Anthony Manduca lists some of the memorable comments made in The Sunday Times of Malta in 2020.
I believe the new prime minister should focus on a return to strong, solid values of social justice, equality, equity, meritocracy, inclusion and respect; values that go beyond money and greed to ensure we can regain society’s overall well-being.
– Former president Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, January 12.
There is no denying that international countries are looking at the Maltese jurisdiction and saying it is high-risk.
– Bank of Valletta CEO Rick Hunkin speaking in his first interview since he was appointed to the helm of the bank, January 19.
She still thinks she’s asleep – and that’s the kind of peaceful death someone like her deserves.
– Daniel Debono, boyfriend of 20-year-old law student Erika Cassar, who died suddenly in her sleep, January 19.
For too long, for under a quarter of a century of PN rule in this country, we had assumed normality was there to stay.
– Former Nationalist Party leader Simon Busuttil speaking on the poor state of the rule of law under the post- 2013 Labour governments, shortly before moving to Brussels to assume his role as secretary general of the European People’s Party, January 26.
The Nationalist Party must reinvent itself.
– Nationalist Party electoral candidate Ivan Bartolo, writing in The Sunday Times about the crisis engulfing the PN, February 2.
I told them that Papa was near God. My youngest kept saying he wanted him back from heaven.
– Rita Seguna, whose husband Paul died in the Um El Faroud drydocks explosion, speaking on the 25th anniversary of the tragedy in which nine workers were killed, February 2.
I’d wake up at night and find her awake, knocking at the painting as though she wanted to go into it.
– Josephine Walker talking about her granddaughter, the child of her murdered daughter Eleonor Mangion, who had painted the painting for her daughter, February 9.
Media is the pulse of a democratic process. If you want to check if a country is democratic enough, look at its media.
– Prof. Brenda Murphy, who set up a NGO, Mediating Women, to promote gender equality in and through the media, February 16.
Malta was my university. The best thing you can give someone is education.
– Aman Tekeste, a migrant from Eritrea who was employed and trained by a company in Malta before moving to North Carolina, US, where he set up a trucking business called Malta, March 1.
Women are still second-class citizens to many. When people learn that a woman has filed a report about violence or has been raped, the first thing they often ask is: why don’t you have a look at what she was wearing or the way she speaks?
– Commissioner for Domestic Violence Audrey Friggieri, March 1.
It is no surprise that many perceive government and the developers’ lobby to the joined at the hip.
– Joseph Farrugia, director-general of the Malta Employers Association, March 8.
Left unchecked the epidemic will spike and practically four out of five of us will get the infection.
– Health Minister Chris Fearne speaking about COVID-19, March 22.
It is not just the government’s company [Enemalta]. You also have the Chinese now. It is not ours to say, OK, let’s lower this or increase that.
– Finance Minister Edward Scicluna answering a question about whether a cut in electricity tariffs is possible considering Electrogas’ fixed-term contract, March 29.
My decisions were led by scientific advice. The challenge we face will not be solved by populism.
– Prime Minister Robert Abela defending his government’s handling of COVID-19 pandemic, March 29.
The point is to protect as many people as possible, so it is my role to take the relatives’ place and comfort the patient. We will never let anyone die alone.
– ITU nurse Clare Borg speaking about COVID-19 patients, April 12.
My father's burial took place less than six hours after his death... unfortunately, the only person present was the parish priest.
– The son of one of the first COVID-19 victims speaks about the heartache, April 12
Unprotected human beings cannot be forced back to a hostile country where there is no rule of human rights law and where respect for basic human rights is notoriously far below acceptable standards.
– Judge Giovanni Bonello criticising the Maltese government for coordinating a rescue which pushed back a boatload of migrants to war-torn Libya over the Easter weekend, May 3.
If I don’t win that vote, I am out. If I win it, what shall I do with those who still refuse to cooperate?
– Embattled Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia on the future of rebel MPs, July 21.
I am me – Lydia. And today I happen to be the wife of the prime minister. And I wish that all women look at themselves as individuals in their own capacity.
– Lydia Abela, July 26.
Flimsy and basic.
– Standards Commissioner George Hyzler describing the rules regulating gifts to MPs and ministers, August 2.
I get the feeling that some judges and magistrates now believe that the more they write the more their judgment is going to look erudite. Prolixity is viewed as a virtue.
– Former chief justice and judge on the European Court of Human Rights Vincent De Gaetano on the way court judgments are written in Malta, August 23.
I thought my father was literally going to hear his daughter being murdered
– Swedish national Anna Karsbjer who was savagely attacked by a man while sunbathing in Valletta and speaking to her father on her mobile phone, August 30.
At that moment it felt better to die in my country than continue being treated in that manner. I left.
– Zimbabwean migrant Agnes Mudembo, who was exploited by her employers in Malta, August 30.
We were bullied by management, vilified by the government and ignored by everyone.
– Luke Mifsud, one of the 69 Air Malta pilots to the sacked by the company as COVID took its toll on the national airline, September 27.
Elderly deaths aren’t acceptable losses, human lives don’t become less valuable because they age.
– Marta Vella pays tribute to Connie Schembri, Malta’s 34th coronavirus victim, October 4.
Very sad… but glad to see him go. Maybe there will be less hypocrisy, less posturing, less betrayal, less national and institutionalised pillage.
– Independent MP Marlene Farrugia on Joseph Muscat’s resignation as an MP, October 11.
If Bill Gates walks into a bar, then on average, everyone in the bar is a billionaire.
– Financial Times foreign correspondent David Pilling on some of GDP’s shortcomings, October 18.
I am exactly the same person I was, with one ball. And it does not make me any less of a man.
– Luke Lyttleton, who underwent surgery to remove a testicle after being diagnosed with testicular cancer and then became the father of two children, November 1.
I am not a dinosaur.
– Nationalist MP Edwin Vassallo defending his crtiticism of the linking of EU funds to respect for LGBT rights, saying that he valued religious freedom, November 15.
Some welcomed me with open arms, others challenged my identity and ideas. There were insults and gossip.
– Alex Mangion, a transgender PN national election candidate, describing his house visits when he first contested a local election, November 29.
People need to stop talking and start doing, not using euthanasia as a chance to be seen as more liberal to win a few more votes.
– Sam Debattista, who has Huntington’s disease, criticising politicians who say they favour euthanasia but don’t work to advance the issue politically, December 6.
It’s time to look at another employment policy.
– Finance Minister Clyde Caruana, who when heading employment agency Jobs Plus was synonymous with importing foreign labour, on the need for a new labour policy post-COVID, December 13.