Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1153841
19 LETTERS & EDITORIAL maltatoday | SUNDAY • 11 AUGUST 2019 Mikiel Galea Letters & Clarifications Appreciation: Paul Clough PROF. Paul Clough was partly respon- sible for my career in journalism. My eventual place in journalism would have never been possible without the intellectual curiosity nurtured in me by the study of anthropology, and the beautiful pastures of the social sci- ences. It was a complicated beginning to my university education in 2002 when I gingerly decided to take up international relations, despite a sum- mer spent inside an accountancy firm preparing me for the world of IFRS. In between struggling to choose a second- ary area of study (there was business management first, then sociology), Paul was lecturing an anthropology credit for the compulsory History of Mediterranean Civilisation course. I was hooked, not just by his passion, but also by the literature he had pro- posed to us; that same day, I proceeded to read in one sitting Thomas Bel- monte's The Broken Fountain, a classic of urban anthropology that instantly seduced me. Paul was a man of immense kind- ness, with a gentle disposition to- wards his students – I could not have wished for a more understanding head of department back then. I gladly abandoned the prospect of having to work in some foreign ministry when I dropped international relations to take up anthropology as my major. Paul's intellect kept us hungry for more. I was academically too lazy to appre- ciate the powerful theory and practice being imparted by Paul then, especially in his great lectures on economic an- thropology. To me anthropology was about the power of story-telling and discovering underlying narratives. I later met Paul, infrequently, at some political gathering, a protest, or at the theatre; he engaged me about my work, and I felt proud of having been given the skills of anthropology for my fieldwork in journalism. His sudden passing, like of all those who play some part in making us who we are, fills me with great sadness. I would have wanted him to know how important his role was. Matthew Vella, Editor, MaltaToday Bullying incidents involving foreign students MUCH has been said about the state- ments of Mr Charles Caruana Cara- bez, Commissioner for Education, as reported in the Ombudsman's Annual Report 2018. These statements were widely condemned by several NGOs and institutions, held as 'careless and misinformed'. We found ourselves perplexed, reading about "a couple of foreign nationalities standing out for misbe- haviour". We were thus far unaware that bullying behaviour had a national- ity. Notwithstanding, we assumed the Commissioner was basing his strong statements on a careful analysis of the situation. On 3 July 2019, we wrote to him requesting that his office share their research and statistics with us. Infor- mation is always precious. Regrettably, the Commissioner advised that no documentary information could be released. A meeting was proposed, but following bBrave's insistence to advise of the purpose of the meeting, no in- formation was forthcoming. bBrave appreciates that certain data is sensitive, and not for public consumption. However, our call was turned down even after we requested that statistics and anonymised data be shared with us. At one stage, we were referred to contact the Psycho-Social Services Unit within the Ministry for Education and Employment. Our ques- tion on why we were being redirected to this Unit – when our question was related to the Commissioner's work – remains unanswered since the 17 July 2019. As Malta's only NGO focusing on anti-bullying, it is our duty to take a position on such strong statements made by none other than the Com- missioner for Education. We waited so long to receive some justifications to this position; we chased, we insisted, but virtually received nothing of value. We therefore cannot but conclude, that unless evidence is brought to the contrary, the views held by the Com- missioner are to be condemned. Bully- ing has neither nationality nor citizen- ship. Bullying has neither shape, size nor colour. Bullying can be found wherever there are human relations, between young and old, big and small, in physi- cal or in cyber space. The suggestion to segregate foreign students from Maltese students, iso- lating them into a 'foreigners only' school, is archaic and discrimina- tory, and is to be rebuked. Moreover, it appears to be out of sync with the direction the nation is taking, having regard of the large proportion of non- Maltese residents. After school, foreign students mingle with the rest of the community – they do not ride 'foreign- ers only' buses to go to 'foreigners only' villages. Truly, the Commissioner's recommendation breaches the Euro- pean values of equality and diversity. When this suggestion hails from the Commissioner for Education, we can- not but be preoccupied. The only ad- versary we should all face, collectively, is bullying behaviour. Wherever it may hail from. Let us not lose focus. Aaron Zammit Apap, bBrave