coincidence.

GEOFFREY ATTARD – Victoria

Taxation without representation

Times of Malta reports (January 29) a steep decline in the percentage of Maltese people who think it highly important to vote in national elections. But there are others living in Malta who might like to vote but can’t.

Like all other Commonwealth citizens lawfully resident in the UK, Maltese citizens in the UK can register to vote in UK parliamentary elections. However, a similar privilege is not extended to British citizens lawfully resident in Malta.

No one seems to be able to explain satisfactorily why this should be so. Where British citizens living in Malta are paying their taxes here, including income tax, it seems unjust that they have no say in deciding how their taxes should be spent by the Maltese government.

ALAN COOKE – Sliema

Abortion and rape

A woman who keeps a child conceived through rape is reminded of her ordeal every time she sees the child’s face. Photo: Shutterstock.com

The light and airy way that some so-called pro-lifers say, “She can give the baby up for adoption” in cases of pregnancy through rape, besides showing a total lack of empathy and sensitivity, also indicates that they have little or no idea of what they are talking about. 

Let us see what they are really advocating.

The woman, having gone through the trauma of the rape, then has to spend nine months being reminded of it and reliving it every minute of every single day. Telling her family and friends, instead of the joyful occasion it should be, becomes a moment of horror. She cannot savour the joys of the preparations, the happy expectations, the shopping for the new arrival with a loving partner. 

It is all tinged with sorrow and pain. She has to attend meetings and clinics with other mothers-to-be and see what a happy, wanted pregnancy could be like. To say nothing, of course, of the physical problems and discomforts so often incurred in even the most normal of pregnancies.

Then, after giving birth, she is faced with another agonising decision: keep it or give it up for adoption?

Keeping it means being again reminded of her ordeal every time she sees the child’s face, meaning she can never be totally free of it. And how would that colour her attitude towards the child? Could she give it the love that every child deserves?  What would she say when the child is old enough to start asking questions? Worse still, in some countries, like the US, for example, rapists can legally gain access to the child and even joint custody.

Giving it up means spending the rest of her life wondering where it is and what is happening to it – plus dealing with doubts and feelings of guilt about whether she did the right thing.

This is what the so-called pro-lifers are willing to put women through instead of doing what has to be done in the first few days, when there is no question of pain or suffering for the foetus, to satisfy their medieval prejudices.

VICTOR LAIVIERA – Naxxar