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MT 15 July 2018

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23 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 15 JULY 2018 OPINION notions of 'the truth'? No, indeed. The Dwejra col- lapse could, in fact, have been a Divine message for the Mal- tese people. And by the same fuzzy logic, it could also have been a belated after-effect of the Ray Harryhausen monster that tried to climb up on it in 'Clash of the Titans' (United Artists, 1981). And hey, who knows? Maybe it was as Pullicino also observed... that "the arch only crashed because of its progressive weakening over the years, which could be seen as a parallel to the erosion of Malta's morality." For it's not as though the loss of the Dwejra natural arch hadn't been predicted long, long ago; not by any Biblical prophet or visionary mountebank, but by geologists who had been warning about its imminent collapse for decades. It was never a question of 'if'; only of 'when'. Erosion is not, after all, a process that takes such issues as 'tourism landmarks' into any consideration, as it wreaks its eternal havoc across the aeons. Ah, but.... the timing, the timing! Why would God de- cide to strike down the Azure Window on that particular day... and not at any other point in any other year/cen- tury? Let's see now. Pullicino speculates that: "the timing was suggestive: gay marriage was introduced four months later. Seven months later Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered. Embryo freezing has now been introduced..." And yes, I suppose that makes a certain fuzzy sort of sense... from God's point of view, at least. He is, after all, omnipo- tent and omniscient; and He exists outside and beyond all notions of the space-time continuum. So, it would seem perfectly rational to Him to punish us all for sins He knew we were all going to commit... but which we hadn't actually committed yet. No, as I see it, the only problem with that hypothesis is that... well... did God strike down the Azure Window specifically because of gay marriage... Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder... embryo freezing... or a combination of all three? If, for argument's sake, one (or more) of those events hadn't occurred, four, seven or nine months later: would God have been merci- ful, and allowed the Dwejra arch to exist for at least a few more millennia? And if so... what sort of 'message' did the act of destroying it actually convey? As far as I can understand, it would translate into some- thing like: "Dear Maltese people... how are you? Hope all is well. I thought I'd just smash down your cherished Dwejra tourist attraction, as fair warning ahead of any of a number of random chance occurrences that I know are going to happen over the next year (but you don't). Nothing you can do about it now, of course – the Window is gone – but just be warned: next time, it will be a plague of locusts, followed by fire and brimstone, and maybe a rain of frogs. And it's up to you to guess what I'm pissed off with you about this time. Fond regards, God." That, at least, is the mes- sage as it emerges from Pullicino's article. There is another possible interpre- tation (actually, there are several trillion), and – again, for what it's worth – here is mine: 'Dear Maltese people: man, but you are a gullible, superstitious lot, aren't you? What's it going to be next? Human sacrifice in exchange for a bountiful harvest? Or to guarantee a fair trade wind? Or to spare your island from a second Biblical deluge? Sorry, I don't do that kind of stuff anymore. Maybe it's time you updated your notions of religion to somewhere closer to the 21st century, instead of the second millennium BC. Just an idea... Fond regards, God'. There: I'm sure Pullicino – and all who think likewise – will readily concur that "only the overconfident or spiritu- ally disconnected" would deny that my interpretation is just as possible (and fuzzy) as theirs... a superstitious lot, aren't you?'... MINISTRY FOR ENERGY AND WATER MANAGEMENT Invitation to Submit Proposals for the Lease of Property by the Ministry for Energy and Water Management The Permanent Secretary within the Ministry for Energy and Water Management notifies that sealed expression of interest documents marked: EOI/MEW/01/2018 Invitation to Submit Proposals for the Lease of Property by the Ministry for Energy & Water Management will be received in the tender box, situated at the Procurement Unit, Ministry for Energy & Water Management, 52, Old Theatre Street, Valletta, Malta by not later than 10.00 a.m. of 3 rd August 2018. Interested parties may either download a copy of the Expression of Interest document from the Ministry for Energy & Water Management website energy.gov.mt or request a copy by sending an email to procurement.mew@gov.mt clearly indicating Advert Number EOI/MEW/01/2018. The collapse of the Azure Window might have been a divine message from Poseidon...

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