Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1199625
6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 12 JANUARY 2020 NEWS No 16. Azure Window Replica Angst What are we skinning? The Azure Window mirrored steel replica proposed by Russian archi-star Svetozar Andreev. Why are we skinning it? Well… have you even seen the artist's impressions?! Yes I have. It looks very flashy and impressive. Yes, flashy is the word. I can't imagine even working up the courage to stare at it in summer. You're saying it's ugly. Well, let's not have that debate just yet. Eye of the beholder, and all that. Though speaking of eyes, I meant that quite literally: can you imagine the glare of the August sun violently ricocheting off that thing?! It would make us all blind. Yeah, and Dwejra is hardly the flattest of surfaces to negotiate through, so impaired vision may be something to be factored into the programme, whichever way this goes. I'm hoping it doesn't really go anywhere. I mean, do we really need a replica? Can't our brains do the work of remembering? You'd think so. That's sort of what they're for, right? It's also rather perverse. I mean, when a family member dies you visit them at their grave. You don't hire an actor to impersonate them. You've also just described the plot to Yorgos Lanthimos's 'Alps', which was indeed a disturbing experience. But let's get back to the Window… Actually, can we not? I'd rather talk about things that are either more urgent or more pleasant than the Frankenstein-like resurrection of one of our favourite landmarks… But ignorance and crass commercialisation must be faced head-on! Something of this kind will happen anyway, so why not dish out your own proposal? Fine. I propose a monument dedicated to that indigenous insect species destroyed during the Game of Thrones shoot at the Azure Window. And a piñata-like row of dolls made in the likeness of dumb tourists who insisted on jumping off the Azure Window while was still 'alive'. Bold choices. Where would you house them? In an Augmented Reality interface accessible only via smartphone. I like it. Look away from the smartphone and see the ghostly legacy of the Azure Window in your mind's eye, where it beongs. Do say: "While the desire to commemorate the Azure Window should be accepted as a natural reaction to its loss, one should never succumb to crass and tacky attempts to 'resurrect' it that fail to respect the natural context in which it was formerly housed." Don't say: "Are we just gonna let the natural world continue to bully us into submission?! Let's show the storms who's boss and build the proudest and loudest replica ever!" The Skinny Malta, shrunk down MATTHEW AGIUS RULE of law NGO Repubb- lika has presented its propos- als for a "new republic" at an extraordinary general meet- ing held yesterday morning. Addressing the meeting, ac- tivist Manuel Delia said that civil society must be proactive to reach its goals. He spoke about the need for a sense of community, a sense of be- longing. "That what you do doesn't only serve your own interests but that there is a sense of service to the com- munity." Persons in public life are ex- amples and role models for private life, he said, adding that there was a heightened need for ethics in public life. A sense of ethics in public life would also preclude poli- ticians from stashing cash in other jurisdictions, Delia said. The taxes we pay are for the society to be better and ben- efit everyone, he said. A mo- ment of downturn in ethics was when the Prime Minister justified his friends doing this and stashing their cash in "co- conut islands," because he's a businessman and it was nor- mal for business men to do this, said the activist, adding that "it may be normal but it is not acceptable." "If we are talking about eth- ics in public and private life we must address the fact that our current economic model is a pirate one. We must live on something, but if we live with the attitude that what was good 25 years ago is good today we are heading towards a brick wall." The world had moved on, he said and civil society's obligation was to provoke thinking for solu- tions. Describing Malta's current economy as "a pirate econo- my that launders its cash in cement" Delia rued the fact that political parties do not think in terms of ten or fifteen years. "Somebody has to do this job. We have a respon- sibility as civil society to de- velop ideas." "For us to give a serious con- tribution, civil society must work. There is a need for someone to have a conscience in the country. There is a need that the values through which we measure what is just… not just economic growth – that in itself is a risk of unsustain- ability – but mercy, solidarity justice… the bottom line re- mains justice that gives equal access to everybody." The date of the meeting was chosen to coincide with the last day of Prime Minis- ter Joseph Muscat's tenure. The atmosphere was happy, the crowd, mostly aged over 40, gave a five-minute stand- ing ovation as lawyer Andrew Borg Cardona asked them to pay tribute to the memory of Daphne Caruana Galizia. In its manifesto, handed out to attendees, the organi- sation said its members had come together with the aim to "promote civil rights, demo- cratic life, the rule of law, free speech, personal freedoms, social inclusion, environmen- tal conservation, economic sustainability and equality of access, by means of active participation in the national discourse and related educa- tional, social and charitable initiatives." During the meeting, the NGO proposed a public life based on and guided by ethi- cal principles: selflessness, in- tegrity, objectivity, account- ability, openness, honesty and leadership. Repubblika said that it had made a conscious decision to not form a po- litical party and all that this would entail, but instead to continue to act as a pressure group. The time had come for an examination of the Constitu- tion of Malta and implement structural reviews of the Of- fice of the President, Par- liament, the Executive and Public Service, the courts, the police, armed forces and the regulatory authorities, it said. Education and training for a participative and responsible citizenry were also proposed. "Democracy is a precarious asset and can only remain alive if it is nurtured, main- tained and passed on to the next generations." Malta needed a new, hon- est and sustainable economy, said Repubblika. The econo- my could "no longer depend on economic activities that exist mostly or only because of the dishonesty of those who want to hide their iden- tity, nationality or legal or financial obligations. Malta cannot act as a shelter for the world's pirates." The environment also fea- tured in the proposals, with access to the countryside, electricity generation, waste management and transport being central themes. Repubblika said it wanted to have an inclusive, just and humane society, promoting equality and against the ex- ploitation and abuse of work- ers. It pledged to work in favour of justice and the rule of law, the common good, the sepa- ration of powers and fair and speedy justice. Repubblika would not stop its work with the end of the Muscat reign, it said. Vicki Ann Cremona, one of the speakers at the meeting ended her closing address by saying that it would give a chance to the new Prime Minister to see whether he respects the rule of law, and is willing to provide help and cooperate in that direction, "but if he doesn't respect it, we will be out in the streets again." Repubblika presents manifesto to push forward public life based on ethical principles Johann Stellingwerf