CHOGM has come, gone and been battered by the general public. Daphne was right when she wrote about the inappropriateness of the organisers projecting a Malta-centred vision of CHOGM. CHOGM was not about showcasing Malta to the rest of the Commonwealth. It was that too, but it was also about outlining possible areas of cooperation and maximising the Commonwealth's potential. I was glad to receive the above pic of the Labour party's facade and the infamous chalkboard which showed the above words throughout CHOGM. I sympathise with the subject of the message but the Board's English might be evidence of some hidden "literary" helping hand. (TGIL chalkwork?).
Meanwhile the Maltese nation is left to enjoy the fruits of the labour (or the PN in this case) and will commute on partially resurfaced streets until these too return to normality. Stagno, that literary wave of enlightenment, has already pointed out that large chunks of the road to Castille are falling off. Lanzita reads some Houellebecqian undercurrents (yawn!) in such statements. Persons of a less wankellectual disposition were meanwhile heading to some tent somewhere where BMW Malta was busy auctioning off 59 (fifty-nine) BMWs to the poor and destitute Maltese who complain about the price of fuel and budgetary hikes. Not that budget but the one of the week before. Snicker snicker. (Ha fatto la battuta Zrinzo Azzopardi!)
BMW (Malta) had of course not expected any of these to be snatched up. In fact they had booked transport to resend the unsold beemers (as an old colleague in Lux used to say) back to whichever petrol guzzling economy they came from. Instead in two hours and fourty-five minutes a maximum of 59 individuals had spent a total amount of Lm1,979,900. Eat your heart out Tony Zarb! ".. bids flew in ranging from Lm33,000 to Lm 44,000 for the luxury cars."
Now ok. We raised Lm600,000 for l-IStrina. Good. But I have a few questions for you people out there:
1. Does Malta have the same economic divide as Brasil?
2. Do these people know that CHOGM roads do not last forever?
3. How many Maltese living beyond their means?
4. Should bank loans be more heavily scrutinised?
5. Are we close to the bursting of the bubble? Whose loans will be called in first?
6. 59 f*ing beamers. Five Nine. In the year of the petrol budget.
I'll be beggared. Well. I am back. London was fantastic. Food there is always exquisite. From the Chinatown haunts to the Pub delicacies. The weather is mild. The "We Will Rock You" musical at Dominion Theatre is not a must go but very enjoyable and the Ben Elton script is funny (though not riotously so). I am still reeling from the extent of courtesy shown by any individual who is asked questions. No wonder London can attract so many visitors. It is not the London Eye or the London Hedgehog. It's the "Yes, love, no love and Are you allright love?" that does the trick.
Loan, anyone?
8 commentaires:
Avolja jista' jkun li hemm persentagg zghir mill-popolazzjoni li taffordja BMW, ma nahsibx li ghandu x'jaqsam mal-"petrol budget". Il-klassijiet socjali hemm qeghdin, u qeghdin jintlaqtu xorta, avolja hemm min ghandu bizzejjed biex iberbaqhom f'BMW.
Dwar tal-loan nahseb li hadd mhu f'siktu bizzejjed biex jiehu loan ghal BMW. Jew ghandek jew le... u jekk m'ghandekx x'aktarx li lanqas ghal VW Polo m'ghandek (bhali u cert li hawn eluf bhali).
Għalkemm nammetti li ma qrajtx l-artiklu fuq tal-loans tal-banek (purament għall-għażż), smajt li mid-dehra l-HSBC (u l-BOV, skond id-di-ve) raħħsu l-interessi.
Sewwa, mela biex tissellef għal saqaf fuq rasek jaqlgħulek fwiedek, imbagħad biex tixtri karozza li f'sagħtejn taħlilek petrol b'kemm jiswew xahrejn paga għax ma jkollokx sold fuqhiex taħlef, hemmhekk no problem.
Evviva l-Istrina u l-karita'.
Guys guys.
Slow down. Baldu I am not in any way condoning the budget measures. I am sincrely asking a few questions namely:
1. Is there really an economic divide? Are there really people who can shoot off bids of Lm44,000 who live in the same country as those who cannot afford kerosene price hikes?
2. How many of us live beyond their means? Are banks loaning too much too easily? Is our consumerist society pushing our spending to the limits?
3. Does BMW really make nice cars? Isn't an Alfa infinitely nicer to look at?
Ok. The last one was a joke. But I think Arcibald needs to smile a bit! :)
Sweetie, if you found the politeness impressive, dare I suggest that you should come and stay for a week... British courtesy might rub off some of that rudeness you're so proud of hahahaha ...
Kenneth - there were special loans from HSBC and BOV called the "CHOGM BMW Loans". HSBC would pay up to 90% of the purchase price and the loan would be payable over 6 years.
This is a stupid question but
If these cars were custom made where will they find spare parts?
In 2001 I spent a few days in England for a conference. The most impressive sight I saw was a queue at the bus stop. They stood in a LINE! While WAITING! *sob*
Mind you, about a month ago a man stood up for me on the bus (honestly!). Maybe chivalry isn't completely dead in Malta. Just very, very, very deeply asleep.
Jacques... kont ftit inkazzat ghax kumbinazzjoni mort sal-bank niccekja dwar loans u s-sitwazzjoni m'hiex ezattament ferrieha ha nghidu hekk. F'das-sens, l-economic divide qeghda hemm u bil-kbir. Qisha bhal-loghba monopoly - is-sinjuri dejjem isiru iktar sinjuri u l-fqar dejjem jiftaqru. U l-bank qisu narah qed jahbi l-problema taht it-tapit billi jsellef is-sittin elf lirijat.
Ma jfissirx li 'I'm not smiling' imma... jekk dak naghmel cajta tajba fil-blogg (dwar il-papa? :)
Splengun: nahseb li ma fhimtnix u m'ghandix aptit nerga nispjega. :P
tajba bald. nifhmek.
filfatt huwa dak li irrid nghid. Kont qed nistaqsi jekk il-fenomeni kollha huma hemm jew wahda minnhom biss... overlending? huge divide? hidden money?
Enregistrer un commentaire