Speedboat vs tanker
In his article ‘The EU’s vaccine debacle’ (February 15), John Cassar White claims that “UK pro-Brexit politicians will use the vaccine failure to prove how right they were to leave the EU”. It might be premature to believe that Ursula Von der Leyen, the EU Commission president, has undergone a Damascene conversion to the concept of Brexit, however, on February 4, she declared that “alone, a country can be a speedboat while the EU is more like a tanker”.
I rest my case.
Jonathan Chard Deeley – Sliema
A trip down memory lane
The recent announcement of the death of the former president of Argentina, Carlos Menem, kindled memories of a close encounter I had with him in 1996 when Menem was on an official visit in Morocco.
At the time, I was on holiday with some friends, staying at the iconic La Mamounia Hotel, in Marrakech, where Menem was also a guest with his entire entourage.
One morning, I was loitering in the hotel lobby, dressed in a T-shirt, shorts and sandals, when I noticed unusual activity near the reception area, with military men, policemen, bodyguards and so on.
When I enquired what was happening, I was informed that the hotel authorities were waiting for Menem to come down to the lobby and that the hotel management wanted to take PR mileage from Menem’s stay at their hotel.
A desk was quickly brought to the reception area and, when Menem appeared, he was solemnly escorted to the desk to sign the visitors’ book and for an official photograph, with the hotel’s top managers posing behind him.
For some unknown reason the designated photographer was conspicuous by his absence. Assessing the situation and the evident disappointment and embarrassment of all those who wanted to have a photographic memory of the event, I took matters in hand by venturing forward to take some snap shots myself (above).
The management of the hotel could not thank me enough for saving the day by my impromptu action to act as the official photographer for the historic visit by such a VIP.
Anthony Guillaumier – Sliema
The mask and lip readers
May I take the opportunity to thank all those shop assistants, office workers and so on who gently lower their masks when lip readers ask them to do so before speaking to us as, otherwise, we would not understand a single word they’re saying.
The COVID restrictions dealt deaf people a double blow because of the blessed mask.
One should not forget that although the hearing-impaired use hearing aids, it’s the lip reading that helps us understand what is being spoken. It is kind of a combination.
Thank God, only a minority refuse to lower their mask, however, on the other hand it is really kind of those who instantly do so once they are informed you’re a lip reader.
Alfred Gauci – Sliema
Child abuse
Reading the Times of Malta editorial (February 15) I was left with the impression that it is more interested in Church bashing than the welfare of abused children. Without in any way wanting to diminish the scandal of the individuals involved and its repercussions on Church institutions as a whole, it is worth noting what I read once in The Economist that clerical abuse is about one per cent of all cases involved.
So if we have the physical and mental health of the other 99 per cent victims at heart, it would be right to look further than Church circles. I find that what the Church is doing now should be appreciated, especially the efforts of our Archbishop, and not be depreciated as window dressing, thereby insinuating more distrust in the Church.
I just pity those anonymous children abused by grown-ups who have nobody to mention them and even less to defend them.
Fr John Sammut – Mosta
Exception
I must take exception to the statement that “Abortion is always wrong” (February 8).
If this were true, then the life of a pregnant person facing a life-threatening condition is worth less than that of their foetus. Surely, no-one agrees with that!
Isabel Stabile, Doctors for Choice Malta – St Julian’s
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